Taco Soup

I make taco soup way too often...But it's just so easy!

Taco Soup
2 lbs ground beef (1 lb ground beef)
1 onion, chopped
1 15 oz can kidney beans, with liquid

1 15 oz can pinto beans, with liquid

2 15 oz cans stewed tomatoes with liquid
1 15 oz can tomato sauce (15 oz V8 juice)
1 pkg. taco seasoning

The original recipe is in black, the green are my substitutions/ additions to the recipe. I like my taco soup with more beans, and less meat. The V8 juice is just out of convenience - we don't keep canned tomato sauce on hand. To make this soup, just brown the ground beef and chopped onions with salt and pepper. Then add all your canned ingredients, including their liquid, and the taco seasoning. Simmer for 30 minutes - or in a crockpot for several hours. Serve it up with sour cream, grated cheese, and some chips. This also a super easy way to feed a big crowd.

Healthy Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas

Since I am not drinking any Margarita's today... I decided to make to make Enchiladas in honor of Cinco de Mayo. These chicken and cheese enchiladas are my own recipe, therefore they are made with a healthy twist :) There are two ways I do the sauce. One as explained in the recipe or I cheat and buy the enchilada sauce from Trader Joe's. It is delicious and makes it easy when I am making a lot of enchiladas like I did this time around.

Lori's Healthy Chicken Enchiladas

3 c. cooked chicken breast, shredded

10-12 low carb wheat tortillas

1 can healthy request cream of chicken soup

1-2 TB. Taco seasoning

2 c. light shredded Mexican cheese blend

1 c. plain greek yogurt ( or light sour cream)

1 pkg. Lawrys Enchilada sauce ( prepared with water and 1, 6oz. can of tomato paste)

OR cheat and use Trader Joe's enchilada sauce.

Mix soup, yogurt, chicken, taco seasoning and 1 to 1 1/2 c cheese together and set aside. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Fill tortillas (about 3 TB of mixture), roll and place tortillas into pan. Pour the prepared Enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas and top with remaining cheese. Bake covered at 350 for 30 minutes and then uncovered for 15-20 min or until bubbling.

Enjoy!

Sweet and Spicy Crockpot Chicken

Since I work full time I am all about the easy meals. One of my favorite kitchen essentials is the crockpot. I love my crockpot and what I love even more then my crockpot is amazing, delicious, recipes that I can make using my crock pot. This chicken is divine. So good! Perfect for taco night, burrito night, chicken salad night, basically any night you feel like chicken!

1 1lb boneless, skinless chicken breast

14 oz can of petite diced tomatoes, undrained

1/3 c. brown sugar

1/4 to 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

Coat the inside of your crockpot with nonstick cooking spray. Place all ingredients in the crockpot. Cook on high for 4-6 hours or low for 8-10 hours or until chick shreds easily with fork. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve in corn or flour tortillas.

Tex-Mex Dip

I call this dip the 7 layer dip. This is one of the best chip dips I have ever tasted. There is something about a crunchy chip dipped in such a yummy mixture of pure heaven! haha. I make this for all sorts of parties. It is always requested for super bowl, anytime we make tacos, and basically whenever Chase feels like it he will say "oh that dip would go perfect with..." he loves it just as much as I do. So enjoy!

1 28 oz can of refried beans or 1 can of frito-lay bean dip

Mix Together: 3 medium avocados, 2 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper

Mix Together: 1 c. sour cream, 1/2 of mayo, 1 pkg of taco seasoning

1 bunch of green onions
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 small can of chopped olives ( I dont like olives so I never do this layer)
8 oz of cheddar cheese

Layer as Follows:
Spread bean dip on bottom of platter or pizza pan. Cover with avocado mixture. Then cover with sour cream layer. Sprinkle chopped onions, tomatoes, olives, then Cheddar Cheese. Chill and Serve!

Chicken Taco Pie

1 c. chopped onions
1 T. cooking oil (optional)
2 T taco seasoning
1 3/4 T. chili powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
3 (10 1/2 oz.) cans cream of mushroom soup
1 1/2 c. sour cream
3 c. cubed, cooked chicken
6-8 flour tortillas
1 c. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

In a skillet, cook onions in oil until tender.  (I actually used cooking spray and a non stick pan and it worked great.) Add seasonings, cream of mushroom soup and sour cream (I ended up using light sour cream because that's what we keep in our house); heat and stir until smooth and warm.  Add chicken.  Oil a 2-3 quart flat casserole dish and cover the bottom with torn-up tortillas. (Make sure you tear them up in smaller pieces, they don't soften as much as corn tortillas do in the sauce.) Spread half of the chicken mixture on tortillas; top with additional torn tortillas, then cover with remaining filling.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese.  Bake at 350 until hot and bubble.  Serves 6-8. 

This was a quick and easy family meal to make.  I made it before church, stuck it in the fridge and baked it when we got home.  The kids loved it - which is unusual.  They normally only sing the raves for pasta.  I think next time I might add an extra 1/2 -1 cup chicken.