Dear Reader Column 01-27-11

Now on sale . . . Muffins & Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if Disorderly) Life by Suzanne Beecher, and when you purchase it, request a free autographed bookplate, by visiting:
http://tinyurl.com/Muffins-MayhemPO

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Lately my weekends have been a cooking and sewing frenzy and one of the new recipes I recently tried is a taco-like soup. I don't know what the formal name of it is--I found it written on a piece of paper. But whatever the name--it's fabulous and you can make it in a crock pot. Throw in the ingredients and walk away. I doubled the recipe and shared it with my son's family and my father-in-law, too.

The Ingredients for the YOU NAME IT SOUP

1 onion, chopped
1 (16 ounce) can chili beans, undrained
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, undrained
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (12 fluid ounce) beer (if you don't drink, don't worry, the alcohol evaporates during the cooking process)
2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning
3 whole skinless, boneless, chicken breasts

Place the onion, chili beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer, and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker. Stir in taco seasoning. Add chicken breasts, pressing down slightly until they're covered by the other ingredients. Set crock pot for low heat, cover, and cook for five hours. Then remove chicken breasts from the soup, shred the chicken and stir it back into the soup. Continue cooking for two hours. Enjoy!

Visit my recipe blog, which also contains recipes that book club readers have sent in. Goto: http://tinyurl.com/yuf6aq

Congratulations to January's Chocolate Chip Cookie Winners: Pat Gagliarid, Ray Arnett, Paul Scott Sr. and Sandra Lucas.

* Join in the online Pajama Party! Cozy, warm, pjs, or maybe you sleep in your favorite t-shirt, pajama memories from when you were a kid, family pj traditions--email pajama remembrances, have fun reading what other book club members have sent in, see me in my pjs, and there's a fun giveaway, too. A gorgeous, leather-bound colorful set of 12 monthly journals, slippers, pajamas, books to read when you're in your pajamas (including some copies of my book, Muffins and Mayhem), sleeping masks, pillows, blankets, hot water bottles, and some lullabies on CDs to help you drift off to sleep. Can't wait to hear from you and hopefully to see you in your pjs! You're invited to the online Pajama Party--have fun! Goto: http://tinyurl.com/6gavvnr

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Stay safe and warm,
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
http://www.muffinsandmayhem.com/

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LEAVENWORTH CASE by Anna Katharine Green. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/January11Classics

 

 

Comments

[ML]

Thanks for the You Name It recipe, Suzanne! It snowed here again last night. I can't wait to make a pot of this hearty soup! I just shared your recipe with our niece and nephew, who are visiting from Germany and on their way north today to the mountains of PA for the second leg of their stateside visit. Your taco-like soup is spreading across the country, one reader at a time!

[JB]

I made your taco soup last week, and it was delicious! I added a chopped bell pepper and fresh cilantro. And then I topped it with chopped green onions. Delicious!