Taco Soup

One day last winter I decided to make a pot of taco soup. It was so good, we ate on it all day! I thought I would share the recipe since I found a picture of it and thought how good it looked....

You can add cheese, hot peppers, sour cream or other garnish when you are finished with it, serve with corn chips or tortilla chips....


Taco Soup

• 2 pounds ground chuck
• 2 cups diced onions
• 2 (15 1/2-ounce) cans pinto beans
• 1 (15 1/2-ounce) can pink kidney beans
• 1 (15 1/4-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 2 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 (4 1/2-ounce) cans diced green chiles
• 1 (4.6-ounce) can black olives, drained and sliced, optional
• 1/2 cup green olives, sliced, optional
• 1 (1 1/4-ounce) package taco seasoning mix
• 1 (1-ounce) package ranch salad dressing mix
• Corn chips, for serving
• Sour cream, for garnish
• Grated cheese, for garnish
• Chopped green onions, for garnish
• Pickled jalapenos, for garnish

Directions

Brown the meat and onions in a large skillet; then drain the excess fat, then transfer the browned beef and onions to a large slow cooker or a stockpot. Add the beans, corn, tomatoes, green chiles, black olives, green olives, taco seasoning, and ranch dressing mix, and cook in a slow cooker on low for 6 to 8 hours or simmer over low heat for about 1 hour in a pot on the stove. To serve, place a few corn chips in each bowl and ladle soup over them. Top with sour cream, cheese, green onions and jalapenos.

This is so good, even I like it as picky as I am! And it will be fall before we know it and soup weather!

Y'all have a blessed day now! Hear?

Hot Fudge Cake

A few years ago I found a recipe for a good looking hot fudge cake. It makes its own fudge sauce and is excellent with home made vanilla ice cream! Yum! It is one of those things you make right before you want to eat it, then it's gone. It doesn't keep very well overnight. Actually it does still taste good, it just doesn't keep the hot fudge part well. But, you make it in a 9 x 9 pan and so it is good for a family dessert.

1 c. self-rising flour
3/4 c. granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. cocoa
1/2 c. milk
2 Tbsp. melted shortening
1 c. chopped pecans (if desired, I leave these out)
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. cocoa
1 1/2 c. hot water

Heat oven to 350°. Measure flour, granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons cocoa into bowl. Blend in milk and shortening; stir in nuts. Pour into ungreased square 9 x 9 x 2-inch pan. Stir together brown sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa; sprinkle over batter. Pour "hot" water over batter. Bake for 45 minutes.

While warm, spoon cake into dessert dishes and spoon sauce over each serving. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Yum!

Enjoy, and let me know how you like it!!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

So today I was looking at recipes from Goosberry Patch (blog is linked here) and happened across this chocolate chip cookie pie recipe and it looked so good I had to try it today! It turned out great and the "no-roll" pie crust is so flaky! It is very easy to make and the hardest part is waiting for it to cool! Try it! YUM!!



Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

1 unbaked pie shell (*see no-roll pie crust below)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup flour
small pinch salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate morsels (plus additional chips for drizzle)
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Beat the eggs, on high, until foamy. Beat in the flour and then both sugars. Beat in the butter. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Spoon into the pie crust and bake for 55-60 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

For the topping:
Melt 1/4 cup chocolate chips. Add about a 1/2 teaspoon oil. Stir and pour into a zipper bag. Cut of a tiny corner and drizzle over the pie.



No Roll Pie Crust:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons cold milk.

Whisk the flour, salt and sugar together in a bowl. Measure the oil, add the milk and whisk. Pour the oil/milk mixture over the flour mixture. Stir with a fork until it is completely mixed together and the flour is damp. Press the dough evenly over the bottom of the pan, then up the sides and a little bit up the rim.

Now for this recipe you want to use it as an unbaked crust. Pour your batter right into this crust.

If you need this crust for a different recipe that calls for a baked crust, simply prick the crust several times with a fork and bake in a preheated 425 degree F oven for 12-15 minutes. Cool and fill as desired.

To use this for a savory dish, just eliminate the sugar.

Thanks to

A Little Bit Crunchy A Little Bit Rock and Roll for the recipes!!!! Yummy!!!! That no roll crust is great!!! It will be the only crust I use from now on!!!

Pasta Salad

One of our favorite summer meals was pasta salad. Rick could eat a whole bowl at one time! It is simple and very, very good - especially this time of year with all the fresh tomatoes, onions and peppers! I was at Wal Mart today and saw the pasta we always used, so I bought some and made a bowl of pasta salad. It was very, very good, even with store bought tomatoes! Here it is, enjoy!

Our favorite pasta.....use your favorite!

Pasta Salad

Boil and drain one box your favorite pasta in salted water, cool. While pasta is cooking and cooling, chop 2 vadilia onions, 2 to 3 large tomatoes, one green bell pepper and one red bell pepper. I like to chop them into the large bowl I am going to mix the salad in so the vegetable flavors can meld while the pasta is cooling.

After the pasta has cooled, pour it into the chopped vegetables and mix well. Stir in several tablespoons Miracle Whip salad dressing or mayonnaise (your preference) and chill.

We made this our supper many, many days in the summer and sometimes there would be enough left for lunch the next day. It is also very tasty served slightly warm after first making. It was one of Rick's favorites!

Potato Soup

In December 1985 things were rough. I was pregnant with Valarie, money was very tight to non-existant. It was still another week until I got paid. I was hungry. I searched around the kitchen to find something to cook. Finally I found 2 or 3 potatoes and an onion. I decided to make potato soup. I had some chicken broth cubes so I added them to some water and heated it, diced the onion and added it, salt and pepper and peeled and diced the potatoes and added them. It was done. Rick, bless his heart, decided it needed more pepper. I had already added plenty. He added more and more until we couldn't eat it! We found some change and bought some gas and went to mom's until I got paid the next Friday. Rick would frequently tell that story and add: "and she won't let me live it down" haha. He loved potato soup! He had it often. I like to cook with Campbells potato soup. I add it to my chicken pot pie. That recipe is somewhere in this blog.....

Potato Soup
1 onion (sweet) sauteed in 1 tbsp oil or bacon drippings
1 or 2 ribs celery sauteed with the onion
2 cans chicken broth
1 to 2 cans water
1 bag steam and mash potatoes uncooked
or peel, wash and cube 7 to 9 potatoes
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and simmer over low heat until potatoes are tender. I saute the onion and celery in the pan I am cooking the soup in.

You can add shredded cheese to your taste, bacon bits, sour cream as desired. Some folks like to add a small block of cream cheese to the soup to add richness.

Crock Pot Meatballs!

Make meatballs from previous post and bake as directed. Remove from pan, and add to crock pot. Next take 1 1/2 cups grape jelly, heat in sauce pan until smooth. Add 2 bottles Heinz Chili Sauce. Next, stir in 1/3 cup light brown sugar. Pour over meatballs, warm in crock pot until hot. Serve. **don't over cook!

These make good appetizers at dinners or shower snacks. You can also use the sauce with the little smokies or buy frozen meat balls, just cook them before adding to sauce.

After you are finished cooking, get a little sugar from sweet babies.....

Janice's Meat Balls

So today I was on break in the back room having lunch, looking at facebook on my iPhone. I came across my sister-in-law Janice's recipe for home made meat balls so I thought I would post it. It looks so good.....Make small ones for spaghetti and try making larger ones and serve with spaghetti sauce heated on sandwich buns as meatball sandwiches....forget subway. And these don't look like they are very difficult to make and would taste so much better than store bought. I can't wait to try them! For you cheese lovers make a sandwich of them and add freshly grated Parmesan!

Meatballs:
1 1/4 pounds ground chuck or ground round
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese ( I would leave this out lol )
2 cloves garlic chopped
salt and pepper

Directions

1. Combine beef, garlic, egg, cheese, salt and pepper.
2. Blend bread crumbs into meat mixture. The mixture should be very moist but still hold its shape if rolled into meatballs. Shape into meatballs.
3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Fry meatballs in batches. When the meatball is very brown and slightly crisp remove from the heat and drain on a paper towel.
4. OR Janice bakes hers for 10 minutes in a preheated 425 degree oven.