A time during which I maintained my blog

See that soup up there? I'll tell you how to make it later on :)

Well here I am, doing a peachy job of maintaining my blog in the new year. What is this... three blog posts since New Years? I seem to do a pretty good job updating my blog when I put my mind to it. That is usually around the start of the year and when something exciting is going on in my life (unless it was 2008 in which case I seemed to have caught blogging fever). That also seems to be the pattern I have in keeping up to date with my far away friends.

It's sad.

I should fix that.

And since talking about blogging isn't nearly as exciting to the reader (or the author) as writing about something deep and introspective, I'll depart from my opening words and embark on a more interesting topic.

The first few days back to the office after an extended vacation (17 days to be exact) are never very easy. Mentally you are ready to head back, but physically, your body is ready for a nap at 11:28AM and then another one after a big, lazy lunch and a movie around 3:21PM. Back in the office, though, you might find yourself in important meetings or water cooler discussions around those times and a nap just doesn't cut it (at least, not in this country). On top of some long, napless days, you go home to a house void of all Christmas cheer. The decorations have been taken down, your baked Christmas goodies are getting stale, and the money you spent on Christmas is being replaced with a strategic plan that involves eating at home, every night, and on a budget.

Things look bleak right about now...

... unless you've found a hidden burst of creativity that you didn't use up preparing for the holidays.

While lounging about this past weekend, I worked very hard to make available some easy to grab activities and tasty, new menus for dinners. If my evenings are filled with new kitchen adventures followed by a game of solitaire with an REAL LIVE deck of cards, perhaps I have something to look forward to (why solitaire? Well, it's mindless... sometimes you need mindless in a day, don't you judge me. And why with a real deck of cards? Because it hurts my eyes less than my phone or computer screen).

Humor me for a minute. I adore cooking. I'm pretty good at it but long days at work coupled with exhausting brain things filling my head all day can lead to cop out meals. These are meals I know how to make without a recipe and that I know will be liked by all parties involved in the noshing process. My go to meals rotate between alfredo sauce on any kind of pasta that suits my fancy that day (sometimes I kick it up a notch and do a cajun chicken alfredo, but it's still alfredo), various types of enchiladas (I can make any freezer mystery meat into a killer pan of those Tex-Mex favorites), curry split pea soup, curry chicken pot pie, mushroom/sausage/pumpkin soup and... well... sometimes spaghetti and sometimes chili (although I'm not a fan of either but they are easy so we eat them). There you have it. If I'm going to cook at home, it's usually one of those things.

This can easily lead to thoughts of budget suicide (i.e., running to Cable Car Pizza for $30 worth of gourmet pizza or heading to China Cafe because it's familiar and they know you are the lady who likes extra sauce with her egg foo young). Foods that used to be tasty and exciting seem, quite honestly, upsetting to the stomach. Changes were inevitable if I was going to be able to maintain some form of a happy home that smells delicious every night.

Thankfully, I'm the proud owner of about 147 food related or recipe filled magazines from the past few years. Between Martha Stewart Living, Every Day Food (also Martha Stewart), and Everyday with Rachel Ray, I surely had a few good recipes to try out. It only took 20 minutes, but I was able to find 2 weeks worth of items to make in just three magazines. I'm happy to report that every single one I've prepared so far have been killer good.

Okay, so I've only made 3 so far, but things are looking up!

Now, all of this to say, I'm thinking that a weekly post to share one or two of my favorite recipes tried over the past week is surely in the cards. To kick things off, I bring you last night's Chicken Tortilla Soup - pictured above. The base recipe is from Everyday Food (the Jan/Feb 2012 issue) but I took a lot of creative liberties when cooking this 'cause that's what I do best.

5 cups chicken broth (I bought a box which had 4 and made a 5th out of bouillon and the hot water I poached the chicken in, I'm sure this made it better)
10 chicken tenders
most of a 14 oz can of diced tomatoes (no salt added)
tablespoon of tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
chili powder (a lot... I didn't measure)
corn tortillas
olive oil
salt
pepper
avocado
cilantro
lime wedges
Mexican or Spanish rice of your choice (I make my own with white rice, a can of rotel, salt and cumin)
Shredded Mexican cheese (or cotija if you have cooler grocery stores than I do)

Poach the chicken until done, shred when cool enough to touch with out cursing
Heat oven to 350, cut desired amount of tortillas into strips (I used 3 for 2 bowls of soup), toss with a bit of olive oil (enough to coat very lightly), season with salt and chili powder, then spread on baking sheet and cook until crisp - turning once.
Cook your rice however you want to cook it (boxed rices comes with their own instructions, I don't need to put them here)
Cook garlic in a large soup pot with some olive oil until fragrant (a few minutes)
Add diced tomatoes in juice, tomato paste and chili powder (however much you want) and cook until liquid is almost gone.
Add all chicken broth.
Bring to a boil, salt and pepper to taste.
Meanwhile, DON'T FORGET ABOUT YOUR TORTILLA STRIPS (burning them is sad)

Place a scoop of rice in each bowl
top with some shredded chicken
top with a sprinkle of shredded cheese
slice avocado and set on top of the cheese
pour some of the soup into the bowl
top with cilantro and tortilla strips
then squeeze the heck out of a lime wedge over the top of the soup (you'll thank me later)

don't throw away the squeezed lime... put that bad boy down in some water, or tea, and pretend you're in Mexico. Better yet, make a margarita and dream of beach side restaurants in Cozumel. I did.

Serves 4 - don't be a pig, save the leftovers for lunch, unless you're starving. In that case, go ahead and be a pig.

Enjoy!

In a pickle

While browsing through some of my favorite culinary blogs last week, I happened upon a blog post about pickled okra over at Homesick Texan. People who know my fridge well know that I have at least an entire shelf dedicated to all things pickled. I have relishes, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, garlic cloves, green tomatos, baby corn, green beans, and so on... and on... and on. Pickled items grab my attention in the grocery store, at the farmers market and especially at the fall craft fairs. You'd think, for as much as I love those salty, sour treats, that I would have tried my hand at pickling before.

You'd think that...

But I haven't.

Since okra has always been one of my favorite pickled veggies, this blog post just stuck out to me. I thought about it for a few days. I obsessed over the bite of the Serrano pepper, the aftertaste of the garlic, the sour of the vinegar, the aroma of the dill, and the crispness of the okra. It stayed with me, taunting me every time I opened the fridge only to be disapointed that these okra were not sitting on the shelf. I had to solve this, I had to pickle some okra and I had to do it this weekend.

A quick trip to the farmers market provided the okra and the dill and another not so quick trip to the mega center down the street provided the garlic and the Serrano peppers. I was all set. Pickled okras were made and now I must wait for a day to taste them.

This will be the longest day of my life.

Lunch and other things

This was lunch today. I had some leftover fried plantains and black bean salsa so I decided to attempt some nachos (similar to what I used to get at Bahama Breeze in Austin - they aren't there anymore). The taste was okay, but they were a bit dry. I'll have to try it again sometime - they did look lovely though... didn't they? The plantains were fabulous with some cilantro sauce last night. Yummmm - at least all was not lost.

I leave for Austin at the end of this week. I can't even begin to express in words how badly I need this small vacation. Life has been so hectic around here since September and I need these few days to just relax and not think about too many things. I will be sad to leave my Etsy shop (is that weird?). I will make sure to do a good fiber update over at Woolyhands and a good jewelry updated over at Idyllhands before I leave.

Ah - the casserole is finished, I'm out of here for dinner.

Comfort

Comfort can be a lot of things to a lot of different people. Right now, to me, comfort is knowing that my mom is getting better. Cancer is a long, ugly road, but for now, she's doing well and she's getting stronger. I find a lot of comfort in that.

For the first 7 weeks of this brain cancer ordeal, I found myself eating out a lot. I was constantly exhausted just from thinking about it. It's done the number on my health and energy. This week I decided to change that. I've cooked at home almost every evening since my return from Little Rock. I love cooking, I'm pretty sure I've said that a few times, but for some reason, I had let it go away from me for all of September and most of October. It's back now and with cooking at home I hope comes better health, better nights of sleep, less yawns during the day at work, and better cognitive reasoning (for those who have known me for the past couple of months, you know I've been left staring at you like a deer in the headlights when you ask me something that requires thought).

Tonight I cooked beans... okay, I started them this morning... and cornbread. Yum, comfort food for a comfortable week.

I also made a lot of new items for the upcoming holiday trunk show this week. It's amazing how I've had time to do these things for weeks but thought I didn't have time at all. What a change the surgery in Little Rock has made.

Pasta

Lunchtime is usually (if I'm good and thinking ahead) when I plan dinner for that evening. Lunch time is a good time to pull something out of the freezer, if necessary, or run to the store, if desperate. Since moving into the new place, our goal is to eat at home as much as possible.

Eating at home is often much tastier than going out. I love to cook and create new things and often get cranky because I'm not cooking more. I'm constantly glued to Food Network via the tv and the internet. I have shelves full of cookbooks and magazines full of recipes.

Today, at lunch, I was craving the Ravioli di Portabello from Olive Garden. Seeing as how we're void of going out money until payday (a week and a half away), I would have to create this dish at home... and with stuff I had. Thankfully, I had some baby bella mushrooms left over from this weekend, pasta (always on hand), a jar of Alfredo (not sure where that came from) and some chicken tenders I cooked up last Friday because they were going to go bad otherwise.

The mushrooms got sauteed with some onions and garlic from the farmers market. A few secret ingredients (i.e - whatever seasonings you like - I chose Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and a bit of nutmeg) were then added. Then I added the chicken in to heat it up. The Alfredo sauce went in next, then cooked pasta (I used rigatoni). After I mixed it up quite nicely, I poured it into a casserole dish, topped it with a mixture of mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses and fresh, diced tomatoes. Into the oven it went to melt and brown and boy was it delicious.

Fattening, yes, tasty, YES.

To Do List

parsley found in my garden last week - it blooms!

I sat down tonight to package up some bracelets to ship out and started to work on some earrings. That's when it happened, I sat there for about 3 minutes just starting at my crafting table. I didn't want to make anything tonight - not a single thing. I decided to walk away and come browse the internet for the next great thing. I'm sure I'll regret that decision this weekend when I find myself face to face with the following "to do" list (you'd think that's all I do on the weekends, finish lists):

1. Print necklace cards
2. Print earring cards (perhaps design and then print, but I have high hopes of designing them tomorrow)
3. Make a few more bracelets in silver tones - I have a plethora of copper ones ready to go
4. Make a few more necklaces
5. Put hinges on the shutters for my jewelry display at the shop
6. Cook in my mom's newly remodeled kitchen
7. Sleep in
8. Go look at knobs for my mom's newly remodeled kitchen
9. Read the rest of Craft Inc.
10. Oh, make some earrings.

It might sound like a lot but I think I can do a lot of that on Friday night and have the rest of the weekend for some free time (like the cooking and sleeping bit).

Tomorrow I'm heading to an American Red Cross luncheon because I seem to think I have a lot of free time that needs to be filled with volunteering. Huh, I wonder where I got that idea?