Taco Soup

•Recipe•

1 lb ground meat

1 can diced tomatoes (you can purée first if you have friends who don’t “like chunks”. My mom may or may not do this for my grown brothers…I refuse. Chunks are good.)

1 can corn

1 small can diced green chilies

1 can kidney beans (or white beans)

1/2 jar of salsa or taco sauce

A shake or two of Chalula never hurt anyone (but you can leave it out too)

Cook and brown up your ground meat. Drain liquid. Open your cans and pour them in (don’t even drain them). Heat it up and enjoy.

Top with toppings if you so wish.

CHICKEN CASSEROLE

2 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen broccoli

2 c. cooked chicken

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 c. mayo

1 t. lemon juice

1 t. curry powder

1/2 c. shredded cheese

1/2 c. bread crumbs

1 T. butter, melted

Steam broccoli; drain and combine with chicken in greased baking dish. Combine next 4 ingredients and pour over broccoli and chicken mixture. Sprinkle with cheese, bread crumbs and butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Mac & Cheese by the Pioneer Women

Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 15 Minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 6

Ingredients
4 cups Dried Macaroni
1 whole Egg Beaten
¼ cups (1/2 Stick Or 4 Tablespoons) Butter
¼ cups All-purpose Flour
2-½ cups Whole Milk
2 teaspoons (heaping) Dry Mustard, More If Desired
1 pound Cheese, Grated
½ teaspoons Salt, More To Taste
½ teaspoons Seasoned Salt, More To Taste
½ teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
Optional Spices: Cayenne Pepper, Paprika, Thyme

Preparation Instructions

Cook macaroni until very firm. Macaroni should be too firm to eat right out of the pot. Drain.
In a small bowl, beat egg.
In a large pot, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Whisk together over medium-low heat. Cook mixture for five minutes, whisking constantly. Don’t let it burn.
Pour in milk, add mustard, and whisk until smooth. Cook for five minutes until very thick. Reduce heat to low.
Take 1/4 cup of the sauce and slowly pour it into beaten egg, whisking constantly to avoid cooking eggs. Whisk together till smooth.
Pour egg mixture into sauce, whisking constantly. Stir until smooth.
Add in cheese and stir to melt.
Add salt and pepper. Taste sauce and add more salt and seasoned salt as needed! DO NOT UNDERSALT.
Pour in drained, cooked macaroni and stir to combine.Serve immediately (very creamy) or pour into a buttered baking dish, top with extra cheese, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top.

Shredded Beef Tacos

5 lb. roast (cross rib or sirloin tip)

2 medium yellow onions, Sliced

1 (4oz.) can chopped green chilies

1/4 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cumin

Juices from roast

Place roast in crock-pot the evening before your meal. Put onions on meat. Cover and set on medium and cook all night. (My crock-pot doesn’t have a medium – it’s old, a wedding gift, so I put it on low)
Remove roast the next morning. Put meat and juices in the fridge. The inside of my crock-pot is removable so I just put it in the refrigerator leaving the meat and juices inside.
Before dinner remove the fat and shred the meat and put back into the crock pot with juices and all other remaining ingredients, stirring occasionally over low heat

Would be great in burritos and enchiladas too!

Really Good Chicken and Noodles

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1 T. fresh rosemary, minced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
3 T. honey
8 ounces thin spaghetti (I prefer Barilla Plus)
2 T. butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup real bacon bits
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
3 roma tomatoes, seeds and core removed, diced
2 T. capers (optional)

Start a pot of water boiling to cook the pasta. Spray your BBQ grill rack with nonstick spray and fire it up. Sprinkle salt, pepper and rosemary on each chicken breast and grill for 7-8 minutes on the first side. In a small bowl, mix 2 T. of freshly squeezed lemon juice and the honey together, then brush it on the tops of the chicken breasts before flipping them over. Brush the underside as well, and grill for a few more minutes until they are cooked through (actual cooking time will depend on how thick the breast is, and you could certainly pound them thinner to start with to make it go faster). Remove to a plate and cover to keep warm.

Toss your noodles into the boiling salted water if you haven’t already. Once they are nearly done cooking, begin making the sauce. It comes together quickly. In a large skillet, melt 2 T. butter then add the garlic. Saute and stir for 2-3 minutes, then add the bacon bits and cook for another minute. Stir in the remaining lemon juice and all of the zest, then the cream. Stir in the cooked and drained noodles, adding a tablespoon or two of the pasta water if needed to thin the sauce. Slice the chicken breasts thinly. Stir in the roma tomatoes and parmesan cheese (and capers if you so desire – I’m the only one that likes them around here, so I tossed a few on my own plate), and serve immediately with a portion of chicken breast strips on top of the pile of pasta.

Swedish Meatballs With Sour Cream Sauce

Meatballs:
1 lb. ground turkey
1/2 c. dry bread crumbs
1/4 c. egg substitute
2/3 c. skim milk
1 tsp. minced onion
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 tbsp. sugar

Sour Cream Sauce:
1 can low fat cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 (4 oz.) can mushrooms with liquid
1/2 pt. nonfat sour cream

Combine all ingredients for meatballs and mix. Let it set for 3 to 4 minutes. Make into small balls. Brown meatballs in electric frying pan at 300 degrees. Reduce heat to 220 degrees and simmer for 20 minutes. Combine ingredients for sour cream sauce in a pan and heat through. Pour sauce over meatballs and serve.

"Healthified" Chicken Pot Pie

prep time: 15 min.
Start to finish time: 1 hr. 5 min.
makes: 8 servings (1 cup a piece)

1 bag (12 oz) Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers frozen mixed vegetables
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1-1/4 cup fat-free milk
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup fat free sour cream
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked, cut into bite-size pieces (about 4 cups)
1 Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust (15 oz box), softened

1. Cook and drain vegetables as directed on bag.
2. Heat oven to 375 degrees. In 2-quart saucepan, mix flour, salt, poultry seasoning, pepper, and milk with wire whisk until blended. Stir in onion. Cook over medium heat 4 to 6 minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened.
3. Stir in soup and sour cream. Add chicken and cooked vegetables, mix well. Cook, stirring frequently, until thoroughly heated. Pour into ungreased 2-quart round casserole pan. Unroll pie crust, place over hot filling. Seal edge and flut as desired. Cut slits in several places in the crust.
4. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown and mixture is bubbly. Let stand 1o minutes before serving.

Strawberry Feta Salad

Romaine Lettuce
Feta Cheese
Craisins
Strawberries (cut about 1/2 hour before so they are a little juicy)
Almonds

Nuts:

Melt butter (approximately 3 tbsp.)
add brown sugar and let it boil (you want a little paste)

Add nuts and cook until it smells yummy. Spread the nuts on wax paper and let set.

Mix all ingredients together and serve with raspbeery walnut vinegarette.

Chicken Breast Dofino

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
salt & freshly ground pepper
3/4 c. flour
6 Tablespoons butter
2/3 c. chicken broth or white wine
2/3 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced.
6 slices Dofino or any Havarti cheese (I used swiss)

Cut the chicken breasts into two or three pieces, dpending on size and pound until about 3/8-1/2 inch thick. Season lightly with salt (preferably sea salt) and freshly ground pepper, then dust with flour. Melt butter over medium heat in a large frying pan, being careful not to burn it, and saute breasts on both sides until almost cooked through, about 3-4 minutes on each side-- you may need to do this in two batches as you do not want to overcrowd the pan while sauteing. Add chick broth or wine, lemon juice, and sliced mushrooms. Adjust breasts, so they are coated with sauce and bring to a simmer. Simmer about 10 minutes, turning chicken once, until sauce thickens a bit and breasts finish cooking. Lay one slice of cheese on each breast and place under broiler until cheese melts.

Note: A good variation for this recipe is to add 1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts well drained and quartered, when adding the mushrooms and omit the cheese.

Fettuccini with Shrimp in Creamy Spinach Artichoke Parmesan Sauce

2 c Spinach Artichoke dip

2 c heavy cream

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 c olive oil

1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

16 oz Fettuccini cooked until al dente and drained

In bowl, combine dip, heavy cream, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Place 5 qt pan over high heat. Add olive oil and shrimp. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3-5 min, or until just cooked through.

Add cooked Fettuccini and dip mixture to pot. Lower heat and cook, stirring frequently until hot. Serve immediately.

Makes 6-8 Servings

Honey-Glazed Chicken

1/3 cup BBQ sauce

3 tbsp Honey

3 tsp ground cummin

4 Chicken Breasts



Broil chicken 3 minutes on both sides.

baste chicken and cook for 6 minutes turning over every 2 minutes until no longer pink inside.

BLT Spaghetti

1 pound spaghetti or linguine
4 thick slices of bacon, diced.
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
4 cloves of garlic, grated or minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 medium red onion, chopped
2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes
1/2 cup basil, shredded
1/2 cup, parsley, chopped
1/2 cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese
2 cups arugula (similar to spinach)

Place a large pot over high heat and bring to a boil for the pasta. Once boiling, add some salt and drop the pasta. Cook to al dente according to package directions.

While the water is coming up to a boil, in a medium skillet over medium-high heat, heat 2 turnbs of the pan of EVOO. Add the bacon and brown, about 3 minutes.

Add the garlic and crushed red pepper flakes, cook 1-2 minutes. Add the red onion and cook another 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, some salt, and lots of ground black pepper. Cover and cook about 7-8 minutes or until the tomatoes are burst.

Add al dente spaghetti or linguine to the skillet along with the basil, parsley, and Parmigiano Reggiano. Just before serving, top with arugula.

Ham and Cheese Braid

HAM AND CHEESE BRAID

1 cup warm water
1 Tbsp yeast

Dough:
1 Tbsp oil
1 tsp garlic salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/4 cup flour
1 cup flour

Toppings:
Pizza Sauce
Ham
Veggies
Cheese
(any variation)

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Mix in all other dough ingredients with the yeast mixture. Knead and let rise. Roll out into 2 rectangles. Down center put toppings (sauce, meat, veggies, cheese, etc). Cut diagonal one inch strips down both sides. Pull strips over center, alternating sides (so it looks like you're braiding someone's hair.) Pinch ends closed so that the braids don't leak. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Dough makes 2 braids.

(Without anything else for dinner, my family could prolly eat a half of a braid or more by ourselves, but otherwise, we usually cut it into thirds and add other stuff for dinner.)

Creamy Italian Chicken

Chicken (I usually do about two pieces but you can definitely do more)
8 oz. package of cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken
about a 1/4 - 1/2 cup of Italian dressing

Put it all in a crockpot and cook. Serve over rice or pasta

Broccoli Cheese Soup

1 qt. water
2 cups diced potatoes
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 cup diced onion
20 oz. frozen broccoli, chopped or 1 bunch fresh broccoli
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 lb. Velveeta or American Cheese

Mix water, potatoes, bouillon cubes, onion, and broccoli together. Cook until done, about 20-30 minutes.

Add soup and cheese, Simmer for 15 minutes.

Chicken Artichoke Fettucini

1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
1 tsp. Olive Oil
1 cup Mayo
2 cans artichoke hearts (Cut up and drained)
2 cups Monterey Jack Cheese

Saute onion in 1 tsp. olive oil. Add one cup mayo, 2 cans artichoke hearts (cut up) and 2 cups Monterey Jack cheese. Stir together.

Cook over low heat. Don't let it boil. (Or you can bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.)

Serve over fettucini noodles.

Broccoli Chicken Alfredo

INGREDIENTS
1/2 pound dry fettuccine pasta
1 cup fresh chopped broccoli
2 tablespoons butter
1 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add fettuccini pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente, adding broccoli for the last 4 minutes of cooking. Drain.
Cut chicken breast meat into bite size pieces, trimming any fat off in the process. In a large skillet melt butter or margarine over medium heat. Add chicken and saute until well browned. Add soup, milk and cheese and stir all together. Add pasta/broccoli mixture and heat through. Serve hot.

Cranberry Mustard Chicken and Rice

6 Chicken breasts

1 can (16 ounces) whole-berry cranberry sauce

1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, undrained

2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard

Hot cooked rice

Place chicken in a 13in.x9in baking pan. In bowl combine cranberry sauce, pineapple, and mustard; mix well. Pour over chicken. Bake at 400 degrees for 40-50 min for thawed chicken, 60-80 min if using frozen chicken.

Serve chicken with rice.

This also makes a great crock pot recipe. I just cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Macaroni Grill Chicken Scallopini

4 ounces lemon juice
2 ounces white wine
4 ounces heavy cream
1 lb butter
6–8 (3 ounce) chicken breasts, pounded
thin oil, for sauteing chicken butter, for sauteing chicken
1/2– 3/4 cup flour, seasoned with salt and pepper, for dredging
6 ounces pancetta, cooked
12 ounces mushrooms, sliced
12 ounces artichoke hearts, sliced
1 tablespoon capers
1 lb cappellini, cooked
chopped parsley, for garnish

1. To make the sauce: Heat the lemon juice and white wine in a saucepan over medium heat.
2. Bring to a boil and reduce by one-third.
3. Add cream and simmer until mixture thickens (3-4 minutes).
4. Slowly add butter until completely incorporated.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Remove from heat and keep warm.
7. Cook pasta and drain.
8. Heat a small amount of oil and two tablespoons butter in a large skillet.
9. Dredge chicken in flour and saute in pan, turning once, until brown and cooked through.
10. Remove chicken from pan and add to pan remaining ingredients.
11. Heat until mushrooms soften and are cooked; add chicken back to pan.
12. Place cooked pasta on each plate.
13. Add half of butter sauce to chicken mixture and toss.
14. Taste and adjust, adding more sauce if needed.
15. Place chicken mixture over pasta.
16. Garnish with parsley.
17. Alternately, mix pasta and chicken mixture together.
18. Toss with butter sauce.

Cafe Rio Pork

2 pounds pork
3 cans Coke (NOT diet)
1/4 c. brown sugar
dash garlic salt
1/4 c. water
1 can sliced green chilies
3/4 can enchilada sauce (I used Old El Paso brand, medium spiciness)
1 c. brown sugar

Put the pork in a heavy duty Ziploc bag to marinade. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 c. of brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight.

Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily, but don't let it get TOO dry).

Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.

In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a cup, you can add a little more or less to taste..). If it looks too thick, add more Coke little by little.

Put shredded pork and sauce in crock pot and cook on low for 2 hours.