Tortilla Soup///Broccoli-Rice Bake

It's time for me to catch up!!! I haven't posted anything in a couple days...I've been lazy. :\ Yesterday I made Tortilla Soup, and the day before I made Cheesy Broccoli-Rice Bake. The former recipe was given to me by my Aunt, way back when I first got married. I haven't tried it until now, but it's really good! The latter recipe I had to test out. I had one version from my Mamaw, and one from a Betty Crocker cook book. There were things I liked about both of them, but I've combined what I liked into one recipe!

First:
Tortilla Soup

3-4 Chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
6c water
1 can kidney beans
1 can ranch style beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can black beans
1 can whole kernel corn
2 cans rotel
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 pkg ranch dressing mix

Boil the chicken breasts in a 4qt pot or saucepan. The recipe said 30-45 minutes but I think my chicken was done in about 20-25. Check to make sure it's done by cutting them open and making sure there's no pink in the middle. Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. Dump out the water you boiled the chicken in, and fill the pot with the rest of the ingredients, including the cut-up chicken. Stir together and warm for 30 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream, if desired.

I actually put this all in the refrigerator before heating it and whenever I'm hungry I just scoop out a bowlful and heat it up in the microwave. You don't really even need the tortilla chips or anything else. This stuff is good on its own! Also, it could feed so many people it'll be awhile until it's all gone. I should have halved the recipe, but I didn't want to only use half of a can of everything. I wouldn't know what to do with the other half.


Next:
Cheesy Broccoli-Rice Casserole

I made both recipes, one from my Mamaw on one side of the pan and one from Betty Crocker's cookbook on the other side. I liked the topping of one, but the thickness of the other, and I liked the seasoning of one but not the extra ingredient it had, and I didn't like how cheesy the other one was. I ended up combining the two recipes to what I thought would be the best of both sides.

1T butter (or Canola oil if you'd rather)

1 large onion, minced (so picky eaters can't tell they're in there)
1 sm. jar cheese whiz
10.75oz can cream of mushroom soup
1/2c milk
1/4tsp pepper
1/4tsp garlic powder
1/4tsp salt
1lb bag of frozen, chopped broccoli, thawed
3c. cooked rice (brown rice is better for you)
1c fine, soft bread crumbs
1T butter

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 13x9 glass baking dish with cooking spray. In 10in skillet, melt 1T butter over medium-high heat. Cook onion in butter, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender; reduce heat to medium. Stir in cheese, soup, milk, pepper, salt, and garlic powder and broccoli. Cook, stirring frequently until broccoli is warm, cheese is melted. Add the rice and mix well. Spoon into baking dish. In a small bowl, mix crumbs and 1T melted butter; sprinkle over rice mixture. Bake uncovered 30-35 minutes or until light brown on top and bubbly around edges.

Christmas Day Dinner!!!

I made several recipes today, and all of them turned out AMAZING!!! I found them all out of different magazines awhile back. :)

Beefy Sirloin Tips with Smoky Pepper Sauce

1 1/2lb beef sirloin tip steak
1/2tsp paprika
1T vege. oil
1 12oz-16oz jar roasted red sweet peppers
1/2c barbecue sauce
1/4c chopped fresh italian parsley (if you have it)

Trim meat and cut into 1-1 1/2in chunks; sprinkle with paprika. In 12in skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add meat; brown 5minutes or to desired doneness. Remove from skillet; keep warm. Meanwhile, drain roasted red peppers, reserving liquid. Cut up roasted peppers. Measure 1/2c of the reserved liquid (if needed, add enough water to equal 1/2c). Add peppers and liquid to skillet. Add barbecue sauce. Cook, uncovered, 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently until sauce is slightly thickened. Return meat to skillet; heat through. Sprinkle with parsley. Makes 4 servings.

I served the meat with Roasted Holiday Vegetables ^^^ (but I halved the recipe)

1/2T fennel seed

1lb yukon gold potatoes, unpeeled, cut in chunks or wedges (I used red potatoes)

1/2 large yellow onion, cut in half and sliced

dried rosemary

1T extra virgin olive oil

kosher salt

black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toast the fennel seed in a skillet over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, shaking the pan often to prevent seeds from burning. (It releases natural oils in the seeds.) Place potatoes and onion in a large bowl. Add the toasted fennel seed, rosemary, olive oil,  and a few pinches of salt and pepper; toss. Transfer the vegetable mixture to a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Roast about 35-45 minutes or until vegetables are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside when pierced with a fork. Remove from the oven, and serve warm. A halved recipe makes about 4 servings.

Popovers

(I halved this recipe too)

1 1/3c milk

5 eggs, at room temperature

1 1/2c flour

3/4T sugar

1 1/2tsp kosher salt

1 1/2oz shredded monterey jack

nonstick cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a muffin or popover pan. In a medium saucepan bring milk to steaming. In large bowl, place eggs and lightly beat. Slowly add 1c. of the hot milk to eggs, stirring until combined. Pour egg mixture into saucepan. Stir to combine. Strain mixture into large mixing bowl. Sift the flour, sugar and salt over the egg mixture. With an electric mixer, beat on lowest speed for 10 minutes. Increase speed to medium-low and beat 5 minutes more. Strain mixture. Place empty popover pan in oven until pan is hot (about 5 minutes). Working quickly, fill pans three-quarters full. Sprinkle with cheese. Immediately return pan to oven, and bake for 35 minutes or until popovers are deep golden brown (do not open the door while popovers bake, as this could cause them to collapse). Remove from baking pan; place on a wire rack to cool. Immediately pierce sides of popovers with a skewer to allow steam to escape so they stay crisp longer.

And for dessert, I made Caramel Apple Peanut Bars :)

1c smooth peanut butter
3/4c caramel-flavored ice cream topping
3T packed brown sugar
3c apple-cinnamon flavored round toasted oat cereal (Cheerios)
1c. coarsely chopped dried apples
1/2c.-1c salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Line a 8x8x2in baking pan with foil, extending foil up over edges of pan. Butter the foil. In a large saucepan combine 3/4c of the beapunt butter, 1/2c of the ice cream topping and the brown sugar. Cook and stir over medium heat just until mixture starts to bubble. Remove from heat. Add cereal and apples; stir gently to coat. Transfer to prepared pan; press firmly ointo pan. In a small bowl stir together remaining 1/4c peanut butter and 1/4c ice cream topping. Spread evenly over bars and sprinkle with peanuts, pressing lightly. Let bars stand 1 hour to set. Use foil to lift from pan. Cut into bars.

Our Christmas table:

Makes me kinda sad setting a table only for two. :(

Next year I hope we get to spend Christmas with the rest of our family!

Chicken Fajitas

I'm not sure where I found this recipe originally, but I recently discovered it written on an index card, shoved in a stack of recipes in my kitchen drawer. It's been so long since I made these I couldn't remember how they tasted, so I decided to make them tonight. These are amazing!!! :)

3T lemon juice
3/4tsp salt
1tsp ground pepper
1tsp garlic powder
1tsp liquid smoke
1 med. onion, sliced into thin rings
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
8 flour tortillas
3T oil
1 green pepper, cut into little strips

Toppings:
shredded lettuce
shredded cheese of choice
sour cream
chopped up tomato

Combine lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and liquid smoke in small bowl. Add chicken and stir to coat.

Cover and chill 30 minutes. Wrap tortillas in foil; bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Heat oil in skillet on medium heat. Add chicken (not marinade, but keep it reserved) and cook 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly or till tender. Add marinade, bell pepper and onion; saute until vegetables are crisp-tender.

Remove from heat. Fill warmed tortillas with chicken mixture and, if desired, top with cheese, lettuce, tomato and sour cream.

This chicken smells and tastes sooo good! :D

Chocolate Mint Sandwich Cookies

Found this recipe out of a magazine :)

4c flour
1 1/3c unsweetened cocoa powder
2tsp espresso powder
1/2tsp salt
1 1/2c butter, softened
1 1/2c sugar
2 eggs

filling:
1c butter, softened
2tsp vanilla
2tsp peppermint extract
5c powdered sugar
green food coloring
2T milk

In a large bowl stir together flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and salt; set aside. In a very large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs until combined. Beat in as much of the flour mixture as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour mixture. Divide dough in half. If necessary, cover and chill 1-2 hours or until dough is easy to handle. (I didn't need to chill mine.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough at a time until 1/4in thick. Using a round cookie cutter, cut out dough. Place 1in apart on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray or lined with parchment paper. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are firm. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.
Meanwhile, make the filling. In a large bowl beat 1c softened butter with a mixer on medium to high speed until fluffy. Add vanilla and peppermint. Beat in 2 1/2c powdered sugar. Beat in 2T milk. Beat in another 2 1/2c powdered sugar until smooth. Tint with green food coloring.
Fill cookies with peppermint cream filling. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving. Store in refrigerator.

*My filling was way too thin so I had to keep adding more powdered sugar to it to make it spreadable consistency. You might want to try putting in only 1T. milk or none at all.

Cheesy Chicken Casserole

WARNING! This is extra extra cheesy!!! lol
This recipe came from a family friend and was orignally named "Sopa Chicken". We liked this recipe, but I think next time I'll use only half of the velveeta it called for.

1/2c celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2T. oil
4 chicken breasts, boiled and cut up
1 can Rotel
1lb 1/2lb velveeta cheese
1 can cream of chicken
small flour tortillas
1/4lb cheddar cheese, shredded
*cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with cooking spray. In a skillet, saute onion and celery in oil.

Add Rotel, cream of chicken, velveeta, and chicken; heat until cheese is melted. Put a layer of tortillas in the casserole dish, then a layer of the chicken cheese mixture, then another layer of tortillas, then a last layer of chicken cheese mixture.

Top with shredded cheddar cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.

Cheesy deliciousness.

You might want to toast the tortillas (in a skillet with a little bit of oil) before putting them in the dish. I think it tastes better with crunchier tortillas.

Spaghetti Chicken

This recipe's pretty simple. I got it from another relative. :) Not your traditional kind of spaghetti, a little spicier depending on what kind of Rotel you use.

1lb boneless skinless chicken breast, boiled and cut up
1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chiles
16oz can tomato sauce
3/4 stick of butter, cut up
1 small onion, chopped
salt & pepper to taste
8oz spaghetti

Prepare spaghetti as directed; drain. Stir together all ingredients and pour in a casserole dish. Bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes (20 uncovered, 20 covered) stirring a couple of times.

This actually tasted pretty good! I've never used rotel in spaghetti sauce before. It gives it a nice flavor without having to add many spices yourself.

Chocolate Chip Biscotti

I usually make my cookie dough from scratch. However, I found this recipe out of a magazine and it specifically called for a certain cookie mix, so I went ahead and got a couple packages while grocery shopping.

1pkg Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
1/3c butter, softened
1 egg
2c semisweet chocolate chips
1/4c flour
1/2c toasted chopped hazelnuts
1/2c cherry-flavored dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

Make cookie dough blending cookie mix, butter, egg, flour, hazelnuts, cranberries and 1 1/2c chocolate chips until stiff dough forms. Roll half of dough at a time into 3 x 2 1/2in rectangles.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes on ungreased cookie sheet. Cool 15 minutes.
Cut each rectangle crosswise into 3/4in slices. Place slices, cut sides down, on cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes, turning once, until crisp.

Cool; place biscotti on cooling racks. Cool completely.

Microwave chocolate chips on High 30-60 seconds; stir until smooth. Drizzle chocolate over one side of each biscotti.

 Let stand until chocolate is set. Serve with milk! :)

I loved this recipe. The only suggestion I have is to use less cranberries and more nuts!

:)

Simple Paella

I found this next recipe out of a magazine. It called for shrimp and tilapia, but my family hates seafood so I used cooked chicken instead. :)

Nonstick cooking spray
3/4c chopped sweet pepper
1/2c chopped onion
1/2tsp garlic powder
2 1/2c chicken broth
1c uncooked regular brown rice
1/2tsp dried thyme, crushed
1/4tsp cayenne pepper
1/4tsp ground tumeric
16oz bag frozen peas
<s>12oz shrimp, thawed, peeled, deveined, and halved
12oz tilapia fillets, cut into 3/4in pieces</s>
1lb cooked chicken, cut up

Coat a 4qt slow cooker with cooking spray; add peppers, onion and garlic. In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine broth, rice, thyme, cayenne pepper, and turmeric. Microwave on high for 4 minutes, or until just boiling. Pour over vegetables in cooker. Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 4 hours. About an hour before you'd like to eat, stir in <s>shrimp, tilapia,</s> chicken, and peas. Cover; cook 45 minutes more, stirring once. Remove cooker from liner; let stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Serves 6.

I did cook this recipe about 15 minutes longer than I was supposed to on account of being out in Spokane a little too long, but it still tasted great! You might not want to use minute rice that cooks in only 10 minutes because I did and it got so soft it didn't look like rice anymore haha. Also, I didn't need to cook the chicken and peas the whole 45 minutes--20-30 might be enough since it just needed to be heated up.

Paprika Chicken

This recipe came from a relative of mine, and they had called it "Breats of Chicken Alfredo" but I decided to rename it because I didn't understand what the "alfredo" part was...

Here's what you need:

1lb skinless boneless chicken breasts

Marinade:
1T grated parmesan
2T canola oil
1T lemon juice
1/4tsp oregano
1/2tsp salt
1/4tsp pepper

1/2c. flour
1/4tsp pepper
1 1/2tsp paprika
1T grated parmesan
1/2tsp salt
1/4c. butter, melted

Combine all marinade ingredients and beat until combined. Poke holes all over chicken with a fork. Pour marinade over chicken breats in a skillet. Cover and refrigerate 1-2 hours turning over several times.
In a bowl mix together the flour, 1/4tsp pepper, paprika, 1T grated parmesan, 1/2tsp salt. Cover chicken completely on both sides with flour mixture. Saute over medium heat, drizzling melted butter over the chicken, cooking until brown on both sides.

Place breasts in a pan with a bit of water in it to prevent scorching. Bake at 350 degrees, 35 minutes (small breats) to 45 minutes (large breasts).

I served this with loaded mashed potatoes! So much food...lol

I wasn't really expecting this recipe to turn out...It looked really messy when it was finished haha. However, it tasted amazing! The marinade made it nice and juicy, and all the seasonings gave it great flavor! I'm definitely going to make this again in the future. However, adding the potatoes was a little too much food. Steamed mixed vegetables might be a better choice.

Apple Pie Snacks

*Today I learned that wax paper and parchment paper are NOT the same thing--haha! Wax paper smokes when you put it in the oven so don't use it when baking. It's better to just use cooking spray if you don't have any.

These Apple Pie Snacks are soooo good! I found this recipe out of a magazine I was reading a while back. I love how easy the refrigerated unbaked pie crusts are. They may not taste as good as home made, but they're simple and don't crumble nearly as easy-which is a good thing.

Here's all you need:
2 large apples, peeled, cored, and finely chopped
1/4c sugar
1tsp apple pie spice (I used cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg)
1tsp lemon juice
dash salt
1T cornstarch
2T water
15oz pkg rolled refrigerated unbaked pie crust (2 crusts)
1 egg, separated
2tsp water
2T sugar
1/2tsp apple pie spice (again, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or cooking spray; set aside. In medium skillet cook apples, 1/4c sugar, 1tsp apple pie spice, the lemon juice, and salt over medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until apples are nearly tender, stirring occasionally. In a small bowl combine cornstarch and 2T. water until smooth. Add to apple mixture; cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened and well combined. Mixture will thicken quickly.

 Unroll piecrusts. On a lightly floured surface, roll each crust to a 12in circle. Using a 3in cutter, make cutouts in each circle of dough. Arrange half the cutouts on the prepared baking sheet. Spoon a scant tablespoon of filling in the center of each cutout. You will have leftover filling.

In a small bowl whisk the egg white and 1tsp water until frothy. Use a pastry brush or your fingers to brush mixture around the edge of each dough shape. Place a second cutout of dough on top of the filling. Use a fork to seal edges. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and remaining 1tsp water. Brush atop little pies. In a small bowl, combine 2T sugar and remaining 1/2tsp apple pie spice. Sprinkle over pies. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden. Cool on the baking sheet.



These tasted great! The original recipe said to use lollipop sticks but I like them just fine without them.

Low Maintenance Lasagna

I tried this recipe because it was so easy to prepare. Since it's baked in a slow cooker, there wasn't much to do. Here's all you need:

Nonstick cooking spray
26oz jar pasta sauce
3/4c water
15oz carton part-skim ricotta cheese cottage cheese*
1/2c shredded carrot
6 regular lasagna noodles
1 1/2c shredded mozzarella cheese
*1/2-1lb cooked ground beef/turkey *Note: If you add meat make sure it's cooked aaaall the way before putting it in the slow cooker.

Coat a 4qt slow cooker with cooking spray. In a large microwave-safe bowl, stir together the pasta sauce and water. Cover with wax paper and microwave on high ~3minutes. In the meantime, in a medium bowl stir together cottage cheese and carrots; set aside. Spoon 1/2c of the sauce mixture in the bottom of the slow cooker. Break half of the noodles and arrange over the sauce. Spoon half of the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles. Continue layering in the following order: 1/2c mozzarella, the beef, half the remaining sauce, remaining noodles, the remaining cottage cheese mixture, 1/2c mozzarella, the rest of the sauce, and the rest of the mozzarella. Cover and cook on low heat ~3 hours, until the noodles are tender. Remove slow cooker from liner; let stand covered ~20minutes so lasagna is easier to slice.

*This lasagna was pretty darn tasty, but as you can see it needed a few adjustments. This recipe called for no meat and lasagna just isn't the same without it. The ricotta just didn't do it for me either, so next time I'm using cottage cheese instead!

Cornbread-Topped Meat Pie

This is a recipe I found out of a cookbook that was originally meant for sausage, but since my husband and I greatly dislike pork, I used ground beef instead.

Meat Pie

1lb ground beef/turkey

1 med. onion, chopped

1 sm. bell pepper, chopped

1/2 tsp garlic powder

15oz can tomato sauce

9oz frozen whole kernel corn, thawed

Corn bread topping

2/3c cornmeal

1/3c flour

1/2c milk

1T sugar

2T oil

2tsp baking powder

1/4tsp salt

1 egg

1/4c shredded monterey jack cheese w/jalapeno peppers

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In skillet, cook meat, onion, bell pepper and garlic over medium heat 8-10 minutes until it's no longer pink; drain. Sitr in tomato sauce and corn. Heat to boiling; remove from heat. In medium bowl, stir all topping ingredients except cheese. Beat vigorously with spoon 30 seconds. Stir in cheese. Spoon meat mixture into ungreased 2qt casserole. Pour topping on top, spreading evenly. Bake uncovered 20-25 minutes or until topping is golden brown.

I think it turned out pretty well!

I also learned how to properly chop onions!

       



To think I've been doing it wrong this whole time...

First Installment

Snowmen Cake Pops

Haha! Can you tell I'm an amateur? I heard about this recipe for Snowmen Cake Pops on the Today Show last week. Yes, they are technically supposed to be on lollipop sticks, but I couldn't find any at Walmart so I decided not to use them.
This is what the recipe is supposed to be:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/40535500/ns/today-foodwine/

So here's how it all went down:

1 box cake mix
1 can vanilla frosting
1 pkg. vanilla candy coating
chocolate chips
sprinkles

I baked the angel food cake and crumbled it up after it cooled down. Then I dropped a couple big scoops of the frosting in there and mixed it all up with my hands. Rolling big and large balls of the mixture I tried to make the shape of small snowmen and placed them on a cookie sheet. After chilling them in the fridge for awhile, I melted the candy coating in the microwave. After stirring the melted candy making sure there were no lumps, I at first rolled the cake snowmen in the candy coating. However, this ended with broken up cake. That's when I started drizzling the coating over the snowmen still on the cookie sheet. That's why it's so messy! Before the coating dried I decorated them a little.
      Unfortunately my snowmen didn't turn out anything like Angie Dudley's but seeing as this was the first time I've ever made cake pops, I'm not too worried. They tasted amazing though! No matter how messy they look. A lot like something by Little Debbie...or Hostess Ding-Dongs minus the filling, haha!

The Start of a New Beginning

I never used to cook. When I first got married "cooking" consisted of boxes and bags of preproccessed foods from the grocery story. Nothing special, although I did love to bake cookies. This year after having my daughter, I decided enough was enough. I needed to learn the culinary arts! Not only do home cooked meals taste better, but they're better for you!
Then after I started getting parenting and cooking magazines in the mail, I saw so many recipes and crafty activities I wanted to try out. I tried a couple things, but they always seemed to come out different than what the magazine showed in their professional photos. I thought, what am I doing differently? Do other moms try this stuff? Do their finished products look like the ones in the magazines or like mine? I wondered if other moms thought the same way, and then I figured I should share these experiences with other moms and women new to cooking and crafting! That's when my husband suggested making a blog...
Crafty Cook Experiment was born. =)