Tacos are pretty fun. Especially when you take the easy way out and buy pre-packaged shells.

All those yummy toppings…what to do with them?! Load up your taco, of course. Whether you like to be different and put the cheese under the lettuce and tomatoes or not, it’s okay. There are no rules with tacos…except one…

My personal rule, guacamole is a must! I never thought to try guacamole on a taco, but oh boy! Taste overload. Avocado goodness meshing with the chopped lettuce, cheese and tomatoes…mmm.

If any of you are familiar with Chipotle Mexican Grill, you may know that is a place you can get a big ol’ burrito and many other things with a lot of guacamole. Chipotle is definitely not shy when you want to add some. And why would they be? They have some of the best food chain guacamole around. Even better…I came across the recipe for Chipotle’s Guacamole.

• • Chipotle Guacamole
  • 1 large ripe Hass avocado, peeled and pitted
  • 2 tsp. fresh lime juice
  • 2 T chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1/4 C finely chopped red onion
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 1 serrano chili, seeded and chopped
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • Mash up avocado with a fork or electric mixer.
  • Add lime juice.
  • Add all other ingredients and blend well.

And now for my fully loaded taco….

What if I told you that you could make pleasing French Dip Sandwiches with three ingredients? What if I said with almost no preparation, you can impress anyone who eats them?

Can you butter toast? Then you can make these very Easy French Dip Sandwiches!

Let’s have a look at what you’ll need…

That’s right…this is it! One 3-4 lb. roast of your choice, (bottom round roast, pictured) one can of got-to-be-mm-mm-good-stuff Campbell’s beef broth, and some French sub rolls. Looking possible already?! Yesss! You, the toast buttering champion can do this!

• Easy French Dip Sandwiches
  • 3-4 lb Roast
  • 1 can Campbell’s beef broth
  • 6 French sub rolls
  • Pam butter flavored Cooking Spray (optional)
  • Place roast in a crock-pot or slow cooker.
  • Pour can of beef broth over roast.
  • Cover with lid and cook on low heat for 7-9 hours.
  • Do not remove lid until it’s done!
  • Preheat oven to 400°F, split French sub rolls in half and spray each half with cooking spray (optional).
  • Toast buns face down in oven for 3 minutes.
  • Spoon broth into glass dishes.
  • Shred or pull meat to fill the sub rolls. Enjoy!

We sure did…

I cannot stress the importance of Campbell’s beef broth enough. Perhaps an accomplished cook may want to add additional flavors, but the wannabe chef (me) can only be truly gratified with the truest beefiest flavor that Campbell’s beef broth will add to this simple recipe. It’s “double rich”, “double strength” and you’ll taste the difference. No one will know you did almost nothing to accomplish this awesome meal.

Eggs are so versatile. You can boil eggs. You can devil eggs. You can poach eggs. You can pickle eggs…the list goes on. You can scramble them or….you can fry them!

And my favorite way to enjoy a fried egg is in a sandwich.

So many good things happen in this fried egg sandwich at once. Don’t we all like to dip our fried egg yolks in toast? Face plant that yolk directly onto a buttery English muffin and emulate that exact feeling while biting into this sandwich. Add a fried piece of ham on top of the overturned egg for a meatiness that is necessary for almost every sandwich. To complete it, top with a slice of cheese for a gooey melt-it-all-together goodness that is the fried egg sandwich’s ultimate selling point.

Like everything I prepare, this awesome fried egg sandwich is well-done. Well-done goodness, that is…

• Awesome Fried Egg Sandwich
  • 1 T butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1 Kraft Single
  • 1 slice of Oscar Mayer smoked ham
  • 1 English Muffin
  • Preheat a non-stick skillet on med-high heat. When hot, add 1 Tablespoon butter and melt.
  • Crack egg carefully into pan and cook for 2-3 minutes or until egg white is cooked through.
  • Meanwhile toast English muffins and butter them.
  • In the last 30 seconds of cooking time place the ham slice in skillet to warm.
  • Next, place the cooked egg, yolk side down on one half of the English muffin.
  • Fold the ham slice and put it on top of the egg.
  • Quickly top the warm ham with the slice of cheese, followed by the remaining English muffin top.

There’s no way to go wrong with this recipe if you like fried eggs and ham. Like I said, I overcooked mine a bit, as I’m still looking for the perfect fried egg method, but the sandwich still passed with flying colors. And I’ll probably need to make it again soon.

So I looked on my counter today and this is what I found. An all too familiar sight in our house. Those last few bananas, overripe and left for dead.

Then an all too familiar thought goes through my head that says, “Make them into banana bread.” A thought that typically gets pushed to the side like these poor bananas, until I finally throw them in the garbage realizing there is no hope for them.

But not today! Oh no, I’m going to rejuvenate these babies this time! I owe a thanks to Culinary Cowgirl whose post and pretty banana bread motivated me to try out her recipe and use the bananas this time.

• Banana Bread (adapted from the Joy of Cooking)
  • 1 C flour
  • 1/3 C whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 6 T butter
  • 2/3 C sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 overripe bananas
  • Additional extras, if desired
  • In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
  • Add eggs and vanilla, beating until well blended.
  • Fold in mashed bananas.
  • Add flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder, stirring until combined. At this point add any additional extras you may have.
  • Scrape batter into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool before removing from pan.

Here’s the batter before going into the oven…

And here’s how it came out…

Although the bread was tasty, I immediately got docked for having no nuts in it. (Dang, fail..) What is this thing you call Banana Bread with no nuts?! Apparently Banana Nut Bread is the only Banana Bread. I wish I would have added some because a little crunchy nutty flavor within is never a bad thing. Next fail was me removing the loaf from the pan before it had cooled, which left the bottom of the banana bread in my loaf pan. I’m still not sure if that was the reason it stuck or if it was my lack of “additional extras”, but either way this banana bread was very moist…which was good. And using this recipe is a good way to get some wheat into your family’s diet in a very unoffensive manner in case they aren’t good sports about it.

You may have seen my review of the Duncan Hines Oven Ready Homestyle Chocolate Fudge Brownies. If you have, you’ll know I had another box of brownies to bake…a box of Duncan Hines Oven Ready Homestyle Chocolate Chip Brownies. Even after the last experience, I still had high hopes for this flavor.

Out of the two boxes, this one looked more appealing to begin with. The box says premium golden brownie batter, so I’m not sure how it qualifies as an actual “brownie”, but either way the box picture had a look of soft, chewy gooodness to it. I love a good pan of soft baked chocolate cookies (when someone else makes it), so Duncan Hines no-prep method hit the spot. Brownie or no brownie, here we go…

That is how it looks right out of the box. And here’s how it looks after baking…

Looks a little fluffier than I’d expect a brownie to be, but I’m liking it so far. Cutting into it, I can feel that it is indeed not very dense. When fully cooked, the middle of the brownies stayed moist and chewy which was a pleasant surprise. Sure all the chocolate chips were not apparent from the top side as the box picture suggests, but the inside was full of chocolate chip gooey goodness. That gooey goodness in the center created a bit of a problem when removing from the pan. It seemed to separate, not letting me keep the top and bottom connected. You can sort of see that separation in the center from this picture…

Besides having trouble staying in one piece, Duncan Hines Oven Ready Homestyle Chocolate Chip Brownies are tasty and sweet. If you need a sweet fix and like soft chocolate chip cookies, these will not disappoint. I liked them a lot.

Personally, I don’t like desserts with ice cream on top, but that didn’t stop me from noticing a neat looking recipe on the back of the box for a Chocolate Chip Sundae. Sounds fancy, eh? But its really simple to re-create. Top the brownie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and then top that with hot fudge topping. (err cold Hershey’s Syrup)

My re-creation of the Duncan Hines Chocolate Chip Sundae…

Duncan Hines Oven Ready Homestyle Chocolate Chip Brownies were almost disturbingly sweeter and more chocolatey than their evil counterpart, but they were pretty dang good for something out of a box.

Didn’t feel very creative tonight, so I improvised the best I could with some thin-sliced chicken breasts.

Hmm. The rosemary is always calling to me, so I grabbed that bottle and poured out a handful, crushed it up and sprinkled it evenly over the chicken breasts.

Needs something else, so I shake on about 1 T minced garlic over the tops and bottoms of the chicken breasts and complete with a bit of black pepper.

Ahh, now its ready for the pan. Heat 2 T extra virgin olive oil in a non-stick pan. By the way the chicken stuck to it, I can tell the pan I used was not the right one for the job. Simply cook the chicken on medium high heat until the meat appears half cooked(3-4 mins).

Then flip it and repeat.

When I cook chicken I want to make sure its really cooked. So when the cooking time was complete, I flipped them one more time for extra browness.

Serve with any sides that sound good. I chose some white rice and corn.

And here it is:

In our home the best way to enjoy breakfast is to have it for dinner.

Your taste buds are awake…all your senses are kicking…you are actually really hungry!!

This is where French Toast comes into play and this awesome recipe won’t disappoint.

• Awesome French Toast
  • 1 1/3 C milk
  • 8 eggs
  • 2/3 C flour
  • 2/3 C sugar
  • 1 t vanilla
  • 1/2 t salt
  • 1/4 t cinnamon
  • 12 slices texas toast
  • Mix the eggs, milk, flour, sugar,vanilla, salt and cinnamon together.
  • Heat skillet adding butter when hot.
  • Drop bread in batter for 30 seconds on each side.
  • Cook for about 2 minutes on each side.

Add some scrambled eggs and bacon and there you have it…breakfast for dinner.

For the longest time I thought you could make a “baked potato” in the microwave. This is the only “baked potato” I knew at home simply because it was the only way I knew how to prepare one. I was satisfied enough with the outcome that it worked for me.

Ohhh boy, was I wrong!

You cannot make a baked potato in the microwave, hence the term baked. Who knew?! (not me)

Do not prick the potato! Do not bake it wrapped in foil! Do enjoy a perfect baked potato!

Here is how to make the perfect baked potato in a few simple steps.

1) Wash and dry your potatoes well. You want to choose potatoes that are close to the same size so they will cook evenly. (large russetts work great)

2) Rub olive oil liberally all over the skins of those bad boys. Do not prick the potatoes!

3 ) Roll the potatoes in kosher salt, coating the skins well. This can be done by covering a large plate or filling a bowl with a hefty amount of the salt. Place them in a 13×9 baking dish to prevent splatters while cooking.

4) Preheat the oven to 400. Bake potatoes for 1 hour, turning over after 30 minutes for even cooking and no explosions.

5) Remove potatoes from the oven and wrap in foil. The important part here is to not keep them wrapped longer than 10 minutes. That will create a soggy potato. Secondly, don’t burn your fingers…these babies are hot! Now, with oven-mitted hands pick up each wrapped potato and give it a few squeezes. You will feel it mashing up inside your hands. This step is crucial for a flaky-and-fluffy-when-opened potato.

Serve in or out of the foil, although the skin is so delicious and pretty by this point that you might want to flaunt it on a plate. And with just one cut along the top of the potato, the recipient will be amazed!

The ingredients in this soup create just the right combination of flavors. When cooked together they mesh into an awesomely tasty and hearty soup.

• Zucchini-Mushroom Soup
  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • 1 onion (chopped)
  • 2 small cans cream of mushroom soup
  • 1-2 sliced zucchinis
  • 1/2 C. grated cheddar
  • 2 soup cans milk
  • 1 soup can water
  • 1 small can sliced mushrooms, drained
  1. Brown hamburger meat; drain.
  2. Add all other ingredients.
  3. Simmer until onions and zucchini are tender.