Tortilla Soup

Well I had a craving in full force today...tortilla soup with all the fixings!

I found a recipe from the pioneer women but I only used it as a guideline. You can do that you know! Taste; and decide what you think it needs or doesn't need! It's a wonderful way to cook.

I usually boil a whole chicken; use the stock for the soup base and pull the chicken.  I wanted this taste with a little less work so we picked up a whole roasted chicken.  I removed the skin and pulled all the chicken and set this aside.

I got out my large pot and put the heat on medium high.  I chopped up 4 small onions, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 large red pepper, 2 scallions, 4 ribs of celery.  I sautéed this with onion powder, chilli powder, and 1 chipotle pepper chopped up.  I added in 2 drained and rinsed cans of black beans and about 2 cups of frozen corn.  I added in 3 litres of chicken stock, 1 litre of water, 1 large can of tomatoes that I crushed, zest of 1 lime, chopped cilantro stems and the juice of 3 limes. I added in the chicken, added quite a bit of sea salt and freshly ground pepper and let this simmer for a few hours.

We decided to go outside for a nice family afternoon in the snow!!!! Our wonderful neighbour made Aubrey a snowman building kit; so kit in hand we went outside!

 

 

 

 

 

When we came back inside the house smelt wonderful! 

 

 

We topped the soup with shredded cheese, Greek yogurt, cilantro, hint of lime taco chips and diced avocado.  Jeff and I didn't get much avocado; it's Aubrey's favourite. The soup was wonderful; hit the spot.  I'm excited for lunch tomorrow; I know it will taste even better after sitting all night!

What a great day! So thankful!

Meat buns...phone a friend!

My friend Cate invited me over today to make meat buns.  I had never tasted this Mennonite recipe but I was very intrigued!  We decided to make a double batch; and split it. She prepped the dough and I pre-made the filling.  Today we got together and assembled/baked the meat buns.  I thought this sounded like a great quick lunch to have on hand. It's suggested to reheat them in the oven for 20 minutes but they can be reheated in the microwave if in a pitch for time. Cate suggests these buns as a great accompaniment to a vegetable soup. 

Here's the recipe from the mennonitegirlscabcook.ca website

Their cookbook is really great; I would definitly reccommend it!

This is our dough after the first rise.

We punched it down and allowed it to rise a second time.

Now for the assembly.  I was surprised at the generous amount allotted for each bun.  Quite hearty!

We let these rise again. Cate was mentioning that the key is to not let them over proof...they will then "burst" as they bake. It's nice when the buns remain intact.

Ready!

Before they are baked; she brushed them with an egg wash and a little sprinkle of Maldon sea salt ( a must-have in my house!).

They took around 18 minutes.  They baked much more evenly and browned nicely on the baking sheets and stoneware. We wouldn't reccommend using glassware. 

Aubrey had a great time playing with her friends as the moms baked the afternoon away! I would definitly reccommend taking an afternoon, combining efforts, and adding to your freezer.  I would of never come up with this recipe as a meal idea.  It's great to hear of friend's "go-to" recipes! I hope this inspires you; phone a friend; plan a date!

On our way home! I think she missed her nap!

Thanks Cate for opening your home, your recipe book and making us such a yummy lunch! Hope to do it again soon!

The baking exchange: chocolate peanut butter haystacks!

Nothing shouts "Christmas is coming!"  to me more than our Church's Ladies Christmas breakfast; that was yesterday.  Today we woke up to a blanket of snow on the ground and it felt like the perfect time to make my bake goods for the baking exchange I'm attending this week.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Haystacks seemed like the perfect choice; I got my selection in first as there cannot be any duplicates!  Not only are these little nests tasty; they are the simplest recipe consisting of 4 yummy ingredients. 

Chow mien noodles, chocolate, peanut butter and peanuts!

I called my mom to get the recipe; however she couldn't find it to so I searched the web.  I couldn't find anything exact; but this gave me a point of reference.

These are the measurements I ended up with:

4 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter

4 cups of crushed chow mien noodles

2 cups of salted peanuts

Aubrey won this apron at the breakfast yesterday!  We were definitely feeling the Christmas spirit....even at 7:30am!

We crushed the noodles!

Separately we measured the chocolate chips and added the peanut butter to this. 

Put this in the microwave; set it for 1 minute (you don't want this to burn; you may have to gage how hot your microwave gets)

While this is melting; in a large bowl Aubrey poured in the crushed chow mien noodles.

To this she added the peanuts.

I had her stir this up so the peanuts are incorporated well!

This is what the chocolate peanut butter mixture looked like after 1 minute in the microwave.  I stirred this well and put it back in the microwave for an additional minute. 

This is what the chocolate mixture looked after the second minute in the microwave.  I stirred this again and put it on for a final minute.

After three minutes total in the microwave; the mixture was smooth after a quick stir.  We poured this over the peanut chow mien noodles mixture and stirred it until everything was chocolate coated.

We lined our table with parchment paper and used two large spoons to drop the haystacks.

Each recipe made about 30-40 haystacks.  We let them sit for about 4 hours.

I made 4 batches of this within an hour and a half....like I said SIMPLE!!!!

After about 4 hours sitting at room temperature (in my cool front room...you wouldn't want the environment to be too hot or they may not set properly) they were ready to be packed up.  These freeze very well; my freezer is packed for the baking exchange this Saturday!

After this we headed to church; just had to show off Aubrey's new hat!  My mom bought it from one of the lady's in the church office...too cute!

Double chocolate cookies

My neighbour brought me over these chocolate chips as a belated birthday gift! Knowing her and her thoughtfulness would make this no big surprise! We have gone beyond sharing the random cup of sugar; we share dinners, lunches, advice, clothes and beloved desserts.  We can never move; a neighbour like this is almost impossible to find!

On the back of the package was an intriguingly decadent recipe.  I had just gotten home from my dr.; who told me I've gain a quite significant amount of baby weight.  So what do I do? Yes; make cookies....and eat the batter!

I creamed my butter with both of the sugars.

Added in my egg and vanilla

Dumped in all my dry ingredients and mixed well

It called for the package of chocolate chips; yes I said decedent! And chopped nuts were optional so I added this package of chopped peanuts I had on hand.

Using my handy cookie scoop another friend sent me for my birthday; I made perfectly sized cookies!  She found this scoop at "bed bath and beyond" by the register.  It would be a great stocking stuffer!

I baked them at 375F for exactly 10 minutes.  Cooled them on the cookie sheet on the stove for 5 minutes before I transferred them to the cooling rack.

Needless to say; they were a hit and greatly enjoyed! 

I will definitly make this recipe again. I could also see using skor bits instead of peanuts just to make them that much more over the top!!!