Mexican Tortilla Skillet

This is one of our family favorites.  Always a hit with the kids and easy to make.  

1 cup salsa

1 can tomato soup

1 can corn

1 can black beans

1 cup water

1 cup cheese, shredded

About 8 tortillas

1 can olives (optional)

In a large skillet place salsa, soup, corn, water and black beans.  Heat on high heat until mixture starts to bubble.  Reduce heat and simmer until heated through and flavors are blended, about 5 minutes.  Cut tortillas in to squares.  I layer 4 at a time and use a pizza cutter, but any method will do.  Place cut up tortilla squares into skillet and stir them in so they are all wet.  Continue to simmer about 4 or 5 more minutes.  Tortillas will be soft and soaked with liquid.  Sprinkle cheese and olives on top.

Note:  This meal is extremely agile.  I am a canner and change out the can of tomato soup for 1 quart home canned stewed tomatoes.  I blend them in the blender, juice and all before putting them in the skillet.  I don't add the 1 cup water to the skillet.  I also use home canned frozen corn.  It is not measured before it is bagged so sometimes their is a lot of corn and sometimes there is only a little  I also make my own salsa.  I have made this recipe with green salsa and red salsa.  With hot and mild salsa.  The kids like it mild. Sometimes we add ground beef, but with the black beans, it is already loaded with protein, so I don't worry about it very often.  This recipe always works and always tastes good.  It is hard to ruin.

Kids Cat Rolls

Kids Cat Rolls
We made these Cat for a Joy School Activity- so they are easy enough for one adult to help 4 three and four year olds in making. I used Rhodes Frozen Rolls, which I always have in the freezer. Each cat uses 4 rolls (in the above picture, ignore the big roll on the right- one of the kids snuck that into the picture).

Directions:
Pull out 4 rolls about 2 hours before activity or until thawed but still cold (I put mine in the fridge once they had thawed until we needed them.)
Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray.
1. Take two rolls and smash them together. Roll them (like a snake). This is the cats body. Lay it on the cookie sheet.
2. Take one roll and roll it like a snake. This is the cats tail. Pinch it to one end of the cats body.
3. Take one roll (the last one) and flatten it out in the shape of a circle. Then using a pair of scissors, cut it in the shape of a heart with the bottom not so pointed. Pinch it to the other end of the cats body.
4. Take scissors and clip the dough. This makes it look like fur- see pictures below. You can clip as much or as little as you want.
Let rise for 20 minutes.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Taco Soup

This is a favorite family recipe. When he weather gets cold, out comes the taco soup and the hot chocolate. It's really easy to make and it tastes really good. It was kind of hard for me to adjust measurements because we use a quart of home canned stewed tomatoes and one bag of home canned freezer corn- but don't worry, I figured it out! And really, specifics don't matter. If you don't add corn, it is still good. If you don't have ground beef, it is still good. Any modifications work, just make sure you add the taco seasoning and it will taste yummy. Enjoy!


1lb ground beef, browned
1 can corn with the liquid
2 cans of beans- I prefer black beans but any can be used- drained and rinsed
1 small onion, diced
1 packed taco seasoning
2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 or 2 cans of water, depending on how runny you like you soup.

Put all ingredients into large pot. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat to low and let simmer for 45 minutes. Serve hot. We like to top our with shredded cheese and sour cream. Side with tortilla chips or corn bread.

Money saving tips...

Tip #1: Did you know that milk can be frozen for up to two months? When it is on sale, we buy a few gallons and throw them in the freezer. When it looks like we will be needing more soon, we pull it out and let it thaw on the counter for a day. It taste just as good as it would have straight from the store. For some reason, it looks yellow when it is frozen but don't worry, it is fine. Tip #2: Meat is expensive. Use it wisely. We buy beef chunks and stir fry meat when it is on sale (and lets face it, we do this even when it's not on sale) and break it up for individual meals before freezing it. Just open the container and put a small hand full into a freezer bag.

You'll quickly discover that you don't need tons of meat in your stir fry or in your strogonof and when it's not all frozen in one chunk, you don't have to use it all at once. I also like that when I make crock pot meals, I don't have to thaw my meat. I just rip the bag so that the meat comes out in one chunk, pour on my ingredients, and let it cook.

Tip #3: Pancake syrup is a waste of money. Make your own, it is a LOT cheaper.

Ingredients
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
1/8 tsp mapeline, maple extract or imitation maple flavoring

Mix the water and sugar together in a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup and heat for five minutes in the microwave. Stop and stir every minute (or close to it- sometimes mine only gets stirred two to three times but it still works. Just make sure the sugar is dissolved when it's done). Add your maple.
When you're done, put it in a container with a lid and store in the fridge. If it is not covered, it will start to form sugar crystals. We used a canning jar at first. Later we bought syrup for a camp out, making sure the container was microwave safe. We fill that with our home made syrup after it is made.

Hello from Carolyn!

Hi! My name is Carolyn and I am so happy to be a part of this blog. I have always loved to cook but my knowledge has increased a ton since marrying my husband. You see, I married the son of a dairyman who's family has made a life out of homemade bread, garden produce and years of family recipes. Our family get togethers revolve around canning, homemade holiday candy and quick and easy meals. I am delighted to be able to share all I have learned with everyone.