Oreo Ice Cream

One of my favorite treats in the summer is homemade ice cream. We've made almost every summer for as long as I can remember. My dad is the designated ice cream maker in the family :) He usually makes raspberry or strawberry, but this year we decided to mix it up a little and made oreo ice cream. It was so good. Sometimes homemade ice cream can end up a little too creamy but this is a really good recipe to use as your base, and then add whatever you want to it. This recipe makes 5 quarts, but you could scale it down to make less.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups milk

2 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 t salt

2 1/2 cups half and half

1 1/2 T vanilla extract

5 cups whipping cream

25-30 oreo cookies, crumbled

additonal oreo cookies to serve, if desired

Directions:

Scald milk until bubbles form around edge. Remove from heat. Add sugar and salt. Stir until dissolved. Stir in half and half, vanilla, and whipping cream. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes. Freeze according to ice cream maker instructions. After frozen, stir in oreo cookies. To serve, spoon into bowl and top with additional crumbled cookies or a whole cookie.

Fajita Burgers

We found this recipe on delish.com. One of my favorite places to get recipes. We first made them for father's day and they were so good that we made them again for the 24th. The first time, we used ground beef and the second time, we used ground turkey. I didn't notice any difference in the flavor, but the ground turkey is a lot better for you. We love spicy, mexican flavors so this was the perfect summer recipe for us. I especially love the chipotle mayonnaise. We have used it as a spread for grilled chicken sandwiches also. A little more time consuming than your regular cheeseburger, but so worth it in my opinion :)

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef (or ground turkey)

3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (divided)

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

1/4 cup chopped scallions

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon chopped chipotle chile in adobo

1/2 cup shredded monterey jack cheese (we used slices of pepper jack)

4 French rolls (preferably whole wheat, split and toasted)

2 roasted anaheim or poblano peppers

1 cup shredded green cabbage (we just used bagged cole slaw mix)

4 slices tomato

4 slices red onion (we omitted this because there's already plenty of onion in the meat)

sliced avocado

Directions:

Place beef, 1/4 cup cilantro, onion, scallions, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, pepper, and salt in a large bowl. Gently combine, without overmixing, until evenly incorporated. (We then usally let the meat sit for an hour or so for the flavors to mix.) Form meat into 4 equal patties, about 1/2 inch thick and oval-shaped to match the rolls.

To roast the peppers, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place whole peppers on a baking sheet lined with foil and cook for about 30 minutes, turning halfway through. Immediately, place peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit for 30 minutes until cool. Carefully remove the skins and remove stem, seeds, and membranes. Cut in half and set aside.

Combine the remaining 1/2 cup cilantro, mayonnaise, lime juice, and chipotle in a small bowl.

Grill the burgers for about 6 minutes per side on medium-high heat. Top with cheese and cook until it is melted, about 1 minute more.

Assemble burgers on toasted rools with the chipotle mayonnaise, half a roasted pepper, cabbage, tomato, onion, and avocado. (We served them with watermelon wedges, chips, and a pickle wedge)

Stuffed French Toast

This is a recipe that Tyler saw on a TV show and was dying to make. He made it for brunch for all of us last sunday. It was SO good! I usually am not a big fan of breakfast food but I loved this. Tyler did a really good job making it and all the different flavors worked so well together. He doubled the recipe to make 8 servings but it ended up making a lot of the egg mixture. Also, we didn't use thick bread like the recipe calls for, so we ended up needing less of the egg mixture. So if you double the recipe, you probably don't need to double the egg mixture unless you use really thick bread slices.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups milk

2 eggs, beaten

1/8 t ground nutmeg

1/4 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t vanilla extract

3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

8 (2-inch thick) slices of bread (**we just used regular, thin white bread)

2 bananas, very thinly sliced

1 cup strawberries, very thinly sliced

4 T butter

1/4 cups powdered sugar

maple syrup

Directions:

Combine milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla in a shallow bowl. Set aside.

For assembly, spread a thin layer of the cream cheese onto 1 side ofthe bread slices. Top half the slices with the fruit. Place another piece of bread on top, cream cheese side down, creating a sandwich.

Preheat a griddle to 350 degrees. Lightly brush with the butter.

Give the milk mixture a quick stir, and dip the sandwiches into the batter, coating all sides.

Place on the griddle. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side, then turn on the edges and cook to brown evenly.

To serve, slice sandwiches in half on the diagonal and transfer to a serving platter. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with maple syrup.

Honey Glazed Salmon

Ever since we made this recipe from this book, it has been our favorite way to make salmon. The original recipe called for pure maple syrup but since pure maple syrup is so expensive, we substituted honey and it was delicious. We love eating fish so its always to nice to find a new way to cook it. Its a really quick and easy recipe. We usually serve it with some steamed broccoli and some wild rice.

Ingredients:
4 salmon fillets
1 cup soy sauce
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 cup pure maple syrup (we used honey)

Directions:
Marinate salmon for 1-24 hours
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Bake for 18 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.