Life as an Aced

When we were in Chile Empinadas were everywhere!!! However all the ones me and Eddie had the opportunity to try were full of either onions, hard boiled egg, or had a weird olive still with the pit on the inside. The Crust was always the best part and I knew I could make fillings both me and Eddie would like . . . so when my brother was in town this week we decided to take on the challenge of making our own and it was well worth it!! The Dough  (recipe from  epicurious.com ) Ingredients: 2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1 teaspoons salt 1 stick (1/2 cup) cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 1 large egg 1/3 cup cold water 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar Directions: 1) Mix Flour, Salt and Butter untill mixture is "sandy" 2) Add egg, water, and vinegar and mix untill it forms a ball 3) Refrigerate for at least 1 hour The Fillings I used 3 different meats for my fillings but you can use whatever you want **Spicy Taco Ground Beef **Chipotle Gar...

Pizza Hut has released the Cheesy Bites Pizza Once again. We got really excited it and ordered it right away but were really disappointed. Their new crust which is supposed to be light and airy was just thin and flimsy and not really that good. This put me on a mission to make my  Cheesy Bites Pizza  once again The one thing I did take from the Pizza Hut Version was garlicky crust so as mine was coming out of the oven I spread a little homemade garlic oil on each cheesy bite Garlic Oil - Mix Crushed Garlic with Olive Oil and a pinch of salt Quick Tips about Infused Oils from  http://www.epicurious.com • Always keep flavored oils refrigerated. Infused oils last about 1 month when stored properly. • Allow flavored oils to sit out at room temperature for approximately 20 minutes before each use. • Don't use flavored oils for deep-frying—leftover particles will burn.

I LOVE mexican food and refried beans but never seem to buy them because Eddie won't eat them . . . However the other day I ran across a recipe on  Chef in Training  to make your own in the crock pot and I knew that I just had to try it WARNING this recipe makes ALOT i think the next time I make them I will cup the recipe into a third Homemade "Re-fried" Beans Ingredients: 1 Package of dried beans (i used black) 5 bullion cubes (i used beef) 1 tbsp garlic salt 1/2 tbsp onion powder 1/4 cup butter Directions : 1) Place Beans in CrockPot and cover with water 2) Add Seasoning and cook on low until beans are soft (mine took 9 hours) 3) Drain Beans and add butter 4) Mix with a hand blender or kitchen aid until beans are mashed then Enjoy

Taco Time has been advertising Crisp Burritos for a while now and that got me thinking that I could make those. While I've never actually had one I just assumed they were taquitos but with burrito fillings on the inside so from there came my Taquito Burritos! Taquito Burritos Ingredients: Corn Tortillas Chicken Cheese Rice Hot Sauce Directions 1) Pre Heat Oven to 425 degrees 2) Mix the Chicken, Rice, Cheese, and Hot Sauce together 3) Microwave 6 tortillas at a time for 1 minute 4) Add a spoonful of the mixture to each tortilla and roll up 5) Place on Baking sheet and spray with cooking spray 6) Bake for about 20 -25 minutes

Trying to eat a little healthier and going unprocessed again starting this week . . . I'll be trying two new recipes this week As we speak I have beans in the crockpot for homemade refried beans and on tuesday we will be trying Lasagna Roll Ups  Hopefully they turn out good!!

I have been in LOVE with the Chipotle Cubes from Knorr and While my mom was in town we found a whole bunch of new flavors including these Garlic ones I'm pretty impressed with Last night I put my two favorites together Chipotle and Garlic Garlic Chipotle Chicken Ingredients: 2 Chicken Breasts 2 Garlic Cubes 2 Chipotle Cubes Olive Oil Directions: 1) Marinate Chicken Breasts in Garlic and Chipotle and a little Olive Oil for at least 30 minutes 2) BBQ for 15-20 minutes each side 3) Serve with Rice, Pasta, or make into a Burrito

I always crave Mexican food and we had left over Grilled Chicken from our BBQ the other day. Typically I would shread it up and make burritos but decided to try out the grilled flavor with taquitos. . .  I paired it with a roasted salsa for an Awesome Dinner last night Grilled Chicken Taquitos Ingredients Grilled Chicken (Shredded) Cheese Roasted Salsa Corn Tortillas Cooking Spray Directions 1) Pre Heat Oven to 425 2) Mix together Chicken, Cheese, and Salsa 3) Microwave 6 tortillas at a time for a minute 4) Spoon 1 spoonful of chicken mixture into each tortilla and roll up 5) Place on Baking Sheet and spray with cooking spray 6) Bake for about 20 minutes

What other way is there to celebrate Mac and Cheese Day then with Mac and Cheese?!? While I typically use Buffalo or Cajun Chicken for my Mac I had some left over Spicy Taco Chicken I decided to use which I thought would go great with eddies idea of using Spicy Nacho Doritos as our Bread Crumbs The end product was an awesome dish that honored Mac and Cheese Day Perfectly!!! Mac and Cheese Taco Bake Ingredients Pasta Cheddar Cheese Sauce Spicy Taco Chicken Cheese Spicy Nacho Doritos - Crushed Directions 1) Pre Heat Oven to 350 degree 2) Cook and Drain Pasta 3) Add Cheese Sauce, Chicken and Cheese to Pasta 4) Place in Baking Dish and top with Doritos 5) Bake for 30 minutes

I was cleaning out my office the other day and came across a recipe I totally forgot about but am totally going to make again - - Hasselback Cheesy Garlic Bread!!! Most people have heard about or seen pictures of Hasselback Potatoes and this is super similar but wayyy more carbs and yummy goodness :) Hasselback Cheesy Garlic Bread Ingredients: Pizza Dough Olive Oil Spray Greek Seasoning Butter Cheese Directions: 1) Pre Heat Oven to 400 degrees 2) Form Pizza Dough into 2 Loaves 3) Turn Oven down to 350 degree and cook dough for 20 minutes 4) Spray Bread with Olive Oil Spray and Sprinkle with Greek Seasoning then cook for 5 more minutes 5) Take out Bread and let cool for 15 minutes 6) Slice Bread 3/4 the way through about every inch 7) Place a little Butter and Cheese in Every Cut and cook for 5 more minutes or untill Cheese is melted

Today (July 14th) is Mac and Cheese Day so what better way to celebrate then by making Mac and Cheese!!! Here are 5 recipes I rounded up from my site to get you started Baked Mac and Cheese Ham Mac and Cheese Gluten Free Mac and Cheese Super Easy Mac and Cheese Cajun Mac and Cheese

I didn't have to cook last night for 4th of July but I did bring Eddie something Special to work to share with his co- workers for lunch Fresh Fried Chips and Salsa + Buffalo Chicken Taquitos I have made taquitos quite a few time and always use some kind of hot sauce but I went back to a classic and my favorite Buffalo Sauce for Eddie and his co-workers yesterday Buffalo Chicken Taquitos Ingredients: -Shredded Chicken -Buffalo Sauce -Shredded Cheese -Corn Tortillas Directions: 1) Pre Heat Oven  to 425 degrees 2) Mix chicken, hot sauce, and cheese together in a bowl 3) Microwave 6 tortillas at a time for one minute 4) Fill tortillas with about 1-2 tbs of mix then roll up and place seam side down on a greased baking sheet 5) Spray tops of taquitos with cooking spray 6) Bake for 15-20 minutes

I was super excited when I joined a campaign with BzzAgent for Taste of Mexico at Smiths thinking that I was going to get to taste some awesome Mexican food but like all mexican food in Utah this was also a big disappointment I went to the store and picked but a package of Beef Barbacoa which I thought would be somewhat similar to the Carne Asada at Trader Joes that me and eddie are OBSESSED with but NO! I cooked up the Beef Barbacoa the same way I would any taco/burrito meat I make . . . In the Crock Pot hoping to have awesome Burritos ready for dinner when I got home but Eddie really didn't care for it. . .the meat wasn't the best in our opinion and was actually really stringy and the flavor it was marinated in kind of disappeared (guess i should have realized this when it was on manager special over half off for $2.49 originally $5.99) I have a few more things to try with them that I am hoping will be a little bit better because the Beef Barbacoa was just a huge di...

Eddie is OBSESSED with Baja Blast he either gets a Baja Freeze from Taco Bell or Drinks the Soda from 7-11 at least once a day Me and Eddie have discovered the Secret!!!! Searching around the internet there are a ton of recipes for how to make it on your own but every one is a little bit different . . . here is ours 1) Full cup with ice 2) Add in a little Blue Powerade (about 1/4 the way up) 3) Fill with Mtn Dew

This week has been the week of not having everything I need to make the things I want Eddie wanted me to make pizza last night and typically I make stuffed crust pizza and stuff it with string cheese . . . I had mozzarella but only enough for the pizza so I compromised and stuffed the crust with Colby Jack. . . I was a little worried about it at first but it turned out Great Colby Jack melts a whole lot more than the string cheese so it will seem like the cheese disappeared from the crust when you like at it but as soon as you take a bite it tastes like you're biting into cheesey bread Colby Jack Stuffed Crust Pizza Ingredients: -Pizza Dough -Colby Cheese (cut into String Cheese sized pieces) -Plain Tomato Sauce -Oregano -Basil -Mozzarella -Pizza Toppings STEP BY STEP Instructions Pre Heat Oven to 400 Degrees then Roll out Dough a little bit bigger than you want it and place cheese in a circle about 1 inch from the outside Fold Dough over the Cheese to ...

I love sandwiches but don't really care for Breakfast - -  However Eddie LOVES breakfast so I try and make him something monday and tuesday mornings when we have our days off This week I put my Love for Sandwiches and Eddies Love for breakfast together and dressed them up for a "fancy" Breakfast sandwich Breakfast Paninis  Ingredients: Bread Eggs Bacon Cheese Directions: 1) Cook Eggs and Bacon 2) Pre-Heat Panini Grill 3) Assemble Sandwiches with Cheese on Both Sides 4) Place in Panini Grill until both sides are golden brown NOTES -You can use a frying pan if you don't have a Panini Grill -I don't use any butter or cooking spray but feel free to if you want