Red Pepper & White Wine Angel Hair w/ Spicy Italian Sausage

(alternate title: how to give yourself heartburn in 30 minutes or less)

Ingredients:

3 roma tomatoes

1/2 yellow onion

3 cloves garlic

3 tablespoons of red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon sweet oregano

1 lb spicy italian sausage (I used NY style)

1 cup white wine

4 tablespoon heavy cream

1 lb cooked angel hair pasta

Olive oil & Salt/Pepper to taste

Directions:

Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil and place under a broiler on a baking sheet until they are slighlty charred. Chop the tomatoes. Drizzle olive oil into a skillet, brown italian sausage, about halfway through cooking it, add in the garlic and onions. Cook until browned. Add red pepper, white wine, oregano, salt and pepper and simmer until the wine cooks off (5 to 7 minutes usually) add the cream. Stir into warm angel hair pasta and add the tomatoes.

I topped ours with a little parm cheese... yummy!

Tamale Loaf

This recipe should not be confused with Darlene's Tamale Casserole (Darlene's is yummier and harder to make but this is still good).- Thanks, Allie

Ingredients:

1 can Rotel diced tomatoes, with onions and chiles
1/4 diced olives (a tiny can)
1 clove minced garlic
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup of chicken stock
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 cup of frozen corn
1 package jiffy corn bread mix, with preparations required to make it
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

Directions:

Brown beef in a skillet with garlic. Add Rotel, olives, beans, and stock. Simmer 10 minutes. Add frozen corn. Turn off heat and set aside. Mix Jiffy as directed.

Poor beef mixture into an 8x 8 pan. Top with cornbread mix. Bake 350 degrees until corn bread is thoroughly cooked (about 30 minutes) top with cheese and place back into oven 2 minutes to melt.

Serve warm w/ a dallop of sour cream if desired.

Chicken & Black Bean Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked chicken, chopped

1/2 yellow onion diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 jalepeno, seeded and diced

2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed *

1 cup of frozen corn

2 cans of diced organic tomatoes, no salt *

1 pint of chicken stock, no salt *

1 tsp olive oil

1/4 cup (or 1 package) of taco seasoning

8 flour tortillas (or whole wheat but not corn)

shredded cheese & diced avocado for garnish

Directions:

Heat olive oil in the bottom of a stock pot, add onions and garlic and cook until translucent. Add chicken and diced pepper (if you have little kids use less jalepenos). Stir in stock and bring to a boil. Add beans, tomatoes, and taco seasoning. Simmer 15 - 20 minutes. While the soup is simmering, take tortillas and lay them on a cookie sheet. Place the sheet in the oven on broil. After 2 minutes flip the tortillas so they brown on both sides. Once they are done chop them into small squares. Add frozen corn to soup and stir until cooked through. Add in tortillas. Serve with cheese and avocado as garnish.

* I used Full Circle organic canned produce.

** I used a pre-diced jalepeno in a can. I also only made half a batch of this because I am the only one at my house that eats soup.