Taco Soup

While perusing Pinterest one day a few weekends ago, I saw a picture for a Slow Cooker Taco Chili, and it looked goooood! So, I finally got the ingredients, and gave it a try today, with a few minor adjustments. Well, one big one... I just used a pot on the stove and not the crockpot. And not only was it quite easy, but it was very tasty!

1 lb. ground beef
1 can (15.25oz) sweet corn (don't drain)
1 can (15oz) black beans (don't drain)
1 can (15oz) red kidney beans (don't drain)
1 can (15oz) tomato sauce
1 cup salsa (I used a thick and chunky style)
3 Tbsp taco seasoning
1 tsp salt

In a large soup pot, cook the ground beef until brown. Drain if needed - I use a 90 percent or 97 percent beef, so I usually keep what little grease is left to add flavor. Add corn, beans, salsa, tomato sauce, salt and taco seasoning. Make sure to add the liquid from all your cans of corn and beans. Give a quick stir to combine the ingredients. 

Simmer on low/med-low for an hour or two to allow the flavors to meld, stirring occasionally.

Top as desired. I used cheddar cheese and Fritos. You can add avocado, sour cream, cornbread, or anything else you like.

Lemon-Zucchini-Almond Bread

I think I may be in love. And it's not something I ever expected to love... lemon zest! I've never been a lemon fan. I don't like lemonade. I've never used lemon on anything. Ok, I do like the little sweet lemon drop hard candies, but that is it. This recipe is AMAZING. And to top off its amazing yumminess, you also get a little vegetable and some nut protein in each luscious bite! Woohoo! Now that's a win in my book. lol I found this recipe on Pinterest, and a previous bread I made, Lemon Almond Bread, was so good, that I decided to give this one a shot. It's called Glazed Lemon Zucchini Bread. The bread is really flavorful; the zucchini adds some depth to it; the almonds add a bit of texture; and the glaze is out of this world. I adapted the recipe just a little bit, but I can't give you a comparison because I never tried the original. Read them both if you so desire, and take your pick! You'll probably notice that the pictures don't look like the same thing, and it's actually not. I made a loaf of this last weekend to try it. Today, I doubled the recipe so that I could make more so that I could take it work tomorrow. It made a little more than I anticipated, so I ended up with a 9X13, a mini-loaf pan full, and a small loaf as well. Following is the single loaf recipe.

2 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup buttermilk ***
2 Tbsp lemon zest
1 cup grated zucchini

1/2 cup almonds, plus a Tbsp or so for garnishing

Glaze ingredients:
1 cup powdered sugar
2.5-3 Tbsp lemon juice

1-2 tsp lemon zest

First prep your fresh ingredients - grate the zucchini and zest and juice the lemons. The original poster left the peel on her zucchini. I think it would have been nice for the color, but I have a picky eater, and it's much easier to hide the zucchini with the green removed.

Mix flour, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Then add oil and sugar until well blended. 

Add lemon juice, buttermilk, and lemon zest to this mixture and blend all together.

*** Note, if you don't have buttermilk, you can make a substitute by using 1 Tbsp lemon juice and adding enough milk to reach the one cup line. Then use however much you need.

Fold in zucchini until it is mixed well. 

Add dry mixture to the wet mixture and blend all together until well combined.

Add almonds and mix well. Pour batter into greased 9x5 loaf pan.

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. 

The original says to glaze the bread while it's still warm. I didn't want the heat of the bread to melt the glaze, so I let mine cool first. To make the glaze, mix the powdered sugar, lemon juice and zest until combined.

Carefully spoon glaze over bread. Garnish with a bit of zest and a few almonds. Your mouth should be watering at this point to try it, so go ahead and give it a taste!

Brown Sugar Cookies

I love trying new cookies, and lately I've learned a lot about brown sugar and the role it plays in cookies, so when I saw this recipe for Brown Sugar Cookies on Pinterest, well, I decided I needed to give it a try. These cookies turned out so soft and sweet. I had several folks at work asking for seconds... and thirds and fourths. I doubled the recipe so that there would be enough for a lot of people (I do share these at work), and I actually chose to refrigerate my dough for an hour or so. I think that's why mine didn't flatten out as much as the originals, and the dough was a little dry to roll, but, otherwise, they were really, really good!

28 tbsp unsalted butter (3.5 sticks)
3.5 cups packed dark brown sugar
4.5 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp salt
2 egg plus 2 egg yolks
3 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 and line baking sheet with parchment paper. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Allow to simmer until it starts to turn an amber color and smell nutty and fragrant. Remove from heat. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the browned butter and brown sugar until well-blended.

Add the eggs and egg yolks to the butter/sugar mixture one at a time, scraping down the sides after each addition. 

Mix in the vanilla. Mix the flour mix into the cookie dough, stirring until just combined.

In a small bowl, combine the 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Scoop the cookie dough into balls using a 1 1/2 Tbsp cookie scoop (or just scoop it into rounded Tbsps). Roll in the sugar mix and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining cookie dough, leaving 2 inches between each dough ball on the baking sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until starting to set around the edges. Allow to cool before serving.