The Simple Life at Home

1. Wash potatoes; dry, rub with oil and bake at 400 degrees for one hour or until done. Saute onions and garlic in butter until tender; set aside.
2. Cut 1/4 in. slice off top of potatoes and scoop out pulp, leaving shells intact and about 1/4 in. thick. Mash pulp and add onions and garlic, half the cheese, egg yolks mixed with sour cream, and seasonings. Beat well and restuff potato shells.
3. Brush tops with melted butter and slide under a broiler for a moment to brown. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, bacon bits, parsley and paprika. Serve immediately.

I hope you enjoy these - we always do! For more great recipes, visit Overwhelmed with Joy!

Today I bring you a side dish some of you have probably tried and some of you may have been too scared to try - tabbouleh. Tabbouleh is a traditional Arabic salad made with cracked wheat (burgul), parsley and tomatoes. I put a lot more into mine just to make it more fancy, but we'll get to that. In the Middle East you'll find tabbouleh that is almost all parsley and just a scant amount of burgul - not here. Mine is usually about 3/4 burgul and 1/4 parsley. Just a personal preference, I suppose.

This dish is just a health bonanza! Tons of fiber in the burgul, lots of veggies and heart-healthy olive oil. It make take a few bites to get into it, but once you give it a shot I bet you'll love it!!

And when I say "finely chopped" I mean REALLY finely chopped. Ok?

• 1 cup burgul (can usually be found in the same aisle as flour and corn meal)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onions
• 3/4 cup finely chopped tomatoes
• 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped mint (if you can't get fresh, you can use dried but fresh is better)
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced
• 1/2 cup small diced cucumber
• 2 scallions, sliced fine (include greens)
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Soak the burgul in warm water for about 30 minutes. Probably 2-3 cups worth. Alot of it will be absorbed, but drain off whatever is left after the 30 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and mix it well. If you would like it a little more moist, you can add either more lemon juice or more olive oil, to taste. Refrigerate for about an hour to allow flavors to develop. Yum!!!

For more great side dish ideas, be sure to visit Overwhelmed With Joy!

Today I'm going to share with you one of my favorite recipes of all time. I love salad! I love vegetables in general (I will make up a big pot of my special recipe Brussels sprouts for lunch sometimes - sick, huh?), but salads are one of my favorite all time meals.

The recipe I'm posting today is from Applebee's. They no longer have it on the menu, which is a travesty, because it is so delicious. It is a little bit of work, but well worth the effort!

Today's edition of Favorite Ingredient Friday over at Overwhelmed With Joy focuses on cookies. Now, surely the intention of this was to share about Christmas cookies, what with it now officially being the holiday season. It is official, right? I think it has been since, oh, say September 5 when the stores started putting out their Christmas stuff!! But that's another discussion.

Anyhoo, when I read that this week we were supposed to share a cookie recipe, I knew which one it would be for me. And it's not Christmas-y. But it is a treasured family recipe, created by my Great Aunt Nonie. Nonie is short for Leona and was this woman a pip!! Aunt Nonie had narcolepsy, so she could literally fall asleep at the drop of a hat. While driving, while babysitting, while bathing, any time. She was a very strong willed woman, who didn't do much in the domestic arena, but somehow she struck gold with this recipe. It was always an exciting day for all the grandkids when Aunt Nonie made her Orange Cookies.

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• Rind of one orange
• 1/2 cup milk, with 1/2 tsp. vinegar added to it
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• Frosting Ingredients as listed below

Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs and mix well. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well and drop by rounded teaspoons onto baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. The cookies should still be pale in color.

Citrus Frosting

• 1 box powdered sugar
• 1/2 stick butter, softened
• Grapefruit juice

Cream together the powdered sugar and butter. Beat in grapefruit juice until it's a nice consistency for frosting - sorry, this is subjective. Aunt Nonie didn't ever measure, but I can tell you that it was thinner than most frostings, but not too thin.

I hope you enjoy the cookies should you try to make them. We always did!!

A while ago, someone asked me to post this recipes and I apologize for not having gotten to it sooner, but here it is!!

Baja Beef and Beans is a delicious, slow-cooker meal that I make very often for company it's that good! The Tex-Mex rice just makes it that much more delicious. Plus it is a super-easy to make meal - literally just minutes...well, the entree part anyways. The rice maybe takes 20 minutes total of prep time.

I hope you enjoy this yummy meal!!

Baja Beef and Beans

• 1 1/2 lb. round steak
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 T. yellow mustard
• 1 t. chili powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 t. pepper
• 8 oz. salsa
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 t. beef bouillon
• 1 can of kidney beans

Combine the garlic, mustard, chili powder, salt and pepper. Spread the mixture over the steak, rubbing it in well. Cut the steak into bite-sized pieces. Place in a crockpot and stir in salsa, beef bouillon and onions. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. 30 minutes before serving, stir in drained kidney beans. Serve atop Tex Mex Rice.

Tex Mex Rice

• 1 cup rice
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 T. olive oil
• 1/4 t. pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 1/2 t. cumin
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Stir in rice and saute until rice is slightly browned. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add spices. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in red pepper. Let it stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy your meal!!

There are some wonderful sounding recipes posted at today's Favorite Ingredient Friday. Be sure to stop over at Overwhelmed by Joy and take a look. You just might find a new favorite!