Today was super busy, and the week is about to get busier before it mellows out. I was all over the place today, and I have so much scheduled that I've planned for my folks to take the kids Friday night through Monday night. I am actually planning to go hang out at my folk's house all day on Sunday just so I have a chance to be with the kids. It probably won't be as bad as I am imagining it to be, but all I can see right now is the mountain of endless things I need to do and places I need to be over the short course of the next few days. I am so good at telling people to step back, take a breath, and just be present, and things will happen as they should. I need to heed my own advice, and know that everything will work out just fine.
However, knowing all of this, and looking at my menu for the remainder of the week....yyeeeahhh...probably not going to happen. On the bright side, that's 4 meals that I can push into next week, and then when I need to plan out the next 3 week block (I'm about due for that, but I'm just too darn busy. Now you'll see how I make it work when the going gets tough). On the not so bright side; I won't get to have dinner at the table with my family for a few days. On the bright side; I found out (my source shall remain nameless) that the hubs is/was planning to take me out to eat on Valentine's day. On the not so bright side; I have to figure out a way to make sure my kids wake up to their Valentine treats that they wake up to every year. On the bright side; I will have close to 4 days with just me and the hubs, like before kids. On the not so bright side; I'm gonna miss my kids. Oh! AND I just remembered that I bought stuff to make Valentine cookies with the kids. I will probably take the stuff to my mom's and she will get to have fun doing that with them.
I am now planning my surprise for early Saturday morning, and how I plan to get it to them. I will get everything ready Friday night, and drive it to my folk's house before I start work on Saturday morning. I have a cute little picnic basket. I will make homemade heart shaped chocolate waffles, I'll chop up some strawberries, and add a bottle of whipped cream (no, I won't whip it myself - I told you I wasn't perfect). I will throw in the Valentine cards, the small stuffed toy, and the smallest box of chocolates for each of them, that they're used to getting every year, and drop it at my mom's doorstep while I do a doorbell ditch 'em. I hope I can make it work. Now I'm super excited for that, but at the same time, I just added extra stuff to my mountain of things to do/places to be. See how that works. I just did that to myself in a matter of minutes. I'm sure the hubs will help. With everything but the making of the waffles.
So the question now becomes, do I blog the recipes I planned to use, or just post other recipes? Do I post tips and tricks? If I do post the recipes I planned to use, what do I post when we have those meals next week? Decisions decisions... I think that for tonight, I will post the recipe of what I had planned to fix for dinner, David's favorite soup. When we were first dating, he would come over to my house, and bring cans of soup and french bread, and we would have a picnic of sorts on my living room floor. This soup brings back memories of those times, but instead of bread, I put out tortilla chips and avocado.
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 6 minutes Makes: 4 servings
1 tsp oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
1 jar (16 ounces) mild chunky-style salsa
3/4 C water
2 Tbsp Frank's RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce
1 package (10 ounces) fully cooked carved chicken breasts
1 can (8.75 oz) whole kernel corn, undrained
1 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
1 C crushed tortilla chips
1/2 C (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1. Heat oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Cook garlic 1 minute or until tender. Add broth, salsa, water and Frank's RedHot sauce. Stir in chicken, corn, and cilantro. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, covered, 5 minutes.
2. Stir in tortilla chips and cheese. Serve hot.
I don't add the cilantro, because I really do not like it. At all. I do chop it up and set it on the table in a small dish for the family to add at their discretion. I also use a chicken breast that I grill up, or bake the night before. I have always done this, but I feel it important to note that here, so you know I am making an attempt at minimally to non processed as possible. I feel like the package of fully cooked, carved chicken is filled with sodium and preservatives, that wouldn't necessarily be in a chicken breast that I cook myself. Lastly, I put the tortilla chips and cheese in separate small dishes, and set them next to the cilantro dish. I think it's tastes better - from a texture standpoint, if you wait to add those ingredients on your own, as a topping of sorts. I also add avocado to this, because, like I've stated before; avocado, much like bacon, makes everything taste better.
Enjoy!
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