Mexican Caviar

One can black beans
one can mexicali corn

Drain and rinse beans and corn

2 diced tomatoes
3 diced avacados
3 diced green onions
1 small red onion diced
chopped cilantro to your taste

Mix altogether with black beans and corn.

Mix together
1 Italian seasoning packet
1/4 C. vinegar
1/2 C. oil

Pour over mixture, chill and serve with chips.

Fiesta Chicken Pasta Salad

1 pkg Hidden Valley Fiesta Ranch dip mix
½ c. oil (I used corn oil)
½ c. vinegar
1 lb cooked chicken (about 2 chicken breasts)
3/4 box pasta (I used an entire 12 oz box of Wacky Mac bowtie pasta)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can black olives, halved
2 -3 tomatoes, chopped 1 can corn (or you could use frozen)

Mix dressing mix, oil, and vinegar in small bowl and set aside. Combine chicken, cooked pasta, beans, olives, corn, and tomatoes in large bowl. Add dressing about 20 minutes before serving. Be sure to toss again just before serving, as the dressing will seep to the bottom.

Notes: I had some radishes and green onions on hand that I added. I also made the salad hours before serving. The next time I make it I think I will add some salt.

I got this from this website if you want to see the original recipe.

Melynda's Spinach Arichoke Dip

Artichoke dip

1 Can artichoke hearts drained and chopped

2 packages Feta Athenos cheese

1 c. Mayo

½ C. Shredded parmesan Cheese

1 jar diced pimentos, drained

1 clove garlic, minced

Mix all together. Place in 9 inch pie dish.

Bake 350 for 20-25 minutes or till lightly browned. Garnish with chopped tomatoes and green onions if desired.

Spinach Manicotti

I like this recipe for manicotti.

1 pkg. manicotti noodles
1 bag spinach
1/2 lb. ricotta cheese
1/3 c. parmesan cheese, grated
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. salt
Spaghetti sauce

Cook noodles as directed on the box. (Cook them just as the box says. When they cook too long they are a lot harder to stuff without breaking) Mix together ricotta, parmesan, cream cheese, nutmeg, pepper, and salt. Chop up spinach and add to mixture. Stuff cooked manicotti noodles with mixture either by hand or use a zip-lock bag with a hole cut in one corner. Place noodles in a 9x13 pan. Top with spaghetti sauce. Bake at 350 approximately 30 to 45 minutes until heated through.

Cajun Cake

Cajun Cake
2 C. flour
1 1/2 C. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. soda
2 eggs
2 C. crushed pineapple with juice (20 oz. can)

Icing:
1 stick margarine or butter
1 C. Evaporated Milk
1 C. Angel Flake coconut
1 C. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 C. nuts

Cake: Mix all ingredients and bake in 9x13 inch pan, well greased. Bake at 325 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Icing: Combine margarine, milk and sugar. Boil for 5 or 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Add vanilla, coconut and nuts. Pour on cake while cake and icing are still hot.

It tastes good warm or cold.

HOMEMADE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

HOMEMADE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

3 to 4 lbs. chicken
5 cups water or chicken broth (I used broth)
1 lb. baby carrots
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 celery stalks, finely sliced
2 tbsp. fresh parsley, minced
1 tsp. low sodium chicken soup base (or bouillon)
1 large onion, chopped
1 or 2 green onions, chopped (optional)
2 bay leaves
pinch ea oregano and thyme
salt and pepper (to taste)
additional seasonings of your choice (to taste)

Put all ingredients in Crockpot.

Cooks Note: Allow soup to come to a boil for 1 minute, then reduce heat until steaming hot but not boiling (barely simmering is OK). A boiled chicken soup is tasteless. If your Crockpot doesn't allow a steaming hot soup without rapid boiling, do not use it for making soup.

Cook all day (6-8 hours) or until chicken is tender (not stringy).

Thirty minutes before serving time, add homemade noodles; cook until noodles are tender. Taste and season soup with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, to taste, before serving.

Homemade Noodles:

1 cup sifted flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
1-2 tbsp. water or milk

Measure flour onto a work surface or into a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour and add egg, water and salt into the center. Mix to make a stiff paste.

Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and knead until it forms a smooth ball.Cover and lest rest for 5 minutes.

Roll out to a 1/8-inch thickness. Turn and roll very thin. (A pasta machine may be used).

Allow to dry for 1 hour, then cut into lengthwise strips of 2 1/2-inches wide and stack. Then slice the other way to one-eighth to one-sixteenth inch width. Separate and allow to dry.

Add noodles to chicken soup and cook on high for 20 minutes.

Variation: To make pot-pie noodles, cut noodles into 1 1/2 to 2 inch squares.

Submitted by: CM

I found this at Cooks.com. I made the Homemade noodles but they didn't turn out well (they were tough). Probably something I did wrong but they were still edible and I cooked a little longer to soften them.

Clam Chowder

I made this yesterday and it was a big hit and supper easy, so I thought I'd share.

5 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) cream of potato soup, undiluted
2 cans (12 ounces each) evaporated skim milk
2 cans (10 ounces each) clams, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 2/4 ounces) cream-style corn
2 cans (4 ounes each) tiny shrimp, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup crumbled bacon (about 1/2 pound) or imitation bacon bits
Lemon Pepper to taste
Oyster crackers

Combine all ingredients except crackers in slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW 3 to 4 hours, stirring occasionally. Serve with crackers.

Okay, so I didn't follow this recipe exactly because I forgot to pick up an extra can of evaporated milk (I used 1 can evaporated 2% milk and then a can of water), and my cans of oysters were 6.5 ounces each and my shrimp cans were about 6 ounces each. I forgot the lemon pepper and we had rolls instead of oyster crackers. I also waited until the end to put in my crumbled bacon because I didn't want it to get soggy (I used already cooked, crumbled bacon from Costco).

Eva ate 3 bowls which is quite unusual for her, and I really enjoyed it too (I'm not a huge fan of clam chowder). So, enjoy!