Chicken Tortilla Soup

Okay so I'm a Pinterest Addict.  At some point there will have to be an intervention but for the moment I am thoroughly enjoying all my new found ideas :)

I tried a recipe from Sweet Peas Kitchen.  I follow her blog.  This lady really has some wonderful recipes.  The following is a picture from her site of her amazing Chicken Tortilla Soup.  Trust me when I tell you it is wonderful.  My family just loves it :)

Unfortunately I do not have an hour plus when I get home to create such yummy goodness so I have had to do the usual 'Jan' to it and recreated something similar but not the same.  Mine is a bit spicier but I like it :)

You start with:

One Yellow Onion Chopped

1 heaping Tablespoon of minced Garlic

(I always buy it in the jar because I am too lazy to chop the cloves myself)

You put these in a large (big enough for everything else to go in) thick bottomed pot with olive oil and saute till the onions are turning clear

To this pot you add:

3 - 16 oz cans of chopped tomatoes

1 - 16 oz can of chopped tomatoes with chilis

1 small can of diced chilis

2 teaspoons of ancho chili powder

2 teaspoons of cumin

6 cups of chicken broth

1 tsp of powdered chicken soup base

1/2 tsp fresh grated pepper

1 - 16 oz bag of frozen corn

1 - 16 oz can of black beans (rinsed)

Bring everything to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes.

While everything is simmering cut up 3 large pre-cooked chicken breasts.

I cut them in large hunks and then shred them with my hands into bite sized pieces.

and then you need a 1/4 cup of fresh chopped cilantro

This is then added to the pot and you continue to simmer for another 20 minutes.

We serve it on a bed of tortilla chips (chips in first then the soup on top) and top with grated Mexican mix cheese and green onions.

Enjoy!

Meatballs

I'm learning how to make meatballs and take better photo's with my camera.  Didn't succeed totally on either side but I am learning :)  I use other recipes as a jumping off point so I have this recipe book that is 100 recipes for beef - it's an ancient book - got it at a library book sale.  This is adapted  but when I say adapted it means if you read the recipe in the book and compared it to mine you would say they weren't even close.   I can never leave well enough alone.

Meatball - experiment #1

1 lb of ground beef - I used low fat

1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese (note no salt in the recipe - the cheese adds that)

1 cup chopped cooked spinach (I had fresh and cooked it in the microwave then chopped it up)

1/4 tsp pepper

1 egg

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp oregano or Italian spice

Combine in a bowl then roll into 1" to 1 1/2" balls.  Roll the balls in the following:

In a bowl combine 1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs (I make this from my whole wheat bread when the bread decides not to raise - why waste it - bread crumb city - but put it in the freezer or it will go green since it has no preservatives).

2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese

Pretty aren't they :)

Bake in a 375 oven for about 15 minutes then turn on the broiler to low and broil for another 5 minutes but keep an eye on them.   

Then we just added them to our favorite marinara sauce and we were good to go.

I think next time I will suspend them over the pan so that the fat will drip off.  They make a very thick meatball that tastes awesome.

Enjoy!

Rachelle's BBQ Rub

I know that this is a weird place to put this - Middle of Winter and all - but this is too good to lose or pass up.  This was from a Relief Society Mini Class taught by Rachelle. She has an awesome homemade rub for BBQing that she shared with us. Enjoy!

Rachelle's Favorite Dry-Rub:

1 T black pepper
2 T salt
2 T cumin
2 T chili powder
2 T brown sugar
1 T white sugar
1 T oregano (crush it with your fingers)
4 T paprika
1 T celery salt
3 T garlic powder

Mix well and store in an empty spice container and you can sprinkle the rub on the chicken.  You can refrigerate before grilling to give a more intense flavor or just put it on the grill.  After removing from the grill, cover with foil and allow to sit for 5 - 10 minutes to allow the juices to redistribute.

Thank you Rachelle!  Enjoy!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Most of the recipes that were on my old blog are being deleted since I have them in my personal recipe file but MaryL sent me a wonderful link to a variety of recipes and I saw on the list a Chocolate zucchini Cake.  Who could resist?  Zucchini has the wonderful quality of being able to absorb whatever flavor you mix with it - I had a friend that would make pineapple zucchini topping for ice cream. And you couldn't tell that it was zucchini. Talk about a tricky way to get your kids to eat veggies. After reviewing the recipe on this site, to see if there was any ingredients that I wouldn't normally have in my kitchen, I thought I'd post it here for all of you to link to. Enjoy!

Click here for the Chocolate zucchini Cake recipe.

Bulk Cooking

I know we have all heard about bulk buying but bulk cooking may be something new to you. I read a couple of articles about this recently and realized that I have been doing this for years. So I thought I'd share :)

The idea is to cook everything at once this will save energy and time later. We do this usually with items like cookies - we bake a lot and then freeze the rest. But this idea of baking or cooking in bulk can be carried on to a lot of other items. You can actually build and entire menu around this way of cooking.


Let me give you a basic example: I buy a 15 lb bag of russet potatoes. Wash them and then bake them all. I have baked potatoes for dinner on the first night with chili and cheese and a salad. I store the rest in a ziploc in my fridge. The next day for afternoon snack I take 3 or 4 of the potatoes, quarter them, and then scoop out the guts leaving the skins. I put the skins with grated cheese on them into the broiler for a couple of minutes and we have potato skin snacks. The pulp of the potato I save for later. That night I cut the potato in half and scoop out the pulp and put it in a bowl. I add tuna, egg, cheese, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper and a bit of milk to the pulp. I mix them together and put them back in the potato halves. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees and serve with additional cheese and butter - voila! Tuna Boats. The next day I cut the potatoes up for breakfast - brown onions and green bell peppers toss in the potatoes and O'Brien potatoes are born. For dinner that night I create a white sauce add cut up potatoes, ham, steamed carrots and some pepper for a ham and potato stew. More potatoes skin snacks for the next afternoon and then the final night I make potato, corn and ham chowder with all the potatoes (and pulp) that is left.

The one baking of potatoes has become the base for serving dinners, snacks and breakfast for 4 days. FOUR DAYS! I do this same process for chicken (Costco bag - bake the whole thing - then enchiladas, chicken Alfredo, quesadillas, quiche, omelets, chicken wraps, etc.). You just have to develop a pattern that works for your family. Bulk cooking makes life easier and gives you dinners at a moments notice. I do beans, chili and spaghetti sauce by the gallons and freeze so when I don't feel my best I already have something easy for dinner already in process. And I do GALLONS not just a small pot. I usually get 6 -8 dinners out of that bulk cooking. It just makes sense and makes life a bit easier.

You should seriously give it a try. Enjoy!