Nessa's Chicken & Rice Soup Recipe

I made this really yummy chicken soup yesterday! It started with a quest to find a way to use up a lot of left over cooked rice. Since the weather was quite crisp yesterday, soup sounded terrific. I was quite proud because although I consider myself a good cook, I use lots of recipes and do very little on my own. This creation was all mine and it turned out really well. Very frugal, but still oh so yummy!

What You Need:
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 tablespoon minced garlic
6 cups water
1 cup chopped onions
1 tablespoon dried celery flakes
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 tsp. salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 chicken bouillon cubes
4 cups cooked white rice
1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter

What You Do:
I cooked this in my 5qt. crock pot. I had not thawed the chicken breast, so I added the water, then put them in there frozen. To this I added the onions, garlic, celery flakes, parsley, pepper, and salt. I let all this cook on low for 4 hours. I then removed the chicken breast and shredded them up using two forks, then returned them to the pot. At this point I added two chicken bouillon cubes and the butter, and gave the whole pot a good stir. About an hour before dinner time, I added the milk and rice, and stirred again. I cooked the soup for about 7 hours total on low, but I'm sure you could cook it longer if you'd like. Of course you could do a shorter cooking time on high. My house smelled heavenly with this simmering away all day long. This would be awesome with warm, buttered homemade bread.

Bean Chalupa Recipe

What You Need:
1 pound dried pinto beans
1 (3 1/2-pound) pork roast, I used a boneless roast
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 (10-ounce) can Rotel tomatoes
4 cups hot water

What You Do:
Rinse and sort beans. Put beans in 6 qt. crockpot that's bean sprayed with Pam. Add roast on top of beans. Add all other ingredients, making sure water completely covers the roast. Cook on high for about 8 hours or until beans are done. Using two forks, shred the roast and mix it well into the beans. This might work better if you removed the roast to a plate to shred, then added back to the crock. Serve in bowls over Fritos with shredded cheese, salsa, sour cream, guacamole, and any other tex mex toppings you enjoy. It is also very good served over rice.

Just Plain Bread Recipe

Just Plain Bread- for the machine

3 1/2 cups all purpose white flour
1 1/2 tsp bread machine yeast
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
I Tbsp butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups water

Gently mix yeast with flour and place in bread machine. Then add remaining ingredients. This recipe seems to work well using normal or rapid cycles. So, select desired cycle and the machine will do the rest.

Pantry Raid Goulash Recipe

Pantry Raid Goulash

1lb. ground beef (last time I used half beef and half turkey)
1 medium onion, diced
1- 29oz. can diced tomatoes
2- 29oz. cans tomato sauce
2- 15oz. cans kidney beans, drained & rinsed
2- 15oz. cans whole kernel corn, drained
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/4tsp. pepper
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (you can pretty much use any pasta you have, it doesn't really matter)

Cook pasta according to package directions. While the pasta is cooking brown the meat and onion together. Drain off fat. Add the canned ingredients and seasonings; mix well. Mix in the drained pasta. Simmer on low for 25 - 35 minutes.
I normally cook the pasta first in a big pot. When it's done, I put the pasta in the strainer, then use that same pot to finish up the recipe.
I like to serve this with a salad or green veggie and bread.

Peanut Butter, Cheerios, Chocolate Bars Recipe

Peanut Butter, Cheerio, M & M Bars

2/3 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup M&M chocolate candies
6 1/2 cups Cheerios toasted oat cereal

In a large, heavy sauce pan, mix corn syrup, margarine, and brown sugar over low-medium heat. Stir constantly just until mixture begins to boil, remove from heat. Add peanut butter, mix well. Stir in cheerios until all are well coated. Gently stir in M&Ms. Butter a 9x13 baking dish. Press mixture firmly into prepared pan. You might want to butter your hands before doing this. Be sure to pack the mixture into the pan tightly, it helps keep the bars from being crumbly. Let cool until hardened, then cut and enjoy.

Indian Corn Recipe

Indian Corn

1 lb. ground beef
1 (16oz) can whole kernel corn, drained
1/2 onion, chopped
1 (12oz) jar taco sauce

Brown meat and onion until done. Drain. Add corn and taco sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips and sour cream.

Like Johnny Carino's Shrimp Scampi Recipe

Johnny Carino's Shrimp Scampi

1 Cup Sliced Mushrooms
1 teaspoon sliced basil
9 Raw Shrimp
1/2 Cup Lemon Butter
1/4 Cup Diced Roma Tomatoes
1 teaspoon Fresh Chopped Garlic
1/4 teaspoon Salt, Pepper, Garlic Salt
1 ounce White Wine
10 ounces of Cooked Angel Hair Pasta
1 teaspoon Grated Parmesan Cheese

Lemon Butter
1 lb. Margarine
2 lb. Butter
1/4 Cup Lemon Juice
1/2 Cup White Wine
2 teaspoon Chopped Garlic

Combine these 5 items into a mixing bowl and beat at a medium speed until a smooth consistency in the batter is formed. Once combined, keep refrigerated until needed.
Into a warm sauce pan melt 1/8th cup of lemon butter. Combine garlic, mushrooms, shrimp, spice mixture, and basil. As shrimp browns on one side turn over and add white wine to reduce. When shrimp has completed cooking and wine has reduced by 2/3rds add lemon butter and stir until butter is completely melted. Toss in pasta, plate and garnish with tomatoes and parmesan cheese.