Quick Chicken and Corn Chowder

Hi guys!

I'm finally back from my summer travels and all set up in my new house, which means I can start cooking and contributing to this website again! Here is what I made for dinner tonight. It turned out great so I wanted to share. The recipe was quick and easy and turns out it's healthy too. Enjoy!!

2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (**I omit, not big on spicy)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
2 cups chopped roasted skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 2 breast halves)
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernals (about 3 ears)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn

1. Melt the butter in a large soup pan over medium heat.
2. Add onion, celery, and jalapeno; cook for 3 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently.
3. Add flour, cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
4. Whisk in milk until incorporated.
5. Add remaining ingredients.
6. Bring to a boil, cook(boil) until think, stirring almost constantly so it doesn't burn and stick to the pan (about 5 minutes).
   
   **It thickens up nicely if you let it boil long enough. Once done, I let it simmer while I put together the rest of dinner. Topped with some cheese and served with cornbread. Delicious!

Yield: 6 servings (about 1 cup each)

CALORIES 257 (28% from fat); FAT 8.1g (sat 4.4g, mono 2.4g, poly 0.8g); IRON 0.4mg, CHOLESTEROL 52mg, CALCIUM 165mg, CARBOHYDRATE 28.6g; SODIUM 668mg; PROTEIN 19.1g, FIBER 1.9g.

Cooking Light, December 2001

Cheese Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups shredded colby-jack cheese

1 cup milk

1 egg

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter (I used salted)

Whisk together dry ingredients, then stir in cheese.
In a separate bowl, whisk egg, milk, and butter together. Pour milk mixture into dry ingredients and stir with a spoon to combine.
Bake in greased muffin tins at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Makes 12.

These have a different texture than an average muffin—crispy around the outside and airy and extremely cheesy on the inside. Though they’re tasty at room temperature, warm is definitely best.

Strawberry Coconut Cheesecake

Since we have the Coconut Creme Coffee Mate on hand for smoothies, I find myself implementing it into other recipes. I made this easy, no-bake cheesecake the other night. Give it a try!

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 tbsp. grnaulated sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
Mix the above together and press in the bottom of a springform pan. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Remove and cool.

1 8 oz. package softened cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tub whipped topping
2-3 Tbsp. Coconut Creme Coffee Mate
Mix the cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar, coffee mate and continue mixing. Fold in the whipped topping.

Top crust with sliced strawberries. Spread cream cheese mixture over berries and crust. Top with more sliced strawberries. Refeigerate at least 1 hr. To make it really pretty you can drizzle white chocolate over strawberries and sprinkle with toasted coconut.

Mexican Caesar Salad

This salad recipe serves approx. 4 (with plenty of dressing leftover)

Cilantro Pepita Dressing:

2 medium Anaheim chiles, roasted, peeled and seeded

1/3 cup roasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

12 ounces salad oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

5 tablespoons grated Cotija cheese (see note)

2 small bunches cilantro, stemmed

1 1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup water

Salad:

2 corn tortillas

Vegetable oil

1 large head romaine lettuce, rinsed and spun dry

1/3 cup finely grated Cotija cheese

Roasted red bell pepper, peeled and cut into julienne strips

1/2 cup pepitas (roasted pumpkin seeds)

Directions:
Place all dressing ingredients except cilantro, mayonnaise and water in a blender or food processor. Blend approximately 10 seconds, and then add cilantro little by little until blended smooth. Place mayonnaise and water in a large stainless steel bowl, and mix with a wire whip until smooth. Add the blended ingredients to the mayonnaise mixture, and mix thoroughly. Place in an airtight container and refrigerate. Will keep for three days. Yields 1 quart.

To assemble salad: Cut corn tortillas into matchstick-size strips. Heat oil in sauté pan; fry tortilla strips until crisp. Remove with slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels. Set aside. Tear romaine into bite-size pieces. Place greens on salad plates and ladle approximately 2 ounces of cilantro pepita dressing on each salad. Sprinkle each dish with Cotija cheese and tortilla strips. Arrange four red pepper strips like spokes on the top of each salad, and garnish with whole pepitas.

Note: Cotija cheese is a hard cheese, similar to Parmesan. It is available at some grocery stores and most Mexican markets.

As you can see in the picture above, we made tacos with the same ingredients above and added taco meat. They were delicious and I would highly recommend making them as well. This recipe comes from the restaurant El Torito's.

"C is for Cookie, That's good enough for me"

My second batch of these cookies has been devoured by all my little C's this week! It's the Blue Bonnet that does the trick. My neighbor gave me the recipe and I would always do all butter despite her telling me to use Blue Bonnet. Well, I decided to do both a couple of weeks ago and the results were awesome. Go figure.

1 cup butter
1 cup Blue Bonnet
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
4 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp. vanilla
4 cups chocolate chips

Bake at 375 for 10 minutes

addicting competition

78 words

Speedtest

This is what Jim considers "game night" with me. He still has my 78 words beat... Maybe I should put laundry and dishes on hold for the evening to improve my skills.

Go ahead and click on the green letters, if you're ready to waste a few minutes of your day away, too...

What do you think this bouquet costs?

Did you guess $159? That doesn't include shipping, mind you. If you need it in a larger size, the price goes up to $209, if you pick it up yourself. It's cute, but I still find that amazing. Click here to see all the arrangements available on the web site.