Creamy Tomato Soup

MOMYS recipe with Mommy Modifications

2 TB butter

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 can (28 oz) tomatoes or 2 lbs fresh, peeled tomatoes

1 1/2 C chicken broth

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 TB sugar

1/2 C whole milk or heavy cream

Melt butter in a pot over medium heat.  Cook onions and garlic until browned.  Add tomatoes, chicken broth, salt, sugar and simmer at least 10 minutes or until tomatoes are soft and beginning to fall apart.  Puree soup and add milk or heavy cream.

Mommy loves tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches on a cold day.  I also enjoy being able to whip this up with the ingredients I usually have on hand.  

Love Always,

Mommy

Ranch Potato Wedges

Heavenly Homemakers

4 medium sized potatoes
1 Tablespoon mayonnaise
3 Tablespoons Ranch Dressing Mix

Scrub potatoes and slice into eight wedges each.  Stir together mayonnaise and ranch dip mix in a large bowl.  Toss potato wedges in mixture until coated.  Lay wedges singularly on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Very simple but yummy side dish.  I think I am getting hungry!

Love Always,

Mommy

Chili

All Recipes online

1 lb ground beef
1 TB dried, minced onion, rejuvinated
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1/2 C Pace Picante Sauce
1/2 envelop Williams chili seasoning
1 3/4 C cooked pinto beans

Brown meat and onion in a large sauce pan.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for at least an hour.

Mommy wanted a good chili recipe so I went searching online and found this one.  It is good!  The recipe was originally doubled but we found that it make a HUGE pot of chili so we halved the recipe.  It's not often that we half a recipe these days.  :)

Love Always,
Mommy

Pinto Beans and Rice aka Pot Licker

Mommy modified from Hillbilly Housewife

3 C dried pinto beans, sorted and washed

2 quarts water

2 tsp salt

6 slices bacon, cut into small pieces (optional but yummy)

Overnight Method

This is the best method.  Soak beans overnight.  Bring to a boil, add bacon, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.  Add the salt and cook for 15 minutes longer or until beans are soft.  Serve with rice and cornbread.

You can also soak the beans overnight, bring them to a boil, add bacon and cook for 30 minutes then transfer them to a crock pot on low for a couple hours.  Serve with cornbread.  This is a good way to bring these to church.

Last Minute Planning Method

Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil.  Add the beans, turn off the heat and cover for 1 hour.  Bring back to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.  Add salt and bacon and cook for 45 minutes or until beans are soft.  Serve with rice and cornbread.

Pot Licker is a family favorite and so cheap to make!  Serve it with rice and you have a complete protein that fills up tummies.  Hillbilly Housewife says that she would serve cornbread mushed up with pot licker juice to her babies when they got to be a year old.  Yum!  This is a very good and frugal meal.  Mommy is so glad that her children like this so much.

Love Always,

Mommy

Chicken Schnitzel

Online in some unrecorded place

2 large eggs
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp coarse salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/2 C bread crumbs
1/4 C parmesan cheese
4 chicken cutlets, pounded to an even 1/4" thickness
olive oil
3 TB butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 C dry white wine
1 1/2 C chicken broth
1 TB lemon juice

Beat eggs in a shallow bowl with parsley, salt, and pepper.  In a separate bowl, combine bread crumbs and parmesan cheese.  Dip each cutlet into the egg mixture, coating completely, then dredge in breadcrumb mixture, patting it on to help it stick.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Cook the coated cutlets in oil until golden brown and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side.  Transfer cooked chicken to an oven proof pan and keep in a warm oven while cooking remaining cutlets and making the sauce.

Heat the butter until melted.  Cook the garlic until brown.  Add the wine.  Stir in chicken broth and lemon juice.  Simmer 2 minutes.  Pour broth mixture over cutlets and serve.  Garnish with parsley and lemon slices.

Early in our marriage Daddy & Mommy lived in Germany and we ate a lot of chicken schnitzel- some of it was outstanding and some wasn't so good.  When we returned to the United States we really missed our schnitzel.  Mommy found this recipe online and it was a HUGE hit!  Daddy especially likes this!  It was just what Daddy & Mommy were missing.  I haven't made this in a very long time and I think we are overdue for some schnitzel.  I see a trip to the store for some chicken in the very near future!  

Love Always,
Mommy

Garlic Lime Chicken

Origin unknown

1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp thyme
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 TB butter
2 TB olive oil
1 C chicken broth
1/2 C lime juice

In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients.  Evenly sprinkle both sides of the chicken with mixture.

In a large skillet, heat butter and olive oil together over medium high heat.  Sauté chicken until golden brown, about 5 minutes each side or until cooked through.  Remove chicken and add lime juice and chicken broth to the pan.  Whisk up the browned bits off the bottom of the pan.  Keep cooking until sauce has reduced slightly.  Add chicken back to the pan to thoroughly coat.

When we lived in Utah Mommy used to make this on a regular basis.  I made a large master batch of the spices and stored it in a spice jar so I could make this quickly by just sprinkling the spices on the chicken instead of putting them in a bowl and dredging the chicken through it.  This is a great recipe for when company comes over.

Love Always,
Mommy

Aunt Kimby's Roast

Aunt Kimby Johnson

1 roast
1/2 C flour
1/2 C butter
1 package Lipton Onion Soup Mix

Fry butter and flour in a small frying pan until mixture is a light coffee color.  Place roast in the crock pot and add cooked flour and soup mix.  DO NOT ADD WATER.  Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours.

We love it when Aunt Kimby makes this!  She is the queen of the yummy roasts!  Aunt Kimby frequently makes this at Christmas time along with Uncle David's smoked beef.  Wow!  That is some good eating!

Love Always,
Mommy