chicken tortilla soup with roll-ups

last night i steamed 2 chicken breasts. i set aside and shredded one with my quick chop, and the other a made larger shredded chunks by using 2 forks.
i took a recipe off of allrecipes.com for the soup. i would normally NEVER make something with all this processed food in it-however, this was a special request!
1 can of rotel,(10 ounce) can enchilada sauce, 1 medium chopped onion, 2 cloves minced garlic, 2 cups water, 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn (i get the fire roasted), 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro, i can of strained and drained black beans. combine it all, crock pot on low for 8 hours.
i'm going to top with shredded cheddar, a dollup of sour cream, and tortilla strips.
roll-ups:
in a pan, combine the rest of the shredded chicken, i took 2 ladels of the soup, 1 t of cumin, a few shakes of hot sauce, some salt and pepper. heat up some black beans in a seperate pot. shred some lettuce. place it all out with some tortillas along with some shredded cheddar, sour cream, and salsa. have everyone make up their own roll-ups. if i would of had more time, i would of made some yellow rice as well. enjoy senioritas!

shrimp linguine with white wine clam sauce

oh my oh my. this was a meal we would of paid $25 a plate for at a restaurant! and it was reasonably easy to make and oh so good.
STARCH:
i used the fun linguine noodles i recieved in a gift basket (the type that are made from spinach, beets, squash, etc-the ones that cook up in just a few mins)
boil, strain and set aside.
SAUCE:
i melted 4 T of butter in a my favorite sauce pan and added 1 chopped shallot and 2 cloves of garlic (thank you quick chop)and sweated them out.
i added 1 cup chicken stock and 3/4 cup clam sauce(if you buy the canned clams, just strain the sauce into this mix), 1/2 cup white wine (i used chardonnay) plenty of oregeno, parsley, white and black pepper. i boiled this for around 25 mins to create what they call a white wine reduction sauce (if you like a zesty flavor, add 1 T of lemon juice to this mix)
once reduced (around 1/2 the amount of liquid that you started with...) add 4 more T of butter, 1 T at a time and WHISK!! you are adding oxygen to this mixture and creating a similar buerre blanc sauce-it makes it appear slightly creamy. if you want clams-now's the time to add them.
VEG:
meanwhile, i was steaming some brocolli, and added some peapods in when i took it off the heat and let it set for 5-7 mins. add whatever kinds of veg you prefer. i think cherry tomatoes would of been a good addition.
PROTEIN:
i marinated some deveined, deshelled (still with tails) shrimp in olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic for an hour or so. olive oil your pan, get it steamy, and cook 2 mins each side.
add the linguine into the sauce pan, vegetables, and shrimp, toss.....and top off with some shaved parmesean and OH MY YUM!
this meal ended up costing $12 (keeping in mind we already had the noodles, chicken stock, and herbs)

up for next week....

on the board for next week:
slow cooker chicken tortilla soup with black bean roll-ups (doubles as great lunches)
beef tenderloin with (shh) cauliflower/potato mash and asparagus
shrimp linguine (this is a first for me!)

pork and cabbage stew

crock pot day!!
1.5 lbs of pork butt salt and peppered up...
3-4 small red poatoes per person, 1/3 cabbage cut up, 1/2 onion, some carrots, salt, and 1 cup chicken stock.
layer all that up and lay down 2 slices of bacon, put the pork butt on top.
on low for 8 hours.
the last hour, add another 1/4 of the cabbage.
the meat just falls right apart, portion it out equally with the other vegetable, pour some liquid on top and enjoy!

wraps and leftovers :)

leftover ziti tonight, sorry.
however, for lunch. YUM YUM
bought some whole wheat lavash, threw on some turkey, romaine, tomato, fresh buffalo mozzarella, and balsamic. YUM easy, cheapish and filling.

baked ziti

oh thank you, thank you to my vacuum sealer, dinner took about 4 mins prep time tonight.
in the freezer, i had my meat sauce already made, and i put it in the fridge last night to thaw.
i cooked some ziti noodles, poured the sauce, put in a 9x9 pan, tossed some mozz on top and baked covered 375 for 20 mins, and broil for about 2 uptop for a nice crust.
easy, simple, yummy, and enough for leftovers.

in case you wanted to know, my spag sauce (made on a lazy sunday by the quart) :
3 lbs of ground beef
1 large and one small jar of Prego traditional sauce
carton of mush
i whole purple onion
(sautee these with 2 cloves of garlic before adding to sauce)
2 tablespoons of Frankenmuth's Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
awesome to vacuum seal in portions that feed 2 or 4

cashew chicken with parsely potatoes and corn

so sick of eating boring chicken.
first, in my handy dandy quick chop, i ground up some cashews. i added 1/4 cupish of bread crumbs, some salt, garlic, pepper and put it on a paper plate.
in a bowl, i whisked an egg, 2 good squirts of Korean Sesame Sauce (in the asian aisle)
on another paper plate-some flour
i pounded the chicken down to 1/2inch, dredged it in the flour, next the egg mix, next the cashew crumb mix-patted it good and got 'er coated.
heated up some sesame oil with a bit of olive oil on med/high till it was steamy-cooked the chicken 6 mins on each side.
potatoes:
boil up some mini red potatoes cut in half....(about 4 whole per person)
in a dish-put together (3/4cupish)plain yogurt, some garlic powder, salt, pepper, and fresh parsley
when the potatoes are done, drain, and mash slightly. add the yogurt mix and serve right away
corn-bah. steamable. 5 mins in the microwave. easy and good. (not organic, i know blah blah)
jason really liked this meal, and so did i. in all, it took about 30 mins to cook-and i didnt really have to specifically shop for anything-as most of the items are staples in my home.

why oh why?

i tend to need organized thoughts (in writing or verbal form) and i wanted something positive to look forward to. a "project" persay that was full of something that i'm interested in (talking & cooking) so here we go. i'll go ahead and makes entries when i cook. i'm a pretty good cook-so if you want to go ahead and try them-please do!
head's up. ALL the meat i buy IS free-range. i try and purchase as much organic produce as possible, but being in michigan-the winter is difficult. also, ALL dairy i purchase is also organic