Taco Soup

• 1 lb. ground beef and seasonings pepper, salt, onion powder, garlic powder
• 1/3 package Taco seasoning {this shows how extra lazy I am, you can make your own taco seasoning}
• 1 1/2 cups of frozen corn
• 1 can of basil, garlic & Oregano diced tomatoes
• 1 can of any kind of diced tomatoes
• 1 small can tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup of water or more depending on consistency
• 1 can of red or kidney beans drained and rinsed
• 1 can of black beans drained and rinsed

TO GARNSIH

• shredded cheddar cheese
• Fritos/chips
• sour cream
• green onions

1. Brown and season ground beef with pepper, salt, onion powder, and garlic powder the ground beef and drain. Add everything else except the frozen corn.

3. Let cook for 1.5 hours then add corn cook for 30 more minutes, that is eat so easy and very yummy!! At first it looks really thick but it will cook down

5. Garnish with all the toppings!

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

This picture is a couple years ago in our old house, but we do this madness every year! My mom made this when we were younger. My husbands mom makes the same soup but uses turkey. This soup is great for freezing and an easy meal for later, just leave the noodles out and cook it together with the soup when you are ready to eat it! I love after thanksgiving to use the leftovers and make this soup. We make it everytime we have chicken or turkey and it is yummy and feels so good on the soul! The turkey is not as soft as the chicken but I think the turkey is better because the meat stays together better! I guess it just depends what time of year you make this!

Ingredients

· 1 precooked Roasted Whole Chicken or Turkey with carcass and meat on it

· 5 stalks of celery washed with leaves (will need more for finished soup)

· Whole onion cut in half with peel left on

· 6 carrots peeled and chunked into 3rds (will need more for finished soup)

· 1 T whole peppercorns

· Water to cover

· 1 can of Cream of Celery Soup (to be added later to finished broth)

· Egg Noodles ( I get mine at Costco or Walmart they are called Country Pasta Homemade style egg Pasta)

· Chicken Bullion Cubes to taste

· ¼ cup of sugar

Directions

Use stockpot and put the chicken and first seven of the above ingredients in and cover with COLD water. (If using left over turkey put the turkey carcass in with a good amount of meat on it!)

Put lid on and bring to a hard boil and then just turn down and let boil slowly for 2-3 hours.

After boiling for several hours drain the soup with all the ingredients into a strainer with a pot or big bowl underneath to reserve and to strain your broth. Then you will have a pot of yummy homemade chicken broth.

Throw away all the boiled vegetables and save the chicken on a platter to cool so you can remove the meat.

In the meantime put the broth back on the stove on high. I add a little sugar about ¼ of a cup for flavor and then you need to salt and pepper to taste. I also add a couple of chicken bullion cubes or powder to make it a little stronger. Put the can of Cream of Celery in the broth and mix in. It will take quite a bit of salt; just keep tasting it, throughout the process of making the soup keep tasting the broth and adding salt and pepper as needed in small increments (**do NOT put all the salt you need in the beginning of the process or by the end when some fluid has evaporated our broth will be too salty..just add a bit at a time!

Now add FRESH vegetables..For Chicken noodle soup I just use carrots and celery and I slice them really thin. Be sure to add some celery leaves and chop them up really small and add them to the soup as well.

When the chicken is cool enough to handle take chunks of chicken and add it to the broth with the vegetables.

Bring soup to boil with the vegetables and meat and then you can add egg noodles. Just add the noodles to the boiling broth and let boil slowly for another hour. You can leave this cooking on low for several hours.

You will have a big pot of wonderful homemade chicken noodle soup, tastes even better the next day!

Tortilla Lasagna

This is a favorite of mine. We eat this regularly in our home. It is easy and very yummy, and feeds an army!

1 Lb. ground beef
½ onion chopped
1 jar spaghetti sauce 24-26 oz.
16 oz. Cottage cheese
1 egg
½ pound grated Mozzarella cheese
½ pound grated cheddar cheese
½ cup parmesan cheese
1 package flour tortilla shells

Brown hamburger and onion in a pan and drain well.
Combine with the spaghetti sauce. In large bowl combine beaten egg, and all the cheeses. Save a little of the Mozzarella and cheddar for the topping.
Put a layer of the tortilla shells in a 9x13 pan. Tear them to fill in all the spaces. Then add a layer of sauce and a layer of cheese. Repeat several times ending with the sauce and a topping of the grated cheese. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve hot. On your individual plates top with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, green onions and chopped olives as desired.

7-UP Chicken Marinade

This is one of my favorite Chicken Merinade’s. It makes the chicken so yummy and is perfect for grilling!

Ingredients

1 can 7up or 1 1/2 cups

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup canola oil

1 Tb horseradish sauce

1 tsp minced garlic

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Blend all ingredients and add chicken. ( I usually do this in a big zip loc bag) Let marinate over night or at least 6 hours, in your fridge. (You can also marinate chicken then slice it into strips and fry with onions and sweet peppers for fajitas.)

Navajo Tacos in 10 minutes

When we were first married we lived in Davis County, Utah. They had a dick’s grocery store that sold scone dough! It was a staple at our house to have Navajo Tacos, in fact my friends still call and ask if we are having navajo tacos for dinner! We love them, but now that we don’t live by dick’s we make our own dough and you can’t tell the difference, EASY and YUMMY and it is something you always have in the cupboard!

Navajo tacos are often called fry bread, or fried scones that you can pile on the toppings. Even without the toppings, just fry them up and eat them with a little butter or jam.

I, however, prefer mine piled high and drizzled with sour cream and salsa!

The dough is simple enough, I bet you have all these ingredients in your house!

• 2 cups flour (or a little more)
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk
• oil/shortening for frying
• Taco toppings (lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, onions, green onions, sour cream, avacodo, or whatever you have in the fridge)
• 1 can of chili

Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the milk and mix until the dough comes together. add flour if needed, should form a perfect ball with not being to sticky. Knead for about 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth, then let it rest for 5 minutes. I roll them out with a rolling pin or you can stretch it with your fingers until it's the size you want. You'll want it a little bit thinner in the middle so it doesn't puff too much. ( I roll mine really thin, thin with my finger put holes in the middle it frys better) Heat about 1/2 inch to 1 inch oil in a large skillet. Fry it in vegetable oil and turn on both sides. Fry until brown on each side. Let drain on paper towels. Top with taco toppings. Makes about 5-6.

For a dessert, use smaller pieces of dough and roll in cinnamon/sugar mixture right when they come off the stove, a yummy dessert!

Shrimp Stir fry with Coconut Sauce

I have been on a serious Asian food kick lately and this is one of the new recipes I tried. The coconut sauce was delicious and creamy and the tender shrimp went great with the crunchy snow peas and peppers. The best part of this meal is it only takes about 30 minutes and the frozen shrimp you just run under water until thawed so it is a great meal right after work!

Ingredients

1 recipe Coconut-Curry sauce (below)

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 bell pepper, cored, seeded, and sliced (any type will do)

8 ounces snow peas, strings removed

1 can water chesnuts

1 cup bean sprouts (optional)

½ onion, sliced

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon of butter

½ carton of mushrooms

Coconut Sauce

1 can coconut milk

1 cup of soy sauce

1 tablespoon of garlic or 3 small garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 tablespoon crushed chili peppers

Salt to taste

Heat butter in nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté then add bell peppers and sauté a little more. Add shrimp, and everything else including coconut sauce.

Cook and cover for 5 minutes until mushrooms and snow peas soften, bring to a light boil until softened. If sauce is still to runny add cornstarch until thickened.

Dish up with rice, and enjoy

Crock Pot Beef Stew

I love to use my crock pot especially on a cold day..This is one of my favorite Fall and Winter dishes!

Ingredients

• 3 pounds cubed ( I like mine sliced thin) beef stew meat
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup baby carrots diced
• 4 large potatoes, cubed
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cups boiling water
• 2 cups of beef stock
• 1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 onions, sliced (half of them used for large skillet with meat, the other half for crock pot)
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp garlic salt of powder
• 3 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce
• 1 bag of peas
• 2 tablespoons of flour

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add stew meat, onions and some garlic salt, black pepper, and salt, and cook until evenly browned on the outside. Transfer to a slow cooker along with the carrots, potatoes, parsley, and pepper. In a small bowl, stir together 2 cups of boiling water and dry soup mix; pour into the slow cooker.
2. In the same skillet, melt butter and saute onions until softened; remove to the slow cooker. Pour red wine into the skillet, and stir to loosen browned bits of food on the bottom. Remove from heat, and pour into the slow cooker.
3. Cover, and cook on High for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to Low, and cook for 6 hours, or until meat is fork tender. In a small bowl or cup, mix together 2 tablespoons flour with 1/4 cup warm water, and put peas into the stew. Stir into stew, and cook for 30 minutes, or until thickened.

Mexican Chicken

This is a regular in our house. I love to use the crock pot it is so easy! (We halved this recipe, There are only two of us!)

(Makes 10-12 servings)
2 (15 oz) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
4 cups frozen corn
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. onion powder
2 cups Pace salsa, divided (we used the black bean and corn salsa)
Tabasco sauce (or any other hot sauce), to taste.. (**optional.. this isn't part of the original recipe but we added it for an added kick)
10 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 (8 oz) pkgs. cream cheese, cubed
cooked rice (I made a Spanish rice of sorts by adding a little tomato sauce, cumin, onion, and garlic powder to the rice while cooking, but I love regular rice with it to and you can just stick it in the rice cooker)
shredded cheddar cheese

Combine beans, corn, garlic, cumin and 1/2 of the salsa in slow cooker. Arrange chicken breasts over top. Pour remaining salsa (and optional hot sauce) over top of chicken. Cover. Cook on high 2-3 hours or on low 4-6 hours. Remove chicken and cut into bite size pieces. Return to crockpot. Stir in cream cheese. Cook on high until it melts. Spoon chicken and sauce over cooked rice. Top with cheese. Yummy!

Cafe Rio

I LOVE Cafe Rio. We have tried and tried to duplicate the Cafe Rio pork salad.. and tonight.. we nailed it! It was DELICIOUS!! We have tried different sweet pork recipes but something seemed to be missing from each one.. so we combined a few and made our own! I promise, we are VERY VERY picky about our Cafe Rio pork and this tasted EXACTLY like it. We also played around with the rice, the beans, and the ranch. At dinner tonight, we felt like we were having Cafe Rio take-out.

It really is easier than it looks. It only took me about an hour to make (after the pork was in the crock pot). The rice and beans are SUPER easy, you definitely want the beans and rice to get the whole experience! Also, be generous with the cilantro! Try it and let me know what you think! I KNOW you won't be disappointed!!

What you’ll need:

Tortillas (about 6.. we like to use the uncooked tortillas from Costco so we can fry 'em up ourselves, but regular tortillas work great too!)
Cheese
Cafe Rio Rice

Cafe Rio Black Beans
Cafe Rio Sweet Pork
Lettuce (NOT iceberg, use leafy green or Romaine)
Diced tomato, onion, and cilantro (pico de gallo)
Guacamole
Sour cream
Tortilla Strips (can be found by the produce section at Smith's or Fry’s if you live in Arizona)
Parmesan cheese
Cafe Rio Cilantro Ranch

Here is how we put it all together: First of all, we bought the aluminum deep-dish pans (they had these at the grocery store, you will know when you see them.. they look JUST like the Cafe Rio tins). Lay a tortilla in the bottom of the pan, sprinkle cheese on it, and put in the oven at 375 for about 5 min or until the cheese is melted. Remove from oven, add beans, rice, pork, then lettuce and a little scoop of diced tomato and onions (pico de gallo).

Pico de Gallo recipe

2 tomatoes (diced small)

1/2 onion (diced small)

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp of Salsa (i like pace)

Guacamole Recipe

2 ripe avocados

1/4 tsp. of garlic powder

1/4 tsp. of lemon juice

1/4 CUP of salsa (picante pace)

Dash of Salt

Mash the avocados then add all ingredients and stir well!

Add guacamole (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) and sour cream. Add crushed tortilla chips, a shake of Parmesan cheese, and top with a few cilantro leaves. Serve with the cilantro ranch dressing and there you have it!
(scroll down to see the rice, beans, pork, and ranch recipes all together...)

SWEET PORK

2 pounds pork
3 cans Coke (NOT diet)
1/4 c. brown sugar
dash garlic salt
1/4 c. water
1 can sliced green chilies
3/4 can enchilada sauce (I used Old El Paso brand, medium spiciness)
1 c. brown sugar
Put the pork in a heavy duty Ziploc bag to marinade. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 c. of brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight.
Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily, but don't let it get TOO dry). Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.
In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about 1/2 cup, you can add a little more or less to taste..). If it looks too thick, add more Coke little by little.
Put shredded pork and sauce in crock pot and cook on low for 2 hours. That's it!

CILANTRO-LIME RICE
1 c. uncooked rice
1 tsp. butter or margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
1 cup water
1 Tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 tsp. sugar
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine 1 tsp. lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.
BLACK BEANS
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can c. tomato juice ( 5.5 fl oz)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro
In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro.

CILANTRO RANCH
1 packet TRADITIONAL Hidden Valley Ranch mix (not BUTTERMILK)
1 c. mayonnaise
1 c. buttermilk
2 tomatillos, remove husk, diced
1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic
juice of 1/2 lime
1 jalapeno (we like it SPICY so we kept the seeds in it, if you like it mild, just remove the seeds)
Mix all ingredients together in the blender, let refridgerate for 1 hour. That's it!