Bean and Bacon Soup

This is such a throwback to my childhood! I loved the bean and bacon soup in the red and white can. However, as an adult, when I tried that childhood favorite, I was sorely disappointed. So, I set out to make my own version of this warm and comforting soup. And I just have to say, the results are delicious! This is my all-time favorite soup to eat with grilled cheese sandwiches and my kids LOVE it. Seriously. The 1 1/2-year-old had two huge servings and the 4-year-old kept telling me how yummy it was. Score! 

This does take a few more steps compared to the canned version. But it is worth it. Trust me!

Bean and Bacon Soup

1 pound smoky bacon, cut into chunks*

1 onion, diced

3-4 stalks of celery, diced

3 carrots, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons tomato paste

5 cups chicken stock

2 bay leaves

4 cans great northern (or white) beans

Salt and pepper

In a Dutch oven, cook bacon chunks until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon onto a plate lined with paper towels, then remove all but 2 tablespoons of bacon fat. To the bacon fat in the Dutch oven, add onion, celery, and carrots over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper and sauté for 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook an additional minute. 

Sprinkle in the flour, stir and cook for 2 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook another minute. Whisk in chicken stock, add bay leaves and cook on medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small blender or food processor, mince your cooked bacon. This is optional, of course, but so worth it. Bacon bits in every bite!

Add the beans and bacon and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Taste for seasonings and remove the bay leaves. Serve in big bowls and enjoy! 

*Cook's Note: We've used low-sodium bacon and found it didn't have enough taste, so we added about 1/4-1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke at the same time as the chicken stock and that added the smoky flavor we were looking for.

White Chicken Chili

Since fall has finally come (sort of--it's supposed to be 70+ degrees this coming week--ugh), we are in full-on soup mode. I need it at least once a week for dinner. It's good for my soul! 

This particular recipe was something we made on a whim. I took a recipe I found online and modified it based on our tastes and what I thought would work a bit better. From prep to serving, it only took me 45 minutes, and it could easily be adapted to the slow cooker. Everyone enjoyed it--Hubs, the almost-four-year-old (on Wednesday!), and the almost-one-year-old (on Tuesday!). As for me, I didn't just like it, I loved it. I had two huge bowls, and, while I'm way too full, it was worth it. So, even though I didn't take a photo of this recipe, I'm blogging it because I NEED to. I need to have it on hand next time I need soup. You know, like next week!

White Chicken Chili

*Adapted from Food.com

3 chicken breasts or a whole chicken, cooked and shredded (rotisserie chicken is great for this!)

1 medium onion, diced

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 tablespoons flour

1 32-oz. box chicken stock

3 cans white beans (Great Northern), rinsed and drained

2 4-oz. cans diced green chilies

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup heavy cream

Shredded pepper jack and crushed tortilla chips, for serving

In a Dutch oven on medium heat, sauté onions in oil for 8 minutes. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add garlic and sauté an additional 30 seconds, then sprinkle on flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly whisk in chicken stock and bring to a boil.

Add in green chilies, beans, salt and pepper, oregano, cayenne, and cumin and stir. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Add in cooked, shredded chicken and stir. Simmer for an additional 15 minutes. Remove from heat and add sour cream and heavy cream. Stir to incorporate and then serve with shredded pepper jack and crushed tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Buffalo Ranch Roasted Chickpeas

Mmm, buffalo ranch roasted chickpeas!

Some days you just need buffalo sauce. Seriously. Your taste buds just cry out for that spicy, vinegary heat. However, cooking chicken wings and coating them in butter and buffalo sauce isn't always an option (hello, unhealthy MESS!), despite what Hubby might say. (One of his all-time favorite dishes is buffalo wings.) This particular snack is fun, easy, and yummy. I think it's perfect for football season, as long as you don't make more than you're sure you will need. While these come out of the oven nice and crispy, they don't stay that way, and don't make good leftovers-at least if the crispiness is something you need. However, I like them the next day, since they are still spicy and yummy.

Happy, happy, happy!

Buffalo Ranch Roasted Chickpeas
*From Kid Tested Firefighter Approved

2 cups cooked chickpeas (or one can, drained, rinsed, and patted dry)
3 tablespoons Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (I omitted-I didn't have any)
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
2 tablespoons dried parsley

Preheat oven to 400º. Combine chickpeas, hot sauce, and lemon juice in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the spices together. Add spice mixture to the chickpeas and stir to combine.

Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Pour chickpeas onto it and spread out in a single layer. Bake for 35-50 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Enjoy!

Asian Chicken Salad

This salad was absolutely delicious! We try a lot of new recipes and some are great, but only a few make it into the regular rotation. This is one of those special dishes that we both love. Full of fresh ingredients, flavorful chicken, and crunchy chow mein noodles, Asian chicken salad is a bright, yummy, and easy dish to throw together any night of the week. While we loved all the flavors, we might try to give it a Thai spin next time by changing up the marinade just a little with the addition of red pepper flakes and peanut butter instead of Chinese 5-Spice seasoning, which has a licorice-y flavor. That's another nice thing about this dish-you can change it up to fit your taste very easily. Again though, we loved this one!

Asian Chicken Salad
*Adapted from Pinch of Yum

For the chicken:
2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ginger (or 1 tablespoon minced ginger)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons Chinese 5-Spice seasoning

1/4 cup chopped green onions
2-3 cups coleslaw or shredded lettuce
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1-2 cups shredded carrots
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
2 cups cooked, shelled edamame (it's called mukimame when you buy it pre-shelled and is much more convenient in steam bags for easy cooking)
2 cups crunchy chow mein noodles
Toasted sesame seeds (optional)
Salad dressing of your choice (I used Litehouse toasted sesame ginger)

Whisk together the soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sugar, and 5-spice seasoning. Marinate the chicken in the sauce for at least 1 hour. Bake chicken with the sauce at 400º for 20-30 minutes, turning occasionally, until cooked through. Let cool and shred.

Toss chicken, green onions, coleslaw, almonds, carrots, cilantro, edamame, and sesame seeds together.

Serve tossed with salad dressing and top with crunchy chow mein noodles. Enjoy!

Nana's Chili

Our good news: Hubby and I welcomed our little bundle of joy on October 14th at 7:39am. Her name is Emma Naomi after her great great grandma Emma and great grandma Naomi and we are ridiculously head over heels in love with her! Having a baby is the most amazing experience ever and, although I haven't forgotten the misery, I can't wait to do it again in a year or two. For now, we are just loving Emma and enjoying every second with her.

Now for the food! About a week after Em was born, I was really craving comfort food and this recipe wouldn't leave my mind. This is my Nana's (better known as Naomi!) recipe, so it was fitting that I make it to celebrate Emma's arrival. Nana may not have been here to welcome Em, but I know she was watching. Just eating her chili made it feel like she was close. And this is good chili. It's just spicy enough and full of goodness with lots of beans and delicious spices and flavor. I'm writing the recipe as we make it, which means that we don't dice the onion or green bell pepper and we don't sauté it with the ground beef. My dad hates onion and green pepper, but the flavor is necessary, so the onion goes in whole and the pepper is quartered. This is how I've always eaten it, so this is how I chose to make it. And it didn't disappoint. Comfort food in a bowl!

Nana's Chili
*From Naomi

1 pound ground beef
1 large onion
1 green bell pepper
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon basil
1 1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon red pepper flake
1 can stewed tomatoes
2 cans tomato sauce
2-4 cans dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed (I use 4 because the beans are my favorite part!)
1 large can tomato juice

Brown the ground beef and season with garlic powder and onion powder. Drain the fat and add two tablespoons brown sugar. Stir.

Add the ground beef and then the other ingredients, except the onion and green pepper, to a large pot and stir.

Quarter the green bell pepper and remove the ribs and seeds. Peel the onion and add the whole onion and pieces of pepper to the chili and stir.

Cook on low heat for 3-5 hours (or all day in a slow cooker), stirring occasionally. Remove the onion and bell pepper before serving. Enjoy!

Creamy Chicken, Black Bean, and Corn Taco Filling

I need spice in my life, apparently. Lately it seems like the spicier it is, the happier I am. Until the heartburn kicks in, that is! With my due date just 3 days away, you'd think I would learn to give up the spicy to save my stomach and throat, but I'm not that strong.

This filling is incredibly easy, as it cooks in the crock pot for 4-5 hours. I love the versatility of it too, as you could use it in traditional tacos or enchiladas or you could make taquitos out of it, which is what I did. Either way, this was a flavorful and slightly spicy delicious way to enjoy some Mexican food.

Creamy Chicken, Black Bean, and Corn Taco Filling


3-5 chicken breasts, frozen
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups frozen corn
1 15-ounce jar salsa (I blend mine to remove the chunks)
1 8-ounce block of cream cheese, softened
Taco seasoning, cumin, onion powder, and garlic powder, to taste
Squeeze of lime juice

Place your chicken in a greased crock pot and season with taco seasoning, cumin, onion powder, and garlic powder.

Add the frozen corn.

Add the black beans.

Pour on your salsa (or Ro-Tel if that's what you have on hand)

Cook on high for 4-5 hours or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken and shred with two forks, then stir the chicken back into the taco mixture. Add cream cheese.

Cover and let it sit for a 1/2 hour. Stir to completely combine the cream cheese and add a squeeze of lime juice.

Now your filling is done! Enjoy on tacos, enchiladas, or a salad. Or you can use the filling for taquitos. Here's what we did: (Adapted from my baked chicken taquitos)

Preheat oven to 425º. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Place about 1/4 cup of filling in warmed corn tortilla shells. Top with monterey jack cheese and fresh cilantro.

Roll your taquitos and place seam side down on the prepared baking sheet. Spray liberally with cooking spray and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until ends start to crisp and brown. Enjoy!

Black Bean Mac & Cheese

I love macaroni and cheese. I prefer to make it myself or I ramp up the blue box stuff by adding sharp cheddar, black pepper, and ground mustard and topping it with breadcrumbs before sticking it under the broiler. It's a quick fix for my constant cheese cravings, but I usually feel guilty after I eat it. There's not much in the way of health benefits to gooey cheese and pasta. But when you add black beans, well, the guilt factor definitely goes down! I was terrified as I was adding the black beans to this. I kept thinking I was messing up my yummy mac & cheese. But it ended up being really yummy! I won't always make my mac this way, but I will occasionally add some hot sauce, black beans, and cilantro to my blue box mac.

Black Bean Mac & Cheese

1 box of mac and cheese (or make your own)

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 teaspoon of hot sauce (or to taste)

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Chopped cilantro for topping

Make the mac according to the package directions. Turn the burner to low, stir in shredded cheddar and allow to melt. Meanwhile, heat your drained and rinsed black beans in the microwave until warmed through (a minute and a half should do it). Add hot sauce to the mac. Gently stir in black beans. Serve with chopped cilantro sprinkled on top. Enjoy!

Creamy Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas

Whenever my mom makes enchiladas, she makes my brother do the "enchilada dance." Imagine a 6'3", 120 pound special needs kid dancing around in his rather spastic way and giggle a little because he can be so stinking funny and he'll do just about anything for enchiladas. Now, I'm sure my mom's enchiladas are delicious, but I don't eat them because they have ground beef in them, and I have been participating in a ground beef boycott for many years. Not that I have a political issue with ground beef, but it's yucky, so we don't get along. NO ground beef! But when someone does the enchilada dance, you have to make the enchiladas, so what do you do when you refuse to eat the ground up moos? (Moos are cows, in case you didn't spend your childhood hanging out with little Hubby.) You find a recipe for creamy green chili chicken enchiladas from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. Oh yum. This is my new favorite enchilada recipe! Chicken, green chilies, black beans, and a creamy green chili sauce? Oh yum. Again. You should make this now, because it's amazing. Trust me. And thanks Mel's Kitchen Cafe!

Update: I've been making this recipe for years now and have edited it a bit as I've seen fit. My whole family LOVES this dish. The 4-year-old and the 1-year-old scarf this down. It's delicious. I really love to serve it with a light salad and some Mexican rice. Yum!

Creamy Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas

*Slightly adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Filling:

3 cups cooked, chopped chicken

2 4-ounce cans whole green chilies, lightly drained and diced

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, cubed

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

Handful of cilantro, chopped
Juice of 1/2 of a lime

Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter

2/3 cup chopped onion

2 tablespoons flour

2/3 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 7-ounce cans green enchilada sauce

2/3 cup sour cream

2-3 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

8-10 soft taco size flour tortillas

Fresh chopped cilantro

Preheat oven to 375º. In a medium bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, green chilies, lime juice, and cilantro. Mix well.

Add the chicken and black beans. Mix to combine and set aside.

In a large nonstick skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook for 5-6 minutes until translucent, then add flour and cook for 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in chicken broth and milk. Cook until the mixture has thickened, about 2-3 minutes.

Remove the skillet from heat and stir in sour cream and enchilada sauce. Spray a 4-quart (or 15x10 inch) baking dish with cooking spray. Spread about 1 cup of the sauce on the bottom of the dish. Fill each tortilla with about 1/2 cup of the chicken mixture.

Top with a small handful of cheese. Save about 1 cup of cheese for the top of the enchiladas. Roll the tortilla up and place it seam side down in the baking dish. Continue filling the enchiladas until the dish is full. You might have some leftover filling, which is good with tortilla chips! Pour the white sauce over the top of the enchiladas.

Top with remaining cheese and bake for 30 minutes until hot and bubbling. Broil for a few minutes to brown up the cheese. Sprinkle fresh cilantro over the top and serve. Enjoy!

Mom's Red Beans and Rice

Some recipes are best labeled as family traditions and this is definitely one of them. My mom always makes this after we have ham because it's the best and most delicious way to use up those leftovers. The original recipe for this dish came from a plate my Nana had and we haven't changed it in all the years it's been made, with one exception: Mom and I add red pepper flakes. It just isn't red beans and rice if it isn't spicy, right? So, my suggestion to you if you have leftover ham from Christmas: make this. Make it now! And serve it with cornbread. You'll love it, I promise!

Mom's Red Beans and Rice

*From Nana and Mom

1 pound red beans

1 quart water (32 ounces)

1/4 cup celery leaves (just cut off the tops of a bunch of celery and chop)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon tabasco sauce (a couple of shakes)

2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

1 onion (or sub 1/2-1 tablespoon onion powder)

2 cups chopped or shredded ham

Place beans in water and soak overnight or until the beans have expanded. Remove all unexpanded beans and place the rest in a large pot or dutch oven. Pour in the water and add onion or onion powder.

Add tabasco sauce.

Then add red pepper flakes.

Stir in salt and add the chopped celery tops.

Finally, add in the ham.

Stir well and simmer on low heat for 2 hours, stirring occasionally, or until beans are softened.

With a potato masher, mash the beans until the mixture is thickened. If it seems too thick, add in a little more water.

Cook on low heat for another 1/2 hour or until you're ready to eat, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't burn. Serve over white rice with cornbread and enjoy!

Honeyed Curry Chicken

All this holiday eating has me craving lighter, healthier fare. This dish was the perfect one to satisfy that craving and a huge bonus was the aroma of the curry. It made for a wonderful break from the sugary smell of baking. We served this delicious dish with edamame, which was also yummy. The original recipe was from Fix-It and Forget-It, a slow cooker cookbook, but I adapted it for the oven. This one will definitely be a permanent fixture in our menus!


Update: We tried this with chicken tenders and it was so yummy! More delicious glaze equals even more delicious chicken in my tummy.

Honeyed Curry Chicken

*Adapted from Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon curry powder

3-4 chicken breasts

Add honey, mustard, salt, and curry powder in a medium bowl and mix well.

Melt butter in a saucepan and add honey mixture, stirring to combine.

Place chicken in a lightly greased baking dish. Spoon liquid over each piece of chicken.

Cook at 350º for 30-40 minutes, basting the chicken every 10 minutes with the sauce mixture in the baking dish. To caramelize, place chicken under the broiler for a few minutes at the end of the cooking time. Make sure you watch it carefully. Enjoy with edamame!

*To make in the CrockPot, add chicken to the slow cooker and top with the sauce. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until chicken is just tender.

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

When I started to set out the ingredients for this recipe, I realized that we didn't have any chicken breasts. How is that possible?! We did, however, have chicken tenderloins, so I used the 8 that we had to make this recipe. It wasn't nearly enough, so I used a can of black beans too. This recipe is an adapted version of my Aunt Kathy's enchiladas. Nick and I liked them, but because I removed the seeds and membranes from the jalapeños, it was a little bland. When I say bland, I mean it didn't burn off our tongues the way we like Mexican food to do. Next time we'll keep the seeds and membranes!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
*Adapted from Aunt Kathy's recipe

1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
2 cups chicken broth
36 ounces cooked shredded chicken (I used 16 ounces)
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 can black beans
2 tablespoons taco seasoning plus 1/2 teaspoon cumin
12 corn tortillas
3/4 cup chopped onion (I used 1/2 teaspoon onion powder)
8 ounces sour cream
2 cups thinly sliced jalapeño peppers (I used 6 medium sized peppers)

*I roasted the chicken in foil packets with a little drizzle of olive oil and taco seasoning with a little cumin.

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat.

Slowly add flour, stirring constantly until smooth.

Gradually add the chicken broth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it thickens (this will mean it comes to a soft boil).

Meanwhile, drain the black beans and heat in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add taco seasoning, onion powder, and cumin and a little hot sauce, if desired. Once beans are soft, mash with a potato masher.

Remove the chicken broth mixture from heat and stir in sour cream and peppers. It might be good to add the peppers with the chicken broth and allow them to simmer in the mix to break them down a little bit. Otherwise, they stay a little crunchy in the sauce.

Lightly baste the bottom of a 13x9 inch dish with the sauce. Heat tortillas in a skillet on high heat for a few seconds per side or blanche in a little bit of oil until soft. Mix chicken, mashed black beans, and 1 1/2 cups of cheese.

Stuff the tortillas with a generous amount of the chicken mixture.

Add a tablespoon of the sauce.

Roll up and place in the baking dish.

Top with remaining sauce.

Add the remaining cheese.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until cheese melts. Serve with salsa verde and rice. Enjoy!