Tortilla Soup and Tamale Tarts

I'm not confident enough yet in my culinary abilities to create many recipes of my own but when I find a recipe that rocks, I want to share it with everyone.  With the cooler nights, and golden glow beginning to appear in the trees comes a strong urge to cook more soup.  



Today's meal is a combination of two recipes.  The first was a complimentary reciple from Trader Joe's daily flyer and the second was from Sunset magazine with a picture that had me drooling.  

Without a doubt this pairing is the ultimate warm delicious hug on a cool Autumn night.




TORTILLA SOUP


8 servings



All of the ingredients are from trader joes



2 quarts chicken broth


2 cups Trader Joes frozen roasted corn


1 can black beans


1 jar trader joes salsa verde 


1 tablespoon trader joes 21 seasoning salute


1 bag 3 cheese blend


1 package of the "just chicken" pre cooked chicken breast chunks (or 3 chicken breasts grilled/baked and chopped)


Trader Joe's salsa tortilla chips (if you like spicy) or regular tortilla chips



I bake my own chicken breast using olive oil and the 21 seasoning salute, then dice the chicken into small pieces and put everything listed except the chips and cheese in a crock pot.  Let it warm on low all day or about 12 hours.  When serving, crush the tortilla chips in bottom of the bowl, add soup then top with cheese.  If short on time, put everything in pot and cook on high for about an hour or until hot, then reduce to warm until ready to serve.



MY NOTES - 

This recipe freezes really well!  But you need to eat all of it after thaw/reheating.  It doesn't store well after that.

  If you find yourself with too much meat/beans/corn and no broth left after you have eaten it all, it makes wonderfull filling for quesadillas.




TAMALE TART


8 servings



Dough:


1 2/3 cups dehydrated masa flour (corn tortilla flour)

1/4 cup sugar 

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 can (14 3/4 oz.) cream-style corn

2/3 cup frozen corn kernels

1 can (4 oz.) diced green chilies

1/3 cup chopped white onion 

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Spinach filling:

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 onion (8 oz.), peeled and chopped 

1 red bell pepper (8 oz.), rinsed, stemmed, seeded, and chopped 

2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed 

8 ounces Roma tomatoes, rinsed and chopped 

Salt

1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend or cheddar cheese 

For dough: In a bowl, mix masa flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add cream-style corn, corn kernels, chilies, white onion, and oil; mix until blended.

For spinach filling: In a 10- to 12-inch frying pan over medium-high heat, stir cumin seeds, coriander seeds, and oregano in oil until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic; stir occasionally until onion is limp, about 3 minutes. Press liquid out of spinach. Add spinach and tomatoes to pan and stir often until liquid has evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Add dough to a casserole dish.  With the back of a spoon, spread dough over bottom and partially up sides of dish; it should be about 1/4 inch thick. Evenly layer the pepper cheese, spinach filling, and Mexican cheese blend over dough. Cover pan with foil.

Bake in a 350° oven until tart is hot in the center, about 30 minutes

MY NOTES - 

You can substitute artichoke hearts for the spinach (or do half of each).  Also see the fancy individual ramekin version on the Sunset site.  Personally, it was too much extra work and I got the same presentation effect adding the corn husks to a single casserole dish.   For regular family meals (or when delivering a meal to someone) I don't add the husks at all, as it is in the above directions.

I tend to buy larger quantities of fresh bell peppers and onions, and then dice and freeze them.  That way I have most of my ingredients on hand.

This recipe stores well in the fridge, either assembled or with dough and filling separate.  I almost always prepare it a day or two in advance.  

The Bugzooka Warrior

For years, during my 45 min commute through the concrete labyrinth of the big city I would fantasize about the joys of rural country living.  Sitting on my Sunset magazine inspired porch, sipping coffee while watching deer grace the outer fence line of my ranchette home.  It would be perfect.  Perfect for an artist at heart and perfect for my growing girls.

In an epic life transition almost 3 years ago, we went from two decades in that concrete metropolis to a much more mellow small town life.  The adjustments were not as smooth as I had thought.  Not being able to walk to the store, or have access to an ever plenty supply of Targets and Old Navy were some of the easier adjustments.  Somewhat surprising was how unprepared I was to share my world with nature.

It was as if every multi legged creepy crawly in the high desert felt obligated to personally welcome me to the homestead.  Pretty sure the sun spiders were trying to hug me, you know, in the most disturbing horror film type of way (If you have never seen a sun spider, look it up, and then be mad you did).

Then, there was the scorpion incident.

For a girl who dissolves into tears and the sight of a spider, giving said spider creepy claws and a mean pointy tail that can stab you with poison is just cruel torture that should not exist in reality.  As if that weren't bad enough the crazy person who sold us the house decided to put scorpion colored carpet throughout the house, giving this stinging nightmare additional camouflage.  Stephen King could not have written a more polished lead in to something this terrifying.  A lovely afternoon with visiting family, kids playing barefoot in my bedroom with the lights off to display the new collection of glow sticks, and a sense of ease that my days of running from the home crashing insects that had taken up residence in our previously vacant home before we moved in had finally passed.  We had fully moved in, taken over and I was starting to feel at home.

Oh yeah, so that part about the kids and the glow sticks.  Shortly after their darkened glow dance fest ended and the kids moved back into the living room with Grandma in tow, I saw that tiny cream colored exoskeleton from hell posing mere inches where my children's bare feet had just been.  I looked at him, he appeared disinterested and then poised to attack.  I called the husband in to dispatch swift justice on the intruder who was then crushed into tiny pieces under his boot.

On a slight tangent I might mention this moment being one of those crossroads where you most definitely SHOULD NOT consult google.  Let's just say after a sleepless night of Internet research I had concluded a giant nest of scorpions was living in the tree outside my house ready to invade my sleeping children's bedroom while the smooshed remains of our attacker resulted only in spreading its babies into the fibers of my carpet to launch their revenge on my bare feet.  So yeah, stay off the computer unless you want to spend the next day at your doctors office to be given anti anxiety medication and a prescription to chill the F out.

For many months after this I patrolled the house nightly with a black light, shoe in hand.  I never found another scorpion, but the other spiders still kept appearing.  It wasn't until the day I missed the intended victim of my flip flop who then plummeted to the floor and chased me down the hall that I realized I needed better weapons.  While my husband would have secretly loved if I had taken a Dirty Harry approach, my aim is not that good and our house did not need additional ventilation, so I again went to the Internet to find a solution.  I was on a mission of epic proportions and after hours of research and reviews of all the latest bug catchers on the market, I found my secret weapon.  A weapon so simple, and yet so powerful that it would unite our household in a triumphant victory of the battle against the eight legged invasion.  The overnight amazon package arrived, and I wasted no time assembling the device.  Immediately I scoured the house for my first victim, huddled silently on the baseboard in the hallway.  He was no match for me as I wielded this magical tube and at just the right moment pressed the tiny little red button that would initiate the vacuum and suck that little fucker off my floor.  It all happened so fast, but as I raised the almighty Bugzooka up to admire my trophy I saw him scatter off between my feet and into a crack in the floor.  Failure and disappointment along with every hair standing up as I realized there was still a spider on the loose.

I retreated to my office to ponder the dysfunction of the device.   After hours of further research and examination of this now massively disappointing tool, it came to me.  I needed to cast a bigger net to contain my prey before sucking him into his plastic prison.  Having just weened the last of my offspring off bottles, I had the perfect solution.  Behold the most awesome bug fighting tool in the world.

The original sleek tubular design had now been adapted with a bottle nipple that would create a larger containment space to coral the little monsters before they are sucked up.  I felt like one of those superheroes who was empowered not by some otherworldly glowing stone or disturbing spider bite (ugg...yuck) but rather by their own ingenuity and determination.  The Tony Starks and Bruce Wain's.  OK so I'm not a millionaire playboy, but you get the idea.  From the ashes of fear and anger arose a new powerful me ready to reap my revenge on every spider that had bitten me in the middle of the night, hit me in the face with its web or just grossed me out by being inside my house.  Never again would I walk through my house at night in fear that I would see that last glimpse of his little body slip under my bed before I could grab a tissue resulting in the complete dismantling of my bedroom until he was found.  I was the owner of the ultimate Bugzooka.

In the two years that have passed since my empowerment, I find that I can even face these little invaders with a fair sense of justice.  After a brief discussion through their clear cell about the inappropriate intrusion into my home, I give them a fair opportunity to free themselves after I release them into my chicken coop.  If they can escape the swiftness of my less intelligent ancestors of the velociraptor, they are free to go.  Life on the homestead is much quieter now, and the invasions have lessened.  I find myself taking refuge on the porch, smiling gently as my bugzooka rests by my side with the knowledge that I am ready and I am no longer afraid.

The Importance of Love

I am sure I have broken some sacred rule in blogging, having not posted anything in quite some time.  I have a long list of things ready to go, but felt compelled to find just the right blog to kick off the new year.  Yes, even in February.  

So here I am on Valentine Day, playing with my girls and their friends.  The husband starts to apologize for not having bought me flowers, and I realize, with all honestly, that I don't need any of that.  I have everything I need in front of me and that in itself is a celebration of love.  My happy kids, my amazing husband, and a life I am so thankful for.

So the day goes on, I start noticing a headline that catches my attention.  It is about Ellen Page coming out.  When I finally got to watch her speech, which had me teary, I found myself conflicted.  Part of me is so frustrated that this is considered "news" because I want to believe we have reached a place in humanity where the act of love and loving someone is a way of life and not something shocking.  But on the other hand, since that sadly is not the case, I want everyone to witness this beautiful woman's open acceptance of herself and celebrate it.  As a mom, I want to hug her, and apologize for the pain she has endured hiding herself from the world out of fear.  I want to make sure that my girls, whatever path they are led down, feel confident and proud of who they are and not be afraid to follow their hearts.  I want so desperately for them to live a life filled with love and to give that out to the world around them.  While I have always felt that everyone has a right to follow their own path, and my heart hurts when I see that we still have a portion of our country (and the world) that is fearful of what they consider different (regardless of the lack of impact it has on their own lives) watching her speech was a reminder to me of the immense job I have as a parent.  It is up to each of us to teach our kids how so very important the act of love is.  It isn't enough to "tolerate" but rather to wake up each morning, being so thankful you have another opportunity to experience this amazing world, and to experience love and share it with others.   Love is not easy, and can sometimes be painful, but it is so very worth it.

So that is my goal for this year, to work harder at showing my girls the importance of love and kindness, and hope that they can see the potential of where that can take you in life.  I believe it can take us all some place beautiful.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ellen-page-comes-as-gay-680563

Thanksgiving

I had so many grand plans for my Thanksgiving post.  A reflection on all the things I am so grateful for, my plans for sharing that appreciation with my kids and the lovely meal plans I was to prepare.

But instead, potty training, colds and a cat emergency consumed the last week.  So before I pass out from exhaustion and my sister's hot whiskey/honey cold killer I will leave you with the most amazingly awesome recipe I have ever found to replace the traditional turkey.

Behold!  Heaven for your mouth being hugged by a warm blanket of bacon.  I will never cook a whole turkey again.

This recipe is super easy, but be warned you need to read ALL the instructions first and get your schedule down.  Unless of coarse you want to partake in the most common of holiday traditions to announce dinner will be at 2 except, not really, you will eat at 6:30…

And my recommended changes - add more bacon, brine for only 1 hour and if you don't like a little spice, cut down on the chili pepper.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bacon-wrapped-turkey-breast-stuffed-with-pear-hash-recipe/index.html

Here's to new ventures and the power of creative collaboration!

I gave myself one year.  One year to settle my family in our new home, new town, new...everything.   One year to really get to know my kids without a laptop permanently open and cell phone in my hand. A year to bleed out the intense stress I carried from my previous job while trying to continue my work from home.  I gave myself 365 days to figure out what I really wanted to do when I grew up...again.

I wont bore you (in this post) with my meltdowns over the wildlife in my closet or my "welcome to your new home" by spending a week in the children's hospital!  You could say I let time get away from me while I actually starting living, both the good and the bad.

Somewhere around day 410 that little push came in the form of a gift.  A lovely little tote with a hand drawn design on it from a friend.  Over the next few days I watched as she shared her artwork online and questioned it's worth as a possible product.  My producer brain buzzed with endless ways to help market her designs, while also looking at ways to expand her creations with some crafty ideas of my own.  A few weeks later, and several dozen coffee's we decided to go into business together creating fun handmade products that spotlight her artwork.  And while I in no way pretend that my sewing expertise spans more than the last few months, I have to say I think I am getting the hang of it.

So here's to new adventures and a lot of creativity to share.  Join us, like us, and visit regularly as we roll out new ideas that often come from late nights, lots of coffee and car sickness.

https://www.facebook.com/lambkedesigns

http://www.etsy.com/shop/LambKeDesigns

Lunch Bag

So I was sitting in the living room many weeks ago, sorting through school supplies and bursting with pride over having collected all the items on my daughter's school list in advance.  And all that was left, the afternoon before the first day of school, was to sort and label all my acquisitions.  I am pretty sure I even proclaimed my awesomeness at being a proactive mom to the husband, who usually laughs and reminds me that it is with those announcements that I tend follow with a realization and expletive at the discovery that I might have made a mistake.

Yeah, so I checked the list, over and over, and managed to skip over the "lunch box" on the list.  Just recently I had thrown out last years model, not only due to its worn out appearance, but I had no faith it would last another day of use.  As the panic set in and the acceptance that I am too lazy to drive in to town to go to Target I decided to see if I could find some online help and take advantage of the plethora of material I have been hoarding (and not using).

Have I mentioned how much I love Pinterest?  It didn't take long to find a link to Craft Buds with an insanely easy and super cute bag design.  With the 6 year old's help (which usually adds a bit of time) we were able to churn out this cute little bag with snack bag in only about 2 hours!  And although some of my posts may be out of order, I should point out that this was only the third sewing project I have ever done (major props again to Craft Buds for their easy to follow instructions).

I need to give a HUGE shout out to Craft Buds for rescuing me at the eleventh hour.
Here is a link to the site and directions for this versatile bag!

http://www.craftbuds.com/car-trash-bag-reusable-lunch-bag/

You can check out my recent post with instructions on making the snack bags (For about $1 per bag!).

http://growingupkiddos.blogspot.com/2013/10/reusable-snack-bags-for-1-make-4-with.html

Reusable Snack bags for a $1! Make 4 with one Fat Quarter.

Last year I was in this natural grocery store and found the cutest reusable snack bags.  I went ahead and forked over the $10 per bag (one for each kid) hoping that I could eventually make my own.  After a few variations and help from friends who sew much better than I do, I finally came up with these.  Not much different than the store bought version (albeit a little less polished and MUCH cheaper).  Hopefully my little picture tutorial is easy to follow, let me know if you have any questions!

SUPPLIES
This assumes you already have a sewing machine and thread!

1 fat quarter - $1 at big lots or on sale at Joann's!
rip stop - (I get it from Joann's at $7/yd) only need 1/4 yard for this project
1/2in double fold bias tape (From Joann at $1.99 for 3 yards). I use just under 24in per bag for a total of 96in.  You still have enough for 3 more snack bags.

The above materials will make 4 snack bags at a total cost of $1.19 PER bag!
(NOT including any coupons or other sales you might find!)

Here are the instructions!

Lay out your fat quarter with rip stop underneath and trim to 18x22 (I notice a lot of the fat quarters I get have a little excess on one side or another)

Make your first cut across the shorter end at 6 inches, it will be longer than the rest, you can either trim it to 15 inches or make a deeper snack bag and prevent any waste.  Then cut the remaining large piece into 3 equal strips of 6x15.

The remaining instructions apply to each bag you assemble.  

Start by doing a double fold at the bottom of your bag, this will end up being the pocket opening.  Then sew that fold closed and sew around the edges of your fabric/ripstop.

Once both pieces have been sewn together, fold the bottom half over leaving a 3 inch flap at what will be the top of your bag.

Next, pinch the bottom of the bag and fold under a 1 inch bottom.  Pin the folds to secure for sewing.

Before you sew, add your bias tape.  start by folding the bottom of the tape to leave a clean edge.  The pin in as you fold it over the edges of your bag.  And yes, I DID take a break to have a manicure session with my kids ( :

When you reach the top corners of the bag, fold the bias tape under at the corners and clip.  Do not run the bias tape along the bottom.  

Quick awesome side note, my mom turned me on to using hair clips instead of pins, no more bleeding!!  

I do a double stitch seam to secure the bias tape and bag together, especially with how much my kids use these.   And there you go!  Repeat 3 more times and you have 4 snack bags!   Machine washable.