Delicious Taco Meat

This recipe makes the yummiest taco meat I've ever had and, as a bonus, it's the easiest recipe ever!

Ingredients:
Beef roast
Pace Picante Sauce
Salt

Cook the roast in the crock pot, pressure cooker or stove top until it's falling apart. Drain off the juices and shred the meat. Mix in picante sauce until you think it has the right consistency (moist, but not dripping.) Add salt to taste and enjoy.

And that's it. This is so yummy that I can't help but sneak forkfuls of the leftovers :) I like to eat it with cheese and a tomato/ green onion/ cilantro mixture on top. Mmmm.



*****cooking times will vary depending on size and cut of roast, but I've found that it takes about 40-60 minutes in the pressure cooker and 8 hours in the crock pot on low or 3 hours on high.

Sour Cream

This is just a tip a recently tried. We tend to eat a lot of Mexican food which in turn, we eat a lot of sour cream. Sour cream has a lot of fat in it. If I'm gonna eat fatty foods, it might as well be a desert, right? So someone told me they use plain yogurt in place of sour cream. I'm not quite ready for that, but I've been mixing the 2 and James hasn't seemed to notice. Just another way to try to keep my family healthy!

NO COOK, LAST MINUTE DINNER WINNER

Here's a favorite main dish salad that we've been loving.  Easy to prepare - you can make and serve it immediately!
Springtime Chicken Apple Salad
Below are MY CHANGES.  I've modified it quite a bit from the original, but this recipe is so easy to adapt to whatever you like or want to try. 
           
This is a great all season salad.  It is surprisingly filling and yummy.  Great way to get more fruits and veggies in the diet.

-= Ingredients =-
2 cups cooked boneless ; skinless Chicken Breasts, or Rotissarie Chicken
3 large Tart Apples (Pink Ladies, Grannysmiths, Jazz,... ; cored and chopped
1/2 cup Craisins
1/2 cup Dried Cherries (Costco Kirkland brand) ; optional
3 celery stalks ; chopped
1/2 cup Pecans or walnuts ; chopped
~~ -- Dressing -- ~~
1/2 cup Plain Yogurt ; greek style is great!
3 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Agave Nectar or Honey ; (I use honey)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
Salt and pepper
Boston lettuce leaves ; optional (I never use them)

-= Instructions =-
In a large bowl, mix chicken, apples,craisins, cherries, celery, and nuts. Set aside.

In a smaller glass or ceramic bowl, stir together yogurt ,mayonnaise, agave nectar or honey, cinnamon, salt & pepper (I use about 1/2 t. salt & 1/4 t. pepper, but that's just me). Whisk well and TASTE.  You're looking for a sweetish taste.  If anything seems off then change it to what tastes good to you!


Pour over chicken mixture and mix well to coat chicken evenly.   Serve with rolls, homemade bread or french bread.  REALLY GOOD and HEALTHY.

Optional serving idea:  . Line a platter or individual plates with lettuce leaves and mound chicken salad on leaves. Garnish with a pinwheel of thin apple slices. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Recipe By: Bashas' Health Styles  Eat Smart newsletter
Serving Size: 4-6

** This recipe can be pasted into BigOven without retyping.     **
** Easy recipe software.  Try it free at: http://www.bigoven.com    **

Chicken + Salad= Heaven

This Spicy Honey Chicken Salad is so yummy and pretty darn easy. I had never made anything from Our Best Bites before, but this recipe has made me want to try more of their recipes. I'm feeling lazy so I'm just going to link to the recipes on their site.

The Chicken (it's really not spicy)
The Dressing
Put it all together- I usually leave the avocados off because they're really expensive here. The mango is a must have though!

Enjoy!

Mexican Tortilla Soup

But it doesn't taste like other Mexican soups to me.

Vegetable oil for frying

10 corn tortillas cut into thin strips

12 oz boneless/skinless chicken cubed

1 cup chopped onions

3 large potatoes, diced

6 cups chicken broth

1 cup frozen cut corn

1 can chopped mild green chilies

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

lime juice

(I add one can of black beans)

In heavy stock pot, heat 1/2 inch oil until very hot. Working in batches, fry tortillas until crisp. Drain on paper towels and set aside. (Or just use tortilla chips)

Pour off all but 1 Tbs. oil. Saute chicken on high for 5 min until it begins to brown. Add onion and cook another 5 min or until brown. Add potatoes and broth. Bring to a boil and simmer covered 10 min. Add corn, chilies, and cilantro. Return to a boil and simmer an additional 5 to 8 min or until veggies are tender.

Serves 6

Stuffed Chicken

I've been on the look out for quick and easy meals this summer. This one from Elly Says Opa! fits the bill and is really tasty.

Chicken Stuffed with Sundried Tomatoes, Olives, and Mozzarella

2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
6-8 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
3 Tbsp. sundried tomatoes, sliced
2 slices mozzarella or provolone cheese (I like feta)
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp. thyme
salt and pepper
2 tsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. chicken broth
2 Tbsp. white wine

Preheat the oven to 350.

Cut a pocket into your chicken breasts and fill each one with the sundried tomatoes, kalamata olives, and a slice of mozzarella cheese.

Mix together the flour with salt and pepper and the thyme.  Lightly dredge the chicken breasts in the flour mixture.

Heat an oven-proof skillet over medium heat and add the oil.  Once smoking, add the chicken breasts and sear, about 2 minutes per side.  Place the pan in the oven until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the skillet and place the pan on the stovetop over medium heat.  Add the chicken broth and wine, scraping up the browned bits and reducing the liquid by half.  Spoon the sauce over the chicken breasts.

*I've made this with chicken breasts and tenders both of which I pounded fairly thin, put the fillings on one half and then folded the chicken over the top. That way the chicken is thin and tender. Mmmm!

Chicken Noodle Soup

This might get a little confusing, so I am sorry ahead of time. I don't really have a recipe for this one, I just add as much of everything as I want. Good Luck!

Boil 3 pieces Chicken in water with boyon. When chicken is fully cooked remove the chicken and add enough water to the broth to boil 1 package egg noodles. Mean while, shred chicken. When noodles are cooked add 1 cube butter, salt, Mrs. Dash, parsley and shredded chicken. Cool for a little bit and add 1 pint sour cream. It might curdle the sour cream if you add it to boiling hot broth.

We serve this with rolls or homemade bread! It is so YUMMY! Hope you enjoy it!

Carrot Cake

Here is the carrot cake recipe that some of you wanted. I made it over the 24th weekend and it was REALLY good! I absolutely love this cake!

2 c. flour 2 tsps salt
2 c. sugar 2 tsps cinnamon
1 1/2 c. oil 2 tsps baking soda
3 cups grated carrots 4 eggs
1/4 c. pecans 1 c. crushed pineapple

Blend sugar, oil, and eggs. Mix dry ingredients and then add to sugar mixture. Add carrots, nuts and pineapple. Blend well. Bake at 375 Degrees for 1 hour.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

2 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese 1 box powdered sugar
1 cube butter 2 tsps. vanilla

Mix all ingredients until smooth.
I cut the frosting recipe in half when I mak a 9x13 cake and it is still more then enough.

Little Red Hen

I finally attempted to make bread! I've been putting it off with the excuse that I dont have a big electric mixer of some sort, not to mention that I left my bread pans in storage in AZ. I recently purchased a hand wheat grinder so that I could actually use my wheat. Here's our story of
"The Little Red Hen".

Sunday morning I decided to make bread for my family. Dayson was so excited to use the wheat grinder and I was more than happy to let him help! I had to take a break after about 3 cups, so Dayson dove in. He did pretty good. Between him and James, they ground about 5 cups. My muscles might be a tad bigger next time you see me.

It took about 30 min to get the 12 cups necessary to bake bread. (that wasn't including the breaks I had to take. Not bad, right? I wanted to try the recipe Kristine posted a few months ago, but realized that I didn't have evaporated milk. So I did another recipe that I had made before using someones Bosch. I bought some Vital Wheat Gluten, but forgot to put it in! Oops. The mixing wasn't bad, just sticky. It took more flour than I ground up, good thing I had whole wheat flour from the store on hand. I got it all mixed in, where it actually looked like dough! The yeast even foamed this time! I was feeling pretty Betty Crocker! I got the dough into loaves and into the pans (I checked at Walmart and they were $4 each, the dollar store had them for $1 each, sometimes I can really score there.) I dont know if this is a great idea or not, but I put the pans on the hood of my car outside to rise. When I went to put them in the oven I had to rearrange things to get them all in there. I forget how small the kitchen is until I get into the middle of something. Easter dinner was chaotic, but turned out nicely. Anyway, the bread:

was delicious. We ate almost a whole loaf as soon as it was done. Luckily I had canned some strawberry jam a few weeks back. It went perfectly with it. I now have the confidence to bake bread without a Bosch! Oh, and my family members helped me make it and eat it, unlike the other Little Red Hen!

Cinco de Mayo Recipe

I got this recipe from a friend of mine that is a caterer, so you know it's good. ;) She calls it "Texas Caviar" but I will give 10 points to whoever can think of a better name for it.  It's like a black bean and corn salsa or salad that is an entire meal (with chips) on its own.  Oh, and you definitely need to make it at least half a day ahead if you can't do it the day ahead.  It gets better with age.  So, here goes.

Texas Caviar (Corn and Black Bean Salad)

2 Cans Corn – rinsed and drained

2 Cans Black Beans – rinsed and drained

1 Can White Hominy – rinsed and drained

2 Bunches Green Onions – chopped

1 Bunch Cilantro – chopped

1 (6 oz) Can Diced Green Chiles (or 2 (4 oz) cans)

12 Roma Tomatoes – chopped (or 2-3 cans Rotel or similar)

2 Teaspoons (heaping) Jalepeños (or more, to taste)

Sprinkle of Crushed Red Pepper

Garlic Salt – to taste

Onion Salt – to taste

Pepper – to taste

2 Pkgs. Italian Dressing

        Sprinkle 1 mixture in dry

        Prepare 1 mixture according to directions and pour in 

MARINATE OVERNIGHT

3-6 Avocados – diced and mixed in just before serving (depending on your avocado preference)

SERVE WITH TORTILLA CHIPS

This stuff is delicious.  My whole family ate it.  It makes like 3 quarts, so Matt and I ate it for lunch for several days, and I was able to share a couple of servings with people.  Another great thing is that you can alter it to your preferences or what you have on hand, but I think it's best how it is.

Buena Suerte!

Orange Chicken

I found this recipe on www.allrecipes.com. My kids love chinese food and they love this recipe. When I found it, I was kind of turned off because the first review of it says it is horrible, but I read on and found that people didn't think it was to bad IF you changed a couple things. I will add the link but if it doesn't work it is titled "Orange chicken" and it is listed by: sal. The 2 reviews that had the changes that I used were from FELICIOUS and CUTECOOK17. (This is Dallins favorite meal, he even eats it with his chopsticks that he has saved from a restaraunt, and he is really good with them. I think it is a sign of him serving his mission in Asia. :) We will see.) I have been trying to feed my family healthier foods so instead of serving it with just plain white rice, I did 1/2 white and 1/2 brown, I liked it alot better and the kids couldn't even tell! Here is the link: www.allrecipes.com/Recipe/Orange-Chicken/Detail.aspx

Warning: Do not eat this!

It was brought to my attention that this post looked like spam so I've edited it. Rest assured, the links are safe :)

I've had home furnishings/ decorations on the brain lately so I was really excited when I read Brittanie Kivett West's blog this morning. She and her husband built an awesome twin bed with free plans from Ana-White.com  I clicked on the link and quickly fell in love with her plans. She makes it seem so easy that I want to rush out to buy a saw and wood and get started on something right away!

Another favorite furniture site is betterafter.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

Katie

Here is my favorite bread recipe. This isn't a QUICK 1 HR BREAD. It does take some time for rising but it's so worth it! This is still a one rise bread but letting it rise more slowly really improves the flavor of the bread. Make sure you use white wheat and go ahead and buy vital wheat gluten & dough enhancer. They really are keys to light & fluffy bread & rolls. Nancy's Yummy, Easy Whole Wheat Bread

My friend, Nancy, brought us this great bread when we moved in. It was so great that I went over to her house to find out her "secrets". The secret is that it's easy! Yields: 5 Loaves Ingredients 3 1/2 cups Hot tap water (!) (helps offset the cool can of milk) 1 12 oz can Evaporated milk 3 tablespoons Yeast (I like SAF) 2/3 cup Vegetable oil 1 cup Honey (use the same measuring glass as the oil and the honey slides right out) 1 1/2 cups White Bread Flour 3 tablespoons Vital Wheat Gluten 2 tablespoons Dough Enhancer 1 1/2 tablespoons Salt of Milled Flax Seed (optional) this adds extra nutrition and nice "specks" in the bread 12 cups Whole Wheat Flour (I used WHITE wheat: approx 8 c. wheat = 12 c. flour)
Instructions Grind your wheat while getting everything else ready. Then, using a Bosch or other heavy duty mixer, combine ingredients Water through white bread flour. Add 6 c. wheat flour. Mix well, then add rest of flour, vital wheat gluten, dough enhancer, salt and flax seed. Mix well til dough pulls away from side of the bowl. It will be sticky but should pull away from the bowl while mixing. This is pretty critical. It's tempting to add too much flour at this point. Wait and watch to see if the dough will pull away. If it's just too wet, then add more flour but let it mix for a minute or 3! Set timer for 8-10 minutes and knead the dough according to your machine's setting. If you have to add more flour, you'll need to knead it longer to develop the new flour's gluten so make sure it's ready for this step before setting timer. To tell if the gluten is developed enough (& you're done kneading),flour hands & pinch off a bouncy ball size ball of dough. Roll in hands to form ball then using your middle fingers of both hands, try to stretch the center of the dough out as far as you can before it breaks. You're trying to form a very thin dough "window". The dough is finished kneading when you can get it really thin and see light through it. Call me if this is too confusing! Dump out dough onto an oiled counter and spread with your hands. Form into a long log and then divide it into 5 loaves. Either roll out wth a rolling pin and roll up cinnamon roll fashion OR simply form a loaf with your hands. Place in bottom of greased loaf pan. Let rise in a warm spot on your kitchen counter until doubled in size. Cover pans with damp cloth. This takes longer than rising dough in a warmed oven, but this slower rise takes away the harsh yeasty flavor quick-rise bread has. You can even rise overnight in the fridge and bake in the am. Bake in preheated 350° for 25-30 minutes, then remove from pans and let cool completely before slicing (if you can wait that long!).
Given to Kristine Hipps by Nancy Whyte Cuisine : Main Ingredient :

A man cannot live on bread alone

I am looking for a simple bread recipe that I can make. I dont have a Bosch or anything, but neither did the pioneers. What I do have is a hand wheat grinder and 100+ pounds of wheat! Let's hear it sista's.

Ole' for Soup Season

OK ladies. Here's the recipe for the White Chili I raved about before.

I wanted to take a picture but the soup didn't stay around long enough (& alright, I couldn't stop eating it to bother grabbing the camera) to snap a pretty picture of it (Update: I poached it off the website where I found the recipe).

But, trust me. This is a soup I could eat every single week.

It's that good.

The original recipe can be found on Melanie's website www.melskitchencafe.com but this version is different.

Different in a very good way. A very good way.

White Chili

This is a Great tasting soup served with cornbread. Good pantry dinner, too. Most ingredients are food storage items so it's a good last minute meal. Yields: 6 Servings Ingredients 1 can or bottle of chicken or leftover cooked chicken or turkey meat OR 1 pound boneless chicken breasts 1 medium onion chopped 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder or 2 cloves fresh garlic finely minced (I like the bottled minced garlic) 1 tablespoon oil 2 cans (15 1/2 ounces each) Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth or 2 cups of stock or broth 2 cans (4 ounces each) chopped green chilies (if you like less kick, add 1 can) 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika 1/2 cup sour cream 1 can evaporated milk
Instructions In a large saucepan, saute onion, garlic powder (add fresh garlic, if using, at the last minute so it doesn't burn) and (chicken, if using raw meat),in oil until translucent. Add beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream and evaporated milk. Garnish with fresh cilantro, if desired, but I don't really like cilantro with this (can't believe I'd say such a thing!). Serve immediately. This is especially good served with tortilla chips or cornbread. Slow Cooker Option: In a medium round slow cooker, place 1 pound chicken breasts (fresh or frozen) without cubing them. Add the chopped onion, garlic powder, beans, green chiles and all of the spices. Do not add the sour cream or evaporated milk yet! Reduce the chicken broth to 12 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) and pour in over the other ingredients. Stir the mixture around a bit to incorporate the dry spices. Cook on low for 5-7 hours (if using frozen chicken you'll cook on the longer end of that spectrum, fresh chicken will cook in less time). Remove the chicken to a cutting board and shred in bite-size pieces. Stir back into the slow cooker. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the sour cream and milk until smooth. Whisk the cream mixture into the crockpot with the other ingredients. Let the soup cook until heated through. Serve.
from melskitchencafe.com & adapted by Kristine Hipps

Quick Note

I made the White Bean Chili again last night and noted the changes made from the original recipe. It was So-o-o good (for those who like that kind of meal - sorry Kelsey) and I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture!

I'll do it soon and post the changes but just couldn't wait to "brag" about it.

Your fat mama