Cilantro-Lime Chicken Soup

My friends at Southern Living tweeted this morning that February 4 is National Homemade Soup Day... which is very fitting since it seems to also be turning into a national snow day! Evan and I are both home QUITE early from work due to the snow... and although this isn't on our menu for the day (because I don't have the ingredients at home), I thought I would share one of my favorite homemade soup recipes with you. I got this recipe from my Aunt Sally and my cousin, Chris, a few years ago when they made it for our family Thanksgiving dinner (my dad's side of the family always has mexican food for Thanksgiving... which I think is a very fun tradition :)).

Cilantro-Lime Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

2 T. olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 T. chili powder

2 chicken breast halves, cut into pieces

5 cups chicken broth

1 cup frozen corn

1 C. petite diced tomatoes

1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro sprigs, tied with kitchen string

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

Directions:

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan on medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; saute until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add chili powder; stir 1 minute. Add chicken; cook, stirring 2 minutes. Add broth, corn, tomatoes and 1/2 bunch cilantro sprigs to saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Discard cilantro sprigs. Add chopped cilantro and lime juice to soup. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with sour cream. Serve with tortilla strips.

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Happy snow day from the big brother and thank you for your sweet comments and prayers that "little brother" will come home soon! :)

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Today's post comes from some quality time that I've been spending with my mom lately. And today's recipe comes from a cookbook that I gave my mom for Christmas a long, long time ago... and it's a delicious recipe if I do say so myself.

A few days ago, my mom called me because she was in a time crunch and she needed some help. She needed to make two recipes of tortilla soup for a women's dinner that she was going to and also one recipe of tortilla soup to leave at home for my dad and brother to eat... and she only had about an hour to cook! haha She told me that if I would come help her get all of the soup cooked in time that she would give me the leftover ingredients to take home and cook for our dinner. Obviously, I would have helped her without the incentive but tortilla soup did sound delicious and free ingredients are always nice! :)

*****Rabbit trail... but speaking of my mom, she was my running (and by running, I mean walking) buddy in the Race For The Cure this past weekend and we had the best time! :) Evan, my dad and our little Westies stood on the sidelines to cheer us on! Here is one of the very few pictures that we took and unfortunately, we forgot to take one with the boys in it!*****

And here's the recipe... without a picture... but with a promise that you'll love it! :)

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

1 (4 oz) can chopped green chiles

1 (14 oz) can stewed tomatoes

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken (or turkey)

4 cups chicken stock

1 (10 oz) can tomato soup

1 t. ground cumin

1/2 t. lemon pepper

2 t. chili powder

2 t. worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

5 corn tortillas

vegetable oil

1 or 2 avocados chopped

shredded cheddar cheese

sour cream

Directions:

Combine green chiles, tomatoes, onion and garlic in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes. Add the chicken, chicken stock, tomato soup, cumin, lemon pepper, chili powder, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Simmer, covered for 1 hour. Cut the tortillas into strips and saute them in a small amount of oil in a skillet. Drop tortillas into soup. Heat for 10 to 20 minutes but do not boil. Place the avocados and shredded cheese in soup bowls and ladle the soup into the bowls. Garnish with sour cream.

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And finally, if you want to make this soup in style, then you'll head on over to my friend, Lindsey's, blog and enter her giveaway for a fabulous soup pot. I am actually drooling over the pot myself, but since I won her last giveaway, she told me that I wasn't allowed to win this time! haha :) The giveaway ends today, so hurry over and check it out!

White Chili

If you follow me on Twitter then you know that Evan and I went to the Carrie Underwood concert on Tuesday night... and LOVED every second of it! But we stayed up way past our bedtime and we were both exhausted on Wednesday so I needed a SUPER easy recipe for Wednesday night's dinner... and the first recipe that came to my mind was White Chili. I mean, the hardest part is opening the cans... it's almost shocking how fast you can have dinner on the table with this recipe! Oh and it's also delicious and very comforting while being healthy all at the same time! Can we say, "Keeper"? :)

White Chili

Ingredients:

2 cans chicken broth

2 cans great northern beans

2 cans chopped green chiles

2 cans chopped cooked chicken

1 small onion, diced

1 t. garlic

1 1/2 t. cumin

1 can green chile enchilada sauce

Directions:

Pour all ingredients into soup pot and simmer until hot. Serve with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream, if desired.

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Here are a few pictures... you'll have to forgive this meal for not being super photogenic... since that's it's one and only flaw! :)

If you couldn't already tell, this recipe is definitely one of my favorites! Give it a try on your next busy night! :)

Poppy Seed Chicken

So, the other day, Evan and I were eating lunch and I said, "What do you want to have for dinner tonight?" He didn't know so he said he would think about it. A few hours later, Evan called me and said, "Can we have something with water chestnuts in it?" hahahahahahaha What?? Water chestnuts?? SO random... even more random if you know how picky he was when we first started dating... if it wasn't a hot dog, a chicken strip or a cheeseburger, he wasn't interested!! Anyway, after I stopped making fun of him (and being proud of how far he has come), I decided to make Poppy Seed Chicken... because my recipe calls for (you guessed it) water chestnuts!! :)

I realize that everyone has a Poppy Seed Chicken recipe... but since they are all different, I thought I would share mine anyway!

Poppy Seed Chicken

Ingredients:

4-5 Chicken Breasts, cooked and diced

2 1/4 oz. pkg. sliced almonds

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

3 T. poppy seeds

1 (8 oz.) can sliced water chestnuts, drained

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 (8 oz) carton sour cream

1 sleeve of crushed Ritz crackers

1/2 stick of margarine, melted

Directions:

Spread chicken in a lightly greased 9x13 dish. Scatter mushrooms, almonds and water chestnuts over chicken. Mix soups and sour cream together. Pour mixture over ingredients in casserole dish. Spread cracker crumbs over soup. Pour melted margarine over crumbs. Sprinkle 3 T. poppy seeds over crackers. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

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I served it over white rice and with steamed broccoli... here's one more picture that really showcases the water chestnuts ;)

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And finally, because the majority of this post has been spent picking on my fabulous husband, I will brag on him for just a minute! :) My birthday was on Tuesday and one of the gifts he gave me was this AMAZING sign for my kitchen. He found the quote and had the sign made just for me... He designed it himself! I. Love. It.

Did I mention that I LOVE it?? In fact, I love it more than Evan loves water chestnuts! :)

Classic Chicken Tetrazzini

As you probably know by now, I am an avid Southern Living Magazine reader. I love everything about this magazine... really, everything. I finally read my way through the September issue last night and I was so inspired! It made me so proud to be southern but it also made me hungry and even made me laugh! Here is the recipe (from SLM of course) that I cooked and LOVED last night:

Classic Chicken Tetrazzini

Ingredients:

1 1/2 (8 oz) packages vermicelli

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

4 cups milk

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 T. chicken bouillon granules

1 t. seasoned pepper

2 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese, divided

4 cups diced cooked chicken

1 (6 oz) jar sliced mushrooms, drained (I used fresh)

3/4 cup slivered almonds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, melt butter in a Dutch oven over low heat; whisk in flour until smooth. Cook 1 minute, whisking constantly. Gradually whisk in milk and wine; cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, 8 to 10 minutes or until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Whisk in bouillon granules, seasoned pepper, and 1 cup Parmesan cheese. Remove from heat; stir in diced cooked chicken, sliced mushrooms, and hot cooked pasta. Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 13x9 inch baking dish; sprinkle with slivered almonds and remaining 1 cup Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until bubbly.

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And now, in honor of both my beloved magazine and premiere week (one of the greatest weeks of the year for a tv lover such as myself), I give you the page in Southern Living September 2010 that made me laugh:

Dear Hollywood: An open letter to our friends in showbiz, bless their hearts

by Amy Bickers

Southern Living, September 2010

Attention, Tinsel Town. As the fall TV season begins, we hope you aren’t tempted once again to dust off those Southern stereotypes that make us cringe. An example: the crime show that featured a cold case in Nashville and depicted the city’s police chief as a man who asked people to call him Big Daddy. Seriously? In a city with right around 600,000 people? We think it’s high time we let you in on a little secret. Contrary to what you might think, it’s really not all moonlight and magnolias down here. It’s not all cats on hot tin roofs, either.

For starters, Southern women do not go around saying things like “Why, I nev-aaaahhh!” or “I do declare!” (Okay, sometimes we do say that stuff, but we’re kidding. The same is true when we yell “Free Bird!” at, say, a Celtic Woman concert. We are in on the joke.) More than 70 years have passed since Scarlett stood on that hill and bellyached about Tara, yet you can visit your local cineplex or turn on the tube any day of the week and hear actresses doing that accent. And frankly, my dears, we do give a, er, care about how very wrong that is, especially when they’re playing truck drivers or steelworkers. But, in your defense, it’s easier to channel Scarlett than to nail the difference between a New Orleans accent, which sounds like Brooklyn on gumbo, and a West Texas accent, which is as dead level as the prairie it came from. Kudos to the HBO drama Tremefor getting it right. Then again, it’s filmed in the city and casts actual New Orleanians, so the real props go to our fellow Southerners for keeping it real. (As for the accents of those Louisiana vampires in True Blood? No. Just no.)

Using actual Southerners doesn’t always help, though. Southern-born celebs are sometimes the worst offenders. We won’t name names, but we’re looking at you, Julia R. Even Reese Witherspoon, who did our beloved June Carter proud in Walk the Line and was just a pistol in her Man in the Moon debut, veered offtrack in a film we won’t name, playing a New York City fashion designer who hides her Southern past because she grew up in a trailer with a Civil War-re-enacting daddy and a mama who makes bologna cake. Who among us has ever heard of bologna cake? Does that take buttercream frosting?

Stereotypes are tempting—we get that. And if you need to telegraph “Southern,” the easy route is to trot out Bubba or Big Daddy and have him drawl like Foghorn Leghorn while driving a pickup and spitting into a dip cup. But the thing is, we love the South. We live in it, and not, for the most part, in rusted-out camper trailers or Greek Revival mansions. You’d be shocked if we told you how few of us have verandas. Are you sitting down? Some of us live in condos.

And one last thing: We have air conditioning. You know, that thing that makes it feel cooler inside than it is outside? We do have it. And that is why we do not sweat indoors. We do not glisten and fan ourselves while sitting in courthouses or hospitals or grocery stores. In fact, because of the South’s obsession with AC, our public buildings are often so cold in the summer that we have to keep a sweater handy in July. Stop showing us sweating, please. Unless it’s Texas native Matthew McConaughey and he’s “lost” his shirt yet again. We’ll give you a pass on that one.

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There's nothing like comfort food and a good laugh to brighten your day!! Thanks to Southern Living for delivering, once again! ;)

Grilled Pepper-Jack Chicken and Succotash

I got my September issue of Food Network Magazine in the mail a few days ago and the meal on the cover looked so delicious that I just had to make it ASAP!!

So, for dinner last night, we had grilled pepper-jack chicken and succotash!! It's a keeper recipe for sure. It only took about 30 minutes to make and there were no leftovers! :)

Grilled Pepper-Jack Chicken and Succotash

Ingredients:

4 oz. pepper-jack cheese, shredded

2 cups baby arugula, roughly chopped

2 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 T. olive oil plus more for brushing

1 1/2 to 2 T. cajun spice blend

vegetable oil, for the grill

1 cup frozen lima beans, thawed

1 medium yellow summer squash, diced

2 cups corn kernels

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

juice of 1 lime

Directions:

Combine the cheese and arugula in a bowl. Cut a deep 2-inch-wide pocket in the thickest part of each chicken breast with a paring knife. Stuff with the arugula mixture. Brush with olive oil and season with cajun spice blend. Preheat grill to high and brush the grates with vegetable oil. Grill the chicken until blackened and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 155 degrees, 8-10 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over high heat. Add the lima beans, squash and corn, season with salt and cook until the squash is just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice.

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Now, on a slightly related note (since the recipe came from Food Network magazine), does anyone else watch The Next Food Network Star???

I am SO obsessed with this show and I look forward to it all year long!! I LOVED the finale on Sunday night but I am so sad that it's over now!! And can we talk about the winner?

I just LOVE little Aarti Paarti!! I can't wait to watch her show because I have never in my life cooked anything Indian and I really look forward to learning how to do it!!

What do you think? Do you watch the show? Were you pleased with the outcome? Will you watch Aarti's new show?

Jambalaya and Blueberry Salad

Hey guys!

It's me, Jack... my mommy is busy today so I am writing this one for her!

I wanted to tell you about the funnest night that we had about a week ago! My mom's friend, Haleigh, came over to eat dinner with us and she brought her son (with fur, like me!) over too! His name is Bentley and I have been playing with him since I was a baby so we are very good friends!! It was SO much fun... too bad my mom forgot to take a picture of us! Anyway, Miss Haleigh brought treats for Bentley and Me and dessert for the grownups and my mommy made Jambalaya and Blueberry Salad... that was for the grownups too! Here are the recipes and a few pictures of the food... because even though mommy forgot to take a picture of Bentley and me, she sure didn't forget about the food! ha!

Jambalaya

Ingredients:

2 smoked sausage links, sliced

2 chicken breasts, finely chopped

(you can either choose between the above two ingredients or use both)

3 cups converted rice

1 cup celery, chopped finely

3 t. salt

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

1/4 cup oil

1/2 t. black pepper

all-purpose cajun seasoning to taste

water as needed

Directions:

Place oil in the bottom of pot; saute onions, garlic, celery and meat until dark brown. Add 1/2 cup water and simmer for 10 minutes. Add seasonings and about five more cups of water (may substitute chicken broth if desired). Bring water to rolling boil. Add rice and stir. Let rice and water boil until water thickens and rice absorbs the liquid, stirring as little as possible. When the liquid is absorbed, cover with a tight fitting lid and simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes.

Blueberry Salad

Ingredients:

Lettuce

Avocados

Red Onion

White (shoepeg) corn

Cashews

Tomatoes

Dressing Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup vinegar

1 pkg. frozen blueberries

1 cup oil

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

2 T. dry mustard

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup poppy seeds

Directions for dressing:

Heat two cups of vinegar. Add one package of frozen blueberries to hot vinegar. Let vinegar stand for as long as possible. Strain berries and use 1/2 cup blueberry vinegar in making dressing. (Sprinkle the blueberries over the salad). Mix the 1/2 cup of blueberry vinegar in with all the remaining dressing ingredients and pour over salad.

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Hope you guys enjoy what the grownups ate!! They sure seemed to like it!! Oh! I almost forgot to show you a picture of the pretty cupcakes that Miss Haleigh brought!!

Aren't they pretty? I sure wish I could have tasted one!! Thanks Miss Haleigh for being such a good friend to my mommy and for bringing Bentley over to play with me!!

I hope everyone has a good weekend!!

Love, Jack

Pray For Us Friday

Pray For Us Friday is back!!! And I am SO excited about it!!

Today we are praying for...

Anna Kintigh and her family

In October of last year, Anna's husband stepped down from his pastoral position because the church that he was serving in was having financial problems and they could no longer pay his salary without cutting the funding for missions.

Since that time, he has been working for Anna's parents as he tries to find a new pastoral position. In addition to the job search, they have been trying to sell their house since last September.

About a week ago, the Kintigh's had their second interview with a church and they finally feel like this is where God wants them to be... but they still haven't sold their house.

Anna told me that she believes strongly in the power of having many pray on her family's behalf and I couldn't agree more! Please join me in praying that the Kintigh's house will sell VERY soon so that their whole family (they also have 2 small children) can be together and settled in a new home when Anna's husband begins his new position!!

And here is the recipe that Anna shared with us!!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

1 lb. chicken, cooked and cut up

2 t. oil

1 cup chopped onions

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 (14.5 oz) can of whole tomatoes with juice

1 (24 oz) can tomato sauce

6 cups chicken broth

1 cup frozen corn

2 t. ground chili powder

1 t. salt

2 t. dried basil

2 t. ground cumin

2 T. diced canned chilies

2 T. lime juice

1 can black beans

Directions:

Add all ingredients into a pot and bring to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes. If you like a bolder taste, you can add ingredients into a pot or crock pot and cook for longer. Garnish with Cilantro, cheese, sour cream, salsa and chips.

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Anna, thank you so much for sharing your prayers and your recipe today. We will definitely intercede on your family's behalf and thank God for answering your first prayer of finding a new church home and a new position for your husband!

Please let us know when your house sells! :)

Evan In The Kitchen

I knew Evan was a GREAT griller... and I knew Evan was a GREAT chopper... but I had NO IDEA that Evan is a GREAT cook!! :)

On Friday afternoon, Evan called me and told me that he planned to cook dinner for me that night. Now, I have a lot of faith in my husband but he has never in his life cooked a whole meal by himself... so I was a little nervous.

But it seriously turned out SO great! He chose a great recipe that neither of us had ever made before and he executed it perfectly... and I wasn't even allowed in the kitchen! Now that I know his secret skills, he may be cooking a lot more often! :)

Here's Evan's recipe:

Paprika Chicken With Mushrooms

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

smoked paprika

salt and pepper to taste

garlic powder

1/4 cup butter

1 onion, sliced into thin rings

1 lb. sliced fresh mushrooms

Directions:

Pound the chicken breasts into 1/2 inch thickness. Sprinkle both sides of each chicken breast liberally with paprika, salt, pepper and garlic powder. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Arrange chicken breasts in the pan, cover, and cook for 10 minutes. Turn chicken breasts over and layer the thinly sliced onions and mushrooms on top of the chicken. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Remove lid and mix onions and mushroom into the butter sauce. Reduce heat to low, and cook uncovered for 5 minutes.

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Here are a few pictures... Evan served the chicken over white rice with a side of asparagus!

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Great job, Dad!! Mom and I are REALLY proud of you!!!

Love, Jack

Pray For Us Friday

Today we are praying for...

Brittany, Jeremy and Rhett

They are going through a difficult time as both Brittany's mom and Jeremy's mom are dealing with cancer in some way. I don't want to get any of the details wrong, so, I will let Brittany tell you in her own words:

"My mother in law has been battling colon cancer for a little over a year. At the end of last week, she ended up in the emergency room in severe pain. She was hospitalized, and this Monday had another (her third) surgery. (The second surgery in about 2-3 weeks). She is winning her battle, but has been through a lot and has a long road ahead. Could you please ask for prayer for her healing, strength, and strength for her family as they watch her battle (and win) this terrible disease!

Secondly, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer 3 years ago. She had a double mastectomy, and has since had several (too many to count) surgeries to reconstruct her breasts. The reconstructions have all failed, either developing severe infections, leaking, etc. She is scheduled for another reconstruction this Tuesday (a much more serious one using her own tissue—and one that will keep her in ICU over night). I would really appreciate prayers for quick healing for her as this has been a long journey. I would also appreciate prayers for the doctors performing the surgery."

That is a lot for one family to handle! Please please join me in praying for Brittany's and Jeremy's moms and both of little Rhett's grandmas during this time.

And here is the recipe that Brittany shared with us:

Quick Chicken Parm Pasta

Ingredients:

2 cups Rotini pasta, uncooked

1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen, chopped broccoli

1 (6 oz.) pkg. pre-cooked fajita style chicken strips (Recommended: Oscar Mayer)

2 T. olive oil

1/4 to 1 cup of grated parmesan cheese

1 tomato, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Cook pasta as directed on package, omitting salt. Meanwhile, microwave broccoli on high in a medium microwavable bowl for 5 minutes. Stir in chicken and microwave 2 minutes or until heated through; drain. Drain pasta, place in a large bowl. Add oil and cheese, toss to coat. Add broccoli mixture and tomatoes; mix lightly.

Brittany's tips to enhance the recipe:

Instead of pre-cooked chicken, she suggests grilling and chopping boneless, skinless chicken breasts. She also added 1/4-1/2 bottle of her favorite Italian dressing (Ken's Northern Italian) and a few thinly sliced red onions.

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Thank you, Brittany for sharing your heart and your recipe with us! Please know that we are praying for your family and please keep us updated on your mom's surgery and your mother-in-law's remaining battle!

Three Cheers For Thursday!!

Why is this post titled "Three Cheers For Thursday"?

Three reasons, of course:

1. The words, "Three" and "Thursday" sound good together :)

2. I have Three TV shows that I watch on Thursday nights (Grey's, Private Practice and CSI... FYI)

3. Most importantly, I have three things to share with you tonight!

ONE.

I had leftover tortillas from making Buffalo Chicken Wraps last night, so I made quesadillas for dinner tonight. Here's my favorite way to make chicken quesadillas:

Ingredients:

3 cups chopped, cooked chicken (canned chicken is even faster!)

1 (8 oz.) pkg. shredded cheese

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 chopped red bell pepper

1 chopped and seeded jalapeno

1 T. ground cumin

1 t. salt

1/2 t. black pepper

tortillas

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together. Spread filling on a tortilla and place a second tortilla on top. Cook in a skillet (spray with cooking spray first) until both sides are browned and filling is heated through.

TWO.

We bought new knives today!!! I am SO excited!! When we got married, I saved up gift cards to Bed, Bath and Beyond and bought a really expensive knife set with them... TOTAL mistake. Our knives are terrible. TERRIBLE. I usually cut things with steak knives because they work better than those expensive knives that I saved up for. Needless to say, I have been dreaming of new knives almost since the first time I used the ones that we have now. Today, we bought five new CUTCO knives. They are SUPER high quality and they come with a lifetime guarantee so hopefully we won't EVER have to replace them! Don't get me wrong, these knives aren't cheap either and we definitely had to save up for them too... but they are actually worth it!! I am so excited... did I mention that before? I hate always feeling like I'm going to lose a finger in the kitchen because of my flimsy, dull knives. I can't wait for these to come in...

Cutco only sells through private appointment sales representatives. So, if you are in the market for new knives, I would love to give you the name and phone number of the sweet girl that sold ours to us! Just email me and I will give you her info!

Left to right (obviously) we bought the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 7th knives. Hopefully someday we'll be able to add to our set... they have SO many to choose from!!

THREE.

I still need recipe/prayer requests for tomorrow's Pray For Us Friday post... Don't you want it to be you? If so, email me at racheleabell@gmail.com. And because this post is sponsored by the number 3, here are three reasons that you should participate in Pray For Us Friday:

1. Because when you stop participating, the post stops existing... and that's no fun!

2. Because if you have a blog, I will put a link to it and you may get 1 or 2 new readers! :)

3. But seriously, every person, family and community needs prayer. Let us know how we can pray for you!

Buffalo Chicken Wraps

This is potentially a VERY hot meal!!!!

But don't worry... I will give you tips to make it less spicy if you prefer it that way! :)

First, I'm going to give you the recipes for the Buffalo Sauce and the Blue Cheese Dressing and then we'll put it all together...

Buffalo Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup Louisiana hot sauce

2 T. butter (1/2 cup butter for a mild sauce and 1/4 cup butter for a medium sauce)

Directions:

Heat the hot sauce and butter and whisk them together to for a sauce.

Blue Cheese Dressing

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. crumbled Blue Cheese

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup milk

1/2 t. course black pepper

2 T. lemon juice

1 t. garlic salt

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together and chill until ready to serve.

Buffalo Chicken Wraps

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts

buffalo sauce

tortillas

Blue Cheese Dressing

sliced tomatoes

baby arugula

directions:

Cut the raw chicken breasts into 1" cubes and toss in 1/2 of the Buffalo sauce. Saute the chicken in a skillet until fully cooked and toss cooked chicken in the second half of the Buffalo sauce. Heat tortillas. In the center of the tortilla, put a fairly large portion of the dressing, then the chicken, topped with sliced tomatoes and arugula. Roll up and serve!

***Note: If you don't like Blue Cheese, you can substitute Ranch Dressing and add mozzarella cheese.***

We had our wraps with a side of watermelon... which helped to cool our mouths! :)

And, just for fun, a picture of my sweet boy in his new polo shirt...

Pray For Us Friday

Today we are praying for...

Derek and Jennifer Edwards

Jennifer has been one of my best friends since the 4th grade. She and Derek got married in March and they are now living in Dallas, TX, for Derek to attend seminary. Since Derek's main job is attending school, it is really important for Jen to have a good job. PRAISE the Lord that she started a new job this week as a pre-school teacher. Please join me in praying for Derek and Jen as they make their new home in Dallas and pray for Jennifer as she begins this new job (and learns how to navigate this big city! :)).

A few months ago, Jennifer had a family wedding shower where everyone shared their favorite recipe with her. Someone shared this idea for a quick and easy meal and Jennifer said that it really is great!! So here's the recipe that she shared with us:

One-Dish Chicken Dinner

Ingredients:

boneless chicken breast tenders

2 cans french-cut green beans

1 stick of butter or margarine

1 envelope "Good Seasons" italian dressing

Lemon Pepper

8 small red potatoes

Directions:

Place chicken in a line down the center of a 9x13 baking dish. Drain green beans and pour on one side of the chicken. Slice potatoes and create a row for the other side of the chicken. Melt butter and mix in seasoning package. Pour mixture over the dish and sprinkle with lemon pepper. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour at 350- remove foil for the last 10 minutes!

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And Jen, I found this for you:

A Newcomer's Guide to Driving in Dallas

Thank you for praying for my sweet friend!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday!!

My favorite day of the week :)

I Took a Risk...

And it paid off!!!

Here's the story... when Evan and I first started dating, I was obsessed with food and he was extremely picky. Like the pickiest person that I had EVER met in my life. I was always wanting to cook for him and try something new but I was always afraid that he wouldn't like it. But he was a great sport! He would always say that your taste buds are supposed to change as you get older so he was willing to try anything. Apparently that's true, because over the years he has gone from SUPER picky to an adventurous foodie! However, there was one thing that I cooked when we first started dating that he just HATED. Like wouldn't eat. I think we ended up going out to eat... and I haven't made it since. What is this dish that Evan couldn't even pretend to like?

Chicken and Dumplings

So... after 3+ years of avoiding chicken and dumplings at all cost... he suggested that we try it again. Last night, I made chicken and dumplings (the EXACT same way that I made them 3 or so years ago) and he LOVED them!! I was shocked... I was so nervous while I was making them. I just kept thinking that this was so pointless because we were going to end up going out to eat anyway but we didn't! I was SO excited!

So here's a super easy recipe that I will finally be able to add back into my repertoire:

Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients

48 oz chicken broth or stock

2 cans cream of chicken soup

2-4 cups of chopped, cooked chicken

4 cans biscuits (the most basic biscuit you can find)

salt and pepper or greek seasoning to taste

Directions:

whisk together the chicken broth and cream of chicken soup and bring to a boil. Add the cooked chicken (I like to use about 2 cups of chicken because I like there to be more dumplings than chicken but it is entirely up to you!). Then pinch the raw biscuit dough into bite size pieces and drop into the boiling soup mixture. ***Serve the chicken and dumplings as soon as you drop in your last piece of biscuit because if you simmer this dish for too long, the dumplings will disintegrate!

********

I served them with green beans and fried corn. It was a very comforting meal!

Here's a picture:

I still can't believe that Evan enjoyed Chicken and Dumplings last night...

Is there a food that you hated but now love??

Engagement Chicken

Evan and I got engaged two years ago today on April 25, 2008!! I can't believe it has already been two years since that fun and memorable night...

It was a Friday night and we were supposed to go to dinner in Little Rock (at the time we were in school at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, AR). Earlier in the day, I had suspected that there might be more to the evening, but Evan was acting SO nonchalant about everything that I decided I was wrong.

So, we're almost to Little Rock and Evan's mom calls and asks what we are doing. Evan told her that we were going to eat dinner at a restaurant in the River Market in Little Rock. She said, "Oh, great! Would you mind doing me a favor? I heard that the Capitol Hotel (which is in the River Market) has a great room for events and it would be great if y'all could go look at it and see if you like it for the rehearsal dinner!" Now, that may sound strange to you but we had been talking openly for several months about getting married and she had been talking a lot about planning our rehearsal dinner so it didn't sound weird to me!

So, we walk in to the Capitol Hotel and I start to walk to the front desk to ask where this room is and Evan is walking straight back toward the grand staircase... like he knows where he is going! I said, "Evan, do we not need to ask where the room is first?" He says nothing and keeps walking... haha so I followed him. When we get to the staircase I notice that there is a guy from our college playing the violin and I said, "Look, Evan! We know him!" haha AGAIN, Evan says nothing (probably because he was thinking, of course we know him! I paid him to be here!). And right before Evan gets down on one knee to ask me to marry him, I see my sister peek around the corner! Now I know something is up... but when I turn back to Evan, he is on one knee!!

Long story short: he asks, I say, "YES!!!", we eat dinner with both of our families (who were there the whole time), then go back to my parents' house for a little engagement party! It was such a wonderful night!!

Here are a few pictures:

And now you're thinking, "Great, Rachel... but isn't this post called Engagement Chicken???"

It sure is! And this is the reason...

Yesterday, I was in my friend, Katie Bailey's wedding and one of the other bridesmaids was talking about how she had made "Engagement Chicken" for her boyfriend and it didn't work! I asked her what engagement chicken was and she said that it's a recipe for chicken that is supposed to make your boyfriend propose within six months of making it for him! haha I thought this was so funny, so I googled it today and sure enough... I found several recipes for "Engagement Chicken" and cute little stories to go with them! So, if you've got a boyfriend that just won't pop the question... here's the recipe for you! :) I am just going to post a link to Ina Garten's version of this recipe because this post is already ENTIRELY too long!!

Engagement Chicken

Enjoy!! And let me know if it works for you!! :)

Mexican Chicken and Guacamole

This past weekend, on our retreat, I took entirely too many bags of tortilla chips so I needed to make a dinner that would use a lot of chips! This is what I came up with...

Mexican Chicken and Guacamole

Almost everyone I know seems to have a recipe for Mexican Chicken and every recipe seems to be a little different! So, here's my version!

Mexican Chicken

Ingredients:

1 bag tortilla chips

2 lbs. cooked, diced chicken

1 can Rotel

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Crush the tortilla chips and place them in a greased 13x9 inch dish. Layer the diced chicken on top of the crushed chips. Mix together the Rotel, chicken soup, mushroom soup and the cheese (I usually save a little bit of cheese out to sprinkle on the top). Pour the mixture over the chips and chicken. Sprinkle with remaining cheese- if desired. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Here's what mine looked like:

And we made guacamole to go with our Mexican Chicken... because we needed something to eat with our excessive amount of chips! :) We used Rachael Ray's recipe for "Garlicky Holy Guacamole." We discovered this recipe a few months after we got married and it quickly became a family favorite!! We love it so much that we usually double the recipe so we can eat it again the next day!

Garlicky Holy Guacamole

Ingredients:

2 ripe small Haas avocados

1 lemon, juiced

1 large clove of garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped

1 small plum tomato, seeded and finely chopped

1/2 small yellow skinned onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon course salt

Directions:

Mash and mix all ingredients (minus tomatoes) in a bowl, with a fork. Stir in tomatoes. Enjoy!

Here's what ours looked like:

And the good news? We now only have 1 bag of chips left!! :)

Quiche

How do you make a quiche?

5 eggs and 1 cup of milk

It really is that simple... almost. To make a quiche, all you have to do is whisk together 5 eggs and one cup of milk. Then fill an (uncooked) refrigerated pie crust with your ingredients of choice (usually a meat, a veggie and cheese- layered in that order) and pour the egg/milk mixture over the top. Then pop it in the oven for 35-45 minutes (until the eggs are set) at 375 degrees.

Last night, I used chicken as my meat; sliced black olives, chopped green onions, and a few chopped tomatoes as my veggies; and shredded habanero cheddar cheese.

Here's what it looked like:

A few other great combinations are:

1. sausage, mushrooms and cheddar

2. bacon, spinach and swiss

***If you have a good quiche combination to share, please put it in the comments***

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches... With a Twist!

Because of this...

I needed to cook a REALLY easy meal tonight.

But I didn't want it to be boring.

This is what I came up with:

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches on Jalapeno Corn Cakes

Here's my inspiration:

A few weekends ago, Evan and I went to Nashville, TN for a Family Life Marriage Conference. It was a really fun weekend! Since we are food lovers, we spent a lot of our free time looking for great restaurants! In our search, we found a book called, "Where The Locals Eat: Nashville." It was a FABULOUS find!! It gave us several great recommendations. One of those was a restaurant called Puckett's Grocery and Restaurant. They have excellent BBQ and they give you the option of having your sandwich on Cajun corn cakes instead of regular bread! Such a cool concept! So I decided to give it a shot at home. Here's a pic of the restaurant... you should try it if you're ever in Historic Downtown Franklin, TN.

For the BBQ Chicken, all I did was throw a pound of raw boneless skinless chicken breasts into my slow cooker with an entire bottle of BBQ sauce this morning when I woke up. I put it on the lowest setting and when I came home from work, dinner was basically ready!

For the coleslaw, I stopped by my favorite BBQ restaurant in town and bought a quart of it (I told you I was going simple tonight).

Now for the Jalapeno Corn Cakes... all I did was take my favorite cornbread recipe, mix all the ingredients together and fry little cakes up in the skillet (the exact same way that you would make pancakes). Word of advice: This was an experimental idea so I had to try a few times before I got a cake that I liked. In the process, I learned that there is plenty of batter to make a few mistakes and that the smaller you make the cakes, the more likely they are to be pretty.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of yellow cornmeal

1 cup sour cream

1 can creamed corn

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2 or more chopped, seeded jalapenos

1 cup grated, mild cheddar cheese

*****

I served these with fruit and the restaurant served them with sweet potato fries but the sandwich is so filling that you don't really even need a side item!

Here's the finished product...

Now on to tackle the monster in my laundry room :)