Southwest Frito Pie

Ingredients

2 pounds lean ground beef (I used 1 lb of "fungus" meat and a can of black beans)
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups water
1 can (15 ounces) pinto beans, rinsed and drained, optional
4-1/2 cups corn chips
2 cups shredded lettuce
1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup chopped tomatoes
6 tablespoons finely chopped onion
Sour cream and minced fresh cilantro, optional

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in the chili powder, flour, salt and garlic powder until blended; gradually stir in water.
2. Add the beans, if desired. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 12-15 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.
3. To serve, divide chips among six serving bowls. Top with beef mixture, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes and onion; garnish with sour cream and cilantro, if desired.

Serves 6

Recipe from Taste of Home.

Easy Double Chocolate Mint Brownies

Ingredients

1 2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) Dark Chocolate and Mint Chips
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, cut into pieces
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup nuts, optional

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
2. Melt 1 cup of morsels and butter in medium, heavy-duty saucepan over low heat. When morsels and butter begin to melt, remove from heat; stir. Return to heat for a few seconds at a time, stirring just until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in eggs. Stir in flour, sugar, vanilla extract and baking soda. Stir in remaining morsels and nuts. Spread into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out slightly sticky. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Recipe from Very Best Baking.

This recipe calls for Dark Chocolate and Mint chips which are awesome if you have some. But you can use any kind of chocolate chips for a different flavor. I can't wait to try them with a bag of semi sweet.

Easy Black Beans

Ingredients

2 Cans Black Beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 T olive oil
2/3 C diced onion
2-3 garlic cloves, pressed or finely minced
2/3 C chicken broth (or water, I use broth for extra flavor)
1/4 t cumin
1/4 t coriander
1/4 t oregano
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 lime

Directions

1. In a saucepan on the stove, heat the olive oil to med-high heat. Saute onions for about 3 minutes or until they just start to become translucent. Add garlic and saute abut 30 seconds more.
2. Add beans, broth, and remaining seasonings and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer and simmer for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
   
3. When they are done cooking, remove from heat and add in a few squeezes of fresh lime juice. Then use the back of a spoon or rubber spatula to smoosh some of the beans. You don’t want to pulverize them, but you want to take a bunch of good smooshes so that some of the beans are smashed, which will thicken the sauce.

Recipe from Our Best Bites.

Guacamole

Ingredients

2-3 medium avocados
1 T Fresh lime juice
½ -1 t fresh minced garlic
2 T finely minced onion
2 heaping spoons of sour cream
Salt (and pepper if you like) to taste
3-4 T finely diced tomatoes
Cilantro, to taste

Directions

1. Scoop out avocado from skins and mash in a bowl with a fork. Add remaining ingredients and combine well. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Recipe from Our Best Bites.

Cafe Rio Recipes - Copycat

Cafe Rio is a popular restaurant that I have never been too. But I have had these recipes and they are awesome. If you want to impress someone for dinner, serve them this! You can get all the recipes at Favorite Family Recipes. We use chicken instead of pork (pigs are gross) and we love the rice too.

Black Bean Soup - Kinda

Directions

2-3 cans black beans (do not drain)

2 cans chicken broth

1 tsp. salt

3 cups cooked rice

avacado, sliced

grated cheese

tortilla chips, crushed

sour cream

Ingredients

1. Blend together the black beans with one of the cans chicken broth.
   
2. Add black bean mixture, other can of chicken broth, and salt to a large pan.
   
3. Cook on medium heat until nice and hot. (You don't need to bring it to a boil). In individual bowls, layer the rice, then the soup, then the other toppings.

Serves 4-6

For some reason it really grosses me out not to rinse the black beans. So I rinse them, which makes this less soupy which is how we like it. It is awesome topped with tortilla chips, cheese and slices of avocado.

Recipe from Favorite Family Recipes.

Pizza Bowties

Ingredients
1 lb. Italian sausage ( or pepperoni or other Pizza type meat)
1 lb. Bowtie pasta
2 cans Fire roasted tomatoes, lightly drained
1 green pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced (my tomatoes had garlic so I skipped this)
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
1/2 cup Parmesan

Directions

1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions.
2. Brown the sausage with the onion, garlic and green pepper. Drain and rinse under hot water.
3. Put the meat back in the skillet and add the tomatoes and seasonings.
4. When the pasta is cooked and drained, mix it with the sauce and cheese.

Serves 6-8 people

Recipe from Eat at Home.