Taco Soup

1 lb. ground beef, browned & drained
2 c. salsa
1 can stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 can corn, undrained
1 kidney beans, rinsed & drained
1 garbanzo beans, rinsed & drained
1 black beans, rinsed & drained
1 pkg. taco seasoning

Mix and simmer ingredients all day in a crockpot, or mix and heat on medium-high heat on stovetop until boils. Simmer on medium for about 30 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and sour cream.

Recipe Source: Ruth Hale

Summer Curried Chicken Salad

• 6 chicken breast halves, bone in, skin on (this makes for moister chicken) or just use Costco rotisserie chicken
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 1 rib celery, chopped 
• 1 1/3 cups mayo
• 2 Tablespoons curry powder (I usually half this)
• 1 1/2 cups seedless grapes, sliced in half
• 1 cup cashews

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet, cover with foil, and roast until done, about 40 to 50 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts. Cool, discard skin, remove the meat from the bones, and cut into chunks.

Place chicken chunks in a larger bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add the scallions and celery. Mix the mayonnaise and curry powder together, then add to chicken. Add the red grapes and chill. Stir in the cashews just before serving. This salad tastes even better the following day. 

Banana Cake

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 1/8 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Grease two 8 inch round baking pans and line with parchment.

In a small bowl, mix mashed bananas and lemon juice. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Stir in banana mixture.

Evenly pour batter into baking pans. Bake 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Since the cake is baked at a low temperature, the oven times may vary. It is important to keep an eye on the cake and check it often. When the cake is done, place the baking pans directly into the freezer for 45 minutes to cool before frosting.

Buttercream Frosting:

1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 to 4 cups powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

To make the frosting, cream together all ingredients, adding milk gradually as needed for desired consistency. Whip until light and fluffy.

Chicken Pot Pie

1 pkg (10 ounce) Frozen peas and carrots
2/3 c butter
2/3 c flour
1/3 c chopped onion
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 3/4 c chicken broth
2/3 c milk
2 1/2-3 c chicken cubed or shredded
2 9 inch pie crust

Rinse frozen peas and carrots under running cold water to separate, drain. Heat butter over low heat until melted. Stir in flour, onion, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly until mixture is bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in milk and broth. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in Chicken and vegetables. Put pie crust in a 9" pie pan, pour filling in, place top crust on and flute edges. Bake at 425 degrees for 35 minutes.

Teriyaki Pineapple Meatballs and Stir Fry from Costco

Stir fry your veggies of choice in olive oil (1-2 tbsp). 

I usually do them in this order:

onions first, then carrots, celery, brocolli and other veggies that are tougher, bell peppers next and then I add zucchini a little after that.  I stir fry veggies about 6 minutes or until tender but not limp.

If I want green beans, I boil the green beans for 4-5 minutes in boiling hot water until they are slightly tender.  Then I shock them in a bowl of ice and water.  Then I add them to the end of the stir fry cooking time to warm them back up when I put the veggies back in with the meatballs, but not to cook them much longer.

Once vegetables are mostly tender I set aside in a bowl

Then add meatballs to the same pan and start browning them.

When they have been browned 2-3 minutes, add the stir fry gravy.  In a small cup add 1/4 cup water and 2-3 tbsp cornstarch per package of meatballs depending how thick you want your gravy.  Mix that until it isn't lumpy, then add to stir fry gravy.  Let meatballs and sauce warm, when sauce starts to boil, add all veggies back in to warm them up again.

I serve this meal with 1.5-2 cups (pre cooked) rice.

My stir fry gravy:

Taking a pyrex measuring cup 2 cups or great.  These are the proportions:

1/4 cup soy sauce
1 3/4 cup water or fill to 2 cup line
I add two heaping spoonfuls of better than bouillon.

Sweeter sauce: I will sometimes do a dash of thai chilli sauce (1 tbsp or so) or 1-2 tbsp of brown sugar if I want the gravy sweeter. Other asian sauces are great too, a tbsp of this or that.

Saltier Sauce: If i want the sauce a little saltier I add soy sauce 1 tbsp at time or better than bouillon one spoonful at a time.

Taylor Osborne's Famous Flan

1 cup white sugar for caramel top

1 14 oz can sweet and condensed milk

1 12 oz can evaporated milk

6 eggs

¼ cup cream

vanilla

Melt sugar in pan and pour into dish and let cool.

Blend sweet and condensed milk, evaporated milk, cream, eggs and vanilla in blender.  Pour into dish on top of hardened sugar.  Cover with tin foil.  Place in water bath.  Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes after water starts to boil.  You can check if it is cooked by shaking it and making sure it is not liquid.

Use knife to cut around edges and let caramel come up sides.  Let cool for a little and then transfer to a plate.

Butternut Squash Shakshuka

This has become a weeknight favorite for Nathan and i. One of the few meals that I want again and again, even if we've had it recently. and even better, it only takes about 20 min. to prep and 20 min. to bake. We get about 6 hearty servings out of this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes with juices (we usually just get diced tomatoes)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into ½-inch pieces. (you could probably use 1 pkg of the costco pre-cubed butternut. We use fresh and freeze the other half of the squash and it turns out just as well from frozen though I think it's best to thaw before adding)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
• 2 teaspoons chile powder
• 2 tablespoons sambal oelek (sounds scary but it isn't. They sell this stuff at the regular grocery store.)
• 
• 8+ large eggs (the original recipe calls for four eggs but that definitely is not enough. We just get in as many as we can fit in the pan...you need at least one per person for a big family!)
• Cilantro leaves with tender stems (for serving)
• Nathan served over pearler couscous. We get the brand Rice Select tri-color pearl coucous. 
• 

• Real Talk: Butternut squash can be a royal pain to peel. If you have a crappy peeler or don’t feel like spending your time hunched over a garbage can, try this. First: Make sure you have a sharp knife. Cut your squash in half crosswise, at the curve where the neck meets the rounded base. Set it upright on your cutting board, then shave off the thick skin long, bold strokes with your knife.
• Note: If you don't have an ovenproof skillet (dutch oven would work well too), you can transfer from your stovetop pan to an ovenproof dish before baking.)

• Preheat oven to 375°. Crush tomatoes by hand (or smash with a fork or potato masher) in a medium bowl; set aside.
• Heat oil in a medium ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Cook squash, onion, and garlic, stirring occasionally, until tender, 10–15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, stir in chile powder, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Increase heat to medium-high and add sambal oelek and reserved tomatoes; season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened and tomatoes are brick red, 5–10 minutes.
• Remove from heat. Using the back of a spoon, make depressions in tomato mixture and crack an egg into each. Transfer to oven and bake shakshuka until egg whites are set and yolks slightly wobble when pan is shaken (your clue that the yolk is still runny), 10–12 minutes.
• Top shakshuka with cilantro and serve.