(Sound of stomach growling...)

2/7/10

I have been cooking a lot lately--a direct result of me not having any major projects in the works right now. Mark is bewildered but quite happy about it. He has given rave reviews of these new recipes I've tried, so I thought I'd share.

This soup is TASTY. And you probably already have a lot of the ingredients in your pantry.

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup

adapted from RaisinKane aka Patti on allrecipes.com

The original recipe calls for a can of beer, so I changed it to chicken broth.

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped (I used half of a large onion)
1 (16 oz.) can red beans
1 (15 oz.) can black beans
1 (15 oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (8oz.) can tomato sauce
2 (10 oz.) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chile
1 (1.25 oz.) package taco seasoning (I use mild)
2 cups chicken broth
3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts
shredded colby jack or cheddar cheese (optional)
sour cream (optional)
crushed tortilla chips (optional)

Directions:

Place the onion, beans, corn, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, chiles and chicken broth in a slow cooker. Add taco seasoning and stir to blend. Lay chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients. Set slow cooker for low heat, cover, and cook for 5 hours.

Remove chicken breasts from the soup, and allow to cool long enough to be handled. Shred meat with two forks; stir the shredded chicken back in to the soup, and continue cooking for 2 more hours. Serve topped with shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips, if desired. Serves 8.

Chinese Pork Ribs
From Taste of Home's Quick Cooking

As far as good smells wafting through my house, this one is one of the best. Madelyn even likes these. The second time I made them, I strained all the orange peel pieces out of the marmalade and just used the jelly. I liked it better that way. (Then you can always use the orange peel for my Chocolate Orange Cupcakes!!)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup orange marmalade
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 lbs. bone-in country style pork ribs

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the soy sauce, marmalade, ketchup and garlic. Pour half into a slow cooker. Top with ribs; drizzle with remaining sauce. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or until tender. Thicken cooking juices if desired. Serve with white rice.

And for chocoholics (oh yes. You know who you are.):

Chocolate Mint Dessert
from Hershey's

I guess technically you could just use a cake mix and make the frosting, but I really like the way this recipe turned out. The cake was moist and chocolatey. It requires time for chilling, so factor that in.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups Hershey's Syrup
Mint Cream Center (recipe follows)
Chocolate Glaze (recipe follows)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350* F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Combine flour, sugar, eggs, butter, eggs and syrup in large bowl; beat until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Spread mint cream center on cake. Cover; refrigerate. Pour chocolate glaze over chilled dessert. Cover; refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. Cover; refrigerate leftover dessert. About 12 servings.

Mint Cream Center:

Combine 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter or margarine and 2 tablespoons green creme de menthe (OR 1 tablespoon water plus 1/2 to 3/4 tablespoon mint extract and 3 drops green food coloring may be substituted for creme de menthe) in medium bowl; beat until smooth.

Chocolate Glaze:

Melt 6 tablespoons butter or margarine and 1 cup Hershey's semi-sweet chocolate chips in small saucepan over very low heat. Remove from heat; stir until smooth. Cool slightly.

Mmmmm.

On another not so sweet note, I just found out that our big fat tax return check will not be coming for 6-8 weeks, as opposed to the 2 weeks that we'd been planning on. Apparently the Feds want the actual paperwork for the new homeowners credit mailed into them because there's been so much fraud going on. WHATTHEHECK!!!!!! GAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!