Crock-Pot Recipe #2

Chicken-Tortilla Soup

2 skinned and boned chicken breast cubed (i just cut up a pack of chicken tenderloins)

1 (10 oz.) package frozen whole kernel corn, thawed

1 large onion chopped

2 garlic cloves, pressed (i used 3 because i love garlic)

2 (14 oz.) cans chicken broth

1 (10 3/4 oz.) can tomato puree

1 (10 oz.) can diced tomatoes and green chiles (i used rotel)

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 bay leaf

4 (5 1/2 inch) corn tortillas

Garnish: fresh cilantro

Combine first 13 ingredients in a 4-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH 6 hours. Remove and discard by leaf. Cut tortillas into 1/4 inch wide strips; place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 5 minutes. Stir strips and bake 5 more minutes or until crisp. Serve with soup!

This is a great soup! Next time I make this and there will definitely be a next time because this now Dave's favorite new soup I will had a can of black beans (drained). We topped with it with cheese but next time I will be sure to have some reduced fat sour cream on hand. This recipe gets 5 out 5 stars.

Next week watch out for: Thai-Style Ribs and Chicken Lasagna Florentine

Fall-oh how I love thee.

Hello everyone in the blog-o-sphere...yes I am still alive and kickin'. I just get so wrapped up in reading everyone else's blogs I neglect my own. That is going to change because my husband has presented me with a little challenge so I think it will be fun to blog it out.

In celebration of the fall season I kicked dinner off last night with a easy crock-pot meal- Bacon-Wrapped Apple BBQ Chicken. My lovely husband dared me to try to cook crock-pot meals for the whole fall season... so that is what I am going to do. I figured I could post the recipes here and you could try them too.

Bacon-Wrapped BBQ Chicken

• Wrap 4 chicken breast each with 2 pieces of bacon.
• Mix together 1/2 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce, juice of one lemon, and 2 Granny Smith apples peeled, cored, and grated.
• Pour mixture over chicken in crock-pot and cook for 8 hours on low.

When I cook this again (because it was awesome) I would cut the cooking time down to 7 hours- the chicken was a little dry for my liking. It is full of flavor and a perfect start the fall season. I'd give this recipe 4 out of 5 stars! Try it today and let me know what you think!

TERRIBLE!

I fail miserably each time I try this blogging thing.  Its been over 3 months since I blogged last.  Its all seems like a blur.  Lots has happened- we celebrated our one year anniversary, we attended a family reunion, my baby sister got engaged, I turned 28, was laid off from my job, now I sit aimless in a nice little coffee shop in the wonderful downtown of Travelers Rest.  They have iced coffee for less that $2.  I love it.  

I have officially diagnoised myself as being plagued with the curse of always finding jobs that lead to dead ends.  Its terrible!  I'm currently in search for a career- not a job- at 28 I think I am due my career.  I do have high hopes that a certain job I interviewed 3 times for will come through hopefully I will know by August 5.  In the mean time I am working on a business idea I have had for some time now...guess we will see what happens.  

YAHOO for warmer weather and I am not the only one excited about it...

The boys are happy spring has sprung. It means long walks at night, riding in the back of the truck, frisbee in the front yard, and sleeping in the sun on the deck.

Easter Weekend

Friday was yucky and rainy...ALL day. The gloom was a great reminder of what this day in history meant. I did meet my sister and mom at the mall in search of a Easter dress. As funny as it sounds my mom still buys us girls new dresses every year (this might be considered normal if we weren't all over the age of 21). I love her for it...its just another great example of my mothers giving heart. The storms (terrible thunder and lighting and wind and their were even tornado warning and sightings) came in around 7pm. I finally got scared enough that I locked the dogs in the kitchen and head over to my neighbor's house that I have never met and found their home number on the internet to call and see if I could come over. It was fun. The are in their seventies and we chatted and listened to the weather radio. I got some great gardening tips from them and the lady is going to help me with canning my pickles this summer! I love neighbors! Around 10 I decided I should go check on the dogs but before I left the neighbors talked me into coming back to spend the night since they were calling for more storms throughout the night. They were so sweet. Naturally, the dogs had no clue what was going on when I left them again at 10:30pm and they were so glad to see me Saturday morning.

Saturday I spent the day we some good friends of ours in Hendersonville. Dave had to work on a house but met us for lunch at Papas and Beer. That place has the absolute best Mexican food. Our friends are from California and said it was the most authentic they had eaten her in the Carolinas. Saturday night Dave and I went to the Travelers Rest Speedway with another couple and to say the least it was quality redneck entertainment.

Sunday morning we went to my parents for church and lunch. It was wonderful to celebrate Easter with family. After lunch and a nap of course we heading back home...I think our dogs have missed us this weekend we have been very busy and on the go. I think Diesel and Zeus are both in need of cuddle time. :) I am going to post some pictures from the weekend later tonight.

My Husband...the dog trainer

Imagine this scene:

One day I come home from work and as I walk up on the back deck I hear something that sounds like a fire siren mixed with dog howling coming from inside the house. Interesting I thought to myself. As I walk in my husband is laid out on the couch with Diesel standing on his legs. When I asked what was going on Dave replied, "I'm teaching Diesel to howl." Oh boy-this should be good I thought after several demonstrations I caught this little piece on video. My favorite part is how is actually leans his head back. He is still learning to perfect his howling skills and takes a weekly class with his instructor Dave.

wow...i'm a good blogger.

not so much. i have decided i have a disorder and i am working on a name for it. it involves not being able to write blogs but definitely reading others. i don't think i am cut out for the blog world. i've said before most of the blogs i read are friends from college (who have super cute kids to write about) or blogs on politics and opinions (like my friend TimTipper). i could write a blog about my life but i wouldn't want to bore everyone to tears. :) i could write about my dogs everyday (which i have seriously considered). i could right about current events and such but i am not that great of a writer. oh they topics to consider.

ok drum roll please. i am going to start writing about my dogs. they are like my kids and trust me i have plenty of funny stories to tell...i might even rename my blog.

ok tash this all your fault if you get tired of reading about the dogs...you asked for more! :)