holy jalapeno!

I love anything and everything spicy and until I made this soup I thought nothing could be too spicy for me. Holy jalapeno was I wrong! Here's what I did based on this recipe.

Mexican-Inspired Vegetable Soup (the holy jalapeno version)

Ingredients:
2 c. frozen green beans, broken into bite size pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced (from a jar)
2 small zucchini, cubed
14 oz can diced tomatoes, with jalapeno peppers
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
5 tomatillos, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, sliced (include each and every seed!)
1 medium poblano chile, finely chopped (again include every seed)
1 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. ground cumin
6 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. roasted red peppers, water-packed (about 2 peppers)
2 T. canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1/2 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
juice from 2 limes
light sour cream

Instructions:

Place green beans, garlic, zucchini, tomatoes, onion, green pepper, tomatillos, jalapenos and poblano into a large pot. Add the oregano, cumin and broth. Puree roasted peppers with chipotle in adobo sauce in a food processor (or blender;) Stir into soup. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to low, and simmer, partly covered, for about 10 minutes.

Stir in cilantro and lime juice. Serve in bowl. Taste, choke and then add a 1/2 T. light sour cream to calm things down. holy jalapeno!

To go with the soup, I made Tomato-Herb Focaccia from my Taste of Home magazine. (Feb. Mar. 2011) I used the exact same ingredients so instead of repeating them (which can be found by clicking on the link) I'll just skim through the directions instead.

I used a food processor to mix the proofed yeast, olive oil and other dry ingredients. Instead of kneading for 6-8 minutes (I don't knead) I simply pulsed the food processor for 25 seconds. (much quicker and less muscle.) I turned the dough out to a floured surface, rolled it into a ball, placed it in a bowl and let it rise for 45 minutes (until it doubled in size.)

Then punch down dough and let rest 10 minutes or until you're done chasing the kids around the house trying to get them to quit fighting!

Shape into a rectangle and place on your newest favorite kitchen gadget. How have I lived without this thing all these years?!

If you haven't had a chance to get to Bed Bath and Beyond to buy the Professional Baking Mat than place your rectangle focaccia dough onto a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes or until doubled.With finger tips, make several dimples over top of dough. Brush dough with 1 T. olive oil, arrange tomatoes over top and sprinkle with the cheese. Go heavy on the cheese if you want your kids to LOVE it. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes.

Gorgeous!

Serve with holy jalapeno soup IF YOU DARE. (I ate the H.J. soup but I made Progresso Chicken Noodle soup for the Hubs and Kids and their sensitive taste buds.)

I sweated so much after eating this serving of soup. Hopefully I burned a significant number of calories because I felt like I just worked out. I challange my sister-in-law Mili (after she has the baby, of course (aka my nephew Patrick) to try this. I think it compares in spiciness to her Aji Salsa recipe!

Weekly Menu 4-18-2011

Before we get to the weekly menu, can you spot my son at his T-Ball game today? Great Job Diamondbacks!

This past weekend I felt I overindulged. I treated myself to Bunco snacks and then Matt and I went out to eat and I had the STEAK (not to mention the bread and potatoes!) So this week I tried to make up for it with light and easy dinners.

lunches: Mexican-Inspired Vegetable Soup (my absolute favorite lunch these days!)

Monday: Savory Sausage, Spinach, & Onion Turnovers & green salad (These turned out great. I prepped them before the T-ball game and baked them when we got home.)

Tuesday: Soup from the pantry and Tomato-Herb Focaccia

Wednesday: California Chicken Wraps & fruit

Thursday: Spaghetti and Pasta Sauce from the pantry (Wish me luck since I'm going to make this without a recipe! *wink) and Quick Italian Bread

Friday: Nutty Chicken Stir-Fry & Egg Drop Soup

Saturday: Tuna and White Bean Salad & Roasted Garlic Triscuits

Sunday: Honey-of-a-Meal Chicken and green beans

a fairly typical Sunday

A typical Sunday usually means we have an extra child who spent the night. This weekend it was Tera. Tyler and Lauren LOVE Tera.

Tyler loves them both so much he's happy to let them sit in his chair and watch them play the DS and iPAD.

On a typical Sunday we go to church BUT our church is remodeling and this is the weekend before Easter so we thought it would be C-R-A-Z-Y and opted not to go. (so bad, I know) Next week Easter services will be held at The Fred (the outdoor amphitheatre) so that will be a fun experience. Instead of church Matt and I took a solo trip to the new Sam's Club for their visit-for-free weekend. Mr. Mike watched the kids so M and I could check it out without any whining. I wasn't that impressed but things seemed to be about 50 cents cheaper than Walmart so I probably will get a membership. After the grass dried in the afternoon, Lauren and Matt mowed the lawn. Lauren in her lawn mowing sun hat and safety glasses. (I will cry when the Duck Hat no longer fits her!) Late afternoon Matt and Mr. Mike took all the kids fishing at a nearby pond while I folded laundry and made dinner. Don't let Lauren's cute smile fool you, Matt told me she was bored and grumpy as heck out there. But she sure is cute, eh? (Matt caught the fish and after this picture he threw it back.)

Dinner tonight: Herb and Goat Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Sauteed Spinach

Red Pepper Quinoa

(cook 1c. quinoa as directed, add in sauteed 1/2 c. chopped orange bell pepper and 1/2 c. chopped onion, season with salt and pepper)

Fresh Fruit YUMM!

(I even used fresh mint from my garden!) After dinner it was showers/baths for the kids and while Lauren read books, Tyler did his homework. "A" is for "Apple," "Angry Birds," and "Angel" When I grow up I will learn how to edit photos for the blog (and properly space my dinner dishes.) In the mean time please shift your head 90 degrees.

Today was a typical Sunday...and I sure do love Sundays. However, with this family I have, I love EVERYDAY.

P.S. For our date last night Matt took me to Downtown Grill in Tyrone, GA. Neither of us had been there before so we were anxious to check it out. We both thought the food was awesome. I had the filet mignon and Matt had a pasta dish. The only thing we weren't impressed with was the ambiance. The food and service made it seem like a 5 star restaurant but the high ceilings and bright lights made it seem like a strip mall restaurant. I think we're getting picky in our old age of 30 something.

perfect

Spring in the South is Perfect. In between thunderstorms (and occasional tornado watches) the weather is wonderful. (The storms aren't so bad either. We have a basement for shelter and the rain only lasts for 20 minutes or so before moving on. Nothing like the 30 day drizzle in the PacNW!)

low humidity, comfortably warm temps and lots of playing outside Lauren actually drove the golf cart. Today was another perfect day. We grabbed lunch and went to the park in Senoia (pronounced Senoy by the locals.)

the monkeys the Tylers looking for ticks exploring in the woods

thirsty

To top it all off on this perfect day Matt and I are going on a dinner date while Mr. Mike (Tera and Tyler's Dad) and Mr. Dave (Troy's Dad) hang out with all the kids. Perfect I tell ya.

silver bells and cockle shells

Eight days after planting seeds (and the tomato and strawberry plants) my garden is growing. I think it's the cutest little thing. All of my vine plants are sprouting up: Tomato, Peas, Cucumbers and Beans

lettuce my aggressive strawberries (anyone know? Can I trim them back?) onions

spinach

swiss chard

carrots

(it's hard to see the green sprouts but trust me, they're there)

I'm going to dream about a fresh salad tonight!

Tonight, however, brings us another slight chance of severe weather. Since Matt is out of town Mr. Buddy set up my nasty-weather garden-shelter for me. (Everyone needs a Mr. Buddy for a neighbor!) my budding fresh salad is snug as a bug

The weather radio already went off with a Tornado Watch for the overnight. Unfortunately it went off within ear shot of Lauren who for the first time freaked out. She heard it mention thunder, lightening and hail. (oh the hail!) She sobbed that the thunder scares her, the lightening hurts her eyes and, amidst gasping sobs, that Tera told her hail can make a huge hole in her head. Tera and I will have a chat the next time I see her. =)

I assured Lauren that my job was to keep her safe and no matter what I would.

I love these intense storms (including the weather radio for warning and the basement for shelter) and if we ever move back to the Pacific NW I will miss them.

Moving on: I talked to Matt today and he is doing much better. He was able to give his presentation as scheduled and was actually going out to eat some dinner. I told him to order whatever he ordered VERY WELL DONE. I should probably insist that he only eat my cooking. We rarely eat out at restaurants but when we do he often (well twice now) catches some kind of bug.

One last thing: Tyler says the absolute coolest things. He's very literal and analytical. After watching a mattress commercial on TV he said, "Mama, have you ever seen a mattress that growed?"

"No son, I haven't"

"Well it was on TV and they said it was 16 years old."

(Since we have Tivo/DVR and normally fast-forward through all the commercials, he thinks it's a special treat to watch them and he listens intently.)

a day and night at the beach

Matt is presenting at a conference on Pensacola Beach tomorrow (Monday) so we decided to take advantage of a (partial) paid trip and spend the weekend at the beach.

Tyler settles in at the hotel and practices his new smile.

It was a little foggy Saturday morning so before hitting the sugar sand beach we explored Fort Pickens (again.) As you can see...this really is Tyler's new smile. Bless his heart!

we toured the fort at a child's pace (running)

soon after we began, we were done

finally - BEACH TIME

(it was a humid 85 degrees, sometimes foggy but no one complained)

our slice of beachly heaven

(our hotel, the Hampton Inn, is behind us)

We spent hours on the beach and had a blast.

I'm pretty sure The Gulf of Mexico is my favorite body of water that touches the United States.

(sorry Mom and the Pacific)

playing after dinner at Crabs

uh-oh someone missed a spot with the sunscreen (she's humoring me with a sad face even though she insists it doesn't hurt (yet))

The restaurant had a balloon guy so of course T and L needed balloons.

a parrot

a rabbit (said rabbit popped 30 seconds after the picture was taken...the smile on her face disappeared 30.2 seconds after the pic was taken.)

After the rabbit popped we left the restaurant. Lauren was in tears. I'm thinking this was a sign, and not a good sign.

In the middle of the night Matt woke up sick. We're pretty sure food poisoning sick. He was up all night and into the morning. I had to make a tough decision. The original plan was for me to drive home with the kids on Sunday (they have school on Monday) and Matt would catch a ride with a co-worker after his presentation. After his hospital ordeal last year every time he throws up I think it's a life and death situation. So after hanging out for a few hours this morning we decided he seemed to be on the mend. I decided we could leave him in Florida. We also let his co-worker know that he was on-call if Matt needed anything...food, water, a ride to the nearest ICU.

So I drove the kids and I home...a 6 hour drive with one stop for lunch and obnoxious traffic. (I'm pretty sure everyone in metro Atlanta went to the Florida panhandle for Spring Break and we ALL drove home this afternoon.)

****I hate to make a long post longer and I know the future Tyler will KILL me, but I need to insert a story here. Right when we hit the GA border the traffic was stop and go. When we were 15 miles (stop and go, remember?) before the next exit Tyler said he needed to go tee tee "really, really, really, really bad." I told him I'd stop as soon as I could. Well he shook, held, squirmed and eventually cried (bless his heart!) and begged me to pull over (on the I-85) so he could go in the grass. Finally we made it to the exit and we ran into the nearest gas station. He went into the single user Men's room while I stood out the door. After awhile I heard him say, "Momma, something happened in here." Through the door and within ear shot of other Gentlemen waiting for the Men's room, he said, "I accidentally went poo poo on the floor. I thought it was only a toot." OMGosh! Thank goodness it was a single user Men's room because I'm not sure what I would have done in a bathroom full of urinating males. I walked right in and did what any good Mom would do. (scoop and flush using almost an entire roll of toilet paper) And then we got the heck out of dodge.****

We finally made it home safe and sound. I got the kids fed and tucked into bed but as I was typing this post the power went out. (another sign?) After scrambling in the pitch black to find the flashlight and light some candles I called Matt on my cell to check on him. He wasn't feeling much better. He still can't keep any liquids down. He said he'll try to make it through the night and if he's still sick tomorrow he'll go to the hospital (what? WHAT!)

After that phone call the power was finally restored and luckily, my entire post was saved (hopefully a positive sign?)

I really don't believe in signs but all I know is Matt better get himself healthy real quick. Because I for sure can't handle another life and death hospital stint. Especially one that takes place in a Pensacola hospital. (do they even have hospital's down there?) I'll keep you posted.

Troy's Mom (an update)

I'm not sure if you all are interested in these updates but it's something I think and pray about before falling asleep every night. I've only met Troy's mom twice but she's my age and she was completely healthy. During a neck adjustment at the chiropractor's office her vertebral artery was torn which caused a stroke and damaged her brain stem. Her brain stem is damaged but the rest of her brain is functioning just fine (according to the doctors.) She's able to hear, see, understand, etc. etc. but she's not able to speak or move. According to the latest CaringBridge update, "The Doctor described the feeling she is having as being locked in a box." It's hard for me to even think about what she is going through. From what I hear she is a fighter. I'm praying for her and I truly believe in the power of prayer. Please pray for her as well.