Archive for January, 2011

The other night I made Chicken Tortellini soup. Soup is, in theory, a pretty easy thing to make. Things go in the pot, and thanks to the magic of heat they mix together and create a delicious, flavorful bowl of yummy goodness.

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But I don’t always make it form scratch. In fact, I often don’t. What can I say…I’m lazy! But this looked too good to pass up. Chicken Tortellini soup, originally taken from the Persnickety Picnic blog by Emily Hayes. (There’s even a cookbook based on the delicious recipes from her blog!) But the link to the post with this recipe is right here.

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Just a warning, this made a LOT of soup. As in, my husband had two bowls, I had 1.5 bowls, and I think there are still about 6-8 servings left. And it’s very filling. If leftovers aren’t your thing, divide the recipe in half.

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The Ingredients:

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• 6 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups water
• 2 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless), cubed
• 1 pound fresh, refrigerated tortellini (in the deli section)
• 1.5 cup frozen chopped spinach
• 1 cup diced tomatoes (I did not use, as tomatoes are not my favorite. Easily skipped)
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese (I doubled this because I LOVE mozzarella cheese!)
• 2 cups cream, 1/4 cup reserved
• 2 tablespoons flour

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So a lot of stuff you probably already have around your kitchen. I love that you don’t have to have the chicken or spinach thawed, it can just go right into the pot, so no worries about waiting if you forgot to take it out of the freezer the night before! I served it with crunchy garlic bread, and both my husband and I just loved it.

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Interested in making this soup? Find the full directions here, along with plenty of pictures showing each easy step!

I got a wild hair up my butt to do some baking. And not just baking…SERIOUS baking! Like, I thought I was on Cake Boss for a second here. I don’t know why. It’s just something I was convinced I could handle. Thank God for my husband, who helped me not only finish the cupcakes, but document my progress. So now, for your viewing pleasure, here’s how to make duck cupcakes! (Note: If you cannot view the video in the blog post itself, head HERE to see the video in Youtube.)

I’m no culinary wiz. Hell, I’m not even close. I can open cans, I can dump stuff into pots, and I can stir. Which made this easy red sauce appealing. I normally just crack a jar of Prego and pour it over browned ground turkey. But I decided to give this a go.

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The actual recipe is very simple. It originally came from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. I, however, found it on the blog of a fellow military spouse. She cooks a lot of goodies and has an Etsy store where you can even order a few of your own. So go Give Peas A Chance. When she posted this one, I thought I’d give it a try. I mean, 3 ingredients? All you do is dump it in and stir? I can do that!

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You start with three ingredients: 28 ounce can of whole (or half) tomatoes; 1 medium onion, 6 ounces of unsalted butter.

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That’s all. Then you dump the tomatoes in the pot, cut the onion into half (I did quarters), toss the butter in, and let it simmer for about an hour. After it’s done simmering, you pull out the onion (that’s why it’s not diced) and serve!

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Now, I served it with frozen meatballs from my freezer section in the grocery store. They were seasoned with Italian flavoring, so I thought that would compliment the sauce nicely, given it doesn’t carry any seasoning of its own. And that worked nicely. Although warning, I think I heated the meatballs in the sauce too long. Whoops. So they were a little soft. But definitely not a tragedy. And then I just poured the sauce and meatballs on simple spaghetti noodles, and added some garlic bread on the side. Time to taste the results and vote on whether to keep this recipe or toss it back.

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The votes: 1 yes, 1 maybe, 1 no.

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The yes was my husband. He really liked it. The maybe was me. It was okay, it wasn’t amazing. I think using it as I did (on pre-seasoned meatballs) worked fine. But I couldn’t use the sauce as-is on just ground turkey. It needs flavoring/seasonings. But as a base sauce, it’s okay. The baby was not a fan. I don’t know whether it was the noodles, the meatballs, the sauce, or all three. But she only ate her veggies and garlic bread. Oh well. Can’t win ‘em all!

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I might give this recipe one more go, just to see how it works out. Maybe a tablespoon less butter, some Italian seasoning, some salt and pepper, and go from there. It’s a good base. Now it’s time to add my own spice!

RomFan Reviews has read Songbirds, and they liked it!

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Click here for the full review.

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But here’s a little snip…

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“I really like the drama and the conflict of feelings between the characters and loved how things ended.”

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Just pardon me while I squeal a little bit! Thanks to Sarah and RomFan Reviews for taking the time to read and review my book!

Keri Ford has come on over, literally. She’s giving me a video interview of a lifetime. And y’all, watch all the way to the end. Seriously. It’s pig-callin’ fantastic!

Well well well. The holidays have come and gone, and I survived! I survived a sinus infection, my daughter having a sinus infection, and dragging both of our sick butts on an 18 hour car ride to visit both my parents and my in-laws. I love them all. But man, that was a long trip when you don’t feel well. But we survived!

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Daughter walked away with a massive haul of toys (the spoiled beast), along with some seriously cute clothing. Check out those little pink slippers on her feet! How cute are they?!

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And of course, she loves her new snow boots. Every morning, she gets out of bed and goes to find them. They stand up on their own, so she can easily push her feet into them. And sometimes, she even gets them on the right feet. haha But her new favorite thing is to get ready just like mommy to “go-go-o!” That means making sure she has shoes on her feet, a purse in her hand, and her phone (the purple thing). Yup, she’s ready to roll!

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And of course, even our dog Clyde scored for Christmas. He’s a snuggle-boo with his new sock monkey. He loves to cuddle with it when he naps. And even though sometimes daughter puts it in her stroller and takes sock monkey for a walk, Clyde makes sure to save him and take him back when she’s done with it.

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The husband and I spent New Years watching a House marathon on USA. Exciting, no? But the best part was when we snuck in to give our sweet baby a midnight kiss. She never woke up, but I like the tradition of sneaking in to wish her a happy new year, even if she doesn’t remember.

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It was a great holiday season, sinuses aside. Hope everyone had a great end of 2010, and I know I will have huge information to share with you for 2011 soon. (Yup, a teaser. Info coming soon!!!)