I love to find cheap helpers at the grocery store and doctor them up with fresh ingredients.  I've had a ton of luck with the new Campbells Slow Cooker sauces.  Usually, I don't follow the directions and use up whatever markdown meat I have in the freezer.  I buy them for the flavors!

A little note about markdown food: it's SO worth it!  I scan the whole meat section for orange stickers and stock up if the price is right.  Some easy tips:

• Always look at the quality of the meat: brown or grayish meat is a NO NO
• Repackage and freeze, or use that night.  Don't let it sit any longer in the fridge.
• Consider adding a marinade or seasoning before freezing.  Pork chops could be seasoned with jerk spices or a tasty Hawaiian marinade.   When you take them out of the freezer, they are infused with tons of flavor as they defrost. 
• Larger cuts of meat like pork shoulders or pot roasts are GREAT markdowns.  I love pork roasts for pulled pork or carnitas!

For this recipe, I used the Campbells Slow Cooker sauce in Mexican Red Chile Taco.  Another reason these sauces are great is that they have SO much flavor.  If you don't have a ton of spices at home, you can use these without the addition of anything else!  We had a pork roast in the freezer and carnitas sounded perfect for dinner.

When it's hot and humid, the slow cooker is my BFF.  I can start dinner after breakfast and have it ready by dinner time with minimal effort.  Even with the air on, our house gets super warm with the oven on.  I try to avoid it as much as I can....although it's quite hard!

Here's what you need:

• 1 pork roast (this is a Boston shoulder roast) around 3-3.5 pounds
• 1 packet Campbell's Slow Cooker Sauces- Mexican Red Chile
• 1 (4 oz) can of diced green chiles
• 1 cup chopped onion
• Toppings: lime wedges, cilantro, green onions, lettuce, cheese
• Corn or flour torillas
• Slow Cooker

1. Preheat the slow cooker to LOW heat.  
2. Season the roast with salt + pepper.
3. Add onion, chiles and roast to the cooker.  Top with sauce packet and cover.  Try to avoid peeking! 
4. Cook on LOW for 6-7 hours, or until falling apart.  
• Ours did have quite a bit of extra juices, but keep them for after shredding.  You don't want dry carnitas!
• You can try HIGH heat, but I'm not sure you will get the same juicy flavor. Let me know if you try it!
5.  After cooking, remove meat from cooker and pull the meat with two forks.  It should fall right apart! Return to cooking juices and serve with tongs.  They will be juicy!
6. Toast the tortillas over open flame or in a pan before serving.

For sides, we like green quinoa or rice.  Simply make rice/quinoa like you normally do.  On the side, blend a handful of each: cilantro, green onions and spinach/kale with a splash of chicken stock and zest of a lime (save the actual lime for later).  Add to hot rice or quinoa and mix, adding a dash of salt and squeeze of lime.  It adds a great POW of flavor! Mexican rice is tasty too!

Also, you always can use some chips with salsa and guac.

 Have you tried the Slow Cooker Sauces?  What's your favorite?

Like this recipe? Make sure to check out my Facebook page for more recipe updates!

Leftover Chicken? The BEST BBQ Chicken Nachos!

It's a given: if we go to a place that serves nachos, I'll order them.  I feel the quality of nachos tells you a lot about a restaurant.  Crappy queso, soggy chips and bland salsa? Not gonna fly in my book.  All chips and no toppings? No thank you.  I guess I'm what you call a nacho snob connoisseur. 

There are a million different ways to make nachos and every household varies a bit.  Growing up, my dad would always put toppings on each chip before melting the cheese.  Some people throw chips with cheese in the oven before adding other toppings.  To each their own!

When searching for the perfect nacho chip, you need one that can stand up to toppings.  I love to use my homemade baked chips for my normal ground turkey nachos...but BBQ chicken nachos need something different.  When paired with a honey chipolte sauce, you need a bit of flavor to them.  Enter Food Should Taste Good Kettle Corn Chips.  Sweet and salty pairs SO well with BBQ chicken for nachos. BAM! Recipe created.  This can be thrown together in under 15 minutes in you have leftover chicken on hand.

Have you tried Food Should Taste Good chips yet? They are SO tasty and made with ingredients that you can pronounce.  I have found them at Meijer, Target and Costco...and they are frequently on sale! Score!  My favorite flavors: Olive, Kettle and Sweet Potato.  You really can't go wrong.

Here's what you need:

• 1 bag of FSTG Kettle Corn Chips
• 1/2-1 pound of cooked chicken (leftover grilled chicken is perfecto!)
• 1/2-1 cup Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Chipolte BBQ sauce
• 1 cup of your favorite nacho cheese 
• (What's your favorite cheese? NACHO cheese...couldn't resist!)
• 1-2 slices cooked bacon
• Tasty toppings: sliced avocado, sour cream, diced red onion, cilantro, green onions and salsa

1. Shred chicken with a fork.  Put in a microwave safe bowl with BBQ sauce and heat for 1 minute.  I like to add some chopped cilantro and green onions to the chicken mixture.
2. Heat oven to 400 and line a baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat (silicone baking sheet).  
3. Scatter chips around the baking sheet and top with BBQ chicken, bacon and cheese.  Bake for 5-8 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
4. Once removed from oven, shower the nachos with toppings!

Want to try out these tasty chips? I have TWO free product coupons to giveaway!  

Head on over to my Facebook page and comment on which chips you would like to try.  I'll draw a winner on Friday (June 20)!

Fiesta Time! Pantry Salsa + Baked Corn Tortilla Chips

Okay guys....we are going to make a deal.  I am going to share my super secret, SUPER easy pantry salsa recipe and we're going to keep pretending we've spent hours chopping and dicing to make this salsa.  Deal?

I like to bring it to BBQs and special occasions and I often get asked what my trick is.  I really wish it was something super cool...but it's not. I use canned tomatoes. 

I know, I know, I know.  You're thinking GROSS!  But it's crazy how fresh this salsa tastes after you add some cilantro and onion to it.  Here in Michigan, we barely have a tomato season so we've gotta take all of the help we can get.  

Fresh tomatoes get expensive when you're trying to make a large batch of salsa...plus you have to seed and dice them.   Tomatoes from a can are pretty fresh tasting.  Only tip: make sure you get an organic or low sodium style, if available.  I like Meijer naturals or the Costco diced varieties.

The baked chips are equally as easy.  I started making these when I was on Weight Watchers.  You can eat 24 chips for only 120 calories.  I'm a huge chips & dip fan, so I tend to go crazy.  With these chips, you won't feel bad.  Even if you eat 2 servings (which would be pretty hard!), you're only eating 240 calories and 3 grams of fat.   Now when we buy regular chips, they are SO salty to me.

Pantry Salsa

Here's what you need:

• 1 can of diced tomatoes, 15 oz
• 1 medium sized onion, peeled and quartered
• 1 jalapeno
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 handful of cilantro (or more if you are a fan)
• Juice from half of a lemon
• Salt to taste, dash of sugar, dash of cumin

1. In a food processor add onion, jalapeno, cilantro and garlic.  Open the can of tomatoes and drain the juice.  Pulse for about 15 seconds.  
2. Add tomatoes and pulse until everything is chopped.  Add salt, sugar, cumin and lemon juice.  Pulse for 5 seconds.
3. Chill in fridge.  

From this recipe, you can experiment and add whatever you want!  Think: mango, black beans, pineapple, serano chiles...so versatile!

Baked Tortilla Chips
Note: I highly recommend Mission Ultra Thin corn tortilla chips.  I have tried many brands and some separate while baking.  These stay crisp and toast very well.

Here's what you need:

• Corn tortillas, cut each into 8 pieces
• Cooking Spray
• Optional: fine salt

To bake evenly, place a cookie cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet.

Preheat the oven to 375.  Place triangles on cookie sheet and spray with cooking spray.  You can lightly salt, if desired.

Bake 5-7 minutes, until crisp watching VERY carefully.  They go from soft to burnt very fast!

Now it's time to get guilt-free snacking!  What show are you watching right now?

Chicken & Dumpling Soup {All items from Aldi!}

Now that fall is in full swing, it's time to break out the soup recipes.  I LOVE a good bowl of soup!  This recipe tastes like it has been cooking all day, but can be whipped up in less than 20 minutes.   I like to make a whole roasted chicken on a weeknight and use the leftovers for soup. 

All of the ingredients bought for this soup were from Aldi (you know I love that place!).  You can buy them elsewhere, of course, but you will pay much more!  Their gnocchi is $1.49 and the cheapest other stores have it for is $3.50!  It freezes well, so we stock up during our monthly shopping trip.  Even with a sale at Meijer, it's hard to find a whole chicken for $0.89 per pound!

TIP: After the chicken is roasted, I boil the whole thing in water.  I remove the meat and then save the broth for soup.  It adds a great flavor, although sometimes I still need to add bouillon cubes.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of shredded leftover chicken
• 1 package gnocchi
• 1 can of Fit n Active Cream of Chicken soup
• Milk (fill the soup can after empty)
• 2 cups chicken stock 
• If using leftover stock from roasted chicken, add 2 bouillon cubes for extra flavor
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled & chopped
• 1 stalk of celery, chopped (save the leaves for garnish)
• 2 tablespoons flour
• Salt & Pepper, to taste
• Dash of nutmeg

Let's Cook!

1. Heat oil over medium heat.  Add carrots, onion and celery.  Cook 3-4 minutes until tender.  Season with salt and pepper.
2. Create a little circle in the middle of the pan, add butter to melt.  Sprinkle flour and mix everything together.  Cook for 1 minute.
3. Slowly pour chicken stock into pan, letting thicken.  Add cream of chicken soup, then fill the can with skim milk.  Allow to thicken.
4. Add a dash of nutmeg (shhh, it's my secret ingredient).  Allow to bubble for 4-5 minutes.
5. Finally add gnocchi and chicken.  If too thick, add a splash more chicken stock.
6. Garnish with celery leaves, or parsley. 

 Are you an Aldi shopper?  What's your favorite item?

Mmmm Monday: Cajun bowls

There is nothing better than some spicy Cajun food!  Yes, the real deal is the best...but sometimes there isn't enough time for that! This recipe is quick and easy and it will fulfill any Cajun food craving.  We like to call this Jambo, a combo of jambalaya and gumbo.  If you don't like shrimp, add chicken.  Serve these with some corn bread waffle dippers and you are set to go in under 30 minutes!

Ever since I was pregnant with the twins, I cannot get enough spicy food.  We go through Sriracha (spicy chili sauce) and Cholula (Mexican hot sauce...the best!) so much that we have to get the big bottles now.  When I make spicy food, I tone it down for the girls.  Surprisingly, Maddie loves the spice, but Olivia hates it...Gabby will eat anything!

Here's what you need: 

• 1 package of turkey smoked sausage (Butterball is great) halved and chopped
• 10-15 shrimp, shelled
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1/2 large onion (1 small)
• 2 celery stalks
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 can diced tomatoes, 14.5 oz
• Beer (any light beer)- 1/4 cup. 
• Sub chicken stock
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 4 green onions, sliced
• Seasonings:
• 1/2 teaspoon Thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon Oregano
• 1 tablespoon Cajun spice

1.  Cook brown rice, as instructed on package. Once finished, add a dab of butter and some green onions.
2. In a chopper, dice up the onion, celery and green pepper.  I like to do them all separately and add them to a bowl for later.  Mince garlic cloves.
3. Heat canola oil medium-high in large pan (I like to use a wok).  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 2 minutes.
4. Add chopped veggies and cook 6-7 minutes until soft.  Season with thyme, oregano and cajun spice. 
5. Make a hole in the middle and melt butter.  Add flour and let cook for 1 minute.  Mix veggies in together with roux.
6. Add beer and mix together.  Slowly add chicken stock and cook to a bubble.  If super thick sauce still, add a bit more stock. 
7. Pour in tomatoes, with sauce to wok.  Stir.
8. Add in smoked sausage and cook for 5-6 more minutes.  Shrimp should be added near the end so it doesn't over cook.
9. Season with more Cajun seasoning, to taste.  Sprinkle 1/2 of green onions (save the rest for garnish). Sauce should be slightly thin, perfect to pour over rice.

To serve: scoop up some rice, top with Jambo.  Garnish with hot sauce and green onions.

Enjoy y'all!

.

Quick tip: how to roast garlic

Garlic is super cheap right now and one of the best ways to enjoy it is roasting it!

Your house will smell amazing.  Plus it will keep the vampires away.  Maybe even the neighbor kids.  I'm kidding....kind of.

What do you do with it?

Add it to pasta, make hummus or add it to your favorite dips.  I put it in my creamy pesto sauce and it adds an amazing flavor to it.

You can roast garlic in 4 simple steps!

1. Chop off the top of the garlic.  Leaving the root end keeps it together.
2. Place on foil, add some EVOO and salt and pepper.
3. Wrap in foil and roast for 35-35 minutes at 350.  When it turns golden, it's done.
4. Let cool and squeeze out of clove.  I store some in the fridge and the rest in a bit of EVOO in the freezer.

Have you tried to roast garlic before?

Mmmm Mondays: Baked Potato Soup

I love baked potato soup and I have tried many recipes, but I always go back to this one.  It's super easy and tasty.  I wish I could remember what magazine I got this from, but I have no clue.  When I worked at Macys (2004...forever ago!), I was in the customer service department and I would get so bored at night.  They had stacks and stacks of old magazines sitting in there from a co-worker and I used to write down recipes out of them.  This is one of those.  I also found a great broccoli cheddar soup that tastes like Panera's.  I'll have to share that also!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter (half of a stick)
• 1/4 cup onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups chicken stock (I find I use a bit more...it gets very thick)
• 12 oz. can of evaporated milk (I like the skim version...any will do)
• 2-3 large potatoes baked (leftover mashed potatoes work also, about 2-3 cups)
• Toppings (all optional): bacon, chives, cheese, crackers

1. I always pop the potatoes in the microwave on the potato setting (8-10 minutes) earlier in the day.  Just make sure they have cooled a bit before you start making this.  Chopping the hot potatoes is not fun!
2. In a pot, melt butter over medium heat. 
3. Add onion and cook for 1-2 minutes until soft.  Stir in flour and cook 1 minute.
4. Gradually add milk and broth.  I like to add the milk first.  Turn heat down to low until potatoes are added.
5. Scoop pulp from one potato and mash with a fork.  Add to soup pot.  Chop the rest of the potatoes, with or without the skin, and add to soup. 
6. Cook over medium until the soup comes to just a boil.  Season with s&p.

I love my soup "loaded", so I add bacon, chives, cheese and a bit of sour cream or greek yogurt.

Enjoy!  Make this with some grilled sandwiches and you have an amazing dinner in less than 20 minutes!

What's your favorite soup?