David's Famous Salsa!

Growing up in Tucson Arizona,

my best friend's dad made some amazing salsa.

I always wondered how he made it,

but he always said there wasn't really a recipe.

Over the years, I wasn't the only one that asked about it,

so somehow a fairly good recipe was put together

and lucky me, I was able to get my hands on it

and tried to recreate the deliciousness myself!

I was home visiting earlier this year and saw my friend's family.

I hadn't seen her dad in probably 15 years and it was great to catch up.

I asked him permission to share his recipe on my blog,

and since you're reading this, he of course said yes!

So without saying anything more,

let me show you how this yummy salsa is made!

The Goods:

Tomato Sauce

Whole Peeled Tomatoes

Salt

Oregano Leaves

Garlic

Garlic Powder

Green Onions

Cilantro

Dried Chili Tepins

Limes

Red Wine Vinegar

First thing you want to do is get all your ingredients prepped.

Chop up an entire bunch of green onions and set aside.

Mince one to two garlic cloves so you have a full teaspoon.

Chop up one entire bunch of cilantro and set aside.

Slice your limes in half.

In a blender, add ingredients in the following order:

Half the can of whole tomatoes (and juice), 

three quarters of the chopped green onions, 

all of the chopped cilantro, 

juice from the limes, 

red wine vinegar, 

salt, 

a sprinkle of garlic powder, 

minced garlic, 

crushed chili tepins, 

oregano leaves, 

the rest of the whole tomatoes, 

the rest of the green onions 

and last but not least the tomato sauce!!!

Blend well for about a minute. 

And that's it for a batch of David's salsa!

As you can see in the photo above,

this recipe makes quite a bit of salsa!

Knowing that, I've been known to make a batch for myself

and then give a lot of it away to coworkers and friends.

Sometimes I take a little more time and package it up in cute mini mason jars!

David's Famous Salsa

1 (15 oz) Can Tomato Sauce

1 (28 oz) Can Whole Peeled Tomatoes

2 Teaspoons Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Oregano Leaves

1 Teaspoon Garlic, Minced

Sprinkle of Garlic Powder

1 Bunch Green Onions, Chopped

1 Bunch Cilantro, Chopped

1 FULL Teaspoon Dried Chili Tepins, Crushed

3 to 4 Limes

1 Tablespoon Red Wine Vinegar

1. In a blender, add ingredients in the following order:
• Half the can of whole tomatoes (and juice)
• Three quarters of the chopped green onions
• All of the chopped cilantro
• Juice from the limes
• Red wine vinegar
• Salt
• Sprinkle of garlic powder
• Minced garlic
• Crushed chili tepins
• Oregano leaves
• The rest of the can of whole tomatoes
• The rest of the green onions
• Last but not least the tomato sauce
2. Blend well for about a minute. 
3. Store in airtight jar for about a week or two.  

Chicken Enchilada Soup

I'm a biggggggg fan of eating soup.

It doesn't really have to be cold out either.

I eat soup year round and always have a bunch in my freezer.

So when I ran across this recipe last Fall I knew I would be making it.

Not too long after finding it, I made it and it was so darn delicious!

I've made it a few more times and knew I had to share because it's that good!

And the best part is that it's made in the slow cooker!

So not only is it really tasty, but it's super easy to make too.

Let me show you how simple it really is.

The Goods:

Chicken Breasts

Yellow Onion

Garlic

Jalapenos

Corn

Bell Pepper

Black Beans

Cilantro

Diced Tomatoes

Tomato Paste

Chicken Broth

Cayenne Pepper

Chili Powder

Cumin

Pepper Jack Cheese

Place your raw chicken breasts at the bottom of your slow cooker.

Add your diced bell pepper, jalapeno, onion and garlic.

Next add your dice tomatoes, black beans and corn.

Now time to add the chicken broth.

And finally the spices and tomato paste.

Stir everything up until it's mixed well.

Cook on high for four and a half hours.

Stir in minced cilantro and shredded pepper jack cheese.

Cook for about 30 more minutes.

Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred.

Return to soup, mix in and serve yourself a bowl!

Dig in and enjoy as is!

Or add something extra like soup cream or avocado!!!

Chicken Enchilada Soup

Adapted from Carolina Charm

2 large Chicken Breasts

1 Large Yellow Onion - Diced

4 Cloves Garlic - Minced

2 Large Jalapenos - Minced

2 Cups Frozen Corn

1 Bell Pepper - Diced

1 Can Black Beans - Rinsed and Drained

1 Bunch Cilantro - Minced

(2) 14.5 Ounce Cans Diced Tomatoes

1/2 Cup Tomato Paste

3 Cups Chicken Broth

1/2 to 1 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

2 Teaspoons Chili Powder

2 Teaspoons Ground Cumin

1/2 Cup Pepper Jack Cheese - Shredded

1. Place your raw chicken breasts at the bottom of your slow cooker.
2. Add your diced bell pepper, jalapeno, onion and garlic.
3. Next add your dice tomatoes, black beans and corn.
4. Now time to add the chicken broth.
5. And finally the spices and tomato paste.
6. Stir everything up until it's mixed well.
7. Cook on high for four to four and a half hours.
8. Stir in minced cilantro and shredded pepper jack cheese and cook for about 30 more minutes.
9. Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred. 
10. Return to soup, mix in and serve yourself a bowl!

Inez's Turkey Burgers

Now that summer is basically here, 

I'm sure there will be lots of grilling going on.

So now is the perfect time to talk about some yummy burgers!

A few weeks ago, my friend Inez, who's a foodie like me, 

told me about a Turkey Burger she made that was amazing.

She said she wasn't going to make them any other way again!

After hearing that, I KNEW I had to give these burgers a try.

I got the recipe from her and made the burgers shortly after.

And she was right - they are amazing!!!

Since they were so good, I asked her permission to share the recipe on my blog.

And lucky you - she said yes!

Take a look below at how you make these simple, yet delicious burgers.

The Goods:

1 Package Ground Turkey

2 Tablespoons Chopped Fresh Cilantro

2 Tablespoons Minced Garlic

Juice from 1/2 Lemon

4 Teaspoons Cholula Hot Sauce

1  Teaspoon Ground Cumin

Salt and Pepper to your liking

Buns

Lettuce

Avocado

In a large bowl, combine turkey, cilantro, garlic, 

lemon juice, hot sauce, cumin, salt and pepper.

Divide mixture into six and make into burgers.

From here - you can either cook them right up, or with in a day.

OR you can do what I did - cooked one to eat now and froze the rest for future use!

I froze mine with wax paper between and in freezer zipper bags.

Cook the burgers FULLY. This is turkey, so it can't be raw!

If you want, be a lil naughty and add cheese like I did!!

Then make you delicious burger, serve it with a side and enjoy!!!

Confession - I not only added cheese, 

but there's a tomato on the final product too!

Now go make these super tasty turkey burgers yourself. 

I'm pretty sure you'll thank me, but really you should thank Inez!!

Asian Quinoa Salad

For awhile, I have been making a Grain Greek Salad for lunches on a pretty regular basis.
Not too long ago, I decided I wanted to look for other grain salads.
I specifically set out to find quinoa recipes and quickly found one I knew I wanted to try!
Asian Quinoa Salad sounded great and I couldn't wait to make it!

The Goods:

Quinoa

Sesame Oil

Soy Sauce

Rice Vinegar

Sesame Seeds

Crushed Red Peppers

Cilantro

Ginger

Cabbage

Red Bell Pepper

Cucumber

Shredded Carrots

Edamame

Make the dressing, chop the veggies and cook the quinoa.
Then combine in one bowl and mix it all together.
Refrigerate at least a few hours before serving.

I made this salad for lunches one week,
and it was SO good that I decided I needed to blog about it.
So I made it for a second week in a row in order to document the process.

It's so simple and so tasty!
I can't wait to make it again to be honest.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde

I recently ran across a recipe for a Salsa Verde that sounded amazing and looked super easy to make! I saved the recipe and said to myself I'd make it soon. 

Less than a month later, I was roasting tomatillos, jalapenos and garlic to make this delicious salsa!  As I suspected, it WAS super easy to make and required very little effort! 

Take a look below and give it a try yourself! I don't think you'll be disappointed.

The Goods:

Tomatillos

Jalapenos

Garlic

Lime Juice

Salt

Apple Cider Vinegar

And not pictured...

Cilantro!

(OOPS!)

Before, After,

And all ready for Blending!

All done!

Now time to dig in!

Go make it yourself.

Seriously!!!

Pioneer Woman Guacamole

Last night I went over to my wonderful neighbor's house for some wine, beer, appetizers and a whole lot of fun! I decided to bring some Restaurant Style Salsa and to go along with it, I threw together Guacamole based on a recipe from The Pioneer Woman. 

Man I love her food! 

Now let me show you how to make the guacamole that everyone seemed to love! 

The Goods!

I knew I wasn't going to make as much as the original recipe called for, so I used 2 avocados, 1 medium hot house tomato, 1 jalapeno, 1/4 of a medium red onion, a lime and salt and cilantro to taste.

Chop up the tomato, jalapeno, onion and cilantro.

Toss with lime juice and salt.

Add the avocado and mash everything together.

Finish it off with a little more lime juice and salt.

Keep the avocado seeds in until ready to serve to limit browning.

Homemade Restaurant Salsa

I looooooove salsa and now I can say I really enjoy making it too. I enjoy it so much that I haven't used salsa from the store in months!

I blogged about one recipe I made less than a year ago, and have tried multiple different things since then. I tried roasting everything once, then tried roasting everything but the tomatoes another time.  My most recent attempt was making a recipe from The Pioneer Woman. I am never disappointed when I make her recipes and I was not even close to disappointed with this salsa! It is by far my favorite of all the ones I've made and it doesn't involve ANY fresh tomatoes. I thought that was the trick all along, but boy or boy was I wrong!

Before I forget - a little word of caution - this recipe makes a HUGE batch! I always do it in two separate batches in my food processor and then combine it into one in a giant bowl!

Now let me show you just how to make this amazing salsa!

The Goods!

Add half the can of Peeled Whole Tomatoes and 1 can Rotel.

Now half of the onions, garlic and jalapeno.

Mix it all up!

Add salt, sugar, cumin, lime juice and cilantro.

And mix it all once again!

All done!!!

Now time to enjoy with some homemade tortilla chips.