Taco Soup

I had this taco soup at a friends house and I loved it.  More importantly, my two year old, who doesn't eat, loved it too.  I am adding this recipe to my site because it is not only one of my favorites, it is also a fairly healthy recipe.  It does have ground beef in it, but you can cut the calories/fat even more if you use shredded chicken instead.  It is not very spicy to me, but it might be too spicy for the kiddos.  I stirred in a little bit of sour cream to my son's portion and that took away all the heat.  I am ALL about quick and easy meals and this is definitely one of those.  I forgot to take a picture the last time I made this so I googled it and picked one at random which happened to be from the Village of Oakmont East website.  They had a similar recipe, but I personally like this one better.  Here is the recipe (thank you, Dawn):

Taco Soup

(picture is from the of Village of Oakmont East)

Ingredients:
1 pound of extra lean ground beef
1 Large can of crushed tomatoes
1 can of Rotel tomatoes
1 can of corn
1 can of black beans
1 can of pinto beans
1 packet of taco seasoning (I used Old Elpaso)
1 packet of Dry Ranch seasoning

Directions:
Brown the ground beef and drain.  Add the remaining ingredients (don't drain the cans) and stir until well mixed.  Let simmer for 20 minutes and you can garnish with tortilla chips, shredded cheese, sour cream etc....Serves 6-8.

   

Post Secret Monday

 My favs of this week...

And a few oldies...

Hearty Bean Soup

I wanted to share a recipe that is near and dear to my heart.  It is a very old   recipe that is known as "bean dish" in my family.  My mother got this recipe many years ago from one of her dearest friends.  I have grown up eating this and I think it is simply delicious.  It is very hearty and has a tart and sweet flavor.  It is so easy to make and it makes a ton. This soup is definitely a meal by itself.  Enjoy!

Hearty Bean Soup

Ingredients:
5 Pieces of uncooked bacon
1 pound of extra lean ground beef
half an onion - chopped
1 can of pork-n-beans
1 can of green lima beans
1 can of butter beans
1 can of chili beans
1/4 cup of distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup of corn syrup
1/4 cup of ketchup
1/4 cup of mustard

Directions:
Brown the beef and onion then drain and set aside.  Cut the bacon into pieces and cook it in the same pot that you are going to cook the soup in.  Drain most of the grease from the bacon, but leave about a tablespoon of it for flavor.  Add the beef/onion mixture to the pot along with the remaining ingredients (don't drain the cans of beans).  Let this simmer for 20 minutes.  I usually add a little bit more mustard and vinegar to make it even more tart.   Serves 6-8 large portions.  

Post Secret Monday

Here are my new Post Secret favorites this week.  Sadly, I can relate to both of these...lol.

And a few oldies...

Hey, Maki...You're so fine, you're so fine, you blow my mind!!!

 My father loved sushi way before it was trendy.  When he told me what it was, I was less than enthusiastic about trying it as a child.  It took him years of endless begging before I finally agreed to take the leap into the unappetizing unknown.  I think I was in high school when I tried it for the first time.  I'm not sure what it actually consisted of, but I AM sure that I immidiately let my napkin have it.  It was so horrible that I vowed to never try it again...ever.  My father loves odd foods, so I don't doubt that he chose to give me the sketchiest (is that a word?) sushi out there.  You know what I am talking about?!  It is the sushi that even the most fanatical sushi lovers try once and claim they like but never order it again.  

(image from Zhong Qiao)

For years, it was easy for me to avoid the sushi-craze because my friends liked it, but they didn't LOVE it.  All of that changed when I had Caleb.  Suddenly, I was spending less time with my friends who didn't have kids and developing closer friendships with other moms.  For some reason, that I have yet to figure out, moms are the biggest lovers of sushi.  Thru these developing mommie friendships, I was catapulted into the scary world of sushi.  Lets face it...sushi is terrifying for newbies.  You have all these crazy foreign terms that are NEVER explained on a sushi menu.  Sashimi, maki, nori, hamachi....it is enough to send any uneducated sushi patron running to the nearest TGIFridays.   Even if I wanted to venture out of my comfort zone and try it again, how would I know what to order?!  Doesn't anyone offer SUSHI-101 for those select few who somehow dodged the sushi-wave when it swept the nation in the 90's?!  The only thing I really knew about sushi,  I heard in an episode of  Friends.  Thanks to Ross, I learned that Unagi is NOT a state of mind, it is freshwater eel.   That is where I was two years ago until Katy, Yak, and J-Kro entered my life. These girls LOVE them some sushi.  It was sink or swim time.  If I was going to be a part of their highly exclusive group, I had to develop a love for sushi and I needed to develop it yesterday.  I downloaded the sushipedia app for my phone, I started doing some research, and I asked a TON of questions.  They were so patient with me and I will always be eternally grateful for that.  If I had been denied entry into this selective group due to my sushi-ignorance, I would have never forgiven myself.  Katy started me off slowly with fully cooked sushi and I, just recently, graduated to the raw catagory.  I actually like the raw better than the cooked.  To my surprise, the raw sushi did not have a fishy taste which I originally thought.  I now understand what the big fuss is about.  Sushi is not an acquired taste...it is a little piece of heaven, naturally.  I am upset that I wasted so many sushiless years.  Now, I crave it all the time.  To say that I love it, is an understatement on the grandest scale.  I still have no idea what some of the words mean on the menu, but I haven't found a type of sushi yet that I don't like (save the trainwreck that my father made me try).   I've come a long way, baby and I am not finished yet.  So, bring on the Tako, the Maguro,  the Fugu (ok, maybe not the Fugu...I'm not that adventurous yet) and plenty of Sake to wash it down.  This mom is officially a Sushiholic.

Next step:  Convincing my husband to try sushi...just once.   
                     

Post Secret favorite of the week

One of my favorite websites is Post Secret.  If you don't know about it, you should go check it out.  People anonymously send their secrets and/or thoughts on a handmade postcard.  For many, this is a way to 'let it go' and begin to heal.   Every Sunday it is updated with new postcards that have been sent from around the world.  I started following it about 5 years ago and haven't missed a single Sunday since.  The person who started the website, Frank, also has a travelling gallery of postcards and he has published several  books.   The postcards are happy, sad, disturbing, random, hilarious, heartbreaking, etc...but most of all, they are REAL.  Some of them have adult content and adult language, so be warned.    I am going to post my favorite one each sunday and maybe some that I have enjoyed from the past few years. 

Here is the website:  http://www.postsecret.blogspot.com/

My fav of this week:

A few from recent years (they are not archived on the site, but you can find some of the older ones if you google  PostSecret  and click on Images):

Cracker Barrel's Grilled Chicken Tenderloin

I am extremely picky when it comes to eating grilled chicken at a restaurant.  It is usually always bland and boring unless they top it with something that increases the calorie count to an astronomical level (which  defeats the purpose of getting grilled chicken in the first place).  The ONLY plain grilled chicken that I like is at Cracker Barrel.  I googled the recipe and found several sites that have a copycat recipe.  I made it last night for dinner and it was perfect.  It is so yummy!!!  Here is the recipe and the link to the site where I found it. 

Cracker Barrel's Grilled Chicken Tenderloin

Ingredients:
1 pound of Chicken breast Tenders
1/2 cup of Italian Dressing (drain spices and discard)
1 teaspoon of fresh lime juice
1  and 1/2 teaspoons of  honey    

Directions:
Mix all liquid ingredients together .  Pour over chicken tenders and let them marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour.  Grill the tenders until done and they have a light golden color.  Don't overcook or else they will be dry.  Serves 2.

Here is the link to the recipe I used:

http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/512/Cracker_Barrel_Grilled_Chicken_Tenderloin35657.shtml