Tomato Sauce with Meat

It's the second day of "spring" and what do you know? It's snowing! On days like today, I feel like something hearty so I decided to make pasta for dinner. I have a gazillion cans of tomato paste in my cupboard (thanks Sam's Club) that I hardly ever use so I decided to make some pasta sauce.

Here is what you will need.

First chop up your onion and bell pepper. Then saute them with a little olive oil and garlic. I love this smell!

In a separate pan on medium heat, put in a tablespoon of olive oil and add your can of tomato paste. Next, fill your empty tomato paste can up with chicken broth and dump it into your pan. Do this twice. Add salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and basil. Stir it together. If you want a spicy or "arrabbiata" sauce, go ahead and and about a teaspoon of red pepper flakes as well.

Once the onion, bell pepper, and garlic are softened, add about half them to your tomato sauce. Leave the rest in your pan and add ground beef and cook until no longer pink.

Once meat is browned, add this to your tomato sauce. Stir and taste. You may need to add a few spices depending on your taste. If not, you are ready to eat! I let mine simmer for about an hour so you can do that as well if you aren't in a hurry to eat. Letting it simmer brings all the flavors together.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 green bell pepper
1/4 medium onion
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 6 oz can tomato paste
12 oz chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons of Trader Joe's frozen chopped basil cubes
1/2 lb ground beef

Summary:
Put 1 tablespoon of olive oil in pan on medium heat. Add tomato paste, chicken broth, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and basil and mix together. In another pan on medium-high heat put 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and saute bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Once they are soft, add half of them to your tomato sauce mix and stir in. In the pan with the bell peppers, add your ground beef and cook until no longer pink then add to tomato sauce. Let simmer for about an hour. Enjoy!

With love!

Almond Meal

You need blanched slivered almonds. There is no need for measurement unless you are making the almond meal for macarons or something else. You can use however many you want.

The first step is to throw the almonds into your food processor

Next you process until you have your ground up almonds. Make sure to watch them because if you process them too much they will turn into almond butter!

Ingredients
Blanched slivered almonds

Summary: Process in your food processor until you reach your desired consistency.

Note: If you are using in macarons, run through your sifter to get finer grounds. You can also weigh your almonds beforehand and add in your powdered sugar from the recipe with the almonds to prevent the almonds from turning into almond butter

With love!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Yummm, Chicken Tortilla Soup! Today is an overcast and snowy day here in Nebraska. My mom and brother are flying in tonight from Southern California so I am thinking they will need something warm and delightful to distract them from the frigid conditions. I would like to think they are here to visit me, but let's face it, Grandma is coming to see my sweet little baby boy!

This recipe is so s-i-m-p-l-e even a multitasking mom of a teething baby can throw it together in minutes! I am all about keeping it as easy as possible when my little guy needs extra attention and I have a zillion other things to do to prepare for guests.  As an added bonus, this recipe is also healthy.  2 points scored! Plus maybe I can score an extra point since this is a recipe my mom gave me??? Well, here it goes...

Here are the ingredients you will need for the soup:

I don't have actual limes or cilantro and I don't want to drive to the store in the snow, so I will use lime juice and frozen cilantro that I have in my freezer from Trader Joes. I also am on a sea salt kick so I am using that instead of kosher salt. If you can't get to the store then just use what you have.

Chop your onion and garlic cloves. I always use extra garlic than what the recipe calls for, I can't get enough of it.  If you don't have one of these handy choppers, you should really consider getting one. I usually love to chop my veggies with a knife, but when I am in a crunch this chopper is a LIFESAVER!

For whatever reason, my onion was extremely potent so I soaked it in some milk for about 5-10 minutes first to release some of the strong sulfur compounds. Yup, you read that right, I soaked them in milk. After the ten minutes was up I rinsed the onions in a strainer with cool water.  If your onion isn't terribly strong, or you like overpowering onions, then go ahead and skip this step.

Now combine all the ingredients except for the lime juice and cilantro in your slow cooker.

Stir all that goodness together

Put the lid on and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Stir every now and then or leave until its dinner time.

It is almost time to indulge in the deliciousness, but first we must shred the chicken. You can use two forks and manually shred the chicken or if you have a Kitchen Aid Mixer you can throw the chicken in your mixer with the paddle attachment. Run it on medium speed for about 30 seconds or until your chicken is shredded. Put the chicken back into the slow cooker and add the lime juice and cilantro. If you want to kick it up a notch, which I always do, throw in some Sriracha to taste. If you are using cut up corn tortilla strips in your soup then I would add them now so they can soak up the juices for a few minutes if you prefer them to really soak in the juices then add them even sooner.

Now all you have to do is serve and add whatever toppings you want. Enjoy and stay warm!

Ingredients:

• 2 cans (10 oz) petite diced tomatoes (i used rotel)
• 1 can (10 oz) red enchilada sauce
• 1 can (4 oz) diced green chilies
• 1 can (14.5 oz) black beans, drained
• 8 oz frozen corn kernels 
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cans (14 oz) chicken broth
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 boneless/skinless frozen chicken breasts
• 1/2 C fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 limes, juiced or lime juice
• Sriracha-to taste

Don't be afraid to venture out and use what you have in the cupboard or fridge, I just used what I had. Feel free to get creative and add bell peppers, olives, jalapenos, diced carrots, celery or whatever else you have handy.

Optional Toppings: 

            Cheese

            Sour cream

            Olives

            Avocado

            Tortilla Chips

            Quesadillas
            Limes

            Cut up corn tortilla strips (i would throw these in towards the end so they can soak up the        

            goodness)
            More Sriracha (if you are my husband!)

Instructions:
1. Put all ingredients in slow cooker, leaving the lime juice and cut up cilantro out
2. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours
3. Take chicken out of slow cooker and shred, put it back in cooker once it had been shredded.
4. Add cilantro and lime juice to slow cooker
5. Serve with toppings of your choice

With love!