Brownies

Recipe from my mom


2 sticks of butter
10 tbsp cocoa (1/2 c. + 2 Tbsp)
2 C sugar

Beat well.

Add:
4 eggs
1 1/2 C flour
dash of salt.

Combine. Batter is very thick. Spread in 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Tuscan Lentil Soup

This Tuscan Lentil Soup is nothing spectacular, but it's good, and every person in my family ate it, multiple bowls even. Therefore, it is going in the top 12.

Salad Wrap

This isn't really a recipe, just a reminder that I can make these next time I'm scrolling through my blog for a dinner idea.

Flour tortilla
Spinach
Lettuce
Canned or leftover chicken
Cheese
Hard boiled egg
Ranch

Fish Tacos

After searching long and hard for the Fast and Easy Tilapia Tacos with Pineapple Salsa recipe I came to the conclusion that it doesn't exist. Instead I think I used this recipe as a guide, and modified it for the ingredients and time I had on hand. Dave loved it and that is saying a lot because Dave usually just tolerates fish.

Marinade (this is copied straight from the recipe):

• 1/4 cup pineapple juice
  
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Dice 3 tilapia fillets and marinate while you make the salsa. Wrap in foil and grill, or saute on the stove.

The Food Network recipe has a complicated salsa recipe with ingredients I don't buy. I just made my own pico de gallo with fresh tomatoes, green peppers, red onion, cilantro, salt and pepper and added some pineapple. Last time I made it I may have just mixed pineapple into salsa.

Serve in warm corn or flour tortillas with diced avocado, crema (sour cream with a little lime juice), fish and pineapple salsa.

See fast and easy.

Tempura

Recipe here.

Very good, I haven't decided whether or not to add it to the top 12 because my kids didn't eat dinner at our house that night. But Dave and I liked it. We especially liked the tempura fried onions, which the recipe doesn't suggest, but my friend did.

Most of the dipping sauce recipes called for mirin or sake, and I don't think you can buy those at grocery stores in Heber so we settled for a combo of 2/3 C soy sauce, 1/4 C. rice vinegar, and 3 T sugar heated in a sauce pan until sugar was dissolved.

This wasn't particularly filling. You'll want something to go with it. Or serve it on a night when you have an awesome dessert to want to save room for.

Granola

I said I was going granola, now I'm even making it.

I don't know what happened since Eli was born, but I just cannot take cereal anymore. I feel horrible after I eat it, and since I need a quick alternative to oatmeal, this has made it into the morning rotation. The recipe is from Heather M in my ward.

4 C rolled grain, such as oats
1 C whole grain flour
3/4 C honey
1 C coconut
1/4 C cooking oil
1 t. vanilla

Thoroughly mix together. Spread on baking sheet, bake at 350 for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally (okay I never stir it while it's cooking--too lazy, just give it a good stir or two while it cools to keep it from hardening into a giant granola bar.)

After cooking, add any of the following optional ingredients.
1/4 C sunflower seeds
1/4 C chopped nuts
1/4 C sesame seeds
1/2 C dried fruit
or my personal favorite, chocolate chips and craisins.