Taco Soup

I know everyone has a recipe for taco soup.  This is the one I use most just because it's so easy and Weight Watcher friendly.
1 can black beans rinsed and drained
1 can corn drained
1 small jar of salsa or about 3/4 jar of a larger bottle
1 can chicken broth
1-2 cups cooked and shredded chicken

Put it all together in a big pot and let it heat through on med. heat.  If it starts to boil just turn it down to low until you are ready for serving.
I would suggest garnishing with sour cream, shredded cheese, and crushed tortilla chips on top.

Chicken or Turkey Lasagna

Chicken or Turkey Lasagna

12 cooked lasagna noodles

16oz grated mozzarella cheese (the picture shows cheddar cheese, because I didn't have any mozarella. It was still yummy!)

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, boiled and shredded or chopped. (Or use turkey)

8oz Frozen broccoli or spinach (I used spinach this time)

White sauce:

7 C. Milk

1 C Margarine or butter

1 C Flour

Salt & Pepper to taste

To make white sauce, melt butter in sauce pan, and stir in flour with a whisk until smooth. Add milk and whisk constantly on medium heat until it thickens, (may take several minutes). Turn off heat and it will thicken more as it cools. Set aside 2 C white sauce and 1 C cheese for the top.

Spread a few Tbsp white sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 pan.

Mix the broccoli or spinach, cheese, and chicken with remaining white sauce.

Layer from the bottom: 4 noodles, mixture, 4 noodles, mixture, 4 noodles, mixture, leftover sauce, leftover cheese.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Take foil off for the last 10-15 minutes to brown the cheese.

**Warning, this recipe tends to overflow in a regular 9x13 pan, so maybe put a cookie sheet under you pan to catch the drippings, or separate into 2 smaller baking dishes!**

Cabbage-Apple Salad

I follow the Super Healthy Kid blog and I've used many recipes.  My goal is to use more and there is nothing I love better then a fresh healthy salad, especially this time of year.  So we tried this one tonight. I tweaked it just a tad.  The picture is from SHK blog.  Plus, the last year I have learned to love cabbage.  I use it a ton in Oriental cooking.

Here is the recipe:
Bagged shredded cabbage (as much as you like)
Cut up apples
Cranberries
Sliced Almonds
I didn't have cranberries so I just used extra apples.

Dressing:
Favorite poppy-seed dressing (which I didn't have on hand so I made my own)
Recipe:
1/2 cup fat free miracle whip
1/4 cup  milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 cup white vinegar
1 Tbsp. poppy seeds
(I don't really like the taste of miracle whip, so I used 1/4 cup mayo and a 1/4 cup regular miracle whip- then I added some salt and a bit of apple cider vinegar, because I love it!)
Yummy! I love it, my kids were ok with it, but I'm going to be munching on this tomorrow.

Moist Chocolate Cake and Creamy Chocolate Frosting

So, first of all, to make a regular, boring, store bought Devil's Food cake mix-in-a-box taste more fabulous, just add 1/2 Cup of Sour Cream. Who knew? It really works! Just prepare the batter according to package directions, then stir in the 1/2 cup of sour cream, then bake.

Now on to the good part. The frosting!

I'm a little behind on the times, and have never learned how to make homemade chocolate frosting. I LOVE the taste of the homemade SO much better than the store bought stuff. So I searched the internet, and found this recipe. I made it today for our cupcakes that we had at New Beginnings. I have to tell you, it is delicious!

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar (aka powdered sugar)
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tablespoons butter, softened, but NOT melted in the microwave
5 tablespoons evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

In a medium bowl, sift together the confectioners' sugar and cocoa, and set aside. (Make sure you sift it, because I didn't, and there were a few lumps of powdered sugar and cocoa in the frosting).
In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth, then gradually beat in sugar mixture alternately with evaporated milk. Blend in vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. If necessary, adjust consistency with more milk or sugar.

Lemon Pesto Chicken & Raviolis

I really wish I could remember where I found this recipe. I might have even printed it off of this site! I just found it in my cookbook one day, and can't remember where I got it. Anyway, I made it for the first time last week, and it was really good!

5-6 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

3 Tbsp Olive Oil or Canola Oil

1/2 Pesto Packet (like taco seasoning packets)

2 Tbsp. Lemon juice

1 Cup milk

2 small yellow squash

2 small zucchini

2 Tomatoes

1/4 C. Parmessan

Salt & Pepper to taste

In a skillet, add in oil, and chicken. While chicken is browning, add in lemon juice, and cut the squash and zucchini into slices. When the chicken is brown on each side, (still pink in the middle), add in the squash & zucchini. Sprinkle pesto packet over everything in the skillet. Pour the milk on top, and mix around until everything is coated. Salt & pepper. Let cook at medium heat for about 10 minutes (until veggies are soft but not soggy). Add in sliced tomato and parmessan, stir. Remove from heat.

Serve over raviolis, or in my case, (I didn't have raviolis on hand), serve over pasta.

But here's another tip: Try it served over the Herb & Butter flavored Pasta Roni. I had some leftover from the kids dinner the next night, so I tried it. It was SO yummy!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Kraft recipes is one of my favorite websites to go to for recipes. I love Red Velvet cupcakes. I was checking out at a grocery store and I found this little treat magazine for Kraft. Here is the recipe for the Red Velvet cupcakes. They are really yummy.

Check out kraftrecipes.com Click on cupcakes. You will find the recipe for the Red Velvet cupcakes. I tried to do a copy and paste and it wouldn't allow me to do it.

Wingers Sticky Finger Salad

4 chicken breasts, cut into strips
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup bread crumbs
2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped
2 tomatoes
croutons
cheddar cheese, grated
ranch dressing
craisins
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/3 cup Frank's Hot Sauce(Original. I found mine at Smith's)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Dip chicken breasts into the sour cream and then into bread crumbs. Place on a sprayed/greased sheet pan. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked and crispy.

While the chicken is baking, prepare salad and make the dressing.

To make the dressing, combine the 2 1/2 cups brown sugar, 1/3 cup Franks Hot Sauce, and 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar in a pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Let boil for one minute, but no longer! If you boil too long it will turn hard.

When the chicken is done dip into sticky sauce and place on a plate. To serve, place sliced strips on top of salad with any additional toppings (cheese, croutons, tomatoes, craisins, etc.) and drench in ranch dressing. Save the additional sticky dressing as an extra topping for the salad...it adds a little more tang!

*Oh, I reserved a few pieces of chicken and didn't dip it in the sauce. I wasn't sure if it would be too spicy for the little ones!