One of our favorite dinners.

Kind of one of our comfort meals, the hubs and I almost think of this meal as a treat.  I make it more of the consistency of chili than soup, but this - my friends - is a pretty delish taco soup.  Here are the deets if you are interested:

Ingredients:
Meat of your choice (pictured: 1 lb. ground beef)
Diced tomatoes with Green Chilies (2 cans)
Kidney Beans (2 cans)
Vegetarian Baked Beans (2 cans)
Diced Green Chillies (1 small can)
Onion (medium in size, chopped)
Corn (optional - 2 cans)
Taco Seasoning (1 package or to taste)

To Make:
Because I used ground beef, I had to brown the beef with the chopped onion.  In a stock pot, I added the other ingredients - diced tomatoes and green chillies, kidney beans (drained), vegetarian baked beans, diced green chillies, and taco seasoning.  I placed the stock pot on a medium-heat burner and stirred the ingredients together, adding the browned ground beef to the mixture.  Finally, I let the soup  simmer together for approximately 10 minutes or so... pretty. easy.

To Serve:
We usually add shredded cheese, sour cream, and a few Fritos on top.  Yum.

To Alter:
This soup is also a very easy crock pot meal.  When I make it that way, I add chicken breast instead of beef and put everything together in the pot at once, close the lid, and let it cook for 6 to 8 hours on low.  I did not use corn in my soup this week (pictured above), but I have used it before.  The hubs requests that I add it back into the recipe next time... but I could take it or leave it.  We also add one little can of diced green chillies to add that extra **pow!** to the dish.  So good, so very good.

Give this meal a whirl and let me know how you do... because we may just have this as our main course again next week!

4 Ingredients Cookies

Recipe found HERE.

The cookie mishap.

So, it's Friday again friends.  Even better... it's a Friday of a four-day weekend for me.  No big plans for the long weekend, but I am so thrilled to spend some time at home relaxing, helping my boys heal (both Kingston and Cole have colds they cannot seem to kick), and maybe working on a few house projects.

To start of the weekend right, I thought I would bake a few semi-healthy cookies for my family... you know, ones where you substitute out the butter for applesauce and include oats?  Yum.

It was going so well.  Until I decided to use my tablespoon ceramic measuring spoon to help ball the dough on the cookie sheet.  On my seventh ball, the handle snapped off of the spoon in the dough.  Not good friends, not good at all.  Not good even one bit.  Because although the break was a pretty clean one, there were still two chunks that were unaccounted for... in the dough... with oats... and white chocolate chips.  Eh.

And that is why we only had six homemade cookies on this lovely Friday.  Which are now down to three, thanks to Kingston and I (we had to have ourselves a little taste test).  Oh well... I said I wanted to make a few healthy cookies, right?  Right.

 

Re-post: {a take on} Tazo Shaken Iced Passion Tea

A popular post from my prior blog, I thought I would re-share the yumminess that is the shaken iced tea.

I know, I know - we're in the dead of Winter.  But if you're looking for a refreshing, seriously yummy, treat... you have to try our at-home version of the Tazo shaken iced passion tea drink.  You will not be disappointed.

 
(Recipe first posted on my PRIOR BLOG in 2011).  

Ingredients:

1 Tazo tea bag
4 oz. hot water
3 bags Truvia sweetener (optional)
12 or 16 oz. water glass 
Ice (to your liking)
Cool water (to your liking)

Directions:

1. Select your Tazo tea; we prefer the Passion Tazo tea.  
2. For one serving (one glass), fill an 8 oz. coffee mug half-way (approximately 4 oz.) with hot water.  
3. Steep one tea bag for at least one minute but as long as you wish (the longer you go, the more flavor your drink will have).  We read the box, and the recommendation is about 3 minutes.
4. While your tea is brewing, you will need to add your choice of sweetener (however, if sweetness isn’t your thang – no worries, just skip this step).  Our choice?  Three bags of Truvia per serving (as recommended).
5. Once you have the tea brewing, grab yourself a tall water glass and fill it to the brim with ice.  
6. Pour the sweetener/tea mixture into the tall water glass full of ice and fill the remaining space with water.
7. Stir and ENJOY!