Chicken Taco Soup

Happy Thursday! We are officially one day from the weekend, and what a week it's been. I've had multiple appointments and errands to run every day this week, which always makes my week seem a little chaotic. I've finally made it to that part of my week that's more low key. The hubby has a 4 day weekend, I'm going to bake cupcakes, and you can bet we are going to put some movies on. Fun movies, now that the Oscars are over. Nothing boring, weepy, or with subtitles for this girl.

But first, I'm going to talk about this soup! Soup is just the best. I'm serious! You can do almost anything with it, put anything in it and have it turn out freakin' delicious. There are potentially endless combinations out there, and I'm determined to eat my way through a good portion of them. I came up with this recipe on the fly after realizing the recipe I chose was a slow-cooker recipe, and I was starting dinner with t-60 minutes. Luckily, I was starting with cooked chicken, so an hour didn't faze me. When you have cooked chicken meat in the form of a leftover roasted chicken, your options are numerous. That being said, this soup easily came together and was ready in plenty of time for dinner. I took full advantage of my pantry, utilizing several canned veggies to achieve the final product. I always feel so economical when I do that :)

I just realized this is the 3rd chicken dish of the month, as well as the 3rd Southwest themed dish. I can only tell you that we eat a lot of chicken. We eat almost no red meat (I laugh as I say that because I have a steak dish on tap for tonight). But seriously, we eat red meat once or twice a month. We usually have chicken once or twice a week, fish and/or shrimp once or twice, maybe some ground turkey, and then the rest of the week is meatless. I have nothing against red meat, I've just noticed I feel better when I limit the amount I eat. I have more energy, my skin looks better, my weight is easier to manage, etc. Also, I usually roast a chicken every week, or every other week. A whole chicken is my favorite way to go. Why?

1. It's cheap- I can usually get a 5-6 lb chicken for $5. And that chicken goes a long way. I get a roasted chicken dinner out of it, with enough meat for either lunches or a big batch of soup. I always put the carcass in the crock pot and make broth. I get anywhere from 8-12 cups of broth doing that, which as you can imagine, results in numerous meals. All those meals for $5. You can't beat that, not even at (dare I say it?) McDonald's.

2. Options! As I mentioned before, you can make so many things with cooked chicken. Tacos, soups, sandwiches, salads, pizzas, pastas, casseroles... I don't think I need to continue.

3. You know what you are getting- what do I mean by this? I'm mostly talking about chicken broth. Commercial chicken broth has multiple ingredients, chemicals, and preservatives added to it. My chicken broth is made with chicken, onions, carrots, celery, water, salt, and pepper. That's it. Whenever I make a soup or dish with chicken broth, I know exactly what I'm putting in my body. In today's modern world of GMO's and the organic movement, this means a lot to me.

Have I convinced you to roast your own chickens? I hope so!

Have a great day everyone!

P.S. The next 2 recipes will not be chicken! :)

Ingredients (serves 12):

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chiles (such as Rotel), undrained

1 (14.5 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (14.5 oz) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 (14.5) oz can corn, drained

6  cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chile powder

1 tsp coriander seed

1/2 tsp ancho chile powder

1/2 tsp Adobo seasoning

1 lb cooked chicken, shredded

lime wedges

toppings: sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped cilantro (crushed tortillas chips and/or diced avocado would also make great toppings).

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. When warm, add onion. Sauté 5-7 minutes, or until onions start to become tender. Add garlic to the pot, sauté another 30 seconds.

2. Add diced tomatoes through Adobo seasoning to the pot. Bring soup to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Simmer for 30-45 minutes.

3. Add chicken to the pot. Allow chicken to heat up in pot, about 5-10 minutes. Season soup to taste. Remove soup from heat, and ladle into bowls. Serve with lime wedges, top with desired toppings. Serve immediately.

Linked to: Weekend Potluck

Raspberry Crumb Bars

Oh gosh, you guys.

I make a lot of stuff for the hubby. Stuff that I'm not fond of, like Cream Cheese Danish and Copy-Cat Costco Poppyseed Muffins. Yesterday, on the other hand, I made a dessert just for me. Just for the raspberry fanatic. These bars will throw even a raspberry-ambivalent person into a tizzy. I had a good amount of Raspberry Jam leftover in the fridge that had to be used. No raspberry goes to waste in my household. I was going to make Raspberry Danish with the remainder, but at the last second decided on bars. Ooey, gooey, delectable bars. Bars that became my lunch and much later , my 4th meal. I say 4th meal because the amount I ate was slightly more than dessert :)

The recipe I used for these was quite unlike other bars I've tried. It almost seemed shortcut-like. The recipe has you start with cold butter, to which you add all the other ingredients for the bars. Using a hand mixer, you turn the mixture into a fine crumb. I was skeptical, but it worked beautifully. Mix on low to avoid having butter bits fly all over the kitchen! The other tidbit of advice I have for these bars is to bake them entirely. No under-baking for these beauties. The bars need the full amount of time to set. The bars are crumbly, but they hold together much better if you fully bake them. The top of the bars will look pretty crispy, but don't worry, they taste fantastic! And the inside will be moist and chewy, even with a crisp top.

Mother nature decided to... mess with us yesterday. It was 75º, sunny, and absolutely gorgeous. It felt like spring. It was so wonderful. I ran 5 miles outside, for the first time in months. As I was running I realized, this is what my life has been missing. Sun on my face, wind in my hair, feet pounding pavement... I could literally feel the anxiety melting off of me. I just don't get that effect in the gym. Unfortunately, we are getting another snow system. Argh! I want nice weather, shorts, and 5k's! I'm crossing all my fingers and toes that this is the last system of this winter. I totally got bit by Spring Fever yesterday and now all I can think about is lawns, gardens, and fences. And running outside. Not much longer now!

Happy Hump Day, my lovely friends!

Ingredients (makes 16 bars):

1 cup butter, cold

2 1/4 cup flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 large egg, room temp

3/4 cup Raspberry Jam

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Coat a 8x8 square pan with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, combine butter through large egg. Mix on low until mixture forms a coarse crumb.

3. Press half of crumb mixture into pan. Spread raspberry jam over the crumb evenly. Sprinkle the rest of the crumb mixture over the top of the jam.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, or until top is golden brown and the bars do not jiggle. Mine cooked for exactly 60 minutes. Let cool in the pan for another 60 minutes. Cut into bars, and let cool completely before storage.

Recipe adapted from Baker by Nature.

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Cunning Ladies' Friday Party

Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili

It's been awhile since I pulled out the slow cooker, so I figured it was time to give the old girl a whirl.

I take that back, I use my slow cooker a couple times a month. However, I've mainly been using it for making chicken broth these days, which is silly because the slow cooker is one of my favorite ways to prepare dinner. I love, love, LOVE preparing meals in the morning, and doing minimal prep at dinnertime. Especially when I can get all the dishes done before dinner. That ends up feeling like a night off. One of the nice things about this soup is you can prep everything in the morning and then just pull the prepared toppings out of the fridge at mealtime. Which means less time cooking, less time doing dishes, less time cleaning the kitchen post-meal, etc. Isn't that something we can all jump on board with?

Yes. Yes, it is.

This soup was man-approved. Several times.The hubby scarfed down a couple bowls of this, and continued to rave about it. I find it's really hard to go wrong with chili when it comes to that man. This is definitely one of those soups that's made by the toppings. I just love soups with lots of toppings. In fact, I'm making one today. We are a soup-eating household for sheezy.

Rapidly changing the subject- I'm in the middle of a fascinating read. It's called, "The Beautiful Land" by Alan Averill. I'm not sure what made me pick up this book at the library, but I did. I say this because I tend (predictably) to gravitate towards romance novels. I'd place this book squarely in science fiction, perhaps even horror. It's hard to tell with the tone. It's one of those novels I could imagine being a horror movie, but the book doesn't read like a horror novel. I don't find it scary, is what I'm trying to say. Whatever the matter, the book is good. It's about a young man who works for a corporation who has invented a "time-travel" machine. I use that term loosely, because in the book time-travel is described more as traveling along different timelines rather than traveling along one solid linear timeline. Instead, they travel multiple parallel timelines in which anything possible. There's an evil rocket scientist and even some sort of malicious mythical creature. I'm having a hard time putting the book down, I'm dying to see how it turns out. I could easily see this being a movie, and to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if that was already in the works. I'd highly recommend this book, especially if it's not something you'd normally pick up. Oprah might not have picked it, but I've never trusted Oprah anyway.

I'm off! I've got a busy day today that includes a trip to the vet (sorry boys! Annual vaccinations today!), baking danishes, running outside (yay!), and making Chicken Taco Soup. To channel Al Roker, I hope you're having a great day in your neck of the woods :)

Ingredients:

(2) uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 (14.5 oz) cans Great Northern Beans, undrained
2 (3 oz) can diced green chiles
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp Mexican oregano (or 2 tbsp regular oregano)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup sour cream, plus more for serving
1/2 cup sliced green onions, plus more for serving
1/4 cup chopped cilantro, plus more for serving
shredded cheddar cheese (for serving)

Directions:

1. Combine chicken through chicken broth in slow cooker. Cover, and cook on high for 4-6 hours (until chicken easily shreds with a fork). Remove chicken from slow cooker, shred with 2 forks, and return chicken to the slow cooker.
2. Add sour cream, green onion, and cilantro to the slow cooker. Stir to combine. Ladle chili into bowls and top with desired toppings. Serve immediately.

Recipe adapted from Eat Cake For Dinner.

Linked to: Foodie Friday

Sticky Sweet Baked Chicken

Happy Friday!

I've woken up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I'm serious! I must have done the unthinkable and taken care of myself while I was sick, because I woke up today feeling great. I'm so happy, because I'm supposed to meet one of my friends at the gym this morning. Now I don't have to cancel, and the hubby and I can have a great weekend. Yep, feeling healthy makes such a huge difference. It must have been all the fruit I snacked on. Don't underestimate the powder of Vitamin C!

I love baked chicken. A lot of people aren't aware that the oven is a great place to get your chicken crunchy, like fried chicken, without the oil. It's so simple. I coat the chicken in a seasoned flour(usually flour, salt, pepper, maybe a little cayenne), throw it on a baking sheet, and let the oven work its magic. While I'm baking the chicken, I prepare a glaze which I slather on those chickens as soon as they come out of the oven. The result is crispy, tender, and delicious chicken which is decidedly healthier for you without omitting flavor. Although you could use this method on any cut of chicken, I prefer to use this method on bone-in chicken pieces. Something about the bones helps keep the chicken moist during the baking process. The hubby thinks I'm crazy, but I love eating these cold out of the fridge the next day. So good!

So, my kitchen. About once a week (or more), I spend most of the day in the kitchen. It's usually the same day as shopping. It starts with chopping up and storing all my fruits and veggies for the week. I usually have to make breakfast and lunch burritos, as well as a batch of homemade Egg McMuffins. On to salsa. I make salsa every week, and this week I made pesto as well. While I was preparing the burritos, I was baking Pistachio Bread. And finally, I was prepping everything for dinner. Once the kitchen is cleaned, I don't feel like getting back in there that day. So I prep for dinner while I'm doing everything else, that way I don't have an excuse to go pick up a pizza because I'm too tired.

Looks like a bomb went off huh? I love it.

Have a great weekend friends :)

Ingredients:

Assorted chicken pieces (I used 3 drumsticks and 3 thighs)
1 cup flour
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp ginger
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400º. Lightly coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Dry off chicken pieces. In a small bowl, combine flour through cayenne pepper. Whisk to combine. Dredge chicken pieces in flour, place on baking sheet. Bake in oven for 40-45 minutes, or until chicken reaches 160º and is browned and crispy. Remove from oven.
3. While chicken is baking, prepare glaze. In a small skillet, combine balsamic vinegar through black pepper. Cook over medium-high heat for 5-6 minutes, or until glaze has thickened and reduced by half.
4. Brush glaze on chicken pieces. Sprinkle chicken pieces with sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

Recipe adapted from The Novice Chef

Linked to: Weekend Potluck

St. Patrick's Pistachio Bread

I'm getting in the Irish holiday spirit already!

I really wanted to make a couple of St. Patty's treats this year, so here I am. This post is brought to you by a failed batch of Bailey's Irish Cream Cookies. I'm undecided whether the Bailey's flavor was just too overwhelmingly strong, or my Bailey's had gone bad. Either way, the cookies sucked. I wasn't about to give up. I began to lead towards a minty treat, and maybe I'll still make one. I did, however, stumble on a recipe for Pistachio Bread in my quest that I just couldn't resist.

Although this technically qualifies as a "quick bread", it tastes like cake. And to be fair, it is made with a cake mix. It's moist, fluffy, and studded with pistachios. Unbeknownst to me, the hubby already loves Pistachio Bread. He did mention my bread was a little more green than Pistachio Breads he's had in the past. I'll admit, I did make mine a bit greener for St. Patty's day. Maybe I could call it Shrek Bread...

Our latest snow event is coming to an end. The temperature got up to 40º yesterday, so we are seeing some melting action. I was finally able to make it to the grocery store yesterday, which gave me a minor break from my cabin fever. The local news finally enlightened everyone as to the reason why Kentucky didn't do any road maintenance earlier this week- they are out of salt. They have placed an order for more that's not here yet, so they are in conservation mode. I think these unpredictable winters are going to be the norm in the future, so I can only hope the state is more prepared next year. Wishful thinking, but a girl can hope.

Today is the first day this week I could go to the gym. As luck would have it, both the hubby and I have colds. Our second colds of 2014. We are not off to a good start. This cold seems like a normal head cold, I'm hoping today is the worst of it. Between going out of town last weekend, and then coming down with a cold, I haven't worked out in over a week. I feel like I'm losing muscle already! I don't know if that's possible after only 9 days or so, but I feel like it is. I have decided not to take my cold to the gym to infect other people. I'm sure they will appreciate that :)

Have a great day everyone!

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix
1 package instant pistachio pudding
4 eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tbsp water
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp green food color
1 tsp almond extract
1 cup pistachios, shelled and chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix through almond extract. Stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Fold in 3/4 cup pistachios. Spread batter into loaf pan, sprinkle remaining pistachios over the top of the bread.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven, cool in pan 30 minutes. Remove loaf to a cooling rack, allow to cool completely before storage.

*Baking note- I halved the recipe to see if I would like it, resulting in smaller slices of bread. The full recipe will result in normal-size slices of bread.

Recipe by Better than Burgers

Linked to: Weekend Potluck

Turkey Taco Casserole

I've got cookies on the brain today, but instead, I'm going to taco to you about casserole. Ha ha. I know, that was bad. I absolutely could not resist :)

Initially, this casserole came into being because ground turkey was on sale and I had all the other ingredients on hand. I'm not sure why, but I never expect casseroles to be outstanding. I don't know why I think this, because I've had some amazing casseroles. My favorite food as a child was my mom's Green Bean Casserole. I adore Shepherd's Pie. This Lasagna-Style Baked Ziti is one of the best things I've ever made. Yet every time I go to make a casserole, I throw it together and expect it to be... eh.  Once again, I'm reminded that that notion is malarky. This casserole was amazing! I've never made Mexican Lasagna, but I'd imagine this casserole could be close to it. The best part? It got better every day after I made it. It didn't matter if I heated the leftovers in the oven or the microwave. I found both methods comparably favorable.

Another thing I love about this casserole is that it's make-ahead. It's also freezable. Talk about convenience! You could always get really crazy and double the recipe to make 2 casserole's to freeze.  Heat the frozen casserole in the oven until the cheese is bubbly, and you have easy, homemade Mexican goodness from the freezer to the table.  The recipe is pretty simple though, so it really didn't take long to assemble. The bake time wasn't bad either. I made this on a weeknight, and the whole she-bang took about an hour and a half, and that's even with a 20 minute rest time coming out of the oven. The casserole was even man-approved.

So... I'm stuck at home again. Argh! I'm not sure why, but Kentucky decided to do no road maintenance yesterday. This is the first time all winter that the roads haven't been plowed and salted, and I'm justifiably annoyed. It is the work week, people basically have to be on the roads. They are usually so on top of winter weather, I'm just surprised with the complete lapse this time. While I keep a lot of pantry staples on hand, fresh produce is impossible to stockpile. Since it's been a week and a half since I last made it to the grocery store, it's going be freezer food tonight. I'm just hoping the roads look better tomorrow, because if the dogs run out of carrots, we might have a mutiny on our hands!

Happy Tuesday!

Ingredients (serves 4-6):

1 tsp olive oil

1 lb ground turkey

1 tbsp chili powder

2 tsp cumin

1 1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 (4 oz) cans diced green chilies

1 cup diced tomatoes

1 (16 oz) can refried beans

1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

2 flour tortillas, cut into 1-inch thick strips (lengthwise- if your tortillas are more oval than round)

1/2 cup salsa, plus more for serving

sour cream for serving

sliced avocado for serving (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375º. Coat a square 8-inch pan with cooking spray, set aside.

2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When warm, add turkey. Brown the turkey, stirring to crumble. Once slightly browned, add chili powder through cayenne pepper. Mix to combine. Cook until turkey is browned completely. Add 1 can of green chilies and the diced tomatoes to the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until the mixture is heated. Remove from heat.

3. To assemble casserole- spread a layer of the turkey mixture on the bottom of the pan. Top with a layer of refried beans, a layer of chilies, a layer of cheese, and then 4 of the tortilla strips. Repeat until you've used all the turkey mixture. Top casserole with any leftover cheese and 1/2 cup of salsa. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.

4. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes. Cut casserole into squares and top with more salsa, sour cream, and avocado (if using). 

*If preparing casserole to freeze, complete layering process and top with cheese and salsa. Tightly cover pan with aluminum foil and store in the freezer. Bake frozen casserole in a preheated oven at 375º for 1 hour, or until cheese is bubbly. Let stand for 20 minutes before serving.

Recipe adapted from Eat, Live, Run.

Linked to: Weekend Potluck

Random Thoughts: 3/3/14

1. Weekend in Cincinnati

Warped Wing Brewery, Dayton, OH

Hola! It's a very snowy Monday morning here in Kentucky. The hubby and I made it back from Cincinnati just in the nick of time yesterday! We had a fantastic weekend. Friday night, the hubby's cousin and wife took us to my favorite Mexican restaurant near their house. The gods of fate must have been smiling on me, because we only ended up at the Mexican restaurant because there was a 2-hour wait at the restaurant we'd originally planned on going to. Mwhahahaha. Did I send the population of Cincinnati to the original restaurant so I could have Mexican? The world will never know :)

Saturday night, they took us to fabulous little steakhouse near Dayton, OH called The Oakwood Club. The food was fantastic! I ordered the lamb chops, and I'm so glad I did. They were perfect. I compare all lamb to the best lamb I've ever eaten, which was at Texas de Brazil in Las Vegas 6 years ago. This lamb was so close to what I had in Las Vegas, I was just in heaven. Perfectly medium rare, pink, tender, the crust crisp with salt... Uh oh, I'm drooling again. After dinner, the hubby's cousin had picked a couple of brewery's for us to try in the Oregon District (I just love that) of Dayton. Needless to say, after a couple of drinks, the cameras whipped out-

Drinks at Newcom's in the Oregon District.

Cousin's wife and I.

Hubby's cousin, wife, me, and hubby :)

I had to include this pic because I love my face. I have no idea why I'm making it.

We woke on Sunday morning to about a quarter inch of ice on the ground. We were surprised as hell, the storm was supposed to hit late that afternoon. We grabbed our stuff as fast as could, thanked the hubby's cousin and wife, and hastily ran for the car. What an awful drive! The cousin's house is NW of us, so we had to travel about 40 miles east through the ice storm. Among the calamity we saw were a couple of cars sliding off the road and a flipped semi. Not fun.

Sheet of ice covering the road and the front of our car.

Once we got started heading south, we started to outrun it. By the time we were an hour from our house, we were driving in rain. Still, we came home and did not leave! We'd had enough, thank you very much. Until the snow came, which leads me to my next random thought...

2. More birds!

We got another 4 inches of snow last night, which means Casa de Jarrell is the most hopping' bird bar in NE Kentucky!

Seriously. When I opened the blinds this morning, there were flocks of birds in the backyard. Granted, we have 5 feeders, but wowsers! It was, by far, the most birds we've had yet. 

I love this sassy cardinal :)

I might be obsessed with cardinals...

Our latest feeder, a suet basket. Shockingly, the hubby only put it up at 7:30 am. For the 1st time, and they've already found it. I think that's a new record.

It's going to be a great day for birdwatching here on the homestead!

3. The Oscars

Image Source: The Oscars

The hubby and I managed to finish all the movies up for Best Picture. We put "Philomena" on at 4:30 pm yesterday, and powered through. We finished all the movies for the acting awards as well, however we were only able to catch an hour of "Blue Jasmine" before the show started. I felt we got a good idea of Cate Blanchett's performance, though. How'd we do? Awful. Jerame picked 4 out of 24 right, and I got 5 right. I really thought "American Hustle" should have won best picture (I thought it was the most interesting, seamless, well-acted movie we watched), but "12 Years A Slave" is also good choice. It was a very important, well-done movie. I think the only thing I'm flabbergasted by is that Meryl Streep didn't win Best Actress. This is an absolute robbery in my opinion. Her performance in "August: Osage County" is brilliant and awe-inspiring. Yes, Cate Blanchett did a fine job, but her performance didn't hold a candle to Streep's. Of course, this is only my opinion. I also thought Ellen did a great job. I love how her humor is not mean-spirited. And how much does everyone adore Jennifer Lawrence after last night? I can't believe that poor girl fell again. She handled it with such grace and good-humor though, I think I fell in love with her a little bit more. Which I didn't think was possible :)

That's it for today folks. I'm not sure what to do with myself right now, as I'm housebound. Monday's are usually my shopping day. However, the roads are really bad today, so I've relegated myself to being a hermit. I'm trying to summon the energy for a workout, but I've been fighting a losing battle with that all morning. I think the snow is lulling me into a nap. I'm so ready for spring!

Happy Monday everyone!

Roasted Potato, Bacon, and Spinach Salad

Happy Friday! You've made it to the end of "Week of Salads". Congratulations, you've earned a pat on the back and a big glass wine! 

I've saved a truly comforting salad for last. That's right, I called this comfort food. Crisp-on-the-outside/ creamy-on-the-inside potatoes, salty bacon, toasty pine nuts, savory parmesan cheese... and some spinach. Honestly, once you've dressed the salad in the bacon vinaigrette, just about anyone is going to want to eat this salad. It's perfect for a cold winter's day, much like the last 500 days of this winter have been. Seriously, we are looking at 0.35 of an inch of ice on Sunday night, and possibly 10-12 inches of snow on Monday. Argh. It's the winter that feels like it's never going to end. I'm going to have to do a "Week of Soups" at this rate. That's actually not a bad idea...

The hubby and I are off on a mini-vacay this weekend. We are leaving our troubles (and dogs!) at home and tossing our hair to the wind. To the very cold, very arctic, polar vortex wind. So, we'll be riding into the sunset with the windows rolled up and earmuffs on, no biggie. I still plan on having a great time, no matter Mother Nature's attempts to derail my plans. I'm not feeling too worried at this point about this latest storm, the hubby and I plan on being back long before it starts. 

Gizmo, on the other hand, has already confessed he's having doggy nightmares of cold, snowy paws :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Ingredients (serves 4):

1 lb baking potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp rosemary

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped

1/8 cup red wine vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

3 tsp sugar

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 (10 oz) package of fresh baby spinach

4 tbsp pine nuts, toasted

4 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400º. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine potatoes through black pepper. Toss to thoroughly coat. Distribute potatoes in a single layer on baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven 45-50 minutes, or until browned and crispy. Keep warm.

3. In a large skillet, render bacon. Cook until bacon is browned and crisped. Remove with a slotted spoon, drain on a paper towel. Set aside.

4. Whisk vinegar through garlic into the skillet. Cook 3-4 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

5. Combine spinach and dressing. Toss salad to coat spinach. Distribute spinach among plates. Top salads with potatoes, reserved bacon, pine nuts, and parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Recipe adapted from Southern Living.

SW Chopped Salad with Creamy Cilantro Dressing

I'm such a sucker for anything with a SW flair. I love me some cilantro, black beans, lime, corn... everything mixed together in this salad brings to mind a taco salad. Minus the fat and calories, and dial up the stuff that's actually good for you, of course. I make several varieties of taco salads, and I'm officially adding this one to the rotation. Not that I have much of a rotation. As the hubby puts it, he never gets bored with food :)

P.S. Add whatever protein you desire to make this a non-vegetarian salad.

So, as you may have guessed, the hubby and I actually wrapped up eating the salads on Tuesday. It took about 7 days to make and photograph the salads, between the nights I served them to working around daylight to capture them on film. Which means last night was our first non-salad night in a week. The hubby walked in the door from work, and was pleasantly surprised with a casserole. We like salads more than the normal person, but we were ready for something hearty. Maybe that's why last night's dinner was sooooo good...

In other news, I've been banned from exercising for 6 days. For that, I'm quite frankly annoyed. Do you remember that cold I had last month? Of course you do, I complained about it for days! Anyhoo, the cold has been long gone for quite some time, but I've been left with chest tightness that's been making me winded during workouts. I finally got in to my doctor yesterday who seems to think I've got some inflammation leftover that I keep exacerbating by working out. She put me on a steroid pack, and told me to sit tight for 6 days while they work their magic. She knew that didn't sit well with me, and when she left the room, she chuckled. She's previously told me she doesn't have very many patients that exercise. Humbug. I told the hubby when I got home that I was extremely grateful we are going out of town this weekend, because I don't think I could have stayed in the house and not exercised for 6 days. Talk about being driven crazy.

I guess I'll just have to catch up on my reading. I'm in the middle of Jodi Picoult's "Harvesting the Heart". It's good, but man, it'll make you a little teary. I've also got some photographs to take. Cookies to bake. Getting the house ready for us to leave for the weekend. Dinner to make.

It's safe to say I won't be sitting around with nothing to do :)

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

Creamy Cilantro Dressing-

1 cup fresh cilantro

1/2 cup greek yogurt, plain

2 tbsp lime juice

2 garlic cloves

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar

1/4 tsp salt

Salad-

1 head of romaine lettuce, chopped

1 (15 oz) can of black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cups corn kernels (I used frozen, thawed)

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 pint of cherry tomatoes, quartered

1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. To prepare dressing- combine all ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until smooth and completely mixed. Store in an airtight container in the fridge up to 4 days. Chill until ready to serve. 

2. To make salad- combine lettuce through green onions in a large salad bowl. Drizzle dressing to taste over salad. Toss to combine. Divide among plates, and serve immediately.

Recipe adapted from The Garden Grazer.

Linked to: Weekend Potluck