Black Bean Soup with Shredded Pork...sooo yummy!

Cost per serving: $1.38

Preparation Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cooking Time: 6 hour(s) minutes

1 pound dried black beans, rinsed and picked over
2 bone-in center-cut pork chops (about 1 1/4 lb.)
2 slices bacon, chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped canned chipotle chilies in adobo plus 1 Tbsp. adobo sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin1
1/2 teaspoons salt

Combine 6 cups water, beans, pork chops, bacon, onion, garlic, chilies, adobo, cumin and salt in slow cooker. Cook on low until beans are tender and pork chops are falling apart, 4 to 6 hours.
Remove and discard bacon. Cut pork away from bones. Discard bones and shred meat. Add meat back to slow cooker with beans. Season with additional salt and serve.

Yield: 8 Servings
CALORIES 320 ; FAT 6g (sat 2g); CHOLESTEROL 48mg; CARBOHYDRATE 37g; SODIUM 581mg; PROTEIN 29g; FIBER 9g

All You, MARCH 2009

Ok, as most of you know, Rusty is allergic to wheat, eggs, dairy and soy. So, I had to make just one modification for him. And then I made a few other modifications based on the fact that we a big meat-eaters in this house:-) So here goes:

The chipotles in adobo turned out to have wheat in them...obviously a no-go. But, I found something called El Paro jalapenos in tomato sauce that was almost the same thing, just no allergens. Recipe calls for 1 T, but I threw in about 1 1/2 T. Also, instead of the 1 1/2lb of bone in pork chops, I used what we had which was boneless. And b/c I defrosted the whole pkg which was almost 2lbs...just went with the whole thing b/c let's be honest...we're meat eaters in this house:-) And the bacon didn't say whether to cook it or not, but I cooked it up and didn't bother taking it out (really...take OUT bacon?:-) I also ended up cooking it on low for more like 12 hours. I stuck it in at 3:30 yesterday afternoon and at 9:30 it was kind of done, but the meat was in no way "shreddable". Stuck some more water in and kept it on low overnight. Got to it around 6:30 this morning and it was falling apart! We ate it for lunch today in tortillas with chopped red onions and cheddar cheese. If have everything I WANT to put on it, at some point, it would probably also include salsa, sour cream and guacamole...load it up!:-) Oh and this made a HUGE crockpot full,so plenty of leftovers.

Italian Bread Pudding

I just realized that I haven't actually posted any recipes in quite a while and figured I'd try to rectify that real quick! This is a recipe that I made for my Christmas brunch and will absolutely be keeping in the make-again file. I actually made it for our women's bible study, as well. Put it this way, both times the casserole dish was all but licked clean:-) It's especially good for those times that you need to bring a "brunchy" kind of casserole to church, MOPS, that sort of thing. Easy to throw together and since it has to sit in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, you can do it the night before and just throw it in the oven the next morning. Enjoy!

Italian Bread Pudding

Prep: 15 min., Chill: 4 hr., Bake: 55 min., Stand: 5 min.

5 large eggs
*1 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dried basil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 to 1/4 tsp. ground red pepper1
(9.5-oz.) package frozen mozzarella-and-Monterey Jack cheese Texas toast, chopped
3 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
8 fully cooked bacon slices, chopped
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
Garnish: fresh basil leaves

1. Whisk together first 6 ingredients until blended.
2. Layer half of Texas toast in a lightly greased 11- x 7-inch baking dish; sprinkle with half each of tomatoes, bacon, and cheese. Repeat layers once. Pour egg mixture over toast and cheese. Cover and chill 4 to 24 hours.
3. Preheat oven to 325°. Bake casserole 50 to 55 minutes or until center is set. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Garnish, if desired.

*1 1/4 cups egg substitute may be substituted.

Note: For testing purposes only, we used Pepperidge Farm Mozzarella and Monterey Jack Texas Toast. (Karrie's note: I used a generic store brand that was $2 cheaper than the Pepperidge Farm and it tasted just fine:-)

Texas Toast Bread Pudding: Omit dried basil, tomatoes, and bacon. Proceed with recipe as directed.

Sausage Roll Casserole: Omit dried basil, tomatoes, and bacon. Increase cheese to 1 1/2 cups. Substitute 1 (18-oz.) package frozen sausage wrap rolls for Texas toast. Break apart sausage rolls; cut each roll crosswise into thirds, cutting across sausage. Proceed with recipe as directed.

Note: For testing purposes only, we used Sister Schubert's Sausage Wrap Rolls.

Yield: Makes 6 servingsSouthern Living, DECEMBER 2008

Weekly Recipe #3: Chicken Azteca

Ok, first I will confess to being a MAJOR blogging slacker! Apparently, I had some kind of underlying fear of getting a big head after being so consistent about posting during vacation. Well, my head is still its regular size, so guess I'd better get back at it:-) As I just received the nicest reminder ever (thanks Jen) that I have been quite remiss with that whole "recipe per week" thing, I thought I would ease back into the waters with one of our favorites dishes around here. It's actually one that was passed on to me by my sister (with just a slight modification due to Schnitzel's food allergies). Make it with or without the modification...both are great!

Chicken Azteca

Makes 10-12 servings (I just made 1/2)

2 15 oz cans black beans drained
4 cups frozen corn (I only had canned, so I used that drained)
2 garlic cloves minced
3/4 tsp ground cumin
2 cups chunky salsa
10 boneless skinless chicken halves
*2 8 oz packages cream cheese (I used 1/3 reduced fat and it was fine)
cooked rice
shredded chessar cheese

1. Combine beans, corn, garlic, cumin and half of salsa in slow cooker.

2. Arrange chicken breasts over top. Pour remaining salsa over top.

3. Cover. Cook on high 2-3 hours or low 4-6.

4. Remove chicken and cut into bite sized pieces. Return to cooker.

5. Stir in cream cheese. Cook on high until cream cheese melts.

6. Spoon chicken and sauce over cooked rice. Top with cheese.

*I always skip the cream cheese part because the schnitz is allergic to dairy and I figure that if there's ANYTHING I can do to cut calories without feeling deprived...I'm all for it:-)

Enjoy and I promise to post more very soon!

Weekly Recipe #2

Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

Prep: 10 min., Bake: 25 min., Broil: 5 min., Stand: 10 min.
Go ahead and season the other tenderloin in the package with your favorite spice blend. Wrap and freeze to jump-start another meal.

1 (1-lb.) pork tenderloin
1 teaspoon steak seasoning **


3 bacon slices, cut in half crosswise

1. Preheat oven to 425°. Remove silver skin from pork tenderloin, leaving a thin layer of fat covering the pork. Sprinkle seasoning over pork. Wrap pork with bacon slices, and secure with wooden picks. Place pork on a lightly greased wire rack in an aluminum foil-lined roasting pan.

2. Bake at 425° for 25 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest portion registers 155°. Increase oven temperature to broil. Broil 5 inches from heat 3 to 5 minutes or until bacon is crisp. Remove from oven; cover pork with foil, and let stand 10 minutes or until thermometer registers 160°.

Note: For testing purposes only, we used McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning. Yield: Makes 4 servings
Southern Living, APRIL 2008

This one is SUPER easy and SO incredibly good. Pick your veggie side....can't think of many that wouldn't be good with this one:-)

**I used Weber Chicago Steak Seasoning to make it safe for Rusty to eat

Weekly Recipe #1

Ok, I was inspired by my friend Summer's last post concerning grocery shopping and the periodic difficulty in deciding what to make for breakfast, lunch, dinner, you name it. So we are asking all of our bloggy friends to post one recipe per week on their site to give us all a little assistance! I mean, who doesn't appreciate a recipe already tested and tried by your friends??:-)

So, here's my first contribution, an old favorite from my grandma's cookbook. Hope you like it as much as we do!

Chicken Rice Casserole

2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/4 C finely minced onion
1/4 tsp thyme (dried)
2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tsp parsley flakes
1 tsp celery flakes
2 2/3 C water
2 2/3 C Minute Rice
3 C cooked chicken
1/2 tsp paprika

Combine soup, onion and seasonings in a pan, mixing well. Gradually add water. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Pour 1/2 soup mixture in greased casserole dish. Making two layers, add rice and chicken. Top with the rest of the liquid. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes (covered). Stir, cover and cook 10 minutes longer. Sprinkle with paprika. May be made in microwave.

*I usually use one large can of chicken or leftovers from a grocery store roasted chicken. Makes GREAT leftovers:-)