Relief Society Dinner

We had the adult Relief Society dinner tonight. The meal was served "family-style" where a bowl of the chicken enchilada, flour tortillas, chips, cowboy caviar and sour cream sauce was on each table. The centerpiece was a pie that one of the sisters had brought, so each table had a unique flavor of pie. There was some "trading" at the end if another table had a pie flavor you had a hankering for. It was nice to have time to visit and eat without worrying about standing in line. After the meal there was a short program. I accompanied Molly as she performed a vocal number.

Chile Lime Sour Cream Sauce
8 oz sour cream
1 tsp Chile powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
Juice of one lime
Combine ingredients and refrigerate overnight.

Slow Cooker Enchilada Recipe
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
10 oz enchilada sauce
1 yellow onion, diced
1 Jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 can (4 oz) diced green chiles
Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Remove chicken and shred in a bowl.

Cowboy Caviar
1 can black eye peas, drain and rinse
1 can black beans, drain and rinse
1 can whole kernel corn, drain and rinse
2 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 Jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
3 TB minced garlic
1-2 TB lime juice
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 tsp Italian seasoning
2 each avocados - just before serving, dice and add to recipe

Dressing: Mix and pour on mixture overnight or several hours before serving
1 dry Italian seasoning mix packet
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup vinegar

Copycat Costa Vida

We made copycat Costa Vida Sweet Shredded Beef, Cilantro Lime Rice and Tomatillo Ranch Dressing tonight and decided we needed to share with someone, so we invited John's mom and brother down for dinner. We served the beef and rice on soft tortilla shells with toppings such as shredded cheese, lettuce, diced tomatoes, sliced olives and of course the dressing. After dinner John had me play a few numbers on the piano. Ralph set a glass on the piano and put money in it (and snapped the photo).

Tomatillo Ranch Dressing
1 package ranch dressing mix (1 oz)
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tomatillos, husks removed
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
1 tsp fresh lime juice, or to taste
1 jalapeno, remove seeds for a mild taste
Place all ingredients in a blender; blend well. Note: The dressing gets hotter the longer it sits.

Cilantro Lime Rice
1 cup long-grain white rice, uncooked
1 tsp butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp fresh lime juice
1 (15 oz) can chicken broth
1 cup water 1 TB fresh lime juice
2 tsp sugar
3 TB fresh cilantro, chopped
Place the rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp lime juice, chicken broth, and water in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the 1 tablespoon lime juice, sugar, and cilantro; set aside. When rice is tender, remove from heat. Pour cilantro mixture over hot cooked rice; mix in as you fluff the rice with a fork.

Sweet Shredded Beef
2 pounds beef chuck roast
1 cup salsa or picante sauce
1 cup brown sugar
Place the roast in a crock pot. Dump the salsa and brown sugar on top of the meat. Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, or on high for 3 to 4 hours. When 1 hour remains, shred the roast with forks and return the meat to the crock pot to soak up the juices.

Fall Activities !

Went to Super Saturday this morning. Each year my sister and I compare notes on what our particular ward is doing and if either of us interested in the other ones projects, we make sure to get them a kit. I was not interested in any of the projects my ward was doing, but Kathy was interested in the JOY blocks. Unfortunately the picture on the sign up sheet and what was presented that day was quite different. The tops of the blocks were 4x6 blocks and looked far too heavy for the spindles they were to be on. So I only painted the spindles and took the blocks home for John. He cut them down to about a 3x4 block and routered a nice edge to them. Definitely looked more in proportion to the spindles. I sent them to Kathy and this is the final project. She ended up putting not only the JOY on the front, but BOO on the back so she could have them on display during Halloween and Christmas.

Since I only had the black spindle portion to paint, I ended up sitting and chatting with Kathy Thompson for the rest of the morning until lunch was served. They had a Pasta e Fagioli soup, green salad, bread and then 4 different spreads to top the bread with. Below are the various spreads.

Spice Apple Cheese Spread
2 cups cream cheese
1 & 1/2 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 c. finely chopped apple
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
2 TB milk
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Ham Cream Cheese
2 c. cream cheese
1 c. sour cream
1/4 tsp garlic powder
5 oz deli ham, chopped
2 green onions, thinly sliced

Spicy Jalapeno and Olive Spread
1 block cream Cheese
Jalapeno, seeds removed and finely chopped
Green olives, chopped
1 TB lemon juice

Walnut Raisin
1 block Cream Cheese
Chopped walnuts
Golden raisins
Honey to taste

After a relaxing morning, John and I met up with Marcie and headed to the Incredible Corn Maze at Hauser, Idaho. None of us had every done one before. When we arrived they gave us a map. You could enter in the green, black or blue area depending on if you wanted short, medium or long maze. The older kids went off to explore by themselves while we took the easy route. I was not very good at this! But we did enjoy time with Marcie and her kids! Thanks for a fun fall quarterly activity!!

Barbecue Sauce and Chicken

We made a homemade barbecue sauce to put on our chicken before we barbecued on the grill. We tried bone-in chicken this time (thighs) but will go back to boneless chicken next time. Just a preference. Otherwise, everything tasted great.

BARBECUE SAUCE
1 & 1/2 c. ketchup
1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce
1 c. light brown sugar
1/2 c. red wine vinegar
2 & 1/2 TB dry mustard
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp hot sauce (like Tabasco or Cholula)
2 tsp salt
1 & 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c. water
Combine ingredients in a medium bowl and use as a marinade or to baste meat while grilling.

OLD FASHIONED BBQ CHICKEN
1 recipe barbecue sauce (above)
2-3 pounds chicken, rinsed well and patted dry
Reserve 1 cup of sauce and marinate chicken in the remaining sauce for 8 hours or overnight. Grill over medium heat, basting with some of the reserved sauce, until it starts to blacken and internal temperature reaches 170 degrees. Remove from heat, drizzle with remaining sauce, and cover with a loose tent of foil for about 5-10 minutes so the chicken remains juicy.

Zucchini Brownies

These were super yummy. It was surprising to know there was zucchini in the brownies.

ZUCCHINI BROWNIES

Brownie:
3 c. shredded & peeled zucchini
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 & 1/4 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c. milk chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking pan. In a large bowl mix together the oil, sugar and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt and then stir into the sugar mixture. Mix in zucchini and chocolate chips. Press batter evenly into the pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes.


Frosting:
6 TB unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup butter (melted)
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
Mix together butter and cocoa powder. Set aside to cool. In mixer bowl, blend together the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla. Stir in the cooled cocoa mixture. Mix on medium for 2 minutes. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.

Baked Potato Topping

BAKED POTATO TOPPING
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp chopped green onion
3 slices crispy bacon, crumbled

Mix butter and sour cream together. Fold in cheese, onion and bacon. Serve at room temperature on baked potatoes. 4-6 servings