Bbq'd country style ribs, scalloped potatoes, and knock off sizzler cheese toast

Everyone in the family liked everything I made in this dinner. I did not make my own bread for the cheese toast, I used a loaf of Texas toast bread.

BBQ'd ribs

I used the following spice rub on the ribs. I cooked on low heat, about 275 degrees for about 6 hours with just the spice rub on.

Spice Rub
4 tablespoons paprika
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
1 tablespoon table salt
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

I used about 2 pounds of country style ribs. I normally don't like nor buy those type of ribs but I received them from a friend for free so I made them.

I used the following sauce for the final 30 minutes of cooking plus I had some for dipping.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion , minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup ketchup
5 tablespoons light molasses or dark molasses
2 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
Table salt and ground black pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, chili powder, and cayenne and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds.
2. Stir in the remaining ingredients and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened, about 25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cool to room temperature before serving, about 1 hour.

Scalloped Potatoes

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion , minced (about 1 cup)
2 medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 1/4 teaspoons table salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes (about 5 medium), peeled and sliced 1/8-inch thick
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
2 bay leaves
4 ounces grated cheddar cheese , shredded (1 cup)

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Melt butter in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until foaming subsides. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add potatoes, chicken broth, cream, and bay leaves and bring to simmer. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until potatoes are almost tender (paring knife can be slipped into and out of potato slice with some resistance), about 10 minutes. Discard bay leaves.
3. Transfer mixture to 8-inch-square baking dish (or other 1 1/2-quart gratin dish) and press to an even layer; sprinkle evenly with cheese. Bake until cream is bubbling around edges and top is golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

Spinach Salad

fresh spinach

grape tomatoes

sunflower seeds

ranch dressing

1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
6 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon minced shallot or red onion
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro or dill
1clove garlic , minced
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Pinch sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Whisk all of the ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. The dressing, covered, can be refrigerated for up to 4 days; whisk to recombine before using.

Sizzler Toast

4 tablespoons butter

4 slices thick sliced bread

4 teaspoons grated parmesan cheese

Melt butter. Use a brush to spread butter evenly over one side of the bread.

Spinkle parmesan cheese over the butter.

Grill the bread, buttered side down, on a frying pan or griddle over medium/low heat for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Grill only the buttered side.

Chicken Fajitas

This was a recipe from Top Secret Restaurant recipes book. They turned out quite good. Our oldest and one of the twins goobled up alot of the chicken.

Marinade:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons veggie oil
1 large garlic clove minced
3 teaspoons vinegar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
dash onion powder

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 spanish onion sliced
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 tablespoon veggie oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon lime juice
dash ground black pepper
dash salt

Combine all marinade ingredients with chicken breast. Marinade overnight.

Preheat a skillet over medium high heat. Saute the onion slices and bell peppers in the oil for 5 minutes. Combine the soy sauce, water, and lime juice in a small bowl and pour over the vegetables. Add the black pepper and continue to saute until the onions are translucent adn dark on the edges. Salt to taste.

While the vegetables are cooking, grill the meat 4 to 5 minutes per side or until done. When the meat is done remove it from the grill and slice into thin slices.

Serve.

Creamy Cheesy Onion soup

I love this soup. Its a knock off of the Outback Steakhouse soup. All though the recipe takes awhile to make its easy and doesn't require alot of work, just lots of cooking time. I found this recipe in Amercia's Top Secret cookbook.

8 cups water

8 beef boullion cubes

3 large onions cut into slices and then quartered

3/4 cup flour

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

For topping:

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup shredded montrey jack cheese

Bring 8 cups water and the boullion cubes to a boil. Add onions and return to a boil. Simmer for one hour.

Gently whisk in flour, salt and pepper. Cook an additional 30 minutes.

Add cream and cheese. Cook an additional 10 minutes or until soup is heated and cheese is melted.

Top with additional cheese and serve.

Wacky Cake

My boys love to make this cake. Its easy and simple to make. They love to shake the powdered sugar out on the cake. We serve this with freshly whipped cream but ice cream works well too.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup natural cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon table salt

5 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup water Confectioners' sugar

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 8-inch-square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in pan. make 1 large and 2 small craters in dry ingredients. Add oil to large crater and vinegar and vanilla separately to remaining small craters. Pour water into pan, and mix until just a few streaks of flour remain. Immediately put pan in oven.

3. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 30 minutes. Cool in pan, then dust with confectioners’ sugar. (If tightly wrapped, cake will keep for 3 days at room temperature.)

Utah Csa's

It the time of year to sign up if you want to try Community Supported Argiculture. I signed up for 2 shares of Borski farms and one share from East Farms.
http://www.eastfarms.net/join.htm
http://www.borskifarms.org/

I did buy from Borski and really loved our experience. They offer fruit which is big for my family. We didn't get many tomatoes but I think the weather played a factor in that. Their season is shorter than East.

I'm trying East this year just to see what they offer. I had someone share what they picked up from East last year and they didn't get as much fruit as Borski. However their season is longer and there seemed to be a bigger variety in the produce.

Problem fixed

I have not been able to log into google for over a month. Google has been trying to fix the issue this whole time and I'm finally back. I hope that those who were reading on a regular basis will be back.