Recipe Review: Slow Cooker Taco Soup

Last Thursday, I had planned to make a big pot of Slow Cooker Taco Soup, and I am so glad that I did. We were woken up at 5:20 am by the phone ringing alerting us that due to poor weather and road conditions that our children’s school would be closed. WOO HOO!! SNOW DAY IN MISSISSIPPI!!!! We don’t get a lot of those around here so we have to take what we can get. I gathered my ingredients together and got things crocking so I could go out and enjoy the snow while it lasted. Later at supper, my son (who is 7) said to me, “Mama, this sure was a good day to eat soup!” I know when my kids have smiles on their faces and ask for more, that my meal has been a success. I used my 5-quart round Rival and it was pretty full. We all had seconds and still had plenty for leftovers. I served it with shredded Mexican blend cheese and sour cream for garnish and tortilla chips.

The verdict: I will definitely be making this soup again. We all enjoyed it. There are a few things I might would tweak to change it up a bit like exchanging one of the beans for black beans. All in all though, it is a very filling great tasting soup. Perfect for snow days or any day.

Menu Plan Monday

One of my meal planning goals for 2010 is to regularly link to Menu Plan Monday. I have subscribed to this blog for some time now and have even attempted to link to it before. This time, however, I am going to make a better effort. We did an excellent job of staying on our meal plan last week, even with the unexpected addition of two SNOW DAYS!!!! When I get some time later on, I will post the reviews of what we ate last week and whether or not my kids gave it the thumbs up or the thumbs down.

Here is our menu plan for this week Monday 1/11 through Sat 1/16:

Monday- corn chowder
Tuesday- cheesy chicken vermicelli
Wednesday- dinner at church
Thursday- spaghetti
Friday- stromboli
Saturday- pulled pork sandwiches

What’s on your menu for the week??

2010 Getting in Gear

I have really let this blog go. I am bad at starting new things and then when the “new” wears off, forgetting about them. It is a new year however, so I am trying again. I don’t want this to be a New Years Resolution type deal, but I do hope to blog more. I want to get more serious about my cooking and about my meal planning. I hope to use this blog as a tool for just that. We have a busy spring planned at our household so my primary goals are to 1) control the schedule and 2) control the budget. I know when I meal plan and cook at home, I can do both of those things. This week is a little slow since we are trying to get back in the routine after Christmas.

Monday- lasagna (already in the freezer)
Tuesday- Two for Tuesday at Subway (Ole Miss basketball game)
Wednesday- eat at church
Thursday- Taco Soup (this is a new recipe I have never tried)
Friday- burgers and tater tots with some vegetable from the freezer
Saturday- roast, mashed potatoes and lima beans
Sunday- Til Payday Casserole- found in a free recipe from Spark.com

I hope to be using my Crock Pot more also. We have Cub Scouts on Monday nights, my son is involved with Upwards Basketball through Feb, and Ole Miss Basketball is in full swing. Combine that with a husband who travels some for work, and it makes for a hectic schedule. So really I am not resolving to do anything in 2010 but just stay on track. Oh, and trim enough from the household budget to save for a cruise!!!!!!!!

Trying this again

When I first started this blog, I wasn’t really sure what exactly I intended it’s purpose to be, so after a few weeks, it sort of fizzled out. I wasn’t really dedicated to getting on here and keeping it up either. I feel like I am ready to give it another try. There has been a good bit of cooking done since I last posted here, a lot of new recipes and ideas tried. What I hope to be able to do is post about the things I am cooking now and stay current while adding in some things over the past few months that worked really well. With all that said, let’s get to the food shall we!!

It was cold and snowy here in Mississippi on Saturday so soup was definitely in order. I grabbed my latest favorite cookbook (ne put together at my church) and headed for Kroger. This soup was satisfying to everyone in the family and it made enough that we were able to have leftovers the next day.

Taco Soup

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 pkg. Ranch style dressing mix
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
1 c. water
2 (14.5-oz) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies
2 (15- oz) cans pinto beans
1 (15-oz) can black beans
1 (15-oz) can cream style corn

Brown ground beef with onions in a medium size soup pot. Drain excess fat. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Now because I made this for young kids that don’t like spicy food, I substituted plain diced tomatoes for the Rotel. I had some sour cream, shredded cheese and Frito’s to serve with the soup. All in all the family gave this recipe an A+.

Menu Plan Monday

This is my first week to post my menu plan!! Since none of us eats lunch at home, I will just be posting dinners.

Monday- Tater Tot Casserole (recipe later in the week), zucchini corn saute

Tuesday- some sort of chicken in the crockpot- I will update when I find an inspiring recipe

Wednesday- Church

Thursday- Salisbury Steak, mashed potatoes, some green vegetable

Friday- Steak for the adults, chicken for the kids, grilled veggies, garlic toast

Hopefully, each day I will have a recipe posted for you along with pics, likes and dislikes, and the grade from the Insanity Cooks family.

For more great menu ideas, go check out Laura’s blog, the home of Menu Plan Monday

Freebies!!

I love to get mail- any kind of mail (well except bills of course) and I especially love to get freebies. Go on over to Homemaker Barbi and see all the good stuff that she has found. Through her site, I also found this one- Freebies4Mom with even more great free stuff.

Family Favorites

My friend Mary turned me on to this recipe several months ago and it has quickly become a staple at our house. It is super easy and cheap, plus the kids and Big Daddy all love it. I served it last night with the leftover veggies from Monday nights meal. Here is the recipe:

HAMBURGER STROGANOFF
1 pound ground beef or turkey
1 tbs. butter or oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can cream soup (mushroom or chicken)
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup sour cream, optional

Heat the oil or butter and sauté the onion and garlic until soft. Add the meat and brown, then drain of any extra fat.

Add the soup, water, salt and pepper and heat through.

Remove from the heat and stir in the sour cream if you’re using it.

Serve over rice or egg noodles.

I had a roll of ground turkey in the fridge, so that it what I used. I have made this recipe several times with both ground beef and ground turkey and it is GREAT with either one. I used less onion than called for and probably a bit more garlic. We prefer the egg noodles, but it is just as good served over rice. I normally put the sour cream in, but if you leave it out it won’t be the end of the world. I always try to keep the ingredients for this meal on hand for nights that we are rushed or I am too tired to cook. It is fast and easy. The ingredients are pretty cheap and I put it way up there on the list of meals that satisfy without breaking your food budget. This meal gets an A+++ from us here at Casa de Insanity.

Back in the kitchen tonight

Wednesday is my night off in the kitchen, but tonight I will be back at it. I will keep the contents of tonights meal a secret until I can write about them in detail tomorrow. I will have another cheap and easy recipe to share. I have been so hungry today, so I have been thinking about all the things I want to cook in the near future. This past weekend, we were watching an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay and Bobby was going to challenge a guy that makes Eggplant Parmesan. As soon as I can get to a produce stand this weekend, you better believe that will be in my meal plan somewhere. This is a dish that I already love to make, but now I can’t get it off my mind.

There are so many great food blogs out there in blogland. I have been trying to spend some time this week visiting around and have found lots of great bloggers and lots of good food. One of the things I hope to bring to you next week is Menu Plan Monday over at I’m an Organizing Junkie. I have had a blast looking at everyone’s meal plans and have gotten lots of good ideas. This is a great blog and I hope you will go on over and say hi.

Photos coming soon

I know you can’t very well have a food blog if you can’t show pictures of your food. I have been out of batteries for my camera (putting of a trip to the dread Wal-mart) but last night I was able to find my rechargeable batteries. Hopefully next time I cook I will be able to show off what we made. There is no cooking as Casa de Insanity tonight as the kind ladies at church will be preparing our meal. Having Wednesday night dinner at church is a good night off for me as well as a fun time to get to visit with friends. Tomorrow night though, it is back to the stove.

Squash Casserole

Monday night I was feeling particularly domestic, so I had no problems with the meal plan. I had set a rather lofty goal for myself and luckily my mood fit the food. This was my pre-determined dinner:

grilled chicken breasts
mashed potatoes
purple-hull peas
squash casserole
cornbread

First the confession. These were pre-seasoned, boneless, skinless chicken breasts that came from Angel Food. I may or may not have used instant mashed potatoes (I will never tell). The peas were straight from the freezer section at Kroger. They usually run good sales on frozen veggies and I always try to keep plenty on hand. I did put some salt and a couple pieces of bacon in the peas while they cooked to add some flavor. Cornbread is easy at my house. Cornmeal, one egg, and enough buttermilk to get it all mixed up. I never measure when making cornbread. For me, that takes the fun out of it. I always make my cornbread in a cast iron skillet, and I have one that is just for making cornbread. All I really had to do was mix up and bake the squash casserole, so here is what I did.

I bought some great looking squash at a local produce stand over the weekend. I found an easy recipe for squash casserole that was not too ingredient intensive and got to work.

EASY SQUASH CASSEROLE

2 c. yellow squash, chopped
1 c. grated cheese
2 eggs
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. melted butter
1 med. onion, chopped
14 Ritz crackers
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook onion and squash until tender and drain. Add milk and beaten egg to squash and onion mixture. Mix cheese, butter, and 7 crushed Ritz crackers and add to mixture. Add salt and pepper. Pour into buttered casserole dish. Sprinkle other 7 crushed Ritz crackers on top. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes.

MY COMMENTS
This casserole was super easy to make and was a big hit even with the kids. I feel that mine needed a bit more salt but that could be because I eye-balled the amount instead of measuring it out. I have a fear of adding too much salt which often leads me to under-salt things. Big Daddy said he would like to see a bit more cheese and more crackers next time. I love the quickness of this recipe though. It was not too stressful to come home and fix after a full day of work. This recipe gets an A+. I am going to continue searching recipes however for what I feel may be the ingredient that really makes this casserole sing.