Day of Recipes.

We've had a busy weekend. 3 Days and 3 Birthday parties!!! Lots of fun, but I'm exhausted. So it's taken me a few days to actually add the Fajitas recipe that I made. But first, since my pictures never want to upload in the order I like....

For Michael's 30th Birthday dinner, with friends. I made Turkey Sliders (think WhiteCastle/Krystal Burgers) just healthier version.

Turkey Sliders

1 lb ground Turkey/Beef

1 package hot dog buns

Egg

Take the Ground Turkey, Egg, and whatever spices you like in your burger and mix in a bowl. Then make 16 little hamburgers (size of a golf ball will work). Then take the hot dog buns and cut in 1/2 then cut the rounded ends off, to make the buns. In a pan, cook the burgers, placing them in the pan then cooking, flip 1/2 way then SMUSH them. You can put cheese on them, I just got lazy and didn't do it on these.

Since I had to make a bunch. I actually lined them up like dominos in a 9x9 baking dish, then poured a mixture of 1 tbsp of Dale sauce and 1 cup or water over them, then put them in the oven, until everyone was close to getting here. It kept them super moist, and I actually let them finish cooking in there.

This is the Parmesan Onion Dip that I had mentioned a week or so ago. Michael requested it and I was oh so upset to have to make it. It was delicious, and was actually pretty good left over today.

Home made Buffalo Wings were next on the list... BAKED NOT FRIED. Since we try and not fry anything.. I opted for the baked version, but we all dug into these.

Buffalo wings

Chicken wings (I left the skin on this time b/c of the quantity I was doing)

Flour (to dredge the wings in)

Frank's Red Hot Wing Sauce (I used 1 bottle of the Original and One Sweet Heat)

Honey

Ranch Dressing (or you can use blue cheese, we are a Ranch household)

Preheat your oven to 425. Dredge each wing in flour (I used wheat flour and it worked just fine). Then place in a single layer in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Place in oven, let cook 15-20 minutes, then flip. While those are cooking, take Hot sauce, and Honey and mix in a small sauce pan, place on the stove to heat on low. Taste it before you put it on the wings, if it's still to hot/vinegar"y", add more honey. When Wings are close to done, pour sauce on top of wings, then turn down the stove to 350-375. And let them soak up the sauce.

Now I'm a sucker for desserts... They are why I eat meals... just to get to dessert. (Thanks mom for that addiction). We were watching the Food Network a few weeks ago, and on one of the shows they showed a S'more Pie (yum right!). Michael soon after requested S'more pie for his birthday. Well with the number of people I was going to have to make these for, I decided maybe I'd try cupcakes. And OH MY GOSH. Let's just say. There aren't any left in the house. We sent some home with our guests, and the 3 that were left are already gone from last night.

S'more Cupcakes

1 Box Yellow Butter Cake mix

Eggs, Butter, Water that box requires

1/2 cup extra water

1 package graham crackers crumbs (I put them in the food processor), reserve 3-4 tablespoons for topping.

2 Giant Hershey's Chocolate bar chopped up

Preheat the oven from box instructions (I think 350). Mix the cake according to box directions. Then add graham cracker crumbs to batter, stir, it will thicken up, then add the extra water, if it still looks thick, add a little bit more at a time, until it is thinned out again. Fold in 2/3 of the chocolate chopped. Line 24 cupcake tins, Then scoop 1/4 cup of batter into each cup (it should make just enough batter for 24 cupcakes.

Bake 20 minutes or until done, when a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely, before putting mashmellow topping on top.

I made this marshmellow frosting to go on top (courtesy of Nibbledish.com):

Marshmallow Frosting:

1. Pour 1/3 cup cold water into bowl of an electric mixer. Sprinkle with gelatin; let mixture soften, about 5 minutes.
2. Place sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/3 cup water in a medium saucepan. Cover; bring to a boil. Remove lid; cook, swirling pan occasionally, until syrup reaches 238 degrees.(soft-ball stage) on a candy thermometer, about 5 minutes.
3. With mixer on low speed, whisk gelatin mixture , and slowly pour the syrup in a steady stream down the side of the bowl (to avoid splattering) .
   
4. Gradually raise speed to high; beat until mixture is thick, white, and has almost tripled in volume, about 12 minutes.
   
5. Add vanilla, and beat 30 seconds to combine .
6. Frost the cupcakes right after beating with a greased spatula.

Then next time(and there will be a next time) instead of placing a whole piece of chocolate, I would just sprinkle what was left of the graham cracker and chopped chocolate on top of the marshmellow frosting. The whole piece of chocolate was good for presentation, but was kinda hard to eat, once the marshmellow had set up.

Beef Fajitas

And last but not least. The fajitas we had the other night. I made homemade tortillas, but for the quicker version you can buy them. (If anyone wants the recipe for homemade tortillas, just let me know and I'll either post it here, or e-mail it straight to you.)

I made a marinade of Olive oil, cumin, Oregano, Lime juice, Vinegar, garlic cloves (chopped). Placed in a ziploc bag, and let the flank steak marinate for 3-4 hours (it said to do it longer, but I forgot that morning).

Then I just got a pan hot, and sauted them, really quick . It took like 3-4 minutes for each piece. Sliced up the flank steak. Then I grilled some red and yellow peppers, with onions. And then cut 2 thick slices of tomato, and threw the whole slice in a pan for 20 seconds, just to heat it up.

Then it was fajita time. They were delicious. And of course we topped it with Salsa, lettuce, cheese and sour cream. Now from the picture you may think wow Colleen, that's a lot of Sour Cream.. This one got a little more than I usually put on there. They were smaller tortillas (think flatbread size).

So if you stuck with me through all the recipes. I hope you try at least 1 of these and love them as much as we did.... We had most for lunch today, and dinner is leftovers again!!! Can you tell we like leftovers in this house??

To leave your mouth watering tomorrow's dinner is:

Roasted Portabella mushroom with roasted redpepper and onion panini...