Cafe Rio goodness

Pork recipe:

1 cup salsa (I use my yummy homemade "Melina's" salsa)
1 cup brown sugar
salt/pepper to taste
2-3 lb pork roast (preferably boneless)

Cook in crock pot on low for 8-10 hours, shred with fork and remove fatty pieces


Rice recipe:

6 cups water
4 tsp minced garlic
1 can green chiles (or 1-2 fresh anaheim chiles)
1 Tbsp butter
3 cups rice
4 tsp chicken boullion
1/2 bunch cilantro
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 onion

Blend cilantro, green chiles, and onion in food processor. Bring water to boil, add all ingredients, simmer covered for 30 min.


Dressing recipe:

1 buttermilk ranch dressing packet (make according to directions on package)
2 tomatillios
1 clove garlic
1 jalapeno
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 bunch cilantro

Blend in blender, chill in fridge for at least an hour


*Warm up the tortillas (I buy the raw tortillas from Costco that take like 30 seconds to cook on a pan), then add the pork, rice, black beans, romaine lettuce, cheese, tortilla strips and top it off with the dressing and a squirt of lime and cilantro. YUM!

Banana Muffins

(This recipe is perfect for that one left-over, overripe banana on your counter.)

2 c. flour

1/2 c. sugar

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. cinnmon

1 medium mashed banana

1/2 c. milk

1/3 c. oil

1 egg, slightly beaten

Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl, stir in remaining ingredients and stir just until moistened. Spoon into prepared muffin cups. Bake at 375 for 15 to 20 minutes.

The Nasty Sandwich

This delectable sandwich was on Man Vs Food. Mmm, that show always makes me hungry.

You take a biscuit, put a piece of fried chicken in between with a little mozzarella cheese and country gravy. You just can't go wrong with it. But have some napkins handy.

For the chicken, I used chicken tenders dipped in egg, rolled in some saltine cracker crumbs and a little bit of potato flakes, salt and pepper and cooked them in a skillet with a few tablespoons of vegetable oil on medium heat for about 15 minutes, turning frequently.

The show recommended frying the chicken in bacon fat, but I didn't have any of that lying around. They also used sausage gravy.

I used cheater refrigerated biscuits and a packet of country gravy. Yum. Seriously.

Protein Bars

1/2 c. buttery spread (like Smart Balance)
1 c. peanut butter or almond butter
3/4 c. Agave
2 c. rolled oats
1 c. pecans, chopped or ground
1 c. raw almonds, chopped or ground
16 dates pitted and chopped or 1 c. bud, chopped a little
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. salt
1 c. vanilla protein powder
1/2 to 1 c. coconut

On stove, melt buttery spread, peanut butter and Agave over low heat. Remove from heat. While melting, mix oats, nuts, dates, protein powder and salt. Pour melted mixture over dry mixture. Add vanilla. Stir until coated. Sprinkle cocomut in bottom of a 9 x 13 glass pan. Spoon mixture over top and press into pan. Cover and refrigerate for 2-4 hours. Cut into squares and put a few together in a zip loc bag. can freeze and use as desired.

These are seriously better than any protein bar I have ever bought. You can grab a couple on the go for breakfast or after a workout. Mmmm.

Best Lasagna

My friend Missy gave me this recipe. This is the best lasagna I have ever had. Probably because it is made with sausage :)

1 lb Italian sausage
1 c. ricotta cheese
1 c. mozzarella cheese
1 c. mayo
1 tsp garlic powder (or I use 1 clove minced garlic)
1/2 - 1 tsp crushed red pepper (depending on how hot you like it!)
1 can hunts Italian sausage spaghetti sauce
1 pkg lasagna noodles (I use 12 noodles)

Preheat oven to 350
Prepare noodles according to box directions. (I usually buy oven ready. While
I cook the sausage I just soak the noodles in warm water until I layer the
lasagna.. I found the noodles don't soften enough if I just bake them).
Brown and crisp the sausage. Drain grease. Combine the ricotta cheese, mayo,
garlic, and crushed red peppers. Add drained sausage. Begin layering. Start
with the spaghetti sauce then noodles. Spread a 3rd of the sausage cheese
mixture on noodles and cover with a 1/4 of the spaghetti sauce spread and add a
quarter of the mozzarella cheese.
Continue in like manner. On the top I usually pour the remaining spaghetti sauce
and cover in mozzarella cheese.
Bake 45 min- 1 hour in a 9x13 pan."

Butterscotch cake

1 yellow or white cake mix

1 small pkg instant butterscotch pudding

2 cups milk

1 egg

Top with butterscotch chips and pecans

mix together and bake at 350 for 30-35 min.

French Bread Alfredo Pizza

I got this recipe from Ashley.
1 loaf of French Bread, sliced length-wise
1 jar Alfredo Sauce (Newmans Own is all-natural and really good)
Sausage, cooked and crumbled (I like turkey sausage, with no nitrites)
Fresh mushrooms
Fresh Roma tomatoes
Shredded Mozzarella cheese.

When you brown the sausage, add the mushrooms and Alfredo sauce. Spread over bread, add tomatoes and cheese and then broil for several minutes, until cheese bubbles.