Taco Soup

1 pound ground beef
1 can of kidney beans 1 can of corn
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of tomato sauce
1 chopped onion
1 packet of taco seasoning

 Brown ground beef. put into crock pot. Mix all the ingredients in the crock pot, and let cook for several hours

 You can put it on a bed of Frito's or Tortilla chips. Top with sour cream, cheese, and olives. You can use any other taco ingredients you desire.

You can also add a can of green chilis if you want to add some kick.

For this recipe we ran out of taco seasoning, and I found a Fajita seasoning packet that I used that worked out really well.

Smoking Food

I just got a charcoal smoker and am antsy to try it out.  This smoker includes a water pan, which keeps the meat moist and tender by steaming and smoking consecutively.  There are several different types of smokers out there, but this post is going to be specific to the charcoal smoker.

To get going load your smoker with charcoal and soak them with lighter fluid.  Let the lighter fluid soak in for several minutes to fully saturate the charcoal.  Once the lighter fluid has sufficiently soaked in, you can light it up and let it burn for roughly 20 minutes to build up the heat you need.  An important thing to keep in mind when using a charcoal smoker is the temperature needs to stay around 175 - 200 degrees.

Once the charcoal has burned down into ash, put the water in the pan. I recommend boiling the water beforehand; you wont have to wait for the water to heat up, or for the smoker to start working.  Once the water is in the pan, place your meat on the racks and add wood chips to the charcoal pan.

It's best to pre-soak the chips for a couple hours, which will cause it to smoke longer and release more flavor.  Also note that the more chips you put on the heat, the stronger the flavor will be.

If you need to raise the temperature, try adding dry chips. Just know that while they will burn hotter they will also burn faster.

Meat Loaf

This is a very easy recipe that is easy to make, and it tastes very good.   You can make it, and set it in the oven and do other things.

You will need the following:

1 pound of Ground Beef
1 small can of Tomato Sauce
1 package of Saltine Crackers
1 Egg
1 medium Onion diced
Salt
Pepper


Put all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

You will need to mix all the ingredients together.  I have found that the easiest way to mix it is with your hands.  It does get slimy, but that all washes off.

Once you have the Meat mixed together you will want to find a cake pan. You will want to form it into loaves.  

Once you have it in the pan, and in loaves you will need to cover it with Tin Foil, and put it in the oven. 

You can put it in the oven around 200 degrees for about an hour.  For the last 15 minutes you can take the Tin Foil off to make the outside crispy. 

Once you have it cooked you can go ahead and eat this tasty morsel.  You can use Ketchup, or BBQ sauce to dip it into. 

BBQ Pulled Chicken.

This is a new recipe for me, however I really love it.  It's really easy to make, and it tastes so delicious.

You will need:

2 Chicken Breasts 

1 Medium Onion

1 Cup of Water

BBQ sauce

This will yield roughly 6 Sandwiches. You can add more Chicken if you need more Sandwiches.

First you will need to cut up the Onion, and put it in the Slow Cooker, put in the 2 Chicken Breasts and add the 1 Cup of Water.

After several hours your Chicken will be done.  

Once the Chicken is done you can shred it with two forks. 

Once you've shredded the Chicken you will want to put it back into the Slow Cooker on low, and add your favorite BBQ Sauce.  You will need to put a fair amount of BBQ sauce in to saturate the Chicken, but not too much that it's overkill. 

When you are ready to eat you can put it on some Hamburger Buns. 

Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup

Today I created Chicken Noodle Soup in the Slow Cooker.

You will need: 

2 Chicken Breasts

1/2 Onion Chopped

2 cups of Water

2 cans of Chicken Broth

1 can of Corn

1 package of Noodles

I started out with putting the Water, the Onion, and the Chicken Breast in the slow cooker.  

Let it cook for a couple hours on High.  Once the Chicken is cooked you can cut it into bite size pieces.

  You can then add the Chicken Broth, and the Corn.  20 minutes before you are ready to eat you can turn it up on High, and then put in the Noodles.  

You will want to check the Noodles to make sure they are fully cooked. 

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did.  and it's great to put together when you don't have a lot of time, that is one of the nice things about the Slow Cooker.

Grilling Season.

Grilling season is upon us, and with all the great weather coming our way I'm getting excited for the season.

 I started the season out with one of our family favorites, BBQ chicken. I use Chicken Breast for most of my meals.

 I started with what is known as a Brine.  For the Brine you will need:

4 cups of water
2 tablespoons of salt,
2 tablespoons of sugar.

Boil all the ingredients together, so they dissolve into the water. Let the Brine cool to room temperature, and then you cover the chicken with the Brine, and let it soak for several hours.

Before you put the meat on the grill you will want to warm it up. Turn it on high a few minutes and then you will want to turn down the temperature when you put the meat on the grill. If you cook it on high, it will just cook the meat too fast, and dry out the meat.  You don't want to put the BBQ Sauce on it at the beginning, you want to wait till the last 5 minutes, if you put it on at the beginning it will cause additional flare ups, and burn the meat, and the sauce.

 

The cooking time is usually 20 - 30 minutes, you will want to turn it to make sure you don't burn anywhere on the chicken. You don't want to stab the meat with a fork, or tongs that will cause the juices to escape.  To make sure the meat is fully cooked you can squeeze it with your tongs, and if the juices run clear it is most likely cooked, you will want to cut into a piece to double check that the meat is cooked.   At this point you can put the sauce on it.  Use your favorite BBQ sauce, and I like to add a tiny bit of liquid smoke to give it that extra smoky flavor.

Once you are done, you are able to enjoy the fruits of your labors, and enjoy the amazing food.

Getting started in the Kitchen.

I think their are several things that you have to take into consideration when you are trying to decide what you want to create.

I think you have to think outside of the box, think of different ingredients that you have access to, and try and figure out what ingredients will work well with others.  You can't be afraid to try new things.  Keep in mind that sometimes it's not going to work, and other times it is just going to be pure ecstasy.

Other things you need to take into consideration would be:

The time you have to create magic.
The ingredients you have to work with.
You need to be familiar with your kitchen, and the tools that you have at your disposal.

Several things you will always want to remember:

Less seasoning is always better than too much, you can always add more, but you can't take any away.

If you are following a recipe make sure you double check your ingredients, and double check the measurements.

If you have any questions feel free to ask,

Food Addix!!!