Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is a great "dump soup" - made out of canned goods! I got the recipe from my mom. I changed just a few things to make it go farther, and because Sam doesn't like corn too much so we added more of other ingredients to make it seem like less corn. :) It was a nice, spicy, filling soup that we both really enjoyed. And since its all affordable ingredients that can be kept on hand, I'm sure we'll be enjoying it a couple times this winter!

Ingredients
2 cans worth of chicken broth
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 package taco seasoning
2 cans chicken, shreddede
1 can corn
1 small-med. sized jar of salsa
shredded cheese (mexican, cheddar, or whatever you like!)
sour cream
tortilla strips or chips

Directions
Mix chicken broth, soup and taco seasoning. Add the chicken, corn, and salsa. Heat and simmer for a few minutes. Top with sour cream, cheese and tortilla strips or tortilla chips, crushed into smaller pieces. Enjoy!

Tiramisu!

This is my ALL TIME FAV dessert. I LOVE tiramisu!! I always had heard it was a very difficult dessert to master. However, this Ina Garten recipe couldn't be more simple! The only bad part is, it's pretty expensive to make - especially the mascarpone cheese and the espresso. I ended up using the new VIA instant Starbuck's coffee - the strong kind. It did work and still was delicious, but I could tell the difference. But a cup and a half of espresso is a fortune if you don't have an espresso maker! (Which I don't). If you'd like to try it though, you could use a strong brewed coffee or use the VIA - you probably can't tell if you aren't comparing it to the other.

I brought this into the office for my birthday today... it went over well! I borrowed the pic but mine looked exactly the same as this picture... I didn't want to take pictures of my food at work, plus it doesn't look as "fancy" on a paper plate anyhow!! I love how the rum and espresso is used in two parts of the recipe - it really ties in the cream mixture with the soaked lady fingers. Hope you enjoy!



Ingredients
6 extra large egg yolks, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark rum, divided
1 1/2 cups brewed espresso, divided
16 oz. mascarpone cheese
30+ ladyfingers
unsweetened chocolate powder

Directions
Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in teh bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on high speed for about 5 minutes, or until very thick and light yellow. Lower the speed to medium and add 1/4 cup rum, 1/4 cup espresso, and the mascarpone. Whisk until smooth.

Combine the remaining 1/4 cup rum and 1 1/4 cups espresso in a shallow bowl. Dip 1 side of each ladyfinger in the espresso/rum mixture and line the bottom of a 9 X 13 inch pan. Pour half of the espresso/rum mixture over the ladyfingers. Pour half of the espresso cream mixture over the top. Add another layer of ladyfingers dipped in the espresso/rum mixture and pour the rest over the ladyfingers. Top with the rest of the cream. Smooth the top, cover and put in the fridge.

Before serving, sprinkle the top with chocolate powder.

Half Recipe
3 extra large egg yolks, at room temp
1/8 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark rum, divided (2 Tbsp, 2 Tbsp)
3/4 cups brewed espresso, divdied (2 Tbsp, the rest)
8 oz. mascarpone cheese
15 + ladyfingers
chocolate

Tequila Christmas Cake

Ingredients
1-cup water
1-tsp. baking soda
1-cup sugar
1-tsp. salt
1-cup of brown sugar Lemon juice
4 large eggs Nuts
1 bottle tequila
2-cups dried fruit

Directions
Sample the tequila to check quality.

Take a large bowl, check the tequila again. To be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink.

Repeat.

Turn on the electric mixer.

Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl.

Add one teaspoon of sugar. Beat again.

At this point its best to make sure the tequila is still OK. Try another cup...just in case.

Turn off the mixerer thingy.

Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.

Pick the frigging fruit up off the floor.

Mix on the turner.

If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with a drewscriver.

Sample the tequila to check for tonsisticity.

Next, sift two cups of salt. Or something.

Check the tak...teck...tequila (that's a funny word).

Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.

Add one table.

Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find.

Greash the oven.

Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.

Don't forget to beat off the turner.

Finally, throw the bowl through the window.

Finish the tequila and wipe counter with the cat.


CHERRY MISTMAS!

Chicken and Stuffing Casserole

This is another really easy barely-counts recipe... I was craving a hot dish and was too lazy to do anything more than open a few cans on Sunday night! This was a nice dish to have everything on hand (at least I did!) and its some good hearty food!

I got this recipe from Stove Top's website and it was really yummy! I made just a few minor changes. If I was less lazy last night I probably would have sauted onions but alas, I did not. I liked having stuffing as the topping of the hot dish - something I wouldn't have been clever enough to think of myself but its genius!!

Ingredients
1 box of stuffing (substitute 1/2 the water it calls for with chicken stock)
1 can of chicken
1 can - cream of chicken soup
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup cheddar cheese
1 can of carrots and peas mix, drained (or a frozen back of mixed vegetables)

Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare stuffing mix as directed on package adding the chicken stock; set aside.
Mix remaining ingredients and put in a buttered 9X9 pan, top with the stuffing. Bake about 20 minutes or until mixture is bubbling and stuffing is slighly browned.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Hi there - sorry I have been doing HORRIBLE at updating my food blog! I've been cooking a little bit - but during Christmas its usually for other people and I don't experiment with someone else!

But today, I had the day off work, its snowy out there, so it was just him and me eating at home - yay! I wanted to try pumpkin pancakes...doesn't that sound just delicious? I never even thought of such a thing until someone on facebook said they were making it. I found a few recipes for pumpkin pancakes from scratch, but I didn't have buttermilk so I cheated and used a box mix. So really this barely counts as a "recipe" but I wanted to post something!

It was the perfect cold-weather meal! Sam took his pancakes without pumpkin - but its easy enough to make 2 batches separate! My directions are for one batch - yes, I ate them all. Yummm. And my directions are very approximate. I added enough pumpkin so that there would be some in every bite. I went a little heavy on the nutmeg - its so strong I would use less next time to allow the pumpkin flavor to come through. I also made us some turkey sausages and had some pomegranate with mine! (That's those pretty berry-looking things in the back). I was home all day today, and after doing a couple hours of Bible research I was (subconsiously) hungry for pomegrantes! My considerate husband brought me one home - yum!


Ingredients
1 cup complete (just add water) buttermilk pancake mix
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup pumpkin
couple pinches cinnamon
pinch nutmeg

Directions
Mix ingredients all together. Cook as regular pancakes. Top with maple syrup - real maple syrup if you have it!