Chicken Taco Soup

I love soup. I could eat it every day and not get tired of it. There are so many different kinds that I worry that I'm going to miss some in my quest to try them all....and then I come back to my senses and admit that I'm slightly nuts.

This is my "Go To" soup when I am watching what I eat. It's hearty enough that I am full when I'm done but it doesn't taste at all "diety". In fact, everytime I've taken this soup to a pot luck I've handed out the recipe later because it's so good.

There are many variations of Taco Soup out there. Some have ground beef, some are meatless, this has chicken because I like to be able to pull a package of cooked chicken out of the freezer and go. It depends on what kind of beans I have in the pantry, sometimes I only use kidney beans but my favorite is the 3 bean mix. Whatever you like is great. If you aren't a fan of spice you can lower the heat level by using regular canned tomatoes and just the diced green chilies. It really is the perfect recipe!!!

Chicken Taco Soup
10 servings

1 lb chicken, cooked and chopped into bite size pieces (canned works too)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomatoes with green chilies or RoTel
8 oz tomato sauce
4 oz diced green chilies
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can great northern beans
2 cups frozen corn
3 T. taco seasoning (1 pkt)
3 T. Ranch dressing (the dry mix kind)
water

In a large pot or Dutch oven mix chicken, tomatoes, chilies, and tomato sauce. Rinse the beans well under running water and add to pot. Bring to a bubble and add the taco seasoning, ranch dressing and corn. Stir well and add water until it's the consistency you like. I usually add about 1 cup.

Let simmer for 20 min. Garnish with cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pizza

It's been a crazy week or so getting ready for Jeff's return from Madagascar and I feel like we've eaten more pizza in the past 10 days than we have in 10 months, probably because we have. We've had drive thru pizza, delivery pizza, and fundraiser pizza but the best pizza by far was this Chicken Cordon Bleu Pizza that was thrown together from things in the pantry and freezer.  (Yes, I know that the picture is terrible but what can I say?)

The crust was made from half a recipe of the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day "Boule" recipe. This book has been worth its weight in gold; the dough is easy, consistent and best of all versatile. By halving the original recipe I had enough dough to make either 2 pizzas or 1 pizza and a half a doz breadsticks, just enough for our little family.

The toppings are just things I had in the freezer and pantry. Originally I wanted pepperoni but when I discovered that I had imagined that package of pepperoni and found a half full pouch of chopped ham instead I improvised. Bottled Alfredo sauce and some frozen grilled chicken just begged to become something cordon bleu. I really  like pasta with those flavors so how bad could pizza be??

It turned out very tasty and is something that I will do again. Even picky Bri ate it and liked it! Super easy!!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pizza
8 servings
Crust:
1 1/2 c warm water
1 T. yeast
1 T. kosher salt
3 1/4 c. all purpose flour

Mix the water, yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl. Don't stress about getting it all dissolved. Add flour and quickly mix together until a shaggy dough is formed. Cover and let rise for about 45 minutes. Remove from bowl and knead together a couple of times. Divide into two balls. Use one for pizza crust and the other for breadsticks.

Press the dough out onto a baking pan; let rest for a few minutes. You can partially bake the dough at this point if you are making a thicker crust, I usually do a fairly thin crust and skip this step.

Toppings:
1/2 c. Alfredo sauce
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts grilled and chopped
1 cup chopped ham
1 1/2 c. shredded Swiss cheese
chopped green onions, opt.

Spread Alfredo sauce onto pizza crust. Top with chicken, ham and cheese. Bake in 450 degree oven for 20 min or until crust is crusty and golden brown. Garnish with chopped green onions if desired.

Cal: 246, Fat: 10 g, Fiber: 1 g

Is this thing on??

Tap, tap, testing, one, two, three...is this thing on?

No one ever comments anymore, just wondering if anyone is actually out there. :)

Tortellini Pasta Salad

My brother is blessing his baby tomorrow morning and my assignment is pasta salad. Now, I love the traditional pasta salad with the corkscrew pasta and lots of veggies dressed with Zesty Italian but I wanted to try something different.

This recipe has a warm lemon vinaigrette instead of the bottled dressing and it's yum. Not just a little yum but a lot YUM. Definitely a do again. This would be good with summer cucumbers and peppers too I think...

Tortellini Pasta Salad
Servings: 10

1 lb refrigerated tortellini
1 cup grape tomatoes halved
5 carrots sliced
1 can olives, halved
8 oz mozzarella chunked
1 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp fresh thyme
2 lemons, zested
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 T. white wine vinegar
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 bottle McCormick Salad Supreme
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1. Cook the pasta per directions on package.
2. Toss pasta, tomatoes, olives, mozzarella and carrots in large bowl. Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan and add thyme, garlic, and lemon zest. Cook over low heat for 1 minute.
3. Remove from heat and add lemon juice, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper. Whisk together.
4. Pour vinaigrette over the pasta and toss.
5. Stir in grated Parmesan just before serving.

Calories: 422
Fat: 29.8
Carbohydrates: 24.9
Fiber: 2.6
Protein: 14.8