No matter how much you love to cook (and especially if you don't!) preparing a home cooked, nourishing meal every day is a big ask! Luckily, there are lots of shortcuts for making these kinds of meals a staple for you and your family.

Today I am featuring one of my favorite tips- make a double batch when you cook, and freeze some for later!

This strategy works better for certain recipes, and these two are particularly good.

Pozole is a Mexican delicious stew and it's on my family recipe rotations once a month. It's also our New Years tradition, but you can enjoy it any time. Add your own variations of thickness and toppings. If you don't have time to make the tomatillo base (another great freeze for later candidate), substitute chili powder. It will change the taste, but it will still be delicious.
​
Soupa Toscana is another of my go to meals. My daughter never complains when I make soup, and she loves to add a grilled cheese sandwich on the side.

You can use the pressure cooker or instant pot for both of these recipes. If you don't have one of these, do yourself a favor and get one! It cuts down cooking time by more than half, even 3 or 4 times, depending on what you're making. I have definitely been saved by my pressure cooker on more than one occasion. No dinner planned- no worries- you can cook frozen chicken in under 30 minutes. Dinner, done!

Try this comforting warm soup for this weather,  also known as caldo de pollo.

Ingredients
1 lb chicken- frozen, fresh, or rotisserie 
1 tbsp oil 
1 onion, diced - set some aside to use as garnish
2 garlic cloves 
2 celery, chopped 
2 carrots 
6 red potatoes 
1 cauliflower, loosely chopped or riced
2 stalks of corn 
Chicken broth or water- enough to cover ingredients
Salt and pepper to taste 
Cilantro
Preferred seasoning (basil, thyme, or Italian seasoning work well)

Directions
Stovetop:

1. Use a deep large pot over medium high heat. Heat oil and satay onion until translucent, then add garlic and cook for another minute.

2. Add chicken and the rest of the veggies and cook for 2 minutes. 

3. Add the broth and bring to boil. Cook for 30 min until flavors have blended. 

4. Garnish with cilantro and diced onion.

Instapot:

-Follow the directions above, but cook for 15 minutes in the pressurized Instapot.

This is a super easy recipe. You can use either fresh, frozen, left over rotisserie chicken. I use my Instapot because it cuts the time in half. 

Enjoy this soup anytime. I usually keep some in the freezer for about a week to have a quick and healthy meal on hand.

When I was in Mexico this time I around I really appreciated how the culinary culture uses everything, no waste. That's what tortilla soup and chilaquiles are doing- using the left overs and making them even more delicious by getting better flavors out of them.
 
For this tortilla soup I followed two recipes, adding a bay leaf to give the soup more flavor.  I also used my instapot. The first time I made it, I used 2 frozen chicken breasts. The second time I made it, I used left over rotisserie chicken. Both were delicious. Also feel free to make substitutions to suit what you have on hand. I didn't have corn, so I used riced cauliflower instead.

You can always use store-bought chips if you don't have the time or energy to make your own.  But I do love making my own because they are healthier and so good. Recipe at the bottom.

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 jalapeno pepper , seeded and diced
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 bay leaf
  
• 1 lb chicken breasts, (2 medium)
• 14 oz can crushed tomatoes 
• 10 oz diced tomatoes with chiles 
  
• 32 oz chicken broth 
• 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 14 oz can corn, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped, divided (reserve 1/4 of it for garnish)
• 1 lime, juiced
• Greek nonfat yogurt
  
• Cheddar cheese
  
• Red onion
  
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste

Instructions:

1. Saute the the onions in the olive oil for a few minutes, until translucent, then add the garlic and jalapeño until softened.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients- chicken, chicken broth, black beans, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes with juices, corn, cilantro, ground cumin, chili powder, and bay leaf.

3. Cook in the pressure cooker for 15 minutes.
​
4. After you release the pressure, remove the chicken and shred it with 2 forks.

5. Serve with whatever you like- I used greek non-fat yogurt, white cheddar cheese, lime wedges, cilantro, and red onion. And of course, tortilla chips!

Homemade tortilla chips

Preheat oven to 370 degrees.  Slice 8 corn tortillas into either strips or triangles.  Coat with 1 tbsp of olive oil and spread over a cookie sheet on parchment paper.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, check every 5 minutes and turn to cook evenly.

Inspired by:
https://natashaskitchen.com/chicken-tortilla-soup-recipe/https://www.spendwithpennies.com/chicken-tortilla-soup/ 

Albondigas Soup (Mexican Meatball Soup)
Serves 6-8 (made enough for 10 adults plus left overs)

Albóndigas is a thick Mexican meatball soup.
Use spearmint or Mexican yerba buena for the mint in this soup (I used mint).

INGREDIENTS
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 2 quarts chicken stock or beef stock
• 1 quart water
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 lb green beans, strings and ends removed, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
For the meat balls
• 1/3 cup raw white rice (I’ve also used a cup of leftover brown rice- comes out great because brown rice holds it’s shape.)
• 1 lb ground beef-I used bison, you can try turkey/ground chicken for a different flavor!
• 1/4 cup (loosely packed) chopped fresh spearmint leaves (mint works)
• 1/4 cup (loosely packed) chopped parsley
• 1 raw egg
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• A dash of cayenne (optional)
• 1 1/2 cup frozen or fresh peas
• 1 tsp dried oregano, crumbled, or 1 tbsp fresh chopped oregano
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS
1 Make the soup base with onion, garlic, broth, tomato sauce, carrots and green beans. Heat oil in large heavy-bottomed pot (5-qt) over medium heat. Add onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Add stock, water, and tomato sauce. Bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer. Add carrots and string beans. I did this all in my instant pot on the sauce setting, and have used celery, snap peas, and corn. 

2 Prepare the meatballs. Mix rice into meat, adding mint leaves and parsley, salt and pepper. Mix in raw egg. Form mixture into 1-inch meatballs.

3 Add meatballs to soup, let simmer, add peas. Gently add the meatballs to the simmering soup, one at a time. Cover and let simmer for 1/2 hour. Put-on heat pressure for 15 minutes and it didn’t overdo the veggies.

4. Add the peas towards the end of the 1/2 hour. Add a few pinches of oregano and sprinkle with salt and pepper, and a dash of cayenne, to taste. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro.

Notes;
If fresh mint is not available, you can use a couple teaspoons of dried mint from herbal mint tea.

You can vary the vegetables depending on what you have on hand. Spring peas in their pods instead of shucked peas, for example. Or you could add some chopped fresh zucchini or corn.
My mother often puts a couple extra tablespoons of chopped fresh mint directly into the soup.

from Simply Recipes ~ https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/albondigas_soup/