Foodie Friday: Great Northern Bean Soup

I'm linking up with Eliz's Foodie Friday today!

Here in South Alabama, we've had our first tease of truly fall weather.  It's cold enough in the morning to wear a light sweater or jacket when I walk the pup, and it's chilly at night, too.  I leave the door to my screened porch open while I am at home because it's just so fabulous and beautiful.  The weekend promises more of this, in my opinion, perfect weather! I love it.

With all this fall weather comes the desire to make soup, of course.  And, boy have a made a good bit of soup over the last few days.  The recipe I want to share today is from my dear friend Jamie. It's easy, can be made in the crockpot if you want to and is perfect for the cooler weather.  It sticks to your bones, if you know what I mean.

(Sorry, I don't have pictures.)

Great Northern Bean Soup

1 lb ground beef or turkey

1/4 c dried minced onion

1 tsp paprika

3 cans great Northern beans, drained and rinsed

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1 can Rotel tomatoes

Brown ground meat.  Combine all the other ingredients. Allow to heat through and simmer.  Eat and enjoy!

You can make ahead in the crockpot by putting the setting on low and allowing to cook throughout the day.

Foodie Friday: Taco Soup

I love soup at this time of year, and it's about all that I've been cooking lately.  It' great for me because soup is usually quick, easy and easy to freeze.  I'll eat it for 2 meals and freeze the rest for later.  Love it.

For more great recipes, visit Eliz's Foodie Friday page.

Taco Soup

(adapted from cooks.com)

1 lb. lean ground beef or turkey (I prefer the turkey)

1 med. onion, diced

1 pkg taco seasoning

1 pkg ranch seasoning

2 large cans diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can of Rotel tomatoes, undrained

1 can of black beans, drained

1 can of pinto beans, drained

1 can of whole kernel corn, drained

Brown meat and onions.  Drain.

Add your spice packets.

Add the corn, beans and tomatoes.

Simmer until warmed through and all the flavors combine.

Top with sour cream, shredded cheese, green onion, tortilla chips...whatever you like!

ENJOY!

...Foodie Friday...Homemade Pancake Mix

For today's Foodie Friday @ Eliz in ATL, I want to share with you a recipe given to me by my friend Linda Sue.

In India, pancakes tended to be a go-to meal.  Part of the reason for this is that Linda Sue gave us a plastic storage container with homemade pancake mix in it.  All we had to do was add oil, water and an egg.

(this image came from the Web...)

It is so easy and so tasty! This mix keeps well in an air-tight container.  You can eat pancakes about three times before having to make the mix again.

Pancake Mix

4 c. flour

4 Tbsp. baking powder

4 Tbsp. sugar

1 1/3 c. powdered milk

2 1/4 tsp. salt

TO USE: Simply mix 1 1/2 c. of pancake mix with 1 egg, 1 c. water and 2 Tbsp. of oil.

Foodie Friday...Pumpkin Bread

 

In honor of FALL, my recipe this week for Eliz's Foodie Friday is Pumpkin Bread.   I first tried this recipe last year in India after my mama sent over a can of pumpkin.  I found the recipe for this tasty treat on the Grace Violet blog HERE.  Here's my adaptation. 

Pumpkin Bread

   

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin

4 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup water

3 cups sugar

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

(I add 1 tsp of vanilla extract to the wet ingredients.)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (that's 175 C for you folks not in the U.S.).  Grease whatever baking dishes you are going to use.  I used my Pampered Chef stoneware mini loaf pan plus a cool little muffin tin-type thing that looks like pumpkins!  I made 4 mini loafs and 12 muffin-sized pieces with this batter.  Each mini loaf had about 1 cup of batter, and each muffin-sized piece had about 1/2 cup of batter.

In as big a mixing bowl as you have, mix the wet ingredients (pumpkin, eggs, oil, water and vanilla extract) with the sugar.  Blend well.

In another bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon).  Then slowly add the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl with the wet ingredients until "just blended." Pour the mixture into your greased pans. 

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Then, enjoy the goodness!

Easy as pie.

Thanks, Grace Violet, for the excellent recipe!

...Foodie Friday...Spicy Chicken and Black Bean Chili

Today I am tagging along with Eliz's Foodie Friday. Last week I was in the mood for something spicy and filling, but I hadn't been to the store. So, I raided the pantry to see what I would come up with. This easy chili was made quickly with simple canned items that I almost always have on hand.

Spicy Chicken & Black Bean Chili

- 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained
- 1 (10 oz.) can Rotel (or diced tomatoes with chillies)
- 1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce, Mexican HOT style (or regular if you don't like so much spice)
- 1 (4 oz.) can white meat chicken (The can pictured is more than you need unless you like it really meaty)

Add all the ingredients in a saucepan and heat through. Garnish with whatever you like: a dollop of sour cream, a sprinkle of shredded cheese, chopped green onion, etc. Serve with tortilla chips or crackers. Makes 3-4 large bowlfuls.

Yummy.