California chicken tortilla soup

One of my all-time favorite soups, this chicken tortilla recipe always tastes fresh and yummy. I got this recipe many years ago, from Mary Jo, my quilt teacher, from California.

What you need:

1 T Olive Oil
1 lb boned and skinned chicken breast cut into strips (or a rotisserie chicken)
1 cup diced onion
1 T minced garlic
1 cup diced red bell pepper (or green)
1/2 cup minced cilantro
1 1/2 cup diced tomato (fresh or canned)
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced (fresh or canned)
2 tsp red chile powder
1 tsp crushed cumin seeds
1/2 tsp crushed coriander seeds
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1 cup drained white hominy
1 qt (4 cups) chicken broth
5 corn tortillas, misted on both sides with oil and toasted

What to do:

Heat oil in heavy 3-6 qt pot. Add chicken and saute until lightly browned. (if using rotisserie chicken, add later). Add the onion and saute until softened. Stir in garlic, pepper,cilantro, tomato, jalapenos, seasonings and hominy (and add rotisserie chicken). Cook for a couple of minutes to concentrate flavors. Add the broth and simmer 20 minutes.

Cut the tortilla strips and bake in a preheated 375 oven until crisp (10-12 min). Crush half of the tortillas and stir into soup. Simmer 15 min. Ladle into bowls and garnish with remaining strips.

Serves 4-6

Hot cross buns

This recipe is from Annunciation Monastery (the founders and sponsors of the University of Mary).

Did you know that hot cross buns have a history? 

The Story Behind Hot Cross Buns
Before England was a Christian country, people celebrated the coming of spring by eating little buns filled with dried fruits. When they became Christian, people kept the custom, but marked the buns with a cross made from melted sugar to remind them of Lent and Holy Week which comes in spring. It was a custom to distribute these buns to the poor, and they were considered a blessing against illness and house fires. Hot cross buns are still baked and sold only during Lent. The making and baking of hot cross buns is a vibrant symbol of the specialness of Good Friday. The cross on the buns reminds us that by the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus we are redeemed.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup milk, scalded
1/2 cup corn oil
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp yeast
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp cinnamon
3 beaten eggs
1 egg white
2/3 cups dry currants or golden raisins

What to do:
Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water; add beaten eggs and the other ingredients (except egg white) with 1/2 of the flour and beat well. Mix in rest of the flour.

Set dough to rise for 1 hour, punch down and let it rest for 15 minutes. Cut off small pieces of dough and roll into balls about the size of an egg. Let rise until double in size. Cut shallow cross in each bun with sharp knife.

Brush with slightly beaten egg white and bake in 375 degree oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. When cool, mark top with powder sugar frosting in the form of a cross.

Frosting recipe:

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp water
1 1/2 tsp oil
1 1/2 tsp softened butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine frosting ingredients in a ziplock bag and "smush" to combine. Snip end of baggie and apply.

Pork Wontons

Combine:
1 lb ground pork
2 green onions (including fresh part of green stem), finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. worscheshire sauce
2 tsp. grated ginger
Salt
Pepper

Beat one egg in separate bowl (to use to seal the wontons).

What to do:
Place one tsp (+/-) of pork mixture in center on wonton wrapper. Careful not to overfill. Fold diagonally, corner to corner and seal with egg. Bring large pot of water to boil. Boil wontons about 5 - 7 minutes. Optional - brown wontons, after boiling, in a saucepan, with a few drops of oil.
FYI - When the wontons are cool, they tend to stick together

Serve with soy sauce or peanut sauce (pictured).

Thanks for the recipe, mom!

Raspberry muffins

Perfect for Valentine's Day – they are pink!

What you need:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs

2/3 cup oil

12 oz raspberries

What to do:

Mix dry ingredients. Mix raspberries, eggs and oil. Make a well in dry ingredients, pour in raspberry mix. Mix. Pour into muffin cups. Bake at 375°F for 15-20 mins. Makes 12.

Man quiche

I'm calling this "man quiche" because it is not a delicate as quiche but just as tasty. And the best part is it's completely open to personalizing with whatever ingredients you prefer. This recipe was inspired by this recipe from The Pioneer Woman's blog.

What you need:

5 eggs

1/2 cup milk, half and half or whipping cream

1 can potatoes

1/2 onion

1 can Rotel tomatoes and chiles

salt and pepper 

other spices - I used dried basil and Lawry's Seasoned Salt

cheese (you'll need about a cup - I used monterey jack)

1 tablespoon butter

What you do:

Dice onion. Cut potatoes into 1-inch cubes. Combine onion, potatoes and butter in frying pan (make sure it has a lid and is oven safe). Cook until onion is done. Add spices. Add Rotel tomatoes. Add cheese. Don't mix. Thoroughly beat the eggs and milk (or half and half or whipping cream). Pour egg mix over the rest of ingredients in pan. Cover and bake for 20 minutes at 300°. Serve and enjoy. Reheats very well (from the fridge) in the microwave.

Cheese Spaghetti al Katy

This is my Grandma Katy's recipe. I rememer her making it for Caitlyn and I when we were little and we'd visit her. I liked it then and I like it now.

What you need:

1/2 box angel hair spaghetti pasta

about 1.5 inches cut off a Velveeta block, cubed

3 cubes chicken bullion

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp butter

milk (i forgot to measure ... maybe about a cup or two?)

salt/pepper

What you do:

Prepare pasta. drain. Return to pan. Pour milk into pasta, just under the pasta level (more if you like it soupier, less if you like it thicker). Add Velveeta, chicken bullion, garlic powder and butter. Mix well, and heat on low. When Velveeta is melted, taste and add salt/pepper as needed. eat.

As part of the recipe, I'm plugging Dakota Growers Pasta Co. pasta. Aside from how great it tastes (super good) it's made right here in North Dakota (Carrington, ND to be exact). Anytime we make something with pasta we try to use this kind. Doesn't that look like Corey and I workin' the field, harvesting wheat?

No you say?

Well I think it does.

Peanut clusters

Believe it or not, but I actually got this recipe from a bathroom stall. Let me explain ... at the university where I work, a student organization posts health tips called "toilet talk" on the backs of the bathroom doors. The winter posting featured this recipe as a healthy alternative to cookies. They are so tasty it's hard to believe they are healthier than cookies - and so much easier! Corey and his junk food loving friends even like them – bonus!

stuff:

10 oz peanut butter chips

1/2 cup dry roasted, unsalted peanuts

1/2 cup regular oats, uncooked

1/2 cup raisins

1 tsp cinnamon

what to do with the stuff:

Microwave chips in bowl until melted, stir a few times while melting every 30 seconds or so ... or they will burn ... not good. Add remaining ingredients, mix thoroughly. Wash your hands. Firmly roll into 1 inch balls. Let cool on wax paper (makes about 20 clusters). Eat. Write me a comment and let me know how you like them :)