Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 or 3 boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into large bite size pieces
1/2 red onion, diced,
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
hefty sprinkle taco seasoning
sprinkle cumin
salt and pepper if needed (depends on your taco seasoning)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 small can diced green chiles
1 cup frozen corn
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 small can tomato paste
juice of 1/2 lime

Heat a soup pot on the stove and swirl with a little oil. Once hot, add the chicken, onion and green pepper, taco seasonings, cumin, and brown sugar. Cook until chicken is done, and veggies are tender.

Add in the canned veggies, corn, chicken stock, and tomato paste, and bring to a boil. Turn down and simmer until ready to eat. Does not need to simmer for too long at all since everything is already cooked!

Add a squeeze of lime juice at the end.

Garnish with tortilla chips, avocado, and hot sauces.

Jessie's Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken:
Start by Seasoning 2 to 3 boneless chicken breast with: black pepper, and taco seasoning.

then bake in the oven on a foil lined pan at 350 until done, about 30 minutes.

While the chicken is baking, make the enchilada sauce:

Sauce:
Heat in a sauce pan:
24 ounces of tomato sauce, salt, pepper, minced onion, garlic powder,chili powder,brown sugar, red pepper flakes. Let this cook while the chicken is baking.

When the chicken is done, let rest a few minutes, then cut it up into thin slices, then bite size pieces.

In a large bowl, mix the cooked and sliced chicken, 1 can green chiles, 3/4 cup sour cream, 1 cup grated mexican cheese, 1/2 red bell bepper diced, 1/2 onion, diced. Add in a few ladles of the enchilada sauce until a creamy consistency.

Put a few ladles of sauce down in the pan. Heat up the corn tortillas a bit so they are pliable, then set one in the cake pan, fill with a few spoonfuls of the chicken mixture and roll up. We got 12 in our pan to fit nicely using the small corn tortillas (no gluten).

When they are all rolled up, top with remaining sauce, and then 1 cup of grated cheese. Bake until the cheese melts 20 minutes or so.

Top with any garnish you like. We used red bell pepper, sour cream, salsa, and lettuce.

Let us know how you like em!

Chili

With the cold weather I have been making lots of soups.  And I think it's always fun to experiment a little and make it slightly different each time. I have to say this is the best chili that I have ever made.

1 swirl Olive Oil                                                     1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 pound ground beef                                              1/2 to 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1 onion, chopped                                                   1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes

1 green bell pepper, chopped                                 1/2  cup dark brown sugar

1 jalepeno diced                                                    1 1/2 cups beef broth

4 ribs celery, chopped                                           3/4 of a large 64 ounce bottle tomato juice          

3 to 4 Tablespoons Dark Chili Powder                  1 large can diced tomatoes

1/2 to 1 teaspoon Cumin                                       2 cans chili beans

1 teaspoon Salt

Heat the olive oil and sauté onion, green pepper, jalepeno, and celery until soft.  Stir in ground beef and spices and let cook a little bit. Then add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer for 3 to 4 hours.  Note on the spices...I usually don't measure so it is my best guess, start with less and you can always add more to suite your taste buds.  Hard to adjust once you get too much of any one thing in the pot!

Serve with corn bread.

Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

A Great dish to make when you have left over Ham!

2 cups ham cut into bite size pieces
4 or 5 potatoes depending on size, peeled and cut into pieces
1/2 onion, diced
3 carrots, sliced
1 can soup (cream of Mushroom, Onion, Celery or Chicken...they all work just fine)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cream
salt and pepper
chives and/or parsley to garnish

Heat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients in a large pot that you can put in the oven. Cover and bake in the oven about one hour or until potatoes are tender.  Garnish with Chives and Parsley.

French Toast

This French Toast is made with thick cut Egg Bread and pairs so nicely with pork patties or sausage.

For the port patties, we like to buy ground pork, and then form into patties and season with Season Salt and Pepper. They are best when cooked on the grill, but you can also pan fry them, like we did here.

For the French Toast:
Heat the griddle to about 350 degrees.
Cut the egg bread very thick 1 to 1 1/2 inches.
In a mixing bowl, beat 4 eggs and 2 cups of whole milk, add in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.
When the griddle is hot, smoosh down each piece of bread one at a time in the egg mixture, turn the bread over and press the other side down so it absorps the egg batter.  The bread doesn't have to soak, but do push it down and get it really immersed in the eggs.
Put the bread on the griddle and fry until golden brown, then flip and brown the other side.
When done, sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Serve with butter and real maple syrup.

Banana Bread

1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 very ripe banans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or butter loaf pan.

Mix the softenend butter and brown sugar, add in the eggs, sift the dry ingredients together and add into the mixing bowl. Add in the buttermilk and vanilla and mix until blended. Peel and mash the bananas with a fork, then add to the batter, and just stir gently until mixed in.

Pour into greased pan, and bake for 50 minutes.

Cool for 10 minutes before turning out of pan.

Salmon with Dill Sauce

This is such an easy Salmon Recipe that is great plain, and oh so good with the creamy cucumber and dill sauce.

Salmon, cut into serving size pieces
1 lemon, sliced
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced finely
dill
salt and pepper
butter
1/3 cup mayonaise
1/2 cup sour cream

Line a sheet pan with foil. Preheat the over to 400 degrees.
Put the salmon on the foil line pan, then put a spoonful of butter on each piece of fish and spread it around. Season with salt, pepper, and lots of dill, and a slice of lemon.

Bake for about 15 minutes depending on the thickness of the salmon.

Meanwhile, prepare the suace:
Mix the mayo and sour cream, add in the cucumber, salt, pepper, and dill. Chill this until the salmon is ready.

Serves with whatever you like. I think it goes great with veggies of all kinds!