Monday, June 6, 2011

Blackberry Winter and Soup

It has been really damp and cool the last two days.  My grandparents referred to this as Blackberry winter.  This cool weather is necessary to set the buds on blackberry plants so there will be juicy ripe berries to pick around the fourth of July.  There are a lot of "winters" in our part of the country.  Dogwood winter, redbud winter, strawberry winter and now blackberry winter.  Every time you think warm weather is here, it is time for something else to bloom and we get a little cold spell.  Hopefully, this is the end of them for this year.  I am ready for some consistently warm weather!

Cool days always make me want soup.  Soup is easy, nutritious, and goes a long way for little money.  Today, I am making chicken tortilla soup.  Yum.  This is my own recipe, one that I invented after having chicken tortilla soup in a restaurant.  It was really good and my thought was "I can come close to this!"  I don't always use  recipes, but I am going to share how I make this soup with you so I have been measuring ingredients as I prepare them.  This makes a lot of soup, but we eat it for days.  It is so nice to have something just to warm up when we get hungry and not have to prepare a full meal every time.  Saves money too!  When you make soup, make a lot.  You can freeze some of it for later, you can take some in your lunch and you have a quick and easy dinner when you get home.   You can always add a sandwich if you like, or a  salad.  We like jalapeno cheddar corn muffins with ours.  (see recipe below)
I make this in a 12 quart pot.  It makes about 6 quarts of soup or 1/2 pot.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 32 ounce boxes of chicken stock (I use Aldi's Fit and Active....low sodium, no msg and fat free)
8 cups water
3 boneless/skinless chicken breasts, I get 3 skinless breasts at Aldi's for around $5.00 (or you can boil  a whole chicken if you want to pick it off the bone or use one of the roasted ones from the grocery, just remove the skin)
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces (2 cups)
1 cup carrots peeled and cut into 1/2 inch medallions
l large onion cut into 1 inch pieces
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 can rotelle with chilis
1 15 ounce can black beans drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
1 cup rice
cumin, to taste (I used 1.5 Tbsp)
salt if needed

Grated cheddar cheese
Your favorite tortilla chips

Boil chicken breasts whole in stock and water until done, about 30-40 minutes.  They are done when white all the way through.  Remove breasts.  If the water/stock has gone down a lot due to cooking, I add more water at this point.  I like the pot 1/2 full of liquid.  Add the diced vegetables, crushed tomatoes, rotelle with chilis and let cook until potatoes and carrots are soft. Add black beans, corn and rice, let cook until rice is no longer hard.  At this point, I add cumin and salt to taste. Cumin gives it that lovely smokey taste that makes the soup so good.   Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and add to soup and let heat through.  Time to serve!

 Put chips and cheese on the table in serving bowls.  Add the amount of grated cheese you want to your bowl of soup (it melts fast when soup is hot) and crumble tortilla chips on top of soup.  Enjoy!


Jalapeno cheddar cornbread -- very easy!

Mince 6 or seven pickled jalapeno slices (these are about the size of a nickel, not whole jalpenos)
Grate your favorite cheese (we like cheddar)
1 box jiffy  cornbread mix
1 can creamed corn
1 egg


Add 1 can creamed corn and egg to Jiffy Cornbread mix.  Stir until mix is no longer dry and egg is blended in.  Add jalapenos and about 1/2 cup cheese.  You can bake these as muffins or in a round pan.  We prefer muffins as they are easy to reheat if there are leftovers.  They need to bake a little longer than the box calls for because of the creamed corn.  Bake until golden brown.  Remove.  Delicious with some butter on them.


Our kitchen is filling with the wonderful smell of soup and it's making my mouth water.  I can honestly say I am looking forward to this delicious meal and we will have a few lunches and dinners ready for the rest of the week.   I only used one pot, and a few utensils and bowls.  Now how easy is that?

It is supposed to warm up by the end of the week which will be very welcome, but for tonight, we will be enjoying a delicious, filling meal and I will have a few day's reprieve from meal preparation.  That leaves a LOT more time for all my creative projects.  Give this recipe a try.  I hope you enjoy it.

Everyday Donna

Things to remember:

“You have not lived a perfect day, even though you have earned your money, unless you have done something for someone who will never be able to repay you.” - Ruth Smeltzer





One Thing Always Leads To Another


You know how changing one thing in a room always leads to another change?  That is what happened after I made the shell wreath last week and hung it on the wall.  I liked the way it looked so much, that the centerpiece on the table looked out of place and in need of a little summer "pick me up."

The Old Time Pottery had a big sale a few weeks ago and I purchased some new place mats in a beautiful sea blue color for the table for only $.88 each which was a great price.  There were some napkins that I loved there in blues and tans which reminded me of the beach and ocean for only $.78 each (another bargain), so they all came home with me.  They had been sitting in the sack since then waiting for an inspiration.  The shell wreath was that inspiration.

Because we have to put a leaf in the table when we have company, I like my centerpiece to be something that can be moved easily without dismantling it every time and then having to put it back together.  This is what I came up with for the summer.

This centerpiece is easy and inexpensive. All of these items came from Dollar Tree (where else)?   I used a metal tray from the wedding section, two bags of sea glass in blues, greens and shades of tan,  a small basket of shells, a cylinder vase, two tea light candleholders and some yellow orchids.  If you are not familiar with sea glass, it is glass found on beaches along oceans, bays, rivers or large lakes that has been tumbled and smoothed by the waves, water and sand, creating smooth, frosted shards of glass. (Wikipedia). 
Sea glass comes in lots of different colors and shades and is really beautiful.  There will be another project with sea glass that I will show you later.


I placed the cylinder vase in the center of the tray,  mixed the sea glass so all colors were represented and put some in the bottom of the vase, filling it about 1/3 full.  Then, I set a tea light holder on either side of the vase.  I put 3 of the orchids in the vase and filled it with water.  The orchids were on a bush and I simply pulled three of the flowers off the stems.  The "silk" flowers we buy are really polyester for the most part and will float in water and are MUCH cheaper than real orchids.  Also, they do not have to be replaced every few days which is a plus.  (If you were using this centerpiece for a party or wedding reception, you might choose fresh orchids.)  Now, I mixed the shells and the remaining sea glass around the vase and candle holders on the tray.  I added a tea light to each candleholder and put one to float in the water in the vase.  Could that be any easier?  Total cost for this centerpiece would be $8.00.   This would also be great for a luau party, birthday party, shower or wedding reception.  The orchids are available in several colors, but I chose yellow because it goes with our decor.

Now, I needed some napkin rings.  Here is what I did - cheap and easy.  My two most favorite words.


The wire came from, you guessed it, Dollar Tree!  It also comes in several other colors, but I chose  the blue.  You will need some wire cutters and something round to make your shape.  I used the center from a roll of toilet paper.  I wrapped a piece of wire around the tube, leaving about a 2 inch overlap.   I opened the wire out and cut 5 more pieces the same length because I needed 6 napkin rings.  Next, I wrapped each piece of wire around the tube to make it round in shape and finished the top this way.  Wrap the left side of the wire over the right side, under and over .  Like this:

Now, wrap the left side over and under.  Then, use your wire cutters like pliers and bend the end of the wires into loops like this:
Doing this gives you a place to glue a shell.  I picked 6 shells of approximately the same size, placed a dollop of hot glue on the underside of each shell and placed in on the "figure 8" at the top of the wire.  The shells came from the basket of shells used for the centerpiece.


I placed the shell napkin rings around the napkins and finished decorating the table.  Two of the place mats were turned vertically so it gave the effect of a table runner down the center of the table.  We turn them horizontally when we are having dinner.  I just liked the way it looked.   Now, we have a beach look for summer and it is one more thing to help tie the beach/cottage look of the room together.

We may not have an ocean view out the window, but this will be a reminder of all the wonderful times we have spent at the beach.  Sure wish I was there now!

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

"Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that."

- Norman Vincent Peale