Captain's Chicken by J. Peters Robinson

she says "I used chicken tenderloins because I bought them by mistake and cooked about 8. I sprinkled with season salt and a little pepper while it was cooking. I also cut the onion/celery/pepper in half as well as the ketchup mix. I didn't include bell pepper and it was great!"

8 chicken breasts
oil
1 med. onion chopped
1/3 cup celery chopped
1/3 cup green pepper chopped
1 c. ketchup
1 c. water
2 T worcestershire sauce
2 T brown sugar
salt to taste
garlic salt to taste

1. Cook chicken either by pan frying or broiling. Arrange in casserole dish.
2. Saute onions, celery and green pepper in oil until tender.
3. Mix ketchup, water, sugar, worcestershire sauce, salt and garlic in pan and bring to boil
4. Add onions, celery and green pepper to ketchup mixture and pour over chicken.
5. Cover with foil and bake 1 hour at 350*.

*Serve with rice or mashed potatoes.

fabulous smoky chicken tortilla soup (and easy) by J. Massie

TACO SEASONING: (make a big batch of this and keep it for seasoning grilled chicken)

1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

SOUP
4 strips thick smoked bacon
1 package chicken breasts
3 Tblsp. canola oil or veg. oil
28oz. fire roasted canned tomatoes
1 chipotle pepper, chopped, plus 2 Tblsp. adobo sauce
1 box of chicken broth (or 4 cups)
1 cup frozen corn
3 large cloves of garlic
1 medium onion

TOPPINGS
cilantro, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 cup smoked cheddar or smoked mozzarella cheese (or both!), shredded

DIRECTIONS
1. Put raw chicken breasts in a large ziploc. Pour in oil and taco seasoning. Coat chicken and grill.
2. Heat a soup pot and add bacon. Cook until crispy. Remove bacon and set aside.
3. Cook chopped onion and garlic in bacon grease for 5 minutes.
4. Add chopped chipotle pepper and tomatoes and heat thoroughly.
5. Add chicken broth and bring to a simmer.
6. Add chopped grilled chicken, chopped bacon and corn.
7. Simmer for 10 minutes.
8. Put crushed tortilla chips in the bottom of a bowl. Top with soup, cilantro, onion, and smoked cheese.

Bacon Onion Tart by Lize.

Another last minute creation by Lize. She just "threw" this together. Ha!

Ingredients
Puff Pastry package (frozen; defrost)
1/2 package of bacon, chopped
1 sweet onion
Bag of spinach
Feta Cheese
Balsamic Vinegrette(make your own)

Directions
1. Sautee onions and bacon together; add pepper to taste
2. Line pie dish with puff pastry; add in mixture above
3. Break up leftover pastry and cover the top.
4. Follow directions for baking puff pastry
5. Wait until it's "warm" (vs. hot) and top with spinach leaves (tumbled in vinegrette) and crumbled feta. (see picture).

Beet Soup by Lize

Our friend Lize is a fabulous chef. She's from South Africa and combines ingredients you would never think of but taste SO good.

I wish I had a picture of the soup. It was a gorgeous crimson color & tasted incredible. The hint of anise was decadent.

This would be absolutely gorgeous @ Thanksgiving or Christmas (add a basil leaf for the red/green color).

Serves 10
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours

Ingredients
5lb bag of beets
Chicken stock (make your own is best, see below - if you don't you'll need to add onion)
Anise seed (couple)
Salt/Pepper (to taste)


Directions
1. Cut off root & Rinse & Peel beets; Cook in a large pot of water(enough water so that it is covering the beets and about an inch above). Boil for 2 hours (until soft to blend)

2. While beets are boiling. Create stock.
a. Fill large pot with water (1/2 way full)
b. Add one white onion chopped
c. Add a few chicken legs
d. Boil until chicken is completely cooked through and falling off the bone.
e. Remove fat, skin & bones of chicken. Leave liquid in the pot.

3. Once beets are thoroghly cooked & soft add them to the stock (you may need to add "beet water" to the stock, you can play w/ this for the consistency of soup you want. Add in a couple Anise seeds & salt and pepper for flavor. Mix. Let it cool a bit.

4. In small batches, add into a blender and blend. Add blended soup into a soup turrain or dutch oven (so you can heat later when guests arrive).

Roasted Chicken by D. Kendall

I had to add in this photo. Danielle always does such a spectacular job with the table. This is a regular pumpkin that she dipped in glue and then covered in black glitter. SO creative!

We had our annual Halloween dinner this weekend and it was another DIVINE, 5 course meal by Danielle. YUM! Lize surprised us with a new soup & tart this year, so I'll post that next, even have a picture.

Serves 4
Hands-On Time: 10m (my favorite part!)
Total Time: 1hr

Ingredients
1 chicken (3 1/2 to 4 pounds), cut into 10 pieces
2 pounds carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces (halved lengthwise if thick)
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
4 bay leaves
1 lemon, cut into wedges
2 tablespoons olive oil
kosher salt and black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika

Directions
Heat oven to 425° F. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss the chicken, carrots, olives, bay leaves, lemon, oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Arrange in a single layer and sprinkle the chicken with the paprika.
Roast, tossing the vegetables once, until the chicken is cooked through and the carrots are tender, 45 to 50 minutes.

Tacos in a Pasta Shell by N. Allen

Ingredients

1 1/4 pounds lean ground beef
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
18 jumbo pasta shells
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup taco sauce
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 1/2 cups crushed tortilla chips
1 cup sour cream
Directions

In a large skillet, brown beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Add cream cheese, salt and chili powder; mix and simmer for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain. Toss cooked shells in butter.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Fill shells with beef mixture and arrange in a 9x13 inch baking dish; pour taco sauce over shells.

Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Remove dish from oven and top with Cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack cheese and tortilla chips; return dish to oven to cook for 15 minutes more.

Top with sour cream and onions, black olives; serve.


Note: I usually sautee onions and put that with the beef mixture. I've also added green chillies and olives to the mixture as well. YUMMY!!!

CG's Asada Tacos by C. Gentzkow

Flank Steak (or whatever plain steak works for thinly sliced asada)

Marinated in TJ's Tuscan Italian Dressing (I marinated for 10 hours - or recession work hours)

BBQ steak for 8-10 min on high heat flipping once

Serve with
TJ's blue corn tortillas - slightly warmed
Cheese
Salsa - TJ's Organic Tomatillo & Roasted Yellow Chili Salsa and mix with a bit of sour cream for deliciousness

This is exactly how I like it although some may like to add onions and cilantro.

Trader Joes Co-Op September/October

Here are some recipe ideas for TJ shoppers from our October Co-Op. Enjoy!

New ones I tried last month.
* Elizabeth suggested buying the frozen Brown Rice packets - yummy brown rice in 2 minutes! (vs. 20) yum
* JoAnne suggested the kettle corn (danger! you may eat the whole bag!) & says the canned tuna/olive oil and canned crab is terrific (see her recent post to my blog - crab/shrimp enchiladas)
* Becca suggested the frozen turkey meatballs - yum!

New seasonal items to try (or not try)
* Elizabeth tried the pumpkin pancake mix and said it was "Great!"
* I tried the "maple cookies" (bella talked me into it) - you'll love them if you like a strong maple taste (i don't)
* Tonight I tried the frozen "roasted corn" (I love the sweet corn, so I thought I 'd like this version) - you'll love it if you like the taste of ashtrays (gross)
* After a 10 year hiatus (Becky and I lived on this stuff in college) I revisited the pineapple salsa - yum! great w/ their carnitas (as tacos).


From Chris & Marci
1) Lunch - Roasted turkey slices topped with Havarti lite (They make all kinds of cheese in lite now, and south beach prefers you to eat it. So I throw the combo of turkey and cheese in the toaster oven for 5 min and then you have a turkey melt no carbs.
2) Breakfast
A) 2 eggs and turkey bacon
B) Plain non fat yogurt and the 3 berry granola (one of my favorite things)
C) Blue label OJ - Fresh squeezed (best OJ ever, a bit spendy but better than naked)
D) Garden Patch vegetable juice (you would never guess it but I drink this every day)
E) The green juice (due to my lack of eating green things I drink this as well, its actually really good.
F) Soy chorizo! This is my favorite thing! I love the soy chorizo! It looks nast but get over it. I cook it until brown and throw a couple eggs on top and let the eggs cook. Delish!!! Super good with breakfast burritos!
3) Dinner
A) Mandarin orange chicken with the brown rice Elizabeth was talking about. I eat this about once a week now
B) I like all the marinated meets for tacos (although I would say their asada is a bit over marinated)
C) Soyaki marinade is one of the best
D) I really like their BBQ sauce and ketchup. More than bullseye and Heinz
E) So Lowell Frank taught me a TJ's recipe. You dump all of the BBQ sauce in a pot, add frozen meatballs (i like the turkey ones as well, but any will do) and let them cook. Delicous appetizer, although sometime I eat it for dinner.
F) Sweet potato fries - though it may be shocking I like any of their fries.
G) Frozen mini pepperoni pizza's - their fresh pizza is nast
H) Frozen mini chicken tacos - awesome but probably not good for you
I) asparagus. Mix in bowl with EVOO and salt. Throw on grill on HIGH for 7-8 min (the proper amount of time to cook about any meat - High heet 8 min) and its tender deliciousness.
J) Ground turkey - don't buy the frozen kind but the ground turkey is great for burgers or tacos and way better for you than beef.

From Elise
Smoked Salmon and Spinach filled Crepes are really good something different, I just have a hard time figuring what to serve with them.

Brianne's G-free Pumpkin Cheesecake

CRUST

* 1 1/2 cups gingersnap crumbs, from Midel brand gluten free gingersnaps
* 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted( I might try less butter next time because the crust didnt get very crunchy)
* 1 tablespoon sugar

FILLING
* 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
* 3 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (not imitation vanilla)
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
* pecan halves, for garnishing

Directions

1.FOR CRUST: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Wrap outside of a 9-inch diameter springform pan with foil to catch drips. Place Midel brand gingershaps into a 1-gallon plastic freezer bag and crush with a rolling pin. Measure out the 1 1/2 cups and combine them with the butter and sugar in a bowl. Press mixture into bottom and about 2 inches up the sides of the springorm pan. Bake crust about 5 minutes until slightly darkened. Set aside. Maintain oven temperature.
2.FOR FILLING: Blend the room temperature cream cheese and sugar in a food pocessor or heavy duty mixer until smooth. Add pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, and spices. Mix or Process until very smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl for a nice homogenous mixture. Pour the filling into the crust.

3.Bake cheesecake until the center is set (doesn't slosh around AT ALL in the middle when the pan is wiggled) and edges begin to crack, about 1 hour and 5 minutes. ( I cooked them in mini pumpkin cheesecake molds and so it only took about 16 minutes to bake.) Cool in the springform pan on a rack. Chill uncovered until cold, at least 6 hours. (Can be made a day ahead, cover and keep it chilled, but don't make it any more than a day in advance.).
4.Run a knife around between the crust and side pan sides; remove sides. Arrange pecans decoratively on cake.
5. Great served alone or with whipped cream or vanilla bean icecream.
6. This recipe makes a ton of filling. I had a lot of filling left over so i made a small cheesecake along with 12 mini cheesecakes.

Italian Pot Pie by J. Robinson

• 1 – 1 ½ pound hamburger or turkey
• ½ jar spaghetti sauce
• 2 cups mozzarella
• 1 tube crescent rolls
• Italian Seasonings
• Sour cream

1. Brown meat and add seasonings to taste. Drain.
2. Spread into 8x8 casserole dish.
3. Pour sauce over meat and spread evenly.
4. Sprinkle cheese on top.
5. Unroll crescent rolls but do not separate. Spread 1-2 spoonfuls of sour cream evenly. Separate and roll. Place 1” apart over cheese.
6. Bake 375 for 30 minutes covered. Uncover and bake additional 10 minutes or until brown.