Chicken tortilla soup

Yummy note:
I've seen variations of this Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe floating around many times before, but never got around to trying it out until recently. I wish I had tried it earlier, as it was delicious and easy to throw together in the crock pot. I've had something similar where we did like a dip and just ate it with chips, but that seemed to not be as healthy of a supper option, rather than if we just made a soup instead. So if you need a quick prep meal and are in lack of time, all you really need to do is toss these all in your crock pot and you are good to go. In just a few hours, you have a really flavorful, not too spicy chicken tortilla soup. If you want to spice it up more, I'm sure if you add in a can of green chilies that would really add some kick fairly easily. Also, if a crock pot isn't your thing in the kitchen, you can easily use this recipe below and just make on the stove and in short time, you'll have some amazing semi-homemade soup to enjoy! 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Modified from Campbell's Kitchen Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

2 cups leftover cooked chicken or rotisserie chicken 

2 cups of chicken broth 

1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup 

1 jar of picante or salsa 

1 bag of frozen southwest corn  

1 can of black beans 

1 tsp cumin 

1 tsp chili powder 

Optional: 

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

corn tortillas or corn chips to garnish

cilantro to garnish  

Directions:

In your crock pot, mix together broth, can of condensed cream of chicken soup, picante, corn, black beans, cumin and chili powder. Dice or shred any leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken and add to the crock pot. Cover soup and set on low for 4 hours. At the end, you can stir in cheddar cheese if you wish. You can also reserve the cheese for the top and garnish the soup with the cilantro and cheese and then serve with corn tortillas on top. Yummy note: If you are in a super hurry, you can always make this soup on the stovetop as well. All you need to do is add of the ingredients in a large stock pot and simmer for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are all cooked through. Again you would add your cheese, cilantro, and corn tortilla chips at the end. 

 

I used leftover smoked shredded chicken that I had in the freezer. 

Mix all of the ingredients together in the crock pot and that's it - super easy prep!  

Add cheese and cilantro either to the soup or garnish with at the end.

Hearty chicken tortilla soup

Bacon Hash and Broiled Eggs

Yummy note: Bacon... yes, whenever I say that word, I think everybody I know, their ears, eyes, and nose perks up... oh, not to forget the cat too. The bacon aroma just fills the house. Not sure what it is about the bacon, but it seems it has some magical power. Speaking of that, the blog I was assigned to for this Secret Recipe Club, mentioned a kitchen witch. I have never heard of this custom, but I like it, and could totally use a kitchen witch with good luck in my kitchen to help prevent any thing from burning, boiling over or spilling!! So back to the bacon, I got this amazing bacon hash and broiled eggs recipe from Rhonda at the the Kitchen Witch blog for this month's Secret Recipe Club. Thanks to my hubby for helping me scout out this hash recipe for this month, I think it is a keeper recipe on our list :) It had delicious flavor, not to mention you use bacon fat to saute potatoes in; yes, bacon fat,yes, grease, that is what gives this dish its depth of flavor. I was a bit intimidated at first, as I've never made a hash from scratch, as I usually just by frozen or pre-diced potatoes. I learned my lesson, not again, just use real potatoes, so much better and crispy.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my husband and I did! 

Bacon Hash and Broiled Eggs

original recipe http://www.thekitchenwitchblog.com/2011/09/30/bacon-hash-broiled-eggs/

Ingredients: 
1 pound bacon, diced
2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 small onion, diced
4 eggs
2 ounces grated cheese, optional
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions: 
In a large oven/broiler-safe skillet, I used my cast iron skillet, as bacon turns out wonderfully crispy usually in this pan. Over medium heat, cook bacon until the fat starts to render. Once you have a nice coating of that bacon fat/grease coating your pan, add the diced potatoes and onions. Cover pan and cook for about 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are tender and onions start to caramelize, making sure to check and stir frequently so they don't stick on the bottom of the pan. Oh, that is also the next best part here, too...caramelized onions with crispy bacon..yum... Be careful though, that pan and grease is hot! Remove lid and turn heat up some and cook until all of the bacon and potatoes are crispy and browned. Salt and pepper to season. Next, if you are using the same pan, blot the pan a bit and remove excess bacon grease. Or if using smaller broiler safe dishes, use a slotted spoon to drain, and transfer the bacon hash into 4 individual dishes. Crack one egg on top each bacon hash dish and place under the broiler for approximately 3 minutes or until the whites are done. Sprinkle some cheese on top, if desired, and return to the broiler to melt.

Just a few ingredients for this homemade hash! 

Try and dice potatoes evenly. Yeah, easier said than done, haha. ;) 

Add potatoes to the partly rendered bacon and continue to saute. 

Drain some of the bacon fat if too much before broiling the egg. 

Crack an egg on top of the bacon hash and broil egg until set. 

Cut into the egg and enjoy your hash.

If you are not a broiled egg fan, you can eat the hash as it is, or serve with a side of scrambled eggs as well. 

Yummy note: So I got lost (in a good way) a few times on the Kitchen Witch blog meandering through her beautiful pictures. Someday, I want to capture images like Rhonda does. :) Rhonda has some amazing shots, not only of food on her site, but art. You should really visit her photography site and see what other things Rhonda likes to shoot, besides yummy food ;) Speaking of yummy food, if bacon hash doesn't look like your thing, she has plenty of other options! Other recipes that caught my eye from Rhonda was this brisket, -this looks simple and delicious that I might have to try making this one when I need to feed a crowd the next gathering. The other top one was this venison lo mein. I really need to try and make this at home again; the last time I tried the noodles became mush. She had a good tip that I will share, and she said to just use regular or leftover spaghetti noodles for this dish! Well, duh, why didn't I think of trying to use those, instead of those mushy sticky noodles I attempted to try before. Make sure to visit the Kitchen Witch for other great tips and tricks like this from Rhonda.

An InLinkz Link-up

Egg and cheese quesadillas

Yummy note: This idea started with my youngest kiddo always asking for food almost instantly from coming home from morning preschool. While it is still mid-morning, he gets confused on whether it is still breakfast time or lunch. I tried to tell him, it doesn't really matter what you eat as long as it is good for you. Hey, I'm all about my kids eating well and trying to get them to try something new. Which seems like an everyday battle. So, who is to say, you can't have pizza for breakfast, eggs can be for lunch, or pancakes for supper?!  it's ok, kids...(as I get a crazy look from them) there is no one telling you that you can't. So this is where lunch meets breakfast.

Egg and Cheese Quesadillas

Ingredients: 

2 eggs, beaten

4 flour tortillas

1/2 c. cheese, shredded (any kind of cheese will work)

*Use a combination of any of the ingredients below to customize your quesadilla. 

*Optional ingredients/add-ins: 

Deli ham, julienned 

Bacon

Sausage 

Diced avocado 

Spinach 

Finely diced green pepper
Finely diced onion

Mushrooms 

Black beans 

Salsa 

Sour cream 

Cilantro 


Directions: 

In a small bowl, crack the two eggs into it and whisk. If desired, add in milk or water at this point, it doesn't really matter if you do or not, either way is fine, but only add like a tablespoon if you do. In a medium sized frying pan, spray with non-stick spray or a few tablespoons of butter/oil. When the pan is hot, pour the eggs and other optional ingredients* into the pan at this point. Reserve your shredded cheese to the end. Cook on medium heat, scraping the pan occasionally, until the eggs are scrambled and just set. Season with the salt and pepper. Place the egg mixture to the side and place a tortilla in the fry pan and start to assemble the quesadilla. For a larger quesadilla (full circle) - place egg mixture back on top of the entire tortilla and top with cheese and lay the second tortilla on top of the mixture. For a smaller quesadilla (half circle) - place egg mixture on half of the tortilla and top with desired amount of cheese and fold it over to make a half circle quesadilla. Fry until golden brown, flip quesadilla halfway through the cooking time to ensure both sides are nice and crispy and the cheese has melted. Cut into wedges and serve. Can serve with sour cream or salsa on the side or top with cilantro. 

This dish is easily adaptable to many different combinations! You just need a few basic ingredients to start it off.

Make sure to flip your quesadilla halfway to ensure cheese has melted thoroughly and a tortilla shell has a nice golden brown.

Cut into wedges and serve.

Couscous Bowls

Yummy note: This month with our Secret Recipe Club, I really wanted to make sure I tried a recipe using an ingredient that I have never really cooked with much before. I often get wrapped up into looking at these amazing recipes from all of the Secret Recipe Club bloggers, I start to forget why I initially joined the SRC and that was to try out new or different ingredients, not just different recipes. So when I was assigned the Pajama Chef this month, I wanted to keep that in mind while reading through Sarah's blog. Lunch is really one of those meals that doesn't quite fit into meal planning, and I never really have much planned, so I like quick ideas for lunch. When I saw the Pajama Chef had a handful of ideas for 10-minute lunch ideas, I knew this was the category I had to check out. So what a perfect match, as I found this flavorful couscous bowl! I have never really made anything with couscous before so it sounded perfect. :) Boy, was it easy to make! I didn't realize that couscous was this quick to make and delicious when added with other simple ingredients. In Sarah's Italian Chicken & Veggie Couscous Bowl recipe she noted it would be easy to add and change up the ingredients, so when I realized my leftover chicken was no longer to be found in my fridge when I went to make this, I decided to saute up some quick shrimp for a slight variation. Success! A quick and delicious lunch was made, and this recipe was portioned just right for one hungry mama or two smaller lunches. Enjoy.  

Couscous Bowl 

Ingredients: 

1/2 c. water
1 tbsp butter
1/2 c. couscous
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 c. sauteed shrimp (or leftover chicken)
1 c. frozen vegetables
salt/pepper/garlic powder to taste

1-2 green onions, diced
large handful spinach, chopped

Italian dressing

* Yummy Note - Can use other variations of vegetables and protein for this dish. - See original recipe and variations here

Directions: 
Bring water and butter to a boil and stir in couscous. Then remove from heat and cover. Let couscous sit for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, saute your shrimp with a little olive oil (or use leftover chicken) and the frozen vegetables for maybe 2-3 minutes. Towards the end, toss in your spinach and green onions and then season with salt and pepper to taste. Next, combine your sauteed mixture with the couscous. Top with a drizzle of Italian dressing and enjoy lunch! 

Hello- meet couscous - a quick-cooking grain. 

Quickly saute vegetables and a protein together while the couscous is standing and the dish comes together quickly.

Combine together for a perfect lunch! 

Shrimp & Veggie Couscous Bowl - made in about 10 minutes! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Corn Dog Mini Muffins

Yummy note: The kids really love the corn dogs, however, it is tricky finding brands that are dairy-free to suit our family's allergy needs. So I went searching to find a recipe to try out and make our own that I could modify. While deep-fried corn dogs are absolutely delicious, these baked ones are a little on the lighter side, if you can call anything corn dog-related "lighter." -Haha. These corn dog muffins are quick to throw together and you have a snack, appetizer, or little meal ready in like 15 minutes, start to finish. The mini muffin-sized corn dogs only take about 6-8 minutes to bake off and they are ready to enjoy. You get about 24 mini corn dog muffins with this recipe. You could probably make them in bigger muffin cup tins, if you wish, but my kids have requested even less corn dog batter in each cup or put more hot dog pieces in it for the next round when we make them.  

Corn Dog Mini Muffins

recipe adapted from http://realmomkitchen.com/10232/no-fail-corn-dogs-cornbread-pancakes/

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups pancake mix 

1/2 cup cornmeal 

1 egg 

1 cup water 

4-5 hot dogs 

Optional topping: 

1-2 tablespoons honey

1-2 tablespoons butter

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together pancake mix, cornmeal, egg, and water together. Spray mini muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. Cut hot dogs into pieces, no more than about an inch long. You should have about 24 cut pieces, enough to fill muffin tin cups. Scoop batter into the tins, each cup should be about two-thirds full, with enough room to place the hot dog pieces in without overflowing the cup. Bake in preheated oven for about 6 minutes. Then if you wish, add on additional honey/butter topping and bake for an additional 1-2 minutes until done.  

    

Just a few ingredients to make these. 

A cookie scooper makes this task of filling the muffin tin cups easier. 

Place cut pieces of hot dog in middle of batter. 

Add on optional honey/butter glaze at the end. 

Recipe makes about 24 corn dog mini muffins! 

Taco Pizza

Yummy note: I'm not sure I need much explanation for this post, especially if you are from the midwest area and have had Happy Joe's pizza before. They have a bunch of fantastic speciality pizzas that you just have to try in you are ever in the area of one. Our family favorite is the Taco Joe. However, when you find yourself hours away from a Happy Joe's location and you are craving a piece of taco pizza, no-- not a Mexican pizza from some other pizza establishment, but real taco pizza, you find yourself trying to recreate the original. This has been our closest rendition of the Taco Joe pizza we have grown up loving. 

Taco Pizza

Ingredients: 

• 2/3 cup of taco sauce
• 2/3 cup of tomato sauce or pizza sauce
• 1/2 cup of refried beans
• 1 package of taco meat seasoning (about 1/4 cup taco seasoning) 
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 lb. of ground beef
• 1 1/2 cups or so of taco-blend cheese or mozzarella cheese
• Pizza Crust (preferably homemade -see below recipe, or a pre-made crust) 

• Toppings for Regular Taco Pizza: 
• Shredded lettuce
• Chopped tomato (or could use salsa)
• Doritos or similar taco chips, broken up

• Optional to make a Taco Supreme Pizza:
• Sour cream
• Sliced black olives
• Diced onions

Directions: 

Prepare crust per recipe below or use a pre-made crust. Brown ground beef, drain fat if needed; then add in water and taco meat seasoning and simmer for a few minutes. Prepare taco pizza sauce by mixing together 2/3 cup of taco sauce, 2/3 cup of tomato sauce or pizza sauce, and about 1/2 cup of refried beans. Mix until smooth. Top pizza crust with sauce. Add some of the taco meat, sprinkle with the taco-blend cheese and layer with more taco meat. Place in a preheated 425-450 degree oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until bubbly and brown. Remove from oven and let rest for a few minutes. Then add your desired toppings of shredded lettuce, broken up Doritos chips, and chopped tomatoes. For a taco supreme pizza, add sour cream, sliced black olives, and dices onions.  

Pizza dough/Crust recipe

Ingredients: 
1 package of dry yeast (about 2 1/4 tsp)
1 1/4 cup warm water
1 tsp salt 
1/2 tsp sugar 
1 tbsp olive oil 
3 cups flour 

Directions: 
Dissolve yeast in warm water, then add in dry ingredients-sugar, salt, and flour. Add in 1 tbsp olive oil to mix dough until smooth. Roll into a ball and cover for about 15-20 minutes. Next divide the ball into two sections and roll out or spread onto a greased cookie sheet or pizza pan. If you use a pizza stone, sprinkle a little cornmeal on the pizza stone before your spread out your dough. I typically pre-bake the crust for a few minutes (~5 minutes) before adding on the toppings. 

Mix tomato sauce/pizza sauce, refried beans, and taco sauce together until fairly smooth. 

Pre-bake the crust slightly and then layer on the sauce, taco meat and cheese.

Bake in preheated 425-450 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until cheese begins to brown.

Top with desired toppings to make a taco pizza or a taco supreme pizza. 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Yummy note: Yes, the dreaded kitchen pantry, you know that closet that is often bare and I hear, "there's nothing to eat but random stuff..." Oh, someday I hope to have a larger one or perhaps one that is laid out a bit nicer, to achieve better harmony in my kitchen. :)  So this "random stuff" is what Feast on the Cheap calls a "well-stocked kitchen".  I was very excited to run across this "well-stocked kitchen" idea as it helps me justify better some of my odds and ends things in the cabinets. haha. so thanks to the mother-daughter duo of Mariel and Mary Anne from the Feast on the Cheap blog, as they were my feature for this month's Secret Recipe Club. Earlier this year, they featured my 3 ingredient peanut butter cookie recipe here with the SRC, so I was happy to finally return the favor back to them. 

 I had a few recipes in mind for this month's assignment, so I went rummaging through my pantry to see what I could do... I was making myself a quick lunch with the kiddo, so I wanted something small, quick, yet lunch worthy..  I went back and forth between the Gourmet Pizza and those Brussels Sprouts. It came down to time, and finally realizing, I don't think I have pizza dough in my freezer anymore, so the Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta and Garlic won. 

Mariel mentioned it would be a good Thanksgiving side dish with a healthier twist, and oh I'd totally agree... I thought it was good as a small lunch or meal just by itself,  however, my little guy was not as excited about them as I was. My youngest took one bite and was like "no thank you" - so we try, that was good, as hopefully the flavors and textures will grow on them the more and more they "just try a bite." So I guess, it's ok as it was more for me to enjoy!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Crispy Bacon and Garlic

adapted recipe slightly from 

http://feastonthecheap.net/roasted-brussel-sprouts-with-crispy-pancetta-and-garlic/

Ingredients: 
2 pints (about a pound) of brussels sprouts, trimmed and sliced in half
4 ounces of bacon or pancetta, diced
5 tbsp of olive oil (I used a roasted garlic grapeseed oil.)  
2 tbsp white wine (I used a Pinot Grigio.)
5 cloves garlic, sliced
pepper to taste

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare brussels sprouts by trimming of the bottom end of the sprout and then slicing each one in half. Next, in an oven-safe sauté pan, heat the oil until it is hot and then lay the brussels sprouts, cut side down in the pan. Reduce the heat slightly, and add in the diced bacon, sliced garlic, and white wine. Cook until they begin to brown slightly on the bottom, about 5-8 minutes. Next, transfer the oven-safe sauté pan to the oven. Roast for about another 15 minutes or until the bacon is nice and crispy and the sprouts have a nice brown coloring and are fork tender. Remove from the oven and enjoy!

Just a few ingredients needed to make some big flavors!

Everything getting all toasty in the sauté pan on the stove.

Next, it heads straight into the oven for more roasting. No extra dishes or pans to clean-up when you use an stove/oven-safe pan! 

Finished product of Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Crispy Bacon and Garlic 

A little dish of crispy, salty, savory deliciousness.  

An InLinkz Link-up

Margherita Bagel Pizzas

Yummy note:  I've really appreciated tomatoes more this summer than ever before probably. Our garden produced some larger varieties this year and they were much tastier for eating than some of my smaller Roma tomato varieties in the past. I do enjoy my Roma tomato variety for the sauces I make, or the cherry ones for salads, but the big boy variety is more fun to eat in big ole slices. Mm, slightly warmed cheese covered tomatoes is a small lunch perfect enough for me. My kids, they like their bread, just like me, haha, and we really love to make quick bagel pizzas. I make a wide variety of bagel pizzas -- a dairy-free variety for my youngest, then typically my daughter likes a meat-free cheese only pizza, and then my husband and I usually like more meat and toppings on ours. Then came along this simple margherita pizza, one night when I ran out of tomato/pizza sauce and they really wanted bagel pizzas. It is just the right amount of flavor to enjoy a simple, yet delicious pizza! 

Margherita Bagel Pizzas 

Ingredients:
4 bagels, halved (can use regular sized or mini bagels)
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced or shredded mozzarella 
2 large ripe tomatoes, sliced
4 basil leaves, sliced 
Few tablespoons olive oil for drizzling 

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the bagel halves on the baking sheet. Drizzle with some olive oil and place a slice of tomato on each bagel slice. Top with fresh basil and mozzarella.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden brown. Serve immediately and enjoy! 

Enjoying my wonderful tomato crop this summer by making fresh bagel pizzas!  

Layer up the tomato, basil and mozarella! 

After about 2 weeks of enjoying these little guys, I realized one of my pint canning jar lid rings was the same size about as a bagel. It made for a fantastic cheese ring funnel thing, lol. Not sure the name I'm looking for, but it was handy to contain the cheese when sprinkling it on my bagels. 

Golden brown cheese covers this nice warm tomato. 

Yumyum. 

Italian Turkey Burgers & a Giveaway!

Yummy note: This is a first for me since I've had this blog for several years now, and I was recently contacted by a nice representative from Red Gold Tomatoes and she wanted to know if I was interested in trying some of their new canned tomatoes in part of their Summer Grilling' Party II kit. Hey, why not, we love to grill at our place, and we use canned tomatoes quite frequently. I have never combined the two, so it was a new recipe that sounded perfect for us to try. Thanks to Red Gold Tomatoes they have some wonderful recipes to start off with and try. Oh, and it gets better, they said I could host a giveaway and a lucky reader will win a similar prize pack! Just leave me a comment below on how you'd like to use Red Gold Tomatoes and you'll be randomly put in a drawing to win that fun prize pack below courtesy of Red Gold Tomatoes! The giveaway ends July 20, 2014, so enter today! 

The recipe we decided to try from Red Gold Tomatoes was the Italian Turkey Burger. In the past, we typically have had some rather plain turkey burgers, nothing too fancy to write about that's for sure. But this recipe definitely changed that! This simple recipe added just the right amount of flavor to jazz up our plain turkey burger and it was not so bold that it chased the kids away! In fact, my daughter proclaimed it was her favorite burger. I think she was slightly shocked when I told her it was a turkey burger, as typically she's not a big fan of turkey burgers, she prefers her all-beef burgers normally. :) This burger had delicious flavor without having to add extra seasonings; which is so amazing considering all the flavor came from these amazing canned tomatoes. Seriously, did you know that the Red Gold company has been around the Midwest since the 1940s growing tomatoes! Pretty cool, since I'm a midwestern girl at heart as well :) The freshness of these canned tomatoes really shine through, as this Italian turkey burger had just the right amount of moisture and flavor and was not dry or bland like some previously grilled turkey burgers we've had!  

Italian Turkey Burgers 

Original recipe here

Ingredients: 

1 pound of ground turkey 

1 egg, beaten 

1/4 cup of breadcrumbs 

1 can of Red Gold Petite Diced Tomatoes with Garlic and Olive Oil

salt and pepper to taste

Directions: 

Drain the can of Red Gold Petite Diced Tomatoes with Garlic and Olive Oil well. Too much liquid ultimately will cause the burger to be mushy and fall apart. Next, mix together the ground turkey, egg, breadcrumbs, and tomatoes in a bowl. Shape into patties and season with salt and pepper. Place turkey patties on a preheat grill and cook until the desired temperature, which is about 160 degrees for a well-done turkey burger. I think it took maybe about 10-12 minutes to reach desired temps, so turn the burger over after about 5-6 minutes of grilling to evenly grill. Place on bun and top with any additional desired toppings and enjoy!! 

Yummy note: In exchange for this post, I was given the Red Gold Tomatoes product kit in order to try, and review in my recipes.  All opinions and statements are my own and were not influenced in any way by the compensation received.   

The Giveaway! 
Comment below & win a similar kit shown below! 
You will get to enjoy all of these delicious varieties of Red Gold Tomatoes & an apron courtesy of Red Gold Tomatoes Summer Grillin' Party II ! 

Here’s how to enter-

• Leave a comment on this post and tell me what you would like to try and make using a can of Red Gold Tomatoes.

• Comments will close at 11:59 pm on Sunday, July 20, 2014. 

• A winner will be chosen at random and the name will be posted to this entry on It's Yummy to My Tummy blog on Monday, July 21, 2014. 

• Please, one comment per person.

~Disclosure: Red Gold gave me at It’s Yummy to My Tummy a party kit, that included the apron and canned tomato varieties you see pictured. They also are generously providing the giveaway prize at no cost to me. All opinions and statements expressed are my own.

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Red Gold Tomatoes Summer Grillin' Party II - Official Contest: Did somebody say a party?!?  Make sure you check out Red Gold Tomatoes site, as they are hosting this Summer Grillin' Party II and they are giving away even more goodies there. Visit Red Gold's Facebook page and enter for your chance to win; each week 1,000 people will have a chance to win a Red Gold Apron like in my picture and one lucky One lucky winner will receive a large Big Green Egg® grill! (note- the official contest ends July 23, 2014)