Burrito Soup

I had the yummiest soup at a place called Barbacoa in Salt Lake City. Apparently there are several Barbacoas in Utah. Delish. You must go. Anyways, it's one of those places where all the ingredients are lined up and the nice people behind the counter add whatever you want to make whatever you want. The day I went the guy thought it would be funny to ask me everything in Spanish. So, it was also an educational experience. 

Anywho, I had a wonderful burrito soup. Since there are no Barbacoas in California (boo hiss!), I decided to make my own and share the recipe with you (hurray!).

Burrito Soup

You'll need:

1 Quart of vegetable broth

1 Can of white hominy (it's a corn product) 

Bell peppers and onion (I used 1 green, 1/2 red, 1/2 yellow and 1/4 onion)

2 cans of beans, rinsed and drained (Barbacoa lets you choose between black or pinto)

Sour cream, 1 cup shredded cheese and 4 corn tortillas (or use tortilla chips, crushed)

2 cups Cooked rice (I use brown but it's a free country, use white if that's what you're into.)

Let's do it!

First, heat up the broth and hominy in a 2 quart pot. Set aside.

Slice the peppers and onions, fajita style.

Saute in olive oil until the onions are golden brown. Place mixture in serving bowl.

Slice tortillas into 1 inch squares (nevermind this if you are using chips.)

Fry in a pan with some canola oil until crisp.

Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt.

Everyone gets to serve themselves for this one. 

Here's the order:

1. Rice

2. Peppers and onions

3. Beans

(at Barbacoa you also have the choice of shredded chicken, beef, or pork at this point. Hello leftovers!)

4. Broth (don't forget to scoop the hominy from the bottom.)

Finish it off with:

5. Cheese

6. Chips

7. Sour cream

How did I do?

or

Thanks for stopping by We Grow By Our Dreams today.

Three Easy Candy Cane Treats

Welcome to day three of We Grow By Our Dreams' Red and White Week. Today I will show you how to make three yummy treats using only 3 ingredients. Hello quick gift idea.

The three ingredients you will need to make all three treats are:

• Candy canes (I used regular size but small would work too)
• Pretzel Rods
• White melting chocolate (it goes by many names)

J.O.Y Candy Cane Letters

Inspired by the L.O.V.E. letters on the Make and Take blog, the J.O.Y. letters add a festive Christmas touch.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Break and arrange 4 1/2 candy canes like the picture.

Bake for 5-7 minutes. The candy will flatten slightly and the broken pieces will meld together. Remove from pan when cool.That's it!

Red and White Candy

This is a variation of my pink candy recipe. To make Red and White candy you will need:

• a half a bag of white chocolate melting chips, melted according to package directions
• 2 crushed candy canes

Spread the melted white chocolate in an even, thin layer on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Sprinkle the crushed candy canes over the melted chocolate while it is still warm.  Allow time for candy to cool before lifting it off of parchment paper and breaking it into pieces.

 

Dipped Pretzels

You will need:

• 1/2 bag of white chocolate chips
• 2 candy canes, crushed into fine pieces
• 1 bag of Pretzel Rods

Sprinkle the candy cane pieces on top half of parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Dip whole or halved pretzel rods into melted white chocolate. If you use halved rods, dip the broken end into the chocolate.

Roll the dipped rod into the crushed candy canes and allow time to cool on the cookie sheet.

They look great displayed in an ice cream glass along with peppermint taffy and red and white kisses.

There you have it, three easy red and white treats using only three ingredients. Save yourself time and melt the whole bag of chocolate chips at once. And, crush the candy canes for the Red and White Candy and Dipped Pretzels at once.

If you missed the previous Red and White Week posts, check out the Curtain to Cute Apron Transformation and the Homemade Gift Guide. 

Come back tomorrow for more red and white fun. I have more edible treats, an origami creation and some fun thrifted finds to share this week.

Kitchen Sink Cookies

These are my new favorite cookies. There is something for everyone. There are a lot of ingredients and that's why I'm calling them kitchen sink cookies. They are just about fool-proof. If your cookies tend to fall flat, try these. They are hard to screw up.

Kitchen Sink Cookies

Ingredient List

1/2 cup unsalted butter
½ cup vegetable shortening
1 cups packed light brown sugar (or sugar in the raw)

2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose white flour

¾ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
generous ½ teaspoon salt
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

2 cups corn flakes, crushed
1 ¼ cups (5 oz.) chopped pecans
1 ¼ cups (about 3 ½ oz.) shredded or flaked sweetened coconut
Optional:
*1 tablespoon peanut butter
**2 cups Chocolate chips

The instructions, with pictures

preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a mixer or a large bowl, cream the butter, shortening and brown and white sugars until light in color.

Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until fluffy.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix until combined. Stir in the pecans, corn flakes, coconut and oats.

This is a good time to add chocolate chips. You can add peanut butter here  too.

Let the dough stand for 5 to 10 minutes, or until firmed up slightly.

Use an ice cream scoop and place balls about 2 inces apart on silpat or greased cookie sheet.

Use your hand to pat down the balls until about 1/2 to one inch thick.

Bake for 12-15 minutes. The sides will be a light brown and the center will look slightly underdone. Set the cookie sheet onto a wire rack and let stand until the cookies firm up slightly, about 3-5 minutes (this is super important so they don't break apart!). Transfer cookies with a spatula to wire racks. Let stand until completely cooled.

Makes 24-30 3 inch cookies. Store in an airtight containes for up to 1 week or freeze for up to one month.

Enjoy! Try them and let me know how much you love them.

Little note: you can make them larger or smaller, just adjust the cooking time. :)

Pink Candy Tutorial

I make pink candy every year for Valentine's Day. There are a million different ways to make it but I'll share how I do it.

Pink Candy

You'll need:

About 8 candy canes

1 bag of white chocolate chips or white baking bar

Instructions:

Unwrap the candy canes, break into thirds, and place inside a freezer zip bag or two regular zip bags.

Using the side of a mallet or a rolling pin, crush the candy canes. You should still see some stripes.

Place white chocolate chips in a medium glass bowl. Melt in a double boiler or in the microwave for about 2 minutes at 50% power stirring every 30 seconds.

It's okay if it isn't completely melted. Just keep stirring.

Add your crushed candy canes and stir. Also, you can add a couple drops of red or pink coloring if you want your pink candy more pink.

Spread mixture out onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, silpat, or even a clean stone counter if your kitchen is cool.

Wait for it to cool. If your kitchen is warm, you may need to pop it into the fridge for a few minutes. Then, break it apart. The easiest way is to peel it off the sheet and then break it apart.

Now, pack it up and make it look cute. It's really yummy and addicting. I buy my candy canes after Christmas for really cheap and then use them up in February. Otherwise, you can use round peppermint candies.

Thanks for coming by my blog today. I'm still accepting donations for my Birthdays Project. Let me know if you can help.

Heart Table Runner

I whipped up this table runner to coordinate with the Valentine's Day pennant I made last year. Since I set the goal to create more tutorials this year, I've included pictures and directions.

Heart Table Runner
You'll need:
Heart Pattern (see below)
White felt (sold by the yard)
Red and white fabrics (probably a yard total)
Buttons and ribbon
Sewing Machine
Needle and Thread
Pinking Shears and rotary cutter

First, make your heart pattern. Fold a piece of 12 x 12 scrapbooking paper in half and draw this:

Unfold and cut it out along line. Lay pattern on top of two layers of white felt and cut out using scissors or rotary cutter. Repeat until you have 6 white hearts cut out. Now, cut out your red and white fabric hearts.

See, you have 6 white hearts and 6 red/white hearts. Now, place a red/white heart on top of a white heart and pin with the right side facing up. I only do one pin in the middle but you can do a few if that makes you feel more comfortable.

 

Don't stress if the sides don't perfectly match. We'll take care of that later. It's time for some sewing. You can see how the felt is totally wider than my red fabric. So, I'm using my top piece as my guide.

 

 Sew all the way around the heart. I use about a 3/8 inch. Don't go smaller but you can go a little wider. Do this for all 6 of your hearts.

Using your pinking sheers, cut all the way around the outside of your heart. The width from the stitching doesn't matter as long as you don't cut your stitches. Now, let's attach our hearts.

 Using a needle and thread (I used red thread) you are going to connect the hearts with a ribbon on the back and buttons on the front. You'll do this pointy ends (of the heart) together and then rounded ends together.

 I used 3 inch long strips of 1/2 inch ribbon but you can use wider or more narrow ribbon if you like, depending on the size of your buttons. This is a picture of the back.

This is how the rounded edges are attached.

Attach all the hearts and you are done. You can make it longer or shorter. Just remember to do an even number of hearts.

Enjoy! Thanks for visiting my blog today. Thank you Tip Junkie for featuring me. And, welcome Craft Critique Valentine's Day Carnival visitors. Please leave me a comment and say, "hi." You may also enjoy my new pink candy tutorial.