Santa Fe Soup

I made this for my kids birthday parties, but never posted it!  My mom was asking for the recipe, so I thought I'd put it on here and she could get it then! 

2lb ground beef
1 diced onion
1can black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans
2 cans corn, drained (I used Mexican corn that had red and green bell peppers in it)
1 can tomatoes and green chilis
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cans water
2 pkgs Ranch mix
2 pkgs taco seasoning

Brown and drain the beef and onion.  Add everything together either in a crock pot or large pot.  Cook until done!  It's pretty easy and very tasty!

White Bean, Sausage, Kale and Tortellini Soup

My daughter found the container of White Bean, Sausage, and Kale soup in the freezer the other day and really wanted it for dinner.  When I made it in January, there were a lot of leftovers, so I froze it for another great soup day!  There wasn't quite enough left for all 5 of us, so I added 2 cups of chicken stock, let it come to a simmer and added a few handfuls of tortellini.  My daughter thought it was Minestrone, even though it's a lot different of a soup!  It was a good way to transform my leftovers!

Roasted Shrimp

I was pretty impressed with this one - great flavor.  I first made my "marinade."  I put about 1/4c olive oil, 2tsp lemon juice, 1T dijon mustard, a splash of Pinot Grigio, 1 large clove garlic, minced, and salt and pepper in a bowl and wisked it together.  Then I peeled and took the tails off 1lb shrimp and mixed them into the sauce.  I accidentally bought the large shrimp, which are NOT large.  They end up being bite size.  So, we just ate a lot of them!  I put them in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.  This was really only because I made this mixture right before a babysitting kid got picked up and I didn't want to put them in the oven until after they left.  so, I'm not sure that this step added anything.  I roasted the shrimp at 400 for about 10 minutes, until they were pink.  We ate this with leftover Quinoa Pilaf and some of the shrimp sauce mixed in with the quinoa and that was really good!  I think the next time I make quinoa, I'm going to pour this sauce over it!

Quinoa Pilaf

I found a huge bag of organic quinoa when I made my first trip to Costco a few weeks ago and have been very excited to use it!  I've only ever been able to find it in the bulk section at Whole Foods before, so I only ever have a little bit.  The bag describes it as more of a side dish, but since it's such a great source of protein, this was our main course today.

I sauteed 1 small onion, diced, 2 celery stalks, and a handful of baby carrots, both chopped on medium in some olive oil.  Once they were soft, I added 1 chopped clove garlic and 1c quinoa.  I toasted the quinoa for a minute, then added 2 cups vegetable stock and 1tsp thyme.  I brought this to a boil, them simmered, covered for 20 minutes.  While this was simmering, I chopped 1/2c walnuts.  I chopped these pretty finely.  I wanted the kids to have the crunch of them, but to still be able to basically swallow them without chewing.  Once the quinoa was done, I fluffed and stirred in the walnuts.  I think we are going to have the leftovers for a side dish tonight!

Tuna Salad

I  love tuna salad, but I usually don't remember to get all of the ingredients, so I never make it.  I use 3 hard boiled eggs (it's a lot of egg, but that's how I love it), 2 stalks celery chopped, and 2 cans drained white tuna.  I only use white tuna, basically just because.  Eating meat out of a can, in general, weirds me out a little and I don't like seeing too much color.  It's just one of my many quirks.  But I love tuna salad, so just the white meat for me!  I topped all of this with a squirt (about 1T) of Grey Poupon Hearty Brown Mustard (this is my new favorite dijon), a few quirts of mayo (just depends on how mayo-y you like yours), a splash of lemon juice, and salt and pepper.  Don't underestimate the power of the salt and pepper.  I made this for years without the salt and pepper and thought it was good.  Then after watching the Food Network for years and years and watching them salt and pepper everything, I decided to give it a try.  It really does bring out all of the great flavors and also help to meld them together into deliciousness!  I stuffed mine into a whole wheat pita for lunch today, but usually it's just between 2 slices of plain old wheat bread.

On a side note...apparently my kids and the babysitting kids love honeydew!  I bought one yesterday and my son and I cut it up this morning.  I gave the kids their lunch and I didn't hear 1 peep while I got mine together.  They were all eating leftovers, so I don't think it was their main dish that made them so happy!

Roasted Artichokes

Great side dish and so easy to make!  I drained a can of quartered artichokes, drizzled them with olive oil, salted and peppered them, and roasted at 400 for about 20 minutes.  I only use canned artichokes for 2 reasons...1) I LOVE the flavor of the brine and 2) I bought, cut, and prepared 2 fresh artichokes a while ago and they didn't taste good, took a lot of work, and there wasn't much to show for it!  Canned are the way to go!

Southwest Pasta Bake

I knew that I wouldn't feel like cooking when we got back in town last night, so I bought a box dinner from Wal-Mart.  It was Southwestern Chicken Pasta Bake and was actually really good.  While I was eating it, I thought that it might be easy to make into a vegatarian dish.  So I got up from the table and started!  I had leftover salsa and velveeta that I melted together with some milk.  I'm not sure how much of each - probably about 1c salsa and 1c cubed Velveeta.  I just added enough milk to make it saucy.  I added 1 can rinsed and drained black beans, 1c corn, and a little less than 1/2 lb cooked whole wheat macaroni.  I mixed it all together, topped it with cheese, and put it in the refrigerator for lunch today.  I baked it for about 30 minutes on 400 (although I think my oven's 400 is really about 350).  It probably could use some cumin or chili powder or something to give it more flavor, but it was pretty good for just throwing it together!