Chicken Enchilada Soup

We've really been a roll this year so far in trying new recipes.  I made this one on Sunday for dinner and the kids said it was a keeper.  It comes from Alison at Some the Wiser.  Sorry no picture, it was gone before I could snap a photo.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

4 corn tortillas -  cut into thin strips   (I actually used more than that-my kids love them)
2 teaspoons oil (I used Olive Oil)- divided
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced into bite sized pieces
1- 8oz pkg. cream cheese
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can corn w/red and green bell peppers, drained (I couldn't find any so I used regular whole kernal corn)
1 can diced tomatoes, drained (I used Rotel with green chilies)
3/4 cup enchilada sauce
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (I used dried)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place tortilla strips on a baking sheet.  Evenly distribute 1 teaspoon of oil over strips using a spatula to gently toss.  (I brushed the oil on before cutting them.)  Spread strips into a single layer and bake approximately 10 minutes or until crisp to your liking.

Meanwhile, heat remaining teaspoon of oil in large nonstick saucepan and add chicken.  Cook chicken, stirring occasionally, over medium heat for 7 to 10 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked and slightly browned.

In a small bowl, blend the cream cheese and enchilada sauce with a handmixer until smooth.  Once chicken is done cooking, add cheese and sauce mixture to the sauce pan with the chicken. (I transferred it to a small stock pot.)  Stir in milk, beans, corn and tomatoes.  Frequently stirring, simmer over medium-low heat approximately 7-10 minutes or until heated through.

Spoon into bowls and top with tortilla strips and cilantro then serve. 

Makes 6 servings.

My favorite Christmas drink

One of the many Christmas memories I have from my childhood is the hot drink that my Mom used to make for us.  There was nothing better than being outside playing in the snow then coming in and finding a hot mug of Mom's special drink for me.  To this day I still look forward to making it and wrapping up in a warm blanket with my mug of hot punch.  I thought I would share in case anyone wanted to try it:

Hot Punch

1 lg. can Pineapple Juice (46oz)
1- 12oz can frozen Orange Juice concentrate
1 cup lemon juice
4 to 5 cups water
1/4 tsp. cloves
several cinnamon sticks

Mix together & simmer for 45 minutes.  Or you can simmer in crock pot on low.  Great for parties.

Apple Cider Syrup

One of the things I like about fall is the apples - canning apples, apple pie, and this apple cider syrup. This is from a friend of mine, Katie, who is a great cook. I included it here so you won't have to go find it.

So, stop by her website here and check out all her wonderful recipes. Then, go make some of this today, you won't be disappointed.

Apple Cider Syrup

3/4 cup sugar
1/4/ cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 cups apple juice or cider
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup butter

Mix sugars, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg well. Add apple juice (cider) and lemon juice. Bring to a rapid boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. After use, store refridgerated in a lidded container (canning jar works great). Use within 1 week.

**Try topping with chopped apples and/or pecans.

A really yummy cake

I don't make this cake very often. In fact, I think it has probably been 10 years since I made it last. I don't know why. I made two this weekend- one to take to a church function and one for the family. It was such a big hit with everyone that I decided to share the recipe:

Pineapple Coconut Cake

1 box yellow cake mix (with pudding)

Mix and bake as directed on box. About 5 minutes before done, boil (1) 20 oz can crushed pineapple & 1 cup sugar for 5 min. Remove cake from oven and poke full of holes. Pour hot pineapple mixture over hot cake. Best to do several hours before planning to serve.

When cooled, mix one large box of instant vanilla pudding as directed. Spread over cake. Sprinkle with coconut. Let set up. Then spread one small carton of Cool Whip over top of pudding . Top with toasted coconut and/or chopped nuts.

Enjoy !

A summer refreshment

I just thought I would share with you our favorite summer drink:

Frozen Strawberry Lemonade

2 cups crushed ice
12 oz. frozen lemonade concentrate
1 cup water
1 - 16 oz pkg frozen strawberries

Place crushed ice, water & lemonade concentrate in blender. Process until ice is finely blended. Add strawberries and puree until well blended. Tase and adjust flavors if desired.

** Fresh strawberries also work well.
** We like to put ours in the freezer for an hour or so

We hope you enjoy it. Have a great rest of summer.

Our favorite bread recipe

Just wanted to share our favorite yeast bread recipe with you. I got this from Carl's uncle (who is a great cook). This works up real quick and really does only take 90 minutes from start to finish. If you want a good multi-grain bread- go check out Pam's place.

Ninety Minute Bread (sorry no picture)

(By Jessie Evans Smith – This recipe was Joseph Fielding Smith’s
favorite bread)

4 cups warm water
7 – 8 Cups flour – (I use as much more flour as needed)
4 yeast cakes (4 Tbsp Dry yeast)
4 tsp. Salt
8 Tbsp sugar
4 Tbsp melted shortening - I like to use butter flavored Crisco

Dissolve yeast in one cup of the warm water with 1 of the Tablespoons of sugar. Mix rest of ingredients. Mix into a soft but not sticky dough. Cut into four pieces and let stand 15 min. Using rolling pin, pound each piece of dough for 1 minute. Form into 4 loaves and put each loaf into a greased bread pan. Let stand 30 minutes. Bake at 400◦ F for 30 minutes.

PS - my pans are the bigger ones so I usually end up with only three loaves. I've also tried it with 1/2 wheat and 1/2 white flour and it turns out pretty good.

ENJOY!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Who doesn't like a little luck? Especially on St. Patrick's Day. We got a head start and tried this Lucky Lime Pie on Sunday. The kids said it was a keeper so I guess we will file this one away for another day. I ended up putting it in the freezer for a little bit and we liked it better frozen. This would be a nice refresher on a hot summer day.

PS - Of course the picture from KSL (where I found the recipe) looks alot better than mine :-)

It's Muffin Time....

When Pam asked for us to share our muffin recipes, I really had to search high and low. I'm not one to really make muffins much. But I decided maybe it was a good time to try a few new recipes. So off to the cookbook cupboard I went in search of a good one. I tried a couple before we decided that we really liked these. So here is the recipe and a picture:

White Chocolate Macadamia Muffins:

1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup vanilla or white chips
3/4 cup macadamia nuts

Glaze:
1/2 cup vanilla or white chips
2 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream

In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk the egg, milk and butter; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the chips and nuts.

Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 400 for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

For glaze, in a small microwave-safe bowl, melt chips with cream; stir until smooth. Drizzle over warm muffins.

Yield: 1 dozen

Breakfast time

Pam is asking for breakfast recipes this week. We really don't venture too far from the normal breakfast foods (bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, cereal, etc) so I really don't have a great and wonderful recipe to share. However, here is a syrup recipe that we like to enjoy on our pancakes, waffles or french toast - My sister gave this to me a couple years ago and it's been a big hit in both families.



Buttermilk Syrup



1 cube butter

1 cup buttermilk

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. soda

3 Tbsp. Karo syrup

2 tsp vanilla



In a big pot, combine butter, buttermilk, sugar, soda and Karo syrup. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Serve over pancakes, waffles, french toast, etc. Also good over ice cream.

(Mix sugar and soda before hand for better results)

Enjoy - almost has a caramel taste to it.

Appetizer Time

It's appetizer time over at Pam's Place. I thought I would share one that we really like:

Spinach Dip

Ingredients:

1 tub (8 oz.) Philadelphia Cream Cheese Spread
1 cup sour Cream
1 env. Ranch Salad Dressing mix
1 pkg. (10 oz.) Frozen Chopped Spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed
1 can ( 8 oz.) water chestnuts, drained and chopped
½ cup chopped red bell pepper

Mix cream cheese, sour cream and dressing mix in a medium bowl
Stir in the spinach, water chestnuts and red bell pepper
Refrigerate for several hours or overnight
Serve with veggie sticks, chips or French Bread broken into pieces.

Shortcut-If the spinach is still frozen you may thaw it for about half of the cooking time given on the package for microwave preparation and proceed as directed above.

Secret Recipe

Over at my cousin Pam's place, she is asking us to share our "secret" recipes. This weeks topic is Soups and Stews. I don't really consider this a secret since it was given to me by a generous neighbor - but it is one of our favorites and tastes great on a cold winter night.

Vegetable Chowder

3 cups potatoes, cubed
1 lg onion, diced
1 stalk broccoli, chopped
1 to 2 carrots, grated
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 cups water
1 Tbsp. Chicken Bouillon-granules
1 cup grated cheese
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

White Sauce:

3/4 cup margarine
3/4 cup flour
1 qt. milk (4 cups)

Put vegetables, water and bouillon in large soup kettle. Simmer until potatoes are just tender. Make white sauce by melting margaine in pan and with a wire whisk, stir in flour. Cook until mixture bubbles, about 2 minutes. Add milk slowly while stirring constantly Continue cooking, stirring every few minutes until mixture thickens. Add to vegetables. Simmer soup for 10 minutes longer, Add cheese, salt and pepper. Stir until cheese is melted. Can also add cubed, cooked chicken if desired. This is excellent served in bread bowls.

Enjoy.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Anyone who is a scrapbooker may know who Becky Higgins is. She is one of the my favorite scrapbookers of all time. One day while checking out her website I noticed that she had a recipe section. Of course I had to look. I decided to try her Chicken Noodle Soup recipe and it was a big hit with my family. Here is the recipe - one batch fed my family of five with very little left over.

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

2 chicken bouillon cubes (or 2 tsp. granules)
2 cans chicken broth
1 c. chopped carrots
2 c. chopped celery
1/4 c. chopped onion
1/2 (half) can cream of chicken soup
1/4 c. milk
1/2 cube (4 Tbsp.) butter
1/4 c. flour
2 c. chopped cooked chicken (2 pieces)
4-6 oz. egg noodles

Boil chicken until fully cooked. Cook egg noodles. Dissolve 2 bouillon cubes in 1 cup boiling water. Add chicken broth and vegetables to the liquid until tender. In separate bowl, whisk a half a can of cream of chicken soup and milk until smooth. Whisk soup and milk mixture into broth and vegetables. Melt butter then stir into flour. Add to soup mixture. Add chicken and noodles. Optional: Season to taste with salt & pepper or Schillings garlic & herb seasoning.

Fast and Easy

Skillet Tostadas


8 oz ground beef
1/3 cup bottled salsa
½ cup chopped onions
1 15oz can light kidney beans
1 11oz can nacho cheese soup
shredded cheese
chopped tomatoes
shredded lettuce
tostada shells

In a 10-inch skillet, cook ground beef and onion until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain fat; discard. Stir beans, soup and salsa in beef mixture. Heat through.
Divided beef-bean mixture among tostada shells. Top with cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. If desired, serve with sour cream or guacamole.

This has become a favorite at our house. We tend to have this often on Tuesdays since it is such a busy night for us - two kids going in two different directions

New Recipes

We've decided to try something new. We like to try new recipes, whether they come from a cookbook, found on the internet or even from someone at church. So we've made a goal to try something new every week (or at least try). So about once a week you will get to see what we are making in our kitchen. Of course, we will always give credit where credit is due.

This weeks recipe:

Almond Poppy Seed Cake (always start with dessert, right?)

1 pkg yellow cake mix
1 (3 3/4 oz) pkg instant French vanilla pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 cup butter - melted
1/4 cup poppy seeds

Combine above ingredients and beat on medium for 5 minutes with electric mixer. Pour into well buttered and sugared bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Cool 15 minutes then turn out onto plate and sift with powdered sugar.

If you desire a glaze instead:

Mix enough powdered sugar with milk and 2-3 drop of almond extract to make a glaze and drizzle over cake. (no definite measurements on this - trial and error - don't need a lot though)


I found this recipe on the KSL website by Kellie Harding - yes, even though I haven't lived in Utah for 7 years, I still keep up on the local news there. Sorry there is no picture, we ate it before I got a chance to snap a picture.

Good Luck and enjoy. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.