Quince

This isn't a recipe, but it is a food I like so I wanted to share. I love cheese, and when Bill's Parents go to South America they bring me back some Quince paste which goes well with a soft cheese. I'm sure they have it around where I live, but so far, I have liked the kind they bring me best. If you haven't ever tried it and you like cheese... do yourself a favor and get out and try it!

Black Bean & Veggie Soup

 
Here is another easy soup that I found from the blog suburban bliss. I love Black Beans so this was perfect for a cold November day watching football! Enjoy!

Black Bean & Veggie Soup
From: Suburban Bliss


Ingredients:

1-2 cans of Black Beans (15oz) (I added 2 because I love Black Beans)

1 can chicken (or vegetable) Broth (15oz)
1 can Diced Tomatoes (15 oz)

1 can refried beans (15oz)
1 can drained corn

1 Cup Salsa

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

Directions:

1. Mix everything together and heat. I added the corn... because I love corn in everything, but you could leave it out. You could also add some meat to this if you wanted, but it seemed hearty enough with out it to me.

2. Heat through

3. To serve, place crushed tortilla chips in the bottom of the soup bowl and ladle soup over top. Top with cheese and sour cream if desired.

(you cant see them but there are tortilla chips underneath!)

Easy Tacos

Since I like tacos and I like things that are easy, this recipe really appealed to me. I got it from a Better Homes and Gardens magazine. It was pretty good, and very easy.

(I also included Cilantro here... this is an optional ingredient... just as a garnish. I happened to have some so I used it)

Easy Tacos
From: Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients:

1 17oz pkg. refrigerated beef pot roast with juices

1 14oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies (Ro*tel)

1 green sweet pepper cut into strips

1 lime, cut in wedges

sour cream

corn tortillas

Directions:

1. Microwave beef according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile place undrained tomatoes in small sauce pan. Heat through.

3. Remove meat, reserving juices.

4. OPTIONAL: It didn't say to, but I cooked my green pepper strips a little in a pan with olive oil to heat them up a bit... but I didn't let them cook too long, they still had a crisp bite.

5. Serve on warmed tortillas with tomatoes, green pepper strips, sour cream, and Cilantro. Drizzle reserved juices if desired.

Cheese Broccoli Soup

Here is another soup recipe from my mom. It is easy to make any day of the week, and it is one of my favorites.



Cheese Broccoli Soup
From: My Mom

Ingredients:
16 oz. Frozen Broccoli (heated and drained)

2 cans cream of potato soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cheddar cheese soup

2 cans milk

Directions:

1. Combine ingredients and heat through

2. Serve with mozzarella cheese and croutons if desired.

Turkey Burgers

This is a recipe a recipe that Bill found in Men's health, we really like them. With the spicy salsa, and cool avocado and sour cream it is quite delicious. The recipe calls to cook them in a frying pan, but when it is nice enough out, we usually grill them - your choice. They are good both ways. Enjoy!

Turkey Burgers
From: Men's Health

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground turkey

wheat buns

1 avocado, sliced

Chipotle Salsa

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

pinch of cumin

1 tomato, sliced

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

sour cream

Directions:

1. Mix the meat, salt, pepper, and cumin. Form into 4 equal patties

2. Preheat a skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat. Coat with small amount of olive oil

3. Add burgers. Cook them for 4-5 minutes a side, until slightly firm to the touch. (Can cook on grill as well)

4. Dress each bun with avocado slices, tomato, and red onion. Top with burger, sour cream, and salsa.

Chicken Pasta Jardin

 

I decided to be adventurous and try one of my own creations. It turned out pretty good, there are a few changes I may make next time (and make sure I come up with exact measurements), but it was quite tasty and light.



Chicken Pasta Jardin

Ingredients:
1 lb Chicken, cubed
1/2 a zucchini, sliced
1/2 a red or green pepper, sliced, and halved
1/4 - 1/2 Onion, sliced and halved
1/4 lb Green Beans, cut into 1 inch pieces (You can really use whatever veggies you like)
1 Tomato, roughly chopped
White wine
Olive Oil
1/4 tsp Basil (I used dry because that is all I have)
Lemon Juice & Zest from 1/2 a lemon
Kosher Salt
Ground Pepper
Angel Hair Pasta


Directions:
1. Chop vegetables, place all veggies, except tomatoes in a ziploc bag.

2. Add 1 Tbsp Olive Oil, 1 Tbsp White wine, and a dash of salt and pepper.

3. Seal Bag and shake together.

4. Heat medium saucepan to medium high heat. When heated, add contents of bag.

5. Cook vegetables until tender crisp (more crispy then tender since they will be added to the mixture again later) - Also, start cooking pasta.

6. While vegetables are cooking, place cubed chicken to the bag used for the vegetables. Add another Tbsp of Olive oil, white wine, and a dash of salt and pepper. Shake to combine.

7. When vegetables are ready remove to a bowl, and return pan to heat. Add the chicken.

8. Cook Chicken until all pink is gone (this will vary depending on how large your cubes are 6-8 min)

9. Add vegetables to pan with Chicken, and add the tomatoes that were set aside.

10. Add aproximately 3 tbsp olive Oil, 3-5 tbsp white wine, a good squeeze from a 1/2 a lemon, Lemon zest from the 1/2 lemon, and a 1/4 tsp Basil. Add a dash of salt and ground pepper to taste.

11. Let simmer for a few minutes until heated through. Taste the sauce and add more of any of the ingredients (since I just eyeballed my measurements, I only took a guess at the exact measurements).

12. Serve over pasta. Garnish with Parmesan Cheese. (Looking back I might have mixed the past in with the mixture before serving it to get more flavor in the pasta). Enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

I really like sweet and sour chicken in Chinese restaurants, but I don't really like all the breading on the chicken so I haven't ever tried to make this at home. But when I found this recipe at Simply recipes, I was excited to try it and it turned out great. It doesn't take to long to make, uses pretty basic ingredients, and it tastes great!

(For some reason I put an onion in the picture... and then realized that it was not on the list of ingredients. Now that I think about it, I might try adding it with the mix next time.)

Sweet and Sour Chicken
From: Simply Recipes

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts, cut into chunks
1 egg white
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp cornstarch
1 can (10 oz) pineapple chunks (reserve juice)
1/4 cup juice from canned pineapple
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup ketchup
2-3 Tbs brown sugar
2 Tbs Olive Oil
1 Red Bell pepper cut into chunks
1 Green Bell pepper cut into chunks
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Directions:
1. In a bowl, combine the chicken with the egg white, 1 tsp salt, and cornstarch. Stir to coat chicken evenly. Let sit for 15 minutes at room temperature (or up to overnight in the refrigerator)

2. Meanwhile, whisk together pineapple juice, vinegar, ketchup, 1 tsp salt, and brown sugar to make the sweet and sour sauce.

3. Heat a large frying pan over high heat until a bead of water instantly sizzles and evaporates. Pour in 1 Tbs of olive oil and coat pan.

4. Spread Chicken in pan so it is in a single layer. Let chicken fry, untouched for 1 minuted until the bottoms are browned. Flip and fry the other side for another minute. Stir and let cook a few more minutes, then dish out chicken onto a clean plate, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible.

5. Turn heat to medium and add 1 Tbsp of Olive Oil. Let oil heat up, then add the peppers and ginger. Fry for 1 - 2 minutes.

6. Add the pineapple chunks and the sweet and sour sauce. Turn heat to high and when the sauce is simmering, add the chicken pieces back in.

7. Let simmer for 2-3 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Cut into a piece of chicken to make sure it done, also taste sauce and add more brown sugar if needed.

8. Serve hot over rice if desired.

Easy Vegetable Soup

It is becoming soup weather here in Chicago, and ideally I would like to do soups from scratch, but that just doesn't happen when I work all day. This one is really easy and quite tasty! I got it from Taste of Home Magazine, and I chose to add a can of Black beans because I'm a black bean fan, so if you don't like them, feel free to leave them out.

(Sorry I forgot the pic of the ingredients!)

Easy Vegetable Soup
From: Taste of Home

Ingredients:
1 lb Ground Beef
1 onion, chopped
1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 pkg (16oz) Frozen vegetable blend of your choice (I usually like something with corn in it)
1 can(16oz) Kidney Beans, undrained
1 can (15oz) Black Beans, undrained (optional)
1 can (14 1/2 oz) beef broth
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 clove garlic
garnish with shredded cheddar cheese & sour cream, with tortilla chips on the side

Directions:
1. In a large sauce pan, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink, drain.

2. Add the tomatoes, vegetables, beans, broth, taco seasoning and garlic and bring to a boil.

3. Reduce heat, simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

4. Serve with Shredded cheese, sour cream, and Tortilla Chips if desired.

Impostor Salad

When we first came back from California, I loved the salad we had out there, and I was trying to figure out what it had in it. I took a stab at it, and while I found out later it wasn't the same as my favorite salad, it was still pretty good! I realize now there wasn't any Mango in it, but I do like mango, so it was a nice addition to this particular salad. Since this is an impostor salad of my favorite, that is what I decided to call it.

Impostor Salad

Ingredients:
Tomatoes
Cucumber (peeled)
Avocado
Mango
Olive oil
Lime Juice
Basil

Directions:

1. Roughly chop the Tomatoes, cucumber, Mango, and Avocado.

2. Place in a bowl, and dress with Olive oil, Lime Juice, and a dash of Basil. Enjoy!

Warm Black Bean Chip dip

I'm a sucker for appetizers, and this one had everything I liked. I'm not sure where this came from, but it is tasty.


 
Warm Black Bean Dip

Ingredients:
8oz Cream Cheese
1 can Black Beans (drained)
1 can of Ro*tel (drained)
Shredded Cheese
Tortilla Chips

Directions:
1. Spread 8 oz of cream cheese in the bottom of a pie plate

2. Drain one can Black Beans and spread on top.

3. Drain on can rotel and pour over Black Beans.

4. Sprinkle with cheese and bake at 350 for 10 min (until cheese is melted)

5. Serve hot with tortilla chips.