Special Potatoes

by Valerie Halladay

6 to 7 potatoes
1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup butter
1 bunch of green onions, chopped
16 oz sour cream
10 oz sharp cheddar grated

Bake potatoes in oven just until tender. Grate potatoes into a 13X9 inch cake pan. In sauce pan heat & stir butter and cream of mushroom soup until fully combined. Remove from heat and mix in sour cream and green onions. Pour mixture over potatoes. Top with grated cheese. Cover with foil and put in oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

The recipe makes a lot of sauce. If your pan is not full to the top with potatoes I would half the sauce (soup, butter & sour cream) so you don't have more sauce than potatoes.

Cafe Rio Salads

by Valerie Halladay

Sweet Pork
6 lbs pork
1 can coke
16 oz can red enchilada sauce
2 cups brown sugar
Cut up pork into chunks. Cover with water and simmer for several hours until fork tender. Shred pork put in crock pot cover with mixture of coke, enchilada sauce & brown sugar. Simmer on low until ready to serve.

Cilantro Lime Rice
(I double this to match the amount of meat)
1 cup uncooked rice
1 tsp butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp grated lime peel
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 cups chicken broth
2 tbs chopped fresh cilantro
Combine rice, butter, garlic, lime peel, pepper and brothw in a 2 or 3 quart saucepan. Bring to boil; stir once or twice. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15 min. or until rice is tender and liquid absorbed. Stir in cilantro. (makes 3 cups)

Southwest Dressing
1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
1 pkg Hidden Valley Fiesta Dip mix
2 cups milk
2 cups mayo
Cilantro
16 oz avocado chip dip (not zesty)
2 limes
Mix dressing mix and dip mix with milk and mayo. Add cilantro to tastes, add juice of two limes and avocado dip. refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving. Makes over a quart of dressing.

Flour Tortillas
Buy uncooked tortillas and cook right before serving (grill them over a skillet for 1-2 minutes)

To assemble
Place ingredients in the following order:
1. Flour tortilla
2. Lime Rice
3. Black beans, rinsed, drained and warmed
4. Sweet Pork
5. Romaine lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, etc
6. Southwest dressing
7. chips (if desired)

Cola Pork Chops and Roasted Potatoes

I made this for dinner tonight and it was yummy! Pork chops have a tendency to be quite dry but these were nice and moist. Add some steamed fresh green beans and you've got a fabulous dinner! Lacey

Cola Pork Chops:
1 cup ketchup (I used 1/2 c. ketchup, 1/2 c. BBQ sauce)
1 cup Coke (or some other lame cola-flavored carbonated beverage)
2 Tb. brown sugar
8 pork chops
flour
garlic powder
onion powder
pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together ketchup (and BBQ sauce), Coke and brown sugar.

Season pork chops with garlic powder, onion powder and pepper. Roll in flour and brown in saucepan before baking. Place pork chops in baking pan and pour cola mixture over, coating well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake uncovered for about an hour depending on the thickness of the pork chops.

*After baking, I used a little corn starch to thicken up the sauce.

Roasted Potatoes:
3 medium potatoes cut into chunks
2 Tb. olive oil or butter, melted
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp paprika

Place potatoes in greased 9x9x2 baking pan. Combine oil and seasonings. Drizzle over potatoes, tossing to coat. Bake covered, in a 325 degree oven for 45 minutes. Stir potatoes. Bake uncovered, 10-20 minutes more or till potatoes are tender and brown on edges.

*To speed it up, roast potatoes, uncovered in a 450 degree oven for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
** I stuck the potatoes in the same time I stuck my pork chops in (at 350 degrees) and they turned out great!