Mexican Beef Soup over Rice

My Wednesday job requires me to cook for about 100 people. It's for a church so I need to stay within a strict budget. Which can sometimes be tricky. I want to cook dishes that are yummy and maybe something they wouldn't normally eat but those things can sometimes come with a higher price tag. I mean, hot dogs and chips are inexpensive, but they can easily make that themselves at home. And I like making things they have never tried before but I have to remember not to go too crazy or else no one will show up!! There is a darling older gentleman who acts all tough and turns his nose up and complains about what I make but you can guarantee he comes back for 3rds....

(If you have are one of my wonderful Wednesday night diners, I did *not* use the spicy peppers, cilantro or parsley. I do when I make it at home.)

Mexican Beef Soup with Rice (roughly 6 servings)

adapted from Rachel Ray's 2,4,6,8 cookbook

2 cups uncooked rice

1 tbsp lemon pepper seasoning

@ 2 tbsp chili powder

@2 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp coriander

4 tbsp oil- divided

2- 2 1/2 lbs flank steak or other cut** (doesn't have to be expensive- cheap works great!)

1 large onion (red or white depending on your preference)

1 bell pepper, sliced thinly or chopped

2 jalenpeno or other spicy pepper (optional)

3 tbsp minced garlic

salt and pepper

6 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup lime juice

fresh cilantro and parley, @ a handful chopped of each

**I have never made this with chicken but I think it would be delicious. Use boneless skinless breasts in place of steak.

- Prepare rice according to package directions (this is usually 2 cups water for every 1 cup rice) and add lemon pepper seasoning to water.

-Mix chili powder, cumin and coriander in small bowl together.

-Rub onto steak. The more the better!

-As that sits, I usually chop my peppers and onions.

-In a large stock pot, heat 2 tbsp oil. Add garlic. Stir for 1-2 minutes. Add onions and peppers. You only want to cook these until slightly limp. I also usually hit these with a little more chili powder and salt and black pepper.

-While that is cooking, in a frying pan or grill pan (you can also grill this on an outdoor grill), on med-high heat the other 2 tbsp oil. Add steak and cook until dark on each side. Meat will be pink on the inside- this is OK- it will finish cooking in the broth! Set meat aside for about 5 minutes.

-Add chicken stock to stock pot and onion mixture. Simmer for about 30 minutes.

-This is my kitchen set up at the church. A giant cook stove and 3, yes 3!!! ovens! There you see the steak cooking, 2 pots of broth and a big pot of rice.

-While the broth simmers, slice steak thinly and set aside. Its OK for this to cool completely- once again, the hot broth will warm it up. A good bit of meat juice will accumulate- I just pour this into the pot with the broth.

-Just before serving, add lime juice to broth.

-To serve, put a generous serving of rice in a soup bowl, top with sliced steak and ladle hot broth on top- make sure to serve broth from the bottom of the pot as the onion mixture will sink to the bottom. Garnish with parsley and cilantro.

YUMMY YUMMY

One of the many things I love about this dish is how easy it is. Add a salad and some bread or maybe some chips and salsa or guacamole and you have a very inexpensive meal that tastes wonderful. My family can eat off of this few a couple of days easily. I combine any leftover meat and broth and stick in the freezer. Later when I need a quick meal, all I have to do is make some rice and reheat the broth!

Cups. With legs.

A few years ago I discovered these amazing cups. They are so fun and full of character.

How can you look at those and not laugh???

This one is my favorite.

The other 3 are in mint condition, but this one... she has some crackles in her glaze which means she has been well used. And well loved. Sometimes I drink tea out of her so she knows someone still cares.....

From FavoriteCollectables.com:

"The first Walking Ware teaset was designed by Roger Michell in 1973 from the drawings of Danka Napiorkowska’s college sketchbook. The first eight teasets were hand-made studio pottery, thrown and turned by Roger and decorated by Danka. These are very rare and very difficult to find.

These teasets were a huge success when they exhibited in Christopher Strangeway’s shop, as nobody had seen anything like it and there was such demand that Roger and Christopher had to look for a manufacturer in order to fulfil the orders. Anthony Wood at Cartlton Ware was prepared to take the commission and they were prepared to use a differnt backstamp so that they could distinguish it from its other pottery.

The relationship worked well and for the next 13 years over 50 new designs were produced. Interesting from a collector’s point of view is the fact that they designs that were least popular when they were first made are the most desirable now."

Walking Ware by Carlton Ware. They also have Running Ware, with the legs in motion. And I recently discovered a tea pot with a peg leg. They are no longer in production so ebay or collector sites are about the only place you can find them. I had never bought any for myself... being the practical sort, I really couldn't justify the expenditure when the budget is tight. I happened to mention them to my boyfriend back in the late summer...... and guess what was in the big box I got at Christmas??!!! Totally frivolous. And I LOVE LOVE LOVE them. (He scored BIG points with that gift, let me tell you!!!)

Just a little family of cups, out for a stroll on a nice warm day..

Here, Fiona has been mountain climbing and stopped to take a rest.

I think its the little Mary Jane shoes that make me adore them.

Low Fat Yummy AMAZING Cake

I was minding my own business the other night, browsing my Facebook ( I am a Facebook junkie... I'll admit it..) when I saw an update from a site I had recently become a fan of. Mix Mingle and Glow. She said to take a box cake mix and to just add a can of diet soda and bake.

WHAT???

How in the heck.... She's a pretty big deal in the catering/party planning world so I felt she wouldn't put up something that was not worthwhile... but still... A cake mix and a diet soda??? Nothing else???

Today, armed with a box of Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake and a Diet Coke, I began the experiment. Dump cake mix in bowl...... Add 1 1/2 cups soda....... Stir....... Tasted batter.... yummy... still skeptical.

I used a mini cupcake pan and baked them on 325* for about 14 minutes. I took one out immediately to taste... and died on the spot. The taste was not as strong as if it had been made following the box directions but was still super yummy and moist... oh were they moist!!

And the best part.... LESS THAN 60 CALORIES EACH!!!

Here is the nutritional label. See there where it says calories from "Mix" and calories from "Baked". Well... all you have to count is the "Mix" because the soda had no calories... and the serving size quoted is 1/12 of the box and since I made 48 mini cupcakes.... add/divide/multiply/...eat another cupcake for brain fuel..... and even with a little icing the calorie count is still around 60 each!!!

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???

I went a little Jackson Pollack on the icing... embracing my inner Rock Star- Artist...

And since there were 3 distinct different color combinations here, I had to try each one to make sure they all tasted the same... In the name of science, ya know.... The things I do for my readers to ensure good quality.....

I did some research (which is a fancy way to say I played on Google..) on this idea and apparently it has been around for a while. It is an old Weight Watcher's trick to make a yummy low fat lower calorie snack. Add raspberry soda to an angel food cake.... Diet Sprite to a lemon cake.... root beer to a chocolate cake... I thought they were amazing with no icing, but even with a little full sugar icing drizzled on top, they still have far less calories and fat than normal. Cool whip or powdered sugar, even little low fat fruited yogurt on top... yum...The possibilities are endless.

And you can BET I will be playing around with all the options. In the name of science of course....

THE book

I have a treasure trove of cookbooks. I can sit and browse through them for hours. I even have one that I will probably never make a single thing out of, but I love the chef and the food looks so pretty..... but my secret weapon is... MY BOOK.

Not just any book... a book full of old favorite recipes that have been tweaked and made to suit my tastes... peppered with new stuff that sounds good and I have yet to work my magic on.

There is only one rule for THE BOOK. Its a very simple rule that I have found to serve me well. **** The recipe has to fit onto an index card.*****

Some are hand copied out of cookbooks or magazines. Some have been cut and pasted. But all fit onto an index card. The theory is if it has too many ingredients or too many steps to fit, then it is too complicated for my everyday life.

Now don't get me wrong... I do cook complicated dishes that have 20 ingredients. Just not everyday. (Actually I don't cook everyday, but you know what I mean). But THE BOOK has everything I need in it. Appetizers, breakfasts, soups, meat dishes, desserts, drinks, and even some all natural beauty product recipes.

I used to have all of these cards in an index card box. But when I wanted to browse for something to cook, it was kinda disorganized... hard to compare more than one recipe without pulling them all out. So a few years ago, I bought a thick 3 leather bound 3 ring binder meant for photographs. And I bought an insane amount of 4x6 photo pocket pages ( 4 to a page). And I sat down to organize. Thus THE BOOK was born.

I don't have any fancy labels or category dividers. Everything is organized in a system that makes sense to me. Food gifts are first- like Cookie Mix in a Jar. Followed by Appetizers and Snacks. Then Breakfast, Soups and Sandwiches. Main Dish Meats come next, all beef together and so forth. Veggies trail behind, with Breads to round it off. Desserts, which I have to admit, is the largest section comes before Drinks. I know where everything is and can flip back and forth while I make up my mind on what to serve on any given day.

Some recipes are 20 years or more older. Some just got a place in THE BOOK this week. Some have been made so many times I really don't need the card anymore because I have it memorized. Others have yet to be experienced. About once a year I go through them and toss out the ones that are no longer make the cut. Things I haven't made in a few years or that I have found a better recipe for.

THE BOOK is the heart of my kitchen. And it is like that special blanket you carried around as a child (and my 8 year old still does), it comforts me to thumb through the pages. Many of my recipes have wonderful memories attached to them. And the ones that are new... I have high hopes for them... So I guess it is fitting that THE BOOK is actually a photo album on steroids.

But don't try to steal my BOOK. The secret recipes are somewhere else entirely!!!

The cookies with the horrible name

I made cookies this morning. For breakfast. They have oatmeal in them, that makes it OK, right???!!! Oatmeal is good for you AND a breakfast food..... SCORE FOR The Fat Lady!!

I call these my Garbage Can Cookies. It's a basic cookie recipe I found many years ago (and tweaked!). The original name was NOT Garbage Can Cookies... that name was born after my daughter's first trick or treating Halloween. She was not quite 2 years old and did not need 10 pounds of assorted candy, so I took all the chocolate related stuff and chopped it up.... and put it in cookies. OH SO YUMMY!! They never turn out the same twice because the flavor depends on what we have on hand.

Today was pink M&M's, semi sweet chocolate chips, 2 peanut butter cups, a couple of fun size dark chocolate bars and some Target brand gourmet candy bars.

I really like making these. The kids can get involved and it is a good way to use all that extra candy stash that accumulates after the holidays. Plus they taste good with a glass of milk....

The Fat Lady's Garbage Can Cookies

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

1-2 cups assorted chocolate yummies (chopped up candy bars, choc chips, ect)

Mix together flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. Set aside.

Beat together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla.

On low speed, beat in flour mixture until blended. Fold in oats and chocolate. Cover and chill for 30 minutes (This is very important- if the dough is not chilled, it spreads too thin and burns the cookies)

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease baking sheets.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Place cookies about 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Flatten each cookie slightly.

Bake until lightly browned around edges, 10-12 minutes. Transfer cookies to cooling rack ( I just use a piece of tin foil on the counter top). The cookies tend to stick to the pan so transfer them sooner than you would normally.

This dough can be made and frozen for later use too.

Enjoy!!!