The Hopkins Model

The only people who are good at cooking at the ones who are stuck doing it every day. They don't look at food sites or buy recipe books or rip recipes out of magazines because cooking is a hobby, they do all that because they are stuck. doing. it. every. day.

When I was a kid, I would play at my friend Brenda's house nearly every afternoon. Around 5 pm, her mom would come home from work and magically turn a few ingredients into a magical meal for a family of 4 (5 if I was lucky, which was probably 80% of the time). I was completely fascinated with how Margo could do this - here she was tired from working as a secretary all day long, and she immediately went to work cooking. Everyone sat at their cool "breakfast nook" table together and visited and laughed during supper.

I learned three things from that part of my childhood.. 
1. I was going to be a secretary because they could do everything.
2. I was going to have a real family and we were going to have supper at the table every day.
3. If anyone was at our house during supper time, they were going to eat with us.

So far that's worked really well. I was a secretary from ages 15 to 25. I have a great family and we eat together at 6 pm every day. Everyone we know has an open invitation to join us.

Thank you Margo, Denny, Brenda and Jason. I loved your family.

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La De Da Enchiladas

• 2 pkg. Grilled Chicken Breast Strips, Southwestern (fully cooked)

• 1 can cream of chicken soup 

• 1/2 cup sour cream

• 1 cup salsa

• 2 tsp. chili powder

• 1/2 cup Mexican shredded cheese

• 1 pkg. flour tortillas (10 count/medium size)

• 1 tsp. olive oil (to grease baking dish/pan)

• 1 can diced tomatoes, drained

• 1 bunch sliced green onions (or 1/2 diced onion) 

Mix soup, sour cream, salsa and chili powder in a bowl.

Chop chicken strips into smaller pieces and add them to another bowl, along with cheese and 1 cup of the soup mixture from other bowl.

Scoop chicken mixture into tortillas, roll them and place seam-side down into greased baking dish/pan. Keep doing this until you run out of chicken mixture or tortillas or space.

Pour remaining soup mixture on top of tortillas.

Cover and bake 40 minutes at 350°.

Top with diced tomatoes and onions.

Salsa Dance Soup

I have been absent here for a few days, I'm sure ALL of you are wondering what happened to me, ha ha. Food is the last thing on my mind, I have been having dental issues, and without working teeth, food is much less appealing. Unfortunately, a medication I take causes bone loss, and my teeth were right behind my hip and my knee on the hit list. Fortunately, I found a really wonderful prosthodontist last year, and after living in his office for the past 8 mos., he delivered my new smile yesterday.

My new smile is not feeling so well today, it turned into a grimace, but I have faith that it will recover. In the meantime, I am thinking about soup..

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Salsa Dance Soup

• 3 cups salsa
• 6 cups beef broth
• 1/2 cup uncooked rice

Throw everything in a Crock Pot and cook on low for 4 hours or until rice is done. Remember, every time you lift that lid on the Crock Pot, you need to add another 1/2 hour of cooking time. Leave it alone and go do something fun.

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Disclaimer: I do not own these recipes. I cook from memory and often adapt things I've seen, tasted, heard about, or read about.

Native North American People who Live Where it's Warm Foil Wrapped Chicken

I love Mexico, I really love Mexico. My favorite thing about Mexico is the people who live there. They are warm loving people with strong family values who are very faithful to their beliefs. I've been down the entire west coast of Mexico, and most recently to the Yucatán Peninsula; as well as Cozumel a few times.

I encounter many people who have relatives living in Mexico, or ancestors from there, while shopping at Aldi. They are always smiling and visiting, that makes me smile. One time I tripped in the parking lot and went face first into the pavement (my fault - I'm clumsy) and a grandfather-type man rushed over to help me and then his entire family came to help.

One thing I know for certain, the majority of people living in Mexico really hate drug traffickers and people who cross the border to the US illegally. They are known as the people who ruin it for everyone else. How sad is it that some are so wrapped up in hate that they judge an entire people for the actions of criminals?

This recipe is also from my mom. She likes Mexico too. 

 

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 Native North American People who Live Where it's Warm Foil Wrapped Chicken

• 4 chicken breasts, thawed
• 4 tsp. taco seasoning mix
• 2 cups shredded refrigerated hash brown potatoes
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup salsa
• sour cream
• aluminum foil

Place one chicken breast on a big square of foil.

Sprinkle 1 tsp. taco seasoning on chicken breast.

Place 1/2 cup hash browns on top of seasoning.

Cover with 1/4 cup cheese.

Top with 1/4 cup salsa.   

Wrap foil around entire mess, place in baking dish, repeat three times.  

Top with sour cream prior to eating, if desired.

Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.

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Disclaimer: I do not own these recipes. I cook from memory and often adapt things I've seen, tasted, heard about, or read about.

Arizona Egg Bake

My daughter wanted "kind of runny with a nice shape eggs" for breakfast yesterday and today. That means over-easy. Over-easy is hard. 

Eggs are pretty fascinating. When I take an awful drug called Decadron, I crave eggs. I used to think it was because of the protein, but now I think its because an egg yolk is one of the few foods that has natural occurring Vitamin D. My brother told me that our family has issues with Vitamin D. Now, I am constantly hearing about the benefits of Vitamin D. My best friend says that's called a Baader-Meinhof.

My dad ate a dozen eggs a day. He apparently needed a lot of Vitamin D, or maybe it was because he had chickens and was poor. I don't know, but he sure liked eggs.

My mom gave me this recipe. I usually make it when we have overnight company.

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Arizona Egg Bake

• 3 cans diced green chiles, drained
• 1 lb. Monterrey Jack cheese, sliced
• 1 dozen eggs
• 1 16 oz. tub sour cream
• 1 tbsp. butter

Grease 9 x 13 baking dish with butter.

Spread diced green chiles on bottom of dish, arrange cheese slices on top of chiles, covering them.

Beat eggs, then mix in sour cream. Pour over chiles and cheese.

Bake at 375° for 30-35 minutes, or until a knife poked in the center comes out clean.

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Disclaimer: I do not own these recipes. I cook from memory and often adapt things I've seen, tasted, heard about, or read about.

Mexican Fruit Salad

I had a stare-down with a bird in my backyard today. She thinks she is going to build a nest in the light fixture in the gazebo above the table. It probably is a good place for a nest, but I don't like twigs and dried grass falling in our food all summer.

We live on our deck for almost 3 seasons. This borders on semi-crazy in Minnesota, but it is the greatest deck on earth. Building it was another story, I don't ever want to see that side of my husband again. Thankfully it's made from wood engineered with recycled plastic bits or something and it can't rot and it doesn't need staining and by the time it needs replacing, someone else will have to do it.

I am in trouble with my husband. I told him to use vinegar to kill the dandelions in the yard. He got out his heavy-duty sprayer and woke up to a spotted lawn. It did kill the dandelions, but it also killed a 6" circle of grass around each one too. Oops.  

I don't have a plan for the leftover jalapenos in this recipe, but they are really cheap at Aldi, there are about 10 in package. You could always chop up the entire package and freeze what you don't use. I often do this with onions too.

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Mexican Fruit Salad

• 1 bag of frozen mixed fruit
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 fresh jalapeno peppers, minced (remove seeds)
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice

Let the frozen bag of fruit thaw in the refrigerator until it's still just a bit frozen. Drain the liquid from the bag and place in a large chilled bowl.

Combine honey, jalapenos, orange juice and lemon juice in a small bowl and mix well.

Coat fruit with the dressing mixture by tossing carefully and serve.

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Disclaimer: I do not own these recipes. I cook from memory and often adapt things I've seen, tasted, heard about, or read about.

Chicken Burritos

I made melt-in-your-mouth beef burgundy tonight, not one ingredient was from Aldi, so I shouldn't be writing about it, but it turned out perfectly. Sure wish I would have waited until I am over this horrible allergy thing so I could have enjoyed it more, but I found a perfect roast with a green "TPR" (temporary price reduction) sticker on it at Cub and I couldn't leave without it ($1.99/lb.). I was in Cub to pick up a few spices that I can't buy at Aldi.  

I had a bet going with myself that if my husband put salt on his food without tasting it first, I was going to get up and leave and let him figure out what he did wrong. He didn't, thankfully. These are the thoughts that happen after you turn 45. I hear they become worse over the next 10 or so years. I also hear that at some point, it won't occur to me that these thoughts are not normal.

The beauty in the picture is my baby. She weighs as much as a small child too. I have wanted an enameled cast iron dutch oven forever, but I was not going to pay $75 for one. Guess what? Aldi got some in. They were $39.99, still too much for me.. then one day, they marked them down to $19.99. Perfect beef burgundy would not have been possible without this wonderful thing, thank you Aldi!

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Chicken Burritos

• 1/2 bag frozen grilled chicken breast strips
• 1 jar salsa
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 pkg. 10-count flour tortillas
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 
• 1 tsp. olive oil  

Grease Crock Pot with olive oil.

Place chicken and salsa in Crock Pot. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8-9 hours. Add sour cream during the last hour.

Heat individual flour tortillas for a second or two in a fry pan. Fold chicken mix into tortilla and add cheddar cheese and additional sour cream, if desired.

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Disclaimer: I do not own these recipes. I cook from memory and often adapt things I've seen, tasted, heard about, or read about.

Mexican Lasagna

Hey Paula, do you only cook casseroles and über fattening food? 

No, but you don't need a recipe for simple cooked/grilled vegetables, meats, and fish. Duh.

Aldi doesn't have the biggest produce selection, but the prices are outstanding. They usually have the basics and they move really fast, everything is very fresh. My mom did the math and figured out she is saving $40 a month on produce alone. They eat A LOT of produce, it's really paying off in health benefits. Now the savings is paying off too, she is putting the money saved in their vacation fund.

I like fresh herbs and shallots, and I cannot buy those at Aldi. That's okay, because when I need those types of things, I usually make a special trip somewhere anyway. I won't be writing out any of those recipes because they don't fit with this Aldi-only theme about saving money. 

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Mexican Lasagna

• 2 lbs. hamburger
• 1 can diced tomatoes and green chilies, do not drain
• 1 can corn, do not drain
• 1 pkg. taco seasoning
• 1 pkg. 10-count flour tortillas
• 2 cups cheddar cheese

Fry hamburger and drain grease. Add tomatoes, corn, and taco seasoning and heat on medium heat for a few minutes.

Spoon enough of the mixture to cover the bottom of a round baking dish. It should be a fairly big dish, about 4" high. Add a flour tortilla on top of the mixture and continue to build layers until you reach the top. The top should have a sauce mixture.

Top with cheddar cheese and bake uncovered at 350° for 45 minutes.

I'll write about what to do with those leftover flour tortillas another day.

Optional:

• use frozen grilled chicken breast strips instead of hamburger - heat mixture first and add chicken
• add a chopped onion or jalapeno to mixture

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Disclaimer: I do not own these recipes. I cook from memory and often adapt things I've seen, tasted, heard about, or read about.

Chicken Taco Pie

My youngest and I bought a weeping willow tree at Aldi today. It was $14.99. She has wanted a "sad tree" since she was 4. Her plan is to read books while laying under it, but it looks like a giant stick right now. 

She and my husband are off to Home Depot to buy dirt and I just put this in the oven (it's my step-father's mother's recipe, converted for the lazy, she boiled and de-boned the chicken):

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Chicken Taco Pie

• 1/2 bag frozen grilled chicken breast strips (other 1/2 needed for upcoming recipe)
  
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can red enchilada sauce
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic in olive oil
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 bag corn chips, crushed (compare to Fritos)
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Mix all ingredients except for cheese and corn chips. 

Line a baking dish with corn chips.

Top with cheddar cheese.

Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.

Optional:

• use leftover turkey instead of chicken

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Disclaimer: I do not own these recipes. I cook from memory and often adapt things I've seen, tasted, heard about, or read about.