Key Lime Tarts

I made these tarts for my sister in law's wedding shower and they were so delicious! I love anything lime or lemon and these turned out SUPER limey, so tart and yum, plus they are really cute.

Key Lime Tarts

10 mini graham cracker crusts* (available near the regular graham cracker crusts in the baking aisle)

5 egg yolks

1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Around 1/2 c. lime juice. Fresh key lime juice is best, then regular lime juice, then bottled key lime juice. If you’re going to use bottled regular lime juice, don’t. Honestly, I’m too lazy to juice those tiny little key limes, so I just juice regular limes and call it a day.

2 drops green food coloring (optional and rather controversial in the world of Key Lime Pie purists. If you don’t add it, your pies will be more authentic, but also on the yellow side. I normally don’t bother with it, but since it’s Green Week, I lived on the edge a little.)

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, combine egg yolks,
sweetened condensed milk, and lime juice
 Distribute evenly among graham cracker crusts (I used my cookie scoop to make sure things were equal). Place tart pans on a baking sheet

and bake in preheated oven 10-11 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature, then chill in fridge until ready to serve.

Before serving, add a dollop of sweetened whipped cream. Light a coconut candle, turn on your ceiling fan, close your eyes, and pretend that cockroach you found this morning was in Key West instead of, say, Louisiana.

Egg Salad BLT's

Egg Salad BLT’s
Our Best Bites recipe adapted from Cooking Light 
 

1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
3 tablespoons sour cream
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Dash of salt
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon rind
8 hard boiled eggs
4 Rolls, (or 8 slices peasant bread/firm sandwich bread), toasted
8 bacon slices, cooked
8 slices tomato
4 large lettuce leaves

*if you like it extra tangy, add a teaspoon of vinegar too.

1. Combine mayo, sour cream, green onions, Dijon, salt, pepper, and lemon in a medium bowl. Stir to combine well.

 

2. Coarsely chop eggs and add to mayo mixture. Stir gently to combine.

3. Arrange rolls or bread on work surface. Top each bread slice with about 1/2 cup egg mixture, 2 bacon slices, 2 tomato slices, a lettuce leaf, and top half of roll. Serve sandwich immediately.

Cowboy Quesadilla's

I made these tonight and loved them! So simple, I had everything on hand that the recipe called for (which is my FAVORITE thing, not having to go to the store for recipes!) I whipped them up and they were so delicious. I didn't really follow the measurements, just kind of eyed it, I did 1 C. of rice, 1 can of black beans and then a little more of everything else and it turned out great!

Cowboy Quesadillas
Recipe by Our Best Bites
1/2 C white rice
1/3 C black beans
1 cup diced cooked chicken
1/3 C fresh frozen corn kernels (no need to thaw)
2/3 C diced tomato
3 Tbs sliced green onion
1 1/2 C shredded cheese (any type or combo you like)
1/4 C bbq sauce
6 small tortillas (fajita size, about 6″)

Dipping Sauce
equal parts bbq sauce and ranch dressing


Combine rice, beans, chicken, corn, tomato, green onion and shredded cheese.  Add bbq sauce and stir to combine.  Place about 1/3 C of mixture on half of each tortilla and fold over to close.

Heat a skillet to medium heat on the stove top.  When hot, spray lightly with cooking spray, or drizzle with canola or olive oil.  Place quesadillas in pan and cook for 2-4 minutes or until golden brown and slightly crisp.  Flip and repeat on opposite side.  Cool for a few minutes and then serve with BBQ-Ranch dipping sauce. 

White Bean Chili

I got this from my friend Paige's family recipe blog. I about died, it's SO GOOD! So perfect for a cold spring day.

1/2 lg onion chopped

3 cans white beans, rinsed and drained
3 cans chicken broth
1 sm can diced green chili's
3 cups diced cooked chicken
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp cayenne
4 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic
1 cup sour cream
2 cups grated monterey jack cheese

1 can diced tomatoes (BEST part in my opinion, it's not called for but I LOVED adding them)
In large pan, cook the chopped onion in a little olive oil. Cook until done.
Add remaining ingredients, simmer about 30 min.

When ready, stir in sour cream and cheese, or sprinkle cheese in each bowl, I also added some cilantro and chips. MMMMM

Apple Dip

8 oz cream cheese
1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 C white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
heath - to your liking (I used the chocolate covered heath and I like A LOT! :)

mix above ingredients with an electric mixer.

Eat with Green apples

Greek Chicken Pita Pockets

I made these last night and I'm STILL thinking about them! They are SOOOO good you must make them asap! I LOVE Greek food and I found this recipe in my recipe folder, not sure where I got it, plus I love using the crockpot

1 pkg pocket pitas
2 t white vinegar
Juice of one lemon
1 1/2 T dried oregano
2 t dried thyme
1/2 t black pepper
1/4 C water
1/2 C olive oil
1 t rosemary
1 T chicken base or bouillon
6-8 chicken breasts (I used about 10-12 tenders and worked fine)
3 tomatoes, diced into chunks
lettuce, shredded (I didn't shred mine)
1/2 large yellow onion (optional, i don't like raw onion)
1 C feta cheese BEST PART!!!!

Cucumber Cream Sauce
1 cucumber, peeled and grated
2 small plain yogurts (or about 1 1/2 c.)
2 T mayo (don't use fat free won't taste as good)
Juice of one lemon
1 1/2 T dried dill (i used dill weed and seemed just fine)
salt & pepper
1 t garlic powder

For added flavor in your pita you can add Ken's Lite Ceasar dressing. I didn't but i'm sure it's delicious!

place chicken breasts, olive oil, rosemary, chicken base, lemon juice, thyme, oregano, vinegar, salt and pepper, and water in a crock pot. Cook on med high heat for 4-6 hrs or until tender. When cooked, shred chicken into large chunks. For cucumber sauce add the above ingredients and chill. In the pita pocket put the chicken, cucumber sauce, tomatoes, feta and lettuce. MMMM! Serve with an extra squirt of lemon, YUM!!!