BEACH PARTY!!!!!!! & MEXICAN COBB SALAD with JALAPENO RANCH DRESSING

It’s beach party time at Seaside Simplicity. Time to grab your virtual beach towels and flip flops, and head on over to the beach!  You can follow me over.  This week I’m taking my MEXICAN COBB SALAD with JALAPENO RANCH DRESSING!  Perfect to accommodate Martha’s Jalapeno Poppers.

MEXICAN COBB SALAD
Bed of Lettuce
Grilled chicken breast, chilled and chopped
1 roma tomato, chopped
1 avocado chopped
1/8 cup chopped green chiles
1/4 cup grated jack cheese
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
Juice of 1 lime

JALAPENO RANCH DRESSING
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups mayonnaise
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon crushed parsley flakes
2 tablespoons Penzey’s California crushed jalapenos
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper

  • Whisk all together and chill overnight before serving

    MEXICAN COBB SALAD with JALAPENO RANCH DRESSING

    MEXICAN COBB SALAD
    Bed of Lettuce
    Grilled chicken breast, chilled and chopped
    1 roma tomato, chopped
    1 avocado chopped
    1/8 chopped green chiles
    1/4 cup grated jack cheese
    1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
    Juice of 1 lime

    JALAPENO RANCH DRESSING
    2 cups buttermilk
    2 cups mayonnaise
    1 tablespoon onion powder
    1 tablespoon crushed parsley flakes
    2 tablespoons Penzey’s California crushed jalapenos
    1 tablespoon garlic powder
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/2 teaspoon celery salt
    1/4 teaspoon white pepper

    • Whisk all together and chill overnight before serving.

    PHILLY CHEESE STEAK SANDWICHES

    Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches
    1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
    2 medium onions, thinly sliced
    1 medium green pepper, sliced
    2 tablespoons butter
    1 pound thinly sliced roast beef
    6 hoagie rolls, split
    6 slices part-skim mozzarella cheese
    4 beef bouillon cubs
    2 cups water

    Directions: In a large skillet, saute mushrooms, onions and green peppers in butter until tender. Divide beef among rolls. Top with vegetables and cheese; replace tops. Place on an ungreased baking sheet; cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until heated through. Meanwhile, in a sauce pan, heat bouillon and water until cubes are dissolved; serve as a dipping sauce.

    Here’s what you’ll need:
    Modifications:
    -I used 2 containers of pre-packaged deli style roast beef
    -I used the left over Provolone cheese that I had from last week’s Baked Ziti.

    Wipe off the mushrooms with a paper towel and cut them up.  Cut up the onion and green pepper, too.  
    Put 2 cups of water in a sauce pan and add 4 beef bouillon cubes.
    Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan. 
    Slice open the bread while the butter is melting.

    Saute the mushrooms, green peppers, and onions in the butter.

    After the mixture has cooked for a bit, ladle in 1 cup of the beef bouillon stock into the onion mixture.

    After the mixture has cooked for a while and onions were soft, add the prepackaged deli roast beef and seasoned the pan with Home Seasoning.

    While the mixture cooks, slice up the meat into smaller slices.  Fill in the rolls with meat and veggies and then cover it with a slice of cheese.  

    Pop the sandwiches in the oven for about 5-7 minutes so the cheese can melt.  

    Here is what you’ll end up with:

    :

    MOROCCAN BEEF & NOODLES

    As always, I saw a recipe that looked reallllllllllllllllllllllllly good.   I stashed it away while I thought about it and then got a bee in my bonnet today and had to make despite the 100 degree heat!  As always I had to make my own modifications for our likes and dislikes, but we loved it.

    MOROCCAN BEEF and NOODLES  adapted from Taste of Home

    1 1/2 pounds chuck roast, cut into 1 inch cubes
    1 leek, sliced thin
    6 cloves garlic, minced
    1 can fire roasted tomatoes (undrained)
    4 tablespoons butter
    1/2 cup vegetable broth (I used Better than Bouillon base + water)
    flour for dredging
    1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
    1/2 teaspoon sea salt
    1/2 teaspoon white pepper
    1 teaspoon cinnamon
    2 teaspoons paprika
    2 cups wide egg noodles

    • Melt butter in the bottom of a saute pan. 
    • When sizzling, add leeks and garlic.  Saute until fragrant.
    • Toss beef pieces in flour until well coated.
    • Add beef pieces to pan and saute several minutes.
    • Sprinkle all the spices over the beef and stir well.
    • When beef is browned, add broth and tomatoes.  Simmer 15 minutes or so.
    • Add noodles and simmer another 10 minutes or so until noodles are tender.
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      WEEKLY MENU

      Menu Plan Monday hosted by Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie

      DATE BREAKFAST LUNCH DINNER
      Monday 6/6 CEREAL SANDWICHES SUN DRIED TOMATO CHICKEN with GREEN BEAN SHOE PEG CORN CASSEROLE
      Tuesday 6/7 TOAST LEFTOVERS LEMON CHICKEN SALTIMBOCCA and OVEN ROASTED POTATOES and CARROTS
      Wednesday 6/8 YOGURT SOUP PORK CHOP ROYALE and BROCCOLI with ORANGE BUTTER
      Thursday 6/9 FRUIT CHEESE &FRUIT GRILLED CHICKEN with TOMATOES and BLEU CHEESE
      Friday 6/10 OATMEAL C.O.R.N. BAKED CHICKEN with APRICOTS and PARMESAN GLAZED TOMATOES
      Saturday 6/11 OUT leftovers PORK MEDALLIONS with BALSAMIC BUTTER SAUCE
      Sunday 6/12 SCRAMBLED EGGS & BACON TAILGATING FOOD GRILLED PORK LOIN with APRICOT SAUCE

      Brown Butter Cupcakes with Apricot Pineapple Frosting

      my picture sucked so this one is compliments of google images and looks almost identical!

      Brown Butter Cupcakes with Apricot Pineapple Frosting

      Cupcakes:
      1/3 cup butter, softened
      1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
      1 teaspoon baking powder
      1/4 teaspoon salt
      1 cup sugar

      1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
      2 large eggs
      1 teaspoon vanilla extract
      3/4 cup milk (low fat is ok)

      Frosting: 
      1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
      1 stick butter softened
      1/4 cup Smuckers apricot preserves

      1/4 cup Smuckers pineapple preserves
      1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

      1/2 teaspoon almond extract
      3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
      2 Apricots for garnish

      • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners or spray well with PURE.
      • Melt butter in a small saucepan and cook over low-medium heat until butter has turned an amber color and smells toasty, but not burnt. Butter will darken quickly once it begins to turn. 
      • Pour butter, scraping all the browned bits from the bottom with a spatula, into a small bowl to cool.
      • In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and sugar.
      • In a medium bowl, whisk together cooled butter, eggs, vanilla and almond extracts with the milk. Pour into flour mixture and stir until just combined.
      • Spoon batter evenly into prepared muffin cups.
      • Bake for 16-19 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
      • Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

      For the Frosting:

      • In a small bowl stir together the preserves until well blended. 
      • Mix Cream Cheese and Butter in a medium sized bowl using an electric mixer until creamy.
      • Add vanilla and almond extracts and blend well.
      • Add half the preserve mixture until well mixed. Add half the powdered sugar and mix well, alternate between the preserves and the powdered sugar until the frosting is at a good spreading consistency.
      • Garnish with Apricot wedges.

      Adapted from The Baker Chick

      MELTING MOMENTS SHORTBREAD COOKIES

      Martha from A Sense of Humor is Essential here to fill in for Joanne and to share a special shortbread recipe that is easy to make, with ingredients readily at hand, and has a nice, not too sweet taste, which goes wonderfully with coffee and tea. These cookies are also always a hit at baby showers,  bridal showers, and as hostess gifts too.

      MELTING MOMENTS SHORTBREAD COOKIES
      1 cup salted softened butter
      5 1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar
      1 cup corn starch 1 1/4 cup flour (I used whole wheat)
      1 teaspoon vanilla extract

      • Mix all ingredients using mixer for approximately 3-5 minutes until a soft ball dough is formed. The dough will look like cornmeal prior to the dough ball forming.
      • Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
      • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
      • Drop by teaspoons unto un-greased cookie sheets.
      • Bake until golden at edges, approximately 12 – 15 minutes.
      • Allow cookies to completely cool on cookie sheet. 
      • Frost with glaze or frosting if desired. Refrigerate if necessary.