Cilantro Chicken and Gratitude

Hello everyone!

So I have been bad about the Monday recipe plan, but I have also been a bit nuts with school. I have also not made many new and exciting recipes that were worth sharing. This recipe is certainly worth sharing! Technically, since I found it on Pinterest, it's already been shared. But here goes. (Credit http://www.pipandebby.com)

Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Chicken

24 oz jar medium salsa (Pace Chunky Medium)
Juice from one lime
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1.25 oz package taco seasoning ( low sodium)
2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

Mix together first 5 ingredients in crock pot. Add chicken and coat with mixture. Cook, covered, on low for 6 hours. Serve chicken with salsa mixture spooned over the top or shred and use as a taco filling.


***Changes***
I omitted the jalapenos and used chicken tenders instead of breast halves. I made some brown rice, and spooned the shredded chicken over the rice into flour tortillas. I shredded colby jack cheese on top.

Gratitude

I decided that for Lent, I would take on writing down something I'm grateful for every day. I'll try to blog them or Facebook them or something.
Today, I am grateful to my principal for letting me share what I learned at the Rice Ally training this weekend. It's a touchy subject but I hope I was able to help the way we teach tolerance for all kids, including GLBT youngin's (whether they know it yet or not).
I am also grateful for this weather, which has not been so terribly cold this winter. We have not had a hard freeze, and today I took a walk in the park and it was 86 degrees. I might be a little sunburned.

Since the above was written (Wednesday), I have the following things I've been grateful for:
Thursday-  The weather was gorgeous, so SexyLawyerMan and I went to the park again. I am slow but I am able to jog/walk two miles.
Friday- My transplant coordinator called to catch up on my case, and I was able to tell her that I'm still doing really well and that's why they have not heard from me in months.

Saturday-I have the luxury of staying in bed all day to read. I finished "The Hunger Games"in two sittings, one last night and one for about 7 hours today.

Lazy Dinners

Lazy Day!

So I'm in the "try not  to get burned-out" portion of the school year, between "refreshed from the break" and "testing season" and dinners have needed to be quick and easy. I made some quick recipes last week that turned out pretty good. And by recipes, I mean really basic ingredients that I could throw together quickly.

1. Bring home a rotisserie chicken and some asparagus. While you are shopping, call ahead and ask your husband to peel and chop some potatoes.
2. Boil the potatoes with salt, rosemary, and garlic. Drain and mash; mix with butter and a splash of milk.
3. Steam the asparagus and put out some balsamic vinegar and olive oil to drizzle on top.
4. Announce that dinner is ready and that people can carve off whatever part of the chicken they prefer.

That was Monday.

Random snack: Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, dried oregano on top of fresh tomatoes

Tuesday, I went running at the park. On the way home, I called Sexy Lawyer Man (who is now officially a lawyer having graduated from law school this weekend) and asked him to start #1 for me.

1. Cut the meat off of yesterday's chicken, grate some colby jack cheese, and chop some tomatoes.
2. Melt butter in a skillet. (1 Tablespoon-ish) Meanwhile, throw some fresh corn cobs into salted water and boil.
3. Warm a flour tortilla in the butter on both sides. Set aside.
4. Warm a second tortilla in the butter, flip, and top with cheese and chicken (and tomatoes if you like).
5. Put the second tortilla on top and flip. Keep switching back and forth on medium heat until cheese is melty. Cut into 4ths.

Serve warm. Put more butter on the corn if you are into that.  I took a picture once I was mostly done eating. It was really good.

Old School Fancy Pants Christmas Party 2011 (in 2012)

Back in 2007, I had been married about a year and realized that I would never get a chance to use my wedding china since we always did Thanksgiving and Christmas at our parents' houses. And I had been reading all these homemaking magazines and I decided that instead of missing out on my chance to have a grown-up Christmas feast of my own, I would need to make up an occasion. So the Old School Fancy Pants Christmas Party was born. I collaborated with some close friends and planned a menu. People came in the day before and helped me bake all manner of things. Every year since then, I have gathered a group of friends and shared a feast, and used all the china, crystal, and few silver pieces that I have. Fancy attire is mandatory, with hats and tiaras optional but encouraged. This year, December just kept getting more and more crowded, so we decided to push it back to January and call it a Fancy Pants Birthday Party/Christmas Party. I decorated with my blue and white things (mixed up because I can't seem to find more than 4 of anything that's not stained) and I think it turned out nice.

We had a crowd of 17, despite some last-minute cancellations, and I am very thankful to our future law firm colleagues who showed up early (with appetizers and ice!) after I called in a panic announcing that I wasn't going to finish in time. If I could do things over, I would have made a larger green bean casserole and more sweet potatoes but all in all I think it was OK.

Now, the menu!
Appetizers: Assorted cheeses and veggie tray, chips and salsa, fruit tray.
Dinner: Communish Chicken, Granby's Green Bean Casserole, NSFW Sweet Potato Casserole, and Cranberry Jell-o Salad.
Dessert: Best Ever Banana Pudding.
Beverages: Tea, champagne punch

Now, I don't think I will put all the recipes up this week, but I will share the Banana Pudding. My favorite memory of this pudding is when my two grandmas came to Texas for my high school graduation. To celebrate, we had a party at our house and the two of them (with very conflicting kitchen management techniques) collaborated on this pudding. I also took it to work one year for our Soul Food luncheon and a teacher asked me if I made it with Jell-0. Bitch, please.

Best Ever Banana Pudding
 Combine 2/3 c. sugar, 1/4 c. flour, and a dash of salt in a heavy sauce pan. In a separate bowl, whisk together 14 oz can of sweetened, condensed milk, 2 1/2 c. milk, and 4 egg yolks (save whites for later.) Add to dry ingredients. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until smooth and thickened. Stir in 2 tsp. vanilla.
Arrange Nilla Wafers in the bottom and sides of a 9 X 13 baking dish. Layer 6 sliced bananas on top. Pour custard over bananas and wafers.
Whip egg whites and 1/3 c. sugar with electric beaters until stiff peaks form and sugar dissolves. Fold in 1/2 t. banana extract and spread over pudding, sealing to edge.
 Bake at 325 for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm or chill. Yield 8-10 servings. (Or more... it's rich.)

Tortilla Soup

This has been a delightful, spring-like break from winter this week. Temperatures have crept back up into the 70's and more often than not, the sun has been out. This isn't usually what I think of as soup weather, but the February issue of "Everyday Food" had a section on variations on Chicken Soup, so I had to try this one. It was even the cover recipe.
I wanted to make something very special for SexyLawyerMan for our 11th dating anniversary (January 5) but it was my first day back to school with kids, and he was busily studying for the Bar Exam, so I decided that an easy, experimental soup was the plan. Lucky for us, this one was really, really good. It also kept beautifully and it served us lunch for a few days. It's pretty spicy. By that I mean I'd classify it as a "Pace Picante Sauce Medium" level. Spicy for me, but I'm a Spice Pansy.

 Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup
In a large pot, heat 3 t. vegetable oil. Saute 2 cloves minced garlic until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add 1 T. tomato paste, 1 c. diced tomatoes with liquid, and 4 t. chili powder. Stir and simmer until most of the liquid is gone. Add 10 c. chicken broth and bring to boil; season with salt and pepper to taste.
Place *shredded cooked chicken, avocado slices, cojita cheese, fresh cilantro, and sliced scallions in bowls. Pour the broth over other ingredients and top with baked tortilla strips and lime wedges.
***Substitutions: I used my own chicken broth. Some of it I already had frozen from previous recipes (my broth recipe is here) but the rest of it I made while I cooked the *3 chicken breast halves, fat removed, for this recipe. I just tossed some cilantro, onions, garlic, salt and pepper in while the chicken boiled. I strained it when I pulled the chicken out to shred and reserved the liquid to start the soup.
I used shredded Monterrey Jack cheese instead of cojita, store-bought tortilla strips instead of baking corn tortillas in the oven as the recipe suggests, and chives from my garden instead of scallions. I had some frozen cilantro (put chopped cilantro in an ice-cube tray, cover with water to fill compartments, and freeze; save in a Ziploc bag in freezer) that I tossed into the broth while it was cooking. It was fine for boiling, but I think that fresh cilantro would have been really good to garnish the soup at the end.
I stored the broth and the chicken and other toppings all separately in the fridge and combined to cook. Don't know if that matters.

Really, Mom?!

I used about 15 oz of Rotel tomatoes with chiles instead of plain diced tomatoes. Very good.
Nutrition Info: 330 cal, 14g fat, 32g protein, 19g carbs, 5g fiber. I'd say this one is "Kidney OK" but not "Friendly" (unless you are on a potassium restriction, in which it would be a NOooOOOoo Recipe). I ate less of the chicken to lower the protein and I didn't add much salt to the broth. (Store bought would have more sodium.) Cheese and tortilla strips can also be adjusted for salt. 

In other news, Berwyn got "fixed" this week. He's recovering nicely, but is not very excited about his Cone of Shame. We have proven to be over-protective parents now that we have both taken him to the vet (two days in a row) to have them check his stitches which we didn't feel were as even/normal/healed as they should be. The vet's office has been very nice and reassuring. However, cone it is. And I think I might be going to Hell after how much I laughed at his lack of success in navigating the house with the it. Poor Berwyn.

New Year's Jambalaya

Berwyn showing off his Christmas presents, a fluffy bed and Blue Dog

Well, it is the 2nd day of the new year and so far so good. I thought I'd share with you something that I'm eating today, since it is Recipe Monday and also it's a New Year's tradition.

First, the story. It was New Year's Day 2009. We had been partying for about 3 days in our small Austin apartment and had quite a few people still in town. I had planned to make Black Eyed Peas, our usual traditional dish for luck in the new year, but I was worried that my tiny can of peas would not feed everyone. So several of us ladies (myself and two good friends, both named Mrs. A but no relation) started digging through my pantry to see what we could add to the peas to make it go a little further. Here's what resulted.

Kick-Ass New Year's Jambalaya

Boil 3 cups rice with 1 T. butter in appropriate amount water (according to package). Toss in some cut-up beef jerky for flavor. Now add canned goods: Ro-Tel tomatoes, black eyed peas, & black beans. Add 1 chopped onion and about 3 cloves minced garlic. Season with Tony's or other Cajun seasoning as hot as you can stand. Reduce heat to med-low and simmer, covered, about 40 minutes or until rice is tender. Reheats well for a few days and serves a lot of people. Pretty good on a hangover.
*Not kidney friendly!

Now in other news, I have resolved to de-clutter. Yes, I should go to the gym more. Yes, I should eat less melted cheese. But I think my big, life changing resolution is going to be to get our stuff reduced as much as is reasonably possible before we move. This sounded like a great idea on New Year's Eve, but after a 4 hour car ride back to Waco, our house looked like a bomb went off and I was tired. Today I have graded papers and made my grocery run (back on that cleaning plan and on schedule so far), but we have Christmas gifts to find homes for and so much laundry! I am really itching to use my brand new Dyson vacuum (!) but I have got to put things away first. Baby steps.
Anyway, I found a neat little calendar online that has de-cluttering tasks for every day so that I can work gradually toward my goal instead of charging at it haphazardly and feeling inadequate until it's done. If I can follow this and my cleaning schedule at the same time, boy will I be a happy girl!

Christmas 2011

Road trip?!

This has been a very busy and satisfying Christmas season. We spent 10 days traveling around the Houston area visiting and partying. Santa was very good to me this year and I am very grateful for the thoughtfulness that people put into gift-giving. Most importantly, I got to celebrate Christ's birthday with many friends and family members. Even my Grandma, who spent Christmas in the hospital, was full of cheer.

Of course, the big deal in any Southern family gathering is the FOOD! I have a few recipe highlights from the various Christmas feasts.

From my parents: I got to participate most in the making of this feast, so I'm going to list the whole menu. We made a roast, carrots (steamed with salt, pepper, and nutmeg), green beans (blanched, then sauteed with onions and spices), mashed potatoes (butter, milk, & garlic), and to top it all off: the Brown Liquid Reduction. My brother named that, after wondering what "brown liquid" was bubbling on the stove. It is delicious on everything.

Roast and BLR (actually called Beef Tenderloin with Shallot Sauce)
This is a Southern Living recipe from the 2010 Ultimate Christmas Cookbook. The green beans also come from this book.

1 lb. shallots, peeled & halved lengthwise
2 T olive oil
3/4 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper

Toss shallots and 2 T. oil in bowl w/ salt &pepper. Set aside.

1 T. salt
1 1/2 t. each: onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, dried thyme
8 lb beef tenderloin, trimmed (yields 6 lbs meat) (we used a 5 pounder)
1/4 c evoo

Combine 1T salt + next 4 ingredients. Place tenderloin into a roasting pan and rub w/ 1/4 C. Oil. Sprinkle with seasoning rub, pressing in with fingers. Arrange shallots around meat. Bake uncovered at 500 for 25 minutes, then reduce temp to 375 and bake for 15-20 minutes until it reaches 160 degrees in center (cooked Medium.)

3 c. beef broth

1 c dry marsala wine

2 T. flour

3 T. water

3 T. butter

garnish of fresh thyme

Meanwhile, stir broth and marsala in large skillet. Bring to boil 8 min until reduced to 2 cups. Remove tenderloin to serving platter and cover with foil. Add broth reduction to pan and place over medium heat on cooktop, stirring to loosen bits. Whisk together flour & water until smooth and stir into sauce in roasting pan. Cook over medium heat 3 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Add butter, stirring until melted. Stir 1/4 t. pepper. Thinly slice tenderloin and serve with sauce.




Cranberry Salsa

This one comes from my Step-Mother-in-Law. It is very seasonal, since you need fresh cranberries, but it freezes well for at least a month. Just thaw in the fridge and serve. 

12 oz bag of fresh cranberries, rinsed

1/2 C. to 3/4 C. sugar, to taste

juice of 1/2 large lime
3/4 bundle cilantro, rinsed, large stems removed
1 T. olive oil

Toss it all into the food processor and grind until it is chopped evenly. This takes less than a minute. Refrigerate a few hours or overnight. Serve with tortilla chips.



Watergate Salad (From my Mother-in-Law)
This is one I can count on every year and I get to have lots of it because my husband doesn't like it. (Crazy.) I didn't get a picture, but it is pale green and light and fluffy and just absolutely dreamy.
Just mix together the first four ingredients, then fold in the Cool Whip and chill.

1 package instant pistachio pudding mix
1 C. mini marshmallows
1 small, flat can crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 C. chopped pecans (optional)
1 Large tub Cool Whip

Lazy Enchilada Soup and Cake Cookies

HEB now has these gourmet soups and the sample lady was really nice and they were on sale, so I had a big jar of Cheese Enchilada Soup on hand. I threw some chicken tenders in boiling water to cook for a few minutes, then dumped them out, dumped the soup in and heated. I tore up the chicken, threw it back in the soup, and voila! Soup! Topped with colby jack cheese, cilantro, and HEB tortilla strips, this was quite a success. Great weeknight lazy meal. (Or for when you intended to have chicken barley soup but find out that you didn't buy celery... which sometimes happens to me. Like this week.)

Speaking of lazy: I have a great recipe for cookies that I had heard of but not tried before. 

Cake Mix Cookies! 

1 box of white cake mix (Betty Crocker Party Rainbow Chip)

2 Eggs

1/2 cup canola oil

Mix these ingredients together and form into balls. Drop onto ungreased baking sheet (I used my Silpat mat) and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. 

I topped these with Rainbow Chip icing (not Funfetti... Rainbow Chip is vastly superior but not always available.) Oh My Goodness these are good! Dangerous but good.