Southwest Chicken Soup

I was referring to it as "Chicken Tortilla Soup" but since there is no tortillas in it I figured better to call it "Southwest Chicken Soup."  Either way...I call it AMAZING.  You know when you think of a food and it sounds soo good to you and then you go home and make it and its not as good in reality as it was in your head?  But then there are those times when things come together and its every bit of what you dreamed.  Tonight was the latter.  So, here you go....straight out of my head....

Southwest Chicken Soup

1 Rotisserie Chicken
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Green Pepper
2 Banana Peppers
3-4 Medium Tomatoes
2 Large Onions
1 Qt Chicken Broth
1 Can Original Rotel (tomato/green chili mix)
1 Can Corn
1 Can Black Beans (rinsed)
1 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 Tbsp Cumin
1 Tsp Red Pepper Flake (Adjust for desired heat level)
Black Pepper to taste
Salt to taste
Sour Cream
Cheddar Cheese
Fresh Cilantro

Pull chicken off bone and set aside.  Saute chopped peppers and onions in olive oil.  Add chicken, chopped tomatoes and can of Rotel.  Cover with chicken broth.  Add corn, black beans, and spices.  Simmer and serve topped with cheese, sour cream, and fresh cilantro!

Oh happy day....

I was having a relatively normal day...actually on the good side of normal.  Productive, somewhat sunny, etc. 

I worked a busy and full day at work (where I was able to answer the myriad of questions thrown at me in my boss' absence and still get some of my own work done.), I then came home, changed clothes, and headed to the gym (my usual custom on Monday evenings).  Pulling away from my garage, I noticed just how badly my yard needed mowing.  So, since I was already sweaty and dirty after the gym I threw on my yardwork sneaks, said a prayer that the mower would start, and got to it.  Once the mowing was done...it was time for dinner, and then the kitchen needed to be cleaned.  Moving on I set my sights on my bedroom where some unknown monster had taken up residence the lasts few weeks and left quite a big mess in his wake.  (yeah...it was a monster...that's my story and I'm stickin to it.)  I changed my sheets (made the switch to non-flannel...woohoo), gathered the various stacks of clean laundry, sorted it by drawer destination, and started to put it away.  But in doing so it became evident that I should really start to weed out some of the clothing that I need to get rid of (running out of room in the drawers will do that).  So, I did a quick once through and pulled out stuff to be gotten rid of (there will be more...for sure), and organizing as I went.  Feeling like I accomplished a good bit I hit the shower for a nice hot relaxing one.  All in all a very productive day.

However, I saved the best part of it all for last.  In the midst of cleaning out my drawers I open one particular drawer and there in the bottom were shorts that I know for a fact I wore in high school.  Why I still have them I have no idea.  They really aren't attractive and/or cool in any way anymore.  But I suppose I thought they were back in the day...and so they remained buried in my bottom drawer.  (FYI...They will not survive this clean out.)  However, before throwing them out I thought I'd try them on for kicks.  Not only do they currently fit me, but the actually fit me better now than they did back in the day when I rocked them as hard as I possibly could,and they weren't too far from being a bit loose.  This, my friends....is how you turn a good productive night....into a GREAT one.

So, I'm going to take my "in better shape than I was as a teenager" body and crash for the night.  :)

Pot 'o......

In my efforts to be more health conscious and responsible for my food choices I have started doing significantly more home cooking/packing lunches/etc.  Because my routine can get rather hectic at times I have found that one of the saving grace habits I have started is making a big pot of something on Sunday afternoons.  Whatever is made can be filled into various meals throughout the week (packed for lunches/eaten for dinner along with something else, etc).  So far in 5 weeks I have made 4 different things...and enjoyed all of them.  So, it occurred to me that I should do a blog entry with that weeks Pot 'O....whatever the special is for the week.

Week 1:  Texas Chili

Appx. 1 lb 96% Lean Ground Beef
1 Large Sweet Onion
4-5 cloves fresh garlic
4 tsp olive oil
1 Large Can crushed Tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
2 C water
4 Tbsp Chili Powder
2 Tbsp Cumin
1 Tsp Coriander seed
1 Tsp Black Pepper
Salt to Taste

Saute Chopped Onion and Garlic in olive oil.  Add Ground beef and cook till browned.  Add tomatoes and water.  Stir to combine.  Add spices and simmer on low for 45 mins-1 hr.  Enjoy!

Beans/Corn could be added and spice amounts could be adjusted to fit individual tastes.  Can be served with sour cream/cheese toppings, over a baked potato, on lettuce for taco salad, etc! 

Not a blogger....but maybe jogger!!

Despite all my grand intentions of being the world's best blogger....here I sit having not written a new blog since the end of August...and somehow it is now the middle of February.  A few things that have happenned since I last blogged.....

1.) I said goodbye to my leased equine pal Arwen and sent her back to her owner.  :(
2.) Thanksgiving food was eaten..actually 5 thanksgiving dinners were eaten...4 of which were in states south of the Mason Dixon Line. (green beans cooked with fat back anyone??)
3.) Christmas food/cookies/cakes/fudge/candy/etc was eaten :)
4.) We entered 2011 (I skipped NYE parties...and therefore spared myself of the NYE food)
5.) I began working to remove said food mentioned in #'s 2 & 3
6.) I have managed to maintain my sanity despite the lack of equine interaction.....barely.

The gym has replaced the barn as my second home.  Its sad...but I have to get out of the house.  Solomon (the cat) gets really angry when I try to take the curry comb to him and pick his feet.  So, instead almost every day I can be found sweating like a pig somewhere in/around a)a cardio class b)a weight lifting class or c) (this is the real shocker of my recent life) a treadmill.  Perhaps one day I will even be able to call myself a jogger...or do I daresay a runner??  I'm still not convinced that its possible.  But we'll see!! 

I'm not going to do the whole..."lets use my blog to document every ounce that enters and leaves my body" thing.  Just thought I'd share what takes up the majority of my leisure time these days.  For now I'm taking life one day at a time and trying to make the most of it.  And looking forward to SPRING!!!

btw...has anyone heard of this green stuff called grass??  Apparently it used to cover the ground around here.  But it has been replaced by cold white stuff that just won't seem to go away.  I'm about to take my hairdryer to my back yard just so I can catch a glimpse of it to make sure it hasn't gone extinct.  But then I might die upon receiving my next electric bill.

shoes :)

I got to thinking about my shoes this morning.  More specifically the entire collection as a whole.  I've come to realize I love my shoes.  And not just because I'm a girl and shoes are girly and I "heart" them or anything.  (although...I do SERIOUSLY love a great pair of shoes!!)  I may or may not have had a hand it teaching my little niece to say "shoes" in a hyper and excited voice when she was first learning to talk)

No, the reason I love my shoe collection is that they represent my life in a way that very few other collection of items could.  For example.......I own: hiking/water sandals for outdoorsy stuff, sneakers for working out, flip flops for relaxing, strappy stilleto sandals for a night out on the town, snow boots for playin in the snow, horseback riding tall boots...this one's obvious, cowboy boots for ridin/dancin/etc, slippers, swing dancing shoes, etc.  

So, perhaps I should be saying....Hello, my name is Erica and I'm a shoe addict??
I hope your shoe collection is as varied and your life is as full. Happy shoe shopping!

Peach Cobbler Heaven

I spent the evening surfiing the net reading variations of peach cobbler.  Then in my usual fashion.......I made up my own recipe.  It tastes like fresh peaches and cinnamon rolls had a love child.  YUM.....recipe to come later.

(side note...practically no light in my horrible kitchen = crappy pictures)  But trust me...its HEAVENLY!

The life in between explained.

Hello blog world...

My name is Erica.  My life is as random as one can get.  I can hold a conversation on topics ranging from the symphony to diesel trucks and all sorts of random stuff in between.  So, this is a little window into my crazy life. 

Enjoy.