Just in time for St. Patrick’s day I bring you a delicious potato stew!
Even better? It’s a slow cooker recipe so relax for the day.
Even better better? There’s peanut butter in it!
Head on over to Peanut Butter & Co to get my Slow Cooker Peanut Butter Potato Stew recipe!
Enjoy and have a great hearty dinner!
Slow Cooker Peanut Butter Potato Stew recipe can be found here.
Easy to make tamale soup recipe that only takes 20 minutes to make!
Are you like us and are extremely indecisive when it comes to dinner when there are no plans? “What’s for dinner?” is the worst question in the world when the response is “I don’t know, what do you want?” That leaves Matthew and I both opening the freezer, looking in the vegetable drawer, browsing the pasta selection and usually ends up with me on the ground crying “Just eat without me! I can’t decide!”. That’s what hungry bellies do, they make you irritable.
So enter this Easy Tamale Taco Soup. I’m really big on quick meals when we’re on deadline for projects. Slow cookers rule, but sometimes I don’t have time in the morning to get it started so I need something super quick. That’s why canned goods and frozen vegetables rule.
This Taco Soup is made in 20 minutes. You use up all your energy opening up the cans, dump them into a pot, boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Then you sit at your dinner table and eat it about 2 minutes because you are that hungry.
Do you guys know about Homel Beef Tamales in Chili Sauce? I recently came across them in my travels at the grocery store. They are basically Tamales in a can. They scream out “lazy”. I love it.
And the ingredients aren’t frightening at all for Tamales in a can: Water, Beef, Tomatoes (Water, Tomato Paste), Corn Meal, Corn Flour, Masa Harina, Salt, Chili Powder (Chili Peppers, Flavoring), Lime, Cornstarch, Paprika, Spice.” No additives, no preservatives, no words I can’t pronounce. Pretty cool right? And even better the entire can is 340 calories. Throw this in a pot with just a full lineup of beans and corn and you got a pretty healthy extra quick meal.
I hope you enjoy this easy Tamale Soup!
Easy to make tamale soup recipe that only takes 20 minutes to make!
Remove paper wrappers on tamales and cut Beef Tamales up into quarters.
Mix all ingredients in large pot. Bring to boil, simmer for 20 minutes.
Serve in bowls, add shredded cheddar cheese and fresh cilantro on top.
Fresh Mexican Corn Salad is a easy and delicious recipe using fresh ingredients! This salad only takes 5 minutes to make and uses NO mayo!
Growing corn in a box on a rooftop in New York City is pretty cool. When we start to spot the ears of corn and I can start to shake the plants to help pollinate I get very excited. As you probably can guess, I do a corn dance. It looks the same as my broccoli and pumpkin dance. I pretty much have the same garden dance move for all our plants, I put my hands out to my side and do a 60s Twist move. One day I might post the dance on here but I’m not sure if you are ready for that yet.
Lately I’ve been craving vegetables for dinner. Lots and lots of vegetables and nothing else. My other half loves meat for dinner (like these Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos) but I have been persuading him to try a happy veggie meal once a week, and I’m hoping we can get that up to 2 nights a week soon. If I served this Mexican Corn Salad more than once a week I know I could because we love this dish.
It’s full of fresh corn kernels cut right off the cob, black beans, diced tomatoes, bell peppers and my favorite: hominy. To spice it up we add in cumin, cilantro and lime juice. Just thinking about this salad makes me want to cancel dinner plans for tonight and cut up some corn.
Speaking of corn, isn’t it just beautiful?
Even the husks are pretty.
And when the salad comes together you are going to be in love too. The best thing about this salad is that it takes 5 minutes to make- amazing, right? The only thing that is cooked is the corn and that is only for 3 minutes.
So if you’re craving a delicious dinner full of vegetables and you want it made within minutes, look no further. Enjoy!
Want more garden fresh salad recipes? Check out my Kale Salad and Cantaloupe Salad.
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Fresh Mexican Corn Salad is a easy and delicious recipe using fresh ingredients! This salad only takes 5 minutes to make and uses NO mayo!
Chopped Mexican Chicken Salad is a quick and healthy recipe that uses fresh ingredients. You can serve it as a main or side dish.
As some of you know I’m not a huge salad eater and that is pretty much a sin coming from a gardener. To get to me eat more salads, I have found that if I make it more Mexican inspired it becomes a instant hit. I gave this salad a Mexican taste with ingredients and spices and I loved it so much we had it for dinner twice in 1 week!
You will need:
skinless, boneless chicken breasts
corn
romaine lettuce
arugula
queso fresco
cherry tomatoes
scallions
cilantro
lime
radishes
Fresh lettuce from the garden, can’t beat the taste!
Arugula, Cilantro, Scallions, Radishes, Tomatoes and Corn!
This chicken was some of the yummiest chicken I ever tasted.
Minutes later throw all your vegetables and herbs in a bowl..
Sprinkle your olive oil dressing on top..
Mix up and you have one beautiful and fresh salad!
Serve and sprinkle some Queso Fresco on top.
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Chopped Mexican Chicken Salad is a quick and healthy recipe that uses fresh ingredients. You can serve it as a main or side dish.
Adapted from Blue Apron
Easy to make Taco Enchilada Casserole recipe. This Mexican recipe uses ground beef, salsa, beans, peppers and more! Casserole takes 30 minutes to bake.
I really like tacos and I really like casseroles so when I’m able to put them together it’s like sweet magic recipe worlds combined.
For example there’s my go to Taco Casserole, Slow Cooker Pepper Steak Tacos, Crockpot Chicken Tacos, Cauliflower Pizza Casserole. Tacos? Yes, please. Casserole? Goodness, yes, please.
Say hi to Enchilada Taco Casserole!
I really love this casserole because it stays set when serving, it almost feels like you are having taco lasagna. There’s 2 layers of corn tortillas, salsa, green peppers, black beans, corn and plenty of ooey gooey cheese to keep the cheese lovers happy (I’m in that club).
May I recommend some Jalapeno Cornbread on the side too?
You will need:
ground beef
enchilada sauce
salsa
black beans
green pepper
corn
tortillas
cheddar cheese
cilantro
I could pretty much eat these vegetables with a spoon and that’s totally what I did when noone was looking.
Here’s your ground beef, enchilada sauce and salsa. I could totally eat this with a spoon and that’s totally what I did when noone was looking.
Essy approved of all the smells. But honestly, what won’t Essy (AKA: “Big Mom”) eat?
Here all the steps to make it. This is a quick casserole to put together.
And when it comes out of the oven, hello cheesy Enchilada Taco Casserole!
The smell will make you swoon. But don’t swoon because we have to eat this first.
Oh please, put it on a plate already! I can’t wait anymore.
I’m just going to sigh.
And then eat this and come back for seconds.
Enjoy!
Easy to make Taco Enchilada Casserole recipe. This Mexican recipe uses ground beef, salsa, beans, peppers and more! Casserole takes 30 minutes to bake.
RECIPE for easy to make Slow Cooker Pepper Steak Tacos! This crockpot meal is one of my family’s favorites. We serve it on tortillas with fresh tomato salsa!
Who doesn’t like tacos? Good, I am glad we all love them!
I could probably have tacos every single day. There’s so many varieties, so many things I can put on them, so many side dishes that go perfectly (like cilantro lime rice!). Oh tacos, how are you so great? One of my favorite recipes is Crockpot Chicken Tacos so I was interested in trying other Crockpot taco recipes because let’s be honest, I’m in love with my crockpot (or slow cooker if you must call it that too).
Slow Cooked Pepper Steak Tacos were born! I was especially happy with these tacos because I got to use garden grown green peppers, onions (are you proud of me?), stewed tomatoes that I made from our tomatoes and then our tomato salsa on top! These tacos were so fresh!
We were both in love with these tacos when we had them for dinner and since it’s 2 pounds of beef, it’s enough for leftovers – so 2 taco nights in a row? Yes please!
This pepper steak is so great smelling! Just thinking about the smell makes my belly grown with hunger and love.
I dare you to not just take one piece and eat it right away.
Throw some pepper steak on a tortilla, then add some salsa on top if you’d like. I added my Garden Tomato Salsa!
Oh, can you wait to eat these? I cannot!
I highly suggest taking some of the juices from the crockpot and pouring it on top. This just makes it MORE PERFECT!
Happy Taco Dinner Time!
What’s your favorite toppings for tacos?
RECIPE for easy to make Slow Cooker Pepper Steak Tacos! This crockpot meal is one of my family's favorites. We serve it on tortillas with fresh tomato salsa!
This Green Pepper Cheese Bake is a delicious comfort food recipe! It’s also filled with vegetables: 2 pounds of green peppers, 1 cup of tomatoes, 2 cups of corn and 1 cup of spinach. Your family will love it!
I know you all used to watch Full House. And I know you all remember Uncle Jessie. So I know you all know the phrase “Have Mercy.”
So you can imagine my amusement when I pulled this green pepper cheese bake out of the oven and muttered “Have Mercy”. And then I laughed. And then I looked around to make sure none of the cats were judging me. The coast was clear. I put this green pepper dish on the counter, took a step back and repeated “Have Mercy”. This right here is a looker, a real beauty, a real head turner. You get the idea. It’s glorious.
I mean, come on, seriously. Don’t you just want to marry this dish? I do!
The best part of this dish besides the cheese and the cream (haha) is that it’s all vegetables! It’s full of 2 pounds of green peppers, 1 cup of tomatoes, 2 cups of corn and 1 cup of spinach. It’s like your own vegetable garden that will live in your belly!
This can be a side dish, or a meatless dinner! We had it as our main dinner with garlic bread on the side. You will need a little bread to soak up that creamy goodness at the bottom, trust me. You will want it.
Please (takes your hand) make this dish. You deserve it. The world deserves it.
I know, I know, you know it, I love my peppers. I made this video while taking this picture. I’m totally sane.
Your wonderland of vegetables we’ll be using for this recipe!
And to tell you straight up, this corn/tomato/spinach mixture is a great side dish by itself. I took like 6 spoonfuls before it even went into the casserole dish.
Here’s all the steps to get to the top of bake. Into the oven.. you ready? Are you sure?
HAVE MERCY!
This is going in the “YES” section of my recipe book I keep.
And when you have your first bite, I hope you’re sitting! If not, have pillows on the floor!
Green Pepper Cheese Bake, I love you. Dearly. Truly. Forever.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Looking for more pepper recipes? Try my stuffed green pepper casserole!
This Green Pepper Cheese Bake is a delicious comfort food recipe! It’s also filled with vegetables: 2 pounds of green peppers, 1 cup of tomatoes, 2 cups of corn and 1 cup of spinach. Your family will love it!
The BEST Stewed Tomatoes Ever recipe! This easy to make recipe simmers tomatoes for 30 minutes to make homemade stewed tomatoes that can be served as a dinner side dish or can be canned. This how to make recipe shows you how easy they are to make! Find out why everyone considers them THE BEST! We always use this as a canning recipe for our Summer garden tomatoes!
Stewed tomatoes, sigh.
Our tomatoes are turning red quicker than I’m able to pick. So between oven roasted cherry tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, tomato pesto, slow cooker tomatoes, tomato soup… there’s lots of tomato dishes going on in our kitchen! Oh and I did mention Fresh Tomato Salsa too – because you know August always means fresh salsa!
I will have many more upcoming tomato recipes…get ready tomato lovers! But for now… stewed tomatoes!
These stewed tomatoes are the best, I’m not fibbing either. If you are having a tomato harvest soon or would like to make your own instead of the canned version, please please please please please make these!
ROASTED CREAMY Cherry Tomato Sauce is sweet, creamy and SO EASY to make! This is the best recipe for growing garden tomatoes! You can serve immediately on pasta, can it or freeze it! Find out why thousands of people love this sauce!
My life has officially been taken over by tomatoes. Is there anything else to talk about except tomatoes right now? Tomato this, tomato that, do the tomato dance.
Do you know how many cherry tomatoes are in this big bowl below? 16 cups! And there’s a few plants that need to be picked… so double that or more. And that’s just cherry tomatoes!
Make Roasted Creamy Cherry Tomato Sauce of course!
I love cherry tomatoes (and cherry tomato recipes) and they work great for snacking and halved in pasta, but what about tomato sauce? Cherry tomatoes aren’t usually the first choice to use for homemade tomato sauce but I’m out to change that.
Cherry tomatoes can result in a creamy tasty sauce which will knock your red socks off (red because it’s tomato season – what, you don’t match your socks to your harvest?).
The key to this recipe is first we oven roast the tomatoes – oh yeah, baby. Then after that we throw them in a food processor with some fresh basil and season them. Then it’s made! It’s that easy.
This homemade sauce doesn’t require you to simmer over the stove for 2 hours. I really love this creamy sauce over pasta, with lasagna, stuffed shells. It’s also pretty fantastic to add to pizza as a creamy sauce.
So when you pick your cherry tomatoes, change it up a bit and make some sauce. Bonus: You can freeze this sauce, throw in the freezer and defrost it months later for a spaghetti dinner in February.
Gather your tomatoes, make sure to take the stems off.
Put them in a pan, single layer. I was making a few batches so I had multiple pans.
Drizzle your olive oil over the tomatoes. Take a picture and completely miss the olive oil coming out of the bottle.
Sprinkle your onion powder over the tomatoes. Take a picture and completely miss the onion powder being sprinkled.
Bake for 35 minutes until your tomatoes are all wrinkly.
Let them cool then put them in the food processor with your other ingredients. Fresh basil – doesn’t it smell great?
Give it a few pulses, it doesn’t take much.
And you are left with some creamy, amazing smelling cherry tomato sauce!
This makes 3 cups of sauce. Feel free to use immediately after, put in the fridge for tomorrow, or freeze (in a freezer bag) for a few months later.
Whenever I freeze sauce, puree, diced/stewed tomatoes, I always put in a freezer bag and lay flat while pressing it out, so it’s as thin as possible. Then once it’s frozen, I stand it up. This saves space and lets you have a better organized freezer.
To defrost it I throw the bag into a pot of hot tap water. It defrosts pretty quickly. Then into a saucepan it goes to heat up.
I hope you enjoy this Roasted Creamy Cherry Tomato Sauce – it’s one of my favorite Summer recipes!
Looking for more tomato recipes? Try my Stewed Tomatoes, Slow Cooker Cherry Tomatoes and Kale Salad with Tomatoes!
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ROASTED CREAMY Cherry Tomato Sauce is sweet, creamy and SO EASY to make! This is the best recipe for growing garden tomatoes! You can serve immediately on pasta, can it or freeze it! Find out why thousands of people love this sauce!
This makes 3 cups of sauce.
This is the beginning of many tomato posts to come in the next few weeks. Right now we’re handling Tomato Season 2013 so I’m constantly looking for new tomato ideas to both use our harvest, but also preserve so we can enjoy it until next summer!
A great way to use up lots of tomatoes you have is to make homemade tomato paste. Tomato paste is a great ingredient to have on hand to thicken up sauce and soups. Not to mention it’s a great base to make some yummy marinara sauce. I love this specific recipe because we are going to freeze them in ice cube trays which means you can use a little bit at a time. No more using one of those tomato paste cans that you only need 2 tablespoons for. By using ice cube tray size you use what you need, nothing goes to waste.
The best type of tomatoes for paste is roma or plum tomatoes (think elongated in shape) because they have the least amount of seeds. In this recipe, we don’t take the skin off or deseed the tomatoes, we just cut them in half. Tomato paste is super easy to make, it just takes a little patience until it’s done. It’s made by cooking the tomatoes on the stove for hours to the point of where you boil away all the liquid, causing a very concentrate form of tomatoes, which turns into “paste”. By the time the hours are over, you are going to have beautiful tomato paste.. and a house that smells wonderful! You will be hungry after smelling this on the stove.. 🙂 These cubes last a very long time, months. I could easily throw a cube in some tomato sauce in January that I make this week. I love these tomato paste cubes because when it’s snowing out and I reach for one, I get to remember the good garden days had months prior.. and that just makes me smile!
Here’s your beautiful roma tomatoes.
Slice them in half and take the stems off if there are any.
Throw in food processor and pulse until liquid smooth. Then it goes onto the stove.. in a few hours all that liquid tomato will turn into…
Great smelling tomato paste!
Fill up your ice cube trays and throw in the freezer.
Pop a tomato paste cube out whenever you need one!
Easy and fresh, does it get any better?
I have a few rules for lunch.
-It has to be yummy.
-It has to be easy.
-It can’t use the oven.
Every single day when I eat lunch I sit in front of my computer, usually catching up on email or going through my blog reader to see what all my great recipe/garden friends are up to. You know lunch is exceptional when you plan to do this, but the only thing you can do is turn your monitor on before you devour your entire lunch without touching the keyboard or mouse once. This lunch time experience was just me and the stuffed pepper and it was a good one.
These stuffed peppers are:
-Yummy. Very.
-Quick and easy. The thing that takes the most time is making the quinoa.
-It doesn’t use the oven. It uses the stove top and the microwave.
-Fresh! Garden pepper and spinach, yum!
Here’s all your beautiful ingredients. Such a pretty lunch we’ll be having!
Hello Mr. Pepper! You are huge, beautiful and delicious. I love you dearly.
Here’s your quinoa with chopped up spinach and garlic. The way I make my quinoa is 1/4 cup dry quinoa with 1/2 cup water. Bring to boil, then simmer and cover for 15 minutes.
After I melt the cheese, I put the pepper top back on. More pepper to eat makes me a happy girl!
If you have any quinoa that can’t fit in your pepper, I just put it on the side. Also, I always put extra tomato sauce on top. I love tomato sauce. When it’s time to start picking tomatoes from the garden this will all be fresh. I can’t wait!
You can add additional tomato sauce all over the pepper as desired.
This recipe is for one 1 pepper, if you want 2 peppers, duplicate it and so on.
I love tortilla soup – love, love love.
I used to get tortilla soup all the time from a local Mexican restaurant but one day I got some near closing time and it was a big disappointment It was like they gave me the entire bottom of the pot that was sitting all day long with every ingredient soggy. I was very upset. That night I told myself I would match their tortilla soup with my own. I would set up a table outside their restaurant serving small cups of my own soup and compare it theirs. The neighborhood would love mine. They would put me on their shoulders, parading me down the streets while chanting “tortilla soup, tortilla soup!”. Well one of those things came true, I came up with a tortilla soup recipe that (dare I say) is better than theirs. *High Fives*
This soup is delicious. It’s easy to make with a few canned goods. It doesn’t take much time, minus some simmering here and there. Please give this soup a chance.
You can turn this into chicken tortilla soup by adding 1/2 pound of boneless chicken breast. Cook it, cut it into small pieces and add in the pot when you add the beans/corn/hominy/peppers.
You might also want some cheddar cheese or a avocado. I would highly recommend this direction.
Start by browning some garlic in a big pot. Who doesn’t love the smell of garlic cooking?
Once it’s brown, add in your water.
Then your chicken broth. I showed the steps above because I usually always make my chicken broth from bouillon cubes. I find it much cheaper and just as good.
Open up your crushed tomatoes. San Marzano is the best in my opinion
Then stir into the pot.
Add your oregano.
Then your chili powder.
Stir all your ingredients together, bring to boil and let simmer for 10 minutes.
Start to prepare your other ingredients. Open up your black beans and rinse and drain them.
Add your hominy. Do you love hominy as much as I do? I eat it by the spoonfuls.
Then add your corn. I use frozen corn and cook it right before.
Then add in your green chiles.
Put all these ingredients into the pot.
Last but not least, get your cilantro. I usually use the frozen cilantro cubes as I find they work well in soups. You can use fresh if you’d like.
Add your cilantro.
Then stir again and let simmer for 15 more minutes.
When it’s done, spoon into bowls.
The truth is that I always go back for seconds.
You can eat it plain if you’d like, it’s totally delicious that way.
Or you can add some cheese which will melt quickly causing you to fall madly in love.
Or you could grab a avocado and add some cubes in too.
This is totally the way I like it. I love that the soup is hot and will cause the avocado to melt slightly.
I have been known to eat a entire avocado this way.
Hope you will try this amazing soup – let me know how it works out for you!
My favorite taco casserole recipe! This is one of my family’s favorite dinners!
This recipe is up there in the favorites. When I first made it, we had it 2 more times that following week. Since then we’ve had it almost once a week. Even though there’s only 2 of us, we usually finish a entire casserole ourselves. We really really really really love it. Who doesn’t like tacos? Who doesn’t like casseroles? Who doesn’t like cheese on top? It’s like a dream world scenario!
More reasons why this makes me have happy dreams at night:
It’s easy to make.
You can make it early in the day, store it in the fridge and then cook it at night.
It’s pretty – the red and green colors are lovely!
It has cheese on top! Did I mention that already? Sorry.
Feel free to customize it too. You can add a onion if you’d like. Maybe throw some crushed chips on top, or some avocado slices. Just please try this!
Here’s all your ingredients. You might even have everything you need already in your cabinets.
Measure your elbows (the noodles)..
And boil until al dente.
Drain, and set aside.
Chop up your green pepper. If you’d like to add a onion, this would be the time to chop that up too.
Put it in your pan..
Add your ground beef.
Then mix it all around so everything gets that delicious green pepper taste (and smell!) to it.
After the meat is brown, add your tomato soup.
Then your diced tomatoes. In the summertime I will make these fresh but for now the canned version will do.
Then add your beloved packet of taco seasoning.
Mix it all around. Oh man, the smell, you can’t beat it.
Then add your elbow noodles.
And mix it good so everything is covered in that sauce mixture.
At this time it’s totally ok to test it. You should. I did. Even two spoons. Noone is looking. We’re all friends here.
Transfer the casserole to a baking dish.
Measure out your cheese.
And spread it on top. At this time I usually take a big handful of cheese from the bag and eat it too. Cheese, I love you.
Because I planned on making it that evening, some plastic wrap went on top and into the refrigerator it went.
When you’re ready to make it..
Pop it into the oven and then enjoy! It’s really that easy!
One cheesy taco casserole will be yours. All yours! Ok, you probably have to share.
Serve, make sure you get some of that cheese on top. If any cheese falls off into the casserole dish, fight for it. You deserve it.
My favorite taco casserole recipe! This is one of my family's favorite dinners!
You can also:
Add a onion (same time you add the green pepper)
Sprinkle crushed up tortilla chips on top
Add avocado slices on top
I made these for a tea date lunch that I had with some dear friends.
EASY Ricotta and Tomato Tea Sandwiches that you can make ahead! This easy recipe makes a ricotta garlic mixture to spread on the bread! Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes in the bread - perfect for a afternoon tea party or baby shower!
Add diced tomatoes to a small bowl, add olive oil and salt and pepper. Mix and then cover in the refrigerator, letting it chill for at least 1 hour.
In a separate bowl add ricotta, basil leaves and garlic. Mix so basil and garlic are completely mixed up with the ricotta.
Cut your bread into shapes with a heart cookie cutter.
Spread some ricotta mixture on a slice of bread. Add a small spoonful of the diced tomatoes mixture. Add additional basil leaves on top if desired. Finish with top piece of bread.
Serve and enjoy! Or keep chilled in the refrigerator until the next day.
[divider]
You want to marinade your tomatoes overnight. Just a little tablespoon of olive oil goes a long way.
Mince your garlic and basil. Smells so good!
Add your ricotta. Store overnight. Tastes so good!
Right before your tea date, get your bread ready. You will basically be able to do one heart per piece of bread.
Well aren’t they lovely…
Now put some ricotta on top of each one.
Top with a fresh basil leaf..
Or a marinated tomato.
Serve fresh or throw in the refrigerator if your friends like to be late (*cough cough*).
Have a great afternoon! 🙂
For more information contact Pamela at pamela@pamelareed.com. | Privacy Policy
And enjoy!
Best Crock Pot Recipes on the Net (March 2013 Edition) | The Food Explorer
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