Taco Soup

This soup was really tasty. It's super thick and yummy, great for a cold night's dinner. This is also pretty easy and would be wonderful to make for a football watching party, or get together at the holidays, or whenever you need to feed a decent number of people. This recipe would easily feed four adults as a meal, I believe, so you could probably serve this for eight adults if you had a bunch of other food there.

This was the first time I have made taco soup, so, as is often the case, I will make some minor adjustments next time. Basically, I think it had too many tomatoes for my preference. I used a can of stewed tomatoes, and a can of Rotel tomatoes and chilis. Next time, I would either not use the whole can of stewed tomatoes, or I would not use Rotel and just add a small can of green chilis to the stewed tomatoes. It wasn't bad the way I made it, just needs a little tweaking for me to love it. I'll give you the exact recipe I used and you can adjust as you see fit.

So, without further ado, Taco Soup!

Ingredients:
-1-1.5 lb ground beef (use more for a larger group)
-2 or 3 tablespoons garlic powder
-2 tablespoons onion powder
-2 tablespoons chili powder
-1 teaspoon paprika
-1 teaspoon cumin
-1 can stewed tomatoes
-1 can Rotel tomatoes and chilis
-1 can pinto beans
-1 can whole kernel corn, drained
-1/2 to 1 cup water (as needed)
-1 package ranch dressing mix
-sour cream and shredded cheese for topping

Directions:
In a large pot over medium high heat, cook the ground beef until no longer pink. Drain and return to pot.

Reduce heat to medium.

Add in the garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, cumin, and paprika.

Stir it into the meat. It won't be 100% incorporated, but that's ok.

Next, add in the tomatoes and Rotel, canned liquid included.

Next add the pinto beans, liquid included.

Then the DRAINED corn.

Stir all the ingredients together until everything is well mixed.

It should be almost wet enough for soup from all the canned liquid added, but you can add some water if you need to.

I ended up adding a cup of water before I let the soup cook at all, and I was surprised how much more liquid was released from the veggies as they cooked, and probably could have gotten away with less water, but it was ok anyway.

When everything has started heating up and cooking and melding together, add in the ranch dressing mix. Stir to make sure it's well incorporated and not clumping up somewhere. Reduce the heat to low and let the soup simmer another 10 minutes or so to let everything marry together.

Serve hot, and top with a little dollup of sour cream...and some shredded cheese. :) I also served mine with tortilla chips, which was awesome.

It was nice to have a little bit of crunch in with the soup. Enjoy!

Southwest Chicken Stew

This is relatively similar to another recipe of mine, the White Chicken Chili (found here). However, it is different, so I named it Southwest Chicken Stew. It was yummy. I know, I know, another soup. I can't help it. It's winter. :)

I think this is another pretty simple meal. It seems like simple is best for me these days. You pretty much just dump all the ingredients in a pot and let it work its own magic. So without further ado...Southwest Chicken Stew.

Ingredients:
-3 cups chicken broth
-1 cup water
-1-1.5 cups cubed raw chicken breast meat
-3/4-1 full cup chopped tomatillos (the little green things that look kinda like tomatoes)
-1 can whole kernel corn, drained
-1 can white/Navy beans, drained (you can use a little less than a full can if you're not a huge bean fan)
-southwestern seasonings to taste (I used 2 tablespoons garlic powder, 1.5 tablespoons onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1.5 teaspoons chili powder)

Directions:
In a large pot, bring the broth and water to a boil over high heat. Add in the chicken and tomatillos and let cook for about 5 minutes.

Add in the corn, beans, and seasonings. Stir to combine.

Continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes until everything starts to meld together. Reduce the heat to medium low and let simmer for another 10 minutes. This will let the chicken cook all the way through and the tomatillos to basically be fall apart tender, as well as letting the broth cook down a bit to make it less soupy and more stewy.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Some cornbread or tortilla chips would be a great addition to this meal. Mmm.

Garlic Chicken

This meal is really easy. My husband really liked it too, which is always a plus. Haha. I will preface this recipe by saying that you really need to like garlic. It's very garlicky. But...very tasty. :)

I served this over rice that I cooked in chicken broth for extra flavor, and it was awesome. You can also do it over plain or buttered rice, and I'm sure it would still be tasty. Egg noodles or some sort of pasta, or even roasted potatoes, could work well with this. It's pretty versatile, so have fun with it and enjoy!

Ingredients:
-Chicken breasts, enough to feed everyone (I used two)
-At least 1/4 cup butter. I added a little bit as it started to cook away a bit. (You could also use olive oil if you really wanted to, but I think butter adds a good flavor)
-2 tablespoons garlic powder per chicken breast
-2 tablespoons flour
-1 cup chicken broth
-A starch to serve under the chicken (I used rice)

Directions:
In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium/medium high heat. Sprinkle one tablespoon of garlic powder over each of the chicken breasts, then place garlic side down into the butter. Sprinkle the top-facing side of the chicken with the other tablespoon of garlic powder.

Let the chicken cook for about 5 minutes, then flip over to the other side.

Cook another 5 minutes. Flip again, and cook for 5 minutes. Add a little more butter at any point that it starts to too brown. You want a decent layer of butter in with the chicken the whole time it's cooking. When the chicken is close to being cooked through, I remove it and cut it into bit sized pieces. You can leave it whole if you'd rather. After I cut it up, I return it to the skillet to finish cooking. If you leave it whole, just flip it over again and cook another 5 minutes or so. Just make sure it's cooked through.

Remove the cooked chicken from the skillet, leaving behind all the leftover butter and garlicky goodness. Reduce the heat to medium low. Whisk in the flour to make a roux. Continue cooking the roux, whisking frequently, for a couple minutes. Add in the chicken broth and whisk to incorporate. Continue cooking for 2-5 minutes or so, letting the sauce thicken slightly. It doesn't need to be super thick, but you don't want it to be runny like broth. Add the chicken back into the skillet with the sauce. Stir to coat the chicken.

This will make sure the chicken is piping hot for serving, too.

Spoon the saucy chicken over your starch (or to the side of it if you prefer).

Enjoy immediately, while it's still hot and yummy. :)

Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

In addition to soup, hot casserole dishes seem to grace my table with their presence more during the winter. I guess it's partly because they're usually decently hardy and usually served piping hot, both things I tend to crave when it's cold.

This is a bit of a variation on a typical chicken and rice casserole, and I think it turned out pretty well. I hope you enjoy it as well. :)

Ingredients:
-1 cup raw cubed chicken breast meat
-1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
-2 cups cooked rice (I used instant white rice, but use whatever you like)
-3 tablespoons butter
-2 tablespoons flour
-1/2 cup heavy cream
-1/2 cup milk (I used 2%)
-1 tablespoon onion powder
-salt and pepper to taste
-shredded cheese to top the casserole (I probably used about 1 cup-ish of colby jack)

Directions:
Combine the rice, chicken, and broccoli in a 2 qt or so casserole dish.

In a small sauce pan, melt the butter over medium low heat. Whisk in the flour to make a roux. Continue cooking the roux, stirring frequently, for a couple minutes. Whisk in the heavy cream and cook sauce until slightly thickened. Add the milk and whisk it in, continuing to cook the saice until it thickens slightly once again.

Add in the onion powder and salt and pepper. Whisk to combine well. Reduce heat to low and cook another couple minutes until the sauce is thickened a bit but still a pourable consistency.

Pour the sauce over the casserole ingredients already in the casserole dish. Stir slightly to let the sauce coat as much as possible of the other ingredients.

Top with the shredded cheese.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 30-45 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through, the cheese is melted, and everything is hot and yummy.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Beef Veggie Soup

Yes, it's still cold, and yes I still want soup. Haha. This one is super simple and pretty hearty. I tossed a little orzo pasta in to get rid of it and add a little extra starch to thicken it a bit. You don't have to, I just did. I used cube steak because it is ridiculously tender and won't get tough from cooking in the soup like a lot of other cuts of beef will. I hope this warms you up on a cold winter night! :)

Ingredients:
-1 lb cube steak, cut into bite sized pieces
-1.5 cups chopped carrots
-1 cup fresh green beans, trimmed and chopped
-1 large russet potato, scrubbed and chopped
-3 cups beef broth or stock
-2 cups water
-salt and pepper to taste
-1 cup small pasta (optional)

Directions:
In a large pot, bring broth and water to a boil over high heat. Add in the veggies and beef.

Add in the pasta. Let boil for about 10 minutes so veggies start to get tender and meat is mostly cooked through, and pasta is almost al dente.

Reduce heat to low and let simmer for another 10 minutes, until the meat is cooked through and the veggies are tender.

Serve hot and enjoy!

Giftable Goodies! Chocolate Dipped Cookies and "Stir-In" Spoons

Hooray for some more giftable goodies! Today's featured yummies are Chocolate dipped sandwich cookies (like Oreos), and "Stir-In" spoons. Basically it's a bunch of stuff dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with more sugary stuff. Haha.

These really are pretty easy to do, but be prepared to get slightly messy. It's amazing how melted chocolate seems to get everywhere. It wasn't too terrible, and most of it was on my hands, so it all worked out. ;)

The "stir-in" spoons are basically just spoons dipped in chocolate, and you stir them into either coffee or hot chocolate to flavor the hot drink. I did chocolate and white chocolate, but you can be creative. Caramel dipped spoons would be fun, and adding certain types of candy like peppermints can add another dimension of flavor (think peppermint mocha). The possibilities are endless.

So without further ado...giftable goodies!

Dipped Cookies
Ingredients:
-1 package sandwich cookies (like Oreos)
-1 package chocolate chips (you might need a little more than 1 package, depending on how many cookies you do)
-sprinkles, crushed candy, or whatever other topping you'd like (you could also melt some white chocolate and drizzle...)

Directions:
Melt the chocolate chips, either in the microwave or with a double boiler. In the microwave...dump the chips into a microwave safe bowl (I used my large Pyrex glass measuring cup). Heat the chips for 1 minute, then stir to get the chips all mixed up. Heat in 30 second increments, stirring after each time, until the chips are JUST melted. If you over heat the chocolate, it will get nasty. I know this from experience. Be very careful. Haha. In a double boiler, heat the chips, stirring frequently, until just melted. Remove from the heat.

Dip one side of the cookie in the melted chocolate. Let the excess drip off.

Next, drop the whole cookie into the chocolate, non-dipped side down, so the already dipped side is facing up out of the chocolate.

Using a fork, make sure the bottom and sides of the cookie are covered in chocolate. Scoop the cookie out of the chocolate pool with the fork, letting the excess chocolate run off through the tines.

Place the dipped cookie on a waxpaper lined baking sheet.

While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle with whatever sprinkle or crushed candy you have to decorate the tops.

When the cookie sheet is full of dipped cookies, place in the fridge for about 30 minutes to let the chocolate set. When the chocolate has set, package the cookies in whatever fun packaging idea you have, and give away! (If you can manage not to eat most of them yourself...)

I packaged mine in clear plastic bags with some pretty ribbon and a tag. :)



"Stir-In" Spoons
Ingredients:
-Plastic disposable spoons (you can use nicer non-disposable spoons if you want the gift to be a little nicer)
-1 package chocolate chips (I did some chocolate and some white chocolate), which will dip between 10 and 15 spoons, depending on how generous you are
-Fun sprinkles, crushed candy, etc for decorating/flavoring

Directions:
Melt the chocolate chips, either in the microwave or with a double boiler. In the microwave...dump the chips into a microwave safe bowl (I used my large Pyrex glass measuring cup). Heat the chips for 1 minute, then stir to get the chips all mixed up. Heat in 30 second increments, stirring after each time, until the chips are JUST melted. If you over heat the chocolate, it will get nasty. I know this from experience. Be very careful. Haha. In a double boiler, heat the chips, stirring frequently, until just melted. Remove from the heat.

Dip each spoon into the chocolate, making sure to cover both sides well. Let the excess drip off, then set on a wax paper lined baking sheet.

While the chocolate it still wet, sprinkle with your decorative/flavoring fun stuff.

When the sheet is full,

place in the fridge for about 20 minutes to let the chocolate set up. When the chocolate is set, package the spoons for gifting!

I used some long, skinny clear plastic bags I got at a craft store. They were labeled pretzel bags, and I also use them for my dipped pretzel rods. They were the perfect size for this.

I will say that whatever packaging method you choose to use, they should probably be air-tight so the chocolate doesn't start to look odd. Sometimes as chocolate dries out, it starts to look spotty or weird. Not great for gifting.



Just as an aside, I'm posting pictures of my little goodie bags I'm giving away to friends. They include a Cookie Tower (a stack of three types of cookies in a clear plastic bag), my dipped pretzels, the stir-in spoons above, the dipped cookies above, previously posted peppermint bark and turtles, and a candy cane. I included a little Christmas card as well, so they know who it's all from and that we wish them a Merry Christmas! :)

Here's my table covered in goodies waiting to be packaged up,

and here is my table with all the goodies in cute little gift bags, ready to go!

And here's a look inside!

So excited to see how they are received. Enjoy your giftable goodies!

Giftable Goodies! Peppermint Bark and Turtles

These two Giftable Goodies are awesome, and pretty stinking easy to make. But they look so much more complicated than they are. And they're kinda pretty. Haha.

The first is Peppermint Bark. It's literally two ingredients and takes about 5 minutes to make, plus some chilling time in the fridge.

The second goodie is called Turtles. They kinda look like turtles, and they are typical "turtle" flavors, as far as caramel-y, chocolate-y, nutty goodness is concerned. I'm not talking about green reptillian creatures that mutated into ninjas. Sorry, I had to do it. Hehe. There are several ways to make these, and my method involves caramel chips and chocolate chips with pecan halves. My mom makes these with Rolos candies instead of the chips. Either way is fine...use what you can find at the store. :)

I usually make things like this, as simple as they are, and make them special with packaging. It's pretty amazing what a clear plastic bag and ribbon can do. I sometimes add tags, as well, and that makes it even more fun. Don't be limited by my examples...go for your own creative solutions! It's amazing the fun stuff you can find to package goodies in...cute printed tins, clear "paint buckets," special boxes made for goodies, and endless other possibilities.

But before you can package the goodies, you should probably make them, huh? So here we go!

Peppermint Bark (This makes approx. one 9 x 13 inch sheet of bark)
Ingredients
-2 packages white chocolate chips
-approx. 1 cup crushed peppermint candy (put the candy in a sturdy plastic zipper bag, and bang them with something hard until they smash into a million pieces. Good stress relief, but don't make the pieces too terribly small)

Directions:
Line a baking sheet with wax paper.

Melt the white chocolate chips, either in the microwave or with a double boiler. In the microwave...dump the chips into a large microwave safe bowl (I used my Pyrex glass mixing bowl). Heat the chips for 1 minute, then stir to get the chips all mixed up. Heat in 30 second increments, stirring after each time, until the chips are JUST melted. If you over heat the white chocolate, it will get nasty. I know this from experience. Be very careful. Haha. In a double boiler, heat the chips, stirring frequently, until just melted. Remove from the heat.

Once the white chocolate is melted, stir in most of the peppermint candy pieces, reserving about 1/4 cup to sprinkle on top. Spread the chocolate/peppermint mixture onto the wax paper lined baking sheet in an even, thin layer, approximately 1/4 inch (you don't have to be perfect...).

While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle the reserved peppermint candy on top.

Stick the whole shebang into the fridge for about 45 minutes to let the chocolate set and harden.

Once the chocolate is set, remove the baking sheet from the fridge. Gently break apart the sheet of pepperminty chocolate into chunks.

Place a few chunks together in your fun packaging and give away

...or serve for friends and family at Christmas get togethers. They'll think you're extremely talented in the treat making department. Haha. Enjoy this festive goodie!



Turtles (This makes approximately 100 turtles)
Ingredients:
-1 package mini pretzels
-1 package caramel bits or chips (2 cups)
-1 package semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips (2 cups)
-2 bags pecan HALVES (NOT chopped pieces)

-Substitute 2 packages of Rolos candies (one Rolo per turtle) for the caramel and chocolate chips, if you'd rather. It's slightly less labor intensive.

Directions:
I make these in two batches of fifty each.

Line a baking sheet with foil or oven safe wax paper/parchment paper. Turn on your oven to the broiler setting.

Lay out the pretzels in a single layer, leaving a little room between them.

Place three caramel chips on the pretzels.

Continue by adding three chocolate chips to the pretzels.

Place under the preheated broiler for no more than a minute...you just want to the chips to melt a bit. Take the sheet out of the oven, and IMMEDIATELY start placing the pecan halves on top of the melted chips, so they'll stick.

Work quickly, because as the chips cool, the pecans will no longer stick to them. Place these in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes to set the caramel and chocolate.

When the caramel and chocolate are set, remove the sheet from the fridge. Repeat the process for the second batch of fifty. When all 100 are ready to go, melt some of the remaining chocolate chips. In the microwave...dump the chips into a microwave safe bowl (I used a Pyrex glass measuring cup). Heat the chips for 1 minute, then stir to get the chips all mixed up. Heat in 30 second increments, stirring after each time, until the chips are JUST melted. Be very careful not to overheat them. If using a double boiler, heat the chips, stirring frequently, until just melted. Remove from the heat.

Drizzle the melted chocolate over the turtles.

If the chocolate isn't "runny" enough, put it into a piping bag and use it like icing, drizzling the turtles that way. Return the sheet of turtles to the fridge to once again let the new chocolate set. When they're all set and ready to be packaged, place a few turtles in a cute package and gift to your favorite people.

These are also great snacks for holiday parties. Hope you enjoy!