Taco Soup

Here is one of my own:

Taco Soup

1 lb. taco flavor ground turkey, browned and drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn, drained
6 cups water
onion or dehydrated onion to taste cooked with ground turkey
1-2 packets taco seasoning
1 cup wheat berries
1 can tomatoes
1/2 can tomatoes and green chilies

This one is so easy! I just put everything in a pot and simmer until combined. You can also add peppers to this if you would like. If you don't want it quite as spicy you can leave out the tomatoes and green chilies and only use 1 packet of taco seasoning. We serve this with sour cream and grated cheese and crunch up totilla chips and put in or can use them to scoop up your soup. Wheat berries are also optional, I keep some cooked up in my fridge, and they just take on the flavor of everything else. We love spicy soup. Hope you do to.

Freezer Meals

I need to start doing more freezer things. One that we like to do fairly often and that is really easy is burritos. Here is an idea for some burritos:

Chicken
Place 3-4 boneless chicken breasts in med. saucepan.  Add 1/2 jar salsa and enough water to cover chicken. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until chicken is white all the way through (about 20 mins.). Remove chicken from pot and let cool until easy to handle. Shred the chicken and return to the pot. If chicken mix looks too thing, bring to a boil to reduce liquid.

Spread about 2 TBS. refried beans on a flour tortilla. Add 3-4 TBS. chicken mix down the center, sprinkle on a TBS or so of shredded cheese. Fold the sides of tortilla in a bit, then roll from the bottom. Repeat. Wrap each burrito in plasti wrap, then place all burritos in a large freezer zip-loc bag and freeze. To reheat, remove the plastic wrap and microwave on high until hot all the way through (time will vary).

Ground beef/turkey
Cook beef thoroughly and add taco seasoning (make as pakage directs). Assemble same as chicken burritos.

Burritos are very easy to make and are just like the frozen ones you buy at the store, but are much more healthy for you. And don't cost too much to make. Watch for tortillas to be $1/package or less, that is a good time to make lots of burritos! Have fun with these and get creative.

Here's another idea to make multiple meals at one time:

Purchse 4 fryer chickens or one 3 lb. bag chicken breasts. starting in the early afternoon, remove giblets from whole chickens, bake two chickens in a roasting pan at 325*, uncovered for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Or bake one thawed 3 lb. bag chicken breasts for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, covered. When they are done, de-bone and bake remaining fryer chickens. After the first two chickens have cooled, chop up about 4 cups meat for a different freezer bag and freeze for future chicken noodle soup (dinner #2) and 6 cups for future enchiladas (dinner #3).

Chicken seasoning for each chicken:
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. thyme
2 TBS. rosemary
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
2 1/2 TBS. olive oil

Mix and rub all over chickens.
Chicken will be done when no longer pink inside and juices run clear.

Dinner #1: Baked Chicken
Chicken
Rica-a-roni
Veggies

Dinner #2: Hearty Chicken noodle soup
3 cans chicken broth
2 cups chopped carrots
2 cups chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 chopped green onion
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
4 cups water
3 cups cooked diced chicken
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 - 1/2 stick of butter
2 - 2 1/2 oz of futtuccine noodles (broken in half and cooked until tender)

Hear broth; add carrots, celery, onions and simmer until veggies are teder. Add cream chicken soup and milk. Add chicken and nooles. Add salt, pepper and butter.
This soup takes about 3 hours to simmer and thicken.

Dinner #3: Chicken Enchiladas
6 cups diced cooked chicken
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 (16 oz) sour cream
1 small can diced green chili's
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cups shredded cheddar/jack cheese
flour tortillas or corn tortillas

Mix soup, chicken, 1 1/2 cups cheese, and rest of ingredients together to make filling. Stuff into soft tortillas shells. Pour left over sauce over rolled up enchiladas. Add rest of cheese ove top. Bake at 350* for 40 minutes.

Do you have any freezer meals that you like to make? Care to share them?

Computer illiterate

I've decided that I realy am computer illiterate. At least when it comes to blogging. Trying to link diferent posts and put things in folders to make it easier for my readers to view things they want, like recipes only, it's kind of confusing. Does anyone have any suggestions on to make my blog more reader friendly?

Another good Smith's trip!

I finished my pasta shopping! Thanks to Smith's great sales the last couple weeks, I was able to get 60 boxes of pasta FOR FREE, plus I saved huge on other items that I bought with the sale as well. I love it when coupons and sales save me big!

Thanks to my cute neice I found out about another product on the same sale that is great price! My sister-in-law was chosen by houseparty.com to host a Philadelphia cream cheese party. (If you don't know what houseparty.com, goes check it out). So we all got a goodie bag with a $1 off 1 coupon for the new cooking cremes. I've posted a couple recipes using these, plus they come with recipes to try. So the sale is $1.99 each when you buy 10 participating items. I got 7 cooking cremes and used $1 off 1 from the party, $1 off 1 catalina that printed a couple weeks ago, and then 5 $1.50 off 1 that was in the 3/6 SS insert in the Sunday paper. So for all 7 I paid $4.43 plus tax for all.

What kind of things have you found at Smith's? Leave your comments and share with us all.