Chocolate Syrup

I let my kids drink chocolate milk on a daily basis.  I've gotten better in that I only let them have one cup of it a day now, but it used to be with nearly every meal!  I've made homemade Honey Mustard Dressing from scratch now (it's also a daily staple) trying to change out all that high fructose, preservative stuff in out diets and am committed to this recipe too as our new Hershey's substitute.  I actually like it better anyway, so yay! I double the recipe and it actually lasts for a few weeks; since it's richer you don't need to use as much.  Also great on ice cream!

Chocolate Syrup
Annie's Eats

INGREDIENTS

• 1¼ cups sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup water

• ¼ tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

• In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and cocoa powder and whisk briefly to break up any clumps.  Stir in the water and salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently.  Once the mixture reaches a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.  Stir in the vanilla.  Store in the refrigerator.

Grilled Fish Tacos Honey Lime Marinade

This marinade is so delicious and also subtle.  We've made it several times this summer and unless I find something better, will be our go to fish taco recipe.

Grilled Fish Tacos Honey Lime Marinade
allrecipes: mabcat

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 teaspoons lime zest
• 1 1/2 teaspoons honey
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay™
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste
• 1 pound tilapia fillets, cut into chunks       * I've used my whole 2lb bag of tilapia and felt that the marinade stretched that far with no problem.

Whisk all of the marinade ingredients in a bowl, then pour into a ziploc bag or  casserole dish.  

Add fish chunks and coat all pieces well.  Cover and refrigerate 6-8 hours or even overnight.  

Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat and lightly oil grate. Set grate 4 inches from the heat.  Remove fish from marinade. Grill fish pieces until easily flaked with a fork, turning once, about 9-15 minutes.

Serve in soft corn tortillas with shredded cabbage or lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro and fresh squeezed limes.  We also love to add one of our fish taco sauces- the Lone Star Taqueria Cilantro Jalepeno Mayo or this one

Lone Star Cilantro Jalepeno Mayo for Fish Tacos

We love the fish tacos at the Lone Star Taqueria in Cottonwood Heights, Utah (near Salt Lake City).  Curious if anyone had a copycat for their recipes, I found one that the restaurant posted themselves! I haven't tried the marinade yet, but it is out there if you want it.  We loved this sauce though!  

Lone Star Cilantro Jalepeno Mayo for Fish Tacos

1. In a blender or food processor, combine: 
2. 1 3/4 cups mayonnaise
3.  2 tablespoons water
4. 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
5. 1 rinsed and stemmed fresh jalapeño chili (remove seeds for less heat)
6. 1 peeled garlic clove
7. 1/2 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro
8.  and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. 
9. 
   
10. Whirl until smooth. Add salt to taste.
11. Makes about 2 1/4 cups.

Honey Mustard Dressing

We love dipping sauces here. But, I am on this trying to eliminate processed foods from our pantry kick right now and am slowly attempting to replace the store bought stuff with homemade versions.  This four ingredient recipe tasted exactly like the honey mustard's we love at restaurants and the store and being so easy to make and having everything already on hand, this is one natural version we'll never go back on.  Eventually I will try to make homemade mayo, but I made this with Best Foods.  I also saw that some people used plain yogurt instead to make it lower fat and healthier.

Honey Mustard Dressing

AllRecipes: Mary Ann Benzon

makes: 1 1/2 cups

1 cup mayo

4 Tablespoons mustard (regular or Dijon according to preference, I used reg.)

4 Tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing

I'm sure everyone has already tried some form of copycat Cafe Rio Dressing, I had actually tried one version before, but with fresh tomatillos, and thought it was blah.  I think the tomatillos gave it a murky, dirty kind of taste and texture, and maybe I just did something wrong, but when I came across this version, from a site who had similar experiences as mine, I was excited to give it a try again.  Our Best Bites uses green salsa rather than fresh tomatillos, and this version of the dressing was perfect.  



Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing
Recipe by Ourbestbites.com

1 pack (1oz) Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix (regular or buttermilk, and ignore directions on the packet)
1C mayo
1/2 C milk (or buttermilk depending on which packet you buy)
1 lime
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 C roughly chopped cilantro
1/4 C green salsa*
hot sauce

 Place milk, mayo, and ranch mix in a blender.   Juice the lime in there too, you should get about 2T juice.  Toss in the garlic, cilantro and green salsa.  Blend 'er up.  Sample it and add hot sauce to taste.  Make it several hours ahead of time to allow it to thicken.

*A note about green salsa:
There are several brands of green salsa available in most supermarkets and they have various degrees of heat.  One of the most commonly seen brands is Hernandez.  Hernandez brand is a lot spicier than any of the others I've tried.  Even their medium green salsa is way too spicy for my liking.  I like to buy La Costena because their  medium is actually really mild.  That way I get all of the flavor of the tomatillos but I control the level of heat with the hot sauce.  If you're not used to buying green salsa, make sure to sample it first before you put it in the dressing so you know what you're getting into!

Flank Steak Marinade

I'd never made a flank steak before, but have always wanted to because, done right, they are such a tasty cut of beef.  This marinade was outstanding.  We used this for for fajitas and also a fabulous southwest salad with cliantro-lime dressing- oh, it was so good.

Marinade for Flank Steak 

Recipezaar Recipe #42316

5 min | 5 min prep

• 3/4 cup oil
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon parsley

1. Mix oil, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, mustard,lemon juice and parsley together in a large zip lock bag.
2. Marinade beef over night.