Avocado Salsa

Last month at book club the girls were raving about Julie's Avocado Salsa---so this past weekend when we were invited to a party I knew I would have to test out this recipe on the crowd. It was a hit!! This recipe makes a lot (a large mixing bowl full), but don't worry if you make it they will eat it.

Avocado Salsa

6 Roma tomatoes

3 Avocados chopped

3 green onions, or more chopped

1/2 bunch of chopped fresh cilantro

1- 11 oz can white shoe peg corn or Mexi corn

1- 15.8 oz can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed

8 oz of Zesty Italian Dressing

1 or 2 cloves garlic minced

1 or 2 Jalapeno peppers, chopped(seeds opt)

Combine tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, and corn in a large bowl. Add peas. Add avocados and gently stir in. Add zesty Italian dressing, garlic and peppers. Gently mix ingredients evenly with a large spoon. Serve with tortilla chips. Keep refrigerated for up to a week. Enjoy!

I used the shoe peg corn-I like the texture of it. I also used fat free dressing--no one even noticed.

Chicken Saltimbocca

I love to try new Crock-Pot recipes and this one is a keeper!

This is the picture from the actual cookbook (Taste of Homes), I could only wish that mine turned out this pretty. But it tastes wonderful and my kids loved it!

Chicken Saltimbocca

6 boneless chicken breasts

6 slices of deli ham

6 slices of Swiss cheese

1/4 c. flour

1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

2 T. oil

1 can cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1/2 c. chicken broth

Hot cooked rice

Flatten chicken to 1/4 in. thickness. Top each piece with a slice of ham and cheese. Roll up tightly, securing them with toothpicks. Combine flour, cheese, salt & pepper in a bowl. Roll chicken in it and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Heat oil in a pan and brown the chicken on each side. Put into a crock-pot. Combine the soup and the chicken broth. Pour over the chicken and cook for 4-5 hours on low heat. Serve with rice.

Clam Chowder

It was cold in Louisiana today, 35 degrees. I know that doesn't seem cold for those of you in Utah and Idaho, but I was freezing. It was definitely soup weather and clam chowder sounded to good. The picture doesn't do it justice, but trust me it is YUMMY!

Grandma Lee's Clam Chowder

2 cans clams

1 c. chopped onion

1 c. chopped celery

2 cups chopped potatoes

3/4 c. butter

3/4 c. flour

1 qt. half and half

salt and pepper to taste

Put chopped vegetables in pan and drain clam juice on vegetables. Cover with enough water just to cover the vegetables. Simmer until tender. Set aside. Melt butter and add flour. Add half and half. Stir until blended. (this will be thick) Add juice and vegetables. Add clams. Serve hot.

*I used 1 pint of half and half and 1 pint milk

Zuppa Tuscana Soup

A new post, finally! We recently went to California for a week with Shawn's family. While we were there we each took a night cooking dinner. My sis-in-law, Becca, made this awesome soup. So today she is our guest writer. So go make dinner tonight, Becca style. It's super easy as super yummy! Thanks for the great recipe Becca!

ZUPPA TUSCANA (BECCA STYLE) RECIPE:

Yield: about 4-6 generous servings

Ingredients:

6-9ish med-lg potatoes

2ish carrots, diced up super-tiny

2 cubes chicken bullion, "smooshed"

water

1 lb Italian sausage (I like Jimmy Dean the best.)

1/2 large onion, diced

1 can evaporated milk

1/2 cup milk

1/2 - 1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese *divided

kale, de-stemmed and chopped

salt/pepper, to taste

Directions:

Wash and slice potatoes (the thinner, the quicker they cook). Put in a large pot and cover with water. Toss in the carrots and chicken bullion, too. Boil until tender, stirring occassionally (to make sure they don't burn to the bottom). Using a potato masher, just mash up the potatoes a little in the water (sometimes my spoon does the trick, too).

While the potatoes boil, brown italian sausage and onions in a frying pan. Drain if desired (I don't.).

Put the sausage/onion mix into the potato pot. Add the evaporated milk, milk, Parm cheese and the kale. Add lots of pepper and salt to taste. Warm (don't boil at this point) until the kale is wilted a tiny bit and the whole thing is warm/hot.

Serve warm, sprinkled with even MORE Parmesan cheese... and ENJOY!

PS. I've also used like 2 tsp. of minced garlic in it, and it was yum that way, too.