Chicken Tortellini Soup

It wasn't even cold today.  I have no idea why I was in the mood for soup. I think I had read about some Tortellini soup on another blog and I felt like I needed to have some. I didn't measure anything so sorry to all of you cooks that like to have exact measurements.  This is very similiar to what I like to do for Chicken Noodle Soup but a lot easier.  I found Chicken Breast Tenders on sale today for $2.90 per package.  And that is pretty much how the idea for this meal was born.

 

I diced the chicken and put it in a large stock pot.

I added 1 chopped onion and one heaping spoonfull of minced garlic.

I added 1 bunch of chopped celery and about 2 C. Cut Baby Carrots

I found these Great concentrated stock things from Knorr.

  They are about the same cost of a 32 oz can of ready made stock

and you add each pack to 3 1/2 C. water so I almost got 4 times

the stock for the same price.  It was a fun discovery for me.

Since my pot of soup was big I added 2 packs of stock

And filled the pot with water

Since I like my soup with more yummy pieces of food than broth

 I added 2 (19 oz) packages of Cheese Tortellini

I turned the heat on the stove and just let that boil away until everything was cooked.  It was about 40 minutes total.

The soup was delicious and since I made so much there will be pleanty

 for me to enjoy over the next couple of days!

 

 



Karo Corn

My kids needed popcorn to take to church tonight.  Brenna likes the Boy Scout popcorn that we have that is extra buttery and microwave ready.  I do not.  Shelby does not either.  She wanted some sweet Kettle Korn which I tried to make....unsuccessfully.  After 2 burned batches I decided it was time to pull out the old college stand by.  My roommate Jennifer gave me her recipe for Karo Corn when we were college roommates over 20  a couple of years ago.  Needless to say it is still a good recipe and Helen said we needed to make it more often and the girls took both the sweet and savory popcorn with them tonight.  That just goes to show you that there are recipes in our past that we put aside for a while that maybe should be resurrected. 

Hope you like it as much as we do.

 

Karo Corn

 

In a clean kitchen sink pop 3-4 batches of plain popcorn.

  I use a hot air popper and just pop it right into the sink. 

 

In a heavy sauce pan combine

1 C. Butter or Margarine

1 1/2 C. Sugar

1/2 C. Karo Syrup

 

Stir and bring to a boil.  Allow to boil for 3-4 minutes. 

Remove from the heat and add 1/2 tsp. Vanilla.

 

Pour the sauce all over the popped popcorn

and stir well with a wooden spoon.

 

There you have it.  Super fast. Super tasty.  Karo Corn. 

Thanks Jennifer!

Getting High Tech

I am one of the least high tech people I know.  I don't even own a smart phone and have no ability to scan a QR myself but for some reason I think I needed one for my blog!  Well at least my kids can scan the QR on their phone. I wonder when I will ever need one of these little guys but hey there was a free QR generator web site I went to and I had a lot of fun doing it! Special thanks to my friend Jacob for helping me!

Chicken Enchiladas

I must be in a Mexican food mood lately.  Yesterday I made Fajitas for the family.  They were delicious.  Today I made Chicken Enchiladas .... also delicious.  I don't make them like everyone else that's for sure.  I usually always do an enchilada casserole as opposed to rolled individual enchiladas.  I personally feel that I get more servings that way.  Tonight we had a great dinner and I was still able to make 2 lunches for Erick.  Here is my version of Chicken Enchiladas.

 

I am not picky about what cut of the chicken I use.  If I have chicken breasts I use them, If I have thighs then I use them.  I happened to find a really good deal on chicken thighs so that is what I used today.  They needed some prep work but it was worth it.  I cut the chicken thighs into bite sized pieces and chopped one onion.

  I also added about 1 T. Minced Garlic.

I put all of that into a skillet and added salt and pepper to taste.

I cooked the meat until it was no longer pink and I drained the fat.

In a mixing bowl I combined about 30 oz of Green Chili Sauce

with 16 oz. Sour Cream.  I used Stokes brand today but I have used other brands also and it has been good. 

I places 1/4 of the green chili mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 pan

and topped with 4-5 flour tortillas.

I placed 1/2 of the green chili mixture over the tortillas

and topped with the cooked chicken.

I topped the chicken with about 1 1/2 C. shredded Mozarella cheese

and topped that with 4-5 flour tortillas.

I placed the remaining 1/4 of the green chili mixture on top

and covered with about 1 1/2 C. shredded Mozarella cheese.

I covered the pan with foil and baked at 350* for 1 hour

Delicious Chicken Enchiladas!

 

 

 

 

 

 



Layered Jello Salad

Is Jell-O a salad or a dessert?  I was raised that Jello was a salad.  Of course my mom never got very fancy with her Jell-O.   It was always a can of fruit in the Jell-O - use the fruit juice as the cold water in the mix.  I was awed when my sister in law put her Jell-O liquid into the blender and made a frothy top to her Jell-O salad.  I have a friend who insists that Jell-O is a dessert and it even says so on the box.  Perhaps if I treated Jell-O as a dessert instead of my Chocolate Cake or my Chocolate Brownie Trifle or even my Chocolate Chip Cheesecake I would be a little less jiggly (to reference Jell-O) ... But since you can see the theme of my desserts seems to be Chocolate you can see why

 Jell-O is not the first thing I think of when making dessert.  It is actually not even the first thing I think of when making Salad.  I make Jell-O rarely and it is eaten as a snack and it usually is plain with nothing in it.  I took the challenge to bring Jell-O to an event today and it was not bad.  I made a pretzel crust which I personally am not so sure I liked. Maybe I should have put Jell-O on the top and the bottom and skipped the crust...hummm...I might try this again!

 

Pretzel Crust

2 C. Crushed Pretzels

1/2 C. melted Butter or Margarine

3 T. Sugar

 

Crush your Pretzels in a zipper baggie

Mix them with the melted butter and sugar and

press into the bottom of a 9X13 pan

Bake @ 350* for 7 minutes

Set aside to cool and make the filling

 

Filling

1 (8 oz) pkg softened cream cheese

1 C. Powdered Sugar

1 8 oz. Container Cool Whip

 

Mix with your hand mixer and spread on the cooled crust

Place your pan in the fridge and let it cool while you do your Jell-O

 

Jell-O Top

1 (6oz) box Raspberry Jell-O

2 C. Boiling Water

1 (12 oz) bag Frozen Raspberries

 

You can use any flavor Jell-O and fruit that you want. 

 Mix the Jell-O and boiling water and whisk to dissolve the powder.

  Let it sit for about 5 minutes on the counter to cool down a little. 

 Add all the Raspberries.  Be sure they are straight out of the freezer so they cool the Jell-O down.

Pour over your filling layer

(I used a ladle to avoid splashing)

Put this in the fridge overnight or for several hours until set. 

Serve and enjoy!

 

 

 

 



Chicken and Dumplings

Today was a snow day.  No school for the kids.  I worked from home.  My husband went to work and thankfully made it there and back without incident.  This cold snow was the perfect weather for some comfort food.  This is the only picture I took..and it's not even a good one!  The recipe is easy.  It's something I don't remember my mom making so I pretty much just faked my way through it.  I am sure there are others who make it differently or even better but my family must have liked it because the pot is empty.  Here's my quick and easy recipe:

 

1 lb. Ground Chicken

2 C. Chopped Carrots

1 Chopped Onion

1 T. Minced Garlic

1 (26 oz) can Cream of Chicken Soup

Water

1 Batch of Biscuits

 

Brown ground chicken along with carrots, onion and garlic in a large stock pot.  Add condensed soup and a full can and a half of water.  Mix your biscuits.  If you don't want to use my recipe then use your favorite, or open some canned biscuits.  Roll your biscuit dough into a log and cut nickle sized pieces off and drop into boiling chicken mixture.  Let the dumplings cook for 4 or 5 minutes and you are done.  Dinner is quick and easy!

Toffee Bars

I need to go grocery shopping.  The kids open the cabinets and I can count on hearing "There's nothing to eat"  The reality is as long as I still have things I can cook for dinner I am not very motivated to go shopping.  The girls are out at church activities tonight.  You can bet that they will be hungry when they get home so I decided to try a new recipe from my old Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book.  It's not bad.  If the girls like it I would make it again.  The nice thing is from start to finish this took 45 minutes.  That's something I do like!  It has a few steps but none of them are very hard.

 

 

First combine 1/2 C. Butter or Margarine, 1/2 C. Sugar,

1/4 tsp. Salt and 1 C. Flour

Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 pan

Bake at 350 * for about 10 minutes

Honestly I didn't time the crust. 

When my toffee layer was done I took it out.

For the Toffee - in a heavy sauce pan combine 1 can (14 oz) Sweetened Condensed milk and 2 T. Butter or margarine.  Stir constantly.  Bring to the point of bubbling and cook for 5 minutes.  I started out with a spatula but found that a whisk worked better for this process.  Once 5 minutes is up it will be thick and smooth.  Stir in 2 tsp. Vanilla

I used an offset spatula and spread the toffee mix over the crust

Put back into the oven and bake 350* for 15 minutes

While it is baking make your frosting.  Now I didn't think the recipe looked like enough frosting so I doubled it.  In hind sight I would have had enough but hey...I am not going to complain about too much chocolaty frosting.  I will give you the recipe for a single batch. 

Combine 1 square unsweetened chocolate with 2 T. Butter or Margarine in a heavy sauce pan.  Stir occasionally until melted together.  Add 1 tsp. Vanilla, 1 1/2 C. Powdered Sugar and 1 T. Hot water.  Mix well.

Take the finished toffee out of the oven and spread

the chocolate frosting on top

Immediately cut into bars.  I actually took a bar out while it was still hot with no problem.  These are soft on the bottom with the crust, chewy in the center getting more firm as it cools and chocolaty on the top.  All in all I would say not a bad treat for the girls when they get home!