Chicken Enchilada Soup

I got this recipe from my sister-in-law Emily, after we enjoyed some at Christmastime. It's delicious, and quite healthy too. Thanks again, Em!

Ingredients:

2 quarts water
2 T chicken boullion
3 chicken breasts
1 can chopped green chilies
1 large onion, quartered
1 red pepper, quartered
5 medium potatoes, peeled & quartered
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 butternut squash or 1 acorn squash (not easy to peel raw, so cut it in half, scrape out the seeds, then microwave for about 8 minutes until slightly soft. Then scrape the squash out of the skin and put in the pot with everything else)
----------
1 c sour cream
1/4 - 1/2 can red enchilada sauce
1 T taco seasoning
1 can white or Great Northen beans


Put first 11 ingredients in a large pot (water through squash) and boil until chicken is done and veggies are soft. Take out chicken and set aside. Puree the broth & veggies in one of the following ways: with an immersion blender (which would be the easiest), or strain out the soft veggies and blend them in your blender in two batches (adding about 2 cups of broth to each batch so it blends better), or in your food processor, then return it all to the original pot.

Shred chicken, then add it and the remaining 4 ingredients to the pot. Stir it, heat it up, & serve! Fun topped with extra sour cream, cheddar cheese, Fritos, fried tortilla strips, or nothing at all. Deeeelicious!


A few notes:

• I had a hard time getting the taco seasoning to mix in well without being clumpy, so next time I'll add it to the blender while pureeing the vegetables.

• I didn't include the squash or beans since I didn't have them on hand, but it was still quite yummy. Next time I'll be better prepared! Come to think of it, this would be a perfect recipe to add some canned (soft) beans to during the pureeing stage too, to hide a little extra protein in there. I would stick with light-colored beans though, to maintain the pretty color of this soup.

• I used one pint of canned chicken, which I had on hand since I recently pressure-canned 40 pounds of chicken. A full pint jar was just about the right amount for this soup.

• The recipe called for 1 tsp salt; you might want to start with 1 tsp and then add more at the end if it needs it. Mine needed a good extra teaspoon.

• Measure the water: I approximated and in hindsight I probably had closer to 3 quarts in there; it was a bit watery for my liking so next time I will measure out 2 quarts!

• Soup is not an exact science. I make a lot of soup around here and it's never the same each time; soup is a great thing to experiment with spices... just add a little of this and a little of that! Have fun with it :)

P.S. Do you pronounce it "kyoo-min" or "coo-min" ?? I have always said it the first way but I've heard plenty of people say it both ways. Having just done a little research online, both ways are acceptable and some people even say it like "comin'."

Spaghetti & Meatballs

For as often as my family eats spaghetti (one of my kids' favorite dinners!) it's surprising that we had NEVER had spaghetti with homemade meatballs, until tonight. I usually put ground beef in my spaghetti sauce (whether making it from scratch, or adding to store-bought sauce) so we were essentially already eating the same thing, but since my more-picky kids have lately expressed a greater interest in meat, I decided to give these a try. They turned out great; we all loved them. I found the meatball recipe on allrecipes.com but tweaked it a bit.

Meatball ingredients

1 lb lean ground beef (I used 93/7)

3/4 c bread crumbs (I used store-bought)

1 T dried parsley

1 T grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1 egg, beaten

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients. I mixed it with a fork but then finished mixing it thoroughly with clean hands, just like I do when I make meatloaf. Shape into about 12 balls; if not using immediately then cover and store in the refrigerator.

Place meatballs in a glass or metal 8x8 pan; bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour an approximately 24-oz bottle/jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce into a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Once the sauce begins to boil, add the meatballs that have just partially cooked in the oven. Allow sauce to come to a boil again, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover, and let the meatballs simmer in the sauce for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan.

While they're simmering, cook spaghetti noodles according to package instructions, in a separate pot. When noodles are tender, drain, and serve with meatballs & sauce on top -- and extra parmesan cheese. Yum!

• I doubled the meatball recipe; it was too much for my family but a single recipe wouldn't have been enough (because we all LOVED the meatballs)!
  

• I noticed that after all that simmer-time my sauce had thickened considerably, even though it had been covered. To thin it out I added about 1 cup of water to my sauce ~ this is fine to do because the liquid that has boiled away is just water, so you should add water (rather than tomato sauce, or something) to thin it back out to the right consistency.

• If you choose, you could omit the oven step and put the raw meatballs right into the sauce to cook. I liked the idea of browning them in the oven first. Either way, they should be cooked thoroughly after a 30-minute simmer.

Update: I just enjoyed the leftover meatballs & sauce for lunch ~ they would have been PERFECT on a hoagie roll! Thanks for the suggestion Amy; next time I'm making meatball subs!

Sloppy Joe Pot Pie

I read this recipe on Real Mom Kitchen, on just the day I needed it: I had no ideas for dinner, I had ground beef in the fridge that needed to be used, and I had the rest of the ingredients on hand. My kids were at first nervous because it was something NEW, but they all ended up loving it! It's very easy and made for a great dinner with a salad on the side. I agree with Laura's assessment (Laura from Real Mom Kitchen) that it would be better with more meat, so I think next time I will double the meat & sauce part and keep the biscuity-top part the same. Shown below are the original quantities. Also, I don't have an oven-safe skillet so I baked mine in a glass 8x8 and it was lovely... just pour the cooked meat mixture into an 8x8, then top w/ cheese and continue the rest of the instructions. Laura's picture is much better than mine so that's what I've used here. Enjoy!

Sloppy Joe Pot Pie

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 (15 oz) can sloppy joe sauce (like Manwich)
• 1 1/4 c shredded cheddar cheese, divided
• 1 c baking mix (like Bisquick)
• 1/2 c milk (skim is fine)
• 1 egg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a 10-12" oven proof skillet, brown the beef & onion together until beef is no longer pink and onion is tender; drain. Add sloppy joe sauce to the meat and stir to combine. Remove from the heat and sprinkle with 1 cup of the cheese.

In a small bowl, mix together the baking mix, milk, and egg until combined. Pour over the beef mixture. Place the skillet in the oven and bake at 400 for 30 minutes or until golden.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 c cheese. Makes 4-5 servings.





A little tip: You can make your own Bisquick in a pinch. I didn't have any Bisquick on hand when I made this recipe, so I mixed 1 cup of all-purpose flour with 1/2 T baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt. Then, cut in about 1/3 c shortening until mixture resembles fine crumbs. There's your "baking mix," so then just go ahead & stir in the milk & egg as directed.

Easy roast & gravy

I got this recipe from Real Mom Kitchen, except her instructions called for putting the roast in the oven and I opted for the Crock Pot instead. My oh my, this was easy and delicious.

1 medium-sized roast; any kind... I had one I'd bought a few months ago on sale for $4 that had been hiding at the bottom of my chest freezer and it was perfect!
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 packet brown gravy mix
salt & pepper

Sprinkle salt & pepper on both sides of the meat, put in crock pot. Turn on to low. In a small bowl, combine both soups (not diluted!) and gravy mix. Pour mixture over meat (it will be pretty thick). Cook for several hours until meat is tender. I made this Sunday and I had forgotten to start it before church, so I started mine at noon and it was done by five (although I had the crock pot on "high" during part of that time since I was worried about it being done).

This was so good! Once the moisture & fat from the meat combines with the sauce it ends up making a great gravy consistency. I skimmed some fat off the top of it because it was a fairly fatty roast to begin with. Making the mashed potatoes was definitely the hardest part of this meal.

Healthy, inexpensive, satisfying dinner

I am fortunate that nobody in my house minds skipping meat at dinnertime; I try to do at least 2 nights a week without meat and the substitute main course is usually pasta or potatoes. The meal pictured is one we have had twice this week and everyone around here just loves it. All three recipes are ones I've posted here before:

Ranch roasted potatoes (this time I only used half the packet of ranch, and added lots of salt, pepper, garlic powder, & Italian seasoning)

Italian peas

Glazed carrots

Summer Sliders

Our dinner tonight:

I was inspired by the Pioneer Woman's post this morning for Mushroom Swiss Sliders with Spciy Fry Sauce. I don't love Swiss cheese, so I used provolone instead. Other minor changes I made to her recipe: I used burgundy cooking wine with the mushrooms instead of white (since that's what I had on hand), and, I didn't measure anything (as usual for me) but I did use all the same ingredients. Adding heavy cream to the ground beef was quite tasty; I hadn't tried that before. One hint: I wasn't watching the sliders when they were finishing up with the cheese, and my cheese melted too much... much of it melted right off. So, don't put the cheese on until the last couple of minutes, and keep an eye on them. But they turned out very delicious; I would make this again for sure!

To make the homemade fries I just cut up potatoes, laid them out on a cookie sheet tossed with a little vegetable oil, salt & pepper, & seasoned salt. Bake them in a very hot oven, 450 degrees is good. Resist the urge to check them very often because you'll let a lot of heat out every time, but they do need to be stirred around & turned over a few times during baking. I let them bake about 45 minutes.

To freshen up the meal we had fresh watermelon and drank cherry limeade. It was so delicious and summery!

Loaded Fried Rice

This is one of those recipes I have wanted to post for a long time but have hesitated because I don't really measure anything when I cook it. Well, I made it again tonight and tried to pay better attention to what I was doing... delicious! I like to put a lot of "stuff" into fried rice so that's why I'm calling it "loaded."

Ingredients:

3 carrots, sliced
4 eggs
1 large chicken breast, cut in small thin slices
2-3 stalks green onions, sliced
1 T sesame seeds
1/2 c frozen peas
sesame oil*
vegetable oil
soy sauce
salt & pepper
Asian seasoning (I have Emeril's Asian Essence)
2-3 c cooked white rice: Leftover rice is great; or just cook your rice ahead of time (a day or several hours ahead), allow to cool a little and put in the fridge. You want it to be cold/cool before you start on this.

*I like a combination of sesame oil and vegetable oil; I like the flavor of the sesame oil but it's overpowering to me if that's the only oil used. I use about half and half; so in the instructions when it says, "oil," you can use either.

Instructions:

Heat 2 T oil in a large wok over medium-high heat. Toss carrots in oil and stir-fry (keep it moving all the time) until tender. When the carrots are almost done, add the green onions and stir fry together for a few more minutes. Remove from heat and put carrots aside in a small bowl.

Add a little more oil to the wok; heat. Scramble four eggs (you can use fewer; I like it eggy) in a small bowl with a fork. Season with salt & pepper. Pour eggs into the wok; "stir-fry" until all the way cooked... it's just scrambled eggs; best in small pieces. Remove to a small bowl; set aside.

Put a little oil in the wok (yes, again) and the sesame seeds. Cook until lightly toasted. Add chicken pieces and about 2T soy sauce. I also sprinkle some Asian seasoning on the chicken as it's cooking. Stir fry chicken until cooked through, then remove to a small bowl and set aside.

Now that our extras are all cooked, it's time to stir-fry the rice. It will be very sticky so you will need a little more oil in the wok, but not too much because the chicken & veggies & eggs have oil on them too, which will be added in later.



So heat a couple more tablespoons of oil (I usually use sesame for this part) in the wok, and add the cooked rice. Stir-fry it around, breaking up all the clumps. Add about 2-3 T soy sauce and keep stirring until the rice is all warm. Add the chicken, eggs, and carrots all in, as well as the frozen peas. They will cook as you continue cooking the whole thing. Add a few dashes of Asian seasoning here and there, as well as additional tablespoons of soy sauce, until it's a nice color and flavor. I always just keep tasting it as I go. Keep in mind that the Asian seasoning will taste stronger after a longer time, so don't overdo it if you don't want it too spicy. Just keep stirring and tossing everything together, and tasting, and seasoning... until it's just how you want it!


How's that for ambiguous instructions? :) Give it a try though; I think you'll have success.


Tonight we enjoyed this fried rice with some frozen Panko-crusted shrimp that I bought at Costco the other day. I made this sweet n' sour sauce to go with it, which was delicious! Even my kids ate it all up.

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

The other day I was reading Pioneer Woman and she posted a recipe for grilled chicken and pineapple quesadillas. I thought that sounded positively delicious, but I wasn't sure how my family would feel about the pineapple. So, I took the idea of using BBQ sauce but changed the other ingredients... it turned out delicious and I made them two nights in a row this week!


Ingredients:

4 large flour tortillas
2 medium-sized chicken breasts
BBQ sauce (I just used Kroger brand original; you might want to use something more spicy)
1-2 avocados, sliced
about 12 oz shredded monterrey jack cheese (pepper jack would also be good if you like it)
1 large yellow onion
butter (have about a stick on hand)
S&P, garlic powder, cumin


Let's start with the onions since they take the longest. Slice the top end off the onion, then peel off the skin. Cut it in half top-to-bottom (cutting through the root end). Putting cut-side-down on your cutting board, slice the whole onion into thin slices (half-circles). Work up to the root and discard the root end. The reason I'm giving these onion-slicing details is that if you work with it cut-side-down and also cut the root end off last, it minimizes the teary eyes. In fact when cutting up an onion this way I don't shed a single tear!

Heat up a medium or large skillet over medium heat; melt about 2T butter and add all the onion slices, breaking them up with a spatula. Cover them and come back to stir them occasionally, cooking until they are all translucent and turning golden brown.

Pre-brown your "top" tortillas. Heat a griddle or large skillet on medium heat with about 1T butter. Spread the butter around evenly and put a tortilla (or two if it'll fit); cook until it starts to crisp up; golden brown.

Chicken: whenever I'm going to cook chicken on the grill I always pound out the breasts first. This makes them more tender and also evens out the thickness so they'll cook more evenly, and more quickly. After pounding the chicken (between two pieces of plastic wrap, with meat mallet), season both sides with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cumin. You can get creative and use any other spices you'd like. Cook the chicken on the BBQ and brush 2-3 T BBQ sauce on each side as it cooks. When it's cooked through, let it cool off a few minutes and then slice into thin strips.

Assuming the onions are cooked by now, it's time to assemble!


Put some more butter on the skillet (1-2T), and your two fresh (uncooked) tortillas will be the bottom of your quesadillas. Start by sprinkling a big handful of jack cheese on each. Then, several pieces of chicken. Then, sliced avocados. Then, the onions. At this point I brushed on a few more tablespoons of BBQ sauce and sprinkled on a little more cheese to help the "lid" stick. Then, add the pre-browned tortillas; browned side up.

I didn't intend to flip them over as they cooked, but I did so that they would be hot all the way through. I just cooked the first side until the bottom tortilla had browned, then carefully (and quickly) flipped it over with a big spatula and let the other side cook for just a minute.

Let them cool a few minutes before slicing them up with a pizza cutter. I prefer to eat these dipped in sour cream; a mixture of sour cream and salsa would be good too. So yummy! These will be on the regular dinner rotation from now on. Enjoy!

Our Christmas Menu

We hosted out-of-town relatives this year for Christmas, and I really wanted to cook a turkey since it had been a while since I last cooked one. I was in the kitchen all day but everything turned out delicious! I will share with you all the recipes I used this year on Christmas Day...

Emeril's Turkey I have made this a few times and love the flavor. I don't make the giblet gravy; just use the turkey part of the recipe. And, I always cook a bigger bird (17-18 lb) so I nearly double the other ingredients since this recipe calls for a smaller bird.

Gravy My Grandma makes the best gravy. However, I have not watched her do it so I know I don't do it like her... therefore my gravy doesn't turn out nearly as good :) But, in making the turkey recipe above, I am able to easily make a pretty decent gravy. After taking the turkey out of the roasting pan, pour all drippings into a large bowl or Pyrex glass 2 qt measure. Let it sit for a few minutes to allow the fat to rise to the top. With a large spoon, skim off several spoonfuls of the fat/grease and put it in a medium saucepan. Put it over medium heat. Add a few tablespoons of flour and whisk it well. Let it cook for a minute, and keep whisking. While still whisking, pour two or three cups of the drippings into the pan. Allow it to come to a boil, and you can see how thick your gravy will be. If it's too thick, add more of the liquid.

Mashed Potatoes Pioneer Woman says not to use a hand mixer on mashed potatoes, but I always do. I do most of the work with a potato masher by hand, but I always finish them with a hand mixer to ensure ultimate creaminess.

Stuffing My mother-in-law's delicious recipe; yum!

Sweet Potatoes Super easy, and who doesn't love marshmellows on top?


Rolls I was assigned to bring rolls for Thanksgiving at my Grandma's this year and I made these, and to fancy them up I put a small pat of butter in the big end of each triangle before rolling them up. I also brushed them with melted butter before baking. However, I found that they actually turned out too buttery for me (and I didn't think there was such a thing as too buttery!) For Christmas dinner I made a double batch, and I melted one stick of butter to spread on them before rolling up. So for each rolled-out circle (each circle yielding crescent 12 rolls) I spread 2 T butter. I thought they turned out just right this way.

Peas I actually did not make this recipe because I ran out of time (the turkey was done! I hadn't made the gravy! The sweet potatoes had browned!) but I had every intention to. We did eat peas, just regular frozen cooked peas that I added a pat of butter to after draining.



... and we had cranberry sauce (whole berry) from a can. I had to simplify somewhere! Dessert was a Costco cheesecake. Today I'm loving the leftovers... my favorite part about a big turkey dinner! And then in another few days I'll take the turkey carcass out of the freezer and make some turkey soup.





I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Apricot Chicken (or peach)

Doesn't that sauce look pretty?

I got this recipe from my mother-in-law, and my husband loves when I make it! I don't make it very often because the ingredients are not ones I usually have on hand. However, I have found ways to substitute ingredients so that we can have it more often (like tonight) as a last-minute dinner idea.


6-8 chicken pieces (I use about 4 boneless/skinless breasts)
8 oz Russian dressing
1 cup apricot jam
1 pkg (1 3/8 oz) dry onion soup mix
2 tsp curry powder (optional)

Mix dressing, jam, soup mix, & curry. Pour over chicken in a casserole dish. Bake at 350 for an hour. Serve over rice. Easy peasy!


NOW... tonight I did something a little different and was so pleased with the result. As I am about to can a bunch of peaches (four boxes of which arrived at my house today), I've been trying to eat up more of last year's canned peaches. When it was time to consider tonight's dinner I thought, "What can I make for dinner that will use up some canned peaches?" and I thought of apricot chicken.

As a substitute for the apricot jam, I took a little less than half a quart of canned peaches, along with juice for that amount, and put them in a small saucepan. I mushed up the peaches with the back of a fork, added a little more sugar since jam has tons of sugar in it (about two tablespoons) and put it over medium-high heat. I let it boil for a little while, stirring occasionally; about 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, I didn't have any onion soup mix on hand (which is weird; I normally do) so I found a recipe for it online, and I already had all of the necessary spices for it. Tonight I did happen to have Russian dressing in my fridge, but I have made from-scratch Russian dressing out of other ingredients before, when I've needed to. (There are about a million Russian dressing recipes online, and so many of them are VERY different. When I've made it before I used some ketchup, some mayo, a little Worchestershire, and some spices. This one online is close enough.)

So, tonight's canned peaches concoction served as my jam (they had cooked down to roughly a cup of "jam"), and I mixed it with the dressing, and about 5 teaspoons of the onion soup spice mix. (I never use curry with this.) It turned out so tasty; just as good as the original recipe!

Also, I don't usually put it in the oven for an hour. Tonight I used a covered electric skillet; I cut up the chicken into large chunks and mixed the sauce with it and cooked it all together and cooked it on medium heat, stirring occasionally. It was done before the rice was, probably in 15 minutes. Using 5 teaspoons of the onion spice mix was pretty mild; next time I'll do 6 teaspoons (which is the same as 2 tablespoons, FYI). Delish!

Cheesy Spaghetti Bake

I'm so sorry; no picture! My family loves spaghetti (who doesn't?) and this turned out to be a fun twist on an old favorite. We were in a hurry to eat tonight (and my camera was nowhere in sight) but I will definitely make this again, and take a picture next time.


8 oz spaghetti noodles
1 24-oz jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce, or homemade (see below)
1/2 lb Italian sausage or ground beef, browned
2 c shredded mozzarella
1/3 c grated parmesan

Cook noodles in salted, boiling water until tender. Drain thoroughly. Combine cooked meat with sauce. Turn on oven to 375 degrees.

In a 2-quart casserole dish, evenly spread half the noodles. Spread half the sauce over the top of them, followed by half the cheese (both kinds). Then repeat: noodles, sauce, cheeses. In a round, deep casserole dish, you can do this in three layers instead of two. Make sure that your top layer of noodles is covered well with sauce, or else any "exposed" noodles will cook too crsipy.

Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese on top starts to brown, and is bubbly. Serve with salad and garlic bread!


Now, tonight I made two batches of this (one to give away) and I only had one jar of spaghetti sauce on hand. So for the second batch, I whipped up my own spaghetti sauce and it was equally delicious.

2 T olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes (do not drain)
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried oregano

In a medium skillet on medium heat, sautee onion with olive oil. When the onion is tender & nearly translucent, add the garlic. Be careful not to overcook the garlic or it will taste bitter. After the garlic has cooked with the onion for a minute or two, add the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Add dried spices and bring it to a simmer. Add 1/2 pound cooked sausage or ground beef if you want (I always do; I like a nice chunky red sauce) and continue to simmer while your pasta is cooking. By the time your pasta is done, your sauce will be too!

Creamy delicious alfredo and chicken

I made this last night for a church party and several people asked me for the recipe! It was the first time I'd made it and it really was delicious. I got it from my cousins' food blog, who in turn got it from Kevin & Amanda's Recipes. I have been making homemade alfredo sauce for years but it has never turned out this good; I will be using this recipe from now on!


chicken:
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts

chicken coating:
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tbsp steak seasoning

when cooking the chicken:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp oil

pasta:
1 lb linguine noodles
1 tbsp salt

alfredo sauce:
1 scant cup chicken broth
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2-3 cloves minced garlic
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
8 basil leaves, chiffonaded
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Layer chicken between wax paper and pound breasts to even thickness. In a small bowl, mix the egg, milk, lemon juice and garlic powder. Pour mixture into ziploc bag with chicken. Seal and refrigerate 2 to 4 hours. After marinating, whisk together flour, bread crumbs, salt, baking powder, and steak seasoning in a medium bowl. Remove chicken from milk mixture, shake off excess, and coat in flour mixture. Add 1 tbsp of salt to a large pot of water and bring to boil. Boil noodles according to package. Then, in a medium saucepan, heat chicken broth over medium high heat, bringing to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and stir in heavy cream, cornstarch, and garlic. Bring to a soft boil and stir for one minute. Reduce heat to low, add parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Let simmer for about 10 mins to melt cheese, let thicken, and incorporate flavors. Meanwhile, heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When butter just starts to turn brown, arrange chicken in skillet. Cook 4-5 mins each side until juices run clear and chicken is cooked through. While chicken is cooking, chop fresh herbs and stir into Alfredo sauce right before serving. Serve sauce over pasta and chicken.


Tips:

• Real grated parmesan cheese melts better (and tastes better).

• To "chiffonade" the basil: stack the leaves on top of each other, and roll them up into a tight roll. Then, slice the roll thinly with a sharp knife, so that you end up with very thin strips of basil leaves.

• Last night I doubled this recipe (which made a TON but it was just right for the occasion) I used a 15 oz. can of chicken broth, which was just right, since 16 oz is 2 cups and the recipe calls for a scant cup.

Picture and recipe courtesy of Kevin & Amanda's Recipes

Mexican dinner ideas

Today you're getting bunch of dinner ideas for the price of one! (Hopefully this helps to make up for the lack of posting lately.)

One night last week I made too much guacamole with dinner. I don't know what I was thinking, using four avocados when only about half of my family likes guacamole, but in an effort to be economical I decided to come up with additional dinner ideas that would use up the guacamole. So here's what we ate:

First night: frozen taquitos (purchased from the freezer section of the grocery store, baked in the oven) and cheese crisp (grated cheese sprinkled on a flour tortilla, put in the oven under the broiler until the cheese is melted, then folded in half). We had some iceberg lettuce on the side, some heated up refried beans, and sour cream, salsa, and guacamole. My personal preference is to tear off a piece of cheese crisp, wrap it around a taquito, and then dip it in the beans and all the lovely dippings (which look very nice on the plate, being the Mexican flag colors of red, white, and green).

Second night: Chicken burritos. I made them just as I posted before, with the addition of a drained can of black beans to the chicken & corn mixture. Actually, this time instead of regular chicken breasts I used two cans of canned chicken, and nobody could tell the difference! Shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes also went inside each burrito... along with sour cream, salsa, and guacamole.

Third night: Chicken quesadillas. These were a big hit! I cooked two chicken breasts in a skillet with about 1/2 a white onion cut into strips. I cooked everything in a little oil, and onto the chicken I sprinkled salt & pepper, cumin, garlic powder, and a little cayenne pepper. Once the chicken was browned on both sides I covered the skillet, turned down the heat, and let it cook slowly until the onions were translucent. I removed the chicken and cut it into thin strips... it didn't have enough flavor for me, so I put all the pieces back into the skillet along with a couple spoonfuls of salsa, and mixed it all together with the onions. Then, I sprayed a large skillet with Pam cooking spray, put a large (burrito-sized) tortilla in, sprinkled half of it with cheese, covered the cheese with a layer of the chicken/onion mixture, sprinkled with a little more cheese, and folded the tortilla over. I cooked it on medium heat until the tortilla started to turn golden brown on the bottom, then I flipped it over & cooked the other side. This amount of chicken was perfect for six burrito-sized tortillas. I kept the cooked quesadillas warm in the oven while cooking the rest of them, and I sliced each half-circle into four wedges to serve. Everyone loved them! We had a small salad on the side and we dipped our quesadillas into (you guessed it) sour cream, salsa, and guacamole.


Unbelievably, I even still have a little bit of guacamole left but I am glad I succeeded in using most of it up, and all with meals my family loved! By the way, we did eat non-Mexican dinners in between, and had the above meals every other night :)


Other good ideas to use up your guacamole:

Make your own chips! Take corn tortillas and cut them into 6 triangles each with a pizza cutter. Spread out on a cookie sheet in one layer, spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt. Bake in the oven at 325 for 5-6 minutes, then take out & flip them all over... spraying & salting the other side. Return to oven and bake until the edges look golden brown and they are crispy!

Tostadas! You can find tostada shells next to the taco shells in most grocery stores. Brown 1/2 lb ground beef with 1/4 chopped onion. Drain. Add a can of refried beans and a couple of spoonfuls of salsa and heat through. Spread beans mixture on a tostada shell; top with cheese, shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, and of course sour cream, salsa, and guacamole.

Tacos! Everyone knows how to make tacos, but here's a different way from what you might be used to. When I was growing up my mom would make soft taco shells by frying corn tortillas in oil in a skillet until they start to turn color. Drain between layers of paper towels and they are a very tasty alternative to crunchy taco shells.

Taco salad! For taco salad, I brown a pound of ground beef with some chopped onion, then drain and add taco seasoning, kidney beans, black beans, sliced olives, and a little salsa. For the salad, I mix iceberg and romaine lettuce, along with tomatos, shredded cheese, and diced avocados. When serving myself a big plate of it, I first put the salad part, then the meat part, then yellow corn tortilla chips... and then sour cream & salsa. Then mix it all together. My sister mixes sour cream and salsa together as a salad dressing, and dresses the greens ahead of time so that everybody's is nice and moist. In my household, not everyone likes the same amounts of everything so we dish ours up separately. Delicious either way!


We have all of the above meals fairly regularly, probably since we live in Arizona and we love Mexican food here. I hope this gives you some fun new ideas.

Baked Potato Cheese Soup

I came across a potato cheese soup recipe on another cooking blog but made several changes to it for dinner tonight... it turned out delicious. Very filling, and my husband had thirds! My kids liked it too.


6-8 large baking potatoes
1 stick butter
chopped carrots (see "tips" for quantities)
chopped onions
chopped celery
1/3 c flour
salt & pepper
3 bay leaves
Emeril's Essence Seasoning
Season Salt
2 c milk
4 c chicken broth (I used 2 cans which was about 3 1/2 cups but that was fine)
8-12 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled
8 oz grated cheddar cheese (I did two handfuls)
1 c sour cream

Wash potatoes, prick with a fork, wrap in foil and bake at 425 degrees for 45 minutes or until tender. Melt half of the stick of butter in a large soup pot. Add chopped onion, carrot, celery, & spices and sautee over medium heat until carrot is nearly cooked (not too soft but not crunchy either). Then add the rest of the butter, let it melt and then add the 1/3 c flour, stir and cook for one minute. Add milk and chicken broth slowly, whisking to incorporate the roux (butter/flour) into the liquid. Cook on medium-high until it comes to a boil. Meanwhile, peel the baked potatoes and either mash or cube them, depending on how you want the soup's texture to be. Stir in potatoes, bacon, and cheese; then taste to see if it needs more salt/pepper. Just before serving add one cup sour cream.


Tips:

• I mash about half the potatoes and cube the other half; that way the mashed potatoes thicken the soup but there are still enough chunks for a nice texture. If you decide ahead of time that you won't be mashing any of the potatoes, add more flour in the beginning, up to 2/3 c.

• Spices are of course to taste. I put in about a teaspoon of salt at the beginning, and taste it later to see if it needs more. Bacon will add a salty flavor, so you might not need as much salt if you put in a lot of bacon. The cheese will add saltiness too, so don't oversalt it in the beginning. I put in about 1 1/2 teaspoons of Essence, and several dashes each of pepper & season salt.

• As for the vegetables... the recipe I adapted this from didn't call for any onion/carrots/celery so I just guess on quantities (and actually didn't put in any celery since my husband doesn't like it, but it would've tasted really good in there!) I had about two big handfuls of carrots and about 1/3 of a chopped onion.

• A soup like this really holds the heat, so if you turn off the burner and then stir in the sour cream at the end, the sour cream will help it to cool off just a bit before you serve it.

Baked white fish

Fish is so good for you, but I have always been intimiated by it! After 11 years of being married and cooking delicious meals for my family, I have just in the past few months ventured into the wonderful world of fish... I mean, "real" fish and not frozen breaded fish-sticks! It isn't hard at all to prepare and we have really been enjoying it lately.

3 or 4 fillets of any white fish (I buy mine frozen at the grocery store; usually between $6-10 per pound... orange roughy, talapia, cod, halibut, etc.)
1 lemon
olive oil
salt & pepper

To thaw fish, leave in plastic packaging or remove and put in a big Ziploc bag; run under cold water or submerge in a sink full of cold water until thawed. Arrange fillets on a baking sheet or casserole dish. Brush both sides with olive oil and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Slice lemon into thin slices; arrange lemon slices on top of fish. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes. To check to see if it's done, stick a fork in the thickest part of a fillet and see if it's solid white all the way through and if it flakes easily. If so then it's done! I serve mine with this sauce and this rice... tonight for dinner we ate all of that plus these carrots. And I'm very full!

Easy Soy Chicken

This is so quick and easy; we have it all the time. I always serve it over rice, and usually with some cooked frozen Asian-blend vegetables, or peas.

Small pieces of chicken cook quickly so if you want to serve this over rice and are using traditional rice (not Quick rice), start the rice a few minutes before you start on the chicken.

Boneless/skinless chicken breasts - enough to feed your family... in my case it's two (my kids don't eat much)

1/3 c sugar

1/3 c soy sauce

1/4 tsp dried ginger

2 tsp cornstarch

Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces, or into slices (whichever you prefer). Spray a large skillet with Pam and put it on medium heat. Cook the chicken in the skillet just until the outside of it is cooked. Pour sugar, soy sauce, and ginger over chicken, mixing it around. In your measuring cup, mix the cornstarch with about a tablespoon of water (I just mix it around with my finger) until the cornstarch is dissolved; pour into the skillet. Mix it around. Turn up the heat and let it come to a boil. Let it bubble for a couple minutes and then turn the heat to low, keeping it warm until ready to serve.

Quick Chicken Noodle Soup

I got this idea from Rachael Ray but have changed the recipe slightly. But since it's a recipe from Rachael Ray it only takes about half an hour! I make this all the time when I don't have a lot of time to cook, but want to fix a decent meal for my family.

2 TB olive oil
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried dill
4 cups chicken broth (canned)
1/2 pound wide egg noodles
1 boneless/skinless chicken breast half, diced
1 can cream of chicken soup

Place a 2-qt or larger pot over medium heat. Add olive oil. Add carrots, celery*, and onion**. Add bay leaves, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir vegetables and cook for about 5 minutes, until they start to become tender. Add other spices, then pour in chicken broth. Turn up the heat until the soup comes to a boil, then reduce back to medium***. Add noodles and cook for 5 minutes. Add chicken. Continue to cook until noodles are tender, a few more minutes; check to see if noodles are done. The chicken only takes a couple minutes to cook through. Remove bay leaves. We like our chicken noodle soup to be creamy, so at the end I add 1 can of cream of chicken soup.

Tips:

My husband doesn't like celery so I always omit it, but I add a little celery salt with the other spices.

I rarely buy fresh onions and chop them for recipes like this, or casseroles. You can buy frozen chopped onions in the frozen vegetable section of the grocery store; they're a life saver! They only cost a teeny bit more than fresh, and it saves you all those tears.

While the soup is cooking and can be left alone for a minute, I make some yummy cheese garlic biscuits, which are really fast and will be finished at about the same time as the soup is.

If you want to make it more fancy, make some homemade noodles instead of store-bought egg noodles!

"Award-Winning" Chili

2 - 15 oz cans diced tomatoes (or one 28 oz can)

1 - 15 oz can chili beans

2 - 15 oz can kidney beans, drained

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 onion, diced

8 oz can tomato sauce

1 can black beans, drained

1 can corn niblets

Brown ground beef and onion together; drain fat. In a large pot, (I use a 4-quart) dump in all the ingredients.

Now for some flavoring. Add 1 tsp salt and 1 TB chili powder -- those are the most important. Then, I also add the following but they are all optional... at least a couple dashes of each: pepper, garlic powder, cumin, seasoned salt, parsley, steak seasoning, oregano, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a spoonful or two of sugar. I don't know how much to tell you to put in of each spice, and sometimes I add a few more! I just gather up a bunch of spice jars from the pantry and go crazy with them. It's fun to experiment with spices! But as long as you add the salt & chili powder, it will taste good.

Mix in all the spices and bring it to a boil. Then turn it down to low, cover it and let it simmer while you cook some Marie Callendar's cornbread. You can find mix on the baking isle. Marie Callendar's cornbread mix is better than any cornbread recipe I've made from scratch. By the time your cornbread is done, the chili will be just right! I put grated cheese on top of my chili; you could also put sour cream. And, I make honey butter for the cornbread. A very satisfying meal.

You can prepare your chili earlier in the day and leave it in a crockpot all afternoon too; I've done it both way and it's always delicious!

FYI - this almost fills a 4-qt pan so that gives you an idea of how many it will serve. My family will eat about half of it and then I freeze the rest; it freezes just fine for a future dinner!

Chicken Burritos

I am thrilled to have discovered another dinner that my kids will eat!

Last night I used these smaller chicken breast portions since that's what I had in the freezer, but of course regular boneless-skinless chicken breasts will do.

After thawing them out I put them in a skillet on medium heat. I salted & peppered both sides of the chicken, and sprinkled cumin on them (since I really like cumin). Then I poured about 1/3 cup of salsa (any kind will do) over them and a handful of frozen corn.








I covered the skillet and let it cook until the chicken was cooked through, turning it occasionally. With these smallish chicken portions that only took about 10 minutes. Then I took it off the heat and pulled the meat apart into small pieces with two forks:




I returned the skillet to the burner and let it simmer on medium-low for several minutes, covered, while I prepared the rest of the dinner: refried beans, diced tomatoes, lettuce, grated cheese, sour cream, and of course flour tortillas.

Tip: microwave your tortilla for about 10 seconds before assembling your burrito. If the tortillas are especially dry, give it a little spray of water from a spray bottle before microwaving.


This was easy, quick (about half an hour total), and made from ingredients I always have on hand anyway - we'll be having this yummy dinner a lot!

Enchilada Pie

A great recipe for those of us who love Mexican food, and who are looking for a new idea for ground beef!

1 lb ground beef
onion*
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 TB chili powder
8 oz tomato sauce
6 corn tortillas
1 can ( 4 1/2 oz) sliced olives
1 1/2 c cheese
water

Brown beef & onion (to taste - 1/4 to 1/2 of an onion, chopped). Add spices and tomato sauce. In a 2-qt casserole, layer ingredients in 2 or 3 layers: tortillas (torn up into 5 or 6 pcs each), meat mixture, olives, cheese (then repeat). Add 1 cup water at the end - that might sound weird but it's important! Just pour it over the top. Bake at 400, covered, for 20 minutes.

I serve it with a generous dollop of sour cream, refried beans, and iceberg lettuce. I'll add a picture to this post next time I make it!


Recipe courtesy of my mom