Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Hello hello and hello wonderful bloggers. Jonny is in the house tonight. We will be talking about a wonderful meal made by our own chef Jane. If she had a restaurant I would definitely go there since tonight's special was slow cooker chicken tortilla soup. Let's begin with the steps to this wonderful meal. First you need a crock pot and the ingredients. Drum roll please...

2-cooked chicken breast shredded using forks strip into pieces 

1 can 14.5 oz tomatoes with chilies - drained 

1 can 14.5 oz tomatoes with onions - not drained

1 can 10 oz chicken broth

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili power or Mexican seasoning

1 teaspoon salt

1 bay leaf 

¼ cup chopped cilantro 

1 can 14.5 black beans – drained

1 green pepper 

1 package frozen corn can or drained 

1 cup water if needed if soup needs to be thiner

Place all ingredients in a slow cooker, also known as a crock pot, cook on low overnight.

When we made the soup, we put all of the ingredients in the slow cooker the night before except for the chicken. We made the chicken on Thursday night. We cut it into smaller pieces so it would cook faster and then we boiled it. Last we cut the cooked chicken into smaller pieces and put it into the soup. 

If you desire you can add chips or some garnish like cheese or avocado to go with it. It is your choice on that note. I will take my leave. Thanks again to Jane for an awesome meal.

Magic Bars

I was excited for tonight's baking lab. Brandon made magic bars. Magic Bars are an easy recipe to make on a cold day.  It was also a fun night because it felt like comedy night. 

One of the first things we had to do was make our own graham cracker crumbs. We put the graham crackers in a ziplock bag. Instead of using a rolling pin to crush them, Connor used his fists. Connor pretended the bag of graham crackers was Jonny in a video game and he started punching the bag. Mr. Adam was our guest for the night and he said that the graham crackers were "Lamb chopped." Haha :)

After making the crumbs, we added them to melted butter in a brownie pan and pushed the crumbs into the butter. Next we layered chocolate chips, coconut, pecans, and condensed milk. We only put pecans on half because someone has a peanut allergy. 

While the magic bars were baking, we all were telling jokes, talking about what we learned in class, and about our weekends. There was lots of laughter all around. 

Recipe

1/2 cup margarine

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 ( 14 ounce ) can eagle brand sweetened condensed milk

1 ( 12 ounce ) bag semisweet chocolate chips 

1 1/2 cups flaked coconut

1 cup chopped pecans. 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Melt Margarine in 13 x 9 inch baking pan

Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over margarine; press into margarine

Scatter semisweet chocolate chips over crumb / margarine

Scatter coconut for next layer 

Sprinkle pecans on coconut 

Carefully pour sweetened condensed milk evenly for top layer

Bake 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Cut into bars.

Connor made crumbled graham cracker crumbs

Melted Butter in a brownie pan

Ms. Katelyn and Brandon preparing magic bar crust

Coconut and half pecan magic bars

Finished Magic Bars

 Semisweet chocolate chips

Taco Casserole

I was so excited for this meal that Josh made for all of us. I was most excited to prepare and eat it. I enjoyed the meal and I think it was easy to prepare. 

To make the casserole, we had to cook the taco meat and put crescent roll dough in pan. Then we had to mix the taco meat, taco seasoning, water, and sour cream. We put the taco meat on top of the crescent roll dough. Then we had to put Doritos on top of the taco meat. Last we put cheese on top. The casserole cooked for 30 minutes and then we got to eat it all up. 

This is the start of the Taco Casserole. We had to brown the hamburger.

The dough for the Taco Casserole

Jonny cooking taco meat.

Ingredients being put into bowl. 

Pouring the mixed ingredients into the pan.

Putting Doritos on top of the taco meat. 

This is the finished product of the Taco Casserole. 

Having cooking class is fun. We learn how to cook on our own for when we move out or stay in a house or apartment. It's a good experience. I can't wait to make this recipe on my own!


Recipe 

• Crescent rolls
• 1 pound of hamburger
• 8 oz sour cream
• 1 cup water
• 1 package of taco seasoning
• Doritos
• Taco cheese

1. Spread one tube crescent rolls out in a 9x13 pan. Press the seams together and bake 5 minutes at 350. 
2. Brown the hamburger and drain
3. Mix sour cream, water, taco seasoning, and hamburger
4. Spread mix over the rolls.
5. Crush Doritos over and cover with taco flavored shredded cheese. 
6. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
7. Enjoy

Busy Morning Cooking Beef Stew with Lena in Her Room

The weather was warm out today so I was more cheerful and grocery shopping went well. I was excited about our crock pot recipe for class. Me, Ms. Katelyn, and Lena met in Lena's room at 9:30am to start cooking. 

I cut some celery and I put some other stuff in the crock pot, like beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and flour. For the recipe I measured different foods before I put the materials in the crock pot.  I enjoyed learning new skills and learning names of certain types of food. I liked the experience of taking pictures and learning different skills on the side as well.

We cooked in the morning and left everything in the crock pot on high. When we came back for class at 5:00pm we were able to take the stew out of the crock pot and let it cool. Lena served the stew. Most people liked the stew and thought it was good.

Recipe

• 2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth
• 3 potatoes, diced
• 4 carrots, sliced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped

1. Mix together flour, salt, and pepper. Add the meat to the crock pot and cover with flour mixture. 
2. Add all other ingredients to the crock pot and stir to combine. Cook on high for 4-6 hours. 

I am happy the stew turned out so well!

Pumpkin Bars

Hello everyone, This week has been really long. I am getting tired of the cold weather I am ready for Spring time to be here. How many of you agree? At the end of the day Chef Jonny made Pumpkin bars with Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting.  

To prepare for the Pumpkin bars the first thing we did is got out all the ingredients on the kitchen table in Jonny's room. We noticed that he was missing some of the ingredients that he needed in the recipe. Because Jonny was missing cream cheese we found a new recipe for butter cream frosting instead of cream cheese frosting. We were also missing cinnamon, but we decided to make the bars without it. 

Jonny and Carly cracked the eggs in a cup to make sure they didn't get shells in the mixing bowl. Brandon then added the oil to the mixing bowl. Lena opened the pumpkin and put it in the mixing bowl. Carly opened the sugar and put it in the mixing bowl. Jonny then mixed all the ingredients in the bowl. 

We added flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Jonny then mixed all those ingredients in. Then Jonny poured it in the pan. We had to put it in the oven and cooked it for 40 minutes.

While the pumpkin bars were in the oven we had to start making the frosting. When the pumpkin bars were done, we decided everyone could frost them on their own. I think these tasted great. I would try making them myself.

Recipe

• 4 eggs                                                      
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 and 2/3 cup regular sugar                     
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 cup cooking oil                                       
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 can pumpkin                                            
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups flour 

Beat together eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy.  Then add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda and mix thoroughly.  Spread batter in an ungreased 15 x 10 x 1 inch baking pan.  Bake at 350 oven for 25 - 30 minutes.  Cool, then frost

Frosting

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 to 2 tablespoons milk

In a medium bowl, mix powdered sugar and butter with spoon or electric mixer on low speed. Stir in the milk.

Ham and Rice

Hello everyone today was like any other day. We had class and homework mixed in with cold weather, brr brrr! At the end of the day Chef Connor made ham, rice, corn, and a touch of apple sauce.

Now without further ado the steps! First step is to put rice in a pot with water and add a little salt. Step two, let water boil and stir. Step three, turn down heat put on lid cook for 45 minutes before serving.

And now for the ham starring Connor and Ms. Katelyn. Connor and Ms. Katelyn looked at directions to see how long it would take for each item to cook so we could start it depending on how long the rice would take. Connor proceeded to cut the ham and cook it in a pan on a stove. Connor also chose to cook the corn in the microwave.

Everyone enjoyed the meal thoroughly. All in all it was a wonderful night!

Recipes

Rice

1. Wash and drain Brown Rice.
2. In a sauce pan, bring Brown Rice, Salt and 2 cups of Water to a boil.
3. Cover pan, reduce heat to a low/simmer and continue cooking for 45 minutes.
4. Switch off stove and fluff the rice with a fork.
5. Cover the pan and allow rice to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Ham

1. Heat steak in a preheated pan at medium setting
2. Heat for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on each side

Corn

1. Place 16oz of frozen vegetables and 3 tbsp water in microwave-safe dish
2. Cover and cook on high for 3-1/2 minutes
3. Stir and cook an additional 3-1/2 minutes or until heated thoroughly
4. Season to taste and serve

Now folks the time has come to say goodbye and have a pleasant night until next time.

Delicious Milkshakes

After a long day at my internship I was ready for the day to be over. I knew the day would not be over until 10pm because I had to go to a CAB meeting. While I was waiting, we got to make milkshakes in class.

                                                                                       

 When we made milkshakes, first Connor had to go down and get a blender from the office. Second we put the ice cream in the blender. Then we added milk and chocolate syrup. Then we turned on the blender to mix it up. Finally we ate it. Unfortunately for me, I am not a big fan of mint so I didn't eat it.

Recipe

• Ice cream
• Milk
• Chocolate Syrup
• Blender

Directions

1. Get a blender.
2. Scoop your ice cream into your blender.
3. Pour milk over the ice cream. You can just estimate how much milk you think you need. 
4. Pour chocolate syrup over the ice cream and milk.
5. Turn on the blender and mix all the ingredients up. 
6. Eat and enjoy!

Thank you Chef Connor for making the milkshakes. Just wish you would have picked cookies and cream ice cream.