Cuban Black Beans and Rice

I got this off of recipezaar.com and used some of the modifications suggested in the comments. It is the quick, lazy way to make this dish and it makes about four to five servings.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped green pepper (red works, too)
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 (15 ounce) can black beans (undrained)
3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 package Sazon Goya without annato (substitution I used: 2 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. chicken boullion, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder)
1 tablespoon cider vinegar (you can use cooking wine, too)
2 cups cooked white rice
pre-cooked ham steak (optional)

Directions
Heat oil in a medium sauce pan, sauté onion,green pepper, and garlic. Sauté until tender, about 5-10 minutes.

Add in remaining ingredients and stir until boiling, reduce heat and simmer until sauce is reduced, about 20 minutes. You can smash some of the beans to add to the flavor. Serve over white rice.

In order to make this more of a main dish, I diced a dinner ham steak and tossed it in.

Pear Crisp

I got this from Pioneer Woman and it is amazing. The pecans make the dish. I took a picture of it before I put it in the oven, but umm...I took a giant bite out of it before I realized I had forgotten to take an "after the oven" picture. So I used Pioneer Woman's photo as well.

FILLING INGREDIENTS:
4 whole (to 5) Large Pears (Bosc Work Well)
⅔ cups Sugar
¼ teaspoons Salt
_____
Topping Ingredients
1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
⅓ cups Sugar
⅓ cups Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
½ teaspoons Cinnamon
½ cups Pecans, Very Finely Chopped
1 stick Butter, Melted

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Peel, core, and dice pears. Place into a bowl and stir together with 2/3 cup sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans. Stir together. Drizzle melted butter gradually, stirring with a fork as you go until all combined.

Pour pears into a baking dish/pie pan; top with crumb topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Place pan on top rack of oven for an additional 10 minutes, or until topping is golden brown.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Crockpot Chicken

2-3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 14oz can of black beans-undrained
1 cup of salsa
1 cup of frozen corn
8 oz cream cheese-cubed

Place chicken, undrained black beans, salsa and corn in a crock pot. Cook on high for 5 hours. Shred chicken and dump cubed cream cheese in crock pot. Cook another 45 minutes-1 hour on high. Stir until cream cheese is blended with chicken mixture.
You can use this as a dip with chips or as a filling for enchiladas or quesadillas.

Pork Pitas with Cuke Yogurt Sauce

I got this from Veronica Haymore a couple of years ago.

Pork

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup onion
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/8 tsp pepper
2 lbs boneless pork chops cut into pieces (I sometimes you a tenderloin)

Yogurt Sauce

8 oz plain yogurt
1/2 cup finely chopped cucumber
1 Tbsp chopped onion
1 Tbsp Parsley
1 tsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp garlic salt

In a plastic bag, combine all of the ingredients for the pork marinade. Add pork pieces and toss to coat. Seal and refrigerate overnight. Make yogurt sauce and refrigerate for several hours before you're ready to serve it. If you have a George Forman-type grill, use that to cook your pork; otherwise, cook it in a frying pan. Serve in fresh pitas with yogurt sauce.

Raspberry Trifle

This is a recipe I got from my sister-in-law. Those of you that were at the very last book club at Dorothy's may remember this dessert. My favorite quote from someone after eating this was, "I want to dive into the bowl and eat my way out." Enjoy.

1 cup heavy whipping cream (whipped)

3 (8-oz) packages cream cheese

1 cup sour cream

2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. almond extract

1 large angel food cake

2 bags frozen raspberries

Whip the cram and then add the cream cheese, sour cream, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Break the angel food cake into small pieces (size of golf balls) and fold into the above mixture. Layer 1/2 of this mixture in the bottom of a trifle bowl or glass bowl. Then layer 1 bag of raspberries over it. Layer the remaining 1/2 of the mixture over the raspberries and pour the remaining bag of berries on the top. Refrigerate and serve.

Pumpkin Waffles

I just tried these the other day, and they were so good that I was left wondering why I haven't been making them all along. Perfect for a Saturday morning breakfast with maple syrup. Next, I think we will try them for dessert, topped with vanilla ice cream!

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin
2 cups milk
4 eggs, separated
1/4 cup butter, melted


Preheat a waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions.

Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, salt, and brown sugar in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, stir together the pumpkin, milk, and egg yolks. Whip the egg whites in a clean dry bowl until soft peaks form.

Stir the flour mixture and 1/4 cup melted butter to the pumpkin mixture, stirring just to combine. Use a whisk or rubber spatula to fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter, stirring gently until incorporated. Fold in the remaining egg whites.

Cook waffles according to manufacturer's instructions.

I have made these the lazy way, just adding the eggs in whole, and they turn out fine. But, if you take the time to whip the egg whites, they are just that much fluffier.

Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

My mom's recipe. These are moist and sweet, great with honey and butter!

1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon honey
5 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons dry milk powder
2 tablespoons butter
4 1/2 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Mix the yeast, warm water and 1 tbsp of the sugar and let sit until bubbles form. Then add the rest of the ingredients, leaving the flour until the end. After kneading, the dough should be moist but not sticky. I usually end up adding a bit more flour. Put in a bowl, cover and let rise for an hour or so, until doubled.

Punch down the dough, and divide into 24 balls. You can shape these however you want, but I usually just leave them as balls and place them on a cookie sheet close enough that as they rise they will touch. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes.

Cook at 350 for 15 minutes, until golden brown.

A few notes:

If you don't have almond extract, no sweat, just use vanilla. Or, if you don't have molasses, just use honey.
I have also substituted 1 cup of the white flour with whole wheat flour, and this makes them a bit heartier, and (I convince myself), a little bit healthy.