just a little preface...
This blog consist of meals that are practically all purchased with the help of my footstamp budget, I work full time, but as a single mom with two children at home I am classified as "poverty level". I thank God everyday that my children get good homecooked meals, because there are so many kids in the USA that go hungry every day. I just wanted to add this so if you think you cannot purchase good food and create good meals on a tight budget I hope my blog makes you think of food in a different way. noturtypicalgma
the only thing i ask in sharing these recipes with you, is that you must really love the person you serve them to....cooking is how i show my love to the special people in my life.....
Tacos in our house growing up were a weekly thing. My Dad loved tacos. As we got older my sister and I would have to fry the taco shells sometimes up to 15 or so. Tedious, but as I grew up I never, repeat never bought those prefab taco shells. They just do not taste the same as homemade. So here is a tutorial and a recipe for you to enjoy. I am even throwing in my daughters recipe for American Guacomole. Enjoy!
Ingredients
American Guacamole
1med avacado
2-3tbsp of sour cream
1/4 lemon wedge
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
salt to taste
~optional items~
1/2 diced tomato
tbsp fresh minced onion
1 minced jalapeno
Taco Shells
10 - 6 inch corn tortillas yellow or white
1/3 cup of canola oil for frying
Chicken Tacos
3-4 breast fillets cut up
1tbsp olive oil
2tsp of "No Salt" seasoning like Mrs. Dash
Salt to taste
10 Taco shells
Taco Fixings
1 cup of shredded cheese of your choice or crumbled Cotija
My mom used to make the best chili con carne. She used pork steak for this. Chili Con Carne or chili with meat was one of my Dads favorites, we never ate it as a burrito but usually on the plate with beans and rice. I make mine in a burrito just easier and less cleanup! I had made this a while back but never edited it and ran across it tonight. Since I showed you how I grill pork steak here is another option for you so I hope you enjoy it.
Ingredients
Moms Chili Con Carne
2 and 1/4 lbs of porksteak cut into small 1 inch pieces rinsed 1/4 c. flour 1tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper 1/4 tsp cumin powder
4 roma tomatoes
1-4 jalapenos
1tbsp of garlic minced
1tbsp of red onion Salt to taste
Video Recipe Brown your pork for about 15 minutes and then add the salsa, simmer for another 10 minutes. Enjoy!
Barbecue sauce is soo easy to make! I made mine one day after realizing I did not have any in my pantry. I just experimented with ketchup and brown sugar. Today I do not use ketchup but tomato sauce instead, it tends to not have that ketchuppy (is that a word?) taste. I make a couple of different versions one with honey one without. This is the non honey version.
Its the end the month for us and we were low on meat choices, either fish or porksteak. I took out the pork steak. Pork steak is an inexpensive and versatile cut of pork. I use it to make chile verde or chile con carne, but I just felt like grilling it. I served this with some white rice and a cold spicy blackbean and corn salad .
Ingredients
My Spicy and Sweet Barbecue Sauce
1c. of tomato sauce
1/2 c. of brown sugar
1tbsp molasses
1tbsp soy sauce
1tbsp apple cider vinegar
1tbsp vietnamese garlic chili paste
1tbsp of liquid hickory smoke
1tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp cumin powder
mix everything in a saucepan and let simmer for about 30 minutes till it thickens
Spicy Blackbean and Corn Salad
1 can of black beans rinsed
1 can of corn rinsed
2 serrano chilis deveined and seeded
1/3 cup of diced red onion
1/2 avacado diced
1 green tomato sliced thick and grilled for 1 min on each side diced
juice of 1 lime
Mix everything together and let chill this is even better the longer it chills.. great the next day!
I love tri-tip, it is solely responsible for keeping me from being a vegan...ok I love NY strip steaks too.
This is the first step to preparing a great tasting tri-tip. Tri-tip is big in California and I am not sure if it has made its way further east yet but a few years ago no one out of Cali knew what it was. When I lived in Minnesota people were like tri-tip whats that? Well it is from the cut of meat known as the brisket and it is generally a fattier piece of roast, which makes it ideal for us Cali barbecuers, is that a word? Anyway I have been loving me some tri-tip for over 20 years now. I was first introduced to it by working my first job in the now closed Monty's Liquor on Howard Road in Madera. It was my job to prep the numerous tri-tip we would go through on a Friday. We grilled inside on a large grill in the Deli Kitchen. This is the "secret Monty's Tri-tip recipe" I call it mine but of course I just stole it from them...
So here we go...on the way to tri-tip heaven!
Ingredients
1 bottle of liquid Hickory Smoke
salt
pepper
garlic powder
1 3lb tri-tip
Don't make the mistake of using garlic salt...use powder only, and you will want the shakerful because there will be a lot of shaking going on.
This is the first video of prep it shows no cooking. Cooking video will follow tomorrow.
