Kaycee's Fabulous Fresh Salsa

This recipe is courtesy of Kaycee (Allred) Wolfley, my great friend from high school and college. We devoured an obscene amount of this salsa over Labor Day weekend. I ate it standing up, so that doesn't count, right?

Kaycee's Fabulous Fresh Salsa

4-6 fresh tomatoes (diced into bite sized pieces)
1-2 avacados (depending on how much you like them)
1 can corn (drained and rinsed)
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 onion (chopped)
1/4 cup (or more) chopped, fresh cilantro
1 whole jalapeno pepper, finely diced

1 dry packet Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup cooking oil

Mix all ingredients. Delicious and ready to serve right away!

I Must Be Really Hungry

Are you cracking up that all I've posted about today is food? I guess autumn just brings out the storer/gatherer instinct in me. Subconsciously I must be planning to store up a little more fat for the winter months. :)

One last recipe today for those of you who are inundated with peaches right now. I got this one from a great lady in my ward. It's easy, fast, and yummy -- SCORE!

Peaches and Cream Pie

8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
12 oz. Cool-Whip
1-2 quarts fresh peaches (cubed) - depending on how much or how little you like peaches, I guess!
2 store-bought graham cracker crusts (the smaller ones)

Cream the cream cheese and powdered sugar, then add the cool-whip. Fold in the peaches to taste and divide between the two pie crusts. (Note: you can make your own graham cracker crust, but it gets pretty soggy- the store-bought ones work much better.) Ready to serve right away, or chill and serve. It will start to get soggy after 24-36 hours. So plan to eat it when you make it (shouldn't be a problem!).

I'm A Foodie, What Can I Say?

So, I've always loved to bake, but lately I've discovered how much I really enjoy cooking. I'm realizing that the reason I didn't always look forward to making dinner, was because I wasn't learning anything new or trying anything different. So, thanks to a gift subscription to Everyday Food (thanks Amber), my fun new Cristina's cookbook, and some searching on the internet, I've developed a new excitement for mealtime. I thought I might share a couple of my new favorites, just in case your looking for something new for dinner tonight. Don't be surprised if I start posting recipes fairly often, I thought this might be a good way to get my recipes ready for the Rose Family Cookbook this year (so Mom, see if you can just cut and paste these recipes into a Word document, if not, let me know and I'll get them to you in the right format!).

Chicken Cheesesteaks with Peppers

1 lb. chicken cutlets
2 Tbs. vegetable oil, such as safflower
coarse salt and ground pepper
2 bell peppers in different colors (red and orange are really pretty), thinly sliced
1 large red onion, halved and thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
6 ounces sliced provolone cheese
4 soft hoagie rolls, split lengthwise
1/4 cup mayonnaise

Heat broiler, with rack set 4 inches from heat. On a rimmed baking sheed lined with aluminum foil, toss chicken with 1 tablespoon oil; season with salt and pepper. Broil, without turning, until chicken is opaque throughout, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer toa cutting board (reserve baking sheet); let cool, and thinly slice. Set chicken aside.

On baking sheet, toss together peppers, onion, garlic, and remaining tablespoon oil. Broil, tossing occasionally, until crisp-tender and slightly charred, 8-10 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Add chicken to broiled vegetables; toss, and spread in a single layer.

Top chicken and vegetables with cheese; broil until cheese is bubbling, 30 seconds to 1 minutes. Spread mayo on rolls; fill with chicken and veges. Serve immediately.


This is so yummy, and I love that my kids are eating peppers, garlic, and onion! I added fresh, sliced mushrooms when I made it because I had them on hand. They were a great addition. And very easy clean up.

As you can see I don't gravitate toward anything with weird ingredients or difficult or lengthy preparations -- just yummy, no-nonsense food.

Mmm..Mmm... Good

I had to devote an entire post to this subject because it was so, so good. (Yep, that good.) While in Sun Valley, we were taken to lunch while on a shopping tour. We went to a great little restaurant called 'Cristina's of Sun Valley'. The owner is an Italian woman named (you guessed it!) Cristina Ceccatelli Cook. She serves the most amazing food. Not your traditional Italian fare, but a more Mediterranean style food. We enjoyed an incredible meal, and were drooling over the amazing food in her cookbooks. We had determined that we would probably buy one, when to our great surprise, we won one in a drawing!! I am happy to report that I tried my first recipe from the book yesterday for Sunday dinner and it was a hit! It was for chicken pot pie. TO -- DIE -- FOR!!! We shared an extra one with a neighbor yesterday and he proclaimed it to be 'crazy good'. Then Brad called me from work to say that he had a hard time making it out of the lunchroom at work today because everyone was asking him about where he got such a luscious creation. I'm telling you, you have to try this recipe.

Cristina's Chicken Pot Pie

Pot Pie Tops:
1 sheet of frozen puff pastry
1 egg yolk
3 Tbsp. cream or milk
parchment paper

Line a 13"x18" baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place puff pastry on sheet and thaw. Cut into six equal squares, then brush each square with egg wash (the egg yolk mixed with the cream of milk). Cut a 1/2 inch thin strip from each square to use as decoration. Refrigerate flat on baking sheet, wrapped in plastic.

Pot Pie Filling:
1/2 pound butter (I know, I know, but wow it's yummy!!!)
1 yellow onion, diced
1/2 pound button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 bunch celery, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon flour (or cornstarch)
1/2 cup white wine (I just used chicken stock instead)
3 to 3 1/2 cups milk
6 to 7 small red potatoes, peeled, cooked, and cubed
1 1/2 lbs cooked shredded chicken meat (any kind)
1 cup peas
salt and pepper to taste
6 four inch crocks (I actually had enough for 8-9 crocks)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium-size pot, melt the butter, then add onion, mushrooms, celery, carrots, parsley, and thyme, and saute gently until onions are golden. Sprinkle flour or cornstarch over the top and stir, cooking slowly, for about 5 minutes. Gradually stire in wine and milk, and simmer 5 minutes. Add potatoes and chicken, stirring gently, just long enough to let the sauce thicken slightly. Stir in the peas, and adjust thyme and salt and pepper to your taste.

Spoon hot mixture into the crocks, top with chilled pastry, and bake until golden and puffy -- 20 to 25 minutes.


A completely yummy use for all your fresh garden produce. Just a note, I looked everywhere for little crocks, but they were all between $5-$10 each, then I looked at Wal-mart, where I found some for only 86 cents!!! They aren't quite as decorative, but the filling/pastry is so gorgeous on it's own, you really don't need the fancy ones.