A-Mazing Queso!

When my parents lived in Texas, they LOVED going to a restaurant called El Chico's.  They had some A-Mazing conqueso and each time my parents went they asked what they put in it.  Since restaurants don't usually share their secrets, my parents slowly started to experiment and each time they asked what was in it, they usually were tipped off to another ingredient. And in the end, we ended up with this:

2 lbs Velveeta  cheese
1 can evaporated milk
1 large jar chopped pimentos
l large onion, sauteed in a little butter
1 can Rotel tomatoes (chopped)

Melt on low heat in a crock pot mixing every so often.  If you melt it too fast, it does not turn out right.  It's takes about 2 hours to melt properly.  Stores in fridge for quite a while.  Enjoy!!!  

Not Your Ball Park Dog

Growing up, we did not have the normal ketchup and mustard hot dogs.  My parents lived in Chicago and lets just say, they learned how to make a REAL hot dog. And after getting married and showing Justin the real way to have a hot dog, he never wants to go back :)

All my ingredients are not exact.  Just do as much as you want.

First:
Marinate hot dogs in a mixture of EVOO, 3 cloves of minced garlic, and chopped cilantro.  I do this for about 30 min before grilling.

Toppings:
Cucumber
Cilantro
Tomatoes
Onions
Lime juice (about 1-2 tsp)
Make a relish out of these ingredients and set aside to marinate together while you grill your dogs.
Now you know what to do, grill those yummy dogs, basting it with the remaining EVOO mixture as you go, throw it in a bun, top with cucumber relish and a little ketchup and devour!
Enjoy!  

Baby Food

When I had Carter, I figured I would give the whole "making your own baby food" a good try.  I saw this segment on the TODAY show a few years ago and figured I would go from there with a book called Baby Love by Norah O'Donnell and Chef Geoff Tracy.  Carter LOVED it!  And I loved how much money I saved.  I can honestly say, I did not once buy jar baby food except for the baby meats for the first year of his life. It was super quick and easy.  About once a month I would plan a morning and make a bunch of baby food for the rest of the month (taking me about an hour to do it).  Here are a couple of my favorite ones.  Some of them I even wanted to eat.  A bite for Carter, a bite for Mommy :)
I hope any of you contemplating doing this gives it a try!  It is SO worth it!

Cinnamon apple oatmeal raisin:

4 apples
1/2 c. golden raisins (can be the normal ones too)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
12 ounces water or apple juice (I think the apple juice makes it a little too sweet)
1/2 c. baby oat meal

Cut eat apple in half.  Remove seed and stem with a melon baller.Cut each half into 6 pieces, you do not need to peel it! Put apples, raisins, cinnamon, and water into a 4 quart pot and turn burner onto high and cover with a lid.  Cook for 7 minutes, stirring once.  Add the oatmeal and cook for 1 more minute, stirring throughout the final minute.  Pour everything into a blender.  Puree until smooth.  Pour into two ice cube tray and allow to cool.  Wrap with plastic wrap and freeze.

I would then use about 4-5 cubes when I fed Carter and put them in the microwave for about 1 min to thaw.  This one makes your house smell like apple pie!  YUM!

Strawberry banana pineapple

1 1/2 lb strawberries
3 bananas
1/4 pineapple
8 ounces of water

Cut each banana into 4-5 pieces. Cut pineapple approximately the size of strawberries. Put everything into a 4 quart pot.  Turn the burner on high, cover pot and cook for 6 minutes, stirring once.  Pour everything into a strainer with a bowl underneath to save the juice.  Pour the cooked fruit into a blender.  Puree until smooth using 2-4 ounces of the reserved juice if necessary to adjust consistency.  Pour into two ice cube trays and allow to cool.
wrap with plastic wrap and freeze.

Perfectly basic sweet potato

2 1/2 lb Sweet potatoes (about 2 medium sized potatoes or 1 really big one)
24 ounces of water

Preheat oven to 400.  Cut the potatoes lengthwise.  Place potatoes flesh side down on a sheet tray.  Pour 8 ounces of water onto the sheet tray.  Roast for 60 minutes until tender.  (Or you could do it my way, wrap it in wax paper and microwave it for 8-10 minutes :)  Peal off the pealing  and put flesh into blender.  Add water till desired  consistency.  Pour into two ice trays and allow to cool. 
Wrap and freeze. 

Get your greens

1/4 lb spinach leaves, washed and rinsed
1/4 lb green beans
16 ounces of water
1 head cauliflower
16 ounces milk

Put water into a 4 quart pot and turn heat on high to bring to a boil.  While the water is coming to a boil, prepare an ice bath and a colander.  As soon as the water is at a rolling boil add the spinach. Cook uncovered 15-20 seconds.  Remove the spinach with tongs and place in ice bath.  Add the green beans and cook uncovered 3 minutes.  Remove and beans from the water and add to the ice bath.  Discard water and return pot to stove.  Add milk and cauliflower.  Bring to a simmer over high heat.  As soon as it simmers, reduce heat to medium-low and cover.  Cook 12-15 minutes.  While the cauliflower is cooking remove spinach and green beans.  Squeeze the excess liquid out of the spinach.  Pour cauliflower and milk through colander with a bowl underneath.  Reserve the liquid.  Add cauliflower to ice bath and let cool for 2-3 minutes.  Put cold cauliflower, beans, and spinach in the blender with half the milk and begin to puree.  Add additional liquid as necessary.  Puree until smooth.  Pour into two ice cube trays and allow to cool.
Wrap and freeze.

I add a little salt and butter when I get it ready to eat to add some fat and a little flavor :)