Yummy & Funny From Our Little Garden

This summer we have harvested two big watermelons from our garden plot. We have a little piece of land at a community garden, and we had so much fun gardening last year that we decided to do it again this year. Check out these pictures of the yummy watermelon we grew:

Being pregnant and feeling sick and both having full time jobs, we have neglected our little garden quite often. Overgrown with weeds and with produce begging to be picked, I just feel guilty when I think about it. One example of our neglect is that our carrots were never properly thinned out. So they look funny when they are pulled up. And we probably should have pulled them all up months ago, but we didn't. So some are HUGE. Because of the crowded carrot patch, our lovely carrots come out looking like legs sometimes:

 Danny thought these carrots were so funny that he hunted down our camera and took these pictures.His favorite was the pair of legs that looks like it's desperately needing to use the bathroom...

 He laughed for a while about that one. And then he put them both together so it looks like our leggy carrots are out on a date. How precious!

Forgive me...I have a good excuse!

I know I have neglected this blog, but I have a good excuse!!!!

I have been battling "morning sickness" for the past couple months, because I'm going to have a baby!

Because of this, I have NOT felt like cooking at all. I haven't even felt like entering my kitchen most days.

Luckily, my sickness has subsided with the arrival of my second semester, and I am actually feeling like cooking again. Hopefully I can start posting again soon.

But you'll have to forgive me again around the end of February. . . I'm going to be busy with another little thing then.

Chocolate Waffles!

Greetings from Idaho! This is Becca again, just reporting on my latest cooking craze.  Living in Idaho can get... dull... sometimes, so you have to come up with crazy fun stuff to occupy your time.  Such as dying your hair, running through potato fields, or... turning everything you cook into chocolate!!!! So lately, I've been cooking a lot out of this cookbook, Chocolate Never Faileth.

It is really amazing, because anything you can think of is in there, chocolate style.  And who doesn’t love chocolate?  So yesterday morning, my husband and I made chocolate waffles together.  (And when I say we made them together, that basically means that I ordered him around the kitchen.  For example, “Don’t add too much salt dear,” “You have to spray the waffle iron with Pam first!” and “Don’t stick the batter up your nose honey.”  Ok, that one didn’t really happen. But you never know with Zach.)  And you know how when you make new recipes, they never really turn out how they look in the cookbook?  Well this one did!

And it tasted fabulous.  We drizzled some chocolate syrup over the top, but you could pile strawberries on top with some whipped cream, or some caramel topping would be good… the possibilities are endless!

Chocolate Waffles

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 c. milk

3 Tbsp. oil

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. flour

1/3 c. cocoa

2 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

In a medium bowl, beat eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; set aside.  In a smaller bowl, combine dry ingredients.  Add to wet ingredients and stir until blended.  Beat for about a minute to give the eggs a little loft.  pour the correct amount into your waffle maker and cook until the iron stops steaming.  Makes about 8 small waffles.  Note:  For a less intense chocolate flavor (more of a milk chocolate than a semisweet), decrease the cocoa to 1/4 C. and increase the sugar to 3 Tbsp. (This is what we did, and it turned out to have a really nice flavor.)

Zucchini Nut Loaf (from page 78 of mom’s Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book)

Last summer we had so many zucchini's from our garden that I was constantly searching for recipes to use them up. This has to be my favorite zucchini recipe. This summer we decided not to plant zucchini, because I was so sick of them. I thought I'd put this recipe up anyway, just in case any of you run into the same over-abundance of zucchini problem or just want some yummy bread to snack on.

Zucchini Nut Loaf

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1 cup sugar

1 cup finely shredded unpeeled zucchini

1 egg

¼ cup cooking oil

¼ teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel (optional)

½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Oven 350 degrees

In a mixing bowl stir together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and baking powder; set aside.  In a mixing bowl beat together sugar, shredded zucchini, and egg.  Add oil and lemon peel; mix well.  Stir flour mixture into zucchini mixture.  Gently fold in chopped nuts.  Turn batter into a greased 8x4x2-inch loaf pan.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 55 to 60 minutes or till a wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean.  Cool in pan 10 minutes.  Remove from pan; cool thoroughly on a rack.  Wrap and store loaf overnight before slicing. Makes 1.

I got famous one summer with my siblings with this recipe.  It really is better to wait a day before eating it, but who can ever do that? 

Hey! I'm Becca, Carissa's favorite sister!!!  She graciously allowed me to post some of my meager recipes... even though she knows I'm the better cook. Haha Just kiddin. I wanted to start out with the recipe I've been using/craving a lot over the past few weeks.  Homemade Mac & Cheese!!! I use any excuse I can to make this dish.  For example, my half birthday is coming up, and I figure that's a special enough occasion.  Also, when I beat my husband at a video game, that's a pretty special occassion as well.  (Hint: You can always manipulate situations to be "special occassions" if you're craving something delicious.)  I got this recipe from my husband's mom. 

Mama Terri's Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:
1 1/2 - 2 c. uncooked elbow mac (it's a little runny if you only do 1 1/2)
3 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
2 c. milk
2 c. cubed cheese (I always use mild cheddar, but it would probably be good with any kind of cheese)

Directions:
Cook mac. Drain.  In saucepan, melt butter.  Blend in flour, salt, and pepper.  Add milk all at once; cook and stir till thick and bubbly.  Add cheese; stir till melted.  Stir sauce into mac.  Pour into 9x13 baking dish (you can use any size, really).  Bake at 350 till heated through, 30-35 minutes.  Makes 6 servings. 

Oh! And you can also add onion to the recipe, but my husband doesn't like it. He says, "It just adds a weirdness."  He also says, "It's my favorite mac & cheese recipe there is!"  So... there you go. My husband endorses it. And so do I!

Carolyn's Lemon Chicken & Rice (Danny's Favorite)

Next to pizza, this is probably my husband's favorite food. This recipe comes from his mother, Carolyn, who is an amazing cook. When we got married, of course I had to find out how to make this dish. And while I could never make it exactly the way she does, I've gotten the thumbs up from my husband that my attempts are delicious as well. This is good news, because I don't think Danny could have survived without his favorite meal!

Carolyn's Lemon Chicken & Rice

Ingredients (for two or three people):

2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup lemon juice 

1/2 T chicken bouillon or 2 cubes chicken bouillon dissolved in 1 1/2 cups water

1/2 t. dried basil

1 T. cornstarch dissolved in a little cold water

enough cooked rice for whoever is coming to dinner

Directions:

1. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and lightly brown on the stove.

2. Take the chicken out of the pan.

3. Add about 1/2 cup lemon juice to the pan.

4. Add chicken bouillon mixture as well.

5. Then add dried basil and let the pan simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Sometimes I add other spices as well, if I am feeling creative, but basil is the one spice that goes perfectly. *Taste your sauce after simmering. If it has a weak lemon taste, you need to reduce it more (or add more lemon juice if you don't want to wait). It should have a strong lemon flavor.*

6. Stir while adding the cornstarch thickening mixture to the pan, and let the sauce thicken a bit.

7. Add your chicken back to the sauce, and it's ready to eat!

8.Serve over rice and enjoy! 

I've also made this dish in the crockpot by simply adding all the ingredients except the cornstarch and letting it cook until the chicken is done. Then I add the cornstarch in with the sauce and the chicken. It's not as good as the stovetop version, but it worked.

Husband's Reaction: Oh, he always licks his plate clean with this lemon chicken. The sauce is his favorite part. He could drink it plain, which is kinda gross, but that's how much he loves it. Thanks to his mom for sharing her recipe so I can make it for him whenever he wants!

We Cooked the Catfish.

So, the catfish was cooked and eaten the day after it was caught, but I just have not gotten around to posting about it...until today!!! Be excited. I know you are wanna know how to cook catfish. It's so popular and all.

Nobody does food better than the Food Network, so I copied one of their recipes. It was pretty good. This could probably be used with any fish. If you're only making one or two, make far less of the seasoning and dredging mixture. Even for the 4 catfish fillets this recipe calls for, I would cut it in half. There was a lot of seasoning.

I chose a recipe for fried fish because I wasn't sure if catfish tasted good or not. I figured as long as it was fried, it would taste great! It was. But the fish underneath the batter wasn't half bad either, so next time I think I'll skip the frying (remember how healthy I'm trying to be? Right).

And now I give you my second attempt at cooking fish ever.....CATFISH!

Pan Fried Catfish with Lemon and Garlic

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2005

Show: Emeril LiveEpisode: Deep Fried Southern

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/pan-fried-catfish-with-lemon-and-garlic-recipe/index.html

Ingredients

• 4 (6 to 6 1/2- ounce) catfish fillets
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons Essence or other seasoning salt, recipe follows
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons minced parsley leaves, plus chopped parsley forgarnish
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/4 cup all- purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions

Place the catfish in a shallow bowl or baking dish. Season the fillets with 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of the Essence. Add the lemon juice, parsley, and garlic. Turn the catfish several times to coat evenly. Allow mixture to stand at room temperature for up to 10 minutes.

Combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, and the remaining Essence in a shallow bowl. Remove the catfish from the marinade and dredge in the cornmeal mixture, coating evenly.

Heat the oil in a large, deep, cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the catfish, in batches, and fry until golden brown on both sides, turning once, 3 to 4 minutes per side.

Remove catfish from the skillet with a slotted spatula and drain on paper-towels. Season with salt and serve immediately with additional parsley and lemon wedges.

Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

HUSBAND'S REACTION: He approved. His favorite part? No bones to worry about! I think we might be trying some more catfish in the future.

He's so cool, you can trust his opinion. :)

Catfish Catching

I told my husband I wanted to get a new hobby this year, and I guess that goal can be checked off. We bought fishing licenses with some of our hard earned money, and we have been fishing at least once a week since the beginning of May, I think. We are keeping a running tally of how many fish we each catch to see who can be the winner at the end of the summer. Right now, Danny is ahead 6 to 4. (So frustrating! I want to be the winner!) We've mainly caught trout, and that's fine with me. They taste pretty good. Last night though, Danny caught a catfish. We went fishing with his parents and grandparents, and many catfish and a few trout were caught. We decided to keep some of the catfish and figure out how to clean and cook them. Danny's grandma said she really likes how they taste, so we'll see if we do too. 

 Catfish are pretty creepy looking, and they are pretty hard to clean, we soon learned. You have to pull their skin off with pliers---it's like a home improvement project, but smellier.

So, tonight I think I'm cooking the catfish (only the fillets, don't worry; it now looks nothing like a cat and only like a fish you would see in the grocery store). I really don't know how, but we'll see how it goes. The nice thing about fishing is that I get to practice and learn how to cook fish without having to pay for any of the fish. . . the bad part is that I haven't caught any the past three times we've gone. Maybe next time!!!

Trying to Be Healthy/Oriental Chicken & Cabbage Salad

I don't think I'm an unhealthy person. In fact, I'm not. I've always been fairly healthy. But I married a man who is always wanting to "try to be healthier" so I guess that's been on my mind lately. We even bought some pedometers a little while ago to see how much walking we did in  a day. Did you know that to be considered "active" you should be taking 10,000 steps a day? I only met this goal once in the few weeks we were tracking ourselves, and I was tired at the end of that day! Guess I'd better "step it up" huh? :)

Yes, it's clipped to my pajamas. At the end of  this day I only had 7587 steps...and that was pretty good for me!

Going healthy seems to be an emerging theme in the food world. On the Food Network now they always have the one person on the Next Food Network Star or similar competitions who is the "healthy food promoter" contestant. I don't think any of these people have won yet, but someday soon they probably will. Which is good! It certainly wouldn't hurt America to eat healthier and feel healthier.

Summer seems to be the easiest time for healthy living for me. Fresh produce helps out a lot. Good weather and excuses to exercise (going on hikes, picnics, parks, walks, bike rides, swimming, etc) present themselves more often than in the winter. Last night my husband persuaded me to go on a walk. He brought along his frisbee (one of his favorite things) and we passed it back and forth a bit. And it was just a little thing, and we only walked a mile, and we only walked, which isn't very fancy or hard core, but it made me feel the tiniest bit healthier. 

I looked back over my recipes about a month ago to judge how healthy my recipes have been. I'm going to try to do better to put up delicious AND healthy recipes in the future. 

I guess I'll start out kind of cliche and go with a salad. This salad has sugar in it, but other than that it's pretty healthy. Good enough for MY blog at least! I recently made this salad for the closing social my group of school counseling program friends had. It's easy and impressive. When my mom first started making it, everyone would ask her for the recipe and it became a tradition for her to bring it to all the family and church gatherings. I think it's time to bring it back!

I didn't remember to take a picture of my salad, but this is basically how it looks. Good, huh?

Oriental Chicken & Cabbage Salad

2 cups diced or shredded chicken 

4 cups shredded cabbage

1 package Raman Noodles (or 2 if you're feeling crunchy :) )

4 green onions

Optional: 1/2 cup slivered almonds or water chestnuts

Chop everything up and add to a bowl. If you're taking this dish to an event, don't add the dressing until just before you get there. You don't want the Ramon Noodles to get soggy or the cabbage to get wilted from the dressing.

Dressing:

2 T. sesame seeds

1/4 cup vinegar

1/4 cup salad oil

2 T. sugar

1/2 t. salt

Season packet from noodles

Whisk or shake or stir it all together and pour on the salad just before serving. The dressing is my favorite part!

See, it's easy!

Husband's Reaction: He doesn't remember, but I made a simpler version of this salad for him while we were dating. He didn't like it then. I think it was just cabbage, dressing, and noodles, so that's understandable. But when I made it a few weeks ago he told me it was really good. He especially liked the chicken, which is no surprise. . . my husband thinks adding chicken to most dishes is the best thing to do!

Lemon Chicken with Hollandaise Sauce

What can I say? It's a Monday. Finals are coming. And finding a job is not the funnest activity. End of story. But when life gives you lemons, what do you do? Make lemon chicken with hollandaise sauce, of course!!! 

Lemon Chicken with Hollandaise Sauce

No real recipe for this one.  Buy a hollandaise sauce mix at the grocery store and make it that way. . . sooo much easier than making it from scratch, and better too (in my mind).  Put a little lemon juice in the sauce to brighten it up.  Bake or grill some chicken, and pour the sauce on top. If you're on a fancy date or something, throw a lemon slice on top. Done! This idea was stolen from working at a wedding reception center for 7 years or so. We got to try the meals we served at wedding luncheons, and this one was always my favorite. 

Brushetta Appetizer

I've been sick all week with strep throat, and I'm bored out of my mind. So, I started looking through the many, many pictures of food I have not yet put up on this blog, and these are the ones that happened to catch my eye. 

I actually made these on Sunday for my husband, but these pictures are probably from the summertime, when we had fresh tomatoes in our garden. 

I don't even know where this recipe comes from. (I mean, orignially, Italy probably? but I don't know exactly how it got to me). My mom made them for us a few times when I lived at home, and I think she told me how. No matter how these tasty little bites came to be in my recipe repertoire, my husband and I LOVE them, and I wanted to share.

First thing you need to do is get some kind of little bread slices to put your toppings on. We have always been able to find day old bread that is already sliced up at our neighborhood Smiths store. You could also buy a baguette or other similar-shaped bread, or make your own if you're feeling tricky! The most important things are to use appetizer-sized pieces and bread that isn't too soft; you want it a little crunchy.

Next, dice up some tomatoes, shred some mozzarella cheese, and find your Italian Seasoning or dried Basil in the spice cupboard (either or both will do).

Brush your bread with a little olive oil and lay them on a metal baking sheet, layer the tomato dices and then cheese on top, and sprinkle with Italian Seasoning or Basil. Broil in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until the cheese starts to brown.

Voila! Now you're ready to impress all your friends with your Italian appetizers.

Husband's Reaction: He tasted something like this at a wedding reception we went to once, and I thought, "Hey, I can make that!" So I did. And now he will love me forever! He seriously could probably eat these every day, but I like to keep them special and only make them once in a while.

Midterms

Midterms are ruining my style in the kitchen. I do not have time to cook or do the dishes it requires (remember that we do NOT have a dishwasher). I'm relying on easy, fast meals this week. Tonight we had pasta! Tomorrow I'm thinking BLTs with carrot sticks! And the day after that (the day of my very hard, very big test) I think we will go for grilled cheese! (Maybe my husband will even make it for me in his special "grilled cheese maker" (see below for a picture).

I am not a huge fan of this handy machine, just because it seems to make the crust on my grilled cheese so hard. I like the old fashioned way of making them in a pan. But if my husband is willing to cook, I'm not complaining. And if I'm really lucky he'll make me his specialty: pizza sandwiches! (hint, add pizza sauce to a grilled cheese, use the little sandwich maker, and you're good to go)

Crock Pot Salsa Chicken from Erica

Salsa Chicken from Erica's blog, Messerly Moments.

This girl's blog is so much fun to keep up on. She posts way more than recipes, inspires me to try to keep up on my blog better, and seems to always be having a party of one kind or another. Her blog inspired me to try this Salsa Chicken recipe a while ago, and I finally got around to it yesterday. So easy and yummy. Try it.

3 frozen chicken breasts
1 can drained diced tomatoes, corn, and black beans
1/2 diced onion
any seasonings you like (I used salt, pepper, taco seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes, red pepper flakes, and chili powder)

Cook in crock pot on low for 8 hours, sprinkle cheese over top and serve with sour cream and tortilla chips!

Of course, I didn't follow the recipe exactly (do I ever?) and added some green onion and lots of spices. I served mine with rice and no sour cream (cuz we were out). I also used thawed chicken thighs and cooked mine on high for 3 hours and then low for one hour. It worked!

The next day I made a salad out of the leftover salsa mixture (the chicken was sadly all gone), rice, lettuce, and tortilla chip crumbs. It was a nice little lunch and a good way to use up the leftovers!

Husband's Reaction: He started dancing in his chair! How embarrassing, sweetie. :)

Valentine's Day Report

I have some pictures taken on Valentine's Day. They're not exciting enough to frame or display anywhere really, so I thought I'd use them here. So, here is a little casual photo report on a fun day of celebration that was desperately needed!

First of all....last Valentine's Day is a day not to be mentioned...we'll just say it didn't turn out so great. Probably my fault. I'll take the blame. But! Forget that, because this year was awesome! Danny was so sweet to listen to all my little wants and suggestions. He doesn't have much time, but he made sure to make the day special for me (we celebrated on Saturday, because our Tuesdays are jam packed). So, we went at  night after slaving away all day on homework.

He opened the car door for me and these two things were sitting on my seat:

 Look at how smug he is for being sneaky.

 We went to dinner here:

 Good dinner...we ate just the right amount....but we didn't leave a tip...we forgot that was going to be an issue. Oops. Sorry waitress lady who only cleared our plates! I don't know if you deserved a tip anyway! (Danny says she did).

 Then we went ice skating, which was fun for me and painful for Danny. :)
And when we got back to the car, he reached behind my seat and pulled out this!

 Yep, he is DOUBLE sneaky!

 The valentine said something and then he wrote "if I could buy you a dress it would look like this"---cuz I always tell him to buy me clothes. I'm cool like that.

We got matching bracelets from the ice skating place. Cute!

And we ended the night with a double feature of these two movies....kind of lame, but we had fun.

 The END!!

Valentine's Sugar Cookies

Here they are! The cookies I promised. This recipe came from a blog called All Things Thrifty. A lot of people I know have been making sugar cookies this Valentine's Day. I guess those soft, heart-shaped, frosting-covered cookies are a good way to say "I love you," even if only to yourself. :)

Remember how I said something like, "stay tuned to check out how creative I can be with no cookie cutters or sprinkles?" You will see two little heart cookies in these pictures. I made those with a drinking glass to cut out a circle and then I used a butterknife to make a heart. I lost interest after making two. So my husband got round cookies, no sprinkles, conversation hearts, and overly pink frosting. He's so lucky!

Ingredients:
3 sticks of salted butter softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
5 cups of all purpose flour


Directions:

*Cream the softened butter and sugar together until it is nice, smooth, and fluffy.

*Next, add the eggs one at a time to the butter mixture.

*Add the vanilla. 

*Gradually add the flour and baking powder. Make sure that all the flour is mixed into the dough.

*Chill dough for 1-2 hours to stiffen up the dough. (very important step)

*When your dough has been chilled for the alloted time, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

*On a clean counter top, generously sprinkle powdered sugar (yep...not flour) onto the counter and begin rolling the dough with a rolling pin. Make sure to add some powdered sugar to your rolling pin and to the top of the dough to prevent it from sticking. (Keep adding a little powdered sugar as needed throughout this process).


*Use cookie cutters to cut out your desired shapes and set them on an ungreased cookie sheet (mine stuck, so I greased it on later batches). Make sure there is at least 1 inch or so in between each cookie.

*Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes depending on the size of your cookies. They won't look done, but they are. Do not overcook.

My thoughts: This recipe calls for the cookies to be rolled out in powdered sugar. I tried it both ways: powdered sugar and flour. I don't think it really matters. Flour helps the dough to not stick so badly, and you could skip the chilling step more easily if you use flour. The sugar makes the cookies sweeter, but if you are adding frosting on top they are overly-sweet anyway. I say just use flour, especially if little children are involved...that sugar is sticky!

Husband's Reaction:

He is tired and doing homework. His reaction was to keep asking when the cookies would be done and then to eat one in 3 bites. The heart on his cookie said, "my boy." <3

Coming Soon...

I just decided today that I am making sugar cookies as a Valentine's treat for my wonderful husband.


I've got a FABULOUS recipe, so stay tuned so you can use it too. I also picked up some food coloring at the store today so I can make some pink frosting.


What I don't have are heart-shaped cookie cutters or sprinkles. In fact, I realized the other day that I am completely, and have always been, cookie-cutter-less! I own absolutely no cookie cutters. Sad, right?


Don't worry, I'll use my creative brain and think of a way to save Valentine's Day! Check back later to see how I do it!

Crock Pot Chicken Tostadas

This recipe kind of comes from a crockpot cookbook I have...but I changed it so much you wouldn't recognize it. So! I'm just putting my own version in here.

This chicken can be used in regular tacos too. Or over rice. Or any other way you use shredded chicken. It's good because it tastes a little citrus-y and taco-y. MMMmmm.

My husband's friend showed up for dinner, so he got to be in the picture too.

1/2 medium onion (chopped)
1 small can diced green chilies
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 packet Taco Seasoning
1/8 cup lemon (or lime) juice + 1/2 cup water (just eyeball it and mix them in your 1/4 cup measuring cup)
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Dash Paprika
Dash Chili Powder

1-Combine chopped onion, green chilies, and garlic in bottom of crock pot.
2-Lay chicken breasts on top.
3-Pour water/lemon juice mixture over chicken.
4-Sprinkle Taco Seasoning, Paprika, and Chili powder over chicken.

Set crock pot on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2-2 1/2 hours.

When done, remove chicken from liquid. Use 2 forks to shred chicken. Use a slotted spoon or strainer to get the onion and chilies out of the liquid. Add to the chicken. Add about 1/4-1/2 cup of the liquid to the chicken to give it some flavor and keep it moist.

Your meat is ready!

Now, gather the rest of the ingredients you want to use on your tostadas. We had tostadas, refried beans, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, and avocado slices. Pile on your favorite ingredients (including the wonderful chicken you just made, of course) and eat!

There's the chicken poking out at the bottom! See it???? Yes.

Husband's Reaction: "This is a dream meal."
Husband's Friend's Reaction: "You can write on your blog that I just said 'so good!' every two minutes."

Zupas Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup

Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup

I found this on Pinterest, and the recipe came from this blog:
http://crowleyparty.blogspot.com/2011/06/wisconsin-cauliflower-soup-zupas.html

Zupa's Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup (with variations by me)

2 tablespoons margarine or butter (1/4 stick)

1 medium onion, chopped (yep, I didn't have any of this, so I left it out and added some onion salt...totally not the same, but it ended up ok)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 spoon salt (I think this means "teaspoon")

2 cups milk

1 can (13 3/4 to 14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth (I used bouillon cubes, two of them, dissolved in 2 cups of boiling water) 

1 head (2 1/2 pounds) cauliflower, cut into 1-inch pieces (I used a bag of frozen cauliflower)

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (haha I used yellow mustard, but almost left it out completely)

1 cup Sharp Cheddar cheese

1 cup Pepper Jack cheese (none at our house, so I used mozzarella and then added pepper to the soup until it tasted good to me)

In 4-quart saucepan, melt margarine or butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until golden, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in flour and salt; cook 2minutes, stirring frequently. Gradually stir in milk, chicken broth, and 1 1/2 cups water; add cauliflower and heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until cauliflower is tender, about 10 minutes. In blender (with center part of blender cover removed to allow steam to escape), blend cauliflower mixture at low speed in small batches until very smooth. Return cauliflower mixture to saucepan; heat over medium heat until hot, stirring occasionally. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in mustard and 1 1/2 cups cheese until melted and smooth. Garnish soup with remaining cheese to serve. 

This was really so easy. I followed the recipe almost exactly (except with my substitutions), and it turned out great! My husband always orders this soup at Zupas, so I made it for him. He said the real kind is a little thicker (maybe I added more water with the bouillon than I should have), and more yellow. But he said the taste was almost exact! 

We ate it with rolls, because that's my favorite way to have any kind of soup.

Husband's Reaction: He was very appreciative that I made soup on a cold, snowy day. When I asked if this was a recipe I should repeat again, he said yes. When I told him it wouldn't hurt my feelings if he said no, he still said yes. I thought it turned out great! I'm making this the next time I have to bring soup to a social gathering.