Taco Soup

We had missionaries to dinner tonight.

We had Taco Soup and Corn Bread. Was delicious. My friend Melanie shared the recipe with me.

1lb hamburger
1 package taco seasoning
1 can beans (pinto, chili or black - I used black)
1 can kidney beans
I can corn
I 8oz can tomato sauce
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 medium onion chopped
1 cup of water

Brown hamburger, drain fat, add taco seasoning. Drain and rinse beans - add all of the ingredients to large pot - no need to drain other items. Simmer for awhile. Makes enough for 6. I served it with shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream and Low Salt Fritos. (Did you know that they make low salt Fritos? - They do! Melanie suggested them)

Scripture Cookies

3/4 cup Psalms 55:21
1/3 cup 2 Nephi 26:25
1 1/2 cups Jeremiah 6:20
2 count Isaiah 10:14
2 cups 1 Kings 4:22
1 tsp. Song of Solomon 4:14
1 tsp. D&C 101:39
1/2 tsp. 1 Corinthians 4:6
3 cups D&C 89:17 (oats)
1 cup 1 Samuel 30:12 (we substituted choc. chips)

Have your family look up the scriptures to discover the ingredients. Beat together first three. Then add the rest. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Read History of J.S. 1:37 (don't burn) and D&C 133:11 (hour). Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Papa's Whole-Wheat Pancakes

*from Essential Mormon Celebrations cookbook, pg. 58

1 cup milk
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Combine milk and flour and beat in a blender on high speed for 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and beat on high for 2 more minutes. (I used a whisk and it worked fine) Pour 1/4 cup portions of batter on hot griddle and cook until lightly browned on both sides. Makes 12 pancakes.

I have always been a bit skeptical of whole-weat pancakes. It just seems like they would be dense and dry. But these are so light and fluffy and delicious! Our girls LOVE these.

Easy breakfast

Peter and I are sworn cold cereal eaters, but once in a while we'll break out and have more hearty breakfast.  This isn't so much a recipe, but a fun way to spice up breakfast. It takes 5 minutes and it's so yummy.

Use a cup or something round to cut out a hole in bread.  Butter both sides and place on a skillet.  Crack an egg open in the center and cook.  I like dipping my toast in my over easy eggs, but peter likes his cooked all the way through, so it's up to you!  Add some bacon or pancakes or whatever you want and enjoy.

Mexican Lasagna

Rachael Ray, to my surprise, has done it again. Courtesy of foodnetwork.com (and her) here's our new favorite meal.

3 T. Olive Oil (or butter or canola oil)
2 lbs. ground meat of your choice (she used chicken, we use beef cuz it's what's for dinner)
2 T. chili powder
2 t. ground cumin
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 can black beans, drained
1 c. taco sauce (or salsa or whatever mexican stuff you've got on hand)
1 c. corn (or a whole can)
salt to your liking
couple of tortillas halved
2 1/2 c. shredded cheese (or more and it doesn't matter what kind, we did cheddar and pepper jack)
2 scallions, finely chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (in case you weren't sure if we do C or F in Idaho, we do F)

In large hot skillet (medium heat), add 2 T. of oil and add meat, chili powder, cumin and red onion. Brown meat. Add taco sauce, black beans, and corn. Heat mixture through and season with salt.

Coat lasagna type dish with remaining oil (or you can just do spray). Start with meat mixture, then tortillas (how ever you want to arrange them) and cheese. Repeat til you're satisfied or until your meat mixture is gone or the pan is flowing over!! Bake 12-15 minutes until cheese is brown and bubbly. Top with scallions.

Side note: We only did 1 lb of meat and halved the seasoning it calls for and it was a better portion for a smaller family, plus my favorite parts are the beans and the corn. We still used the same amount of those. AND we coated the underside of the tortillas with refried beans - but that's just us.

SO DELICIOUS!!!

The Best Broccoli Ever!

Photos and recipe obtained from The Amateur Gourmet, who apparently got the recipe from The Barefoot Contessa.


Preheat 425

4 to 5 pounds of broccoli (two large bunches), cut into florets (but relatively big ones.)
Wash and dry them THOROUGHLY. That is, if you wash them. If you're nervous that the oven won't bake any bacteria way, wash and dry it obsessively. (the difference is soggy broccoli or crispy broccoli in the end).

Put the broccoli on a cookie sheet. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. (The Barefoot Contessa says 5 Tbs olive oil, 1 1/2 tsps kosher salt, 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper, but The Amateur Gourmet and I (Becky) just eyeball it.) Now add 4 garlic cloves that are peeled and sliced and toss them in too.


Roast in the oven 20 to 25 minutes, until "crisp-tender and the tips of some of the florets are browned."

When it's done, take it out of the oven--and here's where it gets really good--zest a lemon over the broccoli, squeeze the lemon juice over the broccoli, (I just sprinkle lemon juice over all of it - Becky) add 1.5 Tbs more olive oil, 3 Tbs toasted pine nuts (I left those out - mee too - Becky), and 1/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese (Becky has used pre-grated and ground but grated is the best). She also has you add 2 Tbs julienned fresh basil, but I left that out too (mee too - Becky).

This broccoli is SO delicious!

Baked Sweet Potatoes

This recipe totally cracks me up - so this is kind of a joke. What cracks me up the most is that on the difficulty scale it got a 2 out of 5 - 5 being the hardest.

Ready in: > 2 hrs ?
Difficulty: 2 (1=easiest :: hardest=5)
Serves/Makes: 5

Ingredients:
5 medium sweet potatoes or yams

Directions:

Wash potatoes. Drain but do NOT dry. Set in the crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours (depending on size of potatoes).

This recipe from CDKitchen for Baked Sweet Potatoes serves/makes 5