White Corn Tortilla Soup

We are headed downtown to Christmas Preview tonight so I wanted to have something warm and ready to eat when we get home. I love this recipe because it's fast and very easy.

Ingredients:

1 diced onion (I like red, but doesn't matter)
1 can diced jalapenos
2 cubes garlic
12 cups chicken broth
3 diced chicken breasts
8 diced tomatoes (roma, hot house, on-the-vine; any will work)
3 cups white corn--I use frozen
4 limes
Olive oil
salt
pepper

Toppings:

Cilantro
Feta Cheese
Diced Avocado
Crushed tortilla chips
Additional diced limes


Directions:

Saute onion, garlic and jalapenos in olive oil. I use a little less than half the can of jalapenos. Use more or less depending on how spicy you want it. Saute until the onions start turning clear, you don't want them undercooked and crunchy.

Pour in 12 cups of chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add in diced chicken and allow to boil for 10 minutes until chicken is thoroughly cooked.





Add in 3 cups of frozen corn and boil for another five minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add in diced tomatoes. Squeeze in 2-3 limes and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve warm with toppings. Enjoy!

*I'll post a finished picture once we serve it up!

Get excited...here is the first recipe!

Rosemary Chicken and Sweet Potatoes 

Ingredients:

2 sweet potatoes peeled and diced into 2 inch cubes
1 red onion diced into thin rings
5 sprigs of Rosemary
2 garlic cubes
2 chicken breasts (I slice them in half so they are thin cut, or just buy them this way)
1 cup chicken stock
Lemon juice
Sea Salt
Pepper
Olive oil

Directions:

Place chicken in a plastic bag and put in a fair amount of lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, a few rosemary sprigs and the 2 garlic cubes. Toss around in bag and place in fridge to marinate for a few hours. You could even do this the night before.


Preheat oven to 425.

In a separate bowl or baking dish: mix sweet potatoes, onion, olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary and chicken broth. Stir until all the potatoes are well coated and bake covered.

Bake the potatoes for 30 minutes, then pour the chicken into the same dish and mix in with the juices. Cover and continue baking for an additional 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
*I used very thin chicken filets that only need about 10-15 minutes to cook. The potatoes will take a good 45-50 minutes, so plan to mix your chicken in accordingly. A thick chicken breast will take about 20-25 minutes.*

To serve, place potatoes on a plate and lightly smash with a fork to make a bed for the chicken. After placing chicken on top, ladle some of the remaining broth from the bottom of the dish over the top. Enjoy!

Paleo?

In efforts to be healthier, my husband and I try to follow the Paleo diet. However, I can't live without cheese. Incredible cheese. I just can't imagine some recipes without it. It comes in so many varieties and flavors, it's just too large of a category of food for me to cut out completely. Also, black beans...although, I don't use them often, what is a good taco salad without them? On the rare occasion, we through in some brown rice pasta or cous cous. So, there you have it...not really Paleo at all according to the experts, but that is our basis that we try to work around.

Where to begin...

I'm not quite sure how I got started on something like this, but here goes nothing...

I am a stay at home mother of identical twin girls. Yes, I was surprised and yes, "I've got my hands full". They are 10 months old now and most days I feel like I'm doing nothing more than treading water. This is where I'm supposed to say, "I wouldn't have it any other way"...in reality, I would. In my perfect world, an incredible dinner would be served up every evening, my house would remain spotless and I would already be back in my size 4 jeans...but all of that has thus far failed me. I am learning to let go and give into this new mayhem that is now my life.

Most people start a blog for a purpose. Mine started out with helping a good friend. I have been sharing some of my dinner meals with her the past few weeks...letting her in on my secrets. I have never been a fabulous cook and don't claim to be. However, I have somehow managed to pull together a meal most evenings. Most of the time, it is knowing the right ingredients to buy and how. I haven't minced garlic in years...thank you, Trader Joes for your frozen cubes of glory. I have been texting her meals and pictures and it dawned on me that I should record these somewhere. It's as if it's my own personal recipe book to search through when I feel I've hit another rut. I look up recipes a lot, but other than baking, I can't remember the last time I followed one. I like to get ideas and then just go with it. I apologize, but you probably won't be finding measurements here. I work in the playing field of a "dash", "sprinkle", or "a handful". And that's the way I like it...I can't follow something that is going to be too precise. If I have to worry about getting out measuring spoons for everything, it loses it's appeal to me. Nothing should be that exact.

Where do the diapers come in? Everywhere. I had to include this in the title because if I am going to start recording my thoughts and actions, diapers are definitely going to be involved. I can't promise the occasional, "someone help me escape my children" or "these little angels are the best" blogs won't come into play here. I'm not a writer of any sorts, so bare with me on this rocky journey.