Ferrel Family Recipes

I got this recipe from a friend and it was an instant hit with my entire family.  Maybe it was the chips and cheese garnish, but who cares when the whole family is happy to eat dinner together and no one is whining and complaining.   Image from Ministry of Curry Why I Love This Soup This soup is easy, simple and fast: Stores well Reheats beautifully Works perfectly in a crockpot for guests with unpredictable arrival times Warms you up on a chilly evening Uses mostly pantry staples Basically, it’s the kind of meal you can throw together without a grocery run! Ingredients 1-2 Tbs olive oil 1 onion chopped 3 tsp garlic 6 Cups water and 6 tsp of chicken bouillon cubes or chicken broth (I also use bone broth) 2 cans chicken (I get them from Costco and fork them out into chunks in the soup) You can use shredded rotisserie chicken.  2 cans black beans (drained and rinsed) 2 cans corn (drained and rinsed) 1 can diced tomatoes 1 can tomato sauce 1-3 Tbs chi...

 You can't have too many tacos!  When your main dish can be made into tacos the next day, you do it!  I made my Hawaiian meal with Kalua pork, rice and pineapple slaw and reconfigured it into tacos the next day and everyone loved them! I need to take a better picture, but these had great flavor and might've been better than the original meal.                                             Kalua Pork Tacos with Pineapple Slaw Kalua Pork  - Use the leftovers and fry it in a pan until it gets crispy in places.  There is enough oil in the pork, just heat the pan up and let it crisp. Pineapple Slaw - It tastes great the day after.  I used leftovers from the night before. Corn cut off the cobb- I fried the corn in a pan and added cilantro.  It was amazing! Corn tortillas- I fry them in a little oil on high until slightly browned. Cotija or Feta cheese (...

 When we moved to Mesa, we didn't realize we were moving into a house that was placed in the middle of an orange grove!  We have 12 orange trees!  The oranges are Valencia oranges, which are the kind of orange you juice!  There is nothing like a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice! Each year between January and April, we juice oranges into glass quart jars and freeze them for the year. When I say we, I mean my husband!  He's a juicing champ!  Even with all of the oranges we juice, we don't even clear one tree.  There are so many!  With all of this orange juice, we've started to find recipes that we can use and my husband made this one up!  Get ready for the easiest and most refreshing recipe ever!                                                          picture by https://addapinch.com/summertime-or...

 I love Mexican food.  I'm pretty sure if I had to choose one cuisine to eat for the rest of my life it would be Mexican.  These tacos were born from necessity and my love of tacos.  My family has downsized from 6 people to 4 people as my oldest children have moved out to go to college. When I make a whole Costco Salmon, I now have enough leftovers for another meal!  Not wanting this delicious salmon to go to waste, I incorporated it into tacos the next day and everyone absolutely loved them!   Photo credit: https://www.eatyourselfskinny.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/cilantro-lime-tacos-2.jpg Here are the ingredients for the tacos: Lemon pepper dill salmon - I make this the day before for a meal and then use the leftovers for these tacos.  Flake and fry the salmon in a frying pan on medium heat until it gets a little crispy.  You don't need to add oil because the salmon has a lot of natural oil in it.  You're just warming up the salmon,...

We love this delicious meal full of nutrients and flavor.  Grilled chicken, rice, arugula, spinach, tzatziki, cucumber tomato salsa and pita bread meld together for a healthy meal that tastes just as delicious the next day. (pic from https://thewoodenskillet.com/greek-chicken-bowl/) Yellow Rice Start by making the rice first.   Ingredients 2 cups Jasmin White rice, rinsed and drained 1 Tbs butter 1 medium onion diced 3 cloves garlic minced, or 3 tsp already minced garlic (I buy the big jar at Costco) 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp turmeric powder Salt and Pepper to taste 2 3/4 cups bone broth 2 Tbs dried parsley 1/2 cinnamon stick or 1 tsp cinnamon ▢ ▢ Instructions: Sauté onion in butter.  I do this in my rice cooker.  When it is translucent, add the garlic and sauté until fragrant.  Add the bone broth, rice and spices.   Bury the cinnamon stick into the center of the rice.  Turn rice cooker on and then start to prepare you chicken.   Gri...

If you're looking for a delicious, high protein salad to round out your summer meal, this salad is the best.  My kids all love it!   https://greensnchocolate.com/mango-black-bean-quinoa-salad/ Quinoa Mango Salad 2 cups of cooked quinoa cooled (I cook it first and let it cool while I do the rest.  You can also cook it the day before) 1 can of black beans drained 1-2 mangos cubed 1 bunch of green onions thinly sliced 1 bunch of cilantro  1-2 bell peppers diced (I use red and orange) 1-2 fresh squeezed limes Olive Garden Italian dressing  or Olive Oil Vinaigrette 4   tablespoons   olive oil 3   tablespoons   red wine OR white wine vinegar   (can also use rice wine vinegar) 2   tablespoons   fresh lime juice   (1 large lime) 1/2   teaspoon   salt 1/4   teaspoon   ground black pepper Add the black beans, mango, green onions, cilantro, and peppers to your serving bowl.  Spoon in the quinoa and mix u...

These fajitas were so easy and so delicious that I decided to add them to the recipe blog very shortly after making them for the first time.  I am trying to simplify my cooking this year and this recipe fit the bill and everyone loved them!  Bonus, they're also healthy! Sheet Pan Fajitas 2-3 chicken breasts 2 bell peppers sliced into strips (red, yellow or orange) 1 onion sliced into strips Place onions and peppers on the sheet pan and drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Lay the 2-3 chicken breasts on top of the onions and peppers.  Sprinkle the chicken on both sides as well as the onions and peppers with the following: Onion Powder Garlic Powder Chili Powder Taco Seasoning Put the sheet pan in the oven at 400 degrees and cook the chicken until it reaches 165 degrees, about 25 min. Pull the pan out and cut the chicken into strips and then put them back into the peppers and onions on the pan and mix them around to make sure everything is cov...

You never know when something will become a tradition, and Grandma Ferrel's orange Jell-o did.  Grandma would make it for Thanksgiving and other special occasions and my children loved it!  They were especially grateful and looked forward to having something they liked to eat amid other seemingly mysterious new foods at Thanksgiving.  Now that grandma has passed away, I get requests for her Orange Jell-O Grandma Ferrel's orange Jell-O has some special changes to it.  She adds orange juice instead of the cold water at the end, and she also adds some mandarin oranges to the top.  Not only does this make a delicious flavor, but it adds a good amount of vitamin C (for all you health nuts out there).  When you put this orange Jell-O with a Thanksgiving meal with warm turkey and mashed potatoes, it adds a nice cold and sweet pallet cleanser.  Add some cool-whip, or whip cream and you've got a perfect little treat that adult and children love. Orange Jell-0 B...