Grandma Walter's Chili Sauce

Ingredients:

• 30 Plum Tomatoes, rinsed and chopped
• 4 Large Sweet Onions, chopped
• 2 Jalepeno Peppers, chopped
• 2 Finger Peppers, chopped
• 2 Sweet Bell Peppers, one red and one green, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons Salt
• 2 Cups White Vinegar
• 15 Tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 hours. Place in sterilized mason jars.

Posted by Debi

Old Fashioned Vegetable Soup

I love this recipe! Except for the prep time it's very simple. I give it another 5 stars!! Really we should rename this blog "My Delicious 5 Star Life". Who would take the time to post a recipe that is less than that?

INGREDIENTS:

1-1/2 lbs. beef or ham bones with meat
8 cups water
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 large carrots, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
1 (28 ounce) can tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 bay leaf
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
2 cups frozen green lima beans
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup macaroni

DIRECTIONS:

Combine first 12 ingredients in a large dutch oven. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour. Add lima beans, corn and peas. Return to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered 15 minutes. Stir in macaroni, and continue to cook for 10 - 12 minutes. Remove bay leaf.

Yield: 3-1/2 quarts

Tomato - Feta Pasta

This is a fairly simple recipe that Chris and I whipped up one night when we weren't sure what we wanted for dinner. It's best with fresh ingredients, although I'm sure you could use frozen or canned veggies if that's all you have on hand. Our family gives this recipe five stars!

1 box whole wheat fettucini, prepared per manufacturer's instructions

Extra virgin olive oil

2-3 cloves fresh garlic, chopped

1/2 large purple onion, diced

3 cups fresh spinach leaves

1 red bell pepper chopped

1/4 - 1/2 cup Marsala cooking wine or Balsamic Vinegar  

2-3 roma tomatoes, chopped

1/2 to 1 container tomato basil feta cheese

1/2 cup grated romano or parmesan cheese

mediterranean sea/kosher Salt and pepper

Prepare pasta, place in large serving bowl, set aside. In medium pan, heat olive oil to medium heat, saute chopped garlic and diced onion until golden brown and tender. Add spinach leaves, saute until wilted. Add red pepper, heat to desired tenderness (we like ours a little crunchy). Remove from heat and add cooking wine or vinegar to taste. Pour garlic, onion, spinach, pepper mixture over pasta - be sure to get all excess oil/wine/vinegar into bowl.  Add feta cheese and toss well. Sprinkle romano/parmesan cheese, salt and pepper over top, serve warm with fresh french bread. Enjoy!

A few additions you could try are: chopped prosciutto, crumbled bacon, fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed, grilled chopped chicken breast, etc. My husband loves meat and he said he didn't even miss it in this flavorful dish! 

Homemade Salsa

This is a recipe I got from a dear friend here named Joy. It is our favorite Salsa recipe and so easy and cheap to make!

In food processor blend:
28 oz. can diced tomatoes into smaller pieces, but not puree. Pour into a bowl.
Add:
1/2 - 3/4 cup finely diced onion (I prefer sweet like Vidalia or Spanish, but I've also used yellow or white)
1/3 - 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro ( I buy a bunch at Wal-mart and use approx. 1/2 of the leaves for one can of tomatoes) Note: it is not necessary to pick all the leaves off the stems, just chop a good bunch off the top leaving the majority of the stems on the bottom.
3-4 finely diced jalapenos (If you don't want it hot, use 3 and remove all the seeds, if you want it hotter, use 4 and add as many of the seeds as you like)
Season liberally with salt and garlic powder, approx. 1+ tsp. each. Add about 1/4 tsp black pepper.
(I do all of this in the food processor so it is really easy!)
NOTE: When cutting the peppers, even to just to remove the seeds to put into the processor, wear rubber gloves . . . . otherwise everything you touch will be on fire!!

Hope you enjoy!

By the way, if you're making Guacamole on the same night that you are serving the salsa, it's super easy to just mash the avocados and mix in some of the salsa for a fast guacamole.

Taco Soup

Taco Soup
2 large cans of diced tomatoes
2 small cans of navy beans (can substitute any kind of beans within the same calories)
2 small cans black beans
2 cans of corn
2 packages of dry Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing
2 packages of taco seasoning
2 cups of water

You can add meat of your liking to this. Chicken is great or hamburger too! I used 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts and cubed it up. (I boiled it)
Mix above ingredients together. You can store in a bowl in your refrigerator or you can measure out 1 cup servings and place them in your freezer.
Heat to serve.

Without meat this is 1 point for a 1 cup serving.

This makes a big pot of soup. If you want less, just half the recipe.

Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken Enchiladas
You can layer this instead of rolling it, similar to the burrito casserole below.
20 large gluten-free tortillas (I bake about 8 enchiladas and freeze the rest)
chicken mixture:
breast meat from one roasted chicken, or two large chicken breasts
1 large onion
4 c spinach, chopped
Yogurt mixture:
32 oz whole milk plain yogurt (or use sour cream)
2 c salsa (your heat preference)
dash pepper
dash salt
1 1/2 tsp chili powder (more or less, to taste)
20 + oz shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack
Tomato Sauce Topping:
8 oz tomato sauce
8 oz salsa
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
dash salt
Spread the chicken mixture (make sure you divide it up into about 20 portions) on the tortillas; spoon some yogurt sauce over the chicken; sprinkle on some cheese (or you can cut the cheese into 1 oz slices and lay it on top); roll up and put in baking dish; pour sauce over top and sprinkle on more cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes
You can also freeze these individually (without sauce on top) on a cookie sheet. Then wrap them individually and put in a freezer bag. Thaw, top and bake.