Fish Tacos

Story:

Another one from Monica! I adapted the sauce... it's pretty easy really.

Ingredients:
small corn tortillas
fish sticks (click here for our favorite kind)
salsa (click here for our favorite kind)
cabbage, sliced "as thinly as humanly possible" (as Monica puts it)
Cafe Rio dressing (click here for recipe)

Directions:
Bake fish sticks according to package directions. (I like 'em nice and crispy, so I leave them in longer than the directions say.)
Rub a little oil on each side of each tortilla and put it in a pan to crisp it up a little.
To eat, take the tortilla and layer on 1 1/2 to 2 fish sticks, salsa, cabbage, and dressing.
That's it! Enjoy...

San Francisco Chops

Story:
This is another recipe from Traci's mom, Julie. It was in the original cookbook that she made for Ben and me for a wedding gift. I'm not usually a big fan of pork chops, but the flavor of these is awesome!

Ingredients:
4 pork chops (1/2 to 3/4 inch thick - about 1 1/2 lbs)
1 T oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 t oil
4 T beef broth
4 T soy sauce
2 T brown sugar
1/4 t crushed red pepper
2 t cornstarch
2 T water

Directions:
Trim fat of pork chops.
Heat oil in skillet. Brown chops on both sides
Remove the pork chops and add a little more oil if needed.
Saute garlic for a minute, being careful not to burn it.
Combine oil, broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, and red pepper.
Place chops back in skillet and pour the sauce over them.
Cover tightly.
Simmer over low heat until chops are tender and cooked through (30-35 minutes).
Add a little water (1 to 2 T), if needed, to keep sauce from cooking down too much.
Turn once.
Remove chops to a platter. Stir in the cornstarch, dissolved in water. Cook until thickened. Pour over the pork chops and serve with noodles or rice.

Monica's Granola

Story:
I have a good friend here in KY named Monica. And I love that we can hardly ever get off the phone with each other without sharing a recipe with each other. (Actually it's usually her sharing something new she discovered... which I am always anxious to copy.) She shared her granola recipe with me... and I fell in love with it. Thanks, Monica!

Ingredients:
14 C rolled oats
2 C wheat germ
2 C coconut
2 t salt
1 1/4 brown sugar

1/2 C honey
1 C oil
1 C warm water
1 T vanilla

Directions:
Mix all the dry ingredients in a big bowl.
Mix the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl.
Pour the wet over the dry and mix together.
Pour the granola onto two baking sheets.
Bake at 225 for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.

To serve, you can add anything you'd like... like peaches, bananas, raisins, craisins, almonds, etc. I like to sprinkle on some flaxseed and I love it with nutmeg!

Taco Soup

Story:
Believe it or not, somehow I grew up never having Taco Soup. My mom gave me this recipe soon after I was married and I thought it was the best creation ever! It was then that I realized that everybody else in the world already seemed to know what it was. And everybody else already seemed to have their own version of this yummy soup. Oh well. This one is my all-time favorite recipe for Taco Soup. I love it. Ben loves it. The kids love it. And it makes a lot, so be prepared for leftovers!

Soup Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 C chopped onion
2 C water
1 (12 oz) can of V-8 juice
3 (14.5 oz) cans of diced tomatoes
1 (16 oz) can of red kidney beans (drained)
1 (11 oz) can of corn (drained)
1 (14.5 oz) can of green beans (drained)
1 pkg. taco seasoning
2 T sugar

Garnish Ingredients:
Fritos (I like the Scoops!)
Grated Cheese

Directions:
Cook the ground beef with the onions.
In a big pot, add all the soup ingredients except the corn and beans.
Simmer for 20 minutes.
Add the corn and the beans the last 5 minutes.
Serve with Fritos and grated cheese.

Notes:

• The original recipe called for 3 cups of water. If it seems a little too thick for you, feel free to add more.
• The original recipe called for 16 oz can of V-8. I either just use one 12 oz can... or sometimes I have some of the little 5.5 oz cans (Costco) on hand, so I use 2 or 3 of those.
• I buy taco seasoning in bulk, so I use 1/4 cup of that instead of the individual packages.
• Other ideas for the garnish: green peppers, green onions, sour cream, olives, chopped tomatoes, or avocado.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Story:

I love pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. They've been one of my favorites for years, but I had never made them until a couple of weeks ago. And I've made them three times since then. Knowing that I like them so much, my good friend Kate W. shared her recipe with me. I shared some with my neighbors last week, and now they want the recipe as well. Sure sign it's a "keeper." Here you go:

Ingredients:

1/2 C sugar

1/2 C brown sugar

1 C margarine

1 t vanilla

1 egg

1 C canned pumpkin

2 C flour

1 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1/2 t ginger

1 1/2 t cinnamon

1 C chocolate chips

Directions:

In a large bowl, beat the sugar, brown sugar, and margarine until light and fluffy.

Add vanilla, egg, and pumpkin; blend well.

Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup, level, and stir in the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger; mix well.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop desired amount onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten the cookies a little with a spoon.

Bake at 350 for 14-17 minutes... until edges are lightly golden.

Cool on sheet for 1 minute, then remove.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Notes:

• The recipe says you can use butter or margarine. I've found that butter, in cookies, usually makes the cookies crispier and margarine makes 'em softer, so I use margarine.
• I like to double the recipe so I can use the whole can of pumpkin. (I mean, what would I do with a half a can of pumpkin sitting in my fridge?) The only downside, is then you have to use a whole box of margarine... and that just seems kind of gross, y'know?
• The recipe also suggests using peanut M&M's instead of chocolate chips... I'm a chocolate chip girl, so that's what I use. But have fun with it!

Microwave Caramel Corn

Story:
This one came from Ben's sweet Grandmommy.
Aaaw...we sure miss her.

Ingredients:
15 C air-popped popcorn (that's about one batch in my air-popper)
1 C brown sugar
1 cube of margarine
1/4 C light Karo syrup
1/2 t baking soda
(& a brown paper bag)

Directions:
Pop the popcorn into a big bowl.
Put the brown sugar, margarine, and karo syrup in a glass bowl. (I use my 4 cup Pyrex glass measuring cup.) Microwave 2 minutes. Stir. Microwave 3 minutes more.
Add the baking soda and stir well. (This is the cool science experiment part where it changes color and texture.)
Pour over the popcorn and stir gently.
Pour the popcorn into a brown paper bag and microwave for 30 seconds. Shake well, then microwave for 1 more minute.
Pour into a bowl and as it cools, break it up with a wooden spoon.

Note:
I'm typically a butter kind of person (not margarine). But the popcorn gets harder and burns more easily with butter. Stick with the margarine.

Tortilla Soup

Story:
When I got married, Julie & Brent R. gave me a binder with dividers, a few recipes, and plenty of sheet protectors. This book would eventually become my personalized collection of recipes. A "recipe scrapbook," if you will... but without all the fancy "embellishments." I now have all sorts of recipes filling the pages: nicely typed recipes, sticky notes, cutesy recipe cards, printed e-mails, index cards, photocopies, Relief Society handouts, and magazine cutouts. One of the original recipes from the couple who gave me this book, was a recipe for Tortilla Soup. I probably had this book for about 5 years before I tried making it... and now it's one of our faves! Thank you, Julie!

Ingredients:
1 T butter
1/2 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/4 t black pepper
1 can diced green chilies
1/8 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t chili powder
1 large tomato, diced
1 C diced cooked chicken (I like to use my Cafe Rio chicken)
5 C chicken stock (save out 1 C)
1/2 C dry Masa
Garnish:
tortillas
cheddar cheese, shredded
avocado, coarsely chopped

Directions:
Melt butter in stock pot. Add onion, garlic, and black pepper. Stir and cook until transparent.
Add chilies and the rest of the herbs and spices.
Add tomatoes, chicken, and chicken stock. Simmer for 15 minutes.
In a separate bowl, mix the reserved chicken stock with the Masa. Whip until all lumps are gone. Add to the soup and stir until thickened.
Cut tortillas into strips. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray. Put the strips on the cookie sheet and spray the top sides as well. Bake in 350 degree oven until crisp.
To Serve:
Place a few tortilla strips and a few pieces of avocado into the bottom of the soup bowl. Pour in soup and top with more tortilla strips and grated cheese.

Enjoy!

Cheese Balls

Story:
Cheese Balls. Thanksgiving, every year. Christmas, too. My mom always had a cheese ball out. She even had one of those wooden cheese ball serving plates. You know, the kind with the two ceramic tiles inlayed in each corner with the little knives attached with a skinny chain? I hate to admit it, but sometimes I wouldn't be hungry for the Thanksgiving feast, because I had already had my fill of Wheat Thins, Ritz, and Triscuits topped with the following cheeses.

Three Cheese Nut Log
Ingredients:
Kraft Roka Blue processed cheese
Kraft Old English processed cheese
4 oz cream cheese
2 T grated or minced onion
chopped peanuts

Directions:
With cheeses at room temperature, blend together. Add onion. Chill for easy handling. Shape into a ball or a log. Then, right before serving, roll in the chopped nuts.

Note: I don't use the peanuts like my mom did--we're not big fans of nuts around here. But the nuts do give it more of a "polished" look. And sometimes I have to go to different grocery stores to find the Roka Blue cheese. However, the little glass containers that the cheeses come in work great for little orange juice glasses at breakfast!

Pineapple Cheeseball
(This one is actually a little easier to make, and it's probably my preference, though they are both great!)

Ingredients:

8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
Small can of crushed pineapple,well drained
Fresh minced onion--about a tablespoon

Directions: Mix well. Chill. Form into ball. Voila!

World's Easiest BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Story:
Seriously, easy. And we love it! Shelly G. (in South Ogden) told me about this and I was astonished by how easy it was... and mad that I didn't know about it sooner.

Ingredients:
frozen chicken breasts
BBQ sauce
(oh, and hamburger buns, of course)

Directions:
Place however many frozen chicken breasts you want in your crock pot. (I figure roughly a half a breast per person... but, you know me, I throw in a few more for leftovers.) Pour a bunch of your favorite BBQ sauce over. Go ahead and pour on a lot. Cook on high for 5-6 hours, or longer on low. About an hour before serving, pull out the chicken, shred with two forks, and put back into all that yummy sauce. That's it! Just whip up a salad and dinner's ready.

[I will someday insert a picture here.]

Notes:

• The original recipe said you could just serve the BBQ chicken over rice. I'm sure that would be great... I just haven't tried it yet.
• I always put a thin layer of mayonnaise on the hamburger buns before I put on the chicken. It kind of works as a "barrier" from all that sauce so the buns don't get soggy too fast.
• As far as the BBQ sauce goes, you don't need anything fancy; the cheap Hunt's kind is fine. Of course I like the Sweet Baby Ray's sauce, but it's a little too sweet for Ben. (I have yet to come across something that is "too sweet" for me... I don't know what he's talking about.)

French Onion Beef Stew

Story:
I love my Mom's Beef Stew. Way good. It has that nostalgic feel to it, too. It was always one of my favorite family dinners growing up.

But just for variety's sake, I tried my friend's (Janae E.) recipe. My kids love it. (Or as Megan says, "I L-O-V-E love it!" - It was even her 7th birthday dinner request, so you know it's gotta be good.) It has a creamy, more flavorful taste... which also means that it's not quite as "low fat" as my Mom's. But, hey, if you have a good beef stew recipe, why not share it? You can never have enough crock pot recipes, as far as I'm concerned.

And, of course, we love it with Mom's Cornbread or with my Easy Breadsticks.

Ingredients:
2 cans French Onion soup (the regular-sized Campbell's kind)
2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup (1 large and one small)
carrots, chopped
celery, chopped
potatoes, chopped
frozen peas
1 lb stew beef (I always cut it into smaller pieces)

Directions:
Put all the ingredients (except the peas) in a crock pot. Cook on high for 6-8 hours, or on low for 10-12. About 10 minutes before serving, stir in the peas. Easy as that!

Notes:

• Warning: It makes a ton, so be prepared to have lots of leftovers. (Hooray for leftovers!! That just means no cooking tomorrow!)
• How many veggies to use? A lot!
• Janae's recipe didn't call for the peas, but personally, I think it adds nice color, gives the kids a little 'legumes' (said all fancy-like) and makes it look a little more like stew than dogfood.

Picture coming soon. (It's in the crock pot as I type...)