New Dish Tuesday: Chicken Tortilla Soup

I am sure everyone has made this before, but I am posting this recipe because surprisingly I have never made it until recently. It was extremely easy to throw together and really, really good!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 large chicken breasts (pre-cooked and chopped)
1 carton chicken stock (or homemade approx 4 cups)
1/4 to 1/2 chopped onion (your choice of color)
3 green onions chopped
1 can black beans drained
1 cup frozen corn or 1 can corn drained
Cheyenne pepper
Ground Cumin
Salt
Pepper

Pre-cook the chicken breasts and chop to your choice of size. I usually fill a large skillet with water halfway covering the chicken. Cook over medium-high heat until chicken is cooked. This tends to keep the chicken more moist.

In a large pot saute the onion in butter until it is translucent. Add chopped green onion and saute for a minute or so longer.

Add chicken broth and remaining ingredients. Season to taste. Cook over medium-high heat until beans and corn are cooked through.

Garnish with crushed tortilla chips, grated cheese and sour cream.

To make your own tortilla strips use a pizza cutter to slice tortillas into thin slices and lightly cover with cooking spray. Add salt if desired. Bake in the oven @ 350 until they are lightly brown. Yum, yum!

(Not the best picture, but you get the point. Don't worry, I don't drink the Sherry in the background, it's strictly for cooking purposes only.)

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

It started last year when I discovered that Stevens Pass has webcams. During the ski season I would compulsively check their cameras to see the conditions and how busy it was. Well, of course my obsessive compulsive disorder has multiplied tremendously this season since I cannot go skiing due to my pregnancy. So every day, several times a day, I find myself checking the cameras. I shouldn't, but I do.

And today...I checked them...and there is practically no one there! Geesh, this is killing me. I wanna go skiing!

Hello, my name is Kati...

...And after 15 years I am finally able to admit that I am a true Washingtonian. Yes, it's true, I have been calling myself a Californian since I moved here and could never really admit that I was a true Washington resident.

What made me realize I was a Washingtonian, you ask? Well, let me tell you. A few days back I was driving along minding my own business driving the speed limit, no less, when all of a sudden out of nowhere there is a car in front of me going 15 MPH under the speed limit. My first thought was that it was an older resident from my neck of the woods--they tend to drive slowly, but at a closer inspection I realized they were actually from out of state. Where? From California of course! Ha! And you know what my first thought was when I realized that? "Typical Californian doesn't know how to drive in the rain." Yes! That is what I thought! I know! How rude! How could I think that about a fellow Californian?

I then realized if I am thinking this then truly I am no longer a true Californian. California has left the building. Washington has seeped into my skin and into my bones and does not want to leave. My hair smells of rainy days and beautiful evergreens, low tides and sunny warm days. Yes, Washington is apart of me and I don't ever want to lose it.

I will always have a special place in my heart for the Napa Valley with it's Oak trees and vineyards, mustard fields and bright blue skies, but I have realized that it could never make me want to lose seeing the beautiful Pacific Northwest every day of my life.

I love the cozy feeling during the fall months and the freezing feeling of winter; the fresh air of spring and the hot sun of summer. I love the shade an evergreen provides and the smell of the Puget Sound during summer days. I love walking on my lawn and feeling the moss squishing beneath my feet. I love driving along 101 during any season heading to my parents cabin. And if I may quote my father-in-law, "I'm liking the Lichen."

Hello, my name is Kati and I am a Washingtonian.

New Dish Tuesday: Beef Broccoli

In my last post I mentioned Paul made an excellent low carb dinner last week and I promised I would post the recipe on here.

As of late, I have become obsessed with a new blog called The Pioneer Woman and I came across this recipe on her blog, which she actually got from another blogger. Her pictures made this Beef Broccoli business look too good to pass up so I added it to our grocery list. Click on over to her site to read the full story and check-out her mouth watering pictures of this dish.

And so, as promised, here is the recipe I have been raving about:

BEEF BROCCOLI

1 lbs top sirloin or flank steak, thinly sliced into 1/8-in thick strips
11/2 lbs broccoli, cut into bite-size florets
1 tablespoon high-heat cooking oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic

BEEF MARINADE
1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cooking oil
Freshly ground black pepper to season the beef

STIR-FRY SAUCE
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
2 teaspoons Chinese black vinegar (or balsamic vinegar)

1) In a bowl, combine the ingredients for the Beef Marinade. Add the beef and let mari- nate for 10 minutes at room temperature.

2) In a small bowl, mix together the ingre- dients for the Stir-fry Sauce.

3) In a wok or large sauté pan, add 1 inch of water and bring to a boil. Add the broccoli and cover to steam for 3 minutes. The broccoli should be bright green, crisp tender and you should be able to pierce the stem with a fork. Drain.

4) Discard the water in the pan and dry the pan well. Set the pan over high heat and when hot, add the high-heat cooking oil and swirl to coat. Add the garlic and fry for 15 to 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the steak strips, keeping them in one layer and fry 30 seconds. Flip the strips and fry the other side.

5) Pour in the Stir-fry Sauce and stir to combine. Simmer until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 30 seconds. Add the cooked broccoli back into the pan and toss to coat well.

Paul thought it was slightly too oyster-y tasting, but I couldn't tell. It might have been due to the stuffed up nose I had at the time. I am sure you can always replace the oyster sauce with something else like pineapple juice...now that sounds good! Even Ella approved of this and chowed down on the beef, she's usually not a fan of meat. Be sure to check our her site and the pictures of the Beef Broccoli!

7 Quick Takes Friday: Volume 1

So there is this thing a lot of bloggers are doing called 7 Quick Takes Friday where you blog about 7 different things that don't really necessitate their very own blog post. I thought that I would give it a try since there are a lot of things floating around in my head that don't really need their very own blog post. So here it goes...

---1---

Yesterday I had my 6 month (24 week) prenatal checkup and apparently the little boy is measuring bigger than average. Which means I will probably have an 8 pound or larger baby that will be trying to make it's way out of me. Umm...no thanks. This is obviously just an estimate by the doctor so there is a chance that the baby won't be that big, so we will see. He also told me cutting out as much carbs as possible could possibly help keep the baby's weight down, but no guarantee. If he gets too big the doctor said that there might be a chance that I won't be able to deliver the little (or should I say big) guy which means the only other option would be a cesarean, duh. I was so overwhelmed by this information that I left the doctor's office in a little bit of a daze.

---2---

I am sick. Boo! Just a cold, but it's making being pregnant even more tiring. On top of being a little stressed out by the news above, yesterday wasn't a great day for me. But Paul swooped in on his white horse (if only he really had a white horse) and made a really yummy low carb (see above for reason why) dinner and let me curl up on the couch for the rest of the night and just wallow in my sorrows and illness. He is the best! By the way, early next week I will post the recipe for what Paul made because it was pretty delish. I was planning on making it last night, but again see above for reason why I wasn't in the mood to cook.

---3---

I have a great little sister. She just moved down the road from us (only three minutes away). She called up yesterday and asked if Ella could come hang out with her. It was perfect timing for us. It allowed Paul to easily get dinner ready and me to wallow (again, see above) without worrying about Ella. Plus it wore her out so much that she slept in until almost 8:30 A.M. today. Which in turn allowed me to sleep a little longer.

---4---

Because I got to sleep in a little longer this morning I woke-up feeling a little better than yesterday. I had a burst of energy and made Ella a Mickey Mouse pancake (topped with chocolate chips and whipped cream). She was kind of bummed, actually more like extremely sad and cried when she realized Daddy was at work today. So to get her to feel better I enticed her with a Mickey Mouse pancake, which she never had before. But of course to her Mickey Mouse and pancake is the best combination of words she could ever hear and it cheered her up immediately. Don't worry, we don't always feed her unhealthy stuff like this, only on special occasions or circumstances.

---5---

So, I know I have said that we are not planning on telling anyone what name we are planning on naming the baby. But, I can at least say this. Whenever Ella tries to say the name that we like it tends to come out as "Corn". We are having a difficult time trying to come up with a middle name that fits well with the name we like. Well, I am not having a difficult time, Paul just doesn't really like the names I pick out. I am not too worried right now, I mean, we still have 16 weeks more to go and all.

---6---

Paul is picking up Ella's big girl bed today after work. Technically it's just the mattress, box spring and metal bed frame. Ella is getting an antique bed that was her great grandma's and then mine and my sister's. We are planning on painting the wood white and right now with this weather it's not the greatest time to paint so for now she will just be using a metal bed frame until we get the bed ready for her. Ella isn't really into the idea of having a big girl bed so tonight will probably be an interesting night for us.

---7---

Snow! Well, not really. But last night when I last checked the weather they were saying possibly snow/rain showers later today in the lowlands, which is us! Which means, we will get to see a few pretty snow flakes fall down, but nothing that will stick around. Oh wait, never-mind. I just checked the weather and now they are saying thunderstorms and nothing about snow. Darn. I was kind of expecting that, though, since we live so close to water which everyone knows means it's warmer and you don't get as much snow. I love snow. I love it more than ever now because I don't work so I don't have to stress about driving to work in it. I have been craving snow for the last few weeks now. I am sure it will be a while before we see any here, though. Craving snow I think goes hand in hand with wanting to decorate for Christmas right now, which I really want to do, but I am holding out until the day after Thanksgiving. I just love the holidays and the cheerfulness and coziness of the winter holidays. I did break out my Christmas music a week ago, which helped curb my cravings for Christmas. Ella fell in love with the Chipmunks Christmas record and after listening to it probably 20 times now, it's starting to grow on me as well.

Growing Frustration

So I just called our family doctors clinic and they DO have the H1N1 vaccine, but only for pregnant women and children between the ages of 6 months to 5 years old. "Great." I said. And told the woman on the phone that I have a 2 1/2 year old who needs the vaccine. She then states that the shots for children are only being given out to the children who have underlying health problems. "Great!" I said again, but this time in frustration because Ella is perfectly healthy. And the woman on the phone had no idea when they will be available for the healthy children...who will most likely be unhealthy with H1N1 by the time the shot is available for them.

I feel so frustrated. Mainly at the government of course. How is it that in some states whole families who are healthy are getting the shot, but in some states like ours the shots are very limited. And even more frustrating is that some health clinics in our state are giving the shots out to healthy children while other clinics like mine only have enough for now for the people with underlying conditions. Ugh!

Guess I am just going to keep calling our health clinic until I am told they have a shot available for Ella. What else can I really do?

Getting Greener, One Step at a Time

I was inspired recently by a family in the Seattle area who had reduced their waste so much so that they only had to put their trash can out once a month and it was still only partially full. It got me motivated to try to reduce our waste even more. Right now we recycle so I felt the next step on our list to become more waste conscious was to start a compost bin. This has been an idea floating around the back of my head for some time now, but was never accomplished because it sounded like possibly a lot of work to set up...but I was wrong.

I googled "compost bin" a few weeks back and came across this. I couldn't believe how simple building a compost bin was. So I informed Paul of my plan, which went something like this:

    Me: I think we should build a compost bin, it's really easy.

    Paul: When you say "we" you mean "me", right?

    Me: Rrrrright...

And that was how it went. So Tuesday Paul got out one of our garbage cans we were not using and prepped it for the compost bin.

(Paul gathering leaves and dirt to start the compost bin)

(By the time Ella and I got our boots and jackets on, Paul was done. It was that simple.)

(Which left plenty of time to swing.)

(And to play in the leaves.)

A Conversation with Ella #2

Ella: I want to see your gummie.

Me: I don't have any gum in my mouth.

Ella: I want to see Paul's. (Yes, she actually said Paul!)


Me: You mean Daddy?

Ella: Uh huh.

Me: Daddy is at work.

Ella: Uh huh.

Apparently My Dog Has Seasonal Allergies

Harry Potter our cute little Pembroke Welsh Corgi has seasonal allergies. He went in for his annual check-up and shots today and the vet took one look at his paws and said he has allergies because it is obvious he is chewing on them. He started this during the summer and I never really paid too close attention to it because it wasn't crazy chewing, just occasional. So now we are going to give him Benadryl to see if it helps his seasonal allergies. Apparently I just give him a children's dose and he should be good. If it doesn't  seem to help then the next problem could be that he is allergic to his dog food. I suspect though that it is seasonal allergies for several reason. 1) Because his chewing has seemed to dwindle a lot since the cold autumn weather has taken over and 2) because I have seasonal allergies and I am his mom so obviously he got it from me (just kidding).

(Harry loves posing in the grass.)

Besides the allergies, everything else checked out just right. He is just the right size and only weighs in at 4 more pounds than Ella. Which is strange because when I pick him up he feels at least twice as heavy.

Speaking of Ella, today she insisted on helping out at the vet by holding Harry's leash for me while I paid for the visit. It was pretty hilarious watching her try to control Harry on his leash. She did pretty well holding her own with him and was using all her might and strength to keep him in line. She looked like a little water skier being towed behind him from the way she was pulling him so hard to keep him in one place. Luckily he wears a harness when we leash him up, so he hardly noticed her pulling on him.

Harry is only one year (plus a few days) older than Ella and they seem to be getting along just fine together. It took them a little while to work out a good playing compromise between them, but it seems they have figured it out and are pretty good friends now. If only I could get them to pose for a picture together. But I guess like any big brother, he doesn't want any picture taken with Ella. He always wiggles out of her grasp at just the right moment to thwart my picture taking.

Swine Flu, Life Insurance and Halloween...Oh My!

In the past week we have made decisions about the Swine Flu, life insurance and Halloween. I decided to get my H1N1 vaccine on Wednesday. I know there is controversy over the ingredients in the vaccine and I did my research A LOT before getting the shot and for me the positive factors in receiving the shot totally out weighed the negative of not getting the shot. You can blame it on the media if you want, but what it came down to was me not wanting to get sick and then possibly die because according to everyone it is most dangerous for pregnant women to contract the virus. So it is over and done with. I have received the vaccine and I feel confident in my decision to get it. It's hard to hear people talk negatively about the vaccine when I have already received it, but I am comfortable in knowing that I made this decision and that I feel it is the right one. I am hoping that Ella's doctor will receive the vaccine in the next week or so, so that I can feel more safe about her health as well.

We are also in the process of getting life insurance. Maybe this is Paul's way of "nesting". But I have been grumpy about it through the whole process. I know and understand that Paul want's to take all precautions to make sure our family is financially okay. But having a 30 year policy to me is hard to understand because I feel like we will live long lives and the 30 year policy will end when we are just shy of being 60. In my head I am imagining that we will both still be around and healthy at that age. I know that Paul is just being cautious and that is why he is doing this.

I think the thing that makes me most grumpy of all is that we will be having an exam and blood work done for the policy. The appointment is at 10:00 A.M. and I have to fast all morning before the appointment. This is not something a pregnant woman would ever be happy to do. All I can think about is how hungry I am going to be and just thinking about it makes me hungry right now. I already have my breakfast meal planned out for right after the appointment. I keep imagining having an egg and english muffin breakfast sandwich all ready prepared and waiting for me right after the appointment is done. Home made of course.

Last night was Halloween and Ella got to go trick-or-treating for the first time. Her costume of choice was a Ballerina Sock Monkey that was purchased from a store. Not hand made like I had been planning. I previously was going to make her a Tinkerbell costume, but the sewing just seemed too overwhelming at this time, plus I have been tired a lot from this pregnancy and couldn't get motivated. So Ella and I looked through a lot of costumes and she made the final decision on the Sock Monkey.

We got her all dressed up and headed downtown to trick-or-treat at all the little stores. Poppa, Yaya and Grammy Dee came along to support her first Halloween experience. She was extremely shy the entire time and a little overwhelmed by the amount of people down town, but she warmed up and even wore her monkey hat once we walked a block up to all the houses. She even became brave enough to say thank you whenever she was given candy. She just couldn't get the courage to say trick-or-treat yet. I am sure she will be more willing to say it next year.

Overall this week has been pretty busy. We also celebrated Paul's birthday on Friday. This is his last year in his 20's before hitting the big 3-0. Woohoo!