Chicken Enchilada Soup

I love this soup! It has so many yummy flavors all incorporated into it!It is really delicious!

Chicken Enchilada Soup
3 cups chicken stock
2 skinless chicken breast
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp ancho chilli powder( I don't have this so I used just plain Chili powder)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes( You can use fresh tomatoes too.probably about 2 cups)
4-6 jalapeno peppers minced(I don't have fresh ones so I used canned green chillies)
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained (You can use homemade beans too, about 1 cup)
2 cups frozen, canned or fresh corn
1/2 cup tomato paste
8 oz cotija cheese, crumbled(you can use Queso Blanco or just use more Pepper Jack)
8 oz Pepper Jack Cheese
1 cup cilantro chopped
Tortilla Chips

In a large stock pot, add chicken stock and heat over medium heat. Add Chicken breast, cumin, chili powder and cayenne pepper. Simmer about 20-25 minutes till chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken and set aside. Add tomatoes, jalapenos, bell pepper, onion, and garlic to pot. Simmer about 30 minutes, covered until tomatoes have begun to break down. Add black beans, corn tomatoe paste and stir to incorporate. Add cotija cheese and half of Pepper Jack. Stir to melt. Chop chicken and return chicken to pot and cook about 20 more minutes till desired consistency. Serve with corn tortilla chips, sprinkle with cilantro and pepper jack cheese.

Pancake Mix

I love pancakes!  We like to make them for dinner when I have not really planned dinner in advance. They are quick and easy and who doesn't like a nice stack of pancakes with syrup? You could always use Bisquick to make pancakes but I like to make a pancake mix up from scratch.  It is really simple. You mix up the dry ingredients and then when that is mixed you can take out what you need from the mix and make pancakes. Here is the pancake mix that makes some nice fluffy pancakes.

Pancake Mix
Mix together:
12 cups flour
2 TBSP salt
3/4 cup baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
4 cups powdered milk

Combine well. Store in a airtight container.

To make Pancakes:
1 1/2 cup pancake mix
2 TBSP melted margerine
1 cup water
1 egg
Combine all ingredients and beat till smooth. Cook on hot griddle.

*After evacuating to Puerto Rico for the summer after our major flood here in Galena, I learned to make pancakes like my mother in law did. They are delicious!! You add a little vanilla and some cinnamon to you mix. Cook and top with some blueberries syrup and whipped cream.... May not be really healthy but it is REALLY DELICIOUS!!!

Blueberry Pie

Happy Pi Day!!!! 3.14 deserves to have it's own holiday.... at least in my house it does! So when March 14th comes around on the calender our family gets to eat pie in honor of that weird never ending number. I mean do we really need any excuse to eat pie? Nope. I am NOT an expert on baking pies. I wish it was an easy thing to make pie crust, but they are a bit tricky. I have already blogged the amazing Tomato Pie which my family LOVES. You can find the recipe in the Main meals category. But today we are having Blueberry Pie. The first thing you need is a pie crust. Here is a recipe for my favorite pie crust recipe.

Pie Crust
1 1/2 cup Crisco
3 cups flour
1 egg
 5 TBSP cold water
1 TBSP vinegar
1 tsp salt

Mix Flour and salt. Cut in Crisco till crumbly like corn meal. Beat egg and add to flour mix, Add water and vinegar. Stir till all incorporated. Separate in to 3 parts.( You can put the ones you don't need in a zip lock and roll slightly and freeze them for when you need them.)  Let the dough chill 15 minutes before you use it. It will make it easier to handle.  Flour a surface and roll out to use for  a pie.

For the Pie

Blueberry Pie
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 TBSP water
4 cups blueberry
Mix sugar, corn starch, and cinnamon. Add the Vanilla and water. It is a bit clumpy but I mixed it really good. Mix in the blueberries. Put in pie crust. Make a lattice or top crust for top. Brush with a little water and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 40-50 minutes.

Spicy Cheeseburger Soup

This is a delicious soup that is a good crowd pleaser. It is rather easy and is a pretty quick recipe to make. You can adjust the spice level to your liking. I actually don't make it spicy just so my boys will eat it.

Spicy Cheeseburger Soup
1 1/2 cup water
2 cups peeled and chopped potatoes
1 small onion chopped
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1 jalapeno seeded and chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
 1 TBSP Beef Bouillon powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 lb ground beef, cooked
2 1/2 cup milk (divided)
3 TBSP flour
8 oz velvetta(you can use cheddar cheese too)
1/4 -1 tsp cayenne pepper(to your taste)
1/2 lb bacon cooked and chopped

In a sauce pan combine water, potatoes, onion, green pepper, jalapeno, garlic, Beef bouillon, salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 15-20 minutes till potatoes are tender. Stir in beef and 2 cup milk. Heat thoroughly. Combine flour and remaining milk in a small bowl till smooth. Add the flour mixture to the soup. Bring to a boil, cook and stir about 2 minutes till it starts to thicken. Reduce heat and add cheese and cayenne. Stir till cheese is melted and soup is heated thoroughly. Serve and top with bacon. This serves about 6-8 people.

Cranberry/ Blueberry Nut Bars

I made these the other night for the first time. They were super easy to make and quite delicious. However they were NOT the type of bar I was thinking they would be. They were more like a cake. A delicious cake! I think if I want more of a bar, then I would pour it into a bigger pan to make it more thin, but if you like a berry kind of a coffee cake this is a good one. I used Blueberries instead of the cranberries that the recipe called for and it was so yummy. It would be a good for a breakfast or a dessert. For a dessert it would be good with some Cool Whip.

Cranberry Nut Bars
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup frozen or fresh cranberries
1/2 cup pecans

Grease a 8 in pan. Beat eggs in mixture bowl till thick. Gradually add sugar beat till blended. Stir in flour and melted butter. Blend. Add in Cranberries and nuts. Hand mix softly to avoid smashing the berries. Spread in pan. Bake 40-45 minutes till golden brown. Cool and cut into bars.

Indian/ Eskimo/Puerto Rican/ African........Worldly Fry bread! =)

This meal has become a favorite for our family. I don't know where the recipe is officially from and it changes depending on who you ask. Fry bread is a  flat tortilla like bread that you fry and it gets a bit puff and makes wonderful tacos. I first had Fry bread in New Mexico and they used it for a dessert with cinnamon and sugar on top. Then when we moved here, fry bread tacos were sold at many community events. The Athabaskan people(who mostly live in our village) say they were the ones to invent fry bread. Their people group are distantly related to the Indian people groups of the Lower 48. So I could see how fry bread would have spread to New Mexico as well as interior Alaska. The Eskimos on the coast also claim to have invented Fry Bread. So who know where it REALLY came from but I am glad all the different people groups and tribes eat it, that way we can see different ways to eat it. I was amazed to see how easy they were to make at home! So now a Puerto Rican and a Zambian have adopted it into our house and declared this World bread. No I did not invent it but I have experimented with different ways to use it. Fry Bread can be adapted to what you like. I love it as a taco but also love it as a dessert! Here is the recipe and a few ways we like to eat it!

Indian/ Eskimo/Puerto Rican/ African........Worldly Fry bread!  =)
3 cups Flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp Baking Powder
3/4 cup milk
1/4-1/2 cup water.(enough to make dough come together)
Oil or Crisco for Frying

Stir Flour, Baking Powder, Salt together. Stir in Milk till it comes together as much as possible. Then add water to get it to come together well to form a ball. Cover in a bowl and rest 30-40 minutes. Heat 1-2 inches of oil in skillet over medium high heat. Grab a plumb size ball of dough and press flat with fingers. (what I have found is you press it down and let it rest while you do the other balls and then when you come back to it it will spread better.) Press into about a 8 inch circle. It doesn't have to be perfect. Heat oil in a skillet or pan or even deep fryer.  Then fry it on each side till they are golden brown on both sides. Remove from oil and place on a paper towel. These do not reheat to well. You can but they don't taste as great. So if you are making these, fresh is best!

For Tacos top bread with:
Meat
Beans
sour cream
cheese,
lettuce
tomatoes
salsa
guacamole
ANYTHING you like in a taco!

For Dessert:
~Dust it with Powder sugar
~Drizzle Honey and Cinnamon
~ Or Dust it with Cinnamon, Sugar, Honey and Powder sugar =)
~ Make a Fruit Taco
~ serve with Jam or Nutella!! OH YEAH!!