Chicken Tortilla Soup 2

So I promised you another good Tortilla Soup Recipe, and here it is! Again, another easy and delicious recipe. It makes a lot, and leftovers are just as delicious!
Find the other recipe HERE.

I didn't have any avocados, or my picture would be much prettier. :)

I LOVE it when my food is beautifully colorful! :)

Ingredients:

Servings: 10

Servings Size

• 
  

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium jalapeno pepper, chopped
• 1/2 medium green pepper
• 4 small boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 4 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 2 (14 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
• 2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce

Toppings Optional

• 1 cup non-fat tortilla chips
• Avocado
• Lime  

Directions:

Prep Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 1 1/4 hr

1. Sauté onion, garlic, jalapeño and green pepper with olive oil in a large pot until soft.
2. Add all the rest of the ingredients to the large pot and bring to a boil.
3. After about 15 minutes, remove the chicken breasts and shred.
4. (Two forks work well to pull the chicken apart!).
5. Return shredded chicken to the pot and simmer an additional 45 minutes.
6. Serve with additional toppings if desired.
7. Enjoy!

Skillet Chili Mac

Can't go wrong with this!
If you make hamburger helper's... once you try this, you won't want to go back. And if you do, something might be wrong with ya. :)

Serves 6

**If you want a traditional chili mac, omit the corn, chiles and cilantro**

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, minced
3/4 tablespoon chili powder (add more if you want more heat)
1/2 tablespoon ground coriander (substitute ground cumin for a smokier flavor)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 8 oz. cans tomato sauce
2 cups water
8 ounces (2 cups) elbow macaroni
1 cup frozen corn
1 4.5-oz can chopped green chiles
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
2 cups shredded cheese (I used a combination of cheddar and monterey jack but you can use pepper jack or a mexican shredded cheese blend)

• Heat oil in a 12-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the ground beef, onion, chili powder, coriander, cumin and 1/2 teaspoon salt. 
• Cook the ground beef until it is no longer pink. 
• Drain off any excess fat or grease (the amount will depend on how lean your beef is). 
• Stir in garlic and brown sugar and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. 
• In larger pan, mix tomato sauce, water, and macaroni. Stir in ground beef mix. Cover and cook, stirring often and keeping the heat at a steady simmer, until the macaroni is tender, about 10-15 minutes.
• Stir in 1 cup of the cheese, frozen corn, green chiles and cilantro and sprinkle remaining 1 cup of cheese over the top. 
• Cover and let sit off the heat until the cheese melts, about 2 minutes.

Pumpkin and cream cheese whoopie pies!

Cakes:

3 c flour

1tsp baking soda

1tsp baking powder

1tsp salt

2tbsp cinnamon

1/2tsp nutmeg

1tsp ginger

1 c oil

1 c dark brown sugar

1 c white sugar

3 c pumpkin

1tsp vanilla

2 eggs

Whisk together all the dry ingredients, set aside. in large bowl beat sugars and oil. add pumpkin, mix well. add vanilla and eggs. slowly add flour mixture and mix until combined. use 1 tablespoon or 1/2 tablespoon scoop and scoop into balls on pans. bake 350 for 10 to 14 min. (i used the smallest cookie scoop I have, not sure what size it is)

Filling:

1/2 c butter

1 8oz cream cheese

3 c powdered sugar

1/2 t maple extract or 1 tbsp maple syrup

1tsp vanilla

beat butter on high add cream cheese and beat well and rest of ingredients. pipe onto one side of the cookie, place another cookie onto!!

3-Ingredient Pumpkin CC Cookies

These are seriously ONLY 3 ingredients! Lovin that! Technically, if you don't want the chocolate chips... then it's a 2-ingredient cookie. Ha ha. And they are super soft. Yum!

You need:
15 ounces of Pumpkin (pure Pumpkin, not pie filling)
1 box of spice cake
1 bag of choc chips, milk or semi-sweet

This pic shows a LARGE pumpkin can... for a double batch...

Do:
1. Mix pumpkin with spice cake mix.
2. Fold in choc chips. Quantity is up to you.
3. On un-greased cookie sheet, drop teaspoon-sized portions of mix.
**Note: cookies cook pretty true to form how you put them on the sheet, so don't leave them to much like a 'ball', flatten a little bit so they cook evenly.
4. Bake @ 350 for 15-20 minutes. Time will depend on size of cookie, your oven, type of cookie sheet, etc.. Mine cooked perfectly at 18 minutes.

Stuffing Stuffed Chicken

Easy and delicious! Just how I like it. :)

 

Ingredients:

4-6 Chicken Breasts, boneless/skinless
1 box chicken flavored stuffing (like Stove Top)
Family size Cream of Chicken Soup
Paprika
Salt/Pepper

To do:

1. Cook stuffing as directed.
2. Flatten Chicken breasts. Lay a piece of wax paper on counter, then a piece of saran wrap. (This isn't mandatory, it just helps make less of a mess.) Place chicken breast on sheets, and fold them over. Beat chicken with flat side of meat mallet, or a can of vegetables (or something) works too. Just make chicken thin, even, and flat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.


3. Put a little bit of Cream of Chicken soup on bottom of 9x13 baking dish.
4. Spoon a couple spoonfuls of stuffing onto flat chicken, and roll it up. (you can use a toothpick to pin shut if you need to) and place in pan seam-side down.

5. Spread the rest of the Cream of Chicken soup over chicken.
6. Sprinkle with Paprika, if you want.
7. Bake @ 350 for 1 hour (or until chicken cooked til no longer pink)
ENJOY!
*Opt- warm up a small can of CofC soup, mixed with a little milk, for extra sauce.

Ranch Ham and Broccoli pin wheels

Ranch Ham & Broccoli Pinwheels

1 recipe for rolls or homemade bread (I used a wheat bread recipe)
Filling Layer:
12 oz. cream cheese
1/4 c. mayonnaise
1/4 c. butter
1 ranch dressing packet
1 t. parsley (dried or fresh)
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. black pepper
Dash of cayenne

Inside:

2-3 c. Ham, chopped

2 c. Broccoli (fresh or frozen--just chop up pretty fine) I didn't chop up fine enough. to was chunky
1/2 Red Bell Pepper, finely chopped 1/4 c. green onions, sliced
2-3 c. shredded colby or cheddar cheese (you could also use parmesan cheese--the more cheese the better in my book!!)

Make the dough as you would normally. Once the dough has risen for the first time, punch it back down and divide into your two large mounds (each mound will make about 12-15 pinwheels). Roll the dough into a large, thin rectangle (get it as thin as you can--about 1/8 inch thick).

Mix the filling ingredients together and spread half of the mixture over the rectangle dough evenly. Sprinkle the ham, vegetables and cheese over the filling on the dough. Roll the dough like you would a cinnamon roll, tucking each roll in as tightly as you can. Once you have a long log of the pinwheel, begin cutting pieces into 1 inch thick slices. Place the slices face up on a greased cookie sheet. Place cookie sheets of pinwheels into the oven at 170 degrees. When slices have doubled in size, turn the oven to 350 degrees (without opening the oven door) and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until lightly golden on top.

Chicken Tequila Fettuccine

The other night, mom and I went to California Pizza Kitchen with my step brother and his wife. I asked our server what his favorites were, and when he mentioned this one it stuck. And now, it is one of MY favorites. I scarfed down the whole thing! (plus dessert) My brother asked if I were "with child"..... and just so we're clear, I'M NOT. I'm just a pig. :)

this pic is from their menu.

Within 5 minutes of getting to my brother's house, my awesome sis-in-law found a recipe for it online. I couldn't wait!  I made it tonight. It is delicious!!!! Be sure to read my * notes at the bottom for those of you concerned about the alcohol, and some other tweeks I may have made. So without further ado, here you go.

 Ingredients:

1 lb dry (or 2 lbs fresh) spinach fettuccine *

1 1/4 pound chicken breast, diced

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro reserved for garnish

2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic

2 tablespoons minced jalapeno pepper (seeds and veins removed)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter (reserve tablespoon for saute ) **

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons gold tequila ***

2 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lime juice

3 tablespoons soy sauce (low sodium of course)

1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 medium yellow bell pepper thinly sliced

1/2 medium green bell pepper, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Boil salted water to cook pasta; cook until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes for dry pasta, approximately 3 minutes for fresh. Pasta may be cooked ahead of time, rinsed and oiled and then reheated in boiling water.

2. Cook 1/3 cup cilantro, garlic and jalapeno in 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes.

3. Add stock, tequila and lime juice. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until reduced to a paste like consistency; set aside.

4. Pour soy sauce over diced chicken; set aside for 5 minutes.

5. Meanwhile cook onion and peppers, stirring occasionally, with remaining butter over medium heat. When the vegetables have become limp, add chicken and soy sauce; toss and add reserved tequila/lime paste and cream.

Doesn't this look beautifully delicious!?

 6. Bring the sauce to a boil; boil until chicken is cooked through and sauce is thick (about 3 minutes).

7. Toss with drained spinach fettuccine and reserved cilantro, and squeeze a lil more lime if desired.

Not as pretty as their picture... but you get the idea.

* Noodles. Walmart did not have the spinach noodles. (go figure) So I used the regular. Still delicious, but I really like the spinach noodles.

** Canola oil can be used to sautee, instead of butter. Keeps it a little bit healthier.

*** Alcohol. Even though the alcohol will be cooked out of it, if by personal choice you don't want to use it, comments on the recipe said it was still delicious without it. Plus, if no one in your household is a drinker, it'd be an expensive purchase to only use 2 Tbsp of a whole bottle. So up to you.

Bacon Lettuce Wraps

My husband made these for me when we first started dating... and they were SO good that we eloped shortly after. They totally sealed the deal. :)

 

Pretty simple. You need:
water
1 pkg regular bacon, cut pieces into thirds
brown sugar
lettuce, green or red leaf
cooked rice

• In a FRYING pan, bring water and brown sugar to a low boil. (amount depends on your liking for taste. I started with 1 cup water and 1 cup brown sugar.)
• Cook bacon, until cooked thoroughly, in boiling mix. (I started with about 5 pieces, then tasted one, and decided to add a lil more brown sugar... up to you.)
• Rinse lettuce.
• Pile it all together and enjoy! -Can be a little hard to eat. Roll it like a burrito, or fold it like a taco, and shove it in. If that's too hard, or if you'd prefer, I'm sure it'd be delicious all chopped up in a bowl like a salad.

We like things a lil spicy around our house. We like to add this Korean hot paste too our wraps. A little goes a LONG way, as far as temperature goes. My bro in-laws have also used Tapatio and Chalula. Just some thoughts for ya if you want to spice it up.

Linguine carbonara

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound uncooked linguine
  
• 1/2 Tab olive oil
• 1/4 pound bacon, diced
• 1/2 cup 2% milk
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and black pepper to taste
  
• 1/2 cup frozen peas, (if you like)
• 1/2 tea of fresh chopped garlic
  

Cook linguine in a pot of lightly salted boiling water until al dente.

Meanwhile heat the olive oil in a frying pan and saute the bacon for three minutes until browned. 

Add chopped garlic and saute for a minute.

In a bowl whisk together the milk, egg yolks and cheese, salt and pepper.

Once cooked, drain the pasta, save a tablespoon of pasta water in the pot to help thicken the sauce. 

Return the pasta to the pot, immediately stir in the egg and cheese mixture until well combined. 

Add the bacon and oil mixture, ( you dont have to add all the oil if you dont want it just gives it more flavor) Toss with pasta and sauce and heat through gently, til the cheese melts and the sauce thickens up.

(if you heat too high the eggs will scramble).

If you are adding peas put them in a bowl and add a tab of water and microwave for about a min and drain, then add to the pot. 

If the sauce gets too thick add a little more milk.

Oreo Truffles

These are so good! Great for Oreo lovers!

Everyone always asks for this recipe!

Hope you enjoy it!

• 8 oz. cream cheese ( soft room temp)
  

• 1 pack of Oreos

• 1 pound of vanilla almond bark
  

• 1/2 pound chocolate almond bark
  

1- Separate the filling from the cookies and save the filling in a bowl. 

2- Grind Oreos to find powder in food processor. 

3- With a mixer, blend the saved cookie filling and cream cheese together until thoroughly mixed, then mix in the ground up cookies(there should be no white traces of cream cheese). 

4- Roll into small or large balls and place on wax-lined cookie sheet. Chill 45 minutes.

5- Line two cookie sheets with wax paper.
6- In double-boiler (or microwave), melt vanilla almond bark . Dip balls and coat thoroughly. With slotted spoon or fork, lift balls out of bark and let excess drip off. Place on wax-paper-lined cookie sheet.
7- In separate double boiler, melt chocolate bark.
8- Using a fork, drizzle chocolate over balls. (or place chocolate in a small baggie, cut a small piece of corner off, and drizzle) Let cool.
Store in airtight container, in refrigerator

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Recipe yields 28 standard cupcakes

Cupcakes:

• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 c. cake flour

• 1 tsp. baking powder

• 1/2 tsp. salt

• 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon, plus 1/2 teaspoon for dusting*

• 1 c. unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1 3/4 c. sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for dusting*

• 4 large eggs, room temperature

• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

• 1 1/4 c. milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together both flours, baking powder, salt and 1 tablespoon cinnamon.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk, and beating until combined after each.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored up to 2 days at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

4. To finish, combine remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar. Using a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip (Ateco No. 809 or Wilton No. 1A)*, pipe frosting on each cupcake: Hold bag over cupcake with tip just above top, and squeeze to create a dome of frosting, then release pressure and pull up to form a peak. Using a small, fine sieve, dust peaks with cinnamon-sugar. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are frosted; keep at room temperature until ready to serve.*

7 minute frosting (or 10-12 min):

• 2 large egg whites

• 1 1/2 c. sugar

• 2 t. light corn syrup

• 1/4 t. cream of tartar*

• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1. Combine egg whites, sugar, corn syrup, cream of tartar, and 5 tbsp. of cool water in a heat proof bowl set over the top of a pan of boiling water.

2. Using handheld mixer, beat on low 4 mins. Beat on high 3 mins until soft peaks form. Remove from heat, add vanilla and beat for additional 3-5 mins...therefore 10-12 min frosting. Decorate cupcakes immediately

Breadsticks

This is from my friend Brandi. I've made these often. They are pretty easy, and I usually have all the ingredients at a given time.

What to do:
1 Tbsp (1 packet) yeast, rapid rise
1 1/2 C warm water
Mix.
Add:
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2 C flour

Knead 3 minutes. Let rise 10 min.

Make topping:
1/4 C butter
1/4 C Parmesan cheese (from shaker)
1/4 C Mayo

Roll dough flat onto cookie sheet.
Spread topping.
Cut with pizza cutter.
Let rise again.

Bake @ 350, 20-25 min or til golden brown.
Sprinkle with garlic salt and parsley.

Eat up!

Classic Italian Lasagna

Ok, so I've never made lasagna before. Why should I when Stouffer's make's a great frozen one? :)

But someone asked me the other day if I had a good recipe for one... so I began my search. I didn't search too long because I have a GO-TO blog. It seriously rocks! I have found so many recipes there that I LOVE. (this is where I found the Sweet and Sour Chicken too)

 I'm posting her picture because I forgot to take some. 

I LOVED THIS!! DELICIOUS!  BUT, just a warning, it takes a while to prepare. So plan some time (few hours) or you can prepare the sauces when you do have time, then later layer it up in the pan and cook like I did... turned out fine. Better than fine! I also used the No-boil noodles (have never heard of them before) and was nervous about it, but they turned out great! One less step to do, I'm all over that!

And since there are SO many directions... I'm just posting the link. Let me know what you think if you make it!

Go here: Classic Italian Lasagna

Also made some yummy bread sticks to go with it. Go here: Breadsticks

Sweet and Sour Chicken

OMG!!! This is so freaking good! I'm already looking forward to making it again.

Chicken:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
oil

• Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. 
• Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. 

• Place in a single layer in a baking dish.
• Mix sauce ingredients (below) together and pour over chicken.

Sauce:

Cook the sauce on the stove top at a simmer for 8-10 minutes until it reduces and thickens. Pour over chicken and bake. If you like extra sauce, double ingredients - pour half over the chicken, serve extra on the side.

¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

• Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes so it is evenly coated with the sauce. (Keep in mind, cooking time depends on how big you cut your pieces. Mine were done at 45...)
• Serve over rice.