Chicken Tortilla Crockpot Soup

1 pound shredded, cooked chicken
1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups water
1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn
1 (15 once) can black beans-rinsed
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
7 corn tortillas
vegetable oil
Directions
Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir in corn, beans, and cilantro. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Lightly brush both sides of tortillas with oil. Cut tortillas into strips, then spread on a baking sheet.
Bake in preheated oven until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. To serve, sprinkle tortilla strips over soup

school lunches are all ready!

Just waiting to fill one more bin with fresh baking of muffins, cookies and granola bars!
They can pick whatever they want from each bin, as long as it's the minimum amount written on it to keep it balanced!
No more arguing and they get their wish - no more sandwiches!!!
Now, all I have to do is keep the bins stocked!


Bin 1 - popcorn or veggie straws (I'll mix it up with what they call "junk food")
Bin 2 - goldfish, rice and ritz crackers (again, I'll mix them up but they don't have to have the same thing everyday)
Bin 3 - fruit to go and fruit & veggie source bars
Bin 4 - fruit cups and apple sauces (will do fresh fruit most often, but good back up and with 3 kids liking all different fruit, this is my compromise)
Bin 5 - cheese strings, babybell cheese an yogurt tubes. Again will mix it up with yoplait drinks and diced regular cheeses I have)
Bin 6 - Meat & veggies. The hardest one as all three kids are not big meat eaters! Here I have turkey lunchmeat rolled up, turkey pepperettes (Costco) and carrots or cucs from our garden! I will do hard boiled eggs or leftover diced chicken breasts from supper too!
Bin 7 - will be granola bars, banana muffins or cookies!  
This is all trial and error but the kids were so excited to pick what they wanted and told them I was open to suggestions!

candy bar party pups

CANDY BAR PARTY PUPS ARE BEST IN SHOW

 BY SANDRA DENNELER  MAY 29, 2015

These candy canines are so doggone cute, I had a hard time giving them away! I surprised my daughter’s second grade class with a great big litter of these chocolate dogs on the last day of school. The kids just loved guessing all the different types of candies that were used to make them – Twix candy bars, Hershey’s Kisses, Tootsie Rolls and chocolate chips.

They might appear a little time consuming, but they’re not really. I found that an “assembly line” method worked best. Have all of your candy unwrapped and make your Tootsie Roll tails and ears before you are ready to attach everything with the candy melt.

I love how their sweet puppy-dog eyes look up at you as if to say “Don’t eat me. I’m too cute.” Unfortunately, they are delicious. As if they weren’t adorable enough, I decided to add some tiny party hats to a few of them. They would come in Best-of-Show at any dog-themed party, for sure.

For this recipe, I used the smaller, fun size Twix bars. But now that I think about it, they would be pretty hilarious if you used the full size Twix bars, making extra-long wiener dogs!

WHAT YOU NEED

(Makes 12 chocolate dogs)Approximate time: 1 hour

• 12 small Twix candy bars
• 6 small Tootsie Rolls
• 12 Hershey’s Kisses
• 12 mini Hershey’s Kisses (found in the baking aisle)
• 48 chocolate chips
• 48 icing eyes (found at most baking or hobby and craft stores)
• ¼ cup chocolate candy melt wafers
• 3 or 4 black candy melt wafers
• Small plastic squeeze bottle

HOW-TO

STEP 1

To make the dog bodies, start by carving holes at the front of your Twix candy bars. (This is where the heads will connect.) Tear off tiny pieces of Tootsie Roll and roll to form the tails. Melt the chocolate candy melt wafers in a microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth. Pour into a small squeeze bottle. Attach the tails to the back ends of the Twix bars with a dab of candy melt. Squeeze four dollups of candy melt to the bottom corners of the Twix bars, and attach the chocolate chips for the legs. Set aside, letting everything cool and harden.

STEP 2

To make the dog heads, start by forming the ears with small pieces of Tootsie Roll. Attach the ears to the sides of the Hersey’s Kisses with dabs of candy melt. Attach the icing eyes with more candy melt. Then, attach the mini Hershey’s Kisses to the backs of the heads with more candy melt. (This will become the dog’s neck.) Allow the heads to cool and harden.

STEP 3

To attach the heads to the bodies, squeeze candy melt into the carved holes on the fronts of the Twix bars. Insert the mini Hershey’s Kisses into the holes and allow them to cool and harden. You may have to hold the heads in place for few seconds while they cool and harden.

STEP 4

Melt 3-4 black candy melt wafers in the microwave. Using a toothpick, dab the candy melt onto the tip of the Hershey’s Kisses to make the dog’s nose.

STEP 5

If desired, add some paper party hats!

Chocolate dogs will keep at room temperature for 3-5 days or may be stored in a sealed food container for up to a month.

APPLE PIE TACOS

Ingredients 

• 4 Apples peeled & sliced 
• 1/2 C Sugar 
• 2 tsp Cinnamon 
• 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
• 1/2 C Water 
• Tortilla’s (flour) 6″ size 
• Oil (for frying tortillas) 
• 1/2 c sugar-cinnamon mixture 
• Whipped cream

Directions

1. Place apples, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and water in a sauce pan.
2. Stir until well blended and cover and cook on medium stirring frequently For 10 minutes or until apples are semi soft. If needed, thicken sauce using 1 Tbl of cornstarch to 3-4 Tbl of water.
3. Mix into sauce and stir until thickened. Heat oil on medium heat in a skillet and holding the tortilla folded in half, place the bottom on tortilla in the oil for a few seconds.
4. Then lay it on one side until browned and then place other side down until browned. Remove from oil and Sprinkle browned tortilla with sugar-cinnamon mixture. Fill taco shells with apple pie filling and top with whipped cream, and sprinkle a little more of sugar-cinnamon mixture on top. 
5. Let it "set" on an upside down muffin tin.

lucious lemon delight

CRUST:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup ground (or very finely chopped pecans)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

LAYERS:

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 2½ Cups thawed Cool Whip (scroll down for a homemade alternative)
• 2  small pkgs instant lemon pudding (roughly 99 grams each)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice (optional, but I like the tartness it provides)
• 3 cups milk
• 1 cup icing sugar (also known as powdered sugar or confectioners sugar)
• 3 tbsp finely chopped pecans (to sprinkle on top)

TO MAKE THE CRUST:

Combine flour, chopped pecans and melted butter.  Make sure your pecans are either ground or chopped very finely.  This will produce a crust that holds together nicely.

Stir these three ingredients until well-blended and crumbly.

Press this mixture into the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Bake at 350ºF for 15 minutes.

Cool completely

ADDING YOUR LAYERS:

With electric beaters, mix cream cheese and icing sugar until smooth and creamy.

Fold in 1 cup of Cool Whip, and spread over crust.

*If your crust pulls apart, don’t panic.  Your pecans were likely a bit course (ask me how I know this).  Just work slowly (you may have to get your fingers in there) to spread the cream cheese layer as best as you can.

Whisk together pudding packets and milk.  Add lemon juice, and continue to stir until thick.

Spread pudding over cream cheese layer.

Spoon remaining Cool Whip over the pudding.

Sprinkle with a dusting of chopped pecans.

Refrigerate for 4 hours before serving.

little fishy cupcakes

Hershey S’mores Cupcakes

Prep time: 1 hour 15 minsCook time: 25 minsTotal time: 1 hour 40 mins
Serves: 16

Hershey’s S’mores Cupcakes - delicious chocolate cupcakes with a graham cracker crust, filled with light and fluffy marshmallow filling and topped with milk chocolate ganache
Ingredients
For the crust:
1⅓ cup graham crackers crumbs
5 Tablespoon sugar
5 Tablespoon unsalted butter-melted
For chocolate cupcakes:
1 cup sugar
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons Hershey's Cocoa powder
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk- room temperature
½ cup vegetable oil
1 large egg-lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup boiling water
For marshmallow filling:
2 egg whites
½ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon cream of tarter
1 teaspoon vanilla
For milk chocolate ganache:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
10 oz. milk chocolate-finely chopped
½ Tablespoon vegetable oil
Instructions
To make the crust:
Place rack in center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 F, line cupcake tins with 16 cupcake liners and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter and mix well with a fork.
Press about 1 ½ Tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liners and bake 6 minutes, then set aside to cool.
To make the cupcakes:
In a large bowl combine cocoa, sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add oil, milk, egg, and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes with a hand-held electric mixer on medium speed, then add boiling water and beat to combine (batter will be thin). Divide batter evenly between cupcake liners over the crust (it should be ¾ full)
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Set aside to cool in pan, then using a sharp knife or cupcake corer hollow out the centers of each cupcake(cut the top of each center and save for later to place it back onto the fillin).
To make marshmallow filling:
In a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water whisk together egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar, until sugar dissolves (be careful, the water shouldn’t touch the bottom of the bowl). Continue whisking over simmering water until egg mixture is warm to touch, then remove from heat and continue beating with the mixer until still peaks form. At the end add vanilla and mix well.
Transfer the filling to a piping bag with round tip or use plastic bag and cut off the corner and fill the cupcakes. Place back the tops from centers of cupcakes.
To make the ganache:
On a low heat in a small sauce pan melt chopped milk chocolate with ½ Tablespoon vegetable oil, stirring until it’s completely smooth. Remove from heat and add cold heavy whipping cream, stir well until it’s evenly combine. Using a spoon spread the ganache onto the cupcakes. If the ganache is to runny place it in the fridge briefly to set before top the cupcakes.
Store in the fridge.