Cilantro-Lime Soup

We made this soup on Sunday and thought it would be much better than chicken noodle soup for curing colds and opening up the sinuses.  Well Mackenzie and Matthew did not have any and both caught colds this week.  Coincidence?

1 coarsely chopped onion
2 minced garlic cloves
2 chopped & seeded jalapenos
1/4 bunch chopped cilantro
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp chili powder
2 chicken breasts, cut into 3/4" pieces
5 cups chicken broth
1 cup corn kernels
1 cup chopped & seeded tomatoes
1/2 bunch cilantro (tied with kitchen string if available)
1/4 cup lime juice
Sour cream

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until softened, about 3 minutes.  Add the chili powder and stir for 1 minute.  And the chicken and stir for two minutes.  Add the broth, corn, tomatoes, jalapenos, and bunch of cilantro.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked, about 10 minutes.  Discard the cilantro bunch.  Add the chopped cilantro and lime juice and heat through.  Garnish with sour cream.

Makes 4 servings. Stolen from "Aprovecho" cookbook.

Baked Potato Soup

4-8 potatoes
1/3 c butter
1/2 c flour
6 c milk
1/2 tsp garlic
1 tsp PENZEY'S Galena Street BBQ*
3/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 c Cheese
1 c chopped green onion (I do 1/2 white onion)
1/2 c Sour cream (I sub 3-4 tbsp Ranch sometimes)
1/2 slices cooked bacon (optional)

Bake potatoes 1 hour in 400 degree oven. Scoop out insides. In a large pot on the stove melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour to make a roux. Cook 1 min stirring constantly. Gradually pour in milk while stirring. Bring to medium heat and stir while soup gets thicker. Add potatoes, green onions, bacon, cheese, salt, pepper and spices. Stir well and continue to heat about 15 minutes. Stir in sour cream (and/or Ranch dressing). Serve.

*I added the Galena St BBQ spice and it's delicious! Other notes: I have tried this in a crockpot and it separates, but can be blended with a hand blender. I also don't recommend cooking the potatoes to far ahead of time as they become sticky and form more clumps.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

I made these Lemon Crinkle Cookies for my work picnic and everyone loved them. Just a note, though, if I made the recipe again, I would probably add more lemon. The lemon flavor in the original recipe is very subtle. I guess it just depends on how much you like lemon (and in my case, it's A LOT).

I found the recipe while looking specifically for a lemon dessert. The recipe won a contest for LDS Living Magazine.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Makes 2-3 dozen

Ingredients:
½ cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non-stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

Clam Chowder

2 cans chopped clams
1/2 C minced dry onion
1 C chopped celery
2 C diced potato
1 C diced carrots
1 C butter
1 C flour
1 quart half and half
1-1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 Tbs sugar
1/8 tsp thyme

Drain clam juice into pot.  Simmer veggies in juice until tender.  In a different pot melt butter.  Add flour to butter and stir well - add half and half and whisk until thickened. Mix in vegetables and all remaining ingredients.  Heat until warm and bubbly.  Thin with milk.

Beef Stroganoff

Grandma Marjorie Larsen's recipe - Grandpa Gordon Larsen's favorite dish!

1lb. sirloin or round steak
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/3 C flour
1/2 C water
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1 can sliced mushrooms
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp paprika
1/4 C vegtable oil
1/2 C chopped onion
1 can beef consomme soup
1/2 C sour cream
2 Tbs. chopped chives (fresh or dried)
WIDE egg noodles*

Cut meat into bite sized strips, about 1" long.  Mix garlic powder, flour, salt, pepper, and paprika - put in a zip lock bag or plastic food container with a tight lid.  Add meat strips, seal the container, then shake well so the flour mixture coats the meat. Heat oil in a large skillet over med-high heat - add meat and onions and cook, stiring occasionally, until the meat is golden brown and the onions are transparent. Add leftover flour mixture to meat and onions and stir untill evenly mixed.  Add consumme, water and mushrooms.  Cover skillet, turn heat to low, and cook slowly for one hour, untill meat is tender - stir occasionally to keep from sticking.  Add additional water if it gets to thick.  Just before serving stir in sour cream and chives.  Serve over cooked noodles.

*cook noodles just prior to serving according to package directions.