Mexican Rice Casserole

I love Mexican food, so even after eating lots of it last week in honor of Cinco de Mayo, my cravings were not satisfied. This casserole is very filling with lots of rice, beef, tomatoes and cheese. I was pretty happy with it as is, but then I put a dollop of Wholly Guacamole on top and that really brought it up a notch. Personally, I think guacamole has that effect on most dishes. If you’re looking for a hearty meal with Mexican flair for only 7 P+, this one’s for you.

***For some unknown reason the original post for this recipe was messing up my category labels (appetizers, casseroles, desserts, etc) so I had to take it down and re-post it.  I'm simply mentioning this to avoid any confusion of the "didn't she already post this?" or "hey, it's not the week after Cinco de Mayo!" variety. This concludes the Emily Bites special bulletin.***

Couscous with Prosciutto, Mushrooms and Asparagus

This dish is truly delicious and would be perfect to take for lunches. All the ingredients are right up my alley: Parmesan, prosciutto, mushrooms, asparagus, pasta, wine…I knew I couldn’t go wrong. It turned out really yummy and it’s always nice to get vegetables, grains and protein all in one dish. If you’ve never used it, Isreali couscous is little balls of toasted pasta and also labeled pearl couscous. Prosciutto is a delicious, salty Italian dry-cured ham usually sold packaged in thin slices. I thought the ingredients blended beautifully together and the wine and Parmesan gave the “sauce” a sophisticated flavor.

 

Peach Ice Cream

If you follow Emily Bites on Facebook, you probably know that this past weekend my wonderful parents bought me the ice cream maker I’ve been wanting forever (this Cuisinart one) at Kohl’s with their 30% off coupon – thanks Mom & Dad! I’ve been collecting ice cream recipes for a while now in anticipation of making this purchase (it has been in my Amazon cart for about a month), so I was very excited to finally get to try one out. I decided to start with one of the simplest recipes I’d found since it was my first attempt and it really could have been easier (except that I did kind of skim through the ice cream maker instructions in my excitement and ended up adding the ingredients before turning the machine on rather than the other way around. I had to scoop everything out and re-start it. Oops!). The ice cream turned out delicious. Simple, peachy, creamy, refreshing and it’s nice to know you’re eating something with only five ingredients, all pronounceable. I can’t wait to try more flavors!

Peanut Butter & Jelly Doughnuts

Is there anyone who doesn’t love peanut butter and jelly? It’s tasty and comforting and it conjures up memories from childhood. Plus, there’s peanut butter in it. I’ve had the idea for a while to incorporate these flavors into a doughnut, so I went off searching for peanut butter doughnut recipes to start with as a base. I ended up using some components from the Peanut Butter Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze on Fake Ginger, though I lightened them up a lot, made them my own and incorporated jelly! These turned out tasty and it was a fun way to eat to eat PB&J for breakfast!

Mixed Berry French Toast Bake

This dish was a huge hit with my family for Mother’s Day Brunch and it was so easy to make! You basically just pour some ingredients in a baking dish the night before, chill overnight and then bake the next morning. The results were delicious. I love berries with French toast, and the brown sugar crumble gave a sweet contrast to some of the tart berries. The texture of the French toast came out perfect too; the top was a bit crispy and the bottom was soft without being too mushy. We served this with a side of turkey bacon and some refreshing peach iced tea wine spritzers (delicious) and the whole brunch was filling, tasty and perfect for a celebration!

Pesto Pasta with Asparagus, Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Arugula

I’ve always been of the opinion that almost any dish could be made better with pesto, so needless to say I was very excited to make this. It didn’t disappoint! I decided to try my hand at making my own pesto and now that I see how quick and simple it is I can’t believe I’ve never made it before! This pasta was delicious and the basil, asparagus and arugula made it taste really fresh. Perfect for Spring! I decided to make it vegetarian, but you could certainly add chicken if you like. The leftover pesto (the pasta only uses half of the pesto) can be used as a dip, a sandwich condiment, a topping for chicken or steak – get creative! It also freezes well, so you could always save it for the next time you make this dish. If you love pesto like I do, trust me, you’ll want to!

Slow Cooked Mexican Pulled Pork Tacos

Chipotle who? These Pulled Pork Tacos are so flavorful and easy to make. I far prefer them to their less-healthy restaurant counterparts.  It’s always nice to come home from work knowing that dinner is already made and waiting for you, and since there is virtually no prep work for these it’s super quick to just toss all the ingredients in your slow cooker in the morning! The spices in this sauce were absolutely perfect and when the shredded pork was added back into the pot, the sauce-to-meat ratio was spot on. If you didn’t have dinner plans for Cinco de Mayo on Thursday, now you do!

Strawberry Cheesecake Popsicles

I’ve been meaning to make these ever since I discovered that Jello now makes cheesecake flavored pudding (it’s totally possible they’ve been making this forever, but I only noticed it a few months ago). I love making popsicles in the summer. It’s so easy to pour in your favorite juices or pureed fruits and have a healthy grab-and-go snack! I’ve seen a lot of similar popsicle recipes popping up on other blogs lately (first Strawberry Shortcake Popsicles on Baker’s Royale and then Strawberry Pistachio Pops on Recipe Diaries) and they reminded how much I’ve been wanting to make these! I decided I couldn't wait for summer. Cheesecake with fruit topping is one of my absolute favorite desserts and I’m so excited that I can get the same flavors in these popsicles for just 1 WW P+! Bill Cosby would be proud.

I have had the same popsicle molds for a few years now and I have no recollection of where I bought them anymore (Target? Walmart? Wegmans?) but they look exactly like these ones I found on Amazon. These also look fairly similar. Mine each hold about ½ cup of liquid. If you have larger molds you may want to change the serving size. If you don’t have popsicle molds you could always use Dixie cups and wooden popsicle sticks, but I think popsicle molds are a great investment so I recommend just getting a set!