Hearty Chicken Soup

Good Monday Morning! :)

I thought, since many of us are in this ice/snow belt, chicken soup would be a great thing to share today. :)

This recipe for Hearty Chicken Soup is from Recipe.com.

Now, I will tell you right away that I more used the METHOD than the direct recipe, because I didn't HAVE everything the recipe called for. :D For instance, my chicken thighs were boneless, so the stock wasn't as good for us as it could have been. <sigh> I made this for Kenn when he first started coming down with this respiratory stuff, and we all know chicken soup is good for the soul, healthy or ill though the person may be, correct? :D

With that said, this was good soup. I tend to not like soups too much, because they're SO liquidy. :D I'd rather have a stew or a chowder any day of the week! (Or something with lots of cheese in it... :D ) But I think it was a comfort to Kenn, and it said, "I love you" to him, and we ate it for dinner. :D I'm saving it in my "Good Recipes to Have" folder.

OK, everyone! Stay safe and warm, and enjoy your day! :) Be BLESSED!

Crossover: Hostess Appreciation Luncheon, part ONE

Welcome to Wednesday! :D For today and Friday, I'd like to share with you a few recipes I made for my annual Stampin' Up!'s Hostess Appreciation Luncheon; it's a crossover post because I'll be linking you to my Stampin' Up! page and vice versa, so you can see what our projects were, too. :)

We went Mexican Fiesta this year. :) I'll post the main dish and salsa today, and the two sides I'll share on Friday.

These are Simply Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas from Food.com.

Of course I didn't do it quite like the recipe! :D I poached the chicken in water, onion, cumin, salt, and pepper. Then I shredded it, saute'd the onions and added it to my shredded chicken, and proceeded from there.

The sauce was really easy and yummy; my mom "snacked" on the leftovers for a couple days. :D These were simple to make, not overly spicy, baked well, and were pretty impressive. :D

Now, then. On to the salsa!

Honestly? I'm a little leery of salsa recipes. I LOVE pico de gallo, but it's SO labor-intensive!!! I decided to try this, however, and I'm SO glad I did! :D

Everyone LOVED this salsa from Curved Promises on tumblr.


It REALLY doesn't get much simpler than this! However, the longer it sat, the hotter it became - which is unusual, because it didn't have anything hotter than green chilies in it! But it was good on ANYTHING one desired to put it on. :D

OK, that's all for today! If you'd like to see the table setting, invitation, and table favor, please visit me at Lori's Stamping Spot and look for today's post. :)

Have a wonderful day, friends! Be BLESSED!

Asian-Style Cobb Salad

Hi! Did you have a good weekend? How's your June going? Mine's fast and furious! Goodness! :)

We decided to do these one night because we'd been SUPER busy, and I had all the ingredients on-hand. We like layered salads - where anyone can put whatever they want more of into their serving. This is mine!

The recipe comes from D*mn Delicious.

(I just don't get the idea of putting curse words into the name of your blog. Just me, but...!!!)

We liked it. We liked the fact it was easy, that things are on-hand for it. The dressing was nice and light, and I appreciated that. I'm keeping it in the "Good recipes to have", because I like the elements. We didn't LOVE it - it wasn't a demand performances - but it also wasn't a DON'T MAKE THIS EVER AGAIN. :D

OK, I'm outta here! Have a wonderful day, dear friend. BE BLESSED!

Mexican Rainbow Salad

Happy FRIDAY! :) Got big plans for the weekend? Whirlwind. That's what life is - how can it be he last Friday of February 2014 already?!?!

SO. This is a Mexican Rainbow Salad from What2Cook.

There IS lettuce underneath all those toppings. :) This was a huge hit with our family; we have such different dietary needs and tastes! With this salad, though, we could choose which rainbow stripes we wanted more or less of. Kenn's a HUGE salad fan, period - he loves anything that tastes fresh. :) And he loves corn. :D The dressing is good, too - we left it on the side, because none of us are huge dressing lovers. I highly recommend this salad - leftovers are easy to get rid of, too! (Make fajitas! Eat more salad! :D )

OK, I'm outta here. Have a WONDERFUL weekend! Be blessed - and thank you for reading my blog. :)

Chicken & Avocado Enchiladas

Welcome to another Monday. :D Did you have a good weekend? Did you try anything new?

I'll get to today's share quickly; with the open house less than three weeks away, time is PRECIOUS, people!! :D It's for Chicken & Avocado Enchiladas from Gimme Some Oven.

First, let me say that I find the name a little misleading. The avocados are in the SAUCE; even though there's a bit of sauce in the enchiladas, I think these are more chicken and pepper enchiladas with avocado and cilantro sauce.

With that being said, these got a YES, PLEASE! from Kenn and me. My mom despises cilantro, so she didn't like them at all. I was happily surprised at how little HEAT the peppers brought, and how much flavor. If you like heat, keep some of the ribs and seeds from the jalapenos in. Not for US, however. :D

I cooked the chicken the day before; when I poach chicken, I always try to give it extra flavor. I used dried minced onion, a bit of onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. It gave it a nice flavor without being too cumin-y. :D The recipe made a LOT of sauce. I doubled the whole recipe, because I took some to a friend's family who just had a baby. I gave them a jar of sauce AND had two more jars. I've got a full jar in my fridge; what to do with it?!? :D

OK, I'm outta here! Have a WONDERFUL day!!!! Be BLESSED!!!

White Chicken Enchilada Casserole

HAPPY FRIDAY! Welcome to the end of August! Can you believe it?!? We're almost to September, the start of fall, the beginning of the snowball's roll to the end of the year! Time to start working on my Christmas open house... :D

But that's beside the point. :D

Today's review is for White Chicken Enchilada Casserole, from Six Sisters' Stuff.

(Hmmm. I can't decide how big to make the picture. This is probably too big, but the other way was too small!)

Anyway. (Can you tell I'm getting easily distracted today? :D ) This casserole got a YES, PLEASE! from everyone in my family - not an easy task for a recipe. Although I would have liked a little more kick - I thought about only using one of the two cans of green chiles, but I'm glad I didn't!

The filling was creamy, the chips on the bottom were crunchy, and the cheese was gooey. :D It turned out to be really pretty, too, I think. Wish I'd had some guacamole in the house... :D It was really easy to put together, and would make a really simple company dish, too.  Thinking about it, I don't know why you couldn't make up this casserole, perhaps without the cheese, and freeze it; your chips might get a little soggy, but I actually liked it better when that happened with the leftovers - its texture was more like an enchilada, rather than chips and dip. :D

OK, I'm outta here. Kenn and I are going to REST this weekend. I'm really looking forward to it! :) Have a wonderful weekend! Be BLESSED!

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

Good Wednesday Evening! :) I'm so glad you haven't given up on me. :) I'm sorry things are a little flaky right now; we're really strapped for cash, so what I'm making for dinner is cheap and not very exciting. :/ This, however, was not only relatively inexpensive, but easy. :D

This is Chicken Pot Pie Soup from SkinnyTaste.

Let's see. After looking at it, there are only two things I did to modify the recipe. First, instead of using the water it calls for, I used the stock from poaching the chicken breasts. It gave just a bit more flavor. Second, we just used regular sliced white mushrooms instead of portabellas - they were cheaper and easier to come by.

And this got a YES, PLEASE! from everyone who ate it! (I had to find SOMETHING to serve with some more of those yummy garlic cheese biscuits! :D ) The soup had a great flavor, was hearty and filling but not heavy - if that makes any sense. :D We'll definitely do this one again!

OK. It's late here, and even later at home :D, but I wanted to get something up! Let me know if you try this! Also, I've heard from ONE of my Biscoff recipients - did you other two get yours?!?!? I sent them before I left in MARCH!!

Have a wonderful day! Be BLESSED!!!!!

Copycat Recipe: Olive Garden's Chicken & Gnocchi Soup

It's FRIDAY!!!! How's your week been? Do you have big plans for your weekend? If you're in middle Tennessee, come to Lamplighter's Theater Company and see LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC. You'll be out in an hour and a half, and it's a really sweet story - bring your sweetheart!

Anyway! This is a recipe for Olive Garden's Chicken & Gnocchi Soup from one of my favorite blogs, Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice. :D And I'll tell you now, it's a DEFINITE yes, PLEASE! for my whole family!!

I used organic, free-range chicken stock from Trader Joe's; I bought some around Christmas, and Kenn used it in his chicken soup when he had a horrendous toothache. I was impressed with how rich it was, so I bought four more quarts - and we used them all within 10 days. :D So there's an extra review for free! :D

This is a wonderfully healthy soup, really; with all the garlic and spinach, it's really good with vitamins. I didn't use half-and-half, because I didn't have any. :D I used 1% milk with a scant 1/2 cup heavy cream. But it was just wonderful; the longer it cooks, the thicker the broth gets. I used Cornish game hen meat we had in the freezer; cooking it again in the soup made it so tender. YUM. It's cool in this room while I'm writing this review, and it's making me wish I had a big bowl of it right here with me. :D The next time I make this, I'm going to do copycat bread sticks, too. Ooooooh......
:D

OK, I'm outta here. SO much to do this weekend!!! Don't forget to leave a comment to win on this blog post!!! (Read it for details!)

BE BLESSED!!!

Copycat: Cafe Rio's Chicken Tortilla Soup

It's FRIDAY! :) Are you ready for some weekend?!?!? :)

Today's recipe is for a copycat of a place I've never heard of, Cafe Rio. If you have one near you, what do you think of their food? Anyway. :D The website that brings you this recipe is the same as Wednesday's, Favorite Family Recipes - because that pico de gallo I reviewed Wednesday is in this soup!

This is one of the meals I made while my parents were visiting my sister. I don't think they'd like it much, but I may be wrong. Maybe it's just Dad who wouldn't like it. :D Because we did! It gets a YES, PLEASE! - except the leftovers, not so much.

This is an assembled soup, which made it nice because I could do prep work the day before - like making the pico, baking the chicken and freezing what I didn't want to use for another meal. And it's a healthy soup - lots of fresh vegetables, not too high in sodium, chicken.... It's pretty, too! :)

When I reheated the chicken to put into the soup bowls, I ladled in some broth - with all the spices, etc., in the broth, it gave the seasoning to the chicken I wanted. I added a little cumin to the chicken, too, but couldn't find any cayenne pepper in the grocery the day I went. That was the strangest thing...! And I didn't use any taco seasoning; Kenn doesn't like it, and I didn't want to buy a package that we weren't going to use all of it, anyway. :)

The tortilla strips absolutely made this soup. Well, for ME, anyway. :D I've never made them fresh before, and oooooooh, were they good just out of the oil and salted. :D I stored them in a paper bag, so it would absorb the extra oil and they would stay crispy.

This will probably be a soup I make when we have people over on the beach; I can get almost everything ready the day before, and keep the broth and beans in a crock pot while we're doing things on the beach. :) It's Kenn's idea of what food should be: fresh and flavorful.

And I'll make extra tortilla strips next time. ;)

OK, I'm outta here. Have a WONDERFUL day! Enjoy your weekend - and let me know if you try anything new!!

Gingered Chicken Thighs

It's FRIDAY!!!! Have you had a good week? Got fun plans for this weekend? If you're in the Middle Tennessee area, come see me tomorrow night; I'm working at Lebanon's Cedar Grove Cemetery Walk!

Anyway. :) Today's recipe is another Taste of Home, for Gingered Chicken Thighs.

I have to tell you: it took me a LONG time to decide this one got a NO, THANK YOU from us. It wasn't BAD, but neither of us wanted to eat the leftovers. :)

Now, I will admit that I used lemon juice instead of orange juice, but that's not what did it for us, I don't think. The flavors were super strong, but good - at first. It just didn't sit right, and when smelling the leftovers, it was totally overwhelming. (Of course, I'm not feeling tiptop right now, anyway.... :D)

Do let me know if it intrigues you enough to try it! I'd love to know what you think. :)

OK, I'm outta here. Have a WONDERFUL weekend! BE BLESSED!!!

Lemon Chicken

Good morning! How is your week going? I hope well. I know each day has its own ups and downs - I'm concentrating on the UPS today. :D

So, today's recipe comes from Annie's Eats, for Lemon Chicken.

Now, I have to admit: I love the way some herbs smell, but I haven't discovered a way that I really like eating them very often. For that reason alone, I'm giving this a YES, PLEASE! It allowed me to use some of the beautiful herbs Dad grows, and we all loved the result!

I think the biggest reason is that it doesn't over-do the herbs. And because they're in the marinade, not just on the chicken.

This is a really lemony dish. We love lemon around here; this savory application really was enjoyed by everyone, which is a little unusual. :D

I served this with basmati rice (one of my FAVORITE rices!!), which I cooked with lemon zest. When it was fully cooked, I added more lemon zest and some basil. That right there's worth the price of admission! :D With a tomato, basil, and mozzarella salad, it was a delightful meal.

I hope you'll try this! It didn't take long to put together the marinade at all. The reason my photo looks so different is that we didn't use chicken with skin. We don't do that around here much. ;) But you can see that the legs, which did have skin, did brown beautifully like the original photo. I enjoyed doing the platter presentation! I do love the smell of rosemary. :D

OK, I'm outta here! Have a BLESSED day, my friend! And let me know when you try something new!!!

"Rotisserie" Chicken Revisited

Good morning! :) I hope you had a great weekend. Did you try anything NEW???? :D

I wanted to fill you in on that chicken that I gave a NO, THANKS to when I did it in the crockpot. We tried it a different way. We cooked it over a bundt pan in a conventional oven, with root veggies in it.

I'm glad to report that it was MUCH better, very juicy and still tender. The dry rub's got a really great flavor, and I think it helps the chicken stay moist. I would recommend it now, with a YES, PLEASE! :)

OK, I'm outta here. I'm making a recipe to review for Wednesday! Stay tuned! And have a BLESSED day!

Chicken Pad Thai

Good Monday Morning! Did you have a good weekend? Did you try anything new?

We didn't have a very good weekend. Please pray for my family as we walk through a devastating loss together. Thank you!

I *love* good pad Thai. It's so yummy - and Thai cooking is based on four things: sweet, savory, spicy, and salty. Of course, they are arranged in varying degrees in various dishes - and I am not over-the-top about ANY spice! :D (Well, if you consider cinnamon a spice, then I'm guilty, but....)

This recipe comes to us from none other than the Betty Crocker website!

Let's see. Did I tweak it much?

Silly me for even asking. LOL! I used noodles that are made from soy, so they're VERY low carb. They're also VERY expensive, so I don't get to eat them a LOT. I don't like scallions or bean sprouts, so I used  some carrot, a little mushroom, and a little celery. The sauce, I think I used too much lime juice - I used bottled, and just poured some in. :D I also used Splenda instead of sugar - I mean, I'm using those expensive noodles, I have to make the carb count actually COUNT! :D

I'm giving this a YES, PLEASE, although I like my sauce a little thicker than this was; next time, I may use a little slurry of arrowroot powder and water to thicken it a bit and make it stick to the noodles better. And I'm going to increase the red pepper flakes just a tiny bit, and perhaps add some Thai sweet chili sauce. :D (That's part of the fun in cooking for yourself! You can make it taste the way YOU want!!!)

OK, I'm outta here. Looks like I need to do some cooking to have something to talk about the rest of the week. :)

Be BLESSED. And tell your loved ones how much you love them. Life is too short.

Thai Noodles with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Good Friday Morning!

Have you had a good week? I really hope so. :) It's been busy as usual around here; I've enjoyed having part of my family here. And it's only a month until my baby sister's firstborn is due! I can't WAIT! :)

Anyway. Today's recipe is brought to you by Food.com.

Let's see. Tweaks. :D I stir-fried some chicken to go in. I used fresh stir fry veggies instead of frozen, and that had broccoli, snow peas, and crinkle-sliced carrots in it. I still added the grated carrot as well. And we added a sprinkle of fresh cilantro on top.

I used Dreamfields pasta for the linguine. It's treated so that one cup has five usable carbs, so that lowers the carb count to something I can eat. :D

These noodles got a YES, PLEASE! from everyone here. They weren't very spicy at all, so don't let the name stop you from eating them. I would actually up the heat index the next time I make them, with a little more Thai chili sauce or even a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes. I like heat with peanut sauce! :)

Do you have plans to try something new this weekend? I hope so - and that you'll share with me what you made! :) Heck, these were easy - you could do this one! :)

Have a wonderful weekend! Be BLESSED!

Chicken Enchiladas

 It's FRIDAY!!!! Got anything huge planned for the weekend? I'm going to tell you right now, this is a YES, PLEASE! recipe - you should take the time to make them this weekend. :D

These come from Pearls, Handcuffs, & Happiness. (Yeah, I know, but her recipes are fantastic!!!!! :D )

My tweaks: I needed more than the can of enchilada sauce listed - like maybe 4 ounces. I used low-carb tortillas that are made by Mission. (They cost an arm and a leg, but they're fantastic for when you NEED a tortilla!) I used brown rice, to increase the complex-carb count. And, finally, I used a Mexican cheese blend - it has the two cheeses in the recipe plus two more. :D And I LOVE cheese. :D

This recipe made TWO PANS of enchiladas. And ohhhh, were they good. They were moist, and steamy, and filling. We ate one pan, and froze the other. I'm SO glad to know they're in there, waiting for a night when we need something that will prep fast. They DO take a bit of time for assembly, but don't let that put you off. You seriously NEED to make these enchiladas. :D

Have a WONDERFUL weekend! Let me know if you DO try something new, or if you put these together. Be blessed!

Papa Murphy's Pizza!

Hi, y'all! I'm setting up all of the reviews ahead of time; yesterday was my birthday, and I'm being whisked away by my husband. :D So! I've got a bunch of stuff set back, but I need to keep SOMETHING in reserve! :D

Today, I bring you a review of Papa Murphy's Pizza!

Before we got married, I had never heard of PMP. There weren't any in the areas in which I'd lived - but when we moved to Florence, Oregon, we lived right next door to one!

What makes them unique is that they bake nothing in-house. They make pizzas (and now cookies, and breads, and salads!) that you take home and bake. You get fresh, hot pizza in a fraction of the time it would take you to put everything together yourself, on FRESH crust.

Can you tell this gets a YES, PLEASE! from me?!? :D If you go to the website, you can also print coupons - this large pizza (if you click this link, it will take you right to the description!) was only $8.

Talk about a happy camper. :D Fresh veggies, melted cheese, and a super-thin crust, so I don't have to worry *too* much about the carbs. I LOVE pizza, but Kenn's not much of a fan. However, he really like this one - it was his idea to get it! :D

Maybe someday PMP will want me to review another kind, so I'll get to do so. ;D In the meantime, I'm quite happy with this. (The pizza in the picture on their site looks like it's got a lot more toppings than this one....)

Dang, now I want a piece! :D Let me know if there are Papa Murphy's around you - and if you have a favorite kind, what it is!

Have a BLESSED day! Go try something new! :D

Make-Your-Own Rotisserie Chicken

Hello, one and all - or all of one, if that's all who's here! :D I hope you're enjoying my blog; I am really enjoying doing it. I love to try things out! :D

Today's recipe I'm reviewing is from Busy-Mommy.com, and it's on how to make your own chicken that tastes like a store-bought rotisserie chicken.

I love rotisserie chicken; it's versatile and easy to use, tender and juicy. HOWEVER. This recipe makes it in your crock pot.

I'm a huge fan of the IDEA of cooking meals in a crock pot; what could be better than sticking ingredients in in the morning, and having dinner ready later?

In practice, however, I have to tell you: I think the crock pot dries meat out. It LOOKS wonderful, and if tenderness is your game, it wins, hands-down. But JUICY? Nope. Not in my experience.

So, as it stands, I have to give this recipe a NO, THANK YOU. The flavor was great, so I think I'll try it in the OVEN next time, and I think that will change the whole thing for me. But even in my second-day meal, which is sauced with olive oil, the chicken was dry. I'll let you know when I do it in the oven!

OK, I'm outta here! :D Have a WONDERFUL, BLESSED day - and let me know if you've had the same experience with your crock pot, or if I'm doing something wrong. :D