Chicken Salad Habenera

2 chicken breasts, cooked and sliced into strips (I marinate mine with Italian dressing)
1 avocado cut in crescents
½ c green pepper, cut in strips
¼ c red onion, finely chopped
Green or red lettuce

Dressing:

½ c salad oil
¼ c red wine vinegar
¼ c lemon juice
1 Tbsp sugar
1tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
¼ tsp minced garlic

Taco Salad

1 lb. ground chuck
1 packet taco seasoning mix
1/2 c. Cheddar cheese
2 tomatoes, sliced and chunked
1 sm. head lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 14 oz. can kidney beans
1 bag corn chips, crushed
1 8 oz. bottle Catalina salad dressing

Brown ground beef and drain excess grease. Add taco mix and make according to packet directions. Chill beef mixture completely in refrigerator. Mix remaining salad ingredients together. Add chilled beef mixture. Just before serving add corn chips (so they stay crunchy). Toss with Catalina salad dressing.

Taco Soup

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
dehydrated onions
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can corn
1 can diced tomatoes (large can)
1 packet taco seasoning

Directions:
Brown ground beef with dehydrated onions (or you can use a small regular onion if you have one on hand). Drain.

In a slow cooker combine undrained beans, undrained corn, tomatoes, ground beef and taco seasoning. Mix well.

Let cook until heated through and seasoning has mixed with all ingredients. 4-6 hours.

Serve with cheese, sour cream, chips, or anything you would eat with tacos.

Black Bean Soup

From the Kids Around the World Cook! Book

2 15-19-oz cans black beans
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 gloves garlic, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 T olive oil
1 t salt
½ t ground pepper
¼ t oregano
1 T sugar
½ - 1 cup water, optional
1-2 T olive oil

Heat the beans with the liquid from the cans in a large pot on low while chopping the vegetables. Saute the chopped onion, garlic, and green pepper in the 2 T. olive oil until onion is tender. Remove a few spoonfuls of the black beans and mash with a fork. Add to the vegetables and mix together. Add the vegetable mixture to the beans in the pot. Add the salt, ground pepper, oregano and sugar. Add the water only if the soup is too thick. Cover and simmer on medium-low heat for 30-45 min, stirring occasionally. When ready to serve, stir in the remaining olive oil (we skipped that part.) Serve with tortilla chips and sour cream.

From Melanie and Julia D.

Oriental Chicken Salad

2 cooked chicken breasts, chopped
2 bags coleslaw mix or 1 head of cabbage, shredded
1 bunch green onions, diced
3 chicken top ramen noodles, crushed
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted

Dressing:
Spice packets from the ramen soup
5 Tbl. apple cider vinegar
1/4-1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. oil

Mix well then stir through salad just before serving.

Mexican Chicken Soup

4 split (2 whole) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on

Good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups chopped onions (2 onions)
1 cup chopped celery (2 stalks)
2 cups chopped carrots (4 carrots)
4 large cloves garlic, chopped
2 1/2 quarts chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes in puree, crushed
2 to 4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves, optional
6 (6-inch) fresh white corn tortillas For serving: sliced avocado, sour cream, grated Cheddar cheese, and tortilla chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Place the chicken breasts skin side up on a sheet pan. Rub with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until done. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, discard the skin and bones, and shred the meat. Cover and set aside.

3. Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the onions, celery, and carrots and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, or until the onions start to brown. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

4. Add the chicken stock, tomatoes with their puree, jalapenos, cumin, coriander, 1 tablespoon salt (depending on the saltiness of the chicken stock), 1 teaspoon pepper, and the cilantro, if using.

5. Cut the tortillas in 1/2, then cut them crosswise into 1/2-inch strips and add to the soup. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 25 minutes.

6. Add the shredded chicken and season to taste.

7. Serve the soup hot topped with sliced avocado, a dollop of sour cream, grated Cheddar cheese, and broken tortilla chips.

Originally by Ina Garten from Barefoot Contessa at Home

Confetti Beans and Rice

1. Prepare one bag of boil-in-bag rice.
2. Add cooked rice to one 15 oz. can of black beans, rinsed, 1 cup frozen corn, 1/4 c. minced onions, 1/4 c. chopped peppers, 2 tsp. dijon-style mustard, and 1/2 c. of salad dressing.
3. Toss together
4. Chill or serve at room temperature.
Easy and Fast!

Stuffed Shells

Frozen stuffed shells (Costco sells these) – about 3 per person

½ onion, chopped

½ c. frozen diced green peppers

1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce.

Mozzarella Cheese (optional)

Put ½ jar sauce in crockpot. Put everything else in and top with the rest of the sauce. Can be topped with mozzarella cheese. Cook on low for 4+ hours

Beef Stroganoff

1 pound cubed beef stew meat

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup water

8 oz sliced mushrooms

4 ounces cream cheese

In a slow cooker, combine the meat, soup, onion, Worcestershire sauce and water. Cook on Low setting for 8 hours, or on High setting for about 5 hours. Stir in cream cheese just before serving. Serve over egg noodles or rice. (You can make these in advance).

I will also make this with nothing but vegetables – mushrooms, squash, zucchini, green beans, just about anything works.

Chinese Pepper Steak

1-1.5 lb London Broil or round steak

2 T oil

1 clove garlic

½ tsp salt

freshly ground pepper

½ C soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

¼ C water

1 C fresh or canned tomatoes, cut-up

2 green peppers seeded and cut into strips

1 ½ C bean sprouts

Directions:

Slice steak into narrow strips (it is easier to slice meat when it is partially frozen, icy). In a skillet, brown steak in oil. Combine with garlic, salt, pepper, soy sauce, and sugar in slow cooking pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Turn control to high. Add water, bean sprouts, tomatoes, and green peppers. Cover and cook on high for 15-20 minutes. Pour off juices into a small sauce pan and thicken with cornstarch to the consistency of gravy. Pour back onto pepper steak and serve over rice.

Italian Crock-Pot Chicken

4-6 boneless chicken breasts

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 8-oz package cream cheese

1 package of Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix

Combine soup, cream cheese, dressing mix. Pour over chicken in crock pot. Cook all day over low heat. Serve over rice or noodles.

Variation by Christine B.:

Combine 2 packets Good Seasons dressing mix and 2 cans chicken broth in crockpot. Add chicken (thawed) and cook on low for 4 hours. After 4 hours, take chicken out and shred with a fork. Add 2 cans cream of chicken soup, cream cheese and shredded chicken to the crockpot mixture and cook on low for 1 more hour.

Crock Pot Chili

(undrained 15 oz cans)

2 cans pinto beans

2 cans any kind of white bean

2 cans of diced tomatoes

1 pd. browned ground hamburger

with 2-3 tablespoons of chili powder,

1 tablespoon onion powder,

1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes mix into meat.

Throw ingredients into crock pot and cook on low for 4-5 hours or high for 2-3 hours. You can also add diced onion and diced green peppers (optional).

Crockpot Mexican Supper

1 lb ground beef or turkey

Chili powder to taste

Garlic powder to taste

6 x corn or flour tortillas in pieces

1 can ranch-style beans

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can Rotel tomatoes with juice

8 oz Velveeta cubed

Method:

In a skillet , brown the beef or turkey with chili and garlic powders to taste; drain.

Place the browned meat and the remaining ingredients, in the order given, into your crock pot. Cook 3 to 4 hours on LOW. Serve with salad.

Easy Pulled Pork Barbeque

3-4 lbs country-style pork ribs – clean and dry then place in crock pot

Mix together and pour over ribs:

1 6oz can tomato paste

½ c catsup

¼ c molasses

1 Tbs mustard

1 Tbl Worcestershire Sauce

1 tsp instant minced onion

1 tsp Season All

¼ tsp Barbeque spice

¼ tsp garlic salt

1 Tbl vinegar

¼ tsp pepper

Cook 3 hours on high or 8 hours on low. When finished, removed bones and shred pork with forks.

Pine Valley Roast

1 large chuck roast, choice cut (do not use lower quality)

Place in heavy baking pan

salt and pepper to taste

1 TB Montreal seasoning -- sprinkle evenly over meat

1/2 pkg Lipton Onion Soup mix -- sprinkle evenly over meat

2 TB water -- sprinkle over meat

Wrap the entire set of ingredients, pan and all, very securely in heavy duty foil with no vents. Bake at 300 for one hour, after first hour, adjust oven to 275 and continue baking for about 7 hours, until done. Alternatively, instead of putting the meat in a pan in the oven, you can cook it in a crock pot on low for approximately 8 hours. However, the meat cooked in a crock pot will be less brown (more gray in color) and less moist.

Leftovers can be used to make a beef stew, sandwiches, etc.