Week 4 - Marcie's Taco Cups in Won Ton Wrappers

I completely stole this idea from Becky's pinterest page, but I didn't even use the recipe, I just made up my own.  I made these when Becky was here, but the first time I used just plain taco meat.  They definitely needed something else so that you weren't just eating meat.  The next day I added the corn and black beans, and I was much happier with the results.  I added halved tomatoes to the top of mine, Ben added hot sauce to his.   I really like these; they have a nice taco flavor and feel without all the carbs in tortillas.

Taco Cups in Won Ton Wrappers

serves 3 (or however many you want)

12 small wonton wrappers
leftover taco meat
leftover black beans
cooked corn
shredded cheddar cheese

Mix taco meat, black beans and corn.

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.  Lay a wonton wrapper in each muffin cup.  Fill with meat mixture.  Top with shredded cheese.  Bake at 375°F for 10 minutes.  Enjoy!

Week 3 - Marcie's Pasta with Spinach, Tomatoes and Smoked Gouda

Yes, this is my third smoked gouda recipe for this challenge, but when I started searching for ideas, I found so many that I wanted to try.  So I bought one wheel of smoked gouda, and decided to try them all!

The idea for this recipe came from myrecipes but of course I changed it up some.  I didn't think the smoked gouda flavor came through very well, so next time I would try sprinkling the pasta dish with extra smoked gouda, and then baking it in the oven for 10 minutes (as the original recipe suggested, but I ran out of time and cheese and so skipped that).  Becky, Ben and I all liked this dish, but the kids ate everything plain.

Pasta with Spinach, Tomatoes & Smoked Gouda

serves 6

1 tablespoon olive oil 
1 cup chopped onion 
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups grape tomatoes, cut in half (next time add 1 can petite diced tomatoes)
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
5 cups baby spinach 

6 ounces uncooked ziti

2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
 1/2 cup shredded, smoked Gouda cheese

Cook the pasta according to package directions.

Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until softened.  Add the tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the spinach to the pan, stirring until wilted, about 2 minutes.  Combine pasta, chicken, cheese and tomato mixture, stirring to combine.  Serve hot.

Weekly Challenges

Here are our challenges so far this summer and what is to come!

Week 1: Spinach
Week 2: Lentils
Week 3: Smoked Gouda
Week 4: Won-ton Wrappers
Week 5: Limes
Week 6: Broccoli Slaw
Week 7: Zucchini
Week 8: Ranch dressing
Week 9: Coconut
Week 10: Crockpot
Week 11: Ginger root
Week 12: Cereal (bonus points if you use Rice Krispies)

Week 5: Lime Chicken

I'm not sure what to call this recipe because while it had lime in it, lime was not the predominant flavor.  I'm not sure what the predominant flavor was though!  It was very tasty anyhow!  The salad in the background also had lime in it.  I can post that recipe on my blog.  I found this recipe for chicken on All Recipes.

Lime Chicken

1/4 cup cider vinegar

2 tbsp Dijon mustard (or really whatever mustard you have)

4 cloves garlic, finely diced or minced

1 1/2 limes juiced

Zest of one lime

1/3 cup brown sugar (you could probably cut this down a little)

1/2 lemon juiced

freshly ground pepper

3 tablespoons oil

Chicken breasts (the above recipe calls for 6 chicken breasts, I used 3 and there was a lot of extra marinade)

Combine all the ingredients, minus the chicken.  Put chicken in a bag and then pour the marinade over the chicken.  Refrigerate all day (about 8 hours-I did mine for 7).  Grill chicken on grill pan or outside.  I also read that you could bake it in the oven with some of the marinade.  If you use the grill pan, make sure that your chicken breasts aren't really thick and make sure to oil the grill pan before cooking.

Week 3 - Marcie's Barbecue Chicken Salad with Smoked Gouda

I have been loving salads lately, and this one was really, really good.  I served it to some of our friends, and I just laid out all the ingredients so that everyone could pick the ingredients that they liked.  It was like a make-your-own salad bar.

Barbecue Chicken Salad with Smoked Gouda

(serves a lot)

spring mix greens
tomatoes, chopped
avocado, chopped
carrots, julienned
broccoli slaw
jicama, diced
barbecue chicken, diced
smoked gouda, diced
bacon bits

barbecue sauce for dressing

you can also serve this with cornbread chunks, but we ate the cornbread separately.

Week 3 - Marcie's Smoked Gouda Stuffed Pork Chops

When I bought a chunk of smoked gouda at the grocery store and realized how expensive it is, I decided that I ought to use it in as many different meals as possible.  So, I picked three dishes, and I am planning on posting all of them.  This was the second dish I tried, and while the smoked flavor was good with the pork chops, the cheese was too melty when the pork chops were finally done, and it didn't have a good presentation or a fantastic eating experience.  I almost feel like you would need to partially cook the pork chop, then stuff it, then finish cooking it, but I don't know how that would work.  So anyway:

Smoked Gouda Stuffed Pork Chops

(serves 2)

2 thick boneless pork chops
4 slices smoked Gouda cheese
2 strips bacon, crumbled (or remainder of a bag of bacon bits that is about to expire)
1 tbsp parsley, chopped

Cut a pocket in each pork chop.  Stuff each pork chop with half the cheese, half the bacon, and half the parsley.  Cook in a skillet with a little bit of oil, about 5 minutes on each side or until pork reaches 145F.