It's all about choices......

I have have come face to face with some really hard truths in the last few months. You see, I have struggled with my health (Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, Fibromyalgia and Insulin Resistance) for more than 15 years now and pain and sleepless nights have been my "normal". I was introduced to a Holistic Dr. by my son-in-law and this Dr. is helping me to allow my body to heal itself the way God designed our bodies to do through proper nutrition. I have been angry.....grouchy....and over-all whiny through a lot of this process. I have felt deprived and punished that I can't eat the foods that other people can. Through the multiple blood and saliva tests I have found out that I can never have coffee again, *sob*, no corn, no oats, no tapioca, no quinoa, no dairy, no rye, no barley, no sorghum, no sugar and no gluten. I have also found that most gluten free foods that are on the shelves even at Whole Foods contain some form of corn or tapioca in them. So I'm faced with the realization that I will be making my own foods. I also learned that I have autoimmune inflammatory issues and I need to eliminate any foods that cause inflammation as well. The good news is that I now sleep deeply through the night. I'm down 21 pounds and I have less pain (and it's only been about 2 1/2 months) I feel like I'm finally getting to a place of acceptance. I have the choice to be happy. I have the choice to live a healthier life. I've also been using natural soaps, shampoo, deoderant, etc. So I'll be sharing recipes and products that I find helpful along the way. I have decided that rather than drive you all crazy with my recipes and what-not (I mean...you came here for sewing and crafting....am I right?) I started a new blog today called Oh My Gluten Free Goodness so that I have a seperate venue for the g/f stuff. . I have no followers yet and it's pretty lonely over there, so if you find this helpful information, stop on by and say "hello"

Today I'm sharing a muffin recipe that I made for the first time this morning :)

Gluten Free/ Dairy Free Coconut Flour Muffins

3 eggs

2 tblsp Organic Coconut Oil -melted

2 tblsp coconut milk

3 tblsp Coconut crystals or honey
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp real vanilla
1/4 cup Organic Coconut flour
1/4 tsp corn free baking powder (I use Hain Gluten Free)

Blend together eggs, butter, coconut milk, honey, salt and vanilla. Combine coconut flour with baking powder and thoroughly mix batter until there are no lumps. Pour batter into greased muffin cups. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Makes 6 muffins.

*Note: there is no coconut flavor in these muffins at all :)

This is a great basic recipe. Next time I'm going to add some sliced almonds to the top before I bake them. I'm also going to experiment with adding some pumpkin :)

Oh My Gluten-Free Goodness!

I've mentioned before that my beautiful daughter-in-law has Celiac's disease. My 2 oldest grandsons eat a completely gluten free and dairy free diet. So I'm always on the look-out for fantastic recipes that allow me to spoil them a little bit. I mean, come on, isn't that what Nana's are supposed to do? Well I came across this recipe over at the Handmade Homemaker
( you really need to jump over there and check out her blog! ) and after reading the ingredients and then wiping the drool off my keyboard I realized that with just a couple of substitutions I could make this gluten free and dairy free. And believe me when I tell you that everyone in our home on the 4th of July was happily crunching away on these. I'm pretty sure I scored some Nana points with this one! Thanks for sharing it Krista!

Gluten Free / Dairy Free Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites

1/2 cup plus 2 TBSP peanut butter

1 1/2 TBSP Earth's Balance organic buttery spread

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 TBSP brown sugar

8 oz bag of Glutino Gluten Free pretzel twists

1 cup of Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet chocolate chips (the gold bag is dairy free, but check your ingredients just to be sure)

Directions:

Combine peanut butter, Earth's balance and the sugars until combined. Mixture should roll into balls easily, but if not, refrigerate for a few minutes. I used a 1/2 tsp to measure the filling and roll into balls. Sandwich between 2 pretzels. Freeze for 30 minutes. Melt chocolate according to instructions on the Ghirardelli bag and then dip the peanut butter pretzel goodness into the melted chocolate. Place on wax paper and freeze for another 30 minutes (if you can wait that long).  Actually it wouldn't be a bad idea to eat several of them in the kitchen BEFORE you serve them to your guests or you may never get the chance.....just sayin :)

Traditions

It's funny how traditions get started. 3 years ago I made my hubby a fun Father's Day card with photos of him and our grandsons and it became his instant favorite. Seeing that today is Father's Day it's time to unveil the custom Father's Day card for 2011. He told me the other night that it's the thing he most looks forward to each year!.....no pressure...right?

He does sooo much for me every single day that it makes me happy if I can do something that makes him smile! This year's card is my version of an old John Wayne movie poster. The hubs is a huge fan of the Duke :) When I came across this poster, I knew it would be perfect. If you look closely you can see our 4 grandsons and our new little Sofia as well. He was so happy with it he had to show it at church this morning :)

This is the card that really started it all. I made this card in 2009 for Father's Day. At the time we had 3 grandsons. A lot has changed :) Since I had photos of each of them wearing helmets at different times I wanted to incorporate them into one card. I did a lot of paper piecing, cutting out their little bodies and cars. I used ribbon for the highway and brads for the hubcaps on the cars. This one still makes me laugh :)

Besides being a fan of the Duke, my darling hubby loves Star Trek. So last year I made him this card with our son and son-in-law together with my hubby on the front of the card and then my hubby with our 4 grandsons on the inside of the card. I make these cards by printing out the background pictures I find online and then going through my photo files and try to find pictures that will match up to replace the original actors. Then I cut them out and glue them in place. I know I can do it in Photoshop, but I love the look of layering real photos on top of these backdrops. The main thing is that my hubby really loves them and displays them in his office all year long. He asked me today to check into having them framed. That makes it all worth it. So I guess I've created a tradition in our household. I'm already thinking about what next year's card will look like :)

Also for the Dad's at church I made Caramel & Bacon Popcorn from a recipe I found at a cool blog called Zakka Life. You can get the recipe here. I don't know about the men around your home, but all you have to do around here is mention bacon and you have their attention!

I went to MarthaStewart.com and got these great free Father's Day printables to

finish off the project. All the Dad's were pretty excited to receive these today :)

How to "oven bake" your bread machine dough: A Tutorial :)

Scroll to the end of this post for the recipe I use :)

I've mentioned before that I found a wonderful bread machine at my local thrift store for 5 dollars. It was dusty and "schmutzy" but it cleaned up beautifully and works like a charm. I actually bake bread twice a week and we dont' buy sandwich bread at all any more. When I originally bought the machine, I added the ingredients and let the bread maker do it's magic. What is no so magical is the weird shaped "block" of bread you get with that obnoxious hole in the bottom. For those of you who know my wonderful hubby, you won't be surprised to hear that he was not a fan of the large square loafs of bread. I had to cut down 2 sides of every slice to make them more of a "normal" size piece of bread and the pieces at the end of the loaf with the hole from the paddle were also not that exciting. So I searched for online info on how to make the switch to oven baking. I found a great article and I've never looked back! Now my loafs are the right shape to make my hubby happy and there is no paddle hole :) I even read an article about a woman who made bread to give as gifts one year and accidentally gave away a loaf that still had the paddle inside it!

Now I use my bread maker for dough kneading and bake my loafs in my oven. Any loaf style bread can be made this way. Oven baked bread is much different that bread machine breads. The taste will be the same, but the texture and crust will be very different.

My beautiful and trusty bread maker!

It's not hard to do at all (or you know I wouldn't be doing it)

First, make your dough in the machine on the dough cycle.

While the dough is "working" in the machine, spray your bread pan with olive oil. ( I use a 10" by 5" bread pan for a 1 1/2 pound loaf) I found this great ceramic bread pan at the thrift store as well.

I use well floured parchment paper as my work surface to keep the dough from sticking and it makes clean up so much easier :)

After your machine beeps that the dough is ready, drop it out onto your floured parchment paper.

Punch the dough down, dusting with flour if needed to keep the dough from sticking to your hands. It's important to get all the air out of the dough or you could end up with large ugly air pockets in your loaf....and nobody wants that :) Once the dough is deflated, shape it into a flat rectangle.

Roll the dough up jelly roll style. You'll want it to be as long as your bread pan.

Place the dough with the seam down into your prepared pan. Cut a slit down the center of the loaf with a sharp knife about 1/2" deep, leaving about 1" uncut on each end.

Lightly spray the top of the loaf as well as the inside of the cling wrap with olive oil to prevent sticking when it rises. Loosely cover the loaf with cling wrap. (If you don't want to use cling wrap here, you can use a damp - but not wet - kitchen towel instead)

Place inside warm oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, close the door. I set my timer to 1 hour and check on it. Depending on the weather and the humidity sometimes it only takes an hour to rise, sometimes it takes 1 1/2 hours.

Once the bread has risen, take it out of the oven and carefully remove the cling wrap. Set oven temp to 350 degrees. When the oven reaches 350 degrees, bake the loaf for 30 minutes.

Remove your oh so yummy smelling bread from the oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes. (Try to control yourself and not pull off a huge chunk and slather with butter.......)

Remove from the pan and place on a rack to cool completely. You don't want soggy bread.

You should wait at least 30 minutes before you cut into your loaf. I cover mine with a clean kitchen towel and allow it to cool completely. I've left it this way overnight and it doesn't dry out. Always allow your bread to cool completely. Putting it away warm will cause it to sweat and get moldy.

In the beginning I used one of those slicing guides to make sure my slices were even, but I've been doing this for a while now and I don't use it anymore, but they are helpful.

And I have 2 of these and don't know what I'd do without them! They keep your bread fresh and wonderful. I've never had a moldy or dry bread using these guys. You can find them at Walmart.com for about 13.00.

This may seem like a lot of work, but it seriously only takes a few minutes and it's sooooo worth it! And if you are giving bread away as a gift, it looks so much prettier this way too!

The Recipe
Makes 1 1/2 pound loaf

2 tsp active dry yeast
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups bread flour
3/4 cup rye flour
2 tsp salt
1 tblsp butter
1 1/2 tblsp molassis
3 tblsp honey
1 cup warm water

Breakfast Pecan Coffeecake :)

There are few things I love more than meandering through a good Thrift Store. Just as I shop the outside isles of the grocery store each week and avoid the packaged foods, I have a pattern with Thrift Stores too. I will NEVER buy, shoes, hats, or underwear that has been previously owned, no matter how "gently" used. I'm not saying that I think everyone should feel this way....it's just my "thing". The isles I like to forage around in are the isles with old patterns and sewing notions, the fabric and old kitchen linens, embroidered handkerchiefs, cookbooks,  kitchen stuff (got my bread maker for 5 bucks and I use it constantly!) household items, furniture and of course, clothing. Today I am making a wonderful Coffeecake from a cookbook I found at a Thrift Store for 50 cents called "All-Butter, Fresh Cream, Sugar-Packed, No Holds Barred Baking Book". With a title like that you know it has to be good!

Breakfast Pecan Coffeecake
Topping:
1 1/3 cups (lightly packed) light brown sugar
1 tblsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
8 tblsp ( 1 stick ) softened unsalted butter

Cake:
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 tblsp (1 1/2 sticks) softened unsalted butter
1 cup plus 2 tblsp granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups sour cream at room temp

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9" springform pan with butter or vegetable oil.
2. For the topping, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans in a medium sized bowl and mix in the softened butter with a fork or pastry blender until it is incorporated. Set aside.
3. For the cake, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a small bowl. Set aside.
4. In a medium sized mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla medium speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
5. Add the eggs one at a time and mix on low after each addition until blended, about 5 seconds.
6. Add in the dry mixture in 4 additions alternately with the sour cream. When everything has been blended, mix on low and blend until smooth, 5 seconds.
7. Spread 1/2 the batter in the prepared pan and distribute half the topping over it. Spoon the remaining batter on top, smooth it out evenly and distribute the remaining topping over the top.
8. Place a piece of foil or a cookie sheet on the bottom oven rack. Then place the cake on the center rack. Bake for 40 minutes until the cake top turns golden. Gently place a piece of aluminum foil over the top of the cake pan (do not mold it) and continue to bake the cake until a tester inserted in the center comes out dry, about 40 minutes more. Serve warm (because trust me on this.....you won't be able to wait for it to cool off! ) or at room temperature.

Pancake perfection!

I don't order pancakes when we go out to breakfast....ever! It's not that I don't love pancakes....because I do! But, I'm always disappointed by the "spongie" texture. At home I've been a Bisquick girl for years but they are a bit "heavy" in my opinion and they soak up syrup and just get soggy. I have tried making them from scratch but haven't been happy with the results. I was about ready to give up on finding the perfect pancake recipe until I found this one on allrecipes.com. Let me just say that I have experienced pancake perfection! I even add blueberries to the recipe when I'm making them for the hubby. I, myself, am a pancake purist. Pancakes + butter + syrup = perfection! Why would you add anything else? (I'm a peanut butter, no jelly girl as well ) So without further ado:

Fluffy Pancakes
3/4 cup milk
2 tblsp white vinegar
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tblsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
2 tblsp butter, melted
cooking spray

Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg and butter into "soured" milk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.
Heat griddle or large skillet over medium heat and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with spatula and cook until light brown on the other side.
Top with butter and syrup and rejoice in carbohydrate bliss :)
Makes 12 pancakes.

Oye' Chico!

My wonderfully handsome hubby was born in Havana, Cuba. His family immigrated to the United States when he was 6.  Had they just waited a few more years......he would have developed the Cuban accent and I could have been married to Ricky Ricardo :) I joke with him all the time that he would get bigger tips as a plumber if he had an accent. Imagine Antonio Banderas coming to your door...."Hallo....do jou need sum help wis jour plumbing?" Now this is my opinion and you don't have to agree with me, but I have always found latin men to be the most gorgeous men on earth! Something about the dark eyes and thick curly hair :) My family came here from Europe. My father was Dutch and my mother German. We came to this country from Holland when I was 18 months old so I have no accent either. My parents had enough of an accent for the rest of us :) It used to annoy me when our children would tell people they were Cuban. Um....Hello? What about the Dutch and German? I guess Cuban is just more exotic :) So with that in mind I decided to share one of my hubby's favorite Cuban recipes with you. It is truly "fantastico"!

Picadillo

1 lb ground beef
1 tsp oregano
4 cloves garlic -minced
1 medium white onion -chopped fine
1 small green bell pepper - chopped
1/2 cup beef stock
8 oz can tomato sauce
3 - 4 small potatoes - peeled and diced
1 jar sliced pimento stuffed green olives
olive oil for sauteing
salt & pepper to taste

In a frying pan combine ground beef and oregano. Brown and drain fat. Remove beef and in the same  pan, heat olive oil and saute the onions, green pepper and garlic until soft.
Return the ground beef along with the beef stock and tomato sauce. Cover and cook over medium low heat for 15 minutes. Add the diced potato. Cover and cook another 30 minutes until the potatoes are done. Remove the cover and add the jar of olives (I use about 1/2 of the juice in the jar as well) and cook uncovered 15 minutes or until the liquid is mostly evaporated. Serve with cooked white rice and avocados.

Tomato Basil Soup - YUM!

Yesterday it was 106 degrees here (yeah.....welcome to the Fall weather in California!) so naturally I want some yummy soup. This is a super tasty creamy tomato soup recipe and since I have that mutant vine taking over my backyard I thought it made sense to harvest about 4 lbs of tomatoes and make some soup for Sunday lunch. I served it with open faced grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches. My whole family loves  this recipe. Hope you like it too!

Tomato Basil Soup

4 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes (or 4lbs fresh)
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 stalks celery - diced
3 carrots - diced
3 yellow onions - diced
6 cloves garlic - minced
3 cups chicken broth
3 bay leaf
3/4 stick butter
3/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 cups heavy cream

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Strain the chopped tomatoes, reserving the juices, and spread onto a baking sheet, season with salt & pepper to taste. Drizzle with 1/4 cup olive oil and roast until caramelized, about 15 minutes. Roasting the tomatoes brings such a rich tomato flavor to this soup!

While the tomatoes are roasting, in a saucepan, heat remaining olive oil over medium low heat. Add the celery, carrots, onions, and garlic and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the roasted tomatoes, reserved tomato juices, chicken broth, bay leaf and butter. Simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add basil and cream. Puree with a hand held immersion blender until smooth. (You can also blend in small batches in traditional blender) I use the immersion blender stopping just before it's totally smooth. We like the texture of the tiny bits of vegetables, but it's totally up to you how smooth to make it.

Only 16 more Saturdays until Christmas!

Back in the days when I spent my days behind a desk, I used to count the Saturdays until Christmas because I knew that Saturdays were my only days to get things done. Monday - Friday were busy enough and Sunday was church and family day. I tried to get my projects done on Saturdays and for the most part, I did pretty well. I shopped online and had most things delivered to my office. I got to know the UPS driver by first name :) Since I'm a full time stay at home wifey these days, one day seems very much like the next and with my fibro, I can have the best of intentions to do something the next day and wake up feeling miserable, so those plans get nixed. I realized that making a list of crafts that need to be finished for Christmas wouldn't be a bad idea. I have 11 sewing projects and 10 birthday cards to make between now and Christmas. It's nice to have a list. I was able to check one item off my sewing list yesterday. I would love to post a picture, but I'm not really sure if my sweet daughter in law reads this blog or not and I don't want to spoil the suprise. I will post pictures of the orange dinosaur for David and the stacking rings for Gabriel as soon as I finish them. The 2 russian dolls that I am making for my mom are almost done too! So in the meantime and to get into the Christmas spirit I will share the Hazelnut Cake recipe I made for Christmas Eve last year. Super yummy and I got it from a calendar I bought for $1.00 at Michaels!

Hazelnut Cake

1/2 cup butter

2 pkgs (2 1/2 oz each) hazelnuts

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour

2 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Glaze

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350. Lightly grease bottom only of 10 inch springform pan. In 1 quart pan, melt butter over low heat. Allow to cool.

In food processor process hazelnuts until ground. Reserve 1 tblsp for garnish.

In large bowl beat eggs, sugar and 1 tsp vanilla on medium speed 2 to 3 minutes or until thick and lemon colored. On low speed, blend in flour, baking powder, salt and ground nuts. Continue beating, gradually adding cooled melted butter. Mixture will be thick. Spread batter evenly in pan.

Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Remove sides of pan, run a long knife under cake to loosen from bottom of pan and place a heatproof serving plate upside down over cake. Turn plate with cake over. Remove pan bottom. Cover cake with cloth towel. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

In 2 quart pan, heat whipping cream just to boiling point. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips until melted and smooth. Stir in 1/2 tsp vanilla. Spread glaze over top of cake and allow some to run down the sides of the cake. Sprinkle reserved ground nuts over the top.

Stand back and admire your handiwork!

Let Them Eat Cake!

Around here cake is not just for birthday parties. It's part of every day life. When my daughter and son-in-law lived next door, he would have her call me in the evening and subtly ask if we had any "snackie treats" over here :) When I think back to my childhood, my mom always had something baked for my dad too. I'm sure that's where I get it from. It's one of the ways I show love to my family. After dinner my hubby will give me that look - that look that says "Is there any cake?" It's no suprise that I have a plethera of cake pans and recipes (mostly involving coffee, dark chocolate and almonds). A few years back when I was

reading Living You Life For Half Price, this

cookbook was mentioned. The Cake Doctor is an

amazing collection of recipes that take ordinary boxed cake mixes and turn them into something extraordinary. This recipe is one of our favorites. A couple times a year Stater Bros. has cake mixes on sale for 79 cents, so I buy 10 boxes of the ones I use the most and keep them in the pantry. This cake is so moist and wonderful all by itself or you can top it with fresh strawberries when they are in season....mmmm.

Almond Cream Cheese Pound Cake

1 pkg butter recipe yellow cake mix

8 oz cream cheese at room temp

4 large eggs

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp pure almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly mist 10" tube pan with oil.

Place cake mix, cream cheese, eggs, water, sugar, oil, vanilla and almond extract into a large mixing bowl. Blend with mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes more. The batter should look well blended, not lumpy.

Pour batter into prepared pan and place in center rack in oven.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or intil the cake springs back when lightly pressed with your finger.

Cool for 20 minutes.

Pour some coffee for yourself and try to wait until the cake is cool enough to eat :)

Bacon & Egg Breakfast Pizza *YUM*

I have to admit.....I'm a magazine addict. There...I said it out loud. I love to look through magazines. If it weren't for the expense,

I would probably have alot more subscriptions. I do justify the ones I do have delivered to my home (Country Homes, Better Homes & Gardens, Creating Keepsakes) by making sure that I cut out the recipes that I like and tearing out the articles about craft projects I want to make someday. So this pizza is one of our favs and I found it in a magazine. I will suggest to anyone who wants to make any kind of pizza that you invest in a pizza stone. I've also learned that you need to put the pizza stone in the oven and allow it to pre-heat just like you pre-heat the oven. Your crust will be amazing! I make my pizza crusts by first forming them on parchment paper placed on a pizza peel and then when the oven is hot enough I take the pizza peel and slide the pizza, parchment paper and all onto the hot pizza stone. And later when the pizza is done cooking, you just lift the corner of the parchment paper and slide your peel underneath and pull the pizza out. You can leave the stone in the oven until later when it's cool. The parchment paper can stand up to 500 degrees and you won't be scaping burnt cheese off your pizza stone. It's a win win! You'll never get a great pizza on a cookie sheet. You can get pizza stones and pizza peels at good prices on Amazon. So anyhoo.... here's the recipe -

Bacon & Egg Breakfast Pizza

1/2 lb bacon ( fried then crumbled )

1 can 8.5 oz refridgerated crescent rolls

1 cup frozen hash brown potatoes (thawed)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

3 eggs lightly beaten

3 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

3 tbsp each diced red & green bell peppers

1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions

2 tbsp shredded parmesean cheese

Preheat oven (with pizza stone) to 375 degrees.

Seperate crescent rolls into 8 triangles. Place on parchment paper with points to the center and press together to form a circle. Turn edges over to form a slight rim.

Sprinkle crumbled bacon over crust. Top with potatoes. Add peppers and green onions.

In a small bowl stir eggs, milk, salt & pepper. Pour over vegetables.

Top with cheddar and parmesean cheeses.

Bake 20 minutes.

Busy Tuesday :)

So today I did the finishing handwork on my "Back to the Future" apron. I went with a vintage 50's pattern and used patriotic fabric because my partner loves this country and I think she'll enjoy wearing it. Besides some sewing, it was laundry day here at the Torres household and I decided to make Tortilla soup (yum) as well as cook some chicken breast to cut up and freeze to use in recipes later. Whenever Foster Farms chicken breast are on sale for 99 cents a pound, I buy 15 pounds and cook it and freeze it. It really helps stretch the budget. So here is the recipe for the Tortilla Soup. This recipe will seriously make enough to feed like 10 people (with some going back for seconds!

Tortilla Soup

9 Tblsp Vegetable oil
18 - 6" corn tortillas -cut into strips
12 - 6" corn tortillas - cut into bite sized pcs
1 medium onion - chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro - chopped
6 garlic cloves - minced
28 oz can petite diced tomatoes
12 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 tblsp groung cumin
1 tblsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts
1 cup frozen corn
2 cups montery jack cheese or mexican blended shredded cheese
2 avocados
sour cream

Heat 6 tblsp oil in large pot over high heat. Add tortilla pieces ( not strips - those are for later) , onion, cilantro and garlic. Saute about 3 minutes.
Stir in tomatoes with juices and bring to a boil.
Add broth, cumin, and chili powder and return to boil.
Reduce heat, add chicken. Simmer until chicken in cooked through, about 30 minutes.
Remove and transfer chicken to a plate. Shred chicken breasts and return to soup. Add in the corn.

Use remaining oil, you may need more , to a large skillet. Add tortilla strips a few at a time and fry until golden, stirring constantly. Transfer to paper towls to drain and season with salt.

Top soup with fried tortilla strips, cheese, avocado and sour cream.

(You could also buy a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store and shred it into the soup instead of cooking the chicken in the soup. Either way...really yummy!)

Coffee & Dark Chocolate Brownies

So maybe you can see a pattern forming here. If a recipe calls for coffee and dark chocolate it's pretty much a given that my hubby will love it! That's not to say that bacon doesn't hold a special place in his heart as well..... so here it is:

Coffee & Dark Chocolate Brownies

1 16.5 to 18 oz pkg refridgerated sugar cookie dough

2 eggs

1 19.5 pkg dark chocolate brownie mix

1/2 cup cooking oil

1/3 cup coffee liqueur or cooled strong coffee

1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Press sugar cookie dough into bottom of a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan.

2. In a large bowl combine the eggs, brownie mix, cooking oil, and coffee liqueur until just combined. Spread batter over sugar cookie dough. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

3. Bake for 40 minutes. Enjoy the smell of chocolately goodness while it is baking! Cool, cut and scarf them down!

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

My handsome hubby had to work until 9:30pm last night, so this morning after he left for work I baked up a batch of these super yummy cookies. He ate 5 of them when he got home today and he said he's going to have some more after dinner. I think that's the true test of a good recipe :)

1/2 stick Crisco Butter flavored shortning

1 cup "Dark Chocolate Dreams" (dark chocolate peanut butter available at Target)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 tblsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Combine shortning, chocolate peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed until well blended. Beat in egg.

3. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Mix into shortning mixture at low speed unitl just blended. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet approximately 2 inches apart. I line my cookie sheets with parchment paper so I don't have to wash the cookie sheets when I'm done baking.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Man Cake (aka Chocolate Chunk Streusel Coffee Cake)

Ah the look of complete joy in my hubby's eyes

when he comes home to see and smell this yummy cake! He calls it "Man Cake" (not to be confused with "Man Bread" which is bacon and beer bread) because he says it has all the flavors that any man could want in a cake. It combines coffee, dark chocolate, almonds and brown sugar. Yum! Streusel and melted chunks of chocolate - who could ask for anything more?

2/3 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 (1/2) stick butter

6 oz chopped dark chocolate (or more if you're like me)

1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 package (2 layer size) yellow cake mix

doulble-strength brewed coffee (cold)

1. Pre-heat oven to 350. Lighty grease 15 x 10 x 1 baking pan.

2. Mix flour and brown sugar in medium bowl. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in 1/2 of the chopped chocolate and the almonds.

3. Prepare the cake mix as directed on the box, substituting the cold brewed coffee for the water. Pour the batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle with the streusel mixture and the remaining chopped chocolate.

4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool and cut into squares.

Makes 24 servings.