Cooking with Canned Foods

TwitterMoms and their RAMBO, "Reach A Mom Blogger Online" ALERTS told me about a video called "Canned Food Field to Table" made by the Canned Food Alliance.

You Can Watch It Too:


I learned quite a bit about how foods become canned foods by watching the video. They don't loose as much nutrients as I previously thought would happen during the canning process and seem to retain most even compared to their fresh, cooked counterparts...some even retaining more when canned. For example I learned that: canned tomatoes contain more lycopene than fresh, cooked tomatoes; canned pumpkin contains 3 times more Vitamin A than fresh, cooked pumpkin and canned blueberries offer more antioxidants than fresh or frozen blueberries. Also, canned foods have a longer shelf life than fresh, bagged, or frozen foods. Fan the Canned Food Alliance on Facebook. Follow them on Twitter.

I would love to share a recipe that I made up from a lot of different ingredients I had lying around the house including some canned foods I had in my pantry. It is a Tortilla Soup that I just threw together one evening for dinner and it turned out really tasty. Even though I like to experiment with ingredients I usually come up with something that turns out yummy. Most the time I just eye a whole bunch of different recipes for the same thing and pull together what I like from each of them and then from there I don't look at the recipes again...I just cook. So, here it is in my own words. I hope that it makes sense...


Mexican Tortilla Chip Soup

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons butter
2 celery stalks (washed and diced)
1 onion (peeled, washed and diced)
1 sweet red pepper (washed, de-seeded and diced)
1 spoonful of garlic (peeled and minced)
1 can of whole kernel corn (drained)
1 can of tomatoes and green chilies (diced)
1 can of kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
2 cans of chicken broth
2 Tablespoons lime juice (can substitute lemon juice)
2 pinches of crushed chili pepper
1 dash of ground cumin
1 dash of garlic powder
1 dash of seasoned pepper
1 dash of red pepper (cayenne)
salt to taste


Additional Ingredients If Wanted Per Bowl:
1/2-1 avocado (peeled, sliced and pitted)
1 handful cilantro (washed and snipped)
1 handful cheddar cheese (shredded)
1 handful tortilla chips
1 dollop sour cream

Get out a large pot. Melt butter in the bottom of the pot on medium-low making sure all the bottom is coated. Place diced celery, onion, sweet red pepper, garlic, and corn into the pot and stir to saute in the butter. When the onions start looking see through or when sauteed to your liking add the can of diced tomatoes and green chilies to the pot and stir together. Then add kidney beans and black beans. Let simmer on medium-high until bubbling. Then add both cans of chicken broth and lime juice. Add crushed chili pepper, ground cumin, garlic powder, seasoned pepper, red pepper (cayenne) and salt to taste. Stir until it comes to a simmer. Dish out in bowls. Add avocado, cilantro, cheese, tortilla chips and sour cream to your bowl of soup if desired. Enjoy!!

DISCLAIMER: I received this information free from TwitterMoms and their RAMBO, "Reach A Mom Blogger Online" ALERTS. There is a partnership between the Canned Food Alliance and TwitterMoms for this campaign and blogging contest. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this post, but have been entered into a blogging contest for posting.