Liquid Taco Love - Taco Soup

We love tacos at our house. Of course, who doesn't like tacos, right? I mean, seriously, what's not to love about spicy beef and cheese, wrapped up in a crispy shell. Tacos are pretty easy, too. Brown some meat, put out some fixings, and let the fam assemble their own dinner. Sounds like a winner to me!

When we first adopted our daughter, Rachel, I remember how excited she would get whenever we were having tacos for dinner, and any time I asked her what she wanted me to make her face would light up with a great big, cheesy grin and she'd yell, "Tacos!!!" But, just like her taste in music has matured from Justin Bieber to One Direction, tacos have lost some of their specialness and we're on the lookout for something new and exciting that will rekindle the thrill of our weekly taco night.

The weather turned a little cooler this week, and I felt the need to break out my fuzzy socks and flannel pj's, so a thick, bubbly soup seemed like just the thing to warm me up. I wasn't planning on making this soup, but when I saw how easy it was and knew I had all the ingredients already in my pantry, I dumped all my taco fixings in a pot and voila! my new favorite form of tacos was born!

Cheesy Taco Soup

Total time: 25 min.

Serves 6

Meat Mixture:

1 lb lean ground beef

Salt & pepper, to taste

1/2 cup diced onion (optional)

1/2 cup diced green pepper (optional)

1 (1 oz) envelope taco seasoning 
1 (10 oz) can tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
1 (15 oz) can of pinto beans or black beans (or a combo)
2 cups frozen corn

1.5 cups milk

Cheese Mixture:

2 Tbsp butter 

2 Tbsp flour
1 cup milk
Salt & pepper, to taste
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Cayenne pepper, to taste

Topping suggestions: Mexican blend shredded cheese, sour cream, diced green onions, corn chips (Fritos)

Season ground beef with salt and pepper to taste (I use about 1/2 tsp each) then brown in a large soup pot over medium-high heat until no longer pink. Add onions and peppers, if using, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain off grease and return to pot.

Add taco seasoning, tomatoes, beans, corn, and 1-1/2 cups milk into beef mixture and stir well to combine. Cook over medium-high heat until almost boiling (you should see just a few bubbles) then turn heat down to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat then whisk in flour and cook for one minute. Slowly whisk in 1 cup milk. Switch to a rubber spatula to cook and stir mixture until thickened, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat then stir in shredded cheese until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste (I use about 1/4 tsp each).

Add cheese sauce to meat mixture and simmer a few more minutes until heated through. Add cayenne pepper to taste, if desired (I use about 1/2 tsp.)

I serve this with Mexican blend shredded cheese, sour cream, green onions, and corn chips for topping.

442 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Curry-licious Shrimp

I've told you before how the rest of my family does not appreciate curry in any form.  But curry is one of my favorite flavors!  Is it bad that I continue to make curry dishes, hoping they will eventually like one of them?  Maybe it's just selfishness, but I prefer to think of it as my attempt to broaden their taste horizons.  Either way, I don't intend to stop anytime soon.  Fortunately, I think I've finally found a curry dish we can all enjoy!  Everybody cleaned their plates and I even got a compliment out of Allen, my most adamant curry opponent.

This recipe calls for shrimp and rice, but now that I know my family likes it, I will definitely try it with other meats and starches.  You could also add additional vegetables if you wanted.  I served this with a side of sugar snap peas which are one of my favorite veggies.  If you haven't tried them, you absolutely must - they are great raw, steamed, or simmered.

Coconut Shrimp Curry

link to original recipe
Total time: 20 min
Serves 8

For the marinade:
1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2 Tbs lemon juice
1 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined

For the sauce:
1 Tbs canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp ground pepper
1 Tbs minced fresh ginger
1 tsp kosher salt
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp curry powder
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (13.5 oz) can coconut milk
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
8 cups hot cooked rice for serving, if desired

 

For the shrimp marinade, toss the shrimp with the salt, pepper, cayenne and lemon juice in a resealable large bag or in a bowl. Refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium-sized pot, heat the canola oil over medium heat until rippling and hot. Add the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the pepper, ginger, salt, garlic, coriander, turmeric and curry powder. Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture is very fragrant and the onion is soft and translucent, about 5-7 minutes.

Add the undrained tomatoes to the pot and cook, stirring and scraping up the browned bits from the bottom, for about 1 minute. Increase the heat to medium-high and simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring often.

Add the coconut milk, stirring to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil and add the shrimp and any accumulated juices from the marinade. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until the shrimp are curled, lightly pink and cooked through, about 4 minutes. I prefer my sauce a little thicker, so I stirred in a tablespoon of cornstarch dissolved in cold water at this point.

Stir in the cilantro. Serve over hot, cooked rice, if desired.
 
283 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Pot Pie Perfection

Pot pie is such a traditional comfort food, you'd be surprised to know my momma never made it for us. I'm a lot like my momma, but I definitely didn't get my love of cooking from her. She was great at fried chicken, pork chops, and mashed potatoes, but that was about the extent of her repertoire. Now she reads my blog and says, "I'm gonna try that some time!"

The first time I tasted chicken pot pie (besides the single serving frozen ones) was when Ryan's Steakhouse opened up in the next town. I was always so bummed the days when we went and they didn't have it on the buffet!

When I moved to the South, everyone talked about chicken pie, which, best I can tell, is the same thing but without the vegetables in it. Now what is the point of that? This is a perfect dish to hide a bunch of veggies in! Even my teenager loves this dish, veggies included. In fact, she made it all by herself last night and it turned out great. I've tried a dozen different pot pie recipes over the years, and they're all pretty similar, but this is the combination I like the best.

To precook the chicken, I find it super easy to throw some breasts in the Crock-Pot so they are ready to go when I am. This makes the dish come together a lot quicker. I also use pre-made, refrigerated pie crust--the kind with two rolled-up crusts in a package. Now, homemade pie crust is really not that hard, or that time-consuming, but making it just adds more work to my day and even the generic brands taste just fine to me, thank you very much!

This recipe makes two single-crust pies, so you could potentially eat one and save the other for later, but we usually just scarf it all down right away. I haven't tried freezing the second one before baking it, but I'm sure that could work, too. You'd probably have to thaw it first or bake it about 20 minutes longer.  If I ever try that, I'll let you know how it turns out.

Chicken Pot Pie
Prep time: 15 min  Bake time: 20 min
Serves 8

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup onion, diced (optional)
1/2 cup flour
8 oz chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
3 cups cubed, cooked chicken (or turkey)
3 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1 3/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp pepper
2 pie crusts
1 egg, beaten

Melt butter in a large saucepan.  Saute onions if butter. When onions are tender, whisk in flour. Gradually add broth and milk, whisking constantly till smooth. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir 2 minutes or till thickened.

Add the chicken, veggies, cheese and seasonings then heat through.

Divide mixture evenly between two greased pie pans. Spread pie crust over top and press edges of dough to pan. Crimp edges of dough if desired. Cut slits in top of crust to allow steam to escape. Brush crust with beaten egg for a nice, crisp shine.

Bake, uncovered, at 425F for 18-22 minutes or till golden brown.  Let stand 10-20 minutes before cutting to allow filling to firm up--unless you like chicken pot soup!

Ranch-tastic

Have you ever noticed that no matter how much time you have, you always have plenty of chores to fill it all?  I'm a working wife and mother, I'm involved in 4 different ministries at my church, I'm a homeowner, a pet owner, and a blogger, and yet, somehow I manage to get it all done everyday, without having an anxiety attack.  So you'd think that when I get lucky enough to have a few extra hours off work they would be gloriously empty and full of me-time potential.  Yeah, right!

Somehow they always manage to get filled up before I can even think about using them for personal pleasure.  Orthodontist appointments, doctor appointments, pharmacy pick-ups, important phone calls, and a million little errands always seem to eat up every extra minute.  I don't even bother trying to plan some extravagant dinner on those bonus days because I know I won't have an extra minute to make anything time-consuming.  A lot of times, I just throw something in the Crock-Pot and skip "making dinner" altogether!

Today was one of those busy days and what did I do to add even more to my plate?  I invited friends over for dinner on impulse!  What on earth would possess me to do such a thing?

Dinner confidence, that's what.  I knew I had a winner simmering away in my Crock-Pot and all I'd have to do is serve it up and rake in the compliments.  Then I was "free" to spend the rest of the evening relaxing with my besties...planning a baby shower for 60 of their closest friends!

Ranch Chops 'n Gravy
Prep time: 5 min  Cook time: 4 hrs
serves 6

6 pork chops, 1/2 inch thick
1 (1 oz) packet ranch dressing powder
1 (10 oz) can cream of chicken soup
1 Tbs parsley flakes

Place pork chops, ranch powder, and soup into a medium-sized Crock-Pot and cook on high heat for 4 hours or low heat for 6 hours.  Sprinkle with parsley flakes.  This is great served over mashed potatoes!

404 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

How 'Bout Them Apples?

You'd never guess it based on this weekend, but I appreciate the simple things in life: a good book, a catchy song, simple flavors.  This weekend was complicated.  I took my daughter to her very first concert - the Taylor Swift Red Tour.  That doesn't sound like it should be so complicated, but it required buying the tickets a year in advance, prepping dinner in the Crock-Pot so we could be out the door 20 minutes after I got off work, driving an hour to Raleigh, detouring around the city when a car accident blocked the highway, idling in line for 30 minutes to get a parking spot, forcing our way through a massive throng of people while circling the arena twice in order to find our seats, enduring the nonstop screaming of 14,000 teenage girls, and spending more than $500 on 2 tickets, parking, 2 souvenir shirts and a bucket of popcorn.  All that for a few hours of entertainment!  And, of course, some priceless memories with my munchkin.  After all that, I needed something simple to soothe my frazzled nerves.  What could be simpler than butter, sugar, and apples, simmered for a couple minutes on the stove and sprinkled with a few spices.  These apples are great served up as a side dish for breakfast, lunch or dinner, as a topping for ice cream or pancakes, or even as a simple dessert - call it crustless apple pie and it sounds like health food!  My momma taught me better, but these were so good I couldn't help but lick the plate.

Skillet Fried Apples
link to original recipe
Prep time: 5 min  Cook time: 15 min
Serves 4
 
3 large Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled and cut into wedges
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter 
1/4 cup light brown sugar, well packed
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter with the brown sugar. Add the apples and cook over medium until apples begin to release juices. Reduce to medium low and simmer for about 15 minutes or until apples are tender. Sprinkle spices on top and toss until well blended.

207 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Whole Lotta Chipotle

All you friends here in bloggerland know me as Sweet P, but what you probably didn't know is that my friends in the real world occasionally call me by another, less innocent name.  It's a little naughty, so, Mom, if you're reading, you can skip this paragraph!  Believe it or not, the first time I cooked for my bestie Melissa and her husband TJ, I made these sliders and TJ fell in love....with my cooking.  He told me he would do pretty much anything for me if I cooked another meal for him, so Melissa dubbed me his Food Whore, and I've been bribing him with goodies ever since.  In fact, just tonight we were hanging out, and he offered to help me profitize my little blog here in exchange for a big bowl of curry.  I think it's a perfect win-win situation - I make lots of yummy new recipes to pay TJ for promoting my blog, and the recipes get posted on my blog, so my blog gets more page views than ever!  And to think it all started with a tiny little hamburger and a whole lotta chipotles!

FYI: These succulent little sliders are HOT!!!  They are definitely not kid-friendly, and even I start to look like a panting dog about half way through them, but they are fabulous and they disappear in minutes when I take them to parties.  Serve them with a gallon of milk to quench the fire if you must, but definitely try them!

Chipotle Sliders
link to original recipe
Prep time: 15 min  Cook time: 10 min
Serves 10

1 package (12 oz) Hawaiian sweet rolls
1 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp pepper 

8 tsp minced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, divided 

1-1/2 pounds ground beef 

10 slices pepper Jack cheese 

1/2 cup mayonnaise

 Place 2 rolls in a food processor; process until crumbly. Transfer to a large bowl; add the salt, pepper and 6 teaspoons chipotle peppers. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 10 patties.

Grill burgers, covered, over medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side or until a thermometer reads 160° and juices run clear. Top with cheese. Grill 1 minute longer or until cheese is melted.

Split remaining rolls and grill, cut side down, over medium heat for 30-60 seconds or until toasted.

Combine mayonnaise and remaining chipotle peppers; spread over roll bottoms. Top each with a burger. Replace roll tops.

357 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!