Fish Tacos

My favorite fish tacos are at Cessy's in Carlsbad, California.  Rubios is pretty good too but I like Rubio's most for the chopped salad with about 1 cup of their green salsa on top.  When its just too much effort to drive over to Cessy's or even down the road to Rubio's and we have some decent frozen breaded fish in the freezer, this is great!!!

Fajita Marinade, Carne Asada

Our friend, Zulema has given us some great suggestions on different Mexican foods and this marinade is one of them.  We were talking once and I told her how I really wanted to make carne asada but couldn't because of the soy allergy problems in the family.  She shared this with me and we love it.  Add as much of any of the ingredients that you want to your taste and heat tolerance level.  Mayonaise is key to making it really work on the grill and you can either make your own or buy soy-free mayonaise pretty easily.

Remember to always check the Cholula or other sauce you add for soy allergens.  Cholula has been ok for our soy allergy family member BUT I'm not absolutely sure that it is soy free even after speaking with the company on the phone.  Please check for yourself.

Citrus Dressing and Winger's Sauce

So I don't forget the Citrus Dressing we use for Apple Pear Pecan salad or Winger's Sauce for Wingers Chicken that we don't have in Califorinia, here they are.  Not a pretty printout but since Grandma wanted the Cilantro lime dressing posted, I didn't want to forget these.

Cilantro Lime Vinegrette, Cafe Rio reminiscent

Ok Grandma, here is the dressing from Sunday's dinner.  It is similar to the cafe rio vinegrette but not really the same.  It is great with salad and meat.

Orange Rolls and Swedish Tea Rings

There is way too much to say about Orange Rolls and Swedish Tea Rings.  I just don't have the time right now.  BUT, I keep forgetting to post this handout Suzanne did years ago that works for both.  She makes amazing orange rolls and her hints are from experience.  This year we did our traditional Tea Rings but didn't have time for separate orange rolls so we used double the orange roll filling and used it to make a couple of the tea rings and it was so much easier than making individual rolls and cleaning out all the muffin tins, that I thnk we may do the orange roll Swedish tea ring hibrid from now on,(or at least if I'm making them alone.)

For a pretty good Almond Filling I put 2 cups of white sugar, 1 cup of almonds, 2 teaspoons of almond extract and 1 cup of melted butter in the Cuisinart until it basically becomes almond paste.

For Swedish Tea Rings, I also frost them when cooled with an almond frosting and then sprinkle sliced almonds over the top if I have them.  Blackberry, Raspberry, or Boysenberry Jam with butter for a filling with or without sliced almonds mixed works well for filling too.  Let them rise about 30 minutes or more after shaping them.

FREEZING: I used to make these with cinnamon, orange zest, or almond paste and freeze after cutting the dough wrapped in plastic wrap and then in gallon ziplocks.  They were easy to thaw and bake leaving out overnight.  Instead of detailing the process, here is a similar to same process that I used to to and it has pictures. Freezing cinnamon roll dough to bake later

Empanadas and Fillings

Yes, I make empanadas and because of soy allergy problems, I make them in big batches for the freezer.  They are amazingly helpful for lunches and times we go anywhere that we need to have something in case there isn't anything soy-free when we are out.  I used to have to reserve most of them for my daughter with the allergy or they would dissapear too quickly to replace.  Recently a new restaurant called the "Gauchito Grill" has opened near San Marcos Civic Center and has amazing empanadas and Milanesas so I can enjoy them for myself without the work.  $2.00 per empanada for myself and wife is fine to have the variety without the work.  It is a little too much to pay to put 60+ of them in my freezer though so I will continue making them at home.  We tried making peanut butter and jelly versions and its just not worth it. 

The recipe makes about 32 of them if you roll the dough out thick like my wife likes them or about 64 of them if you roll them out thin.  I like them both ways but usually make somewhere between 32 and 60 of them.  I will make a double batch occasionally but usually wind up giving up near the end and turn the last of the dough into pizza blanks or pitas to dip in tzatziki sauce for a greek meal later.

Below is a copy of the menu from the Gauchitos Grill to give ideas on other fillings and also to drool over if you are too far away to visit it.

Carrot Cake

I used to have a Carrot Cake recipe that I adapted from this one but eventually adapted it too much by cutting oil and adding applesauce and other things to cut the fat and up the veggie content until it wasn't good any more.  So I'm back to the original recipe but do replace about half the oil with applesauce and sometimes double the carrots and usually make one sheet cake pan of it with pecans for nuts and one sheet cake pan with no nuts.  One recipe works for one sheet cake pan which I cut and freeze without frosting and keep in gallon ziplock bags for lunches and after school treats.