Chicken Tortilla Soup

Oh my goodness this is heavenly.  Just enough spice and soo full of flavor.  Super easy to put together and just delicious.  I hope you like it too.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

4 uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 15 oz cans of black beans, undrained
2 15 oz cans of Mexican stewed tomatoes or Rotel tomatoes, undrained
1 cup low sodium salsa (mild, medium, or hot, whichever you prefer)
4 oz can chopped green chilies, undrained
14 1/2 oz can low sodium tomato sauce
1 Tbsp  cumin (we add this just for some added mexican flair) 
baked tortilla chips
2 cups grated fat-free cheese


Combine all ingredients except chips and cheese in a large slow cooker.

Cover. Cook on low for 8 hours

Just before serving, remove chicken breasts and slice into bite-sized pieces. Stir into soup.

To serve, put a handful of chips in each individual soup bowl.  Ladle soup over chips. Top with cheese. 

Balsamic Spinach sauce

I saw this recipe in a magazine and it just jumped out at me and I just had to try it!
We grilled some sirloin steak and I prepared the sauce to go over the top. It was a big hit with our family and I will certainly try it again soon.
Balsamic Spinach Sauce

1 Tbs olive oil
1 lg onion - chopped
1 red pepper - chopped
3 cloves garlic - minced
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1/2 cup water
2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs fresh rosemary chopped
7oz bag fresh baby spinach

Heat oil in skillet.
Add onion, pepper and garlic and cook until vegies are tender-crisp, stirring often.
Stir soup, water, vinegar and rosemary in skillet and heat to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium, and stir in spinach
Cover and cook 2 minutes or until desired doneness.

Roll With It

I can't remember if it was Ginger or mom who first introduced me to Hungry Girl.  Well, I'm so glad she did.  I found these little gems on the website Hungry Girl and have now become a staple in my mealtime planning.  I hope you'll try and love them too!


Exploding Taquitos

8 small (6-inch) yellow corn tortillas

One 9.75-oz. (or 10-oz.) can 98% fat-free chunk white chicken breast in water, drained well

1/2 cup salsa

1/3 cup shredded fat-free cheddar cheese

1/4 tsp. dry taco seasoning mix

Optional: red enchilada sauce, additional salsa, fat-free sour cream, for dipping

In a medium bowl, combine the chicken and salsa, and mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes. 

Remove chicken mixture from the fridge, and drain any excess liquid. Add cheese and taco seasoning, and mix to combine. This is your filling. Set aside.

Prepare a baking sheet by spraying with nonstick spray, and set it aside.

Dampen two paper towels, and place tortillas between them. Microwave for about 1 minute, until tortillas are warm and pliable.

Take one tortilla (keep the rest between the paper towels), spray both sides lightly with nonstick spray, and lay it flat on a clean dry surface. Spoon about 2 heaping tbsp. of filling onto the tortilla. Spread it evenly across the entire surface, and roll tortilla up tightly, so that you have a cigar-shaped tube. Secure with toothpicks and place seam-side down on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.

Bake for 14 - 16 minutes, until crispy. Allow taquitos to cool for 5 minutes. If you like, dunk in enchilada sauce, salsa, or sour cream!

MAKES 4 SERVINGS          

           

Serving Size: 2 taquitos

Calories: 197

Fat: 2.5g

Sodium: 594mg

Carbs: 22.5g

Fiber: 3g

Sugars: 2g

Protein: 20.5g

POINTS® value 4*

Apple Bars

I was flipping through a new Fall Magazine and saw this recipe that looked sooo yummy! I didn't really want the entire magazine so I just copied down the recipe :) (is that stealing?)
I was super anxious to try it so decided to make it right away. They were super simple and so yummy!
I think I might try making them into mini muffins next time.

Apple Bars

3 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 c. sugar
1 c. oil
2 c. flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
3 c. chopped apples (do not peel)
1/2 c. chopped nuts
1 tsp vanilla

Combine eggs & salt and beat until frothy (about 1 min)
Mix in sugar and oil until blended
Mix together flour, soda and cinnamon and add to wet mixture
Fold in apples, walnuts & vanilla until well blended

Spray 14 x 10 " Jelly roll pan with pam with flour and spread batter in bottom.
Bake 350 degrees for 30 - 35 min or until golden brown
While cooling prepare glaze

Glaze
1 c. powdered sugar
1 Tbs softened butter
2-3 Tbs milk

Spread glaze over top and let set.
Cut into squares and enjoy!!

Crockpot Lasagna

With it being so hot this summer, Amy and I decided to use the crockpot more often as to not have the oven heat up the kitchen. Luckily we had on hand the Fix it and Forget it Lightly cookbook. This was the first recipe we tried out of the book and it was mighty tasty.


CrockPot Lasagna

This makes 8 serviings
(Ideal slower-cooker size: 4 or 5 quart)

4/12 cups fat-free, low sodium meatless spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup water
1 pound ground turkey
16 oz container fat-free ricotta cheese (I could only find a 15 oz...it worked fine)
2 cups shredded park -skim mozzarella cheese, divided
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
1 egg
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp Italian seasoning (I didn't have this so I mixed oregano, basil, onion powder and parsley together)
8 oz. box no-cook lasagna noodles

1. Brown ground turkey
2. Mix spaghetti sauce, 1/2 cup water and browned ground turkey together in a bowl
3. In a separate bowl, mix ricotta, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, egg, garlic and italian seasoning.
4. Spread 1/4 of the sauce mixture in botton of slow cooker. Top with 1/3 of the noodles, breaking if needed to fit (yes...you will need to break them)
5. Spread with 1/2 of the cheese mixture, making sure noodles are covered.
6. Repeat layers twice more. (we did 5 layers and we still had noodles left over)
7. Spread top with remaining sauce.
8. Cover. Cook on low for 5 hours.
9. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover. Let stand 10 minutes to allow cheese to melt. (I let it cook for 20 minutes with the cheese so that it would get a little brown)

For those of you who need the breakdown here it is:

Per Serving: 360 calories (90 calories from fat), 10g total fat (4.5 saturated, no trans fat) 40 mg Cholesterol, 870 mg sodium, 39g total Carbohydrate (6g fiber, 10g sugar), 25 g protein.

Fire Cracker Bites

Here is a recipe Amber did for a treat in Relief Society. It tasted really good!
She didn't add the fuses (licorice) and used multi colored sprinkles, but it was great!



Fire Cracker Bites

1 Pkg. (8oz) Cream Cheese Softened
1 Cup Cold Milk
1 Pkg. (3.40z) Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1-1/2 Cups Thawed Cool Whip
1 Pkg. (12oz) Nilla Wafers
½ Cup Red, White & Blue sprinkles
42 Pieces Red String Licorice (1 inch)

Beat cream cheese in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in milk. Add dry pudding mix; beat for 2 min. Whisk in 1 cup Cool Whip

Spoon about 1-1/2 Tbsp. pudding mixture onto each of half the wafers; cover with remaining waters to make sandwiches. Freeze for 2 hours or until filling is firm.

Spread tops of wafer sandwiches with remaining Cool Whip. Dip in sprinkles. Insert licorice piece into top of each for the fuse. Freeze until ready to serve.

Fruit Pizza

Here's a prize winning dessert made for a Relief Society cook-off. Congrats Amber for the win!!

Fruit Pizza
1 tube Pillsbury refrigerated sugar cookie dough
2-8oz packages of cream cheese
2/3 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
Assorted fresh fruit (sliced, if appropriate)--strawberries, blueberries, peaches, bananas, kiwi all work well
lemon juice

Spread the package of cookie dough onto a pie pan 12 - 14" and cook according to package directions.

Let Cool

Mix Cream Cheese, vanilla and sugar together and spread over cooled cookie.

Arrange fruit in any design or pattern you'd like... be creative!

Zucchini Crumb Sheetcake

I went to my local Farmer's Market this last Saturday and a 3 pound zucchini was calling my name. So I bought it thinking a nice zucchini treat would be a neat. I called Ginger for a recipe and she gave me 4 to try. This is the first one I made and boy is it tasty! I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I have.

Zucchini Crumb Sheetcake

Combine together:
3 eggs
2 c. Sugar
3 t. vanilla
1/4 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt

Then add:
2 c. grated zucchini
2 c. flour

Put the cake mixture into a greased and floured cookie sheet (with sides). Then put the crumb topping on top.

Crumb Topping
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. flour
2/3 c. butter


Cook in a 350 degree oven for 25-28 minutes. Take out of oven and cool slightly. Drizzle with a glaze.

Glaze
1 c. powdered sugar
1 T. butter
2 T. warm orange juice

The Everything Salad

I discovered this salad while planning a Stake Young Women dinner.
The name is so appropriate because it truly has a little bit of everything in it.

I tested it out on my family before feeding 150 people and it was so yummy!
Totally a full meal itself... just add some rosemary rolls (recipe to follow)

EVERYTHING SALAD
Lettuce - 1 head Romaine & 1 head Iceberg combo is good
1 c. chopped celery
1 avocado, sliced
1 bunch green onion, diced
1/2 c Craisins
1 apple, chopped
1 can Mandarin oranges
1 /2 c slivered almonds, sugared*
1/3 c Feta cheese, to taste
To make this salad more hearty I added a couple grilled chicken breasts (George Forman style) ...yummy!

DRESSING:
6 T. white wine vinegar
1/4 c. light extra virgin olive oil
3 T. sugar
Salt, pepper and chopped parsley to taste

Toss and serve! Serves 6-ish

*To sugar almonds, heat 4 T. sugar in small pan on med. high heat.
Add almonds and stir a few minutes until golden brown and tacky.

Triple Layer Rice Krispies Treats

Oh WOW!... I found the ultimate recipe for Rice Krispy squares. It is a triple layered treat with a layer of Peanut butter, chocolate and the original recipe!

Can you say... HEAVENLY?!
I tried out this recipe at Smart Night and the verdict was YUMMY!

Triple Layer Rice Krispies Treats

Bottom Layer:

1/2 cup Karo Syrup

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter (I like chunky)

3 cups Rice Krispies cereal

In a small saucepan, bring to a boil the Karo syrup and the sugar. Add the peanut butter and stir until smooth. Pour over the rice krispies and mix until well blended. Pour into a 9x13 inch greased baking pan and smash down evenly. Set aside while you work on the next layer.

Middle Layer:

4 tablespoons butter

3 c. mini marshmallows

3 cups Rice Krispies cereal

1 cup milk chocolate chips

In a microwave safe bowl, add the butter and marshmallows and heat for about 1 -2 minutes or until smooth. Add rice krispies and stir until well coated. Add chocolate chips and stir until well coated. Pour over the bottom layer of krispies and smash down evenly. Set aside while you work on the last layer.

Top Layer:

4 tablespoons butter

3 cups mini marshmallows

3 cups Rice Krispies cereal

In a microwave safe bowl, add the butter and marshmallows and heat for about 1- 2 minutes or until smooth. Add rice krispies and stir until well coated. Pour over the middle layer of krispies and smash down evenly. Let set for about an hour before cutting into squares.

Total DELISH!!!

Tortellini Soup

OK, this soup is the BEST I've tasted in a very long time. It is quickly becoming my favorite go to soup, and it's super easy to make. Plus it's good for you too.



1 (14.5oz) can Fat-Free Chicken Broth: reduced sodium
1 tsp minced garlic
1 c. Cheese tortellini (the whole wheat version is a tasty way to add some fiber)
1 (14.5oz) can crushed tomato**
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Combine broth and garlic in a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add tortellini; reduce heat and simmer for 6 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and oregano. Simmer 5 minutes or until tortellini is tender. Ladle into soup bowls. Sprinkles with Parmesan cheese before serving.

Makes 4 servings

** you can substitute an equivalent ounces of tomato sauce instead of the crushed tomato for a smoother soup.

Pancit Guisado

Jessica found this recipe in a magazine and sent it to me. I'd had Canton at a few places so was good to have a list to follow. It's a very popular dish here.

Pancit Guisado
4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 onion sliced thinly

1/2 c. chicken breast in bite sized pieces

1/2 c. peeled shrimp (optional! Add another 1/2 chicken if no shrimp)

1/2 head of cabbage, sliced into thin strips

2 carrots, sliced thinly

1 stalk celery, sliced thinly

handful of julienned fresh green beans

soy sauce

1 (14 oz.) can chicken broth

1 package Canton noodles (available in the Asian section, 4 person serving size)

lemon or lime sliced (we use calamansi because we're true Filipinos)

salt and pepper to taste

In large wok or frying pan, saute garlic and onion. Add chicken and shrimp. Cook til done. (Doesn't take long.) Add cabbage, carrots, celery and beans. Pour in half of the

chicken broth and then simmer until the vegetables are crisp. Add 1/4 c. (or less) soy sauce to give color. Take out about 1/2 of the veggie/meat mixture and set aside. Mix the

dry noodles with the remaining broth and veggies. Cook about 10 minutes on low heat. (These noodles are alot like Raman noodles and cook quickly.) Now, you can mix the

veggies back into the noodle mixture or spread the noodle mixture on a large platter and then top with the additional veggies. Arrange slices of lemon or lime on platter. Add

salt and pepper to taste. We squeeze calamansi juice on ours. To make more elaborate, you can add slices of ham, pork, sausage, hot dogs or tofu.. You can also add

other items, such as mango, sprouts, cauliflower, or bokchoy. Just remember to increase the broth and noodles if you increase the other ingredients.
This makes 4 very generous servings.