We Made Room For Dessert 25 - Pineapple Upside Down Bundt Cake

For my fiance's birthday a month agoI wanted to make a cake, and not just a normal birthday cake.  I decided on a pineapple upside down cake as I know he loves that type.  I looked for a recipe that I could make in a bundt pan as I just love a good bundt cake.  And here it is!

Pineapple Upside Down Bundt Cake 

Ingredients:

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 cup sour cream (next time, I would use a cup of Greek yogurt instead of the sour cream)
• 4 eggs
• dash almond extract
• dash vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup veg oil
• 1 can crushed pineapple
• 1/2 jar maraschino cherries
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 4 tbs butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Grease bundt pan liberally with cooking spray.  Mix together butter and brown sugar and pour in pan.  Place cherries on top.  Spread pineapple carefully on top.  
Mix together cake mix, sour cream, eggs, oil, and extracts.  Beat well until batter is well combined and light and fluffy.  Carefully spread on top of pineapple layer.  Bake for 30 minutes.
Enjoy!

Chipotle Barbacoa Copycat - Home Cooked Recipe #73 plus BONUS RECIPE

I have always enjoyed the Barbacoa (a shredded beef) from Chipotle.  I have seen several recipes on the internet of how to make it, but this past week I just took some stew meat, made my own blend of spices, and I kid you not, it tasted almost EXACTLY like Chipotle's.  So I am sharing my own special copycat recipe, just in time for your Cinco De Mayo celebration at the end of the week.  Also, because I LOVE my readers, I am including a BONUS RECIPE for a copycat of Chipotle's cilantro lime rice,  Enjoy!

Chipotle Barbacoa Copycat

Ingredients:

• 1 lb beef stew meat
• 1 tbs onion powder
• 1 tbs garlic powder
• 1 tbs chili powder
• 1 tbs cayenne (start with 1 tsp and work up from there, depending on your tolerance of spice, you can also omit this)
• 1 tbs salt
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 cups beef broth
• 2 cups water

Directions:
In a slow cooker mix broth, water, and all spices.  Stir in beef.  Cook on high for four hours or low for eight hours.  Serve with rice recipe below.
Enjoy!

BONUS RECIPE!
Chipotle Copycat Cilantro Lime Rice

Ingredients:

• 1 cup long grain white rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 bay leaf
• juice of half a lime
• juice of half a lemon
• fresh cilantro, about 1/4 a bunch, finely chopped
• salt

Directions:
***Note, I cook my rice in a rice cooker.  But you can also convert this to stovetop by cooking rice and bay leaf in water (after water is brought to a boil) over low for 25 minutes.
Cook rice in water with bay leaf in your preferred method of cooking rice.  Remove bay leaf.  Stir in lemon and lime juices, plus cilantro.  Season with salt to taste.  Enjoy!

Garlic Lime Chicken - Pinterest Pick #15

Like a lot of people, I am always looking for new ways to prepare my boneless skinless chicken breasts for dinner.  I was perusing Pinterest as I do, and came across a recipe I had pinned awhile ago for garlic lime chicken.  I had all the ingredients on hand except the jalapeno.  It was quick and cheap to grab one at the store.  You can find the original Pin HERE and the original recipe HERE. The only tweaks I would make to the recipe is next time I would add the whole jalapeno instead of just half and I would add the juice and zest of another lime.  I have included these changes in the recipe below.

Garlic Lime Chicken

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
• salt and pepper
• Mrs. Dash original seasoning (my addition)
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 small red onion, finely diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium jalapeno, de-seeded and diced finely
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 limes, zested and juiced
• 1 tsp dried cilantro (or 1 tbs fresh)
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:
Heat oil in skillet over medium.  Season chicken with salt, pepper, and Mrs. Dash on both sides.  Cook chicken 5 minutes per side then remove from skillet.  Add onions, garlic and jalapeno, saute for a couple of minutes.  Add chicken broth, lime zest, lime juice, cilantro, and paprika.  Stir well then add chicken back into pan.  Simmer chicken for 8 minutes in sauce, stirring occasionally.  Add in cream, and additional salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer another minute or two then serve.  I served mine with rice.
Enjoy!

We Made Room For Dessert 24 - Cinnamon Crescent Rolls

We made room for dessert this week with this super simple take on a cinnamon roll.  You can have them for breakfast, dessert, or a snack!  I found the original recipe on Pinterest, check out the Pin HERE.  I modified the recipe to only make 4 (we are trying to practice moderation around our house), but you can easily double the recipe.

Cinnamon Crescent Rolls
Ingredients:

• 4 refrigerated crescent rolls
• 2 tbs butter
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.  Mix together butter, cinnamon, and sugar.  Unroll and separate crescents.  Spread 1/4 of the mixture over each roll.  Roll up and bake for 10-15 minutes.  If you'd like and easy frosting, mix together 1/4 powdered sugar with 1 tbs milk and 1 tsp vanilla.  Drizzle over top when crescents have cooled for a few minutes.  Enjoy!

Tunisian Shrimp Stew - Pinterest Pick #14

One of my goals for 2016 was to try a new food, and I picked Harissa.  It is a spicy Moroccan pepper paste.  I got mine at Whole Foods, the ONLY place I could find it in the metro Orlando area.  It is delicious!  If you recall, I also used it in one of the fillings for my beef hand pies.  I decided to give it another application by using it in the stew I found on Pinterest.  You can find the original Pin HERE and the original recipe HERE. The original recipe uses cod instead of shrimp, but really you can easily adapt it to whatever protein you prefer.  I like shellfish better than regular fish, and I had some on hand already.  So shrimp it was.  I also left out the turnips because, well, I have never tried them before and figured there was enough veggies.  This is a very light and healthy dish that makes for a fairly quick weeknight dinner.

Tunisian Shrimp Stew

Ingredients:

• 1 12 oz bag peeled and deveined shrimp
• 2 zucchini, sliced into half rounds
• 2 red potatoes, diced into small pieces
• 3 carrots, chopped into rounds
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 quart chicken broth
• 3 tbs tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon harissa (start there and add more depending on your love of spice)
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• salt and pepper
• olive oil

Directions:
In a soup pot, heat 2 tbs olive oil and then saute garlic and onions for 5 minutes.  Add in tomato paste and let cook for a minute or two.  Add in cumin, salt, pepper, and harissa.  Stir for one minute.  Put in carrots and potatoes and saute for two minutes.  Add chicken broth, bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer.  Cook 10 minutes then add in zucchini.  Cook another 5 minutes then add in shrimp.  Let simmer for 10 more minutes then serve.
Enjoy!