Katie's Ginormous Tomato Salsa

Katie grows her tomatoes with love!

What you need:
2 of Katie's GINORMOUS tomatoes (or 4-5 regular sized ones)
1 medium sweet onion
1/2 jar (15o.z) roasted red peppers
1/2 can (4oz.) diced jalapeno peppers
1 t minced garlic
1 T chopped parsley
4 t lime juice
1/2 t black pepper
1 t salt
1/2 T sugar
EVOO

This really is tomato not watermelon chunks!

How to make it:
Cut onion into eighths, spread on foil lined baking sheet, sprinkle with EVOO, bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.
Chunk up tomatoes, removing seeds.
Cut red peppers into chunks.
add all ingredients to food processor and puree to desired consistency.
Refrigerate at least 3 hours, to combine flavors, before serving.

Spice it up:
This is an awesome basic recipe but each of us likes our salsa a little different:

Dave & Aaron - MORE PEPPERS - hot

Beth & Katie - corn & black beans - chunky

Crock Pot Cheesy Hashbrowns

What you need:
1-2 bags frozen hashbrowns (I like the diced not shredded potatoes)
Cheese Sauce ingredients

How to make it:
Spray your crock with non-stick cooking spray.
Dump in potatoes.
Mix cheese sauce ingredients in a large bowl (if I'm making a big batch, 2 bags of hashbrowns, I use the whole can of c of m soup and add a little extra sour cream, shredded cheddar and 6 green onions).
Pour mixture over potatoes and spread over top.
Cook on high about an hour or until sauce starts to thin and potatoes are no longer frozen, mix well, cook an additional 2-3 hours on high or until heated through and looking yummy!

I am not from the South but I spent the summer of 2006 in Virginia and have been a lover of sweet tea ever since. I am constantly trying to make tea at home that tastes like the restaurant tea I got there, it’s never quite right, but this recipe is pretty good.

What you need:

8 Family Size Tea Bags. (or 12 regular Tea Bags)  I prefer Luzianne

4 Cups Boiling Water

2 Cups Sugar

¼ teaspoon Baking Soda

How to make it:

Boil water in a large glass measuring cup, add baking soda and tea bags, cover (my Pampered Chef measuring cup has a cover but I have several that don’t so if I use one of those I cover it with one of those stretchy plastic wrap style covers) and steep for 15 minutes, remove tea bags, pour tea into a 1 gallon container (I use a gallon size glass jug), add sugar and stir until completely dissolved, add cool water until container is full, serve over ice.

Balsamic-Garlic Crusted Pork Tenderloin

Another awesome recipe found on Pinterest, sharing is good!

What you need:

4-5 garlic cloves, finely minced or crushed

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 ½ teaspoons coarse salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 pork tenderloins (about 1 ½ pounds each)

How to make it:

Stir together garlic, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and olive oil in a small bowl. Rub the paste all over pork. If you like or have the time, marinate overnight. If not, no worries, it will still be great!

Grilling:

Sear the tenderloins on all sides, starting and ending with the layer of fat side down, then grill for about 20-30 minutes, turn after the first 20 minutes, until the internal temperature is 160-180 (I like mine just a little more done) degrees. Try to let it rest before slicing, it will be hard because it smells sooo good!

Sweet & Spicy Bacon Wrapped Chicken

Oh My GOODNESS!

What You Need:

14 chicken tenders

1 t salt

1 t pepper

1 T garlic powder

1 T chili powder

1-2 C brown sugar

What to do:

Mix salt, pepper, garlic powder and chili powder in small bowl, season both sides of chicken.

Wrap each piece of chicken in a slice of bacon.

Spread brown sugar on a plate, roll chicken in brown sugar, coating both sides.

Grill

Whip Frosting

Sooo YUMMY!

All you do is mix one vanilla pudding packet with half of the milk called for on the package. Whisk until it begins to thicken. Then fold in one container of Cool Whip. A great frosting spread on cakes and piped onto cupcakes.