Tortilla Soup

This is a fantastic and easy tortilla soup recipe from Sandra Lee Semi Homemade. I added chicken to the recipe to make it a heartier meal but you could serve it as is. Made as is the soup is mild, but if you wanted a spicy taste consider adding Pepper Jack cheese or getting canned Mexican tomatoes with jalapenos added in. You can also substitute the Creamy Ranchero soup for something with heat like Southwest Pepper Jack soup. Be creative!

Serves: 4
Start to Finish: 20 minutes
Recipe By: Sandra Lee Semi Homemade

Ingredients:

1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
1 cup diced red onion
2 tsp minced garlic
1 (32-oz) can reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 can chicken
1 (10.75-oz) can creamy ranchero soup Campbell's (any creamy southwest style soup will work)
1 (10.75-oz) can Mexican-style petite diced tomatoes
1 cup loose corn (canned or frozen will work)
1/2 cup crumbled tortilla chips
Fresh cilantro
Cotija cheese (this is a crumbly, white Mexican cheese. If you cannot find it, you can substitute with Monterey Jack cheese)
1 Avocado, sliced
Whole tortilla chips

Directions:

1. In a large pot heat olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add onion and garlic to the oil and cook until onions are soft and translucent.
3. Add chicken, chicken broth, soup, tomatoes, corn, and 1/2 cup crumbled tortilla chips.
4. Bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, prepare four soup bowls by adding grated cheese and avocado slices to each bowl.
7. Ladle soup into bowls.
8. Garnish with cilantro and serve with whole tortilla chips.

He is Here!

Our second little boy was born this past weekend. Both Mom and baby are doing great. Our family site has pictures and posts

Next Day Turkey Primavera

Happy Thanksgiving! After Thanksgiving most people have lots of food leftover (Which is amazing because we have eaten so much the day before). If you are looking for a way to use up your leftover turkey, then consider this recipe. It has lots of wonderful flavor but with a completely different taste than your Thanksgiving meal. And because many of the ingredients were used in your Thanksgiving feast in one way or another you will probably only need a few more items to put an entirely new meal on the table.

Serves: 4
Start to Finish: 30 minutes
Recipe By: Robyn Hardisty

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked penne pasta
8 fresh asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
2/3 cup julienned carrot
3 TBSP butter
1/2 cup chopped yellow squash
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked turkey
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute asparagus and carrot in butter for 3 minutes.
3. Add yellow squash and zucchini; saute until crisp-tender.
4. Stir in the turkey, tomato, dressing mix and cream.
5. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes.
6. Drain pasta; add to vegetable mixture and toss to combine.
7. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
8. Toss again before serving.

One Month and Counting!

I have officially hit the 30-day point; marking the last month of my pregnancy. Hooray! Michael and I are very excited for the expected arrival of our second little boy. I am doubly so, since it means I will no longer be uncomfortably pregnant or waddle like an duck.

My due date is approaching and I am simplifying my life, cutting back on the things I commit to do. Which means most of our dinners right now are usually something heated from the freezer, Chinese take-out, or pancakes. It makes life so much easier... but it doesn't make for very interesting recipe posts.

Our family blog will soon be full of activity but my cooking blog will be sporadic for a few months until things settle.

The Lasagna Compromise

I love my mom's lasagna! It is full of cheeses; it even has cream cheese in it, yummm. But Mike thinks it is too cheesy, and dislikes the cream cheese especially. Mike likes his mom's lasagna which I find doesn't have enough cheese or sauce in it and has too much meat. Because of this I didn't make lasagna for the first few years of our marriage since neither of us could agree on which recipe to make. After a while I decided we should come up with an entirely new recipe that would satisfy both of our lasagna tastes. We finally found a wining recipe that scored big points with both of us.

Serves: 9 servings
Start to Finish: 1 1/2 hours (only 20 min of this is actual prep work the rest is cooking and cooling)
Recipe By: Original recipe by Becky Ruff, with alterations to fit our tastes.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb ground beef
1 (13-oz) jar spaghetti sauce
1/4 cup water
1 egg, beaten
1 (12-oz) ctn cottage cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 TBSP dried parsley flakes
1/4 tsp each garlic powder, pepper, dried basil and oregano
9 uncooked lasagna noodles
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Grease an 8-in x 8-in baking dish.
3. In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain.
4. Stir in the spaghetti sauce and water.
5. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine egg, cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley flakes, and seasonings.
7. Spread 1/2 cup meat sauce into the baking dish.
8. Layer with three noodles and a third of the cheese mixture, meat sauce and mozzarella cheese. (You will need to break up the noodles a little to get them to fit, but no one will notice any breaks after it has been cooked)
9. Repeat layers twice, ending with mozzarella cheese.
10. Cover and bake at 375° for 45 minutes. (Covering is important to keep the lasagna from drying out.)
11. Uncover; bake 5 minutes longer. (Just long enough for the cheese on top to cook up nicely)
12. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.