Thursday, April 14, 2011

Tortilla Soup



My second attempt at soup was easier and also delicious.
I have at least ten different soup recipes bookmarked so It's hard to pick the next on I'm going to make, but I looked so delicious I had to try it. And you know it was good because boyfriend took it to work the next day.  The recipie is from How Sweet It Is.
Tortilla Soup
4-6 servings
2 tbs. olive oil
1 medium onion
1 red pepper
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp cumin
1 pinch of cayenne pepper
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
32 oz low sodium chicken stock
4 oz can of green chilies
1/2 cup enchilada sauce (I used medium for extra spice)
1/4 cup sour cream

In a large pot add olive oil and heat on medium heat.
Chop your onion and pepper and throw them in, saute until soft.
 Mince your garlic cloves and add that, also sprinkle in the cumin and cayenne and stir.
Cut up your chicken into your preferred size chunks or shred them, and brown on each side.
Pour in chicken stock, chilies, and enchilada sauce.
Bring to a boil, reduce and simmer for 30 minuets.
Right before serving, stir in sour cream.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

My First Panini= Best Sandwich I've Ever Made?



Finding something to make for dinner for my and my boyfriend is hard, I'm picky and we both like food with lots of flavor, I thought I was bad about it until I met Josh. So yesterday I searched for hours until I found a meal that sounded good, not to mention that I'm on a budget so I needed something that I didn't have to buy a cartful.
I came across this Italian Panini on Pass the Sushi and It sounded really good with soup, (I'll post the recipe for the soup I made tomorrow), so  I bookmarked it right away. 
Sadly, I do not have a panini press at my parents house, nor my boyfriends, but I knew It could still be delicious.
I defiantly recommend trying this once, Josh and myself loved them, he devoured his within minuets. I know, the bread raised my eyebrows when I bought it, (I found it at Walmart and I was so excited because it was less than $2 and I thought I was going to have to go to a more expensive store to get it.), but it wasn't as hard to cut as I thought. 
I changed the ingredients a little bit, the original recipe called for Fontina cheese, but I used white american cheese; also, I substituted sliced sandwich pepperoni and sliced salami for turkey bacon, its healthier and isn't as greasy as normal bacon. 
Crispy Italian Panini
If you get 1 loaf of the break it'll make 2-3 sandwiches
Focaccia Bread
Olive Oil
Sliced ham, I used brown sugared lunch meat
Turkey, I bought low sodium lunch meat
Turkey Bacon
White American Cheese
Fresh Ground Pepper

Cut the bread into halves or thirds, and then cut them in half through the side so that each pice is a sandwich.
Preheat the panini press or pan to medium heat
Cook the bacon, turkey bacon doesn't take very long
Drizzle olive oil on the inside of your bread slices and add the ground pepper
Layer the meat and cheese as preferred
Put the sandwich in the panini press or in your pan and apply pressure with a spatula. 
If you use a pan, flip the sandwich over  and apply pressure to the other side.
Remove, you can slice it in half if you want and enjoy!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Loaded Baked Potato Soup



Sorry to everyone, I know I haven't posted in a while, I attempted Fried rice last week, but my misfortune made it not post worthy, (don't worry, I'm determined to make it again and master it). In my defense, I had never made rice before in my life. On a positive note, I found my pictures of my baked potato soup that I made maybe a month ago and got excited that I did take pictures, I haven't quite mastered "food photography" yet, but I'm trying!
Also, I've had a couple of people asked me how they could subscribe to my blog; all you have to do is have or make a google account and click "follow" on the right side of the blog, I'm sure if you don't have an account if you click "follow" It will prompt you to create one, If you don't want a google account, follow me on twitter! There is a link at the top of the blog on the banner. I always post an alert when there's a new post, but it is my personal account and you will get all my other posts. So I would say defiantly follow the blog if you like it!
This soup was my first attempt at soup, I've made chili twice, but I don't count chili as a soup.
I was quite pleased with the ending result, soup has always been a favorite of mine and I'm a potato soup fiend. Me and the boyfriend liked it so much, he took some to work the next day for lunch and I froze the rest and we already ate it again.
I got the recipe from Real Mom Kitchen
Loaded Baked Potato Soup
makes 8 servings
4 large baking potatoes or 8 small or medium potatoes
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
6 cups of milk
1 cup of sour cream
4 thinly sliced green onions
10 bacon strips cooked and crumbles
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 




Scrub potatoes, pat dry & cover with foil. Bake for 75 minutes at 350 or until tender; cool completely. Or microwave them like I did until cooked, then peel and cube the potatoes.
In a large pot melt the butter, stir in flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Use a whisk to make sure any lumps from the flour are smoothed out.
Gradually add milk a 2 cups at a time. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for a couple minutes or until thick.
Reduce heat to medium-low. Add potatoes. Heat until warm.  Mix in sour cream.