Taco Soup - Sister Schetselaar's

48 oz can tomato juice
8 oz can tomato sauce
15 oz can corn

15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
taco seasoning

cook ground beef with taco seasoning, drain
add all other ingredients
simmer 1/2 hour
serve with:

chopped scallions
shredded cheese
sour cream
frito chips or tortilla chips

Tracey's Fajita Chicken

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken cut into pieces or strips
2-3 peppers, cut in thick slices
sliced onions

sauce:

2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 T lime juice
2 T olive oil

marinate chicken and veggies in sauce
stir fry

25 Year Tomato Sauce

Why didn't I snap a picture?! I am calling it 25 year because I've been married for almost 25 years and therefore cooking for almost 25 years and it has taken me until this day to make a sauce that's good enough for me to think THIS IS IT! I will still make meat sauce from time to time, and my aunt's pasta sauce with meatballs is to die for, but it takes all day, so this is now my go-to sauce, now I can stop buying jarred sauce!

To give credit where credit is due, I started with Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce, which I have made a couple of times and was really, really good. But when I went to make it a third time, I decided to add some stuff. I live in the northeast, surrounded by people with Italian heritage, and people around here, whether of Italian heritage or not, HAVE THEIR OPINIONS ABOUT TOMATO SAUCE. So I am not claiming that this will be everyone's favorite, but it is MY favorite, and my family loved it. (Can't wait to try it on my extended family to see what they think.)

I love the taste of tomato paste. I think it deepens the flavor of the tomatoes and makes the taste less sharp. I didn't have an onion, so I used onion powder, next time I may use an onion; I don't think that is a deal breaker on the sauce. Lastly, I did not have anymore San Marzano tomatoes, which are $4/can around here! I used organic canned tomatoes and tomato paste from my local warehouse store and it was still delicious.

So here it is (this made more than enough for a pound of pasta).

1 (28 oz) can tomatoes
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
7 Tbs butter  Yes, that is right, you may be able to cut back a bit, but the butter makes this amazing.
 2 - 3 tsp Italian seasoning
@ 1 tsp salt
@ 1 tsp sugar
@ 1 tsp onion powder or chopped onion or a whole onion removed, whatever floats your boat

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium heat, then turn down to a simmer for about one hour, partially covering pot to cut down on splatters. Stir frequently, breaking up the large tomatoes with a spoon as you stir. You can always blend the tomatoes before putting them in the pot if you don't want to have to break them up while stirring, just make sure stir anyway. I included the diced tomatoes because I like the little bit of substance they contribute to the sauce.

Since I am trying to lose weight, I bought a vegetable spiral cutter and had my sauce over spiral cut zucchini. Yum! I really didn't miss the pasta because the sauce was so good. And no mozzarella cheese like the rest of my family had.

By the way, I lost nine pounds in my first week and yes, a lot of that is water, but I have edema so losing water is a very good thing! It's still nine pounds that I am no longer carrying around!

Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes

(image courtesy of http://www.cookingclassy.com)

This recipe came from 

• 4 pounds ground beef
• 1 C chopped onion
• 1 C chopped green bell pepper
• 1 (28 oz) can tomato sauce
• 2 cans condensed tomato soup
• 1/4 -1/3 C packed brown sugar (The original recipe calls for 1 whole cup but I cut it back to a little under 1/2 and think it could still use less.)
• 1/4 C ketchup
• 3 T Worcerstershire sauce
• 1 T dry mustard
• 1 T prepared mustard
• 1 1/2 t chili powder
• 1 t garlic powder

Cook beef in skillet in batches over medium-high heat until no longer pink, drain fat.

Add onion and green pepper to the pan and cook 5 minutes

Transfer meat mixture and vegetables to slow cooker and add remaining ingredients, stir well

Cover, cook on LOW 4-6 hours

My kids had this the traditional way on rolls, but I also made rice and my husband and I ate it over rice (it is a bit saucy, but that might be because I was 1/4 pound shy of 4 pounds of ground beef). I thought this would make so much (recipe says it serves 20-25 people) that I would be freezing a couple meals' worth, but we ate a lot of it that night, and are slowly eating the rest this week.

You could easily just finish cooking this on the stove, but I needed the slow cooker option because we were eating at different times that night.

Very tasty! I am making more rice and having some for lunch today : )

The Best Comfort Food: Chili

Will I ever remember to take a picture? Oh well, here is a photo that makes me think of chili, and NO, this recipe is not hot, but it makes me think of warm comfort food.

It is officially called Tammy's chili in my house, because way back in the day, when our first son was little, our friends Dave and Tammy came over. She had been in the middle of cooking this chili when we called, so when it was done she brought it over and we had dinner together. It was one of those impromptu gatherings that worked out well. And the chili was delicious, and she is one of those kind souls who is willing to share her recipes, and some 18 years later, it is still my favorite chili recipe.  We haven't seen David and Tammy in years, but we did find Tammy on Facebook, and I believe the last time I made her chili I posted it on FB to let her know it is still loved.

Now there are as many opinions about chili as there are people. This is very mild, but there is something about ground beef and rice that just belongs together, and this is the perfect way to make that happen. And every time I eat this, I ask myself why I don't make it more often. It is very easy, it just takes an hour to cook.  So here it is.

Tammy's Chili

1 pound ground beef

1 chopped onion

1 chopped green pepper

1 large can peeled whole tomatoes, broken into pieces (use juice too)

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

3 cans beans (Tammy and I use a combo of red kidney and cannellini beans), rinsed and drained

2 T chili powder

3/4 t paprika

Brown the ground beef, drain grease

You can brown the onion and peppers with the beef or add it with the rest, whatever you prefer

Add the rest of the ingredients

Bring to boil, simmer for 1 hour

Serve however you like.

I put it on top of rice and top it all off with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream.

For a family of six I double the recipe.  We did have some leftover to freeze.

Dinner Anyone?

(photo courtesy of Sandra @ www.fullbellies.blogspot.com)

Last week I made two meals. TWO. It was one of those weeks.
But one of the reasons I only made two is because we had lots of leftovers.
One that I made was this yummy goodness from Sandra.

Virginia's Baked Spaghetti

I should write some kind of review, I suppose. It was creamy, cheesy, hardy, warm, and delicious. How's that? Sandra warns that this recipe makes a lot, and she is right. It took three dinners for us to finish it. This is being archived under potlucks and missionary dinners. The only thing I would do differently is break up the spaghetti into small pieces before cooking (or cut it up after cooking). You could also use a different pasta, but it might not fit in the dish if you are cooking a full recipe because other pastas are bulkier.

Check out Sandra's cooking blog, Full Bellies, Happy Kids for more delicious recipes. Let me know if you try anything else.