Tex-Mex Turkey Soup

Several weeks ago, in an attempt not to waste all of the leftover (but still unfrozen) turkey from Thanksgiving, I whipped together this tasty dish. Jeff LOVED it and so did I. It's a great way to use up leftover holiday turkey, but I'm sure it would also taste great with chicken. Have I ever said how much I love homemade soups?!

Original recipe, here.

Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 40 min
Ready in: 50 min

Ingredients:

• 1 Tb olive oil
• 1/2 c minced onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 4 c water
• 1 (10.75 oz) can condensed tomato soup
• 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 c salsa
• 4 c shredded cooked turkey
• 1 Tb dried parsley
• 3 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 (14 oz) can black beans, rinsed, drained
• 1 (14 oz) can corn
• 1/2 c sour cream
• 1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro

Toppings

• tortilla chips
• chopped green onion
• shredded Cheddar-Monterey Jack blend
• fresh cilantro
• sour cream
  

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add minced onions and cook until onions begin to soften, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin and oregano and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
2. Stir in water, tomato soup, diced tomatoes, salsa, shredded turkey, parsley and bouillon cubes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until bouillon cubes dissolve. Add black beans, corn, sour cream and cilantro. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.
3. Serve soup with crushed tortilla chips, chopped green onion, shredded cheese and additional cilantro and sour cream.

Pumpkin Pie Bites

I've been in a bit of a cooking funk lately due to the first trimester of my pregnancy. Luckily (or unluckily for my pregnancy weight gain), as the holidays approach, I am finally starting to feel like cooking again. Tonight my husband and I made these little treats for a work meeting he has tomorrow. They are SO cute, SO easy, and SO tasty! The website I found this recipe on may just be my new favorite place. I'm typically not much of a baker, but she seriously makes some SUPER cute stuff!

Original recipe, here.

Ingredients:

• 3 refrigerated ready-to-roll pie crusts (the original recipe only calls for 2, but we had so much extra filling, that we used 3.)
  
• 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Use cookie cutter to cut approximately 12 shapes from each pie crust. You will need to roll the dough thinner than it comes out of the box. (We were able to get a few extra.)
3. Press dough shapes into a 24 cup mini muffin tray.
4. Apply egg whites from one egg to the top edges of each pie.
5. Mix cream cheese, sugar, canned pumpkin, remaining 2 eggs, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice together until thoroughly combined.
6. Spoon mixture into each pumpkin-shaped pie crust, until full.
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes.
8. Remove pies to cool and repeat with second pie crust. Place the muffin tray in the freezer to cool it quickly for re-use.

Makes: 30 mini pies. Keep refrigerated.

Yum!

Chicken Enchiladas Verde

I can tell I am starting to get more confident in my cooking because I am getting better at improvising (even though it was just enchiladas, which are pretty straightforward) . After making salsa verde using our tomatillos, I wanted to find a meal I could incorporate it into. I used my favorite allrecipes.com to find a few recipes and then blended them together, using what I had on hand, to make these. They turned out quite tasty and I wouldn't be surprised if my husband took the leftovers to work for lunch tomorrow. That is always a sign of a great meal - if my husband can eat it the very NEXT day for lunch. (And sorry this picture isn't the best. It mostly looks like a ton of cheese, but really they were good, I promise!) The sad thing is that I used cheddar cheese and an Italian cheese mix to make these. During dinner my husband asked if I had used our monteray jack cheese (he thought it tasted like I had because of the salsa verde flavor). I had completely forgotten that we had some! Oops!

Recipe adapted from this and this.

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breast halves
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 white onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Green Salsa - recipe on this site, here.
• 1/2 c sour cream
• 2 c cheese
• 4 large flour tortillas
  

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, combine chicken breast with chicken broth, one quarter onion, a clove of garlic, and 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil, and then boil for 20 minutes. Set chicken aside to cool, and discard onion and garlic. When cool enough to handle, shred chicken with your hands.
2. Preheat oven to 350F.
   
3. Coat 8x8 inch baking dish with enough green salsa to cover the bottom. In a small bowl, stir together sour cream and 1/2 of the green salsa.
   
4. In each tortilla, spread chicken, sour cream and salsa mixture, and top with cheese. Roll up and place in dish with seam on bottom. When all tortillas are filled and rolled, add remaining green salsa over the top and top with cheese.
5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until the enchiladas are browned and heated through.

Serves: 4

Green Salsa

Our tomatillo plant is finally producing, so I wanted to find a great recipe that could use them. This green salsa turned out great and I used it to make chicken enchiladas. Yum!

Original recipe taken from "Vegetarian Classics" by Jeanne Lemlin.

Ingredients:

• 12 oz tomatillos (about 18 small golf ball sized, or 10 medium)
• 1 very small onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped (wear rubber gloves)
• 1 Tb lime juice (just under 1 lime)
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 Tb minced cilantro
  

Directions:

1. Remove the husks from the tomatillos, then rinse under cold running water to clean off any sticky residue. Place in a medium-size saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to a lively simmer, and cook 10 minutes, or until softened. Drain thoroughly and let cool.
2. Place the onion, garlic, jalapenos, and lime juice in the container of a food processor or blender and pulse a few times until coarsely chopped. Add the tomatillos and process until finely chopped but not completely smooth. Scrape the mixture into a bowl.
3. Stir int eh suger, salt, and cilantro. Serve at room temperature.
   

Makes: 1 2/3 cups

Classic Guacamole

I decided to have a Mexican-themed dinner tonight and since I had several ripe avacados around, I decided to make some guacamole. Tasty! Next time I might try to cut back on the lime juice and add a little more onion, but even then it was good!

Original recipe taken from "Vegetarian Classics" by Jeanne Lemlin. This is a fabulous book that my friend lent me. It has so many great recipes! The pesto recipe on this site is from this book.

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe Haas (dark pebbly-skinned) avacados
• 4 tsp fresh lime juice (approx 1 lime should give you enough)
  
• 2 Tb minced red or white onion (I used white because that is what I had, but I bet red would add nice flavor)
  
• 1/4 c minced tomato
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Minced cilantro and jalapenos can be used to add flavor

Directions:

1. Scoop avacado into food processor or blender and add lime juice. Process or blend until smooth and fluffy. Scrape the mixture into a bowl. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Serve immediately or cover and chill up to 24 hours, then bring to room temperature before serving.
   

Serves: 4

Creamy Mushroom Pork Chops

We have a lot of pork chops in our freezer, so I wanted to find a new recipe I could use to make some. My husband LOVED this recipe and ate up his entire pork chop before he even thought about putting salad and potatoes on his plate.

Original recipe, here.

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 4 pork chops
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup chicken broth
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onions and garlic and saute until translucent. Add pork chops and brown about 4 to 6 minutes each side, stirring often to avoid burning onions and garlic.
2. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together soup and broth. Pour soup mixture over browned chops, stirring well to loosen onions and garlic and to deglaze skillet. Reduce heat and gently simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring and turning chops occasionally, until chops are cooked through (internal temperature should reach 160 degrees F/70 degrees C). Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Serves: 4

Sweet & Sour Chicken

I've made this several times, but I keep forgetting to post it on here. Instead, I have to go back to the draft folder in my email account and find the recipe that I have pasted in there. Every time I make it, I am reminded how yummy it is! Jeff and I both like it very much. I made it for my family when they were in town a few months ago and accidentally added some spicy peppers. It definitely made it more "hot," but Jeff liked it that way. I like it better with sweet peppers, although the spicy ones definitely gave it a kick! Jeff must like it with sweet peppers too because last time I made it he ate ALL of the leftovers!

Original recipe, here.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of boneless and skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1" chunks
• 1 egg white
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 10-ounce can pineapple chunks (reserve juice)
• 1/4 cup juice from the canned pineapple
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 2-3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cooking oil
• 1 bell pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 carrot, grated
  
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup of rice
  

Directions:

1. Prepare rice according to packaging directions.
2. In a bowl, combine the chicken with the egg white, salt and cornstarch. Stir to coat the chicken evenly. Let sit for 15 minutes at room temperature or up to overnight in the refrigerator.
3. In the meantime, whisk together the pineapple juice, vinegar, ketchup, salt, and brown sugar.
4. Heat a large frying pan or wok over high heat until a bead of water instantly sizzles and evaporates. Pour in the 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and swirl to coat. It's important that the pan is very hot. Add the chicken and spread the chicken out in one layer. Let the chicken fry, untouched for 1 minute, until the bottoms are browned. Flip and fry the other side the same for 1 minute. The chicken should still be pinkish in the middle. Dish out the chicken onto a clean plate, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible.
5. Turn the heat to medium and add the remaining 1 teaspoon of cooking oil. Let the oil heat up and then add the bell pepper chunks and ginger. Fry for 1 minute. Add the pineapple chunks and the sweet and sour sauce. Turn the heat to high and when the sauce is simmering, add the chicken pieces back in. Let simmer for 1-2 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Timing depends on how thick you've cut your chicken. The best way to tell if the chicken is done is to take a piece out and cut into it. If it's pink, add another minute to the cooking.

Serves: 4