Jessica's Chili

It's soup season.  I love making a pot of soup.  Some of my favorites are chicken tortilla soup, black bean taco soup and, of course, chili.  This recipe is my own.  Bits and pieces taken from here and there until I was satisfied.  Here it is!

2 lbs ground meat (turkey/bison/beef)

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 (15 oz) can pinto beans

1 (15 oz) can dark red kidney beans

1 (15 oz) can black beans

1 (12) bottle of beer (are you really surprised?)

1 (14.5 oz) can beef broth

1 (6 oz can) tomato paste

1 (4.5) can chopped green chilies (I only use half of the can)

1 can diced tomatoes

2 Tbsp chili powder

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground red pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp hot sauce

Optional garnish: Shredded cheese, chopped onion, sour cream, parsley

Start cooking chopped onions over medium heat, after 4 minutes add garlic, after another minute, add ground meat.  Cook until meat is cooked and onion is tender.  Drain and return to soup pot.  Drain and rinse canned beans.  Seriously.  Have you ever touched canned beans? They're slimy and gross and should never be added to anything before being rinsed off. Add beans to pot. Add remaining ingredients except option garnishes.  Bring all to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer 2-3 hours or until thickened.

Add desired garnishes.  Serve with cornbread/crackers and enjoy!

My Day Off

I did it. I gave into the Pinterest pressure of spending near an entire day grocery shopping, chopping, slicing, trimming, and bagging in order to have my freezer full of crockpot meals.  Ok, so maybe my version was a slightly smaller scale than the ones on Pinterest.  It really only took me about an hour to "assemble" everything. I used mostly chicken recipes, as we try to avoid red meat. I ended up with 8 meals.   (Side note: Not everything in the top picture went towards the crockpot meals. Muffin mix? Not so much.)

Teriyaki Chicken
1 bag of baby carrots, each chopped into 3 pieces
1/2 red onion in large chunks
1 can pineapple
1 garlic glove, minced
4 chicken breasts
1/2 bottle teriyaki sauce
sesame seeds
2 cups broccoli

Seperate this recipe into TWO seperate freezer bags.  Before you put everything in the bag write your recipe name and instructions on the bag.  Thaw overnight.  Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.  Serve over white rice.

Chicken, Mushroom, and Broccoli Alfredo (9/27 edit: This was good. It was amazing in the crockpot, but only "good" over noodles. It seemed just a tiny bit bland. I would add some seasoning.  Maybe some garlic salt/onion powder.  Or real garlic, salt, and pepper.  Just something to add a bit more flavor!)
4 chicken breasts
2 cups frozen broccoli
1 jar Alfredo sauce
1 green pepper, chopped
1 small can sliced mushrooms, drained

This all goes in ONE bag. Thaw overnight.  Cook in law 4-6 hours.  Serve with linguine.

Zesty Italian Chicken (9/11 edit: This is boyfriend approved. We both loved it. Plan to add celery and mushrooms next time!)
3-4 chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pkg cream cheese, cubed
1 pkg Zesty Italian dressing mix
1 stalk celery, sliced

This goes into ONE bag.  Thaw overnight.  Cook on low 4-5 hours.  Serve over noodles or rice.

Mexican Chicken
4 chicken breasts
1 cup salsa
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c sour cream (added the day you cook it)

This goes into ONE bag, but I doubled it and made 2 bags. That overnight. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Add sour cream at the end and serve over rice.

Black Bean Taco Soup (10/12 edit:  This was amazing. Boyfriend approved. Will definitely make again.)
1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can corn (drained)
1 can black beans (drained)
1 can stewed tomatoes (mostly drained)
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (4 oz) can green chilis

Brown meat and onion, drain.  Let it cool for a minute then split into TWO freezer bags.  Split the rest of the ingredients between the 2 bags.  Thaw 24 hours.  Cook on high 1-2 hours or low 2-3 1/2 hours.  Serve with tortilla chip, cheese, sour cream, and guacamole.

Try to lay the bags flat to freeze and be sure to get the extra air out of the bags before you seal them!
These all seemed pretty basic, so hopefully they will all get David's stamp of approval.  I might do some research before my next batch and try to find some other recipes to add.  Let me know if you have any suggestions!

Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Tilapia

Unfortunately, I have another photo-less recipe.  My goal is to buy a nice Canon camera in the next few months and then I'll probably over-do the photo taking. Stick with me in the meantime. I made this recipe tonight. It might be my new favorite. There is a sauce that goes with it. I loved the sauce. David wasn't so sure. I think there was too much wine in it for his tastes. I may have overdone the wine...big surprise. I really didn't measure it. Another big surprise.

Ingredients:
Fresh or frozen fish fillets, I used tilapia. You can also try sole, flounder or other white fish.
1 cup frozen broccoli, thawed
1 beaten egg
1 8-ounce container soft-style cream cheese with chive and onion
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup herb flavored stuffing mix
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons dry white wine

1. Thaw fish, if frozen. Rinse fish and pat dry with paper towel. For stuffing, drain broccoli, pressing out excess liquid. Chop broccoli. Combine egg, HALF of cream cheese, and Parmesan cheese. Stir in broccoli and dry stuffing mix. Spoon mix into fillets, roll up, and secure with toothpick. Place in greased baking dish and bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

2. For sauce, heat milk, wine, and remaining cream cheese. Serve over fish.

I made this with wild rice. I would serve with a salad..or maybe sautéed squash. As usual. Not my recipe, just passing it along!

Homemade Chicken and Dumplings

Problem: I haven't decided if making the dumplings from scratch is worth it or not.  One one hand, you don't get all the extra "stuff" that is thrown in a can of Pillsbury biscuits, but on the other...it's messy. As in, flour EVERYWHERE kind of messy. Even more so if your boyfriend intentionally uses the flour to draw what I assume was Indian warpaint on your face.  If you have a large (really large) cutting board, it might be worth it to start from scratch.  This recipe is from Pioneer Woman's page, Tasty Kitchen.  I tried to find the exact recipe to link to, but I couldn't find it, so I'm plagiarizing a bit, but welcome to the internet.
Here's what you'll need:

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup milk
2 quarts chicken broth
3 cups cooked chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken from Kroger)

Combine your first three ingredients in a bowl. Cut the butter into the flour mix.  Cutting it means either using a potato masher, or two knives so you end up with a crumbly mix.  Add the milk and mix with a fork until you have a ball.  Flour your large cutting board (or your boyfriends countertop..oops) and use a rolling pin on the dough.  Cut the dough into squares using a pizza butter.  They don't have to be perfect.  Using a floured spatula, lay your dumplings on a heavily floured plate.  After the first layer, add flour on top and just keep stacking the dumplings.

Meanwhile, bring your broth to a boil.  Add the dumplings one at a time, and stir as you add them.  When you add them they will balloon up and almost triple in size.  Keep in mind they will go down! I kept thinking I was going to have too many dumplings so I didn't add all of them and by the time they cooked down, I wished that I had.  Cook them for 15-20 minutes. Add the cooked chicken to the pot and allow to heat up and you are done!  The flour you added to the dumplings will thicken up the broth.  If it were up to me, I'd add peas, corn, celery and carrots and make it almost like a pot pie filling, but the boyfriend likes the basics and really, it doesn't need the veggies.  It tastes great just like it is! Enjoy!

**Keep in mind you can always skip all the work and just add Pullsbury biscuits.  Cut them into quarters, and add some flour to the broth to thicken it.  Delicious either way!

3-Envelope.....Anything

The best thing about crockpot meals is that they require little to no work when you get home. Fortunately, this can mean the work has to be done first thing in the morning and I am NOT a morning person.  The idea of getting up early to prepare food that I'm not going to get to eat for 10 hours is not one that sets well with me.  With a 3-Envelope meal, you can get this meal started without even setting your alarm clock back.  If you can remember the name of the recipe, you can probably remember the recipe.  You'll need: The meat of your choice, 1 cup water and 3 envelopes of seasoning, usually a ranch packet, an italian seasoning packet, and a gravy packet the corresponds with the type of meat you are using.

Example:

Three Envelope Roast

1 Roast

1 Cup Water

1 Envelope Italian Seasoning

1 Envelope Ranch Seasoning

1 Envelope Beef Gravy Mix

Done!  The great thing about this is you don't have to stick to the recipe. At all. (Not that I ever do anyway.)  You can use chicken instead of a roast.  You can use an Onion Soup Mix instead of the Ranch.  I've tried it all of these ways and loved them all.  There are two warnings that come with this recipe: If you're trying to keep your sodium down, this is probably not the recipe for you AND.... make extra.

Sante Fe Chicken (Crock Pot!)

Unfortunately, I have another photo-less post. Fortunately, it tastes amazing.  Of course I found it on Pinterest.  I haven't been able to track down the original source, but it certainly isn't me! This is a VERY easy one to get started in the crock pot before work.  It goes like this:

3 chicken breasts (I just buy one package at the grocery store)

1 can corn, drained

1 can black beans, drained

1 jar salsa.

Set to "LOW" and that's it!  Well, that's all you do to get started.  When you get home from work (or when you're almost ready to eat), throw in a block of cream cheese.  I use neufchatel which is that stuff that's packaged just like cream cheese and is located right next to the cream cheese and tastes like cream cheese but because it has 1/3 the amount of fat, it has a different name. I cut this into a few strips.  Crank the crock pot to high. Wait half an hour, then stir.  You're done!

This can be served by itself, but the chicken falls apart, so we've eaten it on tortillas or with tortilla chips.  I usually make Zatarain's Spanish Rice with it.  It's a favorite!

Chicken Enchilada Soup

I haven't posted lately.  Mainly because most of my recipes haven't been very "photo-worthy".   However, this one is too good not to share.  As usual, this isn't my own personal recipe, just one I'm passing along, this time from a co-worker.  Oddly enough, I didn't change this recipe at all.  Just the toppings.  This makes quite a few servings and would be great for a group. This is on my menu next time everyone gathers at my boyfriends house to watch a game.  Keep in mind that some of these ingredients can be purchased "low sodium" or "Healthy Request" if you're trying to make this a little better for you.

2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cans cream of celery soup
2 cans cheddar cheese soup
2 (15 oz) cans of chicken broth
1 (15 oz) can of diced tomatoes with green chilis
1 jar Pace Medium Picante
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 gloves fresh garlic, minced
1 tsp. red chili powder (or to taste..it wasn't overly spicy with 1 tsp.)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup cilantro, fresh chopped
4 cups chicken breast, cooked and cut to bit size
1 pkg flour tortillas

In large stockpot, combine and whisk together until smooth, all 8 cans of soup.  Add chicken broth, tomatoes, salsa, onion, garlic, chili powder, salt and pepper.  Bring all ingredients to a full boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.  Add cilantro and chicken.  Simmer another hour.

While soup is simmering, make your toppings.  Cut flour tortillas into small thin strips and deep fry in hot oil in skillet until lightly brown.  Drain on paper towel.  Sprinkle with salt.

Now, my only "variation" is that I didn't make the tortillas and instead put shredded cheese and soup cream on top.  I'd guess the tortillas add a nice crunch though.  This makes great leftovers.  In fact, like most soups, the leftovers are even better.

Sausage, pepper, and potato roast

This is my FAVORITE recipe.  It can't get any easier, and the outcome is delicious.  I've altered this recipe many times in an effort to make it healthier (don't be fooled by all the veggies, the sausage kills any chance this has of being healthy) and already have plans for how I'm going to change it next time.

First, you need  1- yellow pepper, 1 - green pepper, and 1- sweet (Vidalia) onion.  It's important you get a sweet onion here.  A sharp purple onion is not going to have the same flavor.  Cut the peppers into long strips and the onion into thin wedges (some of the onion wedges at the bottom of this picture are a little thick).

This is where my attempt at healthiness comes in.  I add a yellow squash (and next time will be adding a zucchini).  Just slice it is fine. The squash ended up being my favorite part, so it's going to become a permanent part of my recipe.

Next add 4-5 red potatoes, quartered.  I forgot to take a picture of these, but like I said, this is my favorite meal and patience is not my strong point.

Then, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano, 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt, and pepper to taste.  If your bowl has a lid, great.  Put the lid on and shake, shake, shake! If not, stir until coated!

 Cut up some mild Italian sausage. (Goal for next blog post: learn how to turn photos)

Cover a cookie sheet with foil, spray a VERY light coat of cooking spray on the foil and spread your veggies across it.  Put your chunks of sausage on top.  As the sausage cooks, the grease (see above note about this NOT being healthy) will coat the veggies and make them even more delicious.

Cook for approximately 40 minutes at 400 degrees or until the onions are soft are caramelized and the potatoes are cooked through. Don't be worried by the amount of food, it cooks down in the oven.

Ok, it doesn't cook down this much.  We had already eaten some at this point, but this is your finished product.  It makes quite a bit of food but it reheats well and the leftovers make a great lunch.

So:
1 yellow pepper
1 green pepper
1 sweet (Vidalia) onion
1 yellow squash - optional
1 zucchini - optional
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 package mild italian sausage
pepper to taste.

Chicken Enchiladas

This recipe is probably my boyfriends favorite.  By no means did I come up with it, and it's one of very few recipes that I actually follow, mainly because I don't know how it could be any better.  This is a Campbell's recipe so I'm not taking credit for it..but I strongly suggest you give it a shot!

First you need 2 cups chopped/shredded cooked chicken.  I boil mine and whatever I have that is over the 2 cups this recipe calls for, I mix with BBQ sauce and take to work for a sandwich.  Anyway..back to enchiladas.
Two cups cooked, shredded chicken.

Set that aside and in a medium size bowl, throw in a can of Campbells Cream of Chicken Soup (you can use the Healthy Request, Fat Free or Regular kind), 1/2 cup sour cream (you can use light), a cup of your favorite brand of Salsa, and 2 teaspoons chili powder.

Stir together. 

Then in a larger bowl, combine 1 cup of the salsa mixture, your 2 cups of chicken, and 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese.

The salsa mixture is hidden in my picture.  Probably because I tend to use a little extra cheese.  Ok, a lot of extra cheese.

Divide the chicken mixture between 6 flour tortillas.  Put the in them microwave for a few seconds if they start breaking. Also, I've done this with smaller tortillas and it made about 8, and I think I might prefer it that way.  Less tendency to overeat and it leaves leftovers for lunch!

Roll the tortillas up and lay them in a baking dish.  Preferably one with fairly tall sides.

Then top with the remaining salsa mixture.  I like to spread it out over the top because the edges of the enchiladas get hard and crunchy otherwise.

Normally I would put more (yes, more) Monterey Jack cheese on top, but I forgot this time. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  The recipe says to top with diced tomato and green onion.  We top ours with salsa, MORE cheese, and sour cream.  Serve with refried beans or spanish rice!

So your ingredient list consists of:

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup salsa

2 tsp. chili powder

2 cups chopped cooked chicken

1/2 cup shredded monterey jack cheese

6 flour tortillas

Various toppings!