Salsa Verde Soup

My FAVORITE Soup!

• 2 cans (7 oz. each) salsa verde
  
• 3 cups cooked chicken
  
• 1 can canelli or great white northern beans
  
• 4 cups chicken broth
  
• 1-2 tsp cumin
  
• 1 can cream of chicken soup (also delicious with sour cream instead)
  
• 1/4 cup uncooked rice
  

Place salsa and broth in pot to boil. Add Cream chicken soup and cumin. Return to boil. Add rice and let simmer until rice is cooked. Add chicken and beans. Simmer for 10 mintutes.
* I serve it with shredded PepperJack cheese, avocado slices and tortilla chips.

Southwestern Pasta Bake

An Italian-style dish with a southwestern flavor. My kids devoured it.


Ingredients

1 box Pene pasta
1 lb hamburger, browned
½ onion, diced
1 can diced tomatoes (do not drain)
2 8oz cans of tomato sauce
1 cup salsa
8oz ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded cheese (I use the pre-done mexican mix)


1) Preheat oven to 350. Brown meat in pan with onion, drain. I added a little bit of the SouthWestern seasoning by Pampered Chef. You could add some taco seasoning or nothing. :D
2) Cook pasta according to package directions.
3) Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, salsa and ricotta cheese to meat and onion mix in skillet. Toss with pasta.
4) Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Add mixture to pan and sprinkle with cheese.
5) Bake in oven about 20-25 minutes, until cheese is melted.


You don’t have to add the ricotta, I did and I loved it! Served our family of 4 and lots of leftovers for my lunch.

Italian oven fried chicken

Italian Oven Fried Chicken

Boneless skinless breasts (as many as you need to feed your family)
1 egg
2 TB. milk
Breading:
½ c. parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika (optional—I usually don’t have paprika, more for color)
¼ tsp pepper
2 cups Italian bread crumbs

Dip chicken in egg mixture and then dip in breading. Place in a 9x13 pan with canola oil covering bottom. Bake 30 min at 350, turn chicken and bake 10-15 minutes longer.

Hawaiian Chicken

Good in the Crockpot AND freezes well.
Serves 8-10

6 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 16 oz cans pineapple slices, drained
2 15 oz cans mandarin oranges, drained
1/4 C cornstarch
1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 C soy sauce
1/4 C lemon juice
1 t salt
1 t ginger
1/2 t ground red pepper

Put the chicken in the crock pot. Mix remaining ingredients together and pour over the chicken. Cook on high 2-3 hours or low 4-5 hours. Serve over rice.

To freeze, put chicken in a ziploc, mix remaining ingredients and pour over chicken.

Banana Crumb Muffins

Banana Crumb Muffins
PREP TIME
15 Min
COOK TIME
20 Min
READY IN
35 Min
SERVINGS & SCALING
Original recipe yield: 10 muffins

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.


I just tried these today after seeing them on my friend Danielle's blog and they are to die for. Instead of 1/3 cup butter I did 1/3 cup oil for a little less fat. And I added a couple dashes of cinnamon to the batter as well.

Chicken and Corn Chowder

This recipe is adapted from the Lion House cookbook.
(I made a few changes to it.)
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 tbsp. finely chopped green bell pepper
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. flour
3 cups whole milk
1 can Campbell's cream of chicken soup
dash of white pepper (a little goes a long way)
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 drops yellow food coloring (opt.)
1 can Green Giant Niblets corn, undrained
1 can chunk white chicken (5 oz.), undrained,
OR 1 boiled chicken breast, minced

In a large saucepan, cook onions and peppers in butter until soft, but not browned. Stir in flour. (This will form a stiff paste.) Add the milk gradually, whisking until smooth. Add the soup and continue whisking until lumps are gone. Add the white pepper and bouillon cubes, stirring until cubes are broken up and dissolved. Add the food coloring if desired and stir well. Lastly, add the corn and chicken and cook on low heat for about 5 minutes or until soup is heated through. Tastes good on a cold night served with some type of bread. (Hint: the onions and peppers really give the soup its flavor so if you have kids that complain about these veggies, make sure you chop them really fine. After they've cooked down, they can hardly be seen in the soup. To be even sneakier, try using yellow bell pepper instead of green.)

Creepy Crawlers

This is a fun recipe for the kids. It actually crawls up the side of the pan. The kids will sit in front of my oven for the entire 20 minutes just to watch it crawl!

6 eggs
1 C. flour
1 C. milk
1/2 tsp. salt

Melt 4 Tbsp. butter in a 9x13 pan. Pour batter over butter. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

Serve with strawberries and cool whip or syrup.

Cayenne Rubbed Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Cayenne Rubbed Chicken with Avocado Salsa
Serves 4


Ingredients:
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6 to 8 ounces each)
2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium red onion, finely diced
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 Hass avocado, pitted and cut into chunks

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and cayenne; rub all over chicken.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium. Add chicken, and cook until browned on the outside and opaque throughout, 8 to 10 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine onion and lime juice; set aside. Just before serving, fold avocado chunks into onion mixture; season with salt and pepper. Serve chicken topped with salsa.

It looks and tastes gourmet, but it is so easy! We made this with saffron rice. It would also go well with black beans.

Dinner Rolls

Dinner Rolls—makes 30 rolls (15 rolls per 9 x 13 pan)

1½ cups very warm water
1 Tbsp. plus ¾ tsp. yeast
½ cup sugar
½ cup milk
1 egg
½ cube softened butter (4 Tbsp.)
5-6 ½ cups bread flour (can also use all-purpose flour)
1 tsp. salt

Dissolve yeast in water in Kitchen-Aid or mixer with dough hook attachment. Add a little bit of the sugar and wait about 5-8 minutes until mixture to begins to bubble and foam. Add the rest of the sugar, milk, egg, butter, and 2 cups of the flour. Mix well. Add 2 more cups of the flour along with salt. Mix well. Gradually add in one more cup of the flour. Add any additional flour as needed in order to knead the dough into a ball. Dough should not be too dry however. Keep it on the stickier side, adding just enough flour to keep it from sticking to the bowl. Knead for 10 minutes. Remove dough from mixer and place into a large greased bowl. Turn the dough over so greased side is up. Cover with a thin towel and allow to rise in a warm place for about one hour or so until double in size. (I turn the oven on for about a minute to take the chill off and then turn it off and let the dough rise in there.)

Punch dough down and allow to rise again. (Second rising may be shorter than 1 hour.) Punch down again and shape into rolls. I do three rows of five in a greased 9 x 13 inch pan. (I like to use a shiny aluminum pan--airbake style.) Dark, non-stick pans tend to make the bottoms of the rolls come out darker so reduce oven temperature by 25 degrees if your pans are dark. Cover with thin towel and allow rolls to rise until double in size.** Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. (Check after 12-13 minutes and turn pan around if your oven is hotter in the back.) Rolls should be nicely browned. If they are getting too brown on top before the bottoms are done (this will probably only occur if using air-bake pans), lay a piece of foil over the top and continue to bake for another 2-3 minutes until the bottoms catch up. Remove rolls from pan by placing another 9 x 13 pan over the top and tip them out upside down and then right side up on a wire rack to cool.

**If you want rolls to have a shiny "finished" look to them, lightly brush tops with egg yolk mixture (one yolk mixed with 1 Tbsp. water) just before baking. At this point you can sprinkle on sesame seeds if desired.

This recipe sounds really fussy, but once you get the hang of it and what pans/cooking times etc. work for you, it will be a keeper. Also, this is an excellent dough to use for cinnamon rolls.

Cookie Dough & Candy-What Could Possibly Be Wrong With That?

At Tanya's request, I'm posting this very naughty cookie recipe. Please click here to get the instructions.

Over Fried Pork Chops

I've used this receipe from Betty Crocker- yummy!
4 boneless pork chops about 3/4 inch thick.
1 egg
2 Tbs. milk
salt & pepper
Crushed stuffing mix
2 Tbs. butter

Heat Oven to 425'
Melt butter in oven in 9x13 pan ( while you prepare meat)
Mix egg, milk, salt n pepper in bowl
Place crushed stuffing in another bowl
Dip chops in egg mixture then crumb mixture.
Place in pan
Cook 10 minutes on one side- turn over cook 10 minutes on other side until juices are clear!
ENJOY-

Ritz Chicken

Tanya asked me to post this,
This is my favorite chicken and it's so easy!

Basically I use boneless skinless chicken breast.
Dip in BUTTER, then roll in Ritz Cracker crumbs. Honestly Ritz crackers are the best!
roll generously, and any extra just pour on top of the chicken

then season with a bit of season salt and black pepper.
Bake 350 covered for about 45 mins..( depending on how big the chicken pieces are you might need more time)
that's it !

Tomato-Beef-Macaroni Soup

1 lb ground beef, browned and drained
1/4 C butter
2-4 cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 - 2 Qt tomato juice
2 t salt
pepper
1 1/2 T brown sugar
1/4 t seasoning salt
1/4 t parsley
1/3 c diced onion
1/2 lb elbow macaroni, cooked

Mix all soup ingredients except macaroni. Add enough tomatoes and tomato juice to make a soup that has the consistency you want. Simmer and add seasonings to taste. Add cooked macaroni. Heat through. Serve with grated cheddar.

Chicken Georgia

Chicken Georgia Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter 4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms 2 tablespoons minced shallots 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 4 ounces grated mozzarella cheese Melt butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and shallots and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook 10 minutes. Add chicken and cook 10 minutes on each side, or until tender. Transfer chicken to platter and sprinkle with grated cheese. Top with mushroom mixture. Cook and let stand 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

Teriyaki London Broil

1 (1 1/2 pound ) London Broil

Marinade
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 Tbs brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
2 tbs lemon juice
1 1/2 tbs olive oil
1 cup beef bouillon

Make slits about 1/8 inch deep around edges of beef
For Marinade, combine soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, lemon juice, Olive oil, and bouillon in a shallow dish, mix well. Reserve 1/3 of marinade. Add beef to dish, turn to coat.
Cover and refrigerate for 10 min. While beef is marinating, preheat grill or broiler. Remove beef; discard marinade. Grill or broil beef basting with reserved marinade about 5 min each side. Let beef stand about 2 min. Slice diagonally across the grain.

Crockpot Chicken with Dijon Mustard

Crockpot Chicken with Dijon Mustard

Ingredients:
4 to 6 boneless chicken breast halves
2 Tbl Dijon mustard
1 can 98% fat-free cream of mushroom soup
2 tsp cornstarch
dash of pepper

Preparation:
Wash chicken and pat dry; place in Crockpot. Combine remaining ingredients and spoon over the chicken. Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours.

So yummy!!!! ENJOY!

White House Chili

4 - 15 oz. cans Great Northern Beans
1 - 16 oz. jar mild salsa (optional)
2 c. cooked, diced chicken
8 oz. Pepper Jack cheese (or 4 oz. Monterey Jack & 4 oz. Pepper Jack)
2 tsp. cumin

If you want to add extra color, add any or all of the following:
1 green pepper, diced
chopped cilantro
corn

Heat together in crockpot on low 4-5 hours. This recipe freezes well. Serves a lot.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

This recipe is so good! Low fat, it's not, but I have had some success using lower fat ingredients such as milk and sour cream, though I wouldn't bother with nonfat sour cream. I also use less cheddar than this recipe calls for...or I double everything except the sour cream and cheddar. Whatever works...it's the best version I've ever eaten.

• 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
• 1/2 c. butter
• 1/2 c. flour
• 1-1/2 c. milk
• 1-1/2c. sour cream
• 1 t. salt
• 1/2 T. pepper
• 10 oz. bar mild cheddae cheese, grated
  

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cook macaroni in salted boiling water according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Pour into a 3-qt. casserole
In a saucepan, melt butter and stir in flour. Gradually stir in milk and sour cream. Add salt and pepper.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until sauce bubbles and thickens.
Reserve 1 c. grated cheese for the top of the casserole. Toss macaroni with remaining cheese.
Pour sauce over macaroni and mix thoroughly. Sprinkle with reserved cheese.
Bake for 1 hour, or until bubbly and brown.
Serve immediately.

Serves 6