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Apricot Bars

October 18, 2008 by Tiffany King 3 Comments

I’ve been dying to make these since I finished licking the crumbs from the pan from my first batch. They are so buttery and yummy. What else can you expect from a Pioneer Woman recipe? Mine were still warm when I cut them and took the picture last night. I couldn’t wait until they cooled to eat one, but if you can wait, they will cut better and be neater to eat.

I really want to try these with some different jams. I think raspberry would be good, or orange marmalade, or blackberry or cherry or…. But before I can branch out to other fruits, I’ve got to polish off the pan I made last night.

Oh yeah, did I mention these are really fast and easy to make? And they would pack up great for a snack on the go.

Excuse me while I go eat another one 🙂

Taco Soup

October 15, 2008 by Tiffany King 15 Comments

This is a great recipe! First of all, it tastes wonderful. Secondly, the ingredients can be changed up and substituted as needed. I’ve used pork sausage and ground turkey instead of the ground beef. I’ve used chicken broth instead of beef broth. Often, I find that I don’t have any tomatoes and green chilis and I throw in salsa instead. I’ve even used a can of chili beans in sauce instead of the kidney beans.

The recipe makes a very big batch of soup. It’s enough for my family of 6 to have two dinners and a lunch. Sometimes I put the leftovers in the crockpot to heat for our second day of soup. (A whole recipe is too much for the crockpot.) The soup freezes well too, if you want to save it for another time.

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Taco Soup

Ingredients

Large package of hamburger 2 lbs. or so
Large onion chopped
2 cans Black Beans drained and rinsed
2 cans Dark Red Kidney Beans drained and rinsed
2 cans Corn drained (you could use frozen)
1 can Tomatoes with Green Chilis Rotelle
1 can Diced Tomatoes
1 15 oz can Tomato Sauce
1 can Beef Broth
2 packages of Taco Seasoning
2-3 cups of Water

Instructions

Brown the meat and onion together. I like to rinse the hamburger under very hot water to get rid of the extra fat.
Add in all the other ingredients and cook until it’s hot.
Serve with cheddar cheese and corn chips or with corn bread.

Notes

I usually put half of this in the freezer for another meal. I dump it frozen, into a 6qt. slow cooker and cook it on low all day.

Fried Rice – Oven Style

October 14, 2008 by Tiffany King 7 Comments

This is not your regular Asian style fried rice, but it is good.

The ingredients are simple: 1 cup of white, long grain rice (I used the cheap Walmart brand and saved my good Jasmine rice for something else), a bit of oil and a can of beef broth.

Brown the rice in a bit of oil on top of the stove until it gets toasty looking. I used a corning ware casserole dish. Anything that is both stove-top safe and oven proof would work.

Don’t worry about the two grains that jumped out of the dish while I was cooking them. I must have gotten carried away with stirring – it could happen to you too.

After the rice is brown, pour the can of beef broth over it but Do Not Stir! I don’t know why. My mom told me not to stir it, so I never do and it turns out every time. Put it in the oven at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes. If it starts to look too dry you can add a little water. I don’t usually have to do that.

My kids love this, consequently we never have any left overs.

Fried Rice – Oven Style
1 cup white rice
a bit of oil
1 can beef broth

Brown the rice in the oil on top of the stove. Add the beef broth after the rice is toasty. Remember not to stir the rice after adding the broth. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 min.

Grilled Chicken with Soy Marinade

October 14, 2008 by Tiffany King 4 Comments

This is a simple way to dress up grilled chicken. Ingredients – equal parts soy sauce, sugar and Italian dressing. I used about 1/2 cup each.

Mix up the marinade ingredients and pour it over boneless chicken breasts. I put the chicken in a ziplock bag. You could marinate the chicken the night before you plan to cook them, or the morning before your dinner or if you’re like me, about 30 minutes before they hit the grill. Just be sure to put them in the fridge while they’re waiting for grill time.

Yes, the chicken breast in the middle is a little pale. My grill doesn’t cook even, but it does cook.

That’s it! Easy and fast. Leftovers pack up the next day as part of a salad, wrapped in a tortilla with lettuce, on a roll for a sandwich etc. I had a salad at Chic-fil-A the other day that would be easy to create at home with this chicken. (I know this blog is about eating at home, but that doesn’t mean you can never eat out!) The Chic-fil-A salad had grilled chicken, lettuce, apples, grapes, mandarin oranges, cran-raisins and a berry vinaigrette dressing. Yum! I may have to make that for dinner sometime soon!