For The Split Pea Soup Lovers

I thought everyone liked split pea soup, and then I married my husband... I figured I would indulge myself by making split pea soup for dinner last night and I would make something else for my husband (not a normal thing for me, usually I just make what he likes to avoid any complaints)


Needless to say, my wonderful husband actually ate my split pea soup and said he liked it (AWESOME!!)

So here's how I made this split pea goodness:

What you’ll need:

1 C. dry split peas, sorted and rinsed
1/2 C. chopped carrots
1/2 C. chopped celery
2 cloves garlic chopped
1/4 C. fresh chopped parsley
4 steams of chives, chopped
1/2 t. fresh chopped rosemary
2 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/2 t. grated ginger root
3 t. extra virgin olive oil
2 C. chicken stock/broth
1 1/2 C. HOT water
1 15oz. can of fire roasted tomato

Directions:

In a large pot, add oil, carrots, celery, garlic, parsley, chives, rosemary, basil, and ginger and cook till soften. Add Hot water, chicken stock and split peas.

Simmer for 30-40 minutes with lid tilted.

Add the tomatoes.

Place in blender and puree

Add cooked ham if you desire... I didn't have any at the time.

Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

So I tried this recipe at a friend’s house and LOVED it. I had to ask for the recipe!!! She, being how nice she is, gave it to me and I have made it several times since. I need to ask her first if I can post her original recipe but here's my version of it! :)



Here's what you'll need:

Cooked Brown Rice (click here to see how I cook my Brown Rice)
3 Chicken Breast, boiled and shredded
8 oz. Sour Cream
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 T. Poppy Seed
1/2 C Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 Sleeve of butter crackers (such as Ritz), crumbled
1/4 C. Unsalted Butter (1/2 Stick), melted


Put it together (love casserole dishes, so much easier!):

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, mix cream of chicken soup, sour cream, shredded chicken and cheese together. Fold in poppy seeds.

In a small bowl combine crumbled crackers and melted butter.

In a 9x13 casserole dish (with a lid), layer in the following way: brown rice, creamy chicken mixture, and then buttered crackers.

Cover with the casserole dish lid and put in the preheated oven for 30 minutes (middle rack).

Uncover and cook an additional 30 minutes, allowing the cracker topping to turn golden brown.

Let cool/set for 10 minutes.

Serve and enjoy :)
Thanks again to my friend for introducing Poppy Seed Chicken to me! Yummy! :)

Brown Rice

Quickly, here's how I make brown rice....
What you'll need:

1 C. Brown Rice
1 C. Chicken Broth/Stock
1 1/2 C. HOT water
2 Slices of Ginger Root (I cut mine big enough to pick out easily afterwards)
2 T. Extra virgin olive oil
*I don't usually don't add any salt, but you could if you wish, 1 tsp.*

How to cook it:

In a saucepan, bring hot water, chicken stock and ginger root slices to a boil. Add oil and brown rice (and salt if you wish), cover and cook on low for 40-45 minutes (don't take off lid during cooking process)

Remove saucepan from heat and let sit with cover tilted for 5 minutes.

Serve

Baked Tortilla Bowl Filled With Taco Salad

I was worried about the shell being baked instead of fried but I was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out.

What You'll Need:
Flour tortillas (10in)
Cooking spray
Small or Medium size oven safe bowl
Taco seasoned meat (I use McCormick original Taco seasoning)
Refried beans (I cook pinto beans and mash them myself, but beans from a can is perfectly fine)
Shredded ice berg lettuce
*And toppings:
    Diced tomatoes
    Olives
    Shredded Cheese
    Cilantro
    Sour cream
    Jalapenos
    Salsa

Put it together:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Take one tortilla and press the center down into your oven safe bowl. (the edges will naturally left up on the bowls sides and do a nice little crinkle)
Bake the tortilla for 10 minuets. Take the tortilla out of the bowl and place on cooling rack until all bowls are done. (tortillas will still be a little soft in the middle). Continue making the rest of the tortilla bowls in the same manner.
Take all tortilla bowl and place upside down (rims down) on a baking sheet.
Place in the oven and bake for an additional 7-10 min (until golden)

Fill each tortilla bowl with beans, lettuce and taco meat. Add the desired toppings and enjoy!

Very simple and healthier for you then the normal fried tortilla bowls.

****I made an appetizer version by baking 5in corn tortillas in muffin tins and filled as normal!****

I'm linking this up to:

Easy To Make Ice Cream Cake! Sundae Theme

I made this for my husband's birthday; it was so simple to do but sooo yummy! I don't know about you, but we LOVE ice cream cake over here :) My mother-in-law actually taught me this easy way to make ice cream cake, so, thanks to her, I can make ice cream cake whenever I want!:)

So here's how I did it:

I made a cake from a box, (milk chocolate) and bake it in two 10' pans.
I took out the cakes and set it on a cooling rack, letting it cool COMPLETELY. (it took about 30 minutes)

I then took the cakes out of the pans and layered them on a layer of wax paper and tin foil. I then sliced the tops off to create a straight and even top. Wrapped the cake with the layer of wax paper and then the foil.

Repeated the same steps for the second cake. Put both wrapped cakes in freezer.

I cleaned the pans I used to bake the cake and prepared one of them to make the layer of ice cream by putting wax paper on the bottom and sides of the pan.

I microwaved the ice cream enough to melt it. (I did 20 sec. intervals). Poured the ice cream into the prepared pan, covered it with tin foil and put it in the freezer.

I allowed the cake and ice cream to freeze overnight before I put it together.

The next day, I took the ice cream out first, turned it over on a plate and let it melt in room temperature for about 10 minutes, (just enough to have the ice cream come out of the pan with ease).

I took the cakes out of the freezer, unwrapped them and sandwiched the ice cream layer with the cakes.

(This is when I put the cake on the cardboard sheet---makes for easy transfer to the cake box)

I allowed the cake and ice cream to freeze for another hour since the ice cream melted a bit.

This is how I decorated the cake:

The theme I wanted was ice cream sundae so I used, whipped cream, chocolate syrup, chopped nuts, and cherries.

I first covered the entire cake with whipped cream, add a little design on the edges, threw nuts on the sides (literally threw them on), poured chocolate syrup--letting it run off the sides and added the cherries.

We weren't ready to eat it yet so I put it back in the freezer (although, at this point, it's ready to enjoy)

When we were ready to eat it, I added a banana peel filled with ice cream and the candles, James loved it :)

I'm linking this up to:

Earth Day Dinner

Chicken pillow is a recipe that was given to me by a friend:

What you need:

1 package of refrigerated Croissant rolls

2 Chicken breast halves, cooked and shredded

1 tsp Peprika (or seasoning of your choice)

1 8oz package of cream cheese, room temperature

2 Tbs of butter, melted

baking sheet

basing brush

What you do: (so simple)

Cream the cream cheese, add chicken and peprika, mix well.

Open up the croissant rolls and take each triangle (making 1 chicken pill): flatten in your hand, add 2 tablespoons of chicken mixture, wrap with the triangle tips and cup in your hands to form into a circle, place on baking sheet, base with melted butter and bake for 13-15 minuets in a 375 degree oven. (Until croissants are cook and lightly browned)

They're so simple and yummy. Add favorite veggies into the chicken mixture. Add flavored bread crumbs for a crunchy outside.

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To make the Broccoli Trees you'll need to steam the broccoli heads standing up in a big pot for about 5-7 minuet... (Once the broccoli is bright green). I steam my broccoli in chicken stock and a little salt for flavor.

Usually you put the cooked broccoli in an ice bath to stop them from cooking, but I like my chicken stock flavor too much to do that :)

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How I make my brown rice is by following the cooking instructions on the rice package but use chicken stock instead of water. I also add sliced ginger root and Extra virgin olive oil instead of butter

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For the Juice I make blue cool aid and add frozen cantaloupe fish. Click here to see how I make these.

Cantaloupe Fish

What you'll need is half a cantaloupe sliced in 1 inch, and cut into 2 inch pieces

You'll also want a paring knife.

Here's pictures to see how to cut:

                                      

Start with the fins...

                                      

then work on the body...

                                         

                                      

After your done with all of the fish, put in a plastic bag and place in the freezer for at least 2 hours: