Mini Citrus Cakes

This recipe makes about 6 dozen mini cakes so it's great for a baby or bridal shower or any party. I didn't use almonds on top because we had some non-nut eaters that day. To serve these I put a couple of them on a small plate then I used my medium cookie scoop so serve small ice cream scoops alongside the cakes. I used vanilla ice cream but I think these would be delightful with a sherbet too.

Mini Citrus Cakes

1 package yellow cake mix

1 1/4 C water

3 eggs

1/3 C vegetable oil

3 1/2 C powdered sugar

1/2 C orange juice

1/4 C lemon juice

Toasted chopped almonds, optional

In a mixing bowl, combine cake mix, water, eggs, and oil; beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Scrape the sides of the bowl then beat on medium for 2 minutes. Fill well-greased mini muffin tins (do not use paper liners) two-thirds full (best not to over fill these). Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine powdered sugar, orange juice and lemon juice until smooth. Cool cakes for 2 minutes; remove from pans. Immediately dip cakes into glaze, coating well. Place top down on wire racks; sprinkle with almonds, if using.

Originally from Quick Cooking.

Grilled Tilapia with Mango Salsa

We had this for dinner and it was a big hit all around. Even Joshie liked it. HA! If only!!
Anyway, Amelia didn't care for the salsa because it was too spicy but she and Tiernan both loved the fish w/out the salsa. Especially Tiernan. He asked what kind of fish it was and I told him Tilapia, to which he replied, "Tilapia sounds like a China name." :)
I didn't have any jalapenos on hand, so I put several good shakes of crushed red peppers in and it worked beautifully. I also made the salsa the day before so that the flavors could blend and I think that was a good idea, but not necessary.

Grilled Tilapia with Mango Salsa

2/3 C. extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
4 (6 ounce) tilapia fillets

2 large ripe mangoes, peeled pitted and diced
1 small red bell pepper, diced
2 green onions, thinly sliced (use the whole onion, not just the white part)
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced (or dried crushed red pepper)
1/4 C. lime juice
2 Tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together the oil, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, parsley, garlic, basil, black pepper and salt. Add the tilapia fillets, coat with the marinade, cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Prepare the mango salsa by combining the mango, red bell pepper, onion, and jalapeno pepper in a bowl. Add the lime and lemon juices and toss well. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Lightly oil the grates of an outdoor grill and preheat to a medium-high heat.

Remove the tilapia from the marinade and discard the remaining marinade. Grill the fillets until the fish is no longer translucent in the center, and flakes easily with a fork, 3 to 4 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the fillets. Serve the tilapia warm topped with the mango salsa.

Recipe slightly adapted from allrecipes.com

Sauteed Radishes

I have Mandy to thank for this recipe. She had these at, I think, a pioneer dinner?? I thought they sounded intriguing and I like radishes anyway so I finally tried them. I found a recipe on food.com because I wasn't sure if people usually add other things to them when cooking and this was the recipe I found. Cooking radishes takes the bite out of them, and even Jeff said "they're not bad", which is huge, since he usually won't go near radishes. :) (Obviously you can make as many or as little as you want - I didn't make 4 bunches because I knew I would pretty much be the only one eating these.)


Sauteed Radishes

4 bunches radishes, washed and quartered or sliced
2 Tbsp butter
Salt to taste

Melt the butter in a frying pan over med-high heat. Add the radishes and cook until golden brown. Add salt to taste and serve immediately.

Cafe Rio Sweet Pulled Pork Salads

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. That is a picture of a power saw being used on a chunk of meat. Our pork was frozen solid and didn't fit in our crockpot, so Jeremy had the very resourceful idea of using our power saw to slice it in two haha! I was more than a little nervous that he was going to slice through my crock pot, but I needed the pork to fit so I figured, why not? Who needs an electric knife when you've got a power saw??:)

These are so yummy! They do actually taste a lot like Cafe Rio's pulled pork salads, though they're not an exact match. Close enough, though. Ava love the pork. The original recipe called for 5 jalapeno cross sections and I thought the dressing was too spicy so I would only do 2... or none at all. :)

Cafe Rio Sweet Pulled Pork Salads

Sweet Pulled Pork

3 lbs pork tenderloin
1 ½ cups brown sugar
1 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
1 (10 oz) can red enchilada sauce

Combine all ingredients in crock pot, except for the brown sugar and enchilada sauce, and cook on low for 7 hours. Strain fat from crock pot and shred the meat. Add brown sugar and enchilada sauce and cook on low for 1 more hour.

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

3 fresh tomatillos, peeled and cut into quarters
juice of ½ a lime
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
2 ounces cream cheese
1 pkg dry Ranch Buttermilk Dressing mix
½ cup fresh cilantro
5-6 green onions, diced
2 cloves garlic
4 tsp sugar
2 cross section slices of a jalapeno pepper

Combine cilantro, buttermilk, green onions, garlic and tomatillos in a blender and blend until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and blend until well mixed.


For Salads:

Layer a tortilla (the cook-at-home kind work best), hot white rice, hot black beans, shredded romaine lettuce, sweet pulled pork, corn chip strips, pico de gallo (or just chopped fresh tomato) and top with Creamy Tomatillo Dressing.

Banana Pecan Oatmeal Brulee

Roasting the bananas in this recipe really brings out a yummy flavor!

Banana Pecan Oatmeal Brûlée
1.5 cups water
1 cup oats
pinch of salt
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter
2 large bananas, sliced
2 – 3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/3 cup chopped toasted pecans

1. Bring water to boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in oats and salt, if using, and immediately reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered over low heat, stirring occasionally, until oats are desired texture.
2. Remove oatmeal from heat and stir in milk and butter.  Pour oatmeal into a small casserole dish (about 1 1/2 quarts) and arrange banana slices over the top.  Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over the top of the bananas.  Put casserole under a preheated broiler until sugar starts to melt (watch carefully, it happens pretty fast). Remove from oven and sprinkle with chopped pecans.*  Serve warm.
Serves 4.

Creamy Spring Peas

This was a really yummy veggie recipe - and a nice change. It uses three kinds of peas in different shapes and sizes which gives it a nice appearance and texture. The original recipe calls for pancetta but that's a little pricey for me so I used bacon so that's how I'll write it up. You can use 4oz pancetta in place of the bacon if you'd like.

Creamy Spring Peas

Salt

2 C shelled fresh English peas or thawed frozen peas (about 10 oz)

1 lb sugar snap peas, trimmed and cut into 1/2" pieces

1/4 lb snow peas, trimmed and thinly sliced

4-5 slices bacon

2 Tbsp flour

1 1/2 C chicken broth

1/2 C heavy cream

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 tsp salt

Freshly ground pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Fill a large bowl with ice water; set aside. If using English peas, add to the boiling water and cook until tender, about 1 minute. (If using frozen peas just run them under water to make sure they are fully thawed and set them aside.) Add the snap peas and cook until bright green, about 2 minutes, then add the snow peas and cook 30 seconds. Drain the peas and plunge into the ice water to cool.

Cook the bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Drain on a paper towel. Discard all but about 1 Tbsp of the drippings; add the flour to reserved drippings, whisking until toasted, about 1 minute. Whisk in the chicken broth and cream and cook until reduced by one-third, about 6 minutes.

Drain the peas (including the frozen peas), shaking off the excess water, then add to the skillet. Cook, stirring until the sauce is slightly thickened and the peas are heated through, 3-5 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and season with 1/2 tsp salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the bacon. Transfer to a serving dish and enjoy.

Altered slightly from a Food Network recipe.

Orange Glazed Rolls

These were a fun treat for Easter dinner and quite yummy. The recipe said it makes 12 bunnies so I doubled it and had lots of bunnies left over because they're really big! And, of course, you can shape these any way you want.

Orange Glazed Rolls

2 Tbsp active dry yeast

1/4 C warm water (110-115 degrees)

1 C warm milk (110-115 degrees)

1/2 C shortening

2 eggs

1/3 C sugar

1/4 C orange juice

2 Tbsp grated orange peel

1 tsp salt

5 - 5 1/2 C all-purpose flour

Glaze:

2 C powdered sugar

1/4 C orange juice

1/2 tsp soft butter

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, shortening, eggs, sugar, orange juice, orange peel, salt, and 3 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover; let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down; turn onto a lightly floured surface. Shape rolls as desired. For bunnies, divide dough into 13 pieces. Shape 12 of them into 12-inch ropes. Fold each in half; twist top half to form ears. Shape remaining dough into 12 balls. Place one on the loop end of each roll to form a tail; press into dough. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes. (Bake for 10-12 minutes on a dark cookie sheet.) Cool on wire racks. In a small bowl, combine the glaze ingredients; beat until blended. Spread over rolls.

Altered slightly from a Taste of Home recipe.