Daylight Saving Recipe

Last week my friend sent me an email with a variety of fast and easy soup recipes with this description: "good the first day but even better the second." Even though I believed her, I had to try it for myself!
Tortilla Soup  fit her description perfectly and is a daylight saving recipe,too!  Even better, it makes enough for a couple of freezer portions to really help the cook when the days are too busy for burning daylight in the kitchen.


Tortilla Soup

3-4 Chicken Breasts,cooked and shredded
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 chopped onion
1 clove garlic,minced
3 cans chicken broth
2 Tablespoons Mexican seasoning or 1 envelope taco seasoning
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can pinto beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can Great Northern beans

Toppings:Tortilla chips,jalapenos,shredded cheese

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Add chicken and all other ingredients. Simmer 1 hour. Serve with tortilla chips,jalapenos, and shredded cheese.

                                     

                                                I recommend enjoying this with a cold  glass of milk!

Celebrating Arkansas Rice Month on the Dairy Farm

Arkansas farmers have faced extreme weather conditions in every season this year.  Although our crops and animals have been stressed with the extreme drought and heat, we are thankful that fall is evidenced by the cooler weather and harvest time. While we are beginning to harvest our hay and corn silage crop in Northwest Arkansas, our farmer friends on the east side of the state are beginning rice harvesting.  Here are a few Arkansas rice facts:

• Arkansas ranks #1 in rice production in the United States.
• Rice is planted on 1.3 million acres in Arkansas.
• The Arkansas rice industry contributes one billion dollars to our state's economy.
• Managed rice fields and natural wetlands provide wintering habitat for migratory and wintering waterfowl.

Last week Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe declared September as Arkansas Rice Month. I'm celebrating the rice harvest  and supporting Arkansas rice farmers by trying a few new rice recipes this month.  I found Taco Ricos in a recipe booklet produced by USA Rice Federation.

Taco Ricos
1 lb lean ground beef or turkey
1 16 oz. jar prepared chunky salsa
11/2 cups precooked rice, uncooked
11/2 cups water
1 11oz. can corn,drained
1 cup (4oz.) shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
18 flour or corn tortillas,warmed

Brown beef or turkey in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; drain fat and liquid, if necessary. Stir in salsa,rice,water,corn. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low,cover and simmer 5 minutes or until rice is tender and no liquid remains. Spoon 1/3 cup mixture in each tortilla, top with about 1 tbsp. cheese; roll up and serve.

You can find other recipes and great information about rice at http://www.usarice.com/. Do you have a favorite rice recipe  for Arkansas Rice Month?

Celebrating Seasons on the Dairy Farm

Although we will be milking our cows and caring for our dairy cattle everyday of the Labor Day weekend,it is still a time to celebrate the seasons of change. While you may be planning the weekend trip to visit family, the football game or make the last summer outing to the lake, I'm celebrating the fact that today I finally found okra in my garden. Even though okra thrives on hot weather, I really wasn't sure I would have any okra to harvest due to the excessive heat,drought and the insects that come with it. For weeks I have watched for blooms and hoped the plants could overcome the summer stress. Finally, blooms appeared this week and just like magic--okra!

Sometime during this weekend, I hope to have a mess (that's Arkansas talk) to fry for the family. I haven't planned my menu for the weekend but I'm sure it will include grilling hamburgers or steaks to go with my okra. Seasonal celebrations also include recipes that are quick and easy to prepare like BBQ-Ranch Quesadilla Wedges.

BBQ-Ranch Quesadilla Wedges

Ingredients

1 package (16 ounces) frozen pepper stir-fry blend(green,yellow,red)peppers

1/4 cup diced onion

1 1/2 cups prepared shredded barbecue beef

1/4 cup barbecue sauce

1/2 cup light ranch dressing

8 (8in.) whole wheat tortilla

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Non-stick cooking spray

Preparation

Prepare stir-fry pepper blend with diced onion added and heat barbecue beef according to package directions.While vegetables and beef are cooking,mix barbecue sauce and ranch dressing in small serving bowl; set aside for dipping sauce.

On a tortilla, evenly layer 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons each of shredded beef and cheese. Add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup vegetables. Cover with a second tortilla.

Repeat for total of 4 quesadillas. Spray large skillet or counter-top grill with non-stick cooking spray. Cook each quesadilla for 3 minutes on each side or until golden and cheese is melted.

Cut into 8 wedges; serve with barbecue-ranch.

Substitution Idea:

For fajita-ranch quesadillas, substitute chicken strips for the shredded beef. Mix light ranch dressing with salsa instead of barbecue sauce for dipping.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

You can find other great recipes for your family at http://www.midwestdairy.com/. While I'm enjoying my fried okra and working on the farm this weekend I hope you and your family enjoy a dairy good Labor Day!

Cranky Cook's Recipe

With the added activities of crop planting and hay baling, supper time meals are often late in the evening on the dairy farm and that makes the cook (that's me) a little cranky because I don't like cleaning up the kitchen at bedtime! To celebrate June Dairy Month and less time in the kitchen, I plan to try this recipe this weekend.

BBQ Chicken and Cheddar Foil Packet Dinner

Ingredients

3 tablespoons barbeque sauce

4 small boneless,skinless chicken breast haves(1pound)

2 small unpeeled red potatoes,thinly sliced

1 red or green bell peppers,seeded and sliced

1 green onion,finely chopped

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 cups shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Place a foil sheet, approximately 12x12 inches,on a work surface. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of the barbeque sauce in the center of the foil. Place one chicken breast half over barbeque sauce and spread another teaspoon of sauce over chicken. Top with quarter of the potato,bell pepper and onion. Sprinkle with a little of the salt and pepper. Fold foil in half to cover contents; make narrow folds along edges to seal. Repeat with remaining ingredients to assemble three more packets. Place the four packets on a baking sheet and bake for 35 minutes.

Open foil packets with scissors and carefully pull back edges as contents may be very hot. Sprinkle a quarter of the cheese over the top of each chicken breast and return to oven, unsealed for two minutes or until cheese is melted. With a spatula, transfer the contents of each packet onto individual serving plates.

Substitution Idea: One cost savings tip is to buy bone-in chicken breasts and remove the skin.

Servings:4

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 37 minutes

You can find this and other great recipes at http://www.dairymakessense.com/.

I'm feeling less cranky just thinking about this easy recipe!