Six Can Tortilla Soup

This recipe makes it on our weekly meal list at least once a month, usually twice. It's cheap and easy and pretty delicious. It's rated 5 stars on Allrecipes and it deserves the rating, but only if you make some changes. The original recipe calls for canned chunk chicken, but you can't expect a 5 star recipe to use chunk chicken. Instead, cook up some chicken breasts and either cut them up or shred them into the soup. I leave the black beans out since the hubs doesn't like them and sometimes I exchange one of the chicken broth cans for cream of chicken soup to give it a different flavor. By the time I'm done with it, it's usually more like "4 can tortilla soup with some extras," but it's still worth trying.

Six Can Tortilla Soup

Source: Allrecipes

1 15 oz can whole kernel corn, drained

1 14.5 oz cans chicken broth (or 1 chicken broth and 1 cream of chicken soup)

1 10 oz can chunk chicken (go for 2-3 shredded chicken breasts, cooked)

1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed

1 10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, drained

cumin

chili powder

garlic powder

cheese, optional

sour cream, optional

tortilla chips, optional

Add all of the cans into a large stock pot. Add seasonings to taste. Simmer over medium heat until everything is heated through. Serve, topped with cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Beef Stew with Beer and Paprika

I don't know what it is about me but I have a hard time finding a recipe and sticking to it. We have a favorite stew recipe from my Taste of Home Cookbook but I'm always looking for a better one, although I've yet to find one.

This Pioneer Woman Recipe intrigued me because of the two ingredients listed in the title. It's similar to our favorite TOH one with just a few minor changes. The hubs really liked the additional flavor and I did as well. I'm still not 100% sold but if you are in need of comfort food on a cold night, this is your recipe.

Beef Stew with Beer and Paprika

Source: The Pioneer Woman

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

2 lbs stew meat

1 whole medium onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

12 oz can of beer

4 cups beef stock

2 cups water

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp tomato paste

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp salt

freshly ground black pepper

1.5 tsp sugar

4 whole carrots, washed, unpeeled, and roughly sliced

4 whole new potatoes, quartered

minced parsley, optional

Heat oil and butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Brown mean in two batches, setting on a plate when brown. Cut pieces in half and set aside.

Add diced onion to the pot. Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until softened. Add garlic to pot and cook for another minute. Pour in beer and beef stock, then add Worcestershire, tomato paste, paprika, salt, pepper, and sugar. Add beef back into the pot. Stir to combine. Cover and simmer for 1.5-2 hours. If the liquid reduces too much, add additional water as needed.

Add carrots and potatoes, then cover and cook for an additional 30 minutes. If stew gets dry, add1 cup of hot water at a time to replenish liquid. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Sprinkle with minced parsley, if desired. Enjoy!

Pioneer Woman's Chicken Tortilla Soup

It's almost that time of year again. My most favorite time. Fall. I love everything about Fall: going to the pumpkin patch, the crunchy leaves, cooler weather, boots, and most of all the food. Fall food is always a little heavier and heartier but there are so many wonderful flavors. Soup is always a food I associate with Fall. It's warm and hearty and is the perfect thing to eat after a day at the pumpkin farm.

I saw this recipe while browsing through PW's blog and put it on our to make list right away. It's very filling and all the garnishes make it even better. If you are having a chilly day or just want to feel like Fall, you should definitely make this soup!

PW's Chicken Tortilla Soup

Source: The Pioneer Woman

2 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 tbsp olive oil

1.5 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup diced onion

1/4 cup diced green bell pepper

1/4 cup diced red bell pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

1o oz can Rotel with green chiles

32 oz low sodium chicken stock

3 tbsp tomato paste

4 cups hot water

2 cans black beans, drained (I substituted Northern white beans)

3 tbsp cornmeal

5 whole corn tortillas, cut into 2-3 inch strips

For garnishes:

sour cream

diced avocado

diced red onion

salsa or pico de gallo

grated cheese

cilantro

Preheat oven to 375º. Mix cumin, chili pepper, garlic powder, and salt. Drizzle 1 tbsp olive oil on chicken breasts, then sprinkle both sides of chicken with a small amount of spice mix. Set aside the remaining spice mix.

Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until chicken is done. Shred the chicken and set aside.

Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pot over medium high heat. Add onions, red and green pepper, and minced garlic. Stir, then add the rest of the spice mix. Stir to combine, then add shredded chicken and stir.

Pour in rotel, stock, tomato paste, water and beans. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes, uncovered.

Mix cornmeal with a small amount of water and pour into soup. Simmer for an additional 30 minutes, adding more seasoning if needed. Turn off heat and allow to sit for 15 minutes before serving. Stir in tortilla strips before serving. Serve and top with garnishes. Enjoy!

Rachel Ray's Cheeseburger Chili Mac and Cheese

I'm not a huge tv person but whenever I need something in the background while I'm cleaning or doing homework I usually turn on the Food channel. It makes very good background noise and I know as long as I catch the last 5 minutes I won't have missed any huge plot twists. Rachel Ray is one of my favorite cooks to watch. I found this recipe while searching for a dessert I had seen on one of her shows (don't ask how I got from dessert to cheeseburger chili mac and cheese). The combination sounded like a interesting one and I had to out it on our weekly meal list.

This was delicious. You could taste the separate chili and cheeseburger tastes and they went great together. Recipe is from Rachel Ray.

2 tbsp EVOO

1.5 pounds ground sirloin

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 tbsp chili powder

salt and ground black pepper

1/2 cup ketchu

1/4 cup yellow mustard

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1-2 cups beef stock (use more if you want it more liquidy)

pound elbow macaroni

1.5 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat broiler and bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Place a pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Add the ground sirloin and cook until brown, about 6 minutes. Add the onion and chili powder to the pan, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the onion is tender, 5 minutes. Add the ketchup, mustard, tomato sauce, and beef stock to the pan. Bring to a boil and simmer over medium-low heat until thickened, about 5 mintues.

While the chili is simmering, add the pasta to your salted boiling water. Cook to al dente, drain, and return to pot. Add the chili to the pasta pot and mix well.

Transfer everything to a casserole dish and top with the shredded cheese. Place the casserole under the broiler to melt the cheese. Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Chili

You know that feeling when you come home and your husband has just baked chocolate chip cookies (or in my husbands case, lit our birthday cake scented candle and let it burn) and the delicious smell has filled your house? I love that smell. Making this was nothing like that.

Instead, imagine the smell of buffalo wings filling your entire house. As delicious as they taste, I'd rather come home to a house that smells like birthday cake, not buffalo wings. But the hubby loved it and has suggested we invent a buffalo scented candle since Yankee Candle has yet to put one on the market. Yeah, we'll get right on that babe.

Buffalo chicken chili does taste as good as it smells though, as long as that smell is contained to the steam wafting from my bowl. The original recipe for this, from Prevention RD, called for it to be made over the stove but I had no time and no other crock pot meal on the menu for that week so chili it was. Prevention RD had made this recipe twice and the second time she followed the recipe exactly and put the chicken and veggies in the food processor and pureed it all up. It's all a matter of preference but the next time I make this I'll stick to simply chopping everything up. The chili was spicy and delicious and a great alternative to your usual chili but the weird texture distracted a bit from the taste.

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 large carrots

3 stalks of celery

1 large red pepper

5 cloves of garlic (I substituted a little garlic powder)

5 tbsp chili powder

2 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp paprika

1/2 cup of Frank's Red Hot Wing Sauce (or your preferred buffalo wing sauce)

2 15 oz cans tomato sauce

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes

1 15 oz can black beans, drained (I, of course, omitted because of hubby's deep dislike of beans)

1 15 oz can chili beans in sauce (once again, these were omitted)

salt and pepper to taste (I left this out and we just added as needed while we were eating)

Put chicken breasts in food processor to grind up. Rinse out food processor and add carrots, celery, garlic, and red pepper and puree. (You can just choose to cut up all the veggies/chicken if you'd prefer for a different texture). Add veggies and chicken to crock pot along with the rest of ingredients. Cook on low for 8 hours. Enjoy!

Blue Ribbon Chili

I've posted before about hubby's deep dislike of beans and my love for them. I was craving chili- real chili with beans- so I added it to our menu and kept quiet about the beans. My husband exhibited 5-year old tendencies during this meal and ate around every single bean and dumped them in the trash can, all while giving me a slightly nasty look. He can be so cute sometimes.

Even though hubby wasn't a fan, I loved it. This is a perfect chili recipe and we'll definitely be making it again. Recipe from And a Cookie for Dessert.

2 lbs ground beef

1/2 onion, chopped

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 ts garlic salt

2.5 cups tomato sauce

8 oz salsa

4 tbsp (1 packet) chili seasoning mix

15 oz can light red kidney beans

15 oz can dark red kidney beans

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, combine the ground beef and onion and saute for 10 minutes, until beef is browned and onion is tender. Drain.

Add the beef mixture along with the rest of the ingredients to the crock pot. Cook on low for 8 hours. Enjoy!

Chicken Brunswick Stew

I love brunswick stew but this was my first time making it. The only other times I've had it has been with my aunt. She's from South Georgia and makes an amazing brunswick stew. Actually anything she makes is pretty amazing. She even catered our wedding!

This isn't her recipe it's from Crockpot Tuesdays. It was delicious and easy as almost all crock pot meals are. It makes a ton so Neil took some for lunch and we froze the rest for a later date.

2 large onions, chopped (I used two medium onions and it felt like a lot of onion. But I'm not a huge onion fan)

3 chicken breasts

2 cans cream-style corn

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

12 oz bottle chili sauce

1 can chicken broth

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup butter, cut up

2 tbsp vinegar

2 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tbsp sugar

Place onions in the bottom of the crock pot. Lay chicken breasts on top. Add the rest of the ingredients, and carefully stir to combine (without disturbing the chicken and onions). Cook on low for 8 hours. Remove chicken and shred with two forks. Place chicken back in the stew and stir to combine. Enjoy!

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

I've decided to start a new series called Crock Pot Mondays. On Mondays, I have an evening class so I'm usually gone from 3-8. I love crock pot meals because Neil can eat when he gets home and then leave it on warm for me. It's so much easier than trying to prepare a meal before I leave and leaving instructions for how to cook it and then heating it up in the microwave when I get home. So, Mondays are now Crock Pot Mondays!

The only downside to this meal is that is smelled so delicious the entire day while it was cooking that it was hard for me to leave without getting any. It reminded me of a creamier salsa chicken just with more substance. Hubby complained only a little about the beans but in the end he admitted they made a pretty good addition. Recipe from the Cooking Nurse.

1 cup chunky medium salsa

8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts (frozen or thawed)

15 0z can yellow corn, undrained

32 oz can pinto beans, undrained

15 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained

30 oz cream of chicken soup

2 tbsp taco seasoning

2 (6-inch) corn tortillas cut into strips

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Add everything to the crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours. Before serving, remove chicken and shred with two forks, then add the chicken back to the crock pot. Serve with shredded cheese and tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Spicy Potato Soup

With all the hours I'm taking this semester I've decided to start making freezer meals. That way, if I ever have a busy week with lots of tests, or just get tired of doing it all, I have a go-to meal in our fridge and we don't have to go out and get fast food for dinner. We do that quite a bit even with all the meal planning I do so one of our goals for 2011 is to cut out the fast food visits. This made quite a bit as a single batch so I was able to get two freezer meals out of the second batch.

This reminded me of something that I couldn't quite place. Maybe it's shepherd's pie because of the meat and potatoes. Regardless, of what it reminded me of, it was delicious. I upped the spiciness a bit and it was a great ending to a long day. Recipe from Cooking This and That.

1 lb ground beef

4 cups cubed peeled potatoes (1/2 inch cubes) or 4 cups hash browns, defrosted (I used hash browns)

1 small onion, chopped

24 oz tomato sauce

4 cups water

2 tsp salt

1.5 tsp pepper

1/2 to 1 tsp hot pepper sauce

In a dutch oven or large kettle, brown ground beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Add the potatoes, onion, and tomato sauce. Stir in the water, salt, pepper, and hot pepper sauce bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for an hour or until potatoes are tender and the soup has thickened. Make sure to stir occasionally. Serve with parmesan cheese and enjoy!

White Chicken Chili

Oh San Diego. It's the middle of December and I think I'm safe to put chili on the menu and the day I plan on making it dawns and lo and behold, it's 85º and sunny out. There's just something wrong about laying out on the beach and then going home to eat chili from the crock pot. Yep, something wrong about that picture.

Luckily, this wasn't your normal kind of chili. It's not heavy or super creamy so it worked fine for our not so wintery night! Recipe is from Lemons and Love.

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups salsa verde (the green salsa)

2 cans northern beans, drained and rinsed

2 stalks of celery, chopped

1 small can green chiles

1 tsp cumin

1.5 tsps white pepper

pinch of cayenne

salt and pepper to taste

In your slow cooker combine broth, salsa verde beans, celery, green chiles and spices. Mix well and nestle chicken into the liquid. Cook on high for 4 hours and take chicken out and shred it. Return to crockpot and cook on low for 2 hours. Enjoy!

Cincinnati-Style Chili

I love chili, especially in the winter. But since Southern California is lacking in the typical seasons department, I have to settle for chili in the summer. I also have to settle for chili without beans because my husband refuses to eat anything with beans. Finding a chili recipe without beans is incredibly hard. I’ve looked through a ton of recipes and they all seem to be lacking something… beans. I finally stumbled upon this Cincinnati-Style Chili recipe on recipezaar.com.

I’ve never had Cincinnati Chili before which makes sense because I’ve never been to Cincinnati. I’d heard of it, of course, but I wasn’t exactly sure what it was and what made it special. So I googled it and this is what I learned!

You can never order just a bowl of Cincinnati Chili- it always comes 2-way and some restaurants only serve it 3-way. So it can be ordered:

3-way: Spaghetti with chili, covered with shredded cheddar cheese

4-way: Spaghetti with chili, then cheese, then onions

5-way: Spaghetti, beans, chili, cheese and onions

2 lbs ground chuck
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 quart water
2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce 1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon garlic powder
4 tablespoons chili powder2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 ounce unsweetened chocolate2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 bay leaf, crumbled
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
4 drops Tabasco Sauce
2 teaspoons paprika
2 beef bouillon cubes
Cooked Spaghetti noodles
Shredded Cheese
Kidney beans (optional)

Bring the water to the boil and add the ground beef. Stir until the beef is separated and add the rest of the ingredients.

Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 2 to 3 hours, or until thickened. Cool, then refrigerate overnight. Skim off any accumulated fat and reheat the chili. Serve any way you want!

I had a hard time finding a recipe for this since I had never tried it. I went by comments on the website and found out that you boil the beef, you never brown it. You also don’t add onions to the chili; they are always served separately.

I had mine 5-way so I could have beans, while Neil has his 3-way. Neil loved it but I wasn't a fan. I much prefer the southwestern taste of chili.