Soup On The Spot (And Menu-Monday-On-Tuesday)

Well we've sure had our share of rainy, cold weather lately. From looking at the radar, it seems like many of us have! Here are the kids on our annual trip to the State Fair of Texas in front of Big Tex. You can see the gray skies behind him, but the rain held off for a cool, crisp afternoon and evening of fun at the fair last week! In true form, I ate all of the disgustingly awesome fried food I could handle. I. Love. It. This is one time per year that I own up to my fried-food-loving tendencies, and give in to them. Filed in the "Oh Yes I Did" file this year: fried Snickers, fried Oreos, and (OHYESIDID)- Deep Fried Butter. It was actually like a really buttery biscuit ball. Oh, yummo. Add that to the funnel cake our family shared and the tamales I didn't share with anyone, and it was a veritable smorgasbord-orgasbord-orgasbord of gastrointestinal fun.

So, now you may not ever want to read my menus or try one of my recipes again. Ever.

But in case you still do, here's a soup I made up on Sunday! I know this may not earth-shattering to anyone but me but I've never started with just a boiling pot of water and just added ingredients before. It was lots of fun, and turned out yummy! Now that I'm feeling all chef-ish and creative, I thought I'd share! I'll even come up with a fun name:

Cyndi's Sunday Soup on the Spot

Ingredients:
chicken (whatever's left in the bag of frozen chicken... 1-3 breasts or 5 tenderloins)
1 cup (ish) frozen corn
1 15 oz. can red beans (drained)
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes (no salt added)
2 tsp. powdered taco seasoning
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. minced onion
2 tsp. parsley flakes

(In the interest of full disclosure I must admit that I just added the measurments above. I was just shaking, sprinkling and stirring, so I'm not sure how much of anything I really used. Except the cans.)

Boil chicken in a medium-sized pot. Once the chicken is cooked through, remove and shred. Add tomatoes, beans and corn and minced onions to chicken stock and stir until corn is cooked. Sprinkle in onion, garlic and parsley. Add shredded chicken back to soup and stir until warmed. Serve with crunched up tortilla chips and maybe a dollup of low-fat sour cream.



And now for Monday Menu: Tuesday Edition (which seems to be my new thing, LOL)

Monday: Hawaiian Meatballs, brown rice, stir fry
Tuesday: Out
Wednesday: Ethiopian night! Ye'Doro Wet (spicy chicken), Gommen (spicy collard greens)
Thursday: Baked Spaghetti Pie, green beans, garlic bread
Friday: Black Eye & Vegetable Chili (from Fix It and Forget It), cornbread

For more menus and some GREAT organization tips, visit Laura at orgjunkie.com. Have a yummy week!

Menu Monday

Happy Monday! I hope you had a great weekend. We did. Our first one without basketball games in awhile, a break from Saturday sports until soccer starts. We enjoyed leisurely mornings both Saturday and Sunday (we attend church on Saturday nights) so we had big breakfasts both mornings... biscuits and gravy Saturday morning and pancakes on Sunday. What a treat! (Not sure why I shared that, but this is a food-related post and that was fresh on my mind.) This weekend I added 2 TBS of sugar and a tsp of vanilla to the pancake batter and it made them *so* good. Served with homemade syrup, they were very "yahmmy" as our newest son would say.

I have been taking a break from blogging as much in recent weeks, but not taking a break from menu planning! It's one thing that helps keep me sane! And the new "MPM" graphic at the top reminds me of the Grocery Gadget application I got for my phone. I am a list girl, so this app has been helpful. I'm still figuring it out, though, so if you use it and have any tips, please share!

One thing we had in the past couple of weeks was this Honey Dijon Pork Chops recipe that everyone really liked. Another was an impromptu combination of this Baked Pesto Chicken recipe and this recipe for a simple bruschetta. Dinner was running later than usual one evening last week, so I toasted some bread and made the bruschetta for an appetizer. In the pesto chicken recipe, I substituted bruschetta for the chopped tomatoes. The result was really good! So, it turned into "Baked Pesto Bruschetta Chicken." I halved the chicken breasts and baked them at 400 degrees on foil on a baking sheet, and they were done and perfect in 25 minutes. I think I will always bake chicken that way.
I served it with some pasta with tomato alfredo sauce, peas, caesar salad, and the toasted batard bread we had with the bruschetta. It turned out to be one of everyone's favorite dinners last week. I love it when recipes come together that way! And so easy!

We have a fundraiser at a local hamburger place for my daughter's upcoming mission trip to Mexico, so we have one night out. I've been keeping up my weekly menu planning routine of cooking Monday through Wednesday, leftovers on Thursday, then an easy homemade soup on Friday. Front-loading the week this way really helps me. This way we have left-overs for a YOYO ("You're On Your Own") night and then I don't cook dinners on the weekends (except Ethiopian spicy pasta on Sunday nights!) We go out at least once every weekend after church and the rest of the time we have soup and leftovers.

Here's our week in food:

Monday~ EZ Chicken (Cooking with 4 Ingredients cookbook), rice, stir-fry
Tuesday~ chicken fried steak (Judge me if you must... I haven't made these in just forever, one of my sweet husband's favorites!), mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots, peas
Wednesday~ out
Thursday~ leftovers
Friday~ baked potato soup, salad, garlic bread

For more recipes and some great menu links, visit Laura at Orgjunkie. Have a yummy week!

A Taste Of Home

It's hard to believe Minte has been home almost 6 months! During that time, he and I have enjoyed our Sunday evenings together. The rest of the family is at church at Awana, and since he has not started attending it yet, he and I stay home. If the weather is nice, we'll play in the backyard or take a walk, sometimes we watch a movie, play card games, or work puzzles. We love that time together, and it has been a treasured time for me because he really opens up and talks to me about how he feels about things, and also tells me stories about his life in Ethiopia. What a gift these Sunday evenings have been!

In the past few weeks, one of our favorite things to do is also cook together. I haven't yet gathered all of the necessary spices to cook many of the dishes from the Ethiopian cookbooks we have (linked at the end of this post) but he was so excited when he found out we had some bere bere spice (Ethiopian chili powder), because he knew how to make one of his favorite spicy pasta dishes. He had seen his Ethiopian mother make it before, and had had it many times in his life. He literally jumped up and down at the thought of having it here.

A couple of weeks ago I asked him if I could photograph him making it and share his recipe on the blog.

First, I have to show you the cute cannister I found for keeping our bere bere spice. He was so excited to see that it is out with the other cannisters, and he can use it any time he wants on pasta, eggs, etc. (It really is a staple!) He seemed genuinely pleased that it is now a permanent part of the "decor" in our kitchen.

I found this one and a bigger one just like it recently at a Ross discount store in our area. In case you can't see it, here's a closer picture, so you can see the African women on it:

When he saw the women with baskets on their heads he said, "Ees Ee-tiopia!" Love it.
Here's what bere bere looks like. Like I said, it is a chili powder and it is VERY spicy. I was able to take his "recipe" and measure it out, and it comes out very spicy, so you may want to tone it down. He laughs because his pasta makes Mommy sweat. LOL

Here's the recipe:

Minte's Favorite Spicy Ethiopian Pasta

2 medium tomatoes, diced
1/2 (half) a large white onion, chopped
2+ tablespoons canola oil
3 1/2 teaspoons (or less!) of bere bere spice
pasta of your choice (we usually use spaghetti)


Saute the onion in a bit of oil, then add the tomatoes. Saute together for a few minutes, until onions begin to look clear and tomatoes are soft.

Add 2 tablespoons of oil and bere bere, 1 teaspoon at a time (Minte likes up to 3 1/2 teaspoons of it. I cut him off there, but he says that's not "too spicy." You be the judge.)
The result is a sauce the consistency of a paste. Sometimes he adds a bit more oil.
He likes just a small amount on his pasta, then he stirs it all to make a thin coating on it. A little goes a long way!

Every Sunday evening I also love how it makes the house smell, and I wonder what memories that aroma might be bringing back to him. Judging from his smile, they must be good ones.
I keep the rest of the spaghetti noodles in a ziploc bag next to a small container of the bere bere sauce, and he eats it for lunch during the week, or whenever he wants/ needs a "taste of home."

Here are a few cookbooks I have found. Minte loves to look through them, and I hope to be cooking from them soon.

Exotic Ethiopian Cooking: Society, Culture, Hospitality & Traditions

Foods Of Ethiopia

Discovery of a Continent
The Recipe of Love

Cooking Together

One of the things summer means is... peaches! Yesterday, while his sister was at VBS, my son and I had some fun in the kitchen making a peach cobbler. I've always enjoyed cooking with my kids. I have such fun pictures of them, from toddlerhood, "helping" me in the kitchen. What that's turned into is... actual help! They have both become quite proficient in the kitchen. Now I find cooking together to be a great way to spend time with them while they are picking up some valuable "life skills," and we usually have some yummy results!

The recipe we used was a combination of this one and the one in my old faithful Better Homes and Gardens red plaid cookbook. We also used the crust recipe from the BH&G cookbook.




We started peeling, and I began in my usual way, with my paring knife. He grabbed the potato peeler and started in and it did a much better job without cutting away as much of the peach. Thanks for teaching me a new tip, son!


The BH&G recipe suggests cooking the peaches, which I wanted to do since ours weren't quite as ripe yet. We also added a bit of cinnamon as suggested in the first recipe.









Time to make the crust! You just can't be a southern cook if you haven't "cut in" some Crisco!

There's our bottom crust, carefully rolled out and placed in the bottom of about a 1 1/2 quart baking dish, ready for our cooked peaches.

I'm a pie crust person, so I wanted a top and bottom crust. (I found a recipe for a "triple crust peach cobbler" that I see in our future someday! Can't have enough crust!)

After he rolled it out, he was able to fold it over in two and then unfold it on top of the peaches. He tried his hand at "fluting" the edges. I think he did a great job!

And of course, one of my favorite snacks, pie crust strips! We did one pan plain, and one pan with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top. My grandmothers used to always make these with the leftover pie crust dough, so it tasted like childhood to me to snack on some baked pie crust. (Since you don't eat the pie or cobbler until after dinner... it makes the waiting easier!)

The final result. We had it after dinner with some Bluebell Homemade Vanilla ice cream. Everyone loved it. It tasted like summer ought to taste!

Works-for-me Wednesday: Chicken Spaghetti

It's "low fat recipe" day over at Shannon's for WFMW. I have to admit, I have never been a particularly "healthy" cook. I grew up in the kitchen with my mom and grandmothers, three of the best southern cooks I know. I can fry up anything and make gravy to go over it! In the past few years, however, my body's ability to, um, "hide" those extra calories has decreased while my knowledge of nutrition has increased, so I have been watching fat content a little more closely. Rather than going whole-hog (sorry) into "low fat cooking" or become completely crunchy, I have been putting some of my favorite recipes on a diet. I started buying low/non-fat cream cheese, soups, etc. to use in my favorite recipes, and all of them still taste great. For now, that's as "health conscious" as it's been around here (except for the kids being our "trans-fat watchdogs" since we read about how bad those are!)

Here is one of my family's favorite dishes that I have begun making with low-fat, low-sodium ingredients. I've also found it to be very potluck-popular at gatherings.

Chicken Spaghetti

4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 clove garlic (or 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic)
Celery (or celery salt)
Bell pepper
1 can low-fat/low-sodium cream of chicken soup
1 can low-fat/low-sodium cream of mushroom soup
1 can chopped rotel
1 sm. Jar of pimento
1 sm. pkg. spaghetti
Shredded cheese

Boil chicken, save the broth. Cut chicken into chunks. Using a small amount of broth, saute onions, garlic, celery, and bell pepper. Add soups, Rotel, and pimento. If too thick you may add more broth. Add chicken, salt and pepper.

Boil spaghetti. Mix spaghetti and sauce and pour into baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes. Once mixed together, this dish also does well in a crock pot set on low/warm.

Works-for-Me Wednesday

Tortilla Soup Recipe

I didn't take time to post a WFMW this morning, as I hit the ground running, but I had to jump in tonight and post what worked for me today: My friend Mary's Tortilla Soup recipe I found on her website, where she's also listed other of her yummy recipes. (The bolded words in this post are "clickable.")

Thanks, Mary! A perfect dinner for a cold-ish January night with rain-on-the-way. My family loved it!

For more great ideas from other great cooks and all-around smart moms, visit Rocks In My Dryer.

Happy Wednesday (night)!

Works-for-me Wednesday

Homemade Syrup

Homemade syrup is a treat I remember from having pancakes and waffles at my grandparents' house growing up. It's super easy to make, and is really convenient because a small bottle of maple flavor lasts a really, really long time, so there are fewer "Oops-we're-out-of-syrup" mornings because we always have some on hand. I just use the recipe on the side of the box of maple:

"Dissolve 2 cups of white (or brown) sugar in 1 cup of water and boil 1 minute. Cool and add 1/2 tsp. maple."

I always just put the sugar in the saucepan with the water and let it dissolve as it heats up, and I add the maple while it it still warm. You may also add 1/4 tsp. vanilla to make it extra yummy.

It's a bit thinner than storebought syrup, but tastes so much better. (It does thicken slightly when stored. I store mine in the refrigerator and warm slightly in the microwave before serving.) I bought a syrup dispenser at Walmart and, voila! The perfect syrup, whether we're having quick, frozen waffles or Texas-sized pancakes.

For more tips, visit Rocks In My Dryer.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Southwestern Pumpkin Soup

We've got some fun friends who come over each year for Halloween. They will arrive this evening, the grown-ups will hang out and eat, taking turns answering the door, and the kids will enjoy running around together. At some point, the dads will go out, too, especially if the kids want to venture further beyond our immediate neighborhood. It's supposed to turn much cooler later, and I just made the perfect soup for us to enjoy tonight. (I found the recipe here.)

Southwestern Pumpkin Soup

3 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
1 cup whipping cream
1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
3 tablespoons (packed) dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup (packed) grated sharp cheddar cheese
Chopped fresh cilantro

Bring chicken stock and whipping cream to boil in heavy medium pot. Whisk in canned pumpkin, brown sugar, cumin, chili powder, coriander and nutmeg. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until soup thickens slightly and flavors blend, about 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Soup can be prepared up to 1 day ahead. Cool. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium-low heat, whisking occasionally.) Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish each serving with cheddar cheese and cilantro and serve.

Makes 4 (first-course) servings.

I'm serving it with fresh bread and salad. Doesn't it sound like a treat?