Butternut Squash Tortilla Soup

Butternut Squash Tortilla Soup

I have a ton of cookbooks. The bad thing is I never really use them. That's right I am horrible about using my vast supply of cookbooks. Most of them were either gifts or belonged to my mother. I love looking through them and finding ideas, but I really if ever actually follow a recipe from one. A great deal of it has to do with the fact that I find so many recipes on the Internet. Finding a recipe in a cookbook can involve looking through an index and flipping through multiple books. Most of the time I just want to find something quickly. That's where online recipes are great, I can type in the ingredients or recipe I am thinking of and thousands of recipes appear instantly. There are a few things that I prefer with cookbooks. My mother's handwritten notes and modifications being the biggest. Both my mother and grandmother loved their cookbooks and wrote in the margins with the changes that they made. There is such a sense of history and connection to these notes that they are a big part of the reason I love my cookbook collection. An online recipe can have reviews, but it has far less tangible history linking it to the past. Plus I still love the feel and smell of books. There is something so romantic about standing in the middle of a very old library, it feels perfect to me.

During the winter I make a large number of soups and stews. I am always cold in the winter and soups does a great job of warming me up. Last week I tried a new recipe for Butternut Squash Tortilla Soup from the January 2014 issue of Southern Living magazine.

Butternut Squash Tortilla Soup

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 45 minutes of total time, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 10 cups. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First, I make my own chicken broth. As I have stated numerous times before I prefer homemade stock since its inexpensive, lower in sodium and tastes better than store bought. Plus it is so easy to make! For the toppings I did not add chicken or tortilla chips. Instead I used cheese and served corn tortillas on the side.

The only thing I would change in this recipe would be to use a sweet or yellow onion instead of a red one. The red onion was a little strong, a sweet onion would be perfect. That aside my family liked this recipe. My husband thought it would be better with black beans instead of the squash, he isn't a fan of the current food trend of putting butternut squash in every soup recipe. The soup reheated very well the next day and made enough servings for two meals, which is always nice when following a food budget.

For the recipe go to Butternut Squash Tortilla Soup. 

Salmon Tacos with Guacamole and Cilantro-Lime Yogurt Sauce

A couple of weeks back we got a new puppy. We have always had two large dogs that are now about 9 years old and we thought a puppy would help them feel a little younger. What I didn't anticipate was the fact that my youngest son is very jealous of anyone or anything that takes away mommy's attention. He has been having a number of temper tantrums and thinks that the puppy doesn't love him enough if it pays attention to anyone besides him. It has gotten better slowly, but it is a work in progress. I do think that it is helping my youngest to have more responsibility and understand that there are things besides mommy in the world. I'm hoping that kindergarten will be an easier transition in a couple of years. In order to make my youngest son feel better I have been making some of my kids favorite foods this week. Both of my kids love salmon. There are a number of foods that they turn up their noses at, but salmon has never been one of them. Last week I made a new recipe for Salmon Tacos with Guacamole from the January 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes 15 minutes of cooking time, 15 minutes of prep and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredient at my local grocery store. I chose not to make the rice part of the recipe. Since it was pre-packaged and seemed unnecessary I omitted it. Normally I would have bought quality salmon. However, my husband had bought skin-on wild caught frozen salmon a few months back. I am trying to use foods that we already have in the pantry or freezer so that is the salmon I used in this recipe. My salmon took slightly less than the 15 minutes of cooking suggested by the recipe, closer to 12 minutes. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

These tacos were very popular with my family. My two boys loved the salmon and ate it without the tortillas. The cilantro lime yogurt was a nice addition and it was my favorite part of the recipe. It made a nice sauce with or without making the salmon as a taco.

For the recipe go to Salmon Tacos with Guacamole.

Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Salsa

My oldest son starts school on Monday and I thought that everything was going well. That is until he started crying last night because there apparently was a boy last year that was mean to him. It broke my heart. I wish that he had felt comfortable enough to tell me last year instead of dealing with it on his own. Today he told me that he is nervous about his new teacher, classmates and that he won't have any friends in his new class. I wish that I could make him feel better, but I know that after his first day of first grade on Monday everything will be fine. He is very smart and everyone loves him once they meet him. I just need to make him feel better until then. So yesterday I decided to make enchiladas. Both of my sons love enchiladas and I found a great recipe in the August issue of Southern Living for Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Salsa which looked like perfect comfort food for a nervous soon to be first grader.

This recipe has 11 ingredients in the enchiladas and 7 in the salsa. It takes a total of 2 hours and 45 minutes, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 6 to 8 servings. I made a few major modifications to this recipe. When I went to the grocery store I believed that I had bought reduced fat cream cheese. When I started to make this recipe I realized that I had accidentally purchased full fat cream cheese. So I decided to make a substitution. Instead of cream cheese I used a combination of smashed canned reduced sodium black beans and goat cheese. In total I used approximately 2/3 of a can of black beans and 2 ounces of cheese. I mashed the beans and cheese together with a fork and added them instead of the cream cheese in the recipe instructions. For the shredded cooked chicken I grilled chicken thighs with a paprika rub, cooled them and then shredded. Instead of using all mild or hot green chilies I used a can of each. Finally, I forgot to spray the tops of the tortillas with cooking spray, but they came out fine. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

If you like your enchiladas mild I would suggest using two cans of mild green chilies. With one can of hot and one can of mild this recipe had a slight kick. However, these were delicious. The modifications worked perfectly and I love the added nutrition from the black beans instead of cream cheese. My two boys ate more than half of the enchiladas and even though they drank milk since they were spicy, they loved them. I would definitely make this recipe again and the salsa was great as a steak topping the next day.

For the recipe go to Chicken Enchiladas.

Woman's Day Beef Soft Tacos with Pineapple Salsa

Since my oldest started kindergarten this year, I seem to have less and less time to spend on meal preps. I always thought that as soon as one of my sons was in school, my days would get much easier. Boy was I wrong! My oldest gets home from school at 3 and my house turns into utter chaos as I try to get dinner on the table by the time my husband comes home from work at around 4. Since my husband starts work at 7 we eat a lot earlier than most households. I have tried switching out dinner time later, which just led to both my boys and husband eating way too many snacks and skipping dinner. One of the best solutions I have found is making a slow cooker meal at least once a week. This way I have one day where I don't have to run around trying to finish things up and have time to spend on homework etc. The November issue of Woman's Day magazine had a recipe for Beef Soft Tacos with Pineapple Salsa, which looked like a great combination of citrus and beef and a great way to save time on dinner prep. 

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 8-10 hours of cook and prep, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did have to make a major modification to the ingredients due to lack of availability at my local grocery store. I have never seen flank steak, so I chose to substitute flat iron steak instead. Honestly, that is one of my husband's favorite cuts of beef, so he was very happy with the change. Additionally, I always braise my meat before I place it in the crockpot. The flavor and juices are locked in and it really does make a difference in the resulting taste. I always use my crockpot on low. There is nothing wrong with using your crockpot on high, I just find that I like the flavor of meat more when it has been on a lower temp for a longer amount of time. I chose to add the ancho chili powder, since it is now readily available in my area and I love the flavor. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written. 

As with most taco recipes, this dish was well received by my family. I loved the pineapple salsa, it gave the beef a great flavor. The flat iron steak was a delicious substitution and turned out tender and moist. I chose to seed the jalapeno since I was cooking for kids, but the recipe would well with the seeds left in as well. Overall, a very easy crockpot recipe, perfect for a busy weeknight meal. 

For the recipe go to Beef Soft Tacos with Pineapple Salsa.

Saveur Guacamole Taquero (Taco-Shop Guacamole)

As I've stated numerous times before, we make a lot of homemade salsa, guacamole and tortilla chips in our household. I love making these dishes because they are quick, simple and can be made a variety of ways. Plus, it's a great way to get my kids to try new types of peppers and introduce them to new tastes and flavors. Since I make guacamole so frequently, a lot of the recipes I have found are often variations of the same basic ingredients. However, I was interested when a recent issue of Saveur magazine had a recipe for Guacamole Taquero (Taco-Shop Guacamole), which included different ingredients than the guacamole recipes I have made previously.

This recipe has 8 ingredients, all of which I was easily able to find at my local grocery store. The prep time takes only  a few minutes, as most of the work is done in the blender. Honestly, I don't really chop my ingredients very finely since I have a higher end blender, which can handle just about anything. I followed the recipe as stated with no modifications.

If your used to a traditional chunky guacamole, this recipe is a little different. The texture is thinner, closer to a sauce than a dip. It would be great on a burger or taco and could be easily used with a number of different recipes as a topping. I served the guacamole with homemade tortilla chips, which was also delicious. This recipe is very versatile and could be used for a variety of uses.

For the recipe go to Saveur Guacamole Taquero.