Tortilla Soup

This is easily one of my favorite meals, not only to eat, but to make. It is so easy and yummy. The kids even love to eat it and ask for seconds.

Ingredients:
1 lb. cooked chicken or browned hamburger (I usually use one can of canned chicken)
2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can chicken broth
1 can corn
1 can Ranch Style Beans
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can Ro-Tel

Combine all of the above ingredients and simmer on medium heat to a boil. Pour over chips and sprinkle cheese on top.

Broccoli or Zucchini soup

We had this at Enrichment a few weeks ago, and it was delicious. A warning: If you put it in the food processor, it comes out textured sort of like baby food. If you don't want it that fine, I would suggest mashing it.

Broccoli or Zucchini Soup (at enrichment, Emma made Zucchini Soup)

From: Emma Calvert

3 Cups chopped or sliced broccoli or zucchini
1 medium onion chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1/4 C butter

Saute in pot until very tender then mash or pure in blender/food processor.
Add vegetables to-

1 Can of Cream of Chicken Soup
2 cups of milk (can be canned)
1/2 C water
1-2 Tlbs chicken boullion
2-3 Tlbs Corn starch

Simmer until thickened. (Do not boil). Add 4-6 slices of American cheese or 1 1/4 Cups of shredded cheese. Stir until melted. I usually double this recipe.

Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore

I love chicken cacciatore, but found the other recipe I tried just a little too labor-intensive for my taste...This one is really simple, and still delicious!

2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken
1 c. chopped onion,
1 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 (6 oz.) cans of tomato paste
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. celery seed
1 bay leaf
1/2 c. chicken broth

Place chicken, onion, mushrooms, salt, and pepper in crock pot. Combine tomato paste, garlic, oregano, basil, celery seed, bay leaf and chicken broth. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 7-9 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Remove bay leaf.

Notes: I used garlic powder instead of minced garlic, and it worked with the same measurement. I didn't have celery seed, so I omitted it, and that worked too. Also, the original recipe called for 1/4 c. chicken broth. I just happened to have 1/2 c. left over from a different recipe so I used it all, and it still was too thick to "pour" over the chicken, and turned out pastier than I expected. I might try using a whole can of chicken broth next time to make it more saucy, though it was tasty the way it turned out this time too. Also, we ate this with thin spaghetti, but I like chicken cacciatore with rice too.

Jumpin' Chicken Tai

Picture soon to come

Ingredients:
1 lb. meat - Chicken/shrimp/pork
1 bag Guilin Rice Sticks

Fish Sauce

Limes
1 bag garden salad
4 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
butter
1 bushel cilantro

Sweet onion
1 onion
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 c brown sugar
1/8 tsp salt

Hot onion
1 onion
1 tsp chili garlic sauce
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 c sweet coconut

Directions:

Marinate Chicken/shrimp/pork in garlic, butter and soy sauce for a few hours. Make fried onion of your choice, sweet or hot. Cook chicken in a pan, meanwhile, cook rice sticks - they don't take long just 5 minutes or so.

Assemble:
On each plate layer in this order - Rice sticks, salad, meat, onion, cilantro, squirt of fish sauce, juice of 1/2 lime.

Vorkink Chicken - Chicken balls

This is kinda like Elizabeth's recipe below, but my version of it. Actually this one was stolen from an old roommate too.

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 package cream cheese
1 Tbsp onion flakes
2 cans crescent rolls
1 can cream of chicken soup
salt to taste

Directions:
Boil and drain chicken. Shred chicken; I actually just put it in the food processor for a second or two. I know, lazy me. Anyway, then add the cream cheese, onion flakes, and salt. Blend it all together and divide into little balls, about 16. Wrap the balls in the crescent rolls and bake in the oven at 350°F for about 11-15 minutes. Make sure to not burn the rolls. Make sauce by cooking 1 can cream of chicken soup with 1 can water.

Cafe Jessie - BBQ Shredded Pork

Okay, so I stole this from my old roommate Jessie, but it is seriously amazing. We made a ton of this last Spring and ate it for pretty much every meal for a week and were still wanting more. Now that's good eats!

BBQ Shredded Pork:

3 pounds of pork loin roast
1 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 can (8 ounces) of tomato sauce
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1 white onion (3/4 diced, 1/4 sliced)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. oregano

Directions: Put sliced onions in the bottom of the crock pot. Cut
pork roast into 3 or 4 pieces and put into the crock pot. Mix all
other ingredients together in a separate bowl and pour over the meat
in the crock pot. Cook on low for 6 to 7 hours then shred meat.
Cook for another hour or so. If it looks like it's getting dry add
more of whatever you want (I recommend some water and barbecue sauce).

Notes: Sometimes I soak the raw pork in CocaCola over night before
I cook it. Also, this last time I made it I put in more sugar than usual
and some honey to make it sweeter. I also added ground red pepper to
make it a little spicier, per Brad's request.

This is what homemade Cafe Rio looks like at our house. We love having this meal for dinner and it makes great left overs too!

Chicken Pillows

I apologize in advance, because I don't have an exact recipe for this. I'll tell you the ingredients I use and approximate proportions! I made this the other night and it all got eaten (I had 2, Trent had 6!), so you may want to double it if you have hungry people to feed. I guess it also depends on how full you stuff them... I accidentally went a little skimpy on the chicken for this last batch, but they could be more filling if you use more chicken.

1 can crescent roll dough (6-8 rolls)
4-6 chicken tenderloins
cream cheese
texjoy
onion flakes
swiss cheese (1/2 slice per roll)

Boil chicken until cooked. Drain water and shred chicken with forks. Mix in a couple of spoonfuls of cream cheese (I usually put the pan back on the burner, even thought it's turned off to let the heat melt the cream cheese so it's easier to mix). Add some Texjoy and onion flakes to taste. Next, open your crescent rolls. To assemble, lay a triangle of dough flat in your pan, place 1/2 slice of swiss cheese on the fat end of the triangle, and then top that with a scoop of chicken mixture. Now wrap the skinny end of the triangle around, so the dough is covering the chicken, and press the other two corners up on top also. Bake according to the directions for the crescent rolls.

I just had an idea! These could make cute party food if you cut each roll in half before assembling them!