Christmas Cookies & Mexican Tortilla Chicken Soup

A few weekends ago, I went over to my parent's house for our annual "Christmas Cookie Making Day".  I hadn't eaten lunch and was sort of banking on my parent's having something I could eat.  Or I would have had to eat cookies for lunch.


Luckily, my mom had made Mexican Tortilla Soup with fresh lime, avocado, cheese and corn tortilla strips. (recipe below)

It was SO good.  I ate two very full bowls.


After lunch, there was a few hours of serious cookie making going on.  

Which resulted in lots of tins being filled with cookies.

Oscar was kind enough to keep the floor clean.

After we were "cookied out", we took a drive to look at lights.

Seasons Greetings!


Recipe:

Mexican Tortilla Chicken Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 medium white onions, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 jalapenos, seeded and minced
• 3 ripe medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 quart chicken stock,
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Canola oil, for pan-frying
• 8 corn tortillas, cut into 1/8-inch-thick strips
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken (I just boiled some chicken breasts)
• 2 avocados, halved, pitted, peeled, and diced
• 1 cup shredded Jack cheese, optional
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish
• 1 lime, cut in wedges, for serving

Directions

Place a stockpot over medium heat and coat with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the onions, garlic, jalapenos, and tomatoes; cook, stirring for 15 minutes until the vegetables are cooked down and pulpy. Pour in the stock, season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 20 minutes.


Meanwhile, heat 1-inch of canola oil in skillet over medium-high heat.  When the oil begins to smoke, add the tortilla strips in batches and fry until they are crisp on all sides.  Remove to a paper towel-lined platter and sprinkle with salt while they are still hot.


Ladle the hot soup in bowls and put a pile of shredded chicken on top of each.  Top with the sliced avocado, cheese and fried tortilla strips.  Garnish with cilantro and serve with lime wedges.

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Cookies for Breakfast (12.16.2008)

It has been a busy few days. I promise I am going to do a product review post next because I am waaay behind on those!

SUNDAY Recap

Sunday morning, I woke up and whipped up some snicker doodle cookie dough for making Christmas cookies later at my parent's house. I substituted whole wheat pastry flour, but everything else stayed the same. I googled a recipe quickly in the morning and now I cant seem to locate it.

There was supposed to be a group of people running from my parent's house starting at 11am, but alot of people bailed last minute. My dad, myself, and my friend Katherine still did it because we are hardcore. ;)

Katherine and I decided to do the 5 mile loop while my dad was going for 15 miles. He tried to talk us into coming with him, but there was NO way that was happening. 5 miles, at an easy pace felt good to me - it was nice to be on country roads with fresh air for a change. My hamstring felt a little tight by the end, but not any real pain. Making progress!

After the run, cookie making began. My job was to help my mom monitor the oven and move cookies from the cooling racks to the tins. My grandmother and sister took care of rolling out the dough, while my niece and nephew decorated.
I just noticed my grandmom's apron - nice!

Cookie decorating is serious stuff. There was time for a quick lunch. My mom was trying an italian herb flat-out wrap for the first time.We do the thin/crispy type sugar cookies, but use lots of different variations on the dough. Grandmom made the regular sugar cookie dough, my sister used a cream cheese based dough, and my mom made a brown sugar cookie dough. Here are my whole-wheat snicker doodles.

Sunday night, I met up with my friends from college for our secret santa gift exchange. We met at PF Changs and there were lettuce wraps, steamed shrimp gyoza, and chicken w/ broccoli and brown rice. Oh and cute shot glass size desserts. I completely slacked on the photos.

I have to give quick props to my BF because while I was out and about all day Sunday, he planned the entire week's worth of meals (breakfast, snacks, lunches and dinners), went grocery shopping and then prepped everything on sunday night. I was impressed and he gets credit for anything I eat this week!

MONDAY Recap

Yesterday's eats included ALOT of veggies and proteins (thanks to Kevin) and a few too many cookies (thanks to me). I only managed to snap photos of dinner, which was very tasty. I cleaned my plate of marinated, broiled steak, Cauliflower Mash, and Stuffed Mushrooms (I made these).

yum. yum. The stuffed mushrooms were extremely easy, so I will definitely make them again. Recipe below...

Spinach Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms (for
two)

• 2 large portabella caps, rinsed

  2 1/2 cups baby spinach

  1/4 c onion, finely chopped

  1 clove garlic, minced

  1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

  4 small slices monterey jack cheese

  sprinkle of grated parmesan

  salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion and garlic in the EVOO for about 3 mins over medium heat. Add portabella mushroom caps to skillet to cook a few minutes on both sides.

Remove the caps and stick in toaster oven (350 degrees) to continue cooking. Meanwhile, add two huge handfuls of baby spinach to the skillet and cooked until wilted, adding a little salt and pepper. Top each mushroom cap with the spinach/onion/garlic mixture and add sliced monterey jack cheese and a few sprinkles of parmesan. Push the caps back into the toaster until the cheese is nice and bubbly.

I took the Monday night spin class and it was tough, which is just the way I like it. I, of course, watched the HILLS and all I have to say is, Spencer is evil.

Today, I brought my tin of cookies to work because I can not be trusted with them at home. I put them out with a note to all that said "Cookies are great for breakfast - please help yourself!"

I left them out at 8am - they were all gone by 9am. Mission accomplished.

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