Southwestern Chicken Soup

Southwestern Chicken Soup

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
1 T olive oil
1-1/2 t cumin
1/8 t dried red pepper (cayenne) (more as you like)
3/4 t minced garlic
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 green pepper, diced (1c)
1/2 medium onion, diced (1c)
2 ears corn or 8 oz bag frozen corn or 1 can corn, drained
28 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
8 oz can tomato sauce
2 cups chicken broth
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Great Northern (white) beans, drained and rinsed
tortilla strips/chips **(or white corn tortillas and canola oil, see directions below)
sour cream
shredded Cheddar, Mexi-blend cheese, or Chihuahua Cheese
avocado

Mix half of the spices and oil together and add chicken to coat. Set aside for grilling.

Dice green pepper and onion and add along with the other 1/2 of the oil and seasonings to a large pot.

Cook until soft, 10-15 minutes.

Microwave corn for 5-6 minutes or boil. Add to grill with chicken to get char marks. (Means more flavor!)

Grill chicken.

Chop chicken into chunks and remove corn kernels from cob.

Rinse beans in colander. If you don't the brown beans will make your soup dirty looking.

Add everything to the pot...chicken, corn, tomatoes, beans, etc. Simmer for 25 minutes

**For tortilla strips

Cut tortillas into strips and fry in small amount of canola oil until crispy. Drain.

Dish it up anyway you like it with the cheese, tortilla chips, sour cream, and/or avocado!

Tater Tot Casserole

Tater Tot Casserole

2 Tablespoons butter
8 ounces sliced/cleaned mushrooms
few dashes of salt
2 Tablespoons flour (or gluten free all purpose flour)
2 cups chicken or beef broth (preferably homemade) or milk
Dash or two of dried thyme

1 pound ground beef
1 can green beans
tater tots or tater rounds (check your ingredients for wheat!)

Make mushroom gravy with first 6 ingredients.

Brown hamburger, drain if needed.

Mix in green beans and mushroom gravy.

Pour into glass baking dish. This one was 2.2 qt rectangular (more surface area for tots!)

Add tater tots or rounds

You can bake according to tot directions (mine was 450 degrees for 25 mins) or bake at 350 for 30 minutes and then broil. My husband chose the latter of the two this time.

Pasta e Fagioli

Pasta e Fagioli

1 pound ground beef
3/4 - 1 cup diced onion
3/4 - 1 cup diced carrots
3/4 - 1 cup diced celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 - 14.5 ounce cans petite diced tomatoes (or a 28 oz can)
1 - 15 ounce can red kidney beans (with liquid)
1 - 15 ounce can great northern beans (with liquid)
1 - 15 ounce can tomato sauce
1/2 can water (use tomato sauce can)
1 - 12 ounce can V-8 juice
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup elbow macaroni (3 oz)
shredded Parmesan or Mexican-Blend cheese


Brown ground beef in large saucepan and drain off most of fat. If your hamburger is as lean as mine you won't need to drain it.
Meanwhile, dice vegetables. I used my Pampered Chef Food Chopper.

Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic to hamburger. Saute for 10 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients except for pasta. Simmer for 45 minutes - 1 hour or until veggies are tender.
Meanwhile cook pasta. When soup has finished cooking, add pasta to the soup. Serve with shredded cheese or grated Parmesan on top.

TO FREEZE....cool and place in freezer bag or vaccuum seal bag. When you are ready to use just thaw and reheat!
** To make gluten-free, use rice noodles. I used Tinkyada PastaJoy Brown Rice Penne I picked it up at Wal-Mart.

Corn Dogs

Corn Dogs

1/2 cup white flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch each of....sugar, salt, dry mustard

1/2 cup milk
1 egg
hot dogs
wooden chopsticks or skewers

Small bit of extra flour

**See note below for substitutions to make it gluten and dairy free

Heat oil in deep fryer or skillet to 365 degrees.
Skewer dogs. I could't find my skewers and the 4 yr old insisted on sticks so I used toothpicks. They weren't the best but made her happy. :)

Roll in flour

Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients seperate from each other.
Use a glass for easy batter application. Your batter will fill up the glass more as I cut my recipe in 1/2 to try two different flours.

Add slowly to oil, let go when the dog has started to form a crust. In the case of a skillet be sure to wiggle it a little after it's in the oil to be sure it doesn't stick.

If your oil is the right temperature it should bubble well and form the crust quickly. I cooked these on each side for just a couple minutes. Be sure not to burn your batter.

Remove from oil and drain. My corn dogs are flat shape since I used a skillet. They were still really good. The lighter ones here I made with brown rice flour and the darker ones were buckwheat flour. My husband said he could not taste the difference and both were good. If you like a sweeter corn dog you might want to add a little bit more sugar.

** I successfully substituted both brown rice flour and buckwheat flour for the flour in this recipe. I also used rice drink instead of milk.

Oatmeal Scotchie Cookie

1 cup soft butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 medium eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup butterscotch chips
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease cake shaped pan. Using an electric mixer, cream butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs and vanilla together. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Scoop into pan. Bake for approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on baking sheet or cooling rack.

NOTE: I used a 10" springform pan for easy removal. Cool cookie COMPLETELY before trying to move it as it is very soft when it comes from the oven.

Apple Fritters

Apple Fritters

1 cup flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1-1/2 cups chopped apples


Mix all ingredients together. Drop into 375 degree hot oil by the tablespoon. Cook until brown and done in the middle. If they get too brown before they are done in the middle then your oil is too hot. After you can handle, roll in sugar or powdered sugar.

Broccoli Salad

Broccoli Salad

3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 pkts Truvia (or 1-1/2 teaspoons loose)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup bacon (diced, fried, and drained)
1/2 cup craisins (dried cranberries)
1 head broccoli


Mix all but broccoli together.
Break broccoli head apart into nice bite size pieces. No one wants to chew on a tree when they are eating a salad.

Mix, chill, enjoy!

Monster Cookies

Monster Cookies

1 dozen eggs
1 pound margarine or butter
2 pounds brown sugar
4 cups white sugar
1/4 cup vanilla
3 pounds peanut butter
8 teaspoons baking soda
18 cups oatmeal
1 pound nuts
1 pound chocolate chips
1 pound M and Ms


Mix in order given.

Drop by tablespoons.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

 Leave on sheet for 2 mins or so before removing or they will fall apart. I like chewy not crunchy so I bake less than I think as they continue to cook a little after they are out. They look a little puffy but 'fall' after they are out of the oven. Dough freezes well or can be made into smaller batches.

I made a batch a little over 1/2 size for a bakesale and it made 45 medium scoop cookies and 18 large scoop cookies.
My medium scoop is between 1/4-1/3 cup and baked for 7 mins, turn pan, 5 mins, and then 2 more. Leave on sheet for 2 mins or so before removing or they will fall apart. If you use dough straight from fridge, it will need to be flattened a little bit with bottom of glass(wet with water in between) and will take a tiny bit longer to cook.


I prefer pecans for the nuts and milk chocolate mini Mand Ms (found in baking aisle) and milk chocolate chips instead of semi sweet.


These cookies are easy to freeze if they make it that far! Bring to room temperature before serving.

Sugared Chocolate Cookies

Sugared Chocolate Cookies

2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt White Sanding sugar, for garnish


In a large bowl, add the butter and sugar and cream together with a hand mixer. Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the creamed mixture and mix until combined. In a medium bowl, mix the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients and continue mixing until incorporated.


Roll the dough into 2 logs that are about 2-inches high and 1-foot long. Wrap them in waxed paper and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Once thoroughly chilled, slice the cookies into 1/2-inch thick rounds and cover with sanding sugar. Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Let set for 2 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool.


This recipe can be halved.

Bread Pudding

8 slices bread, cubed
4 eggs2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon


Sauce:
2 Tablespoons butter or margarine
2 Tablespoons flour
1 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla


Place bread cubes in greased slow cooker. Beat together egss and milk. Stir in the sugar, butter, raisins, and cinnmon. Pour over bread and stir. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour. Reduce heat to low and cook another 3-4 hours or until thermometer reaches 160 degrees.


Make sauce just before pudding is done baking. Begin by melting butter in saucepam. Stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add water, sugar, and vanilla. Bring to boil. Cook, stirring contantly for 2 minutes or until thickended. Serve sauce over warm pudding.


If you omit the sauce the sugar level is not as high. My husband prefers his bread pudding dunked in milk.

Caramel Apple Pie

Caramel Apple Pie

1 pastry crust for a deep-dish pie 9-inch (homemade or store-bought)
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
6 cups thinly-sliced peeled apples (I use Granny Smith)


1 recipe crumb topping (see below)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup caramel topping


Ingredients for crumb topping:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup butter


Directions for Crumb Topping:
Stir together brown sugar, flour and rolled oats. Cut in 1/2 cup butter until topping is like course crumbs. Set aside.


Directions for pie:
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Add apple slices and gently toss until coated. Transfer apple mixture to the pie shell. Sprinkle crumb topping over apple mixture. (It will seem really high but it all sinks as it cooks. Place pie on a cookie sheet so the drippings don't drop into your oven. Cover edges of pie with aluminum foil or pie crust shield.


Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 25 minutes. Then remove foil and put back in for another 25 to 30 minutes without foil. Remove from oven. Sprinkle pie with chopped pecans then drizzle with caramel on top. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy warm or at room temperature. We serve with ice cream or Cool Whip.

Ham & Pickle Roll Ups

8 oz pkg cream cheese
sliced dill pickles, med jar
4-5 tortillas (I used Mission)
pkg of Hormel Natural Honey Ham slices

Diced pickles and use about 2/3 of the whole jar(more or less as you like), mix with softened cream cheese. Spread cream cheese on 3/4 of tortilla and lay down 3 slices on ham, add more cream cheese and roll up, making sure the last bit of tortilla had a little bit of cream cheese stuff on it so it sticks down. Put in fridge for a few hours to firm up. Slice into pieces about 1" or so wide.


(I experimented with chopping the pickles rather than trying to roll a whole one up in the middle and this worked so much better!!

Stuffed Mushrooms

Stuffed Mushrooms

1 pound stuffable mushrooms

1/2 cup cooked bacon

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 cup bread crumbs

dash oregano

dash parsley

dash basil

dash salt

1/2 cup cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Clean mushrooms, remove stems from mushrooms, chop stems and set aside. Arrange mushrooms, bottoms up in a baking dish. In medium saucepan over medium heat, mix together chopped mushroom stems, bacon, garlic and bread crumbs. Slowly cook and stir 5 to 7 minutes, or until bread crumbs start to brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool a little.

Mix cream cheese and parmesan cheese into mushroom stem mixture. Stuff into mushroom caps. Bake stuffed mushrooms in 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until stuffing is lightly browned.