Well, after taking Monday off to continue the recuperation process, I was finally able to walk farther than from the bedroom to the couch without requiring a resting period. I was extremely thankful for my crock pot (which sounds so incredibly house-wifey but I don't care....it was true!) and made some yummy feeling sick/needing comfort food for James and myself. Poor guy, he was also feeling under the weather with a sore throat. It was not a good week in terms of health in the Sebesta household last week. Comfort dish numero uno: chicken tortilla soup! This delicious and so-easy-it's-almost-embarassing soup doesn't actually have tortillas so the name still remains one of the greatest mysteries of this day and age.
Chicken Tortilla Soup
4 chicken breasts
2 15-oz. cans black beans, undrained
2 15-oz. cans of Mexican stewed tomatoes or Rotel (or 1 of each)
1 cup salsa
4 oz. can chopped green chilies
14.5 oz. can tomato sauce
Tortilla chips
Shredded cheese
1. Combine all ingredients except for chips and cheese in crock pot.
2. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
3. Just before serving, take out chicken and slice into bite-size pieces. Stir back into soup.
4. Top with crunched-up chips and cheese.
Yum!
This stuff reheats so well which just makes it even better when your recuperation process takes a couple days. Thank you Lord for comfort food:)
To accompany our soup, and since the only work required was operating a can opener, I was craving some cornbread. Because getting behind the wheel to go get some fabulously inexpensive and beloved Jiffy was out of the question, and because I happened to have some yellow cornmeal on hand, I decided to try making my own. I just googled recipes and found this awesome one from Food Network's The Neelys. Although this couple personally annoys me to no end (I'm sorry if you are a fan) - I mean really, what couple is that lovey-dovey in the kitchen?? I find myself gagging slightly at the ooey-gooey things they say over simple things ("Alright baby now I'm just gonna go over here and slice these zucchini" "You're gonna slice them?!!!" "Oh yeah, baby I'm gonna slice 'em" "Oh look at you go, mmm mmm mm those are gonna be so good!" "Oh baby I just can't wait"). When I cook and have 3 things going at once and am profusely sweating over the kiln we call an oven, James will come in and attempt to give me a hug. Let's just say my response is not very Neely-like. Sorry, that was a long side note. Personal differences aside, they have a fabulous recipe for some honey cornbread muffins! You can taste just the right amount of honey (and butter) in each bite. My stomach was still a little off after the flu bug and lucky for me, these muffins were one of the few things that sounded and tasted delicious :)
Honey Cornbread Muffins
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 cup whole milk
(I just had 1% in the fridge and they came out great...plus saved a few calories)
2 large eggs
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup honey
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
3. In another bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, butter, and honey.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.
5. Line muffin tin with paper liners (or just spray it with cooking spray), divide batter evenly, and bake for 15 minutes until golden.
Make these - you will love them!!!
As I finally get back into my normal routine, I thought I'd just briefly tell you about our lunch routine at school. After getting the kids' hands all washed and seated at the table, which is a whirlwind in itself, we always say a prayer. I vary between having the kids say one and having them repeat my words. My prayers always contain pleas such as "Help us be nice to our friends", "Help us share", or "Help us use our gentle hands", especially on days when those three behaviors are especially absent. But no matter if I pray or if one of the kids prays, one of my girls adds "and take care of our school" (one of our classroom guidelines) and one of my main little men adds "and help the fire alarm not go off" (in reference to the day when the alarm went off ALL. DAY. LONG. and loud noises were particularly upsetting to this little guy). Every single time. Morning snack. Lunch. Afternoon snack. Hey, a good lesson in learning that we can pray to God about the smallest things, even fire alarms. After the prayer there is a rush of activity opening lunch boxes, opening juice straws, etc. Then I get my way-cool boy's lunch box and have a seat on our carpet to enjoy my lunch alongside the kids. Without fail, literally every single day, they ask me, "What do you have for lunch?". I tell them. "Do you have an apple today?" If the answer is yes, "Is it real?" Why yes, yes it is. So cute!
This weekend my mom and I hosted a lingerie shower for my sister who is getting married next May. My parents have a beautiful lake house on Lake Travis and the weekend was just perfect.....perfect weather, tons of girl talk, yummy food, even yummier drinks, boat rides, martini glass-etching craft, and some shower games (details to follow). I offered to bring the desserts and had so much fun making lots of hot pink and black decor. James thought I was absolutely insane as I was surrounded by scrapbook paper, hot glue guns, and ribbons galore. Here's a little view of what I made:
Before I allowed my sister to open her gifts Saturday night, I had a few questions to ask her. I had previously emailed her fiance these questions, got his responses, and quizzed her to see if their answers matched. I got the idea from one of my friends' showers and it actually is so much fun! I asked questions such as "If you could throw away one thing from her closet, what would you pick?" followed by "What would she throw away from your closet?" as well as questions about favorite athlete by first and last name, first date, favorite dessert, etc. Throughout the gift-opening the girls played bridal bingo (a bingo card with things like "something white", "something matching", "something wild", and so on) for the chance to win a fabulous prize! As my sister opened gifts, I secretly wrote down phrases she said and shared them with the group at the end as things she will say on her wedding night. Oh my goodness, it was so hard not to laugh as she said priceless things. The top ones were: "It was gently used by a large woman before you", "Tracy can make magic happen", and "Sorry for the funny smell". We were rolling on the floor in our tears!
For the desserts, I made two types of cupcakes and some of my grandma's sugar cookies. They were seriously insanely addicting. I think I might still be coming off of my sugar high :) They even got my very, naturally-healthy (aka weird) dad to eat a whole one! I will definitely be making them again! I got both cupcake recipes from a blog I love (Une-deux senses).
Mint Chocolate Cupcakes
Cupcake:
1 box of chocolate Devil's food cake
1 box of Andes mints, finely chopped (I used half a cup of Andes mints baking chips)
5 Thin Mint cookies, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. mint extract
1. Make cake batter according to the directions on the box.
2. Add the Andes mints and thin mints to the batter.
3. Add the extract and mix well.
4. Divide the batter among a cupcake pan lined with liners.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. Let cool completely before frosting.
Mint Cream Cheese Frosting:
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
4 Tbsp. butter, room temperature
1/4 tsp. of mint extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1-2 drops green food coloring (I went slightly overboard and it kinda reminded me of toothpaste haha)
1. Using an electric mixer, whip the butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy.
2. Add the mint extract, then the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, until well combined.
3. Add the food coloring to your preference.
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| Toothpaste-look aside, these are hands-down the moistest cupcakes I have ever had!!! |
Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes
These seriously blew my mind. They literally taste exactly like a chocolate chip cookie but in an incredibly fluffy cupcake!
Brown sugar cupcakes:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine butter and brown sugar in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium-high until light and fluffy.
(I only have a hand mixer and it worked just fine!)
3. Mix in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl, stir to blend.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl on low speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix each addition until just incorporated.
6. Blend in vanilla.
7. Fold in chocolate chips with a spatula.
8. Divide the batter evenly among cupcake pan lined with liners and bake for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick test comes out clean.
Cookie dough frosting:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1/4 + 1/8 cup light brown sugar
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup flour
large pinch of salt
1 1/2 Tbsp. milk
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1. Beat together butter and brown sugar until creamy.
2. Mix in the powdered sugar until smooth.
3. Beat in flour and salt.
4. Mix in milk and vanilla until smooth and well blended.
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| $9.99 Frosting gun from Target.....you are my hero!!! |
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1. Mix sugar and butter.
2. Add egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Mix thoroughly.
3. Sift dry ingredients together and blend in.
4. Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate 2-3 hours.
5. Heat oven to 375.
6. Divide dough in half and roll 1/4 inch think on lightly floured pastry cloth.
7. Cut with cookie cutter, sprinkle with sugar if not frosting.
8. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes until delicately golden.
Frosting:
5 Tbsp. butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 Tbsp. cream or milk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1. Blend butter and sugar.
2. Stir in cream and vanilla.
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| A look at the whole spread! |
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