Crockpot Organic Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is such an easy recipe, yet so yummy!  Enjoy!

Ingredients
4 tb organic olive oil
4 large cloves organic garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 organic onion chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped
6 cups organic chicken broth
2 organic bay leaves
1 tb organic chili powder
4 tb organic cumin
1 ts organic garlic powder.
1 1/2 ts good salt
4 shakes cayenne pepper
2 cups cooked organic chicken, I used 3 thighs, diced or shredded


Toppings
chopped green onions
dollop organic sour cream
tortilla strips (a couple corn or wheat tortillas cut into strips, brush with oil and bake for 10-15 min)

Optional: Before starting to put everything in the crockpot, you could saute the garlic, cilantro, onions and tomatoes first. I personally don't like dirtying pans when I'm using the crockpot, but it would give it a deeper flavor...I think, I don't know though, since I don't do it =) Otherwise:
Heat your crockpot to high and add oil. Chop garlic, cilantro, onions, and tomatoes and stir into oil. Let these heat up for a few minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Cook on high 4-6 hours or low 6-8 hours.

Make your own oatmeal flavor packets

I've heard many times that you should never eat instant oatmeal but have never actually heard a reason why. So until I learn why I keep buying instant oatmeal (Now I know someone is going to tell me since I said that!!!). I'm a busy mom of 4 kids, I love instant oatmeal. Granted I also have regular cook on the stove oatmeal too. But sometimes I just don't have the 10 minutes to cook it. Now that I've typed that it seems silly that I don't have 10 minutes to cook oatmeal. But every time I cook oatmeal on the stove it's guaranteed that someone didn't want oatmeal, or someone wants more than I made, etc.  But organic instant oatmeal packets are SO expensive for what you get! There's only like 6 packets in a box, divide that between 4 kids....yeah, a day and a half of oatmeal IF they only want one packet each, which rarely happens. So I thought, why couldn't I make my own? Absolutely I could! Our grocery store sells canisters of plain organic instant oatmeal. So I buy a couple of those for a week. So at $2 each, that's a max of $4 in oatmeal a week...IF they finish both, and they don't usually. For $4 I can buy one box of 6 packets of instant oatmeal. To go with the oatmeal I take a small glass jar with a lid. I fill it about 3/4 of the way with Sucanat (stands for sugar cane natural). Then I add a couple tb of organic cinnamon. Shake, and voila, flavor for your oatmeal. In the past I've also dehydrated apples, ran them through the food processor to get small pieces and added that to the flavor container. But with four kids I've learned that not everyone of them will want the same flavor as everyone else every time. So I now keep them in a separate container and sprinkle them on if requested. Or raisins, same deal. Or dried cranberries. Or blueberries. You get the idea! Keep all those in separate containers and it's like your own homemade oatmeal variety pack =) I think it's genius, my kids think it's breakfast.




Oatmeal Flavor container
Small glass jar with a lid
3/4 full with organic Sucanat, or organic sugar, or turbinado, or brown sugar
2 tb organic cinnamon

Optional ingredients in a separate container:
organic dehydrated apples, chopped
organic raisins
organic dried cranberries
organic dried blueberries (or fresh...or frozen!)

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Kiwi-Dew Juice

Makes approximately 2-3 cups juice. Very light and refreshing!

1 small honeydew, or half a large
2 kiwi
1 organic apple (green would be best, but any kind will work)

Run fruit through a juicer, minus the skin on kiwi and skin and seeds from honeydew. Pour, serve, and Enjoy!

Make your own butter

I get my cream by letting my raw milk sit and separate from the cream. Then I slowly pour it off the top. To start, you can culture your cream first, or not. Cultured butter does have an excellent taste. But, homemade butter, in my opinion, is great either way! There are many ideas out there on how to culture the cream. I've seen that you can just leave the cream at room temperature for about 12 hours. I've also seen you should stir in 1/3 of a cup of buttermilk or plain yogurt, and then let sit for 12 hours. For me, sometimes it's just easier to let the cream come to room temperature and then have at it. Either way, you want your cream at room temperature when you start.
Then pour cream into a food processor with a dough blade, or in a stand mixer with a dough hook. I like to add a tiny bit of salt, but you don't have to. Turn on. It's going to probably take 10-15 minutes but check it occasionally. Once there are hard chunks floating in the buttermilk, you're probably good. Taste it, does it taste like butter? I then take a fine strainer or cheesecloth, and pour off the liquid. Some people like to rinse the butter at this point. I've rinsed sometimes, and sometimes I don't. I think if you rinse it will last longer, in my experience. Scoop your butter into a covered container, glass or ceramic. You can serve immediately or refrigerate until needed. Serve with some fresh bread, you won't be disappointed!

Texas Cheeseburgers

The Texas Hot Restaurant in Wellsville, NY serves some amazing Texas Cheeseburgers (or Texas Hots if you're into hot dogs). It turns out they put pork in their sauce, which I'm not cool with. So after much researching, combining and playing with different "copy-cat" recipes, I came up with one that we feel is perfect! I do believe the "Texas" sauce is actually considered Greek, but whatever it is, it's so yummy!

Texas Sauce:
1/4 cup organic butter
1 cup chopped organic onions
1 lb organic ground beef
1 ts organic sugar
1/2 ts organic ground cloves
1/2 ts organic cayenne
1 ts organic chili powder
1 ts organic nutmeg
1 ts organic dry mustard
1 ts organic paprika
1 ts organic cinnamon
2 ts organic Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 ts good salt
1 ts organic ground pepper
2 cloves organic crushed garlic

Melt butter in a skillet. Saute onions and ground beef until beef is cooked. Carefully dump onions and beef into food processor and grind up (This isn't totally necessary but I like it much better "smooth" rather than chunky) Pour mixture back into pan. Add enough water to cover mixture and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and simmer on med low for atleast 45 minutes, longer would be better. Even better would be to throw the sauce together in the morning and then put it in the crock pot on low until dinnertime.

To make Texas Cheeseburgers: (You need burger patties, cheese, hot dog buns, yellow mustard, and diced onion)
Grill thin hamburger patties.Add cheese at the end to melt. Steam hot dog buns to warm. (Yes hot dog buns, this is how the restaurant serves them. But you can use hamburger buns if you wish) Slather buns with mustard. Place burger on bun. Pour 3-4 TB of Texas Sauce on top of burger. Sprinkle with diced yellow onions. Eat and enjoy!
Note that the pic above has the mustard on top, hubby thought it was prettier that way =)

Sweet and Sour Veggies and Beans

This is a great vegetarian option to the traditional sweet and sour dishes. Though this would still be awesome with chicken if you wanted to.

Ingredients:
2 heads organic brocolli
1 organic red pepper
2 cups diced pineapple
1 cup organic beans, pinto, black, or kidney
1 organic onion, sliced
2 cloves organic garlic, minced

1/4 to half a cup pineapple juice (Note: if using canned pineapple, which I don't recommend with bpa lined cans, you can use the juice from the can. You can run some pineapple through a juicer. Or use frozen pineapple and as it defrosts you will end up with enough juice. Or with fresh pineapple you can mash some with a potato masher and squeeze some juice out.)
1/4 cup organic brown sugar
2 TB organic cornstarch
1/4 ts organic ground ginger
1/4 cup organic vinegar (apple cider or white wine)
2 TB braggs liquid aminos, or organic soy sauce

In a bowl, combine pineapple juice, brown sugar, cornstarch, ginger, vinegar, and braggs or soy sauce. Set aside. In a skillet, saute in a little water or oil, brocolli, red pepper, and onion until tender. Add minced garlic and saute for about a minute. Add beans and pineapple and cook until heated through. Pour in reserved sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for 3-5 minutes until sauce is thickened.
Serve over brown rice.

Balsamic Vinaigrette with a touch of sweetness

According to my husband this balsamic vinaigrette is perfect! The kids love it too. It has that great vinaigrette taste with a slight hint of sweetness! Bet this will make you eat more salads!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup organic extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup organic balsamic vinegar
1 ts organic ground mustard
2 cloves organic garlic, pressed, crushed, or diced
Pinch of sea salt
1/4 ts organic ground pepper
1/2 ts raw honey

Whisk or blend all ingredients together and store in a bottle or jar in the fridge.