Southwestern Egg Rolls

1 1/2 cans black beans
1/2 C corn (frozen, but thawed)
1/4 C red onion, chopped very fine
2 avocados, cubed in small pieces
1/2 C red bell pepper, chopped very fine
1/2 C Jalepino, chopped very fine (less if you don't want to big of a bite)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp chile powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 chicken breasts, grilled then cubed into small pieces
6 oz. colby jack cheese

mix all ingredients together into mixing bowl. Add chicken and cheese and mix together. Put mixture into egg rolls and deep fry for 2-3 minutes or until they are brown. Slice in half and serve with Avocado- Ranch Dipping Sauce. This recipe yields 30 egg rolls.

Avocado- Ranch Dipping Sauce

1/4 C smashed, fresh avocado
1/4 C mayonnaise
1/4 C sour cream
1 Tbls buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp. white vinegar
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. dried parsley
1/8 tsp. onion powder
dash of dried dill weed
dash of garlic powder
dash of pepper

Mix all together and chill.

Super yummy. Enjoy!

Cream of ______ Mix

I LOVE this mix SOOOOO Much. It is so nice to just whip up a batch to use with whatever recipe I'm making that I'd normally use a can of something for. (Also, if you're opposed to Corn products, you can use flour instead, it may just clump a little.)

Cream of...MIX

2 cups powdered milk
1 cup cornstarch
3 tbsp chicken bullion powder
2 tbbs dried minced onion
1/4 tsp pepper

Mix Together and Store in a Mason Jar in the Pantry.

When you want your cream of..., just add:


1/3 cup of mix
1 1/4 cup water or milk
1 Cup _____ (Celery, Mushrooms, Potato, Cooked Chicken...whatever you want your Cream of... to be!)

Bring to a boil on the stove and stir until thick. This is equivalent to a can of Campbell's Condensed Cream of ______ soup.

Another tip: I don't always have milk on hand at our house, so I started buying Rice Milk for our food storage, because it keeps on the shelf. With this recipe, there is no recognizable difference when using rice milk.

Homemade Snow Cones

Just thought I'd share this idea we tried today... Homemade Snow Cones.

It's "Easy-peasy-lemon-squeasy" said Hannah.

We put crushed ice from the freezer into our food processor (I love, love, love my Braun Multi-Mix)and chopped away. It made the ice into a nice fine airy snow. Not as perfect as SnoShack, but still great for free!

We bought some Sugar-Free syrup at Target for snow cones, but I want to try using juice & this Snow Cone Syrup Recipe:

Snow Cone Syrup Recipe

2 cups white sugar
1 cup water
1 (0.13 ounce) package unsweetened, fruit-flavored soft drink mix

Directions

In a saucepan, stir together the sugar and water. Bring to a boil, and boil for about 1 minute. Remove from heat, and stir in the drink mix. Allow to cool, and store in a container for pouring. Pour over shaved ice to flavor. (someone in the comments said they used 1/2 cups sugar to 1/2 cups water and 2 packages of flavoring to help avoid the watered-down snow-cone).

We bought a $3 pack of snow-cone cups and spoon-straws to last the summer.

Fun & easy.

Now - I just need to figure out all the awesome combinations... like tiger's blood... or maybe peaches & cream. Any tips?