Chicken Tortilla Soup

4 Chicken Breast halves
2 15oz. cans black beans, undrained.
2 15 oz. cans stewed tomatoes
1 cup of salsa
4 oz. can chopped green chilies
141/2 oz. can tomato sauce
tortilla chips
grated cheese

Combine all the ingredients except chips and cheese in a large slow cooker. Cover. Cook on low for 8 hours. Just before serving, remove the chicken breast and slice into bite size pieces. Stir them into the soup. To serve, put a handful of chips into individual bowls. Ladle soup over chips. Top with cheese. (Our family also likes to top with a dollop of sour cream.)

I got this recipe from the Fix-it and Forget-It Cookbook. Great Recipe!

Macaroni and Cheese

A few weeks ago, Jessica Seinfeld was on Oprah. She has done a cookbook using purees. I was really intrigued by the idea and I took some of her recipes off Oprah's site. I have tried a couple - I would love to have her cookbook - there was one that the family liked really well and one they didn't. I am going to share both of them with you eventually. The one that didn't work out was her mac and cheese. Her recipe uses real cheddar and I have always used Velveeta. I am sure the cheddar is better for you than the Velveeta, but my family is used to the Velveeta taste. So the last time I made mac and cheese, I made it my way and just added the puree Jessica's way. It was tasty - and my family didn't know that they were also eating butternut squash as well.

I don't have any measurements - I just add until I think that it looks right.

Velveeta
1/3 c. Butternut Squash Puree
2 T. Flour
2 T. Butter
cooked Macaroni (I cook about 1/2 of a 12 oz bag)
milk

In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour. Mix it in until it starts bubbling and let it cook for a minute. Start adding the milk and whisk it together until the lumps are out. Add enough milk until it looks like the mixture would cover the amount of macaroni that you have. Add the cheese and the puree. Let it melt together. Add the macaroni. I also add cut-up hot dogs for my husband's benefit. As I am typing this up, I am feeling bad that I don't have more exact measurements. Next time I make it, I will try to figure them out, and change this post.
Purees are easy to do. Just cook the fruit or vegetable that you want to puree. Then puree it in a blender. You can freeze it or refrigerate.