Mexi-Chicken Soup

My mother-in-law’s birthday was this past Sunday but we were busy at parties celebrating my husbands new mayor position so we didn’t celebrate until last night. She’s been sick with a cold and all she wanted was soup.

I did a take on the regular old chicken soup and made one of my mom’s recipes. Hubby is not a big fan of this soup because he doesn’t like brothy soups. I’m normally not a fan of brothy soups myself, but I like this one. To try to accommodate him, I add extra corn and beans to the mix to make it a little more hearty.

If you’re short on time or money, this is a healthy, flavorful and affordable soup.

MEXI-CHICKEN SOUP

3 cans (13-3/4 oz. each) chicken broth
1 can (15-1/4 oz.) whole kernel corn, undrained (2 cans for heartier soup)
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 can (15 oz.) red kidney beans, rinsed and drained (2 cans for heartier soup)
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins cut into pieces
dash crushed red pepper
tortilla chips
cheese and sour cream to garnish

Cook chicken in skillet over medium to medium-high heat until lightly browned. In large saucepan, combine chicken broth, corn, diced tomatoes, beans, and red pepper. Add chicken and bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Cook 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for about 15 minutes. Put chips in soup bowls and top with soup garnished with sour cream and grated cheese. Serves 8.

So proud of my hubby

Well, the Lord answered our prayers! Yesterday hubby was sworn in as Mayor. I'm so proud of him and know he'll do a fantastic job.

The county surrogate delivered the oath. She and hubby ran together a few years ago when he ran for a seat on the county governing body.

She had the nicest things to say about hubs. She even said she wishes she was his mother!

Taking the oath. I'm so proud of him!

Our newly sworn in mayor.

A very happy day. Now it's time for the real work to begin. I've already been asked what my platform will be as First Lady! Ha! I don't think it really makes a difference in a town with 35,000 residents.

How To Remove Wax

While attending Christmas Eve service, the candle I held while singing Silent Night managed to drip wax beneath the paper holder and onto my black pants.

My mother-in-law had a great tip on how to remove the wax.

Place your pants (or whatever item you get wax on) on the ironing board. Cover the area that has the wax on it with a dry paper towel. Using an iron on the low setting, iron over the paper towel until the towel has absorbed the wax from the fabric.

It took less than 30 seconds and worked like a charm!

Count Me Out

I’ve been thinking of a few different crafts I’d like to try this year and came across a picture for one that I know I will definitely not try.

I don’t know about you, but these:

just don’t scream fashionable to me. Or classy. Or flattering. They scream a lot of things, but fashionable, classy and flattering definitely do not make the list.

Here is one New Year’s resolution I am definitely keeping: “I will not under any circumstances make and/or wear tie-dyed leggings.”

(My apologies to those of you who may find these stylish. Perhaps I can arrange for you to go on a shopping spree courtesy of What Not To Wear.)

My “Bucket List” for 2010

Happy New Year’s Eve! Any big plans for tonight? It’s snowing outside and I have two movies waiting for me to pick up at the Red box on my way home from work. Tonight I’m going to watch movies while snuggled in front of the fire with my hubby. Hopefully we’ll be able to stay awake until midnight, but our track record the past couple years hasn’t been too good. Ha!

I’m not one to make resolutions normally, but I do want to list a few things I am looking forward to or hoping to accomplish in 2010.

Here is my “bucket list” for this year in no particular order:

1. Watch the Vancouver Olympics (we saw the bobsled course here and here)
2. Go skiing in Aspen with my hubby
3. Watch hubby enjoy serving another year as mayor
4. Celebrate my “baby” bro’s graduation from college
5. Spend Christmas in Tennessee with my family
6. Finally move out of my in-laws house after two years and into our own place for the first time ever in our married life
7. Expand our family, Lord willing
8. Purchase the 95 acre ranch my hubby has wanted for years
9. Build the guest house/garage on the ranch to live in while we build the main house (this will help accomplish #6)
10. Pay cash for everything we purchase
11. Pay off our last student loans and all our credit card debt
12. Visit with my nephews
13. Travel to Turkey with my parents (as long as #7 hasn’t happened yet)
14. Finish renovating the kitchen in our “flip” house
15. Look into renting or selling the “flip” house
16. Faithfully complete the P90X workout routine
17. Transfer my shop location to Etsy to hopefully increase traffic and sales
18. Let my husband know every day how much he is cherished and appreciated
19. Get back into a consistent size 4 pant (only have to drop 5 pounds)
20. Take a cake decorating class
21. Giveaway or sell a lot of things I no longer use
22. Organize our mounds of paperwork
23. Celebrate the birth of a “nephew” on hubby’s side of the family
24. Get even more connected with the start-up church we’re attending
25. Grow my hair out and get a new hairstyle
26. Faithfully write our new Compassion sponsor child each month
27. Craft more
28. Read more
29. Watch less TV
30. And for my mom, travel to NYC with my mother

What are your resolutions or bucket list items for 2010?

P.S. We find out this Sunday if my hubby gets elected to serve as mayor again, so please be praying his wish comes true.

Some Changes Have Been Made

As long as you’re not reading this blog via a reader, I’m sure you noticed some changes I made to the layout in the past couple days.

In an effort to bring in a little extra income each month, I decided to give ad sense and other similar things a test drive.

I tried to put the buttons in places where they’re not annoying yet still visible. However, I care more about this blog being user-friendly than I do the few dollars it may bring in each month so if the ads are bothersome, please let me know.

It really is the best. Ever.

Last night I finally gave in to the rave reviews this lasagna has received and decided to try it for myself.

And let me tell you.

It really is the best lasagna. EVER.

And thank goodness because I didn’t get home until after 6pm and it took over 3 hours 30 minutes for my water to boil for the stinkin’ noodles and the whole time I was telling my hubby that it was really going to be worth the wait.

Boy was I glad it turned out delicious or he might still be upset that I feed him at 7:30pm two nights in a row!

Do yourself a favor. If you have never made Pioneer Woman’s lasagna go buy all the ingredients and make it tonight.

My mouth is already preparing itself for another serving of it tonight.

Christmas Dinner

I volunteered to make Christmas dinner this year. After all, I figured it was only fair seeing how we invited one of hubby’s friends and my boss and his son and daughter over. Unfortunately, only our friend is able to make it (my boss says he’s too much of a bah humbug this year to be good company!) so it’s not going to be as big of a group as originally thought, but I’m still having fun with the menu and table setting.

For the menu, I’m mainly making the items my mom used to make when we were growing up with one or two additions and a couple twists on others.

Here is my menu:

• Pineapple Glazed Ham (using one of my mother-in-law’s recipes)
• Corn Casserole
• Raspberry Jello Salad
• Rosemary Butter Rolls (my addition)
• Green Bean Casserole (my family never has this, but my hubby likes it so I make it for him the holidays we’re with his side of the family)
• Oven Roasted Asparagus (my addition)
• Spinach Dip
• Pineapple Casserole (the version from my hubby’s side of the family)
• Spicy Sweet Potatoes
• Cranberry Cocktails (cranberry juice and sprite) 
• Brownie & Peppermint Pie (my addition)

Here are the recipes if you’re interested:

PINEAPPLE GLAZED HAM

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
½ cup maple-flavored syrup
¼ cup Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard
1 (5 lb) whole fully cooked boneless ham
Whole cloves
1 T cornstarch
1 (20-oz) can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained

Preheat oven to 350°. Mix sugar, syrup and mustard until well blended; set aside. Score ham with sharp knife; insert cloves into ham as desired. Place ham on rack in shallow baking pan. Bake 2 hours or until ham reaches an internal temperature of 140° when tested in center with meat thermometer, brushing occasionally with ½ cup of the syrup mixture after 1½ hours. Mix remaining syrup mixture with cornstarch and pineapple with its liquid in saucepan; cook on medium-high heat until mixture comes to boil and thickens, stirring constantly. Serve with sliced ham.

RASPBERRY JELLO SALAD

16 oz. can crushed pineapple
20 oz. frozen unsweetened raspberries, thawed
2 3 oz. pkg. raspberry jello
2 c. applesauce
½ c. chopped pecans

Drain pineapple and raspberries, reserving juices. Place in large bowl and set aside. Add enough water to juice to measure one cup. Pour into saucepan; bring to boil. Remove from heat and stir in jello until dissolved. Pour over fruit mixture. Add applesauce and pecans. Pour into serving dish. Chill until set. Makes 12 servings.

OVEN ROASTED ASPARAGUS

Asparagus (how ever much you need for your group)
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Wash and trim asparagus (how ever much you need to feed your group). Lay in a single layer on foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until asparagus shrivel to about half their size and are super delicious. If you have to, you can roast them at a lower temp for a longer period of time.

PINEAPPLE CASSEROLE

½ cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
2 medium cans of pineapple chunks or tidbits
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 stick melted margarine
1 stack of Ritz crackers, crushed

Drain pineapple but save 3 tablespoons of juice.  Mix the sugar, flour, juice and pineapple together.  Place in a greased casserole dish.  Sprinkle cheese on top. Melt butter and mix with crushed crackers.  Sprinkle on top. Bake on 350 for 30 minutes.  Or if you want to make it ahead of time, bake if to 25 minutes and keep in fridge.  Take it out about 30 minutes ahead of time to thaw out then bake for 10-15 minutes to heat.

 

SPICY SWEET POTATOES

3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 6 cups)
2 T. olive or canola oil
2 T. brown sugar
1 t. chili powder
½ t. salt
¼ t. cayenne pepper

In large resealable plastic bag, toss potatoes and oil. Add remaining ingredients; toss to coat. Transfer to a greased 11 x 7 inch baking dish. Bake uncovered at 400 for 40-45 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring every 15 minutes. Serves 8.

 

BROWNIE & PEPPERMINT PIE

*I haven’t ever made this and am not using a recipe, so I don’t know how it will turn out*

Brownie mix (and items to make it according to pkg)
Peppermint ice cream
Hot fudge

Mix brownie mix according to pkg directions. Spread in the bottom of a greased springform pan. Bake brownies until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool completely. Spread softened ice cream on top. Freeze until ice cream hardens. Spread hot fudge on top and freeze. Thaw at room temp about 20-30 minutes before serving.