Taco Soup

I can't believe I have not already put this on here! We love this recipe! It is quick, easy, can be frozen, made for large or small groups, vegetarian or with meat, and can be completely kept in food storage.

2 cans kidney beans
2 cans black beans
2 cans mexicorn
1 can tomato sauce
1 can Mexican stewed tomatoes
1 packet taco seasoning
1 lbs ground beef or ground turkey

other nice additions:
1 small can chopped olives
1 small onion chopped and sauteed

Brown hamburger and season lightly as if for tacos.  Combine tomato sauce and taco seasoning in stew pan or crock pot add all other ingredients and warm through.  This is really good the second day because it gets thicker. We eat our with shredded cheese and corn chips.  For vegetarian just leave out the ground meat.

Note: This freezes really well and stays good for a couple months if well bagged or in tight tupperware.

Potato Corn Chowder

This little soup I first heard about from my mom. A friend brought it to her last fall when she was very very sick with shingles.  She used pre-made soups and it is very simple, convenient, and and delicious. 


Quick version:

One can Potato soup + one can Cream style corn

     Warm potato soup according to package and add cream corn and warm to preference.



From Scratch Version:

Six potatoes
4 cups water
6 strips of bacon (i used turkey)
1/4 cup of margarine or butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
Nature Seasoning to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 cans cream style corn
(I also think celery would be a nice addition, but I didn't have any on hand.)


Peel and cube potatoes. Boil until soft in 4 cups of water.  Cook the bacon and cut into small strips.  Melt butter in a separate sauce pan and add flour creating a thick paste ( the thicker you want your soup the thicker and drier you should make this paste by adding more flour) add seasonings to the paste.  Add milk to paste stirring continuously once it has smoothed and thickened add to potatoes.  Add bacon and cream corn and stir steadily on medium low heat until it reaches desired thickness.  Serve and enjoy!!

Cooking for the week and making it up as I go.

So today, I woke up in the mood to cook!  Matt is going to be working extra hours for the next few weeks and I don't to get behind and start eating out. So I cooked all day!  I made two casseroles, 2 meals worth of potato/corn chowder, 2 meals worth of white chicken chili, two loaves of bread, and baked oatmeal for dinner tonight!  I froze one casserole and half of each soup and will freeze one loaf of bread.  Having 3 meals frozen and 3 in the fridge improves my outlook vastly!! 

The fun part of this was I made up a couple recipes as I went. Yup, I invented a Bean and Rice casserole and the potato/corn chowder I improvised from scratch rather than using premade soups.  I will post both the recipes for the potato/corn chowder.  I think I may hold off on posting the bean/rice casserole til after we eat it. It smelled really good but we are not eating it til tomorrow.

Last week we discovered that having frozen flat bread pizza crusts in the freezer is a kin to having premade frozen pizzas on hand and taste a whole lot better. So tomorrow I plan to make some more pizza crusts to freeze.  Keeping cheese, pepperoni, and pizza sauce on hand is easy and in expensive. 

Here's to planning ahead and hoping my latest inventions are edible!! LOL

Meal Board

Okay, So it has been FOREVER since I posted anything! Sorry!  This post is not actually a recipe but a little tip I recently found that I want to share.  I found an app for my Ipod touch that I am just figuring out but absolutely loving already! It is a meal/grocery planner. You can calendar meals for up to a month at a time and then it will generate a grocery list for you based on what you have in your plan! It will also estimate cost and has a coupon feature for those of you that coupon! You enter each recipe with full ingredients lists and instructions, makes it a nice little on the go recipe box too!  It is going to take a while to get all my recipes and usual side dishes in, but it does have an online recipe entering site that will make it faster. Once the are all in I will be able to create meal plans super fast!! It is called mealboard and was only $3.99 in the app store, I really think it is going to be worth it!!  Just wanted to share!  I don't know if this is available for Droid devices, sorry.

Easy Stir-Fry

We use to have these all the time. Our local grocer has stopped carrying them (for reasons unknown to me) which is a tragedy! They are tasty - and so quick and easy. I usually will cut up chicken or beef cubes to add to the mix. Then I serve it over steamed white rice.

I have found this is a great way to serve veggies to my kids. They don't even notice really - the sauce must mask that veggie taste or something!

Fast Breakfasts

My favorite breakfast lately is biscuits and sausage! You can't beat a warm biscuit from the oven smothered with butter and honey! From scratch? you say? Nope - just a pack of Jiffy! Why bother with scratch when these are so good and fast!

For a little variety, we sometimes mix it up with a box of Jiffy Chocolate Muffins. It's like having a cupcake for breakfast - only healthy because it says 'muffin' ! We usually don't do breakfast sausage with this option. But throw in a banana or some strawberries, and it isn't too bad!

Mel's Key Lime Bars

I made these yesterday for a light, summery dessert for fathers day. I found the recipe here and have been waiting to try it for a couple of weeks. They didn't disappoint - They were a big hit!

They are even better today!!

Ingredients:

Crust:
5 ounces animal crackers (about 2 1/2 cups animal crackers)
3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
Pinch salt
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:
2 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 tbsp grated fresh lime zest (from about 2 limes)
1 can (14-ounce) sweetened condensed milk
Pinch salt
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (from about 3-4 regular limes or 20 Key limes)

Garnish (optional)
3/4 cup shredded coconut, toasted

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F, adjusting an oven rack to the middle position. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, letting two opposing edges hang over at least an inch or so. Grease the foil with cooking spray.

For the crust, process the animal crackers, sugar and salt together to fine crumbs in a blender or food processor. Drizzle the melted butter over the crumbs and pulse to incorporate (or stir together in a bowl with a fork). Sprinkle the mixture into the prepared pan and press the crumbs into an even layer. Bake the crust until fragrant and golden, about 15-18 minutes.

For the filling, while crust bakes, in a medium bowl, stir the cream cheese, lime zest and salt together until combined. Whisk in the sweetened condensed milk until smooth (you can use a handheld electric mixer, if you want). Whisk in the egg yolk and lime juice until combined.

Pour the filling evenly over the crust. Bake the bars until the filling is set and the edges just slightly begin to pull away from the sides of the pan, 15-17 minutes.

Let the bars cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack, about 2 hours. Then cover the pan with foil and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours. Remove the bars from the pan using the foil overhang and cut into squares. Sprinkle with toasted coconut if desired.