South of the Border

My favorite thing about the cold weather?  Soup!  That's right.  Its so easy to make, you can use many of the same ingredients with different flavor profiles and have a practically new meal each night.  And, you can feed your kids veggies without tears.  What really could be better, right?!

Today, I had a hinkering for some "south of the border" flavors, and with only frozen chicken, soup seemed to be the logical answer.  Into the crockpot went the following:

1 package of boneless,skinless chicken breasts, frozen

1 box chicken broth

1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles

1 can black beans

1/2 green bell pepper, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1 huge heaping tablespoon diced garlic

1 small onion, diced

1 carrot, sliced

1 Tbsp + 1 tsp dried cilantro

2 Tbsp lime juice

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp ground red pepper

When it was all done, I simply shredded the chicken with a fork and served, topped with a dollop of greek yogurt and avocado.  I think it was a bit lax on the spice, so next time, I'll up the cumin to a tablespoon.  

I did read a recipe where the cook added a can of enchilada sauce to soup.  That sounds good, too, but I was concerned about the spice level because of the kids.  Might be something to try down the road, though.

I also made homemade whole wheat tortillas to go with the soup.  Okay, I'm going to be honest, the kids loved the tortillas.  Me, however, I was not thrilled.  The recipe called for 

• 3 Cups whole wheat flour
• 1 Cup white flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cup warm water, plus 2 TBL
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 2 TBL Olive oil

Mix it all up and form a ball.  I let mine sit for quite some time before actually breaking it into 12 individual balls.  

Roll them out with a rolling pin, and cook on a griddle pan until light bubbles form on each side.  

Perhaps there are some foods that just should not be healthified. I think tortillas are one of them.  Or, maybe I just need a tortilla press to get them thinner.  They ended up taking a bit too long to cook because they were so thick.  We rolled them out quite thin, but as soon as they hit the heat, the proteins seemed to contract.  

After his soup, P put butter and strawberry jam on his tortillas.  I think the fat makes them tastier and more pliable.  I'll try to make tortillas again, but with a slightly less healthy recipe.

Happy Halloween 2011

This year was full of Halloween fun, and luckily the festivities were limited to just 2 days.  I say luckily because I'm not a huge fan of Halloween, as it just is such a headache.  What do I mean?  You have to dress your child up in a costume which they either cry about or it costs way more than you want to pay, and then they get tons of candy which means tons of sugar highs.  Geez.  Either way, the kids love it and its a part of our culture, so we will celebrate each year.

This year we celebrated with the MOMS club Halloween party, featuring Johnny Only. The girls had such a blast.

We also went to the Price Chopper Trick-or-Treat, which we absolutely love because its safe, fun and the kids get food, not just candy.  Great job, Price Chopper!

On Halloween, P took the day off of work to enjoy some quality family time.  First, we hit up J's school's trick-or-treat (around the block) and party.

Then, we we went to L's parade at school.

In the future, I will make sure to leave the house with plenty of time left.  When we pulled up, there was no parking and we had to virtually park near our house.  Of course, my accident prone child, C, fell on the way to the school, so I picked her up and ran with her.  It only stands to reason that I would end up falling as well, with her in my arms.  Luckily, I pulled my knees up so I wouldn't crush her.  Ouch!

The day ended with trick-or-treating around the block, and our customary stop at our neighbor's house. 

The kids had a blast and made a huge haul!  P and I consumed way too much candy over the next several  days.

Luckily, we had some yummy beef soup before we left the house.

In a crockpot, put all of the following ingredients on low for 6 hours:

1 pound of beef stew meat, seasoned with seasoning salt and Worcestershire pepper

2 carrots, sliced

2 ribs of celery, sliced

1 small onion, diced

1 tsp dried thyme

2 cans of beef broth

8 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced

2 bay leaves