This Week's Sweets and Eats: Don't be Chicken

This week's 'Sweets and Eats'

There are usually two nights a week that we can count on needing a quick and easy dinner. Tuesdays and Wednesday evenings we are out with ministry events. Wednesday nights I don't even plan out a meal on our weekly menu, simply because odds are, it's just not going to work out. It's just a part of our life and we are comfortable with our weekly routine, but there are some weeks where our budget ever so softly reminds us that eating out after church, or running through chick-fil-a just isn't the BEST option. I am always looking for quick and easy meals that require little or no preparation, and this week I hit the jackpot.

With some fresh deli slices, swiss cheese and fresh whole wheat bolillos rolls (which are 8 for $1 just about anywhere I go), I was able to prepare a quick, delicious and cheap meal for us. It didn't make a mess. It didn't require any preparation, and best of all, I didn't have the "this really didn't fit into my budget" guilt. Along with picking up some cold cuts in the deli, I also picked up a rotisserie chicken which we used for sandwiches, and later used the remaining chicken for our Chicken Tortilla Soup. It was already cooked, and I got 3 meals out of it for only $4.98 at Walmart. I cut the rolls in half, piled on the meat (turkey for Seth, shredded chicken for me), added some swiss, salt and fresh cracked pepper, put it in the over on high (broil) for about 5 minutes. Then I added some mayo, deli mustard, oil and vinegar (EVOO and Red Wine Vinegar - Subway style) and BAM... soooooo good.

Like I said, we used the rest of the chicken in a pot of Chicken Tortilla Soup. The flavor from the rotisserie chicken is much better than just plain ol' boiled chicken. Do yourself a favor, and just try it! Don't be a... well, you see where this is going right???

I digress.

This is one of the best, if not the absolute best Tortilla Soup recipe I've ever made. I usually make it 2 or 3 times during the winter months and this time I tried a new recipe which proved to be an excellent idea. Of course, I added some of my own flare to the recipe and here it is: (my changes and additions are in bold)

1	tablespoon	canola oil
1	tablespoon	butter
1	medium	yellow onion, chopped
1	rib	celery, chopped
2	cloves	fresh garlic, minced ( I used 3)
4	cups	chicken stock (I used 2 containers)
1		red bell pepper, chopped
1		poblano pepper or green bell pepper, chopped (I used a poblano)
1/2 1	handful	jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely minced (omitted this) Cilantro
1/2	teaspoon	salt
1/4	teaspoon	pepper
1/2	teaspoon	ground cumin
1/2	teaspoon	ground coriander (I didn't have any, so I omitted this)
1	tablespoon	sugar
1	tablespoon	chili powder (I used 1 tsp because I didn't want it to be too spicy for baby Kai)
15	ounces	can tomato puree
1	tablespoon	Worcestershire sauce
1 1	pound can	cooked chicken, cubed or pulled whole kernel sweet corn
Cheese sauce
2	tablespoons	butter
2	tablespoons	flour
1	cup	heavy cream, half and half or milk
1/2	teaspoon	salt
1/2	teaspoon	pepper
8	ounces	cheese, grated (I used a Mexican Blend)
Garnish
		Tortilla chips, crumbled (or if you can find them, tortilla strips)
		Sour cream
		Fresh cilantro, roughly chopped Chopped Avocado

1. Make the soup: Heat oil and butter in a large stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Sauté onions, celery and garlic until soft.

2. Add a splash of chicken stock, and then the red bell, poblano or green bell and jalapeno peppers. Cook for 2-3 minutes to soften.

3. Add the cilantro and all of the spices (salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, sugar, chili powder), and stir until fragrant

4. Add the remaining chicken stock, tomato puree and Worchestershire sauce. Mix well and bring to boil.

5. Add chicken and corn, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes (or more – the longer a soup simmers, the better!)

6. Make the cheese sauce: Melt butter in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in flour to create a paste.

7. Slowly add the dairy, stirring constantly, until a thick, creamy sauce is formed. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat. Add grated cheese and stir to completely incorporate into the sauce.

8. Add cheese sauce to the soup, stirring to mix well. The soup should now be creamy, but not necessarily spoon-hugging thick.

9. To serve: ladle into bowls, then sprinkle on cilantro. Add a spoonful of sour cream, chopped avocados, and top with tortilla chips/strips

I think that if you were being a little more strict with counting calories that this soup would still be absolutely delicious without the cheese sauce mixed in. I had a small bowl while it was simmering, before I mixed in the sauce, and it was still oh-so tasty.

Now, for the proverbial "icing on top". . . I hate to rub this in if you aren't close to an HEB Central Market, but holy WOW! They have a fresh baked bread section with all sorts of beautiful breads! The jalapeno cheddar has been tempting me for a while now, and after coming off of this fast and having gone 3 weeks with no carbs, I was so weak, and I caved! I'm so glad I did because this was the perfect addition to the soup. I sliced it, buttered it, toasted it, and sprinkled some cheese on top and served the crunchy, chewy, tasty slices with the soup. Total success.

To balance the swiss cheese and carb overload, we mixed some of our own trail mix complete with broken up pieces of rich dark chocolate sprinkled in with the raisins, almonds, cranberries and other goodies. The dark chocolate is a much healthier and more figure-friendly alternative to m&m's. It turned out to be a totally yummy, low-cal, healthy snack! We mixed it all in a huge bowl and then divided it up into air-tight containers so it would keep longer.

That's my version of sweets and eats this week. We are glad to be off of the fast, but still wanting to watch what we eat and continue the weight loss attempt. Seth has lost over 20 lbs and I am right behind him with 14! It feels SO good and is totally worth any food sacrifice that we have to make in order to continue in that direction!

The Daniel Fast

On January 10, me and Seth started a 21 day spiritual journey that has proven to be a great decision. We are about half way through what is known as "The Daniel Fast."

I've had a lot of questions come my way about the fast over the past week and here what what one website that is completely dedicated to the Daniel Fast has to say about it:

What is the Daniel Fast?

"It's a biblically based partial fast based on two accounts of the Prophet Daniel's fasting experiences (seed Daniel 1 and 10) and typical Jewish fasting principles. The Daniel Fast eating plan is similar to a vegan diet with additional restrictions."

Why do it?

"The Daniel Fast is a powerful spiritual experience to help followers of Jesus Christ develop a more intimate relationship with their Lord, seek answers to prayer, and grow in the love and knowledge of the Savior. ...Fasting, when coupled with prayer, serves as a powerful vehicle to draw closer to God. This is a God-designed discipline to enable the Creators people to enter into a focused time of seeking the Father and His wisdom, intervention and direction."

Where does it come from?

Daniel, chapters 2 and 10 from The Bible

"In the Bible, Daniel rejected the foods that the King of Babylon set before him. Likely, the meats were animals that had been sacrificed to idols and gods other than the God of Israel. Daniel and his three companions refused to pollute themselves with the King's delicacies. The principal court official got worried that these young men would become weak. The King would not be happy with this because these young men, along with several other Israelite captives, had been hand selected as the best of them all. He wanted them trained to serve in the palace.

Eating these foods would mean defiling himself before his God, so Daniel requested that the court official give him and his companions a diet of "vegetables and water" for 10 days as a test. At the end of the 10 days they were in better health than the other captives who had been eating the rich food of the King. They went on to have very prominent positions in the King's service." (source)

Basically the Daniel Fast is a 21 day selective fast which consists of a "plant-based" eating plan which basically means fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. This means no meat, dairy, sugar, caffeine, or complex carbs. You can have whole wheat and brown whole grain rice, but no yeast, so that cuts out just about anything but whole wheat tortillas.

That translates for us... no what-a-burger grilled chicken sandwiches, no shrimp, no steak or burgers, no cheese, no ranch dressing, no chocolate, no fajitas, no regular pasta, no sour cream, no ice cream, no frozen yogurt, no soda, (more importantly for me NO DIET DR. PEPPER), no coffee, no pastries, no chick-fil-a (which means no polynesian sauce or chick-fil-a sauce), No french fries, no tiramasu, no cup cakes, no hot wings, no sushi, no sugar, artificial sweetener, no honey.... and the list could go on and on.

I know from that list, you are probably thinking that we eat like there's no tomorrow! We actually keep quite a healthy balance to our diet, but there are always those cravings here and there that you want to satisfy and typically do. That is where the discipline and dedication to the fast comes in, and although we have done a vegan diet before in order to lose weight, our motives aren't weight loss.

Today is day 8. This is a very popular practice in the Christian faith and several of our friends are also participating in it as well as Christians from all over the nation from January 10-31. (some do it from Jan 1-21)

To people who have never eaten vegetarian or vegan, it is a totally foreign concept that you can cook hearty, delicious meals even with such strict limitations. I love to cook, and I love the challenge of cooking great tasting, healthy food. I have periodically posted pictures and updates about our menu over the past 8 days and have had several comments and texts about posting some of the recipes that we have used. So here is what we've been eating. They are all SO easy! (excuse the poor quality photos, I took these with my poor little beat-up iphone)

Vegetarian fajitas on whole wheat tortillas with guacamole and pico.

We grilled up some red and green bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, and zucchini. Seasoned it. Make some homemade guac and pico and there it is! SO easy and yummy! (if you buy guac, pico or salsa from the store, be sure to buy organic and read the label!)

Boca Burger Wraps with grilled potatoes

We actually used an organic brand of portobello mushroom burgers, cooked them, cut them in half, added lettuce, guac and some onion on a whole wheat tortilla. Then I grilled up some chopped potatoes, onions and mushrooms with some seasoning which made a nice little hash.

Stir-fry with brown rice and veggies

Just what it says! You can buy some frozen stir fry veggies in the freezer section of you grocery store. Basically just throw it all together with some soy sauce and there you have it! Some tips: Fried rice makes better with day old, chilled rice. Sesame seeds are a nice addition to fried rice.

The best vegetarian chili in the world

We got this recipe from here, but I added a little more to it.

(my additions in italics)

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon of Tony Chachere's (for my illinois friends, this is just a popular cajun seasoning down in these parts. If I remeber correctly A few places up north started carrying it before I moved)
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 green bell peppers, chopped
• 2 jalapeno peppers, chopped (we only added 1, and it was mild enough for Baby Kai to eat, but still had a nice kick to it)
• 3 zucchinis, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chile peppers, drained (used fire-roasted)
• 2 (12 ounce) packages vegetarian burger crumbles
• 3 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, crushed
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn

• Directions

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and season with bay leaves, cumin, oregano, and salt. Cook and stir until onion is tender, then mix in the celery, green bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, garlic, and green chile peppers. When vegetables are heated through, mix in the vegetarian burger crumbles. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 5 minutes.
  2. Mix the tomatoes into the pot. Season chili with chili powder and pepper. Stir in the kidney beans, garbanzo beans, and black beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 45 minutes. Stir in the corn, and continue cooking 5 minutes before serving.

Made with Love, for Love

As promised, I did not buy my husband a box of chocolates... instead, me and Missy, made them! Nothing too fancy, just some homemade "X" and "O"cookies and lots of different goodies dipped in milk and white chocolate and sprinkles!

It was easy and so much fun and the end results were so precious!

Here's a cupcake order I did this weekend for a baby shower too! Lots of baking and making going on lately! Love it!

Happy Cuddling

Right at this moment there are HUGE fluffy snowflakes falling from the sky. We are expected to get 2 - 4 inches of snow by this evening, which isn't too big of a deal, but it's just enough to give you an excuse to curl up next to someone on the couch with a cup of hot cocoa and a good movie!

Tonight we are cooking at our place with some dear friends and then we will be going to a high school basketball game to support some of our students who play and cheer. After that I will without a doubt put this blog into action! =)

Here's a recipe I found today that I just might try out tonight:

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/3 cup boiling water
• 3 1/2 cups milk
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup half-and-half cream
• 
  
• Directions
• Combine the cocoa, sugar and pinch of salt in a saucepan. Blend in the boiling water. Bring this mixture to an easy boil while you stir. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn't scorch. Stir in 3 1/2 cups of milk and heat until very hot, but do not boil! Remove from heat and add vanilla. Divide between 4 mugs. Add the cream to the mugs of cocoa to cool it to drinking temperature.

Happy Cuddling!!!

Controlled Chaos.... and cake

Cake is not on my diet, but if it was, this is the one I would want to eat.

A lot is going on in our lives right now. Besides the normal business, a dear friend and co-worker lost her 20 year old son, Jamie, in Afghanistan last week. The visitation is tonight and the funeral is tomorrow. Everything is taking place at the church where me and Seth work, so we've been a bit busy with helping with preparations. We are so proud of Jamie and the amazing sacrifice he made so that we can live in a country that is free. We feel beyond blessed to live in a country that is so bravely protected by so many heroes such as himself. Please pray for this precious family as they walk through such a difficult season.

I am currently switching all of my file over to my new...drum roll please.... my new mac!

After this week and all of it's events are over and I have all of my files moved and organized I plan to jump back on the blogging train. I apologize for the lack of posts lately. It has nothing to do with my lack of inspiration or not wanting to inspire others. We've just been very "caught up" with life, which isn't a bad thing at all, just a season of chaos that we have had little control over. Sometimes "too busy" just happens, whether we want it to or not. Being busy does no good to anyone or anything if you are not being productive. Busy is just becoming a way of life to us...as well as most people I know. To be productive in the busy times you have to rest and stop and smell the tulips in the "less busy" times. Blogging is one of my ways of stopping to smell the tulips in the less chaotic moments. I am continually inspired, which in return give me enough fuel to make it through the more chaotic seasons of life.

If you're going to be busy, figure out how to have fun while you're busy being busy. Learn to relax. Control your chaos. Find rest. Prioritize priorities. Don't just exist. Make time to make a difference.

XOXO

That's all for now.

Be back soon.

Thank you for sticking with me.

=)

*Karis*Rochelle*

Apples of My Eye: Two for Tea... or Maybe Just One

There's nothing quite as tranquil and relaxing as a fresh cup of hot tea.

I could always go for a fresh cup, but I believe that there is just something remarkable about putting on the kettle and enjoying a cup in the middle of an anxiety saturated day.

It brings calm. It requires you to stop and enjoy the few seconds that you have with just you... and your tea cup of choice.

I go through tea phases, but right now I've been doing a lot of hanging out with Earl Grey. Just a touch of sweetener and a drop of cream.... perfect.

I vote that we institute a mandatory "Tea Time" every day.

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