Amy's Sweet Green Chili Rice

One of my favorite classroom parents EVER shared this delish rice recipe with me-- and it changed my life! Haha. But, really...It's so good that I decided to name it after her! Usually I do not really like Mexican-style rice because it tends to be so dry and flavorless. Amy's rice is moist and FULL of flavor. I think I've made it twice a week since she shared the recipe with me! Try it as a side dish, on a taco, in a burrito, etc. You won't be disappointed!

Amy, you are one of the sweetest people I know. I feel blessed to know you and more than that, I feel honored to have had your sweet baby girl in my class! Thank you for this delicious recipe!

Ingredients:
- 2 cups of minute rice
- 2 cups of chicken broth
- 1 garlic pod, minced
- 1/2 small onion, diced
- zest of 1 lime
- juice of 1/2 lime
- 1 chicken bouillon cube
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 4 ounces of diced green chilies
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup of frozen mixed veggies, depending on how much you want (I use the carrots, peas, corn, green beans mix)
- dash of olive oil, salt and pepper

Directions:
1) Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is soft.
2) Add remaining ingredients, except rice, and bring to a boil.
3) After it comes to a boil, add rice and stir well. Turn heat off and cover. Leave covered for 10 minutes.
4) Remove lid, stir, serve immediately. Voila!

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Cream Cheese Banana Nut Bread

If there's one thing my sister and I share... It's a love for cooking and trying new things in the kitchen! She lives in Houston so we don't get to share these moments too often, but when we do we have the best time. Just a few weeks ago I went to Houston for a visit and we made a variety of things- one being this cream cheese banana nut bread. This was really easy and so yummy! We saw the original recipe on Pinterest and it made 2 loaves. We cut the recipe in half to just make one loaf. The full recipe is listed below. Try this! It won't let you down!

Love you, Steph! I can't wait for my next visit and I'm looking forward to some more cooking adventures with you! xo

Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup of butter, softened
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 2 cups of sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 3 cups of flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas (about 4 medium bananas)
- 1 cup of roughly chopped pecans
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.
Combine flour and next three ingredients; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at a low speed just until blended. Stir in bananas, pecans, and vanilla. Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured 8x4 inch loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Voila!

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Crock Pot Monday: Chili Colorado Burritos

My poor, neglected blog! School has been keeping me swamped, exhausted, and Strep-ridden this year :( . Boo! But I'm going to try harder to share some of the delicious recipes we have been cooking at the Farque household! This is one of them. Of course I found it on Pinterest and it is super easy. The meat cooks all day in the crock pot so it's really tender. Then you assemble the burritos when you get home, melt the cheese, and voila! Easy Mexican food at your fingertips. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
- 2 pounds of stew meat or other beef cubed
- 20 ounces of red enchilada sauce
- 2 beef bouillon cubes
- 1/2 can of refried beans
- 5-7 burrito size flour tortillas
- 1 cup or so of shredded cheese
- 1/2 of an onion, chopped
- small handful of chopped cilantro

Directions:
1) Season the beef with garlic powder, a little Greek seasoning, and a little Mexican seasoning (or whatever you have). Go easy on the salt since you'll be adding 2 beef bouillon cubes to the mixture.
2) Add the beef, bouillon, enchilada sauce, onions, and cilantro to the crock pot and cook on low for 7 or 8 hours. Mine cooked for about 8 and the meat was perfect.
3) After the meat is cooked, use a slotted spoon to get it all out of the crock pot. Use two forks to shred the meat and then put it back in the juice.
4) Turn your broiler on. Put some beef, refried beans, a little juice from the crock pot, and cheese in the tortilla and roll it up. Cover the top with more juice and cheese. Put under the broiler unil the cheese is melted.
5) Voila!

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Chicken Marinade

I am always looking for new ways to cook chicken. I feel like every week we eat some sort of chicken, beef, pork, and seafood. Every. Single. Week! I love to branch out but sometimes it's just easier to make something that you've already made. Have you ever felt that way? Well I found this simple marinade recipe and decided to try it. I used chicken tenderloins because I love to bring them in my lunch as wraps. The chicken was so good! And this recipe makes a whole jar full of marinade so you can use it more than once. I cut the recipe in half because I was only marinating about 1/2 pound of chicken (the full recipe is listed below). I mixed everything and let it sit over night. The chicken came out moist delicious!

Ingredients:

- 1 cup of olive oil

- 3/4 cup of soy sauce

- 1/2 cup of red wine vinegar

- 1/2 cup of Worcestershire sauce

- 1/2 cup of brown sugar

- 1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice

- 2 tablespoons of minced garlic (I used garlic powder)

- 3 teaspoons of salt

- generous dash of pepper

* Mix all of the ingredients together and submerge chicken. The original recipe says to marinate for at least 4 hours. I marinated the tenderloins over night.

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Crock Pot Monday: Hickory Smoked Brisket

School is back in full swing...And so is Crock Pot Monday! I tried this super easy recipe in my slow cooker and it was delish! It's probably my new favorite way to cook a brisket. It was tender and juicy, and it had a slight smokey taste like it was cooked on a grill. Jason loves brisket and he absolutely LOVED this! We will definitely be having this again very soon. You can view the original recipe here, and a short video on how to put the foil in your crock pot.

Ingredients:
3-4 pound brisket, trimmed
1/4 cup of liquid smoke
1/2 teaspoon of celery salt
1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon of onion powder
a sprinkle of Tony's

Directions:
1) Line the bottom of your crock pot with foil. I used 2 pieces to make sure none of the juice leaked out.
2) Place the brisket in the crock pot. Pour the liquid smoke on top.
3) Sprinkle all seasonings on top.
4) Cook on low for 8-12 hours.
5) Voila! Seriously, it's that easy.

Try this soon!

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Homemade Granola Bars

These are no-bake and really easy! I have been looking for simple and healthy lunch snacks to bring to school. I found this recipe on Pinterest and decided to try it. I added in some ground flax seed to the mixture so these bars are actually pretty healthy. They sort of taste like no bake cookies. I found a few other recipes for granola bars that I'm thinking about trying, too-- one had Nutella in it! Stay tuned!

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup of natural peanut butter
- 1/3 cup of local honey
- 1/4 cup of unsalted butter
- 1 cup of oats (not quick oats)
- 2 tablespoons of wheat germ
- 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed
- 1/2 cup of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1) Melt the butter, peanut butter, and honey over low-medium heat. Stir constantly.
2) Turn off the burner when melted. Pour in the oats, wheat germ, and flax seed. Stir til combined.
3) You can wait until the mixture cools to add in the chocolate chips, or if you're like me (impatient) just go ahead and dump it all right in. The result will be a more uniform chocolate taste (shown in the picture).
4) Pour mixture into a foil-lined 8x8 pan and stick in the fridge. Once cooled, take the foil out of the pan and cut to the size you like.
5) Voila!

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Oreo Cookie Bark

Only 2 ingredients and about 20 minutes stands between you and this very simple and yummy dessert! I have to admit that my version was not as pretty as the one in this picture- but it was delicious none the less. Here's the link for the original recipe. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
- 10 ounces of Ghirardelli white chocolate chips
- 15 Oreos, plus a few more for topping

Directions:
1) Line an 8x8 pan with enough parchment paper for 1 inch overhang.
2) Place chocolate in a double boiler over low heat and stir until chocolate is completely melted. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
3) Crush Oreos and mix into the melted chocolate and use a spatula to spread mixture in the 8x8 pan.
4) Finely chop remaining Oreos and sprinkle on top. Chill pan for about 10 minutes until chocolate becomes solid.
5) Life whole bark out of pan by holding the parchment overhang.  Break bark into pieces.
6) Voila!

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