Currently loving...

Michelada's!

(It's a drink...with alcohol)

Michelada's are a lot like a Bloody Mary, but with beer in place of Vodka and I like to sip one on the back patio on a Summer evening. With the tomato juice it's almost like having your dinner and drinks at the same time!

How does one make such a drink? Let me share...

What you will need:

-Beer, preferably of the Mexican variety. I use Corona Light because I'm watching my girlish figure

-Tomato juice (some recipe's use Clamato, but I'm not down with clam juice anywhere near my alcohol)

-worcestershire sauce

-Soy sauce

-Fresh lime juice

-Coarse salt (sea salt)

First, rim your glass with salt (if you're into that). Take a lime wedge, cut a slit and run it around the rim of your glass. Pour some coarse salt in a dish and rub the rim of your glass in the salt. Fill that glass with some ice. Pour in your beer.

To make the mix: In a mixing glass pour 6 oz. of tomato juice, squeeze one fresh lime, about 5 shakes of worcestershire sauce, about 3 shakes of soy sauce, and some coarse salt to taste (I like mine salty). If you like hot stuff then add some hot sauce to taste. Pour the mix over your beer and mix all of it together. Now you're ready to sit back and enjoy!

I-Heart-Soup

I like to make a homemade pot of soup at least once a week. Usually, it's of the chicken soup variety, but yesterday I tried a potato version. This soup tastes thick and creamy without the use of fatty cream, but with the help of a little flour. It's extremely easy and fast to make -- about 30 minutes total. Overall, this soup is definitely a crowd pleaser and the ingredients are probably already in your fridge or pantry...gotta love that!


photo via Eating is Believing

Baked Potato Soup
Serves 6

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
4 cups milk
2 cups peeled and chopped potatoes
4 green onions, chopped and divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
2-4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Directions:
1. Melt butter in a pot over low heat; add flour and stir until it's smooth.
2. Cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute until it thickens and bubbles. Note: it thickened immediately for me, so you may be able to skip this short step.
3. Gradually stir in the milk. Stir in the potatoes, half the green onions, salt and pepper.
4. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, 30 minutes or until thickened and the potatoes are done and cooked. Again, for me it did not take 30 minutes to cook the potatoes, so this estimate of time may be much shorter for you.
5. Stir in 1 cup of cheese and cook for about 5 minutes more.
6. Serve the soup with the remaining cheese, green onions and bacon on top.

I found the baked potato soup recipe on the Start Cooking blog (by the way, rated in the top 5 cooking blogs by Real Simple magazine), which directs you to the Eating is Believing blog.

My tips:
-If you have to run to the bathroom or answer the phone or do anything that will take you away from the pot for more than a couple of minutes then remove the pot from the burner. This soup really does have to be stirred often or it will start to burn on the bottom.
-If you don't normally keep bacon in the house and you don't want to buy a whole package just for this recipe then you can pick up a couple of slices of bacon at the deli of your grocery store.
-I use my kitchen scissors to snip the green onions. It's sooooo much faster than cutting.

Stuff your belly with this stuffing recipe

The other day, I made a batch of delicious cornbread stuffing for a Thanksgiving potluck at work. This recipe comes from my husband's side of the family. Specifically, it was his Grandfather's recipe. What is best about this recipe is that it's very forgiving if you don't like measuring things out, which I don't. It's extremely simple for such a grand taste.

Roughly, this recipe takes about an hour in cook/prep time and serves 6.

Ingredients:
1-box of cornbread mix (I like Jiffy - in the blue and white box) -- for this mix you will need additional ingredients, please check box.
1-6 ounce box of chicken flavored stuffing (I like Stove Top)
3-stalks of celery, chopped thin
half-large onion, chopped thin
1-16 ounce container of chicken stock/broth
1-stick of butter

Directions:

Start by preparing the cornbread as instructed on the box (grease the pan too). I use an average 9x9 baking dish. While the cornbread is baking, saute the chopped celery and onion in the stick of butter until fully cooked. The cornbread should be done or almost done baking by the time you are done cooking the vegetables. Don't turn off the oven, you will use it to bake the stuffing mixture. In a large bowl, add the sauted vegetables, the cornbread (break it up as you go), the stuffing mix and the chicken stock and mix well. (see pic)

Add back to the same pan you used to cook the cornbread and cook until there's are crunchy bits of golden brown stuffing here and there and on the side (see pic). My husband thinks you can even take it out before it gets too golden-brown - as he thinks it might dry out the stuffing.

My apologies if these directions are too vague -- I'm a bit tired right now. If you have any questions, just leave a comment. (snoooooooze....)

I-Heart-Comfort Food

For those days when you aren't counting calories...



I unabashedly admit that my chicken pot pie is freakin' awesome! By no means would I call myself a chef, but it's my husbands favorite food and I learned to make it especially for him. I managed to come up with this recipe through trial and error. I usually cook with the freshest ingredients possible, but the addition of a few pre-made food items really saves time, and otherwise would prevent me from being able to make this dish. I learned that using deli meat does not taste very good. It's too salty and the texture is wrong. Also, I tried cream of celery and cream of chicken canned soups and they were either too salty or too rich. I think the addition of cheese adds just the right amount richness without being too much. I never cook with frozen veggies, so that was never an option, and I don't use peas in this recipe because I don't like them. However, add fresh peas if you like them and/or sauteed mushrooms would also be really good. I'd say this dish takes about 1 hr to 1 hr 15 minutes to prepare and cook and serves about 6.

Food ingredients:
1-lb chicken breast, cut into inch sized chunks
1-family size can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup
1-package of ready to cook pie crust (I like Pillsbury)
2-stalks of celery, chopped about half an inch thick
2-carrots, peeled, and chopped at 1/4 inch thick
1-half of a small onion
3/4 cup of shredded monterrey jack cheese
season as you prefer
butter or margarine for sauteing veggies and chicken (it makes the dish taste much better, but if you prefer oil, I recommend extra virgin olive oil)
Other: pie dish and large cooking pan

Preheat oven to 425 or 450. The food is cooked, you're just cooking the crust by the time this goes in the oven. I've played with the temp depending on how much time I have on my hands.

Chop up the vegetables and saute in a dollop of butter (do the carrots first so you can get them sauteing before the other veggies).



Once all veggies are cooked remove from the pan to a separate bowl. Then, using another dollop of butter, saute the chicken until cooked thoroughly. I don't cook the veggies and chicken together because the flavor tends to taste watered-down. Once the chicken is cooked, turn off the heat, add the cooked veggies back to the pan and add the can of soup. Mix all ingredients well, then add your cheese and mix well. Put your pre-made pie crust in the pie dish, fill with the mixture.



Add the top of the crust (don't forget to add slits for venting). Put in the oven for about 45 minutes, depending on the temperature and cook until the top of the crust is golden brown. This also tastes really good as leftovers because the flavors have a chance to become friends and sometimes I serve with mashed potatoes (the ultimate comfort food!!). Also, you can prepare this dish the night before and store in the fridge. Don't forget to make it with love...it really makes a difference.

Enjoy! :)