Chicken Tortilla Soup

This probably isn't a healthy soup but my excuse is that it will help us with some additional padding in the cold winter season. I even lowered the excessive amount of butter from the original recipe (you're welcome)!

1-2 chicken breasts, cubed and cooked with a dash of chili powder (either microwave or cook in a separate pan)
1 Onion
1 green pepper (optional)
1 pint Half & Half (I hope to experiment with milk someday, I'll let you know how that turns out)
1 c. flour
1/2 c. butter
4 c. chicken broth (bullion granules + water works fine)
1 c. cheese (plus some for garnish)
1 (10 oz.) can diced tomatoes (with or w/out chilis)
1 can corn, drained (or use frozen)
1-2 cans beans of your choice, drained and rinsed (we like black beans and kidney beans)
Taco Seasonings (packet or homemade - chili powder, cumin, paprika, mustard, Mrs. Dash)
Sriracha chili paste (for my slightly masochistic husband)

Saute onion and green pepper in butter. Add Half & Half. Slowly add in and WHISK flour. Add chicken broth, cheese, cooked chicken, tomatoes, and seasonings. Rinse beans in a collander and add. Add drained corn. Season with taco seasonings and Sriracha (optional) to make it as hot as you dare.

Serve with tortilla chips, a little more cheese, and a small dollop of sour cream to cool it down.

One-Skillet Wonder: Beef and Spinach Pasta

Goober tried spinach a few weeks ago. She didn't like it. Goober tried spinach again tonight. She liked it. A lot. What did I do? I found a recipe I found on Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen website (you must check that site out!) that is a pasta dish with spinach in it. Goober is a pasta-holic. I fooled her into eating spinach! Hah! It's an age-old mom trick to mix veggies into casserole dishes and it works most of the time into fooling children into eating their veggies.

I simplified the recipe (original recipe link) by skipping the oven part (saves power, an extra dirty dish, and time especially if you have a very hungry toddler) so that's why I call it a one-skillet wonder. My husband also didn't like the competition of the Cream of Mushroom soup with the tomato flavor so I think I'll either half the amount or leave it out next time (probably healthier to leave it out anyway). Your choice.

Beef and Spinach Pasta:

1 Pkg favorite noodles, cooked (rotini, spirals, bowtie, shells, etc.)
1 diced onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
Ground beef
1 bottle of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup (again, your choice to 1/2 it or leave it out)
1 (10 oz pkg) chopped frozen spinach, thawed and drained
Healthy helping of Parmesan cheese
& Mozzarella cheese

Boil noodles according to package. Meanwhile, brown onion, garlic, and ground beef in large skillet. Drain excess grease (I use a spoon and tip the pan a little to ladle out some of it into a can I put in the freezer rather than dumping it down the sink.) Stir in spaghetti sauce, soup, and spinach. Stir in Parmesan cheese. Add cooked noodles. Stir well and then top with Mozzarella cheese.

Ring the dinner bell. Serve with a side of salad, perhaps some breadsticks or crusty french bread. Voila! It's like you just made a dish from the Olive Garden (but cheaper)!

Valentine's Dinner for Hunnybun - Chicken Chalupas

This is a casserole my mother made often for my family and also happens to be one of hunnybun's favorites so I made it this evening for him for Valentine's Day/Weekend. I'm also in the midst of making homemade oreo cookies. But first:

1-2 chicken breast, cubed and cooked
1 chopped onion, sauteed
2 cans Cream of Chicken soup
1/2 to 1 pint sour cream
2 cups cheese
1 can olives
1 can green chiles (optional)
Seasonings - Curry powder, Mrs. Dash, Lemon Pepper, Chile Powder
6-7 flour tortilla shells

Saute onions. Cook chicken cubes. Combine all ingredients in a bowl to make a lovely mix of flavors. Spread a dollop or two of the mixture onto the bottom of your 9x13 pan so the tortillas don't stick (or you can use Pam, w/e you prefer). Spread two spoonfuls into each tortilla shell, roll up, and place into the prepared pan. Be sure to save enough of the mixture to spread on top to keep shells from drying out and burning. Sprinkle some extra cheese on top, too. Mmmm, cheesey goodness! Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to one hour until nice and bubbly. Devour! You can add some salsa and/or more sour cream on top/side if you'd like.

Chicken Divine Alternative Rock #1

Please forgive me for neglecting my duties. I'm just not a very good blogger. I can still have an E for effort, right? I introduce to you another tasty family casserole. I've had to adapt Hunnybun's family favorite Chicken Divine as we have recently discovered that Goober is allergic to eggs (nasty hives) and therefore must avoid them for two years, per pediatrician's advice, before she can try them again. Let's hope she can grow out of the allergy otherwise she'll miss out on a lot of tasty things in life such as cookies, cake, brownies, scrambled eggs, etc. That also means avoiding some salad dressings like Mayonnaise. Oh dear, mayonnaise is in daddy's Chicken Divine! Well, have no fear, we'll just oust from the recipe! I also experimented with a few other changes. We were also out of broccoli, the usually main and really only veggie in the dish. Have no fear, we'll just use some other veggies like oh, a can of corn and a can of green beans! (I got the idea to use green beans from my good friend and upstairs neighbor!)

2 cups cooked rice
1-2 chicken boobies, cut up and cooked (sorry, old habit from my Aunt Jane)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 large dollops of sour cream (hehe, I love the word 'dollop'!)
A splash or two of milk
Handful or two of cheese
1 can corn
1 can green beans
Curry powder (daddy would be heartbroken if forgotten)
Mrs. dash (addicting stuff)
Lemon pepper (also addictive)
Any other seasonings you see fit to use
More cheese

Layer the cooked rice into a 9x13 pan. Mix together soup, sour cream, milk, cheese, veggies, seasonings, and chicken in a bowl and spread over rice. Sprinkle a little more cheese on top (mustn't forget or else I'll be heartbroken). Warm in oven at 350 degrees until bubbly and cheese is gooey. Now devour the divine stuff!

P.S. I'm thinking about testing out a cake that substitutes bananas for eggs. I'll let you know how that goes. Course, I also promised you a chocolate chip cookie recipe. I must be punished. Guess that means I need to make them again soon.

Mom's Cheesy Potatoes

Alright, I'm back! Especially since I know I have at least one reader! (Comment to let me know if I have more.) Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! December is just such a crazy month with anniversaries, birthdays galore, and multiple family Christmas celebrations. And I survived it all this past year, whew! So please forgive me for slacking. I'm not giving up. I'm sure I've got plenty of recipes and sewing stuff to go to the moon and back, maybe even to Pluto!

So to appease you and buy back your attention and love, I shall share with you my favorite food - Cheesy Potatoes! I could eat these almost everyday (but definitely shouldn't). Take head to always make a 9x13 pan or more; never less or you'll regret it forever. They can be a side dish or main dish.

Mom's Cheesy Potatoes

1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pint sour cream
2-3 cups shredded cheese
green onions, sliced finely (optional, for color)
1 bag frozen hashbrowns (shredded or cubed)
Leftover ham, cubed (optional)

Mix it all together in a large bowl and spread into a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour until it's all bubbly and you can't control your drooling any longer.

Leave me a comment if you have any requests for certain recipes and I'll see what I can do!

Baked Potato Soup

Today was a rainy/snowy day. Poor Goobs has had a "poopy" day and dear hubby, the Biological Engineer, may be coming down for a cold. So it seemed like a good day for me, the Domestic Engineer, to try making a soup that isn't from a can.



This recipe I found on one of my favorite cooking blogs, Eat At Home, but left out the bacon because I didn't feel like getting frostbitten fingers searching for it in the freezer. I also added broccoli because my husband loves it on his baked potatoes. So put whatever you usually like on baked potatoes!

4-6 baked potatoes
1 onion, chopped
2/3 cup butter
6 cups milk
2/3 cup flour
1-2 cups cheese
Steamed Broccoli
Seasonings

Bake potatoes and scoop out the pulp. I got tired halfway through and just ended up cutting the rest into chunks instead.
Melt butter and saute onion, add milk, WHISK in flour. DO NOT BOIL!
Add potatoes, cheese, broccoli.
Season to taste with what you generally like to put on baked potatoes. We like Mrs. Dash, garlic salt, and pepper.



Mmmmm, this soup is tasty! I don't know how healthy it may be but I don't always care about that. Bad me!