Beef & Rice Enchilada Soup

  I made this delicious soup last Winter, when everyone was coming over all the time to be with Papa.  I knew I needed a big, hearty meal that could fill a lot of tummies.

  I saw a Pin from Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice that looked great!  I knew I was going to have to use it only as a jumping off point, because I needed it to GROW to feed a crowd, so I started changing and adding and here is what we ended up with:

TOTAL TEX MEX DELICIOUSNESS!!!!!!!!!!

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Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 whole Small White Onion, Finely Chopped
• 1 whole Bell Pepper, Any Color, Diced
• 6 cloves Garlic, Pressed
• 1 pound Ground Beef, Cooked And Drained
• 1 can (11 Oz Size) Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, Undrained
• 1 can (14 Oz Size) Creamed Corn, Undrained
• 1 can (14 Oz. Size) Corn, Drained
• 1 can (16 Oz. Size) Chili Beans With Sauce
• 1 can (14.5 Oz Size) Petite Diced Tomatoes, Drained
• 8 ounces, fluid Packet Of Frontera Red Chile Enchilada Sauce
• 2 cups Cooked Brown Rice
• 1 teaspoon Cumin
• ½ teaspoons Oregano
• Pinch Of Chili Powder
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 2 cups Shredded Colby-jack Cheese
• 2 cups Tortilla Chip Strips For Garnish
• Cilantro For Garnish

Preparation

Melt butter in a large skillet and saute onion, bell pepper and garlic for 2 minutes before adding beef, seasoning to taste, and cooking through. Drain and add to large slow cooker.

Add diced tomatoes and chilies, creamed corn, regular corn, chili beans with sauce, petite diced tomatoes and packet of Red Chili Enchilada Sauce.

Season with cumin, oregano, and a pinch of chili powder.

In a small sauce pan, cook brown rice according to package directions, subtracting 10 minutes from cook time. Add rice to slow cooker and let it continue to cook in there.

Cook ingredients on low for 5 hours. During the last 30 minutes, stir in sour cream and shredded cheese.

Serve with tortilla chip strips and a bit of cilantro.

Ole’!
~T

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BBQ Ranch Pork Wraps

  BBQ Pulled Pork couples with a delicious Chopped BBQ Ranch Salad Mix, for a “fix it and forget it”, supper.

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Ingredients

• 5 pounds Pork Loin
• 6 cloves Garlic, Pressed
• 2 Tablespoons Liquid Smoke
• 4 Tablespoons Worcestershire
• 1 whole Lime, Zested And Juiced
• 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch Mixed With A Splash Of Cold Water
• 12 ounces, weight Bag Of Dole Chopped BBQ Ranch Salad Mix
• 1 cup Shredded Carrots
• 1 cup Coleslaw
• Extra BBQ Sauce, If Needed
• 12 whole Tortillas Or Bread Wraps
• 1 cup Shredded Colby-jack Cheese

Preparation

FOR THE MEAT:
Salt and pepper pork loin and place in sprayed crockpot.
Add liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, lime zest and juice.
Cook on low for 8 hours, then shred.
Pour off liquid into small sauce pan and add in cornstarch water mixture. Heat to boiling, stirring until thick.
Pour back over meat and keep warm until serving time, uncovered.

FOR THE SALAD MIX:
Set aside tortilla strips and dressing. In a large bowl, mix salad mix with 1 cup of coleslaw and 1 cup of carrot shreds. Right before serving, toss with dressing, adding additional BBQ sauce if it seems to dry for your liking.

TO ASSEMBLE:
On a wheat tortilla, place shredded pork, colby jack cheese, salad mixture and top with the tortilla strips that come included in the salad kit. Wrap up and dig in!

Hugs, T

Mexican Special

  This recipe comes from a Church cookbook from the tiny town Mennonite Church from my childhood.  We’ve been making it for 11 years now, and it’s a great dish to feed a crowd!  Freeze the leftovers, or choose to …

Praying for A Miracle & Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Soup

  Do you remember Papa Don?  Dale’s father?  

You can go meet him here.  We took some family photos after he got sick, but before he started chemo.

  He is a very special part of our life and home, more now that he lives right next door to us, and shares our dinner table most nights.

  It’s been hard to watch him fight cancer this past year. He has lost so much weight, and the thing we miss most is the sparkle in his eye.  

  Praise the Lord, the cancer markers continue to fall from 8,000 down to 2,300, but we have hit a rough patch this last 2 months, and they are going back up again.

We were over to Nana & Great Gma’s for lunch yesterday, when Dale called.  He had gotten a phone call from his dads boss, saying he was not doing so good: dizzy, falling asleep, vomiting.

He has also been dealing with bouts of paralysis and loss of vision.  He can no longer drive truck, and is talking about quitting the office job now too, so he can rest.  The man hasn’t stopped working the whole time he has been on chemo.

After getting the phone call, we immediately planned to take Papa in for a check up, and to cancel his chemo treatment that afternoon.  Not when he was already so sick.

We were all playing outside, when Dale came over with some hard news from the Clinic about our Papa. The kids were playing nearby, but not so close they could hear our conversation, so I wasn’t sure they knew what was happening.  We talked very quietly, hugged each other and then he headed back to the Clinic to check on his dad.

Not long after that, I couldn’t find the kiddos….I thought I heard them “laughing” behind the fence.

When I walked around the corner, there they were, SOBBING, not laughing.  I grabbed a shot with my little camera phone so I could send it to Dale.

Destiny said they had decided to gather to pray for Papa, because they could tell something was wrong.  They just all burst into tears, because they were sad. Precious babies!

I hate to see them hurting, the utter heartbreak in their faces made me sob alongside them.  They understand so much more of the big picture then they are given credit for.  But thankfully, this opened the door for some wonderful discussion about how God sometimes heals our bodies here on Earth, and sometimes He heals us by taking us to Heaven and giving us a new body.  They know that part, but it’s still hard to understand sometimes.

After the kids went to bed, we had a big talk with Papa.  After much discussion, we have decided that we will not be continuing his Chemo at this time. The doctor is in complete agreement with us, as it is destroying his quality of life.

He sat in our home tonight in tears, I know this is so hard on him.  He couldn’t move from the chair, his entire left side was paralyzed for a good 10 minutes. This happens on and off now, sometimes an hour at a time.  We thought mini strokes, but it happens on either side of his body.  He goes in tomorrow to get some fluids drained so he can be more comfortable.

Guys, we are scared.  We are in uncharted territory for our family, going through something that you hear your PARENTS going through with your Grandparents, not your husband with his father.

The most difficult part of all, is that we truly don’t know the timeline of this journey for Papa.  So every day must count as if it is the last.

We don’t have all the answers, but we do know that we serve a Father who brings healing in various forms. We won’t stop praying for a miracle!

Thank you all for you continued love and support…..it means more than you know!   I will keep you posted.

———————————————————————————————————

  Now, on to the soup I want to share today.  Dale and Papa Don thought this was too sweet, but the kids and I LOVED the sweet and savory element that the BBQ sauce brings to this unique soup!

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Soup

Adapted from a delicious recipe at Picky Palate

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Ingredients

• 5 whole Chicken Breasts
• 1 whole Red Onion, Diced
• 5 cloves Garlic, Pressed
• 24 ounces, weight Frozen Corn (I Used Fresh That We Had Frozen Over The Summer, And It Was Amazing)
• 2 cans (14 Oz Each) Diced Tomatoes, Drained
• 1 cup BBQ Sauce (avoid Too Sweet Of One, Think Savory Spicy)
• 8 cups Chicken Broth
• 2 teaspoons Salt
• ¾ teaspoons Fresh Cracked Pepper
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1 bunch Cilantro, Snipped
• Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded

Preparation Instructions

In a large 6-7 Qt slow cooker, place uncooked chicken breasts, diced onion, pressed garlic, corn, drained tomatoes and BBQ sauce. Add 8 cups of chicken broth and seasonings.

Cook on low for 5 hours before removing chicken breasts and shredding them. Return to the slow cooker and stir everything well. Continue cooking 30 minutes up to 1 additional hour.

Serve with fresh shredded mozzarella cheese and snipped cilantro.

 Only a few more weeks left of “Soup Season”!

~T

Chicken Challenge Day 6: Slow Cooker White Bean & Chicken Chili

Mmm, this recipe comes from 5 Heart Home, one of my favorite Weekend Potluck contributors.  If you are looking for delicious recipes, then head on over to Samantha’s site and have some fun going through her site. I have her …

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches with Cilantro Sesame Slaw

This weekend was incredible, exhausting, tearful, yet wonderful!  

We celebrated my Grandpa’s life, surrounded by family and friends.  Several of the funeral home directors and employees, stopped me to say that they love our kind of family. The ones that really enjoy each other, the ones that can laugh and hug, and have a great time in spite of the grief, celebrating a life well lived. From a man who deals with death all the time, I thought that was a real compliment.  Grandpa’s viewing was noisy, it was tearful at times as we said our good byes, yet it was full of laughter, as we recounted stories of Grandpa in the good ol’ days, and hugged necks of second cousins we hadn’t seen in years! 

  I am more tired than I have ever been in my life, both emotionally and physically.  Even my feet hurt!  I am hearing my Mom, Aunts and Uncles, and Grandma say the same!  Most nights I saw anywhere from 1-3 am before crawling to bed and sometimes we were having “second supper” around my Aunt’s table at 11 pm, laughing with the cousins.  There is lots to do when planning a funeral, memory table, photo slideshow, or what have you.  I just had no idea how much went into the planning of such an event, and am thankful to have gotten to have a small part in it.  

  I took nearly 400 photos of our time together, and I am just too tired to deal with it now.  My emotions are spent and I am not ready to dig into the pictures capturing that beautiful, yet emotional day.  But, if and when I do, I will surely consider sharing here.  

  Thank you all for your loving support as we went through this weekend!  I am so blessed to have you all in our lives.

  On to the food: 

  Sweet BBQ meets Savory, in an amazing fresh tasting cilantro-sesame slaw topped sandwich…

  This recipe is adapted from the April-May 2013 Taste of Home magazine.  What drew me to this recipe was the brine you soak the chicken in over night.  I decided to couple it with our FAVORITE Cilantro Sesame Slaw and buttered toasted buns. Amazing!

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Ingredients

• BRINE:
• 1-½ quart Water
• ¼ cups Brown Sugar
• 3 Tablespoons Coarse Kosher Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Liquid Smoke
• 2 cloves Garlic, Pressed
• ½ teaspoons Dried Thyme
• FOR BBQ CHICKEN:
• 3 pounds Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• ⅓ cups Liquid Smoke
• 1-½ cup High Quality BBQ Sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch With A Splash Of Cold Water, For Thickening
• CILANTRO-SESAME SLAW:
• 3 cups Coleslaw Cabbage Mix
• ½ cups Green Pepper, Finely Chopped
• ¼ cups Cilantro, Snipped
• 3 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
• 2 Tablespoons White Vinegar
• 2 cloves Garlic, Pressed
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• ¼ teaspoons Pepper

Preparation Instructions

In a large bowl, mix brine ingredients, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Reserve 1 cup of brine out for the next morning. Place chicken in a large zip lock bag or Tupperware and soak for 24 hours, turning often.
The next day, remove chicken from brine and place chicken in your crock pot on low with reserved 1 cup brine. Cook on low for 4-5 hours until chicken is tender.
Remove chicken to a bowl to shred and drain juices into a small pot. Whisk together 1 T. corn starch with a splash of cold water and add to pot, boil until nice and thick, pour back over shredded chicken, adding liquid smoke and 1 1/2 cups BBQ sauce. Keep warm until serving time.

Make Sesame Coleslaw earlier in the day, by combining in a medium bowl, coleslaw cabbage mix, finely chopped green pepper, snipped cilantro, sesame oil, white vinegar, pressed garlic and salt and pepper. Refrigerate until meat is ready to allow flavors to blend.

At serving time, butter toast buns under a broiler for a minute, then drizzle with BBQ sauce, a large scoop of meat and slaw.

Roll those sleeves up and dig in!

You can thank me later……

Hugs, T

Crock Pot Ham & Scalloped Potatoes

May I just say before I get started, that some Comfort Food is just plain UGLY.  It is.  I don’t think it can help it, its just when its all gooey and smooshy and delicious…it just is uglier than some other dishes.

  Even when I tried different plates, still ugly.

{SIGH}

  So without further adieu or dirtying any more plates, I give you:

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Ingredients

• 5 pounds Baking Potatoes, Washed, Peeled, Sliced And Cut
• 1 whole Onion, finely chopped
• 5 cloves Garlic, Pressed
• 1 pound Pressed Ham Slices, Cubed Or Leftover Ham Roast, Shredded
• ½ cups Sweet Cream Butter
• ½ cups Flour
• 2 teaspoons Salt
• 1-½ teaspoon Fresh Ground Pepper
• 3 cups Milk
• 16 ounces, weight Velveeta, Cubed
• 1-½ cup Shredded Cheese, Like Colby Jack

1. Peel, slice and cut potatoes into 1/4th inch wide strips. Cube or shred ham. Set aside.
2. Melt butter in a large pan. Chop one onion and press 5 cloves of garlic. Sautee until soft and translucent.
3. Stir in flour and salt. Slowly add milk, then cheese until thick and creamy.
4. In a large bowl mix potatoes, ham and cheese sauce. Scrape into sprayed 6 Qt. Slow Cooker.
5. Cover and cook for 6 hours on low, or 3 hours on high, or until potatoes are soft.

This makes a BIG batch, so half it depending on your family size.  We ate on it several suppers and still had lunch leftovers!

Enjoy with green beans and whole wheat rolls!

~T

Slow Cooker Angel Chicken with Baked Brown Rice

  I don’t know why this is called Angel chicken, but I will tell you, it will sure make your supper prep “Heavenly”, as you don’t even have to be bothered to thaw your chicken!

Is that the Hallelujah chorus I hear?!

  This was one of those more quiet suppers, as everyone was too busy feeding their faces and saying Mmmmm, to visit much until AFTER their plate was emptied and refilled.  I’d say that’s a SURE sign of a “Keeper”!

Slow Cooker Angel Chicken

Ingredients

• 6 whole Frozen Chicken Breasts
• 8 ounces, weight Fresh Button Mushroom Slices
• 8 ounces, weight Fresh Baby Bella Mushrooms, Sliced
• ¼ cups Butter
• 1 package (0.7 Oz) Italian Dry Seasoning Mix
• 10 ounces, weight Can Cream Of Mushroom With Roasted Garlic
• 10 ounces, fluid Tub Of Philly Italian Cheese And Herb Cooking Cream
• 1 Tablespoon Corn Starch In A Splash Of Cold Water
• Brown Rice, Cooked

Spray a large slow cooker, then layer both kinds of mushrooms in the bottom, followed by frozen chicken breasts.
Add melted butter, soup, Italian dressing packet and Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking cream to the crock pot, stirring as you add.
Close lid and cook on low for 5 hours.
1 1/2 hours before serving time, make a batch of Baked Brown Rice.

Delicious!

Brown Rice Bake

1-½ cup Brown Basamati Rice

2 cups Chicken Broth

½ cups Water

½ teaspoons Salt

Preheat oven to 350*. Combine brown rice, chicken broth, water and salt in a 8×11 baking dish and cover tightly with foil. Bake 1 hour and 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit 5 minutes before removing foil and fluffing with fork.

Winner winner Chicken Dinner!

~T

Creamy Italian Slow Cooker Chicken

This is comfort food at its finest! Easy to throw together and tastes like you worked all day on it!!!!

Ingredients

• 6 whole Bonless, Skinless Chicken Breast Halves
• 1 envelope Italian Dressing Mix (about 1 Oz. Packet)
• ¼ cups Water
• 1 package (8 Oz. Package) Cream Cheese, Softened
• 1 can (10 3/4 Oz. Can) Cream Of Chicken Soup
• 1 can (4 Oz. Can) Mushroom Stems And Pieces, Drained
• 1 pound Angel Hair Pasta

Rinse and pat dry the raw, thawed chicken. Place in a slow cooker. Combine salad dressing mix and water, pour over the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours.

In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and soup until blended. Stir in mushrooms. Pour over chicken. Cook 1 hour longer, or until chicken juices run clear.

Serve over cooked angel hair pasta. Tastes great with steamed fresh broccoli and garlic bread sticks!

Enjoy!  This one’s a family favorite!

~T

The Best Italian Beef Sandwiches

  So I know I say this a lot, but the things I type out and present to you are “The Best” that I have found for that category of recipes so far.  (It’s always subject to change!)  So, with that being said, here we go:

  These Italian Beef Sandwiches, made conveniently in the crock pot, are THE BEST shredded sandwiches I have ever had. 

EVER. EVER. EVER.

  We adore all the wonderful seasonings called for in this recipe.  If you stay home all day, beware, your mouth will be watering as you await the supper hour.  And you might be tempted to lift the lid and snitch, but don’t, you are stronger than that.  It’ll be oh-so worth it! 

  Oh, and no skipping the butter toasted bun and broiled provolone cheese, they are non-negotiable!  Yum.

  Without further ado…..THE BEST…..

ITALIAN BEEF SANDWICHES

(click on the title to be taken to TK to print)

• 4 cups Beef Broth
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1½ teaspoon Black Pepper
• 1½ teaspoon Oregano
• 1½ teaspoon Basil
• 1½ teaspoon Onion Powder
• 1½ teaspoon Parsley
• 1½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1 whole Bay Leaf
• 2 envelopes Italian Salad Dressing Mix (1 Ounce Packets)
• 3 pounds Chuck Roast, thawed 
• 8 whole Wheat Hoagie Buns, 1 Side Buttered
• 8 pieces Of Sliced Provolone Cheese
• Butter for buns

Preparation Instructions

Combine broth with salt, ground black pepper, oregano, basil, onion salt, parsley, garlic powder, bay leaf, and salad dressing mix in a saucepan. Stir well, and bring to a boil.

Trim fat and place roast in slow cooker, and pour salad dressing mixture over the meat. Cover, and cook on Low for 10 to 12 hours, or on High for 4 to 5 hours. If cooking on low, at the 8 hour mark, remove bay leaf and use two forks to shred the meat, and then leave lid off for the rest of the cooking time (if cooking on high, do this with about 1/2 hour left); this allows the juice to soak into the meat.

Serve shredded meat on toasted hoagie rolls. On a cookie sheet, put your desired amount of meat on the roll bottom, top with provolone cheese. Butter top piece of bread and lay butter side up in the same pan. Broil everything for just a minute to melt the cheese and toast the top bun. 

Assemble sandwich and….enjoy!!! Serve with seasoned tater tots and carrot sticks.

 

Enjoy! It’s so stinkin’ incredible!

~T