Chicken Tortilla Soup

I love slow cooker recipes - throwing everything in one big pot and then forgetting about it is a wonderful thing sometimes! This soup is really flavorful without being super spicy. My kids love it, so that's a big plus! I adapted the recipe from this one which was a good starting point but tasted bland to us, and wasn't very filling.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 red pepper, seeded and chopped
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 (32 ounce) carton chicken broth
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 hours. Remove the chicken, shred or chop it, then return it to the slow cooker along with:

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can whole kernel corn
2 cups prepared (already cooked) rice

Let it continue to heat on low for 1-2 more hours, then serve with your choice of toppings (my favorite part!):

Chopped cilantro
Shredded cheese
Sour cream
Tortilla chips
Chopped fresh tomatoes
Chopped green onions
Whatever you like!

Now, that's the official recipe. Since my family is picky, I actually take more time to prep the ingredients by sauteéing the vegetables (first 5 ingredients) in a touch of olive oil until they're tender, then I blitz them in the food processor/blender and add them in like that. You can turn up the heat by adding in jalapeño, and you can certainly use a mix of different peppers like orange or yellow, too. If you're going low-carb, simply omit the rice and/or corn and add in another can of beans.

Creamy Cheese Dip

It's no secret that I consider cheese a major food group of its own. My kids thankfully agree! I've made fondue for dinner before and it's always anticipated and enjoyed by all. Tonight I decided to serve a simple meal of homemade cheese dip and tortilla chips, plus corn on the cob. I figure they've probably had worse, nutritionally speaking, and it's nice to serve a meal once in a while that prompts no complaints! And seriously, you can't go wrong with a recipe whose main step involves melting a bunch of cheese.


Creamy Cheese Dip

1/2 pound ground beef
1 can (10 ounces) diced tomatoes with chilies
8 ounces white American cheese (deli slices)
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (optional, but I highly recommend it!)

In a small skillet, crumble and cook beef, seasoning with salt and pepper. In a small (3 quart) slow cooker, combine ground beef, American cheese and tomatoes. After about 2 hours on low, the cheese should be thoroughly melted. Stir in cheddar and cilantro. Cook until heated through, another 30 - 60 minutes.

This results in a fresh, creamy, mild dip. If you like it really spicy, Ro-Tel makes a diced tomatoes with habanero option that might suit you better! Or add in a diced jalapeño for a medium kick.

Note:  Especially if I'm cooking for a crowd, I'll use packaged, pre-shredded cheese for casseroles or taco topping, etc. When I need the cheese to melt beautifully, I always shred my own. The pre-shredded kind has cornstarch or some other kind of anti-caking agent that prevents it from melting nicely.

Barbecued Chicken Legs

Last Friday I was in the produce department of Kroger when a thought hit me: I hadn't decided what to make for our college people on Sunday night! After some serious brainstorming and a check in the meat department for sales, I decided on trying my hand at barbecued chicken legs. I ended up getting 15 drumsticks for about $4.50! I decided to make my own barbecue sauce with whatever I had on hand. This recipe will work for any amount of chicken, though.

Barbecued Chicken Legs

chicken legs
lemon-pepper seasoning
garlic salt

Remove the skin from the drumsticks. This is the most time consuming part of the process, and many stores sell them already skinned - especially during grilling season. Lay the legs out on a foil-lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle them lightly with the two seasonings, flip 'em over and season that side, too. Roast them in the oven at 375° for 30 minutes, turn, roast 15 minutes more. During the last 15 minutes, baste them occasionally with the barbecue sauce. Serve with more sauce on the side for dipping.

Red-Eye BBQ Sauce

1 cup brewed coffee
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup apple-cider vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 30-35 minutes (while chicken bakes). Store leftover sauce in the refrigerator.

Since I was feeding a crowd and we eat after the evening church service, I elected to finish these off in the slow cooker. After the roasting process, without basting them, I put the drumsticks in my slow cooker insert and poured the completed Red-Eye BBQ Sauce over them. The insert went into the fridge until the next day, when I set the slow cooker to low before going to church that evening. They heated for about 3 hours, which was perfect! Enough to heat them through, but not to cook them any further.

Picnic Supper

For our college people last night I made a pretty traditional picnic meal, and it was easy as pie!

Hotdogs - I like turkey hotdogs, and I ate mine wrapped in a slice of cheese and dipped in a mix of ketchup and mustard - no bun. I don't have a grill, so I boil the hotdogs in a small amount of water in a large skillet. When they're nice and plump I drain off the water and add a touch of canola oil to the skillet. I sauté them until they're crispy.

The slow-cooked macaroni and cheese recipe is my standard for a crowd.

I used Alton Brown's method of "hard-boiled" eggs for these - baked in the oven! The only change I'd make is to cook them for less time. The recipe says 30 minutes, I took mine out at 28, and I could have probably done 25 instead. For the filling, I mix the yolks with a touch of Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Bonus tip for peeling eggs - the large end of the egg usually contains water, so crack that first, allowing the water to drain down into the egg, loosening the shell. After creating a small opening there, I use a small spoon to slide the shell right off! I can typically do it in two pieces. It's a fun challenge for someone who is easily amused.

Dessert was my mom's "Secret Recipe" Chocolate Chip Cookies. The quotes are because the recipe is available in my cookbook, and isn't a secret anymore! But for years people asked my mom for the secret to why her cookies were so tender and delicious - now you can know!

Homemade Yogurt

My kids all love yogurt, but I limit the amount they eat simply because it gets expensive. Several weeks ago I found a blog post on how to make yogurt at home in the slow cooker and I have finally accomplished it! It turned out really well. Though it takes time to go through the process, it's not a lot of "hands-on" time and I found it to be pretty simple. I used a half-gallon of organic 1% milk this time, but since it turned out so well, I'll do a full gallon next time. The higher the fat content in your milk, the creamier your yogurt will be, but since I have a toddler with (genetically) high cholesterol we went with the lower fat and it worked just fine.

If you'd like to try it, too, just check out this link!

Slow Cooked Chicken

I don't love housework, but I do love all the "mod cons" - as our friends across the pond call modern conveniences. There's something supremely satisfying about knowing the dishwasher, washing machine and dryer are all working away in the background while I'm busy with other things. I feel the same way about my slow cooker. Knowing that dinner is ready to go with little to no further effort on my part is comforting in a way. It's one less thing to concern myself with as we finish up other chores and work on school for the day. Other than for a meal, I also like to use my slow cooker for large batches of chicken. I buy it as it's on sale, then when I get a few packages I pull them out of the freezer and cook them all at one time. I wrote about that process in this post. I'll be doing that today! I'm cooking down about $5.00 worth of chicken which will translate to about 4 meals for our family. When I have it all packaged up, the shredded chicken will go in the freezer to await its fate in one of these recipes:

Chicken Parmesan Casserole

Thai Chicken Pasta

Chicken Ranch Casserole

Chicken Parmesan Calzones

Chicken Salad

Chicken Pot Pie

... Or any number of other fabulous options!

A special thanks goes out to our "college people", who blessed me with a new slow cooker last night! It's non-stick and stainless steel and programmable ... and I'm so excited! Thank you so much! We love y'all.

Sunday Night Review 10/2

Last night the menu was BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, Twice-Baked Potato Casserole, and Strawberry-Limeade Punch. The chicken was just a mix of light and dark meat mixed with Spicy Honey barbecue sauce and cooked in the slow cooker for several hours.

Twice-Baked Potato Casserole 

5 lb russet potatoes 
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted 
1 cup sour cream
1 green onion, chopped
1-1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 350° degrees. Peel potatoes, and cut into chunks. Place in a large saucepan, and add enough cold water to cover by about 2 inches. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and reduce to a simmer. Cook until tender and easily pierced with a paring knife, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a colander to drain; return to pan.

Mash the potatoes in pan until light and fluffy. Add the cream cheese, butter, and sour cream, and stir until combined and smooth. Add the green onion, 1 cup cheddar cheese, half the bacon, salt, and pepper. Stir until well combined.

Transfer to a buttered 9 x 13 baking dish. Top with remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese. Bake until top is slightly golden and potatoes are heated through, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven; garnish with remaining bacon. Serve immediately.

Sunday Night Review 9/11

I am a huge fan of warm weather! To me, the worst part of summer is how super-cooled people keep any given building. I dread that blast of air conditioning that hits after the warmth of the sun. But I know I'm mostly alone on that point, though Handsome shares my opinion, thankfully!

Despite my preference for summer, I do love fall for various reasons: the leaves changing color, the crisp (not cold!) air, the smell of burning leaves, marching band season, and the fact that fall is so perfect for comfort food like soups and stews. Last night for dinner I made two simple soups - Veggie Beef, and Cheesy Potato. Both were very simple to throw together, and turned out to be quite tasty, too! I made Honey-Wheat Yeast Rolls to go with the soups, and Autumn Cupcakes for dessert.


Cheesy Potato Soup

1 (30 ounce) package shredded hash browns
1 (10-3/4 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
6 cups chicken broth (1-1/2 cartons)
1/2 onion, chopped
8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese 
salt and pepper
8 ounces cream cheese (I used reduced-fat, but fat-free will NOT melt)

In a slow cooker, combine all ingredients except the cream cheese. Cook on low for 6 hours. Add in cream cheese, stirring and continuing to heat until melted, about 30 minutes to an hour.


(See, I told you it was easy!)

Venison Pot Roast

I know, it's been a while since I really updated, and I'm sorry! I've had a very busy week, in which The Boy turned 7, Handsome turned, um, another year older, and lots of other stuff happened. At any rate, I'm finally getting around to posting my recipe for venison roast!

Handsome's birthday is just two days apart from our good friend EC's birthday, so we had EC over to celebrate with us. I wanted to make something special and my sweet friend The Crazy Goat Lady had given us a venison roast which I thought would be perfect for the occasion. Except that I couldn't find a good recipe anywhere! I knew venison roasts could be gamey or tough if not cooked properly and I needed pointers. I eventually found inspiration in a couple of places and came up with this delicious recipe. The roast was really perfect. Tender, juicy, flavorful, not gamey at all! I served it with mashed potatoes, gravy, fried squash, carrots, green beans, and Bisclettes. And may I say that it is a such a joy to feed someone who (besides Handsome and me) actually enjoys eating what I cook!

Venison Pot Roast

1 venison roast, bone-in
4 slices bacon, cut into thirds
1/4 cup red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1 cup beef broth
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, halved

Rinse the roast in cold water and place in a slow cooker, and top with remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 8-9 hours. I turned it over halfway through the time, just to make sure that it stayed in the cooking liquid. At that time, I also added in baby carrots so I'd have one side dish that didn't need tending!

Bookworm Birthday Party

When our Oldest Girl turned 2, I had a book-themed birthday party for her. She loved (loves) books! I found an old notebook of mine today while cleaning out/organizing a bookshelf and found the notes I had written on that party. Here are the ideas I used for the menu:

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish ... Goldfish! (Dr. Seuss) - a bowl of Goldfish snack crackers.

Click Clack Moo Juice (Cronin/Lewin) - Mocha Punch

Today I Feel Silly Cupcakes (Jamie Lee Curtis) - I used a basic cupcake recipe and frosting. I provided a variety of candy so guests could decorate their own cupcake.

Where The Wild Things Are Monster Mix (Sendak) - homemade caramel corn with peanuts

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs (Barrett) - my standard meatball recipe - a small jar of grape jelly and a jar of chili sauce mixed with meatballs and heated in a slow cooker.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad ... Vegetables (Viorst/Cruz) - Um, a tray of veggies, of course!

Bread and Butter Battle Book (Dr. Seuss) - homemade rolls with homemade cinnamon-honey butter

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (Numeroff) - cookies! I don't remember what recipe I used, and my only note on this says, "dipped sandwich cookies".

At each of the dishes, I placed the corresponding children's book. As conversation starters, I printed out the first lines from different children's books so that people could guess the book. The party invitations were apple shapes cut from red construction paper - "It's a birthday party for a bookworm!" I made a brown worm tab that you could pull from the apple. The worm wore glasses and had a message written down his body - "We can't wait to see you!"

This is also a great idea for a back-to-school party, or just a celebration of great children's literature!

Monday Tradition?

I'm thinking that on Mondays I'll do a post about what I served our college/singles crew the night before. I've mentioned before some of the restrictions I work around, like making sure it's something somewhat universally liked, fairly cheap, and easy to do either quickly or ahead of time. Last night I served hotdogs, coleslaw, macaroni and cheese, chips, and strawberry shortcake. I think that marks the first time I've served them hotdogs, but they were on sale and I couldn't resist!

So, for the hotdogs, I boiled them to heat them through, then crisped them up on my grill pan before serving. Still not as good as grilling them out, but since we don't have a grill ...

I used my standard Coleslaw recipe. I used a head of cabbage and a handful of baby carrots and made it up in the afternoon.

I love Slow-Cooked Mac 'n' Cheese for occasions like this, when oven-baked just isn't practical.

This was my first experience making Strawberry Shortcake, and it turned out really well. I doubled the cake recipe and baked it a little too long, so it was a touch dry. Next time I'll be more careful! I also used fresh whipped cream. I've given the basic method in my Cinnamon Cream Fruit Dip. Just use powdered sugar instead of brown, and omit the cinnamon.

Don't forget to enter your comment on my Giveaway! post for a chance to win a custom apron or one of my new cookbooks!

Sunday Pot Roast

I suppose if I had to name the quintessential Sunday dinner, it would have to be pot roast. My mom makes pretty much the best I've ever eaten, and it's amazingly simple. I know a lot of people cook their vegetables in with their roast, and that's certainly one way to do it. I prefer to cook just the roast, with the veggies on the side. With this recipe, you can throw your carrots (the standard side!) in the slow cooker, but it's best to wait until about 2 hours before your roast is done. Unless you like your veggies mushy - this is the South, after all!

Sunday Pot Roast

3 pound chuck roast
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 can (10-3/4 oz) cream of mushroom soup
fresh-ground black pepper

Spray inside of slow cooker with cooking spray. Place roast in crock; sprinkle with soup mix and pepper. Pour mushroom soup on top. Cook on low heat for 8 hours. I usually turn the roast over about halfway through the cooking time.

If there are any leftovers, I always use them to make Beef Pot Pie. They go so much further that way, and it's delicious!

Slow Cooker Nachos

My friend Chrissy posted this recipe on her Facebook page recently, crediting it to our friend Tammy, who credited it to our friend Bonnie, and I have no idea where Bonnie got it! But, when a recipe gets passed around like that so much it HAS to be good! I thought it sounded perfect for the college and singles crew that Handsome and I host on Sunday nights. I'm giving you the recipe as I received it, but I used a whole package of chicken (about 1.7 pounds), 2 cans of beans, and a larger jar of salsa to feed our crowd. My version fed about ten people, so I guess this recipe will feed 4-6.

Slow Cooker Nachos

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can corn
1 can black beans
1 (16 oz) jar salsa
1 (8 oz) block cream cheese
Tortilla chips
Shredded cheddar, sour cream, cilantro, chopped tomatoes, black olives, sliced jalapenos, etc.

Place the chicken, corn, beans and salsa in a slow cooker and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Shred chicken and add in cream cheese. Allow time to melt, stirring to combine. Serve over tortilla chips and top with your favorite nacho additions.

Apple Cobbler

People often ask me where I get my recipes and how I come up with ideas. Well, one of my favorite hobbies is reading cookbooks and cooking magazines.  I actually LIKE waiting in doctors’ offices, as long as there’s an issue of Southern Living lying around!  It’s like any hobby, I guess, you just learn all you can about it.  My sweetie pie teases me about always having to put my own stamp on recipes, and it’s true: I like to take someone else’s good idea and make it even better!  So, as I’m perusing the magazine, I’ll see a recipe and think, “I bet I can substitute …” or “Ooh, that would be good with …”

And that’s just how this recipe came about! I simply took someone else’s topping idea and made my sweetie’s favorite:

Apple Cobbler

2 apples, cored and chopped

¼ cup sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Sprinkle of nutmeg

Splash of lemon juice

Dash of vanilla extract

½ package boxed cake mix

4 tablespoons butter, melted

Combine first 6 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well. Transfer to a greased 1-1/2 quart slow cooker. Top with cake mix and drizzle with melted butter.  Cook on high for 2-3 hours, or low for 4. Yield: 8 small servings