Chicken Tortilla Soup

I happen to love Chicken Tortilla Soup.  I am not always pleased with the versions that restaurants have to offer but Carianne gave me a great recipe!  Again, pardon my food picture taking skills.  I'm not sure how the magazines make food look so good.  While I know family living in Bakersfield is not in the mood for soup this is a super easy recipe.  Almost every ingredient comes out of a can.  I made enough soup to fill my entire crock pot.  I put some in a Ziploc baggy to be frozen until another time.  Two things I would change for next time: 1) I didn't chop my stewed tomatoes.  lazy me!  I would next time as then the tomatoes would be more evenly distributed throughout the soup.  2) I would add the cilantro!  I totally forgot about it until I took a picture.  The soup still tasted fine without the cilantro.  Thanks again Carianne for a yummy, easy dinner!

Carianne's recipe did not come with all the exact measurements as she is a "handful here, pinch there" kind of girl.  For those of you that are a little scared of this method I made note of the measurements that I used.  However, they are only guidelines.  You should do some tasting, just like Emeril, as you prepare your soup.  So here goes:  (my guidelines are in parenthesis)

Chicken Tortilla Soup

(Water for boiling, 10 cups)

Chicken Breast (I used 2)

Garlic (1 tbs. minced)

Pepper (1 tsp.)

Salt (1 tsp.)

Chicken Boullion (5 Cubes)

2 limes

2 cans Mexican Style Stewed Tomatoes

1 can of Corn ( or 1/2 bag of frozen corn)

1 Lg. can Green Enchilada Sauce

1 7 oz can of Diced Green Chilies

Olive Oil (1 tbs.)

1/2 Onion (you can use a whole onion if you really like onions)

Cilantro

Directions:

Boil chicken in garlic, pepper, salt, limon and chicken bouillon.  Do not throw out water when the chicken is done.  Shred or chop chicken.  Saute onions in olive oil.  Chop up can of stewed tomatoes.  Pour into pot of broth a can of green enchilada sauce, diced green chilies, can of corn, stewed tomatoes, onions, and then add chicken.  Let cook for at least 30 minutes.  Carianne usually cooks her soup on low for one hour.  Add cilantro the last 15 minutes.  Carianne adds tortilla chips, cotija cheese and pepperjack cheese to each individual bowl.  I used a monterey jack/cheddar blend so feel free to play around with cheese that you will like.  I also like to make cornbread muffins.  I throw a muffin in the bottom of the bowl and pour soup on top.  Yummy!

Cooking this week

Because we have been sick I haven't done much cooking.  Cliff did grill up a nice tri-tip and we will definitely be doing that again this summer.  I made Stephanie's Blueberry coffee cake.  Very yummy.  I let mine bake for about 30 minutes because I was worried that my dough would still be raw.  I have a picture next to the recipe.  I have to work on my food picture taking skills because I am not really sure that my picture looks all that appetizing.  But trust me, this is definitely one to make if you are looking for something new to fix for a brunch or other morning treat and so easy.  Thanks Stephanie!

Crockpotting 365 days a year

I saw this blog on Amy F's blogspot and had to check it out.  I think I will try a few recipes from this blog and see how they work.  She has them sorted in all sorts of categories and I am going to try some from the "company favorites" category assuming that those should taste the best.  She has pics and even tells about how well the recipe went for her.  

Green Beans

I am really lucky to have a husband that does like vegetables.  He doesn't like the weird ones that I like (artichokes, brussel sprouts, asparagus) but he likes the basics.  So to jazz up green beans I took a cue from PF Changs.

After I have steamed them in the microwave (I buy the beans in a bag ready to steam) I simply saute them in soy sauce and garlic for a few minutes.  If you like a little heat you could add red pepper flakes.  Julia also likes to eat these green beans....we are still working on getting her to eat broccoli.

Grilled Chicken

Cliff and I are a huge fan of grilled chicken.  I am especially a fan of him grilling chicken as I get to just worry about the side dishes.  We found at Costco a yummy sauce/marinade called Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce.  We only bought one bottle because we wanted to make sure we liked it before buying a million bottles.  It is soooooo good!  We are going to buy more bottles when we go back to Costco because it will be just our luck that they will stop selling it.  I highly recommend that y'all take a peek at your Costco to see if they carry it.  You won't be disappointed.

Granola Bars

I am a huge fan of granola bars especially if they have chocolate in them.  Carianne made some for the kids when I was over visiting her and lucky for me I got to take some home.  They were super yummy!  I love that I know exactly what is in the granola bars and can pronounce all the ingredients.  And you can even modify the ingredients to add stuff that you like.

4 1/2 c. rolled oats

1 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

2/3 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. honey

1/3 c. brown sugar, packed

1-2 c. mini chocolate chips

1/2-1 c. craisins

Bake at 325 degrees in a lightly greased 9x13 pan for 18-22 minutes.  Let cool 10 minutes.

Carianne never measure her chocolate chips or craisins.  She just sprinkles them in until it looks good.  She also recommends cutting the bars a few minutes after you remove them from the oven.  Then after they have cooled for about 15 minutes she takes them out of the pan.  She would love to add coconut and nuts to hers(I agree!) but Jared isn't a big fan of those ingredients.  Guess we will just have to make a special batch for us Carianne!  :)

Blueberry Coffee Cake-ish

Love the title of this recipe submitted by my sister-n-law Stephanie.  It looks pretty easy to make which is definitely a plus and it is even possible to keep the items on hand for when you are looking for something sweet in a hurry.

1/2 c. packed light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 (12 ounce) can buttermilk biscuits

1/2 c.  (1 stick) butter, melted

1 c. quick-cooking rolled oats

1 1/2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

1/2 c. sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Generously grease a 9-inch square baking dish.  In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon and mix well with a fork.  Separate biscuit dough into 10 biscuits.  Cut each biscuit into quarters, dip each piece in melted butter, and coat with brown sugar mixture.  Arrange in a single layer in baking dish.  Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the oats.

Combine blueberries and sugar in a bow and toss to coat.  Spoon over oats and biscuits and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup oats.  Drizzle remaining melted butter on top.  Baker for 20 minutes or until cake is golden brown and center is done.  Cool for 20 minutes...and enjoy!

*an added bonus is to top it with some whipped cream...DELICIOUS!