White Chicken Tortilla Soup
(courtesy of Erica)

Ingredients:
4 ounce can of diced green chili's (you can make your own if you prefer)
4 cups chicken stock
1 rotisserie chicken - I get mine from Costco. Remove meat and cut chicken in to bite size pieces( you can also use 2 lbs cooked boneless, skinless chicken).
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
1/2 cup diced yellow onion
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
2 cans Great Northern Beans (white beans)
1 cup sweet white corn (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper to tasteDirections:
In a large pot saute onions and garlic in the EVOO over medium high heat for 4 minutes. Add chicken stock, green chili's, cumin, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, add chicken, sweet white corn and beans. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

To thicken soup and add body: Add 3 tablespoons of cornstarch in a cup-sized container, mix as little cold water as possible to form a thin paste. Bring the soup back up to a boil; stir with 1 hand and pour the paste in slowly with the other. Continue to cook on high heat for a minute, then reduce to low. The soup will look cloudy at first but will clear up and thicken slightly. Remove from heat.

Add Cilantro and lime juice.

Garnish/toppings: sour cream, Mexican style shredded cheese, corn chips (you you can make your own - see below), lime wedges, chopped cilantro, chopped chives.

{As you can see I didn't add all the garnishings for the picture}

This soup is delicious and very easy to make (especially if you get the chicken like I do and use corn chips). It yields about 8-12 servings.

Homemade Samoa Cookies

(This recipe is courtesy of Baking Bites)

Homemade Samoas (a.k.a. Caramel de-Lites)

Cookies
1 cup butter, soft
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
up to 2 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky (it’s possible you might not need to add milk at all). The dough should come together into a soft, not-too-sticky ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough is very sticky.
Roll the dough (working in two or three batches) out between pieces of wax paper to about 1/4-inch thickness (or slightly less) and use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and use a knife, or the end of a wide straw, to cut a smaller center hole. Repeat with remaining dough. Alternatively, use scant tablespoons of dough and press into an even layer in a mini donut pan to form the rounds.
Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set. If using a mini donut pan, bake for only about 10 minutes, until edges are light gold.
Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Topping
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
8 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)

Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.
Using the spatula or a small offset spatula, spread topping on cooled cookies, using about 2-3 tsp per cookie. Reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it gets too firm to work with.

While topping sets up, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle finished cookies with chocolate.
Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes about 3 1/2-4 dozen cookies.

Note: These cookies are fairly time consuming to make, but if you take your time and have fun with them, the results will be worth it. That said, if you want something a little bit quicker, try baking a batch of Samoas Bars instead, which require no rolling and cutting of the dough!

Chicken Caliente Casserole

Chicken Caliente Casserole

Recipe courtesy of Linda Coleman from Food Network

This is a great way to use up left over rice or vegetables you need to use - most veggies work great!

Ingredients:

Butter or non-stick cooking spray, for greasing casserole dish

2 1/2 cups large-diced cooked chicken (I usually substitute 1-2 cans of black beans for the chicken, or sometimes half chicken, half beans)

3 cups cooked rice (1 cup uncooked rice makes about 3 cups cooked rice)

1 cup sliced celery

1 cup sliced green bell pepper

1 cup sliced onion

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons fine salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

3 tomatoes, cut into wedges

1 1/2 cup corn chips, crushed

(I usually add 1 c shredded cheddar or colby jack cheese for the last 5 minutes of baking)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 2-quart casserole dish (13” by 9” works great).

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients except the chips and mix well. Transfer the mixture to the buttered dish, top with the chips, and bake until hot and bubbling, about 30 to 35 minutes. Serve immediately.

Mochi Ice Cream Balls

While touring different countries in Asia years ago, I fell in love with mochi! Tonight I was craving mochi-covered ice cream balls (delicious!) but I made several calls and didn't have any luck finding any so I decided to make some for myself. Super simple and oh so good! They totally hit the spot!

4 T sweet rice flour

7 T water

8 T white sugar

~5 scoops (~2T each) ice cream, any flavor

cornstarch as needed

Put flour in glass mixing bowl.

Gradually add water while mixing continuously.

When combined, mix in sugar.

Microwave 2 minutes (covered with plastic wrap).

Stir with spoon (dipped in water).

Microwave 30-60 seconds more.

It is done when shiny, smooth and forming a ball (pulling away from sides of dish)

CAREFUL - it's HOT!

Remove from bowl with spoon (dipped in water to prevent sticking).

Place on cutting board/surface WELL covered with cornstarch (lots of it!)

Let cool slightly (you want to work with it while it's warm but not too hot!)

Flip over so cornstarch covers both sides well.

Pat/stretch with spoon or rolling pin until about 2-3 millimeters thick.

Cut into circles of desired size (I use a cup about 3-4 inches in diameter)

Place on cornstarch-dusted plastic wrap.

Freeze (or at least cool completely so it doesn't melt the ice cream!)

Drop ~2T ice cream in middle and wrap mochi around.

Freeze.

Enjoy!!!!

Just found another recipe I haven't tried yet - similar but the ratios are slightly different and it adds vanilla. I'll try this one next time and determine which I like better! :)

1 c rice flour

3/4 c water

1/4 c sugar

2 tsp vanilla

Follow directions above.

Homemade Hot Chocolate

(courtesy of Erica)

Homemade Hot Chocolate

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 1/2 cups hot water *start with 5 and then add according to taste desired*
Mini Marshmallows (optional)

Directions
In a large saucepan, combine sweetened condensed milk, cocoa, vanilla and salt; mix well. Over medium heat, slowly stir in water; heat through, stirring occasionally. DO NOT BOIL. Top with marshmallows, if desired. *you can keep it in crock pot all day - great for Christmas*
Tip: Chocolate can be stored in the refrigerator up to 5 days. Mix well and reheat before serving.

Whole Wheat Applesauce Muffins

Whole Wheat Applesauce Muffins (courtesy of Tanya Keeping)



Applesauce Muffins
(Here is my slightly altered version)

Topping:
2/3 cup oats
1/8 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp melted butter

Muffin batter:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup carrot or sweet potato puree NOTE: small jars of baby food = 1/2 cup of puree
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup veg oil
1 egg

Preheat oven to 400 F and grease muffin tin; I got 16 muffins out of my batch.

Combine topping ingredients in small bowl and set aside.

Combine ingredients top to bottom and stir just until mixed.

Poor into muffin tins and top with streusel; I pushed the streusel down with back of spoon before baking. Bake 18 to 20 minutes.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Whole Wheat Banana Bread (courtesy of Tanya Keeping)



SECRET INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of apple sauce
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
3 ripe bananas

HOW TO:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan.
In a bowl, mash bananas; add sugar, apple sauce, oil, baking soda, baking powder and egg until well blended.
Stir in flour. Mix well. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
I immediately remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack