Chicken Fajita Soup

I had a different recipe I wanted to share with you all this week, but after making this soup on Sunday, I knew I had to post this one instead.  It all started with a craving for Chicken Fajitas.  I woke up early Sunday morning with the intention of going grocery shopping for all the ingredients for our fajitas.  I did not check the weather before I left, so I had on a long sleeve shirt and a pair of jeans.  When I walked outside, I quickly turned around to go back inside to get my jacket.  It was at that moment, that I decided it was definitely a soup day.  I still wanted my chicken fajitas, so I went to my go to site...Pinterest.  I typed in chicken fajita soup.  After looking at all of the recipes, I took a little from each and added my own twist to it.  This is my new favorite recipe and I cannot wait to make it again.  This is a keeper, especially during the winter time.  I hope you enjoy it as much as my family and I did.  

Chicken Fajita Soup (AKA: A Bowl of Yumminess)

Ingredients:

1 lb of boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used 3 frozen chicken breasts)

1 20oz can of condensed cream of chicken soup (if you can get Campbell's, get that)

1 cup of salsa 

1 bag of frozen corn

1 can of seasoned black beans drained

1 1/2 cup of water

2 tsp of ground cumin

1 cup of shredded cheese

1/2 packet of Fajita seasoning mix

1 can of Rotel with green chilies

season all, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder

Seasoned rice or white rice

Directions: 
1. Spray slow cooker with non stick cooking spray.
2. Rinse your chicken.  Season it with season all, garic powder, onion powder, and black pepper (front and back). 
3.  Place chicken into slow cooker. 
4. In a large bowl, mix together cream of chicken soup, Rotel, salsa, corn, black beans, water, cumin, and Fajita seasoning mix.  Mix well. 
5. Pour ocer chicken in slow cooker. 
6. Cook on low for FOUR hours (Or high for 2 hours).
7. Remove chicken and either shred or cut into small chunks.  
8. Put chicken back into slow cooker, add cheese, and let cook for an additional 10-15 minutes.  
9. Place some rice in a bowl, cover with soup.  Serve!

**Optional: Add sour cream, salsa, guacamole, tortilla chips, and additional cheese

Gobble, Gobble

This is a re post from last year.  I am not a huge turkey fan and this year for Thanksgiving, I did not want to make the traditional turkey. When I do eat turkey, I usually go for the dark meat.  This is one of my favorite meals and it takes no time at all to prepare/make.  If you don't feel like baking for three hours, but you want to stay in the tradition of having turkey on Thanksgiving, try this recipe.

Recipe: Oven Baked Turkey Wings

Ingredients:
2 packs of turkey wings
Seasoning: Season all, garlic powder, accent, black pepper
1 large onion chopped
1 large green pepper chopped
1 can of cream of chicken soup

Directions:
1. Wash your meat.  Then season it with the seasonings listed above.  Take one stick of butter and divide it into fifths.  Place the butter all around your pan (in each corner and in the middle).  Then add a little water to the pan (about 1/4 of a cup).  Then place your meat in the pan.  Put it in the oven on 350 degrees UNCOVERED.

2. After 30 minutes, place chopped onion and peppers into the pan.  Let your meat cook for another 15-20 minutes.  Then cover it and let it cook for about 30-45 minutes.

3. After 30 minutes of cooking, uncover add 1 can of cream of chicken soup to the pan.  Re-cover and cook for another 20-30 minutes.

This would be great with mashed potatoes and green bean casserole!

Some of This and Some of That!

I haven't blogged in about two months and I have to admit, I really do miss it.  I knew once school started, I wouldn't be able to post as much.  Just because I haven't been blogging, doesn't mean I haven't been cooking and trying new recipes.  To make up for lost time, I have decided to post three recipes this week.  One is for breakfast, one is for dinner, and the last recipe is a dessert.  Sorry I have been gone so long.  I will try to post at least once or twice a  month!  

Breakfast Recipe:

Bacon and Cheddar Popovers

Next time I make this recipe, I plan on adding Jimmy Dean sausage and more cheese.  

Ingredients: 

• 1 2/3 cups of milk (I use whole milk, but you are welcome to use whatever you want)
• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp of season all
• 1 tsp of black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup finely chopped scallions (about 4 scallions)
• 10 bacon strips, cooked crisp and coarsely chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Spray a muffin pan with nonstick spray. Or you can place cupcake liners in the muffin pan.  I prefer not using the liners. 
Combine milk, flour, eggs, salt, season all, black pepper, and cayenne in a bowl.  Mix until mixture is smooth. 

Stir 1 1/2 cup Cheddar, 2/3 of the chopped bacon, and the scallions into batter. Spoon 1/3 cupfuls of batter into prepared muffin pan.  Evenly sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese and bacon over all the muffins.

Bake popovers 15 minutes. Reduce oven to 375 degrees and bake until golden brown, an additional 10 minutes or so. Serve hot.

Dinner Recipe: Crockpot Enchilada Soup

Ingredients:

3 tbsp of Canola Oil

1 large onion, diced

1 small green bell pepper, diced 

Black Pepper to taste

1 can (11 ounce) Ro-tel diced tomatoes & green chile's with the juices

1 can of Mexicorn (drained)

1 can of Lima beans (drained)

1 can of diced tomatoes with juice

1 can of seasoned okra, corn, and tomatoes

1 packet of ranch seasoning mix

1/2 packet of McCormick spicy taco seasoning

1 1/2lb of ground beef 

Shredded Cheese

Sour Cream (for topping)

Ritz crackers or tortilla chips

Directions:

1. Place canola oil in a skillet over medium temp

2. Brown ground beef.  Add seasoning to taste (season all, garlic powder, black pepper, crushed red pepper).  Add onions and green pepper to ground beef.

3. Meanwhile, add all canned food items to the slow cooker.  Add about a 1/2 cup of water to the slow cooker. 

4. When ground beef is done cooking, drain oil and then add to slow cooker.  Season pot with season all, black pepper, and garlic.  Add 1/2 packet of the taco seasoning mix (I used the spicy seasoning) and 1/2 packet of the ranch seasoning mix.  Mix well.  

5. Cook on low temp for 6-8 hours.  Stir occasionally and taste test to see what additional seasoning you need.  

6. Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, and crackers or tortilla chips

Dessert Recipe: Butterfinger Cake

For the past month, I have seen a co-worker with two pans of butterfinger cake.  She makes it for her son's football team.  Every time I see it, I just want to take a huge bite out of it.  I have to thank Kerry for inspiring me to make this dish.  I am not sure if mine is made the way Kerry makes hers, but I thought I would give it a try.  Nick has already sampled it four times and has given me his approval.  

Ingredients:

1 box of yellow cake mix (and ingredients for the cake)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 (16oz) jar caramel sauce

1 container of cool whip

3 Butterfinger candy bars, crushed into large crumbs

Directions: 

1. Bake your cake according to package directions in a rectangular baking pan. 
2. Let your cake cool for 10 minutes.  Then use a fork to poke holes in the top of the cake.  Make sure to poke holes over entire cake. 
3. Pour the can of condensed milk over the top of the cake, and spread evenly.
4. Then, pour the jar of caramel sauce over the top of the cake, and again spread evenly over cake.
5. Sprinkle some of the crushed butterfinger evenly over the cake. 
6. Place cake in the refrigerator for 1 hour or until cool.
7. Once cool, spread the cool whip evenly over the cake.
8. Sprinkle remaining crushed Butterfinger crumbs on top of the cool whip.  
9. Return to refrigerator until time to serve, and store covered in refrigerator after serving.
10. Enjoy!