Category Archives: Definitely Making it Again

April 25, 2010 · 7:23 am

Taco Soup CrockPot Recipe

This is a great soup to make if you want to have leftovers or if you are going to have company. It makes A LOT of soup, makes your house smell fantastic and tastes yummy, too.

Ingredients:
2 cans of kidney beans, drained
2 cans of pinto beans, drained
2 cans of corn
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of Rotel tomatoes
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 packet of ranch dressing mix
1 lb. of ground turkey or hamburger
Shredded cheese
Sour cream

Directions:
Brown the meat until it is thoroughly cooked.

Add cooked meat to crockpot.

Sprinkle seasoning packets on top of meat.

Add the beans, tomatoes and corn.

Stir.

Cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 8-10 hours.

Before serving stir well.

Serve with shredded cheese and sour cream as garnishes.

Did I change anything? I think the only thing I changed was that I crushed up some tortilla chips and sprinkled those on top. The crunchy and salty of the chips is good with the spiciness of the soup.

What does the family think? Sean and I both really like this soup. Our oldest thinks it’s too spicy and the youngest isn’t too keen on it either which is too bad for them because it is GOOD.

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Filed under Definitely Making it Again, Spicy, Stew/Soup, Super Easy to Make

April 24, 2010 · 7:42 am

Nutty Noodles

We are in the middle of moving, so I have not been doing a lot of cooking the past few days. This dish I found a few years ago in Parents magazine. I haven’t made it in a long while, but it will probably be one of the first meals I cook in our new house.

Ingredients:
8 oz. multigrain thin spaghetti or soba noodles
1 c. crinkle-cut carrots
2 c. frozen shelled edamame
1 c. snow peas, trimmed and halved lengthwise
1/2 c. Thai peanut sauce
2 tbspn. creamy peanut butter
2 tbspn. soy sauce
Chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to boil for the noodles. Place the carrots in the pot to cook with the noodles. Cook for five minutes and add edamame and snow peas to pasta and carrots. Cook 3-5 minutes longer or until pasta and veggies are tender. Drain and return to saucepan.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together peanut sauce, peanut butter and soy sauce. Stir the peanut sauce into the pan with the noodles and veggies. Dish into individual bowls and top with fresh cilantro.

Did I change anything? It has been a while since we ate this, put I think I added some red pepper flakes for a little heat and I think I also added some shredded chicken for more protein.

Next time? The next time I make this I think I am going to make more sauce. It is better to have too much sauce than not enough.

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Filed under Chicken, Definitely Making it Again

April 23, 2010 · 8:20 am

Penne with Blue Cheese, Pesto and Asparagus

I am ready and willing to try anything with pesto and I absolutely love blue cheese, so I knew this one was going to be a winner before I even tasted it.

Ingredients:
8 oz. penne
1/2 c. pesto
1/4 c. crumbled blue cheese
1/2 lb. frozen or fresh asparagus spears

Directions:
Cook pasta per the directions on the box.

Put pesto and blue cheese in a mixing bowl and mash them together with a fork.

During the last 3 minutes of the penne cooking time, add asparagus to pot and cook until bright green and crisp-tender. Drain penne and asparagus well in colander. Add to the bowl with the pesto and stir to coat them well.

Did I change anything? Yes. The original recipe called for walnuts. We didn’t have any walnuts so I didn’t make it that way. I am sure it is tasty either way.

What does the family think? The first time I made this I made it just the way it’s described above. My hubby said he felt like it needed some meat, so the next time I added a little shredded chicken in it and we have been eating it that way ever since. Either way it’s good. Our children are kid of purists when it comes to pasta…if it doesn’t have red sauce then it’s not pasta.

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Filed under Chicken, Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Italian, Six Ingredients or Less

April 22, 2010 · 5:07 am

CrockPot Pizza Soup

I had a Crockpot for about five years before I even took it out of the box. Now I probably use it at least once a week and it’s usually on days when I know we are going to be getting home late and it’s so nice to have dinner ready and waiting for us. I also love how awesome our house smells when we walk in the door. 🙂 I found this recipe over at my favorite CrockPot website.

Ingredients:
14oz. jar of pizza sauce
3 empty jars of water
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
2 already cooked Italian sausage links
1 c. pepperoni, cut into quarters
8 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 T dried oregano
1/2 c. macaroni noodles (or a pasta about that size)
Shredded mozzarella

Directions:
Wash and prepare green peppers. Dump them into the crockpot. Cut up the sausage into small pieces–I sliced, then cut the pieces in fourths. Add to crockpot. Cut up the pepperoni, add it, too. Add basil and oregano. Pour in the pizza sauce, and follow with three empty jars of water.

Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours. Everything in this is already cooked, so you are really only heating through and allowing the flavors to meld.

Thirty minutes before serving, add the dry pasta, and turn to high. My pasta only took 20 minutes to soften quite nicely.

Garnish/top with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Variation: The great thing about this is that you can add whatever you would normally put on a pizza. The original recipe called for mushrooms and onions, but we don’t get those on pizza so I left them off. There is a lot of room to play around with this recipe and add/take away whatever “toppings” you do/don’t want.

What did the family think? Sean and I liked it. I told the boys it was like pizza so they ate it.

2 Comments

Filed under Definitely Making it Again, Everybody Ate It, Italian, Super Easy to Make

April 21, 2010 · 5:57 am

Migas

A few years ago we took a Spring Break trip to San Antonio. While we were there I noticed that mijas was on the menu always and often. So when we got back home I looked it up and this is what I found. What’s so great about it is that there are so many different ways you can make it. This is how we have been making it lately:

Ingredients:
6 eggs
1 T water
1 T chunky salsa
1 T butter
1 T olive oil
4 6in. corn tortillas
1/4 c. chopped onion
1/2 lb. chorizo
4 oz. can chopped green chilis
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 avocado, sliced
2 tspn. fresh cilantro
2/3 c. cheddar cheese
Sour cream

Directions:
In a small bowl, lightly beat together the eggs, water and salsa, and set aside.

In a small skillet, brown chorizo until thoroughly cooked.

Warm the butter and olive oil in a heavy skillet. Add the tortilla pieces and sauté until softened. Add the chopped onion and sauté until it is transparent. Stir in the chopped green chiles and cooked chorizo.

Pour the egg mixture into the skillet, and “scramble” until eggs are done. Remove the skillet from heat, and sprinkle the chopped tomato, cilantro and cheese into the eggs, again stirring well.

Garnish with avocado, additional salsa and sour cream.

Variations: You can put just about anything in migas and they will still be tasty, such as: green peppers, bacon, ham, diced potato, green onions and garlic.

What does the family think? Hubby and I really like this dish. The kids like scrambled eggs, but aren’t too keen about all the other stuff that’s in there. I think there are just too many flavors going on in there for them. Translation: It’s yummy! 🙂

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Filed under Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Mexican

April 19, 2010 · 5:01 am

Asian Chicken Salad

This is a great, fast meal on a hot spring/summer day when you don’t want to turn on the oven. I have been making this salad for years, but I think I originally got the idea from one of those Kraft cookbook magazines.

Ingredients:
Lettuce greens, rinsed and dried
2 already cooked chicken breasts, shredded
11 oz. can mandarin oranges, drained
Asian sesame dressing
Chow Mein Noodles, a sprinkle of top of each salad

Directions:
Divide lettuce greens between four bowls.

Divide the shredded chicken breast between the four bowls and place on top of the lettuce greens.

Divide the mandarin oranges between the four bowl and place on top of the chicken.

Wait to put chow mein noodles and the salad dressing on right before being served.

Enjoy!!!

What does my family think? My hubby and I both really like this salad. Our children will eat it as long as they don’t have to eat the Asian dressing with it.

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Filed under Chicken, Definitely Making it Again, Everybody Ate It, Salad, Six Ingredients or Less, Super Easy to Make

April 15, 2010 · 8:35 pm

Spinach Tortellini with Tomato Sauce

This is great pasta dish with a little twist…salami.

Ingredients:
2 T. olive oil
1 oz. salami, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 28oz. can of San Marzano plum tomatoes, drained (save juice)
5-6 fresh basi leaves
Pinch of sugar
Salt and Pepper, to taste
8 oz. dry spinach tortellini

Directions:
Cook tortellini per the directions on the package.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the salami and garlic and cook for about one minute. Crush the tomatoes into the skillet using your hands. Let these simmer for about four to five minutes and then add the tomato juice, basil, sugar, salt and pepper. Simmer for a few minutes and stir well.

Drain the tortellini and serve the sauce on top of the noodles. You may want to put the noodles in individual bowls for each person and then put the sauce on. We do that because some people in our house like more sauce than others. Enjoy!!!

This is great with a salad and a glass of wine. Have some parmesan cheese at the table to sprinkle on top.

Did I change anything? I didn’t really change much from the original recipe other than the type of pasta. I think I probably ended up adding more than 1 ounce of salami too. It just didn’t seem like enough.

What does the family think? We will eat pasta in any form, shape or size, especially if it has tomato sauce on top.

4 Comments

Filed under Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Everybody Ate It, Italian

April 14, 2010 · 8:55 pm

Curried Chicken Salad

If you love chicken salad then you will love this one with a twist, unless you don’t like curry, of course. It is a good dish to fix in the summer when you don’t want to heat up the kitchen. It’s also a great dish to make ahead of time.

Ingredients:
2-3 already cooked boneless chicken breasts,
2 stalks of celery
1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
1 cup real mayonnaise
1/4 c. onion, finely minced
1 tspn. curry powder
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Pita bread (at room temperature)
lettuce
tomatoes, sliced

Directions:
Shred chicken in a medium mixing bowl. Add celery, cilantro, mayo, onion, curry and garlic and mix well. This would be a good time to put it in the frig to chill unless you don’t have time then it’s okay to just go ahead and serve it.

Place lettuce in pita halves with slices of tomato and then add the chicken salad. Be careful not to add too much or the pita bread will break.

Next time: I have made this several times and this time it didn’t seem like there was enough curry in it. Next time I will taste it before I serve it to make sure that we can really taste the curry.

What did the family think? Hubby and I like this dish. The boys did NOT. Usually our older one will suffer through whatever I have put in front of him at the dinner table, but he just couldn’t do it. Our youngest went and got the salad dressing from the frig, tore open and ate the pita bread and poured salad dressing on the lettuce that was in the pita. At least he ate the lettuce. 🙂

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Filed under Chicken, Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Make Ahead of Time, Salad

April 13, 2010 · 8:44 pm

Ground Beef Stroganoff

I love beef stroganoff, but we don’t really eat beef in our house, so I’ve never made it. I was so excited to find this recipe which could easily be made with ground chicken or turkey.

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
1 lb. of ground chicken
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
3-4 mushrooms, chopped
1/3 c. dry sherry or dry white wine
1 1/4 c. sour cream (room temperature)
1 tspn. lemon juice
1/4 tspn. paprika
8 oz. egg noodles

Directions:
Cook egg noodles per the directions on the packaging.

Put about one tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet and heat to medium high. Sprinkle some salt in the bottom of the pan and cook ground chicken until cooked through.

When the meat is done, drain the fat and put the meat in another bowl. Place a little more olive oil in the skillet and add the onions, mushrooms and sherry/wine. Cook until the onions are soft.

Remove the pan from the burner and stir in the sour cream and paprika. Keep stirring until it is smooth. You may need to add a little water so that the consistency isn’t too thick. Add the lemon juice and then stir in the hamburger until everything is well blended. Add salt, pepper and paprika as needed.

Drain the noodles and serve the stroganoff on top of the noodles. Happy eating!!!

Next time: The only thing I really changed about this recipe is I left out the parsley that was in the original recipe I found on-line. When I made it the first time I did use the parsley and I didn’t like it. It tasted like I had foliage in my stroganoff. I highly recommend leaving it out.

What does the family think? One of the reasons I decided to make this was because our children recently discovered sour cream and they seem to be inclined to eat things that have sour cream in them now. Hubby and I loved this dish. Our oldest really liked it and our youngest just ate the noodles. I will definitely be making this dish again.

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Filed under Definitely Making it Again, Easy

· 4:08 am

White Beans and Italian Sausage

As I am going through my recipes I am realizing that we eat a lot of Italian food around here. This is what we had for dinner tonight and it was the first time I had ever used this recipe. I made my own version though because the version I found on-line talked about soaking beans and simmering for a few hours. I don’t have time for all that. So here’s my version:

Ingredients:
2 15 oz. cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 T olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 1/2 lbs. Italian sausage (sweet, mild or hot)
2 14.5 oz cans of Italian-style diced tomatoes
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat olive oil over medium heat and add garlic. Saute garlic for a minute or so and add Italian sausage. When Italian sausage it completely cooked add beans, tomatoes and red pepper flakes. Keep on burner until heated through. Season with salt and pepper.

Next time: When I made it this time I only used one can of tomatoes. I put two cans in my directions up above because I think it needed more. Also, I used mild Italian sausage this time. Next time I will definitely use a spicier version.

We had this with a baguette hubby had picked up at the store and we had some grapes so I put those on the table as well.

What does the family think? Hubby and I liked it enough to have seconds. The boys ate it, but mostly just ate the sausage.

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Filed under Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Everybody Ate It, Italian