Taco Salad

Hey there everyone,

We've been making this recipe for a long, long time. I believe the recipe came to us via a friend of my mother's many years ago. We looked at it and were skeptical at the time of the Dorito and Italian dressing usage, but they truly bring it together. It's really simple and everyone I know loves it. Let's go!

Here are all of your ingredients except the ground beef.

Cook up your ground beef and season it with taco seasoning.

Taco Salad
-lettuce (romaine if possible)
-ground beef cooked, fat drained, then seasoned with taco seasoning
-Nacho Cheese Doritos, roughly crushed
-chopped tomatoes
-shredded cheese of your choosing (cheddar is a good bet)
-salsa
-Italian dressing
-optional: sour cream, avocados, olives, etc. - make it however you like it.
Layer all ingredients in this order in a large bowl/plate. Leave out what you don't like, and add more things that you do like. And use the Italian dressing- I know it's the weird ingredient out, but it really makes the dish.

Here's mine, with all of the ingredients and nothing else special added.

And here is Jordan's, which he chose to upgrade with some sour cream. Make it your own!

Savor it!
love, rue

Chocolate Peanut Butter Microwave Cake

Hey there.

Today I have a super easy and super awesome recipe to share- especially if you're jonesing for a chocolate fix. You probably already have all of the ingredients, and it takes under 5 minutes from getting your ingredients out to having your cake ready to eat. It's rich and chocolatey, and no, not a perfect substitute for "real" cake- but it's delicious, so let's leave it at that. It's great with a glass of milk or even a little vanilla ice cream if you are feeling decadent. Let's go!

Your easy and probably available ingredients- simple pantry staples (except the PB chips, I got them on sale! this would be just as good with just chocolate chips, though).

Dump everything except the chips in a bowl and mix well.

Add in your chips of choice and stir again.

Your finished batter- prep time: approx. 3-4 minutes.

Pour batter into a greased ramekin (I made a double batch), and make sure it has room to double or triple in size in the microwave while cooking- we don't want spillage!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Microwave Cake
-1 egg
-2 tablespoons peanut butter
-1 tablespoon brown sugar
-1 tablespoon flour
-1 tablespoon cocoa
-1/4 teaspoon baking powder
-2 tablespoons chocolate and/or peanut butter chips
Mix all ingredients other than chips. Then stir in the chips.
Pour batter into a (large) greased mug or ramekin (this makes a Big serving).
Microwave for about 1 minute. Watch it as it cooks, because it will rise quite a lot, and you want to be able to stop any overflow. For my microwave and my like of fudgy-ness, I would do about 50-55 seconds. Figure out what works for your microwave and your tastes.

The cakes out of the microwave- you can see how they rose to the very top of the dish before sinking back down again. Watch them as they cook so they don't overflow!

Now pick a beverage or some ice cream and dig in!

Savor it!
love, rue

Mint Basic Brownies

Hi everyone!

I know I've posted a lot of brownie recipes on here... but somehow I just keep finding more to try, so I make them, and then usually they're just too good not to share. And I LOVE chocolate, so the brownie train probably won't be stopping anytime soon. These brownies are super basic and simple- minimal ingredients, one bowl- but I added some pizzaz by way of lowering the amount of chocolate chips I used, and adding in a bunch of Andes creme de menthe chips, then when I pulled them out of the oven, I sprinkled the top with more Andes chips, and let them melt into a sort of super-easy icing. YUM! let's go.

Dump all ingredients except chips into a bowl and mix well.

Then add the chips and mix again!

Here's the finished batter- it is rather thick, but that's just right.

Pat your batter out in a greased and parchment lined pan- don't try to spread it, the batter is too thick, so just poke it around, etc.

Here are the brownies right out of the oven.

And here are the brownies post-mint-chip-topping. Let cool if possible!

Mint Basic Brownies
(Keep in mind you could use any kind of other chips to add pizzaz instead of mint- peanut butter chips, white chocolate- you name it)
-1 1/2 cups sugar
-3/4 cup flour
-3/4 cup cocoa
-3 eggs
-3/4 cup butter, melted
-heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
-3/4 cup mint chocolate chips + more for topping
(Use 1 cup chocolate chips and no mint chips for regular brownies)
Mix everything up in a bowl except chips. Mix in chips.
Pat batter out evenly in parchment lined and greased 9x13'' or 7x11'' pan, depending on how thick you want your brownies (I went with 7x11'').
Bake at 325 F for 20-30 minutes for 9x13'' or 35-45 minutes for 7x11'' pan. They are done when a toothpick comes out clean- make sure you aren't hitting a chocolate chip though.
Sprinkle more mint chips on top of the brownies when they are still hot, and let them melt into a little minty icing. Use whatever amount you like, depending on your tastes (or how many chips you haven't eaten yet!).
Let cool if possible before slicing if you'd like nice square brownies- lift the brownies out by the parchment paper and cut on a cutting board with a sharp knife.

Let the brownies cool (I let them cool a while, then finished cooling in the fridge), lift out by the parchment paper, and cut on a cutting board.

You'll end up with fudgy, chocolatey, minty deliciousness like this- Enjoy!!

Savor it!
love, rue

Egg Roll Dipping Sauce

Hi there everyone!

This week is somewhat of a cheat recipe. I came up with it the other day after buying some frozen egg rolls (craving!), but they didn't come with any sauce- so I figured I'd make my own. The idea evolved a little, but this is pretty much the ingredient list I started with- I just somehow got lucky this time and thought of the right flavors the first time! Let's go.

Your super-simple arsenal of ingredients that you probably already have!

Egg Roll Dipping Sauce
-peach or apricot jam
-honey
-appropriate vinegar of your choosing (I use apple cider vinegar)
-neutral hot sauce (I use Tabasco)
-red pepper flakes
The jam will make up the bulk of your sauce, with vinegar coming second, and honey third.
Add the hot sauce and red pepper flakes to your taste- I think it absolutely needs just a little for flavor, and definitely add more for more spiciness!
Mix all ingredients together well. Dip!

Not the prettiest or easiest to take a picture of, but I'm sure you get the idea. Easy and delish!

Savor it!
love, rue