Chicken Tortilla Soup

Tortilla Soup (from Stop and Smell the Rosemary)


6 tbs vegetable oil

8 corn tortillas, chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1 medium onion, chopped (I do this in the food processor)

1 28oz can diced tomatoes

2 tbs ground cumin

1 tbs chili powder

3 bay leaves

6 cups chicken stock (I buy low salt organic)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

4-6 cooked chicken breasts, shredded or cubed


Optional garnishes:



Shredded Monterey Jack cheese



cubed avocado



Sour Cream



2 corn tortillas, sliced and fried crisp (or a few tortilla chips)



Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add tortilla, garlic, cilantro and onion. Saute 2-3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes. Bring to a boil and add cumin, chili powder, bay leaves and chicken stock. Return to a boil. Reduce heat. Add salt and cayenne. Simmer 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and stir in the chicken. Reheat for a few minutes. Spoon into bowls and garnish with cheese, avocado, sour cream and/or tortilla chips.

Best Stir-Fry

Making this for dinner tonight. Subbing skirt steak for flank steak and marinating ahead of time.  Using Costco frozen stir-fry vegetable instead of snow peas.

Baked not Fried Pickles

Made these pickles with turkey burgers this week. Did not use as much parsley or chipotle powder because they would have been too spicy for the kids. Still want to play around with the seasonings but a healthy side to burgers. Would make again.

Penne Rosa with Shrimp or Chicken

Made this tonight but subbed rotisserie chicken for the shrimp. Everyone loved it.

Healthy-ish Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas

Ingredients
Whole Wheat Tortillas
Cooked Chicken Breast
Franks Red Hot Sauce
Shredded Mozzarella
Shredded Parmesan
Yogurt Ranch Dressing
Crumbled Blue Cheese
Avocado Slices

1.  Mix chicken and hot sauce to taste.
2.  Mix ranch dressing with blue cheese.
3.  Spread dressing lightly on whole wheat tortilla.
4.  Sprinkle both cheeses on one half of tortilla.
5.  Add chicken to same half of tortilla. Sprinkle some more cheese.
6.  Fold tortilla in half.
7.  Cook in skillet at medium heat. Pressing down on tortilla with a heavy skillet.
8.  Flip when browned.
9.  Add avocado slices.

100 days!

Last year, we celebrated our 100th day of school with a trip to Chuck E Cheese. This year, the kids were expecting something equally spectacular. Since it was Valentine's Day, the kids did a treasure hunt, looking for their Valentine's and along the way had to complete different kinds of "100 activities" to get clues to where we were going. We went to Under the Big Top - arcade/go carts/ laser tag, etc. and to a frozen yogurt place. It was a fun day. Mia kicked Tyler's butt in laser tag which made her day (and mine :-)). Tyler was a little sad that this will be our last 100 day party since he is starting full time school at a private Christian school but I promised him we will still celebrate 100 days every February.

Disney on Ice

Last weekend, we surprised Mia with tickets to Disney on Ice. We had taken Tyler to Toy Store Disney on Ice a few years ago and Mia was terrified the entire time. This year was much different. We all enjoyed it. Tyler, taking after his mother, is the super practical one and says to me as we are walking through the miles of concessions, "Who would pay $20 for a coloring book!?" :-)