A Very Merry Christmas

From our family to yours, we hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

Food For Friday: Taco Soup

After Hudson's birth, my friend Rachel brought us Taco Soup for dinner.  We thought it was delicious, and especially in the winter, I love easy, hearty soups.  When it can go into the crockpot and be ready to eat whenever we are, that is even better!

Ingredients:

3-4 chicken breasts cooked and shredded

1 can of crushed tomatoes, 14.5 oz (you could also used diced tomatoes)

1 can of low sodium chicken broth

1 can Rotel

1 can of corn (I used frozen corn and measured it with a can)

1 can of black beans

1 pkg. Taco Bell taco seasoning

1 pkg. dry ranch

Garnish:

Shredded Monterrey Jack & Colby cheese

Tortilla Chips or Fritos

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a crockpot.  Simmer on low for 2 hours.  Serve topped with shredded cheese and crumbled tortilla chips or Fritos. 

You can also cook it in less time on the stovetop, if you'd rather.  Combine all the ingredients in a large pot.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Food For Friday: Chicken Pad Thai

Food for Friday is finally back!  I tried a new recipe this week for the first time since Hudson was born, and it got two thumbs up from both me and Truman.  I had turned on an episode of Ten Dollar Dinners on the Food Network one afternoon earlier this week and she was making a Turkey Pad Thai dish as a suggestion of how to use Thanksgiving turkey leftovers.  The flavor profile of the dish sounded delicious, so I made a mental note that I wanted to look up the recipe.  While I was at the grocery store that night, I spontaneously decided to pick up the ingredients she used in the dish so we could try it.  But that required me recalling the ingredient list from memory.  Surprisingly, despite new mom brain being in full force, I made it home with all of the ingredients I needed that weren't already in my pantry.  I made a few changes to the recipe, and used chicken breast instead of turkey, since we didn't host Thanksgiving and therefore didn't have any leftover turkey!  It isn't a difficult dish, but there is a lot of chopping involved, which makes it a little more time consuming.  But, the end result is worth the effort and we agreed that this dish is going to be in the regular rotation at our house!

Adapted from a recipe by Melissa d'Arabian on Ten Dollar Dinners

Ingredients:
1/4 cup boiling water
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 limes, 1 juiced and 1 cut into wedges for serving
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce (you could also substitute fish sauce, but I used soy sauce)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sriracha hot sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded or cubed cooked chicken breast
8 ounces whole wheat linguini, broken in half
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 large carrot, grated
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 cups bean sprouts
3 scallions, cut into small pieces

Directions: 
First, make the sauce.  In a medium mixing bowl, pour the boiling water over the brown sugar and stir to dissolve. Add the lime juice, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sriracha and stir. Place the cooked chicken in the pad Thai sauce and let it absorb the flavors while prepping the rest of the dish.
Next, prepare the pasta.  Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the linguine according to the time on the box.  Drain, and set aside.
While the pasta is boiling, work on washing and chopping the vegetables.  

Heat the peanut oil in a wok or large saute pan over high heat until very hot, almost smoking. Add the onions and stir fry 1 minute. Add the garlic and stir, cooking until the onions are soft & translucent. Then add the eggs and cook for about 30 seconds, stirring, until the eggs are cooked through. Add the linguini, chicken with sauce, and grated carrot, and cook for a few minutes, stirring until heated through.  Remove from heat and put into a large serving dish or individual bowls.  Top with the bean sprouts, chopped cilantro, scallions, and peanuts.