Dinner....

I'm not sure what you would call this, maybe Chicken Cilantro Tomato Soup? But whatever it is I found it delish enough to share. I had no clue what I was going to have for dinner, even after I walked through the grocery store staring at all the options. For some reason, the only items I put in my basket were a bunch of Cilantro and a few Spring Onions...uh, ok? What the heck was I planning on making with only those two items in my basket? Sometimes I worry about myself.

It all came together though, no worries. I dug through my pantry and found these items:

2 cans of diced tomato's with cilantro and lime juice

1 can of tomato sauce

1 can of black eyed peas

I also had some fresh chicken breasts in the fridge.

So, first things first, I threw the chicken breasts in a frying pan with some olive oil and let them start cooking. Flipping, as needed, throughout the rest of the prep. I opened all the canned goods and emptied the contents into the largest saucepan I had (6 quarts, I think). I also added about 3/4 cup of water, just to think out the tomato sauce. Then I chopped up 4 spring onions and this much (see below) cilantro (you can go with as much as you want on these two items...I like them both so I went a little on the heavy side) and tossed them in with the rest of the ingredients.

By the time I was finished with all that, the chicken was ready to be cut and added to the mix. I added 2 1/2 chicken breasts just because I'm not the worlds biggest fan of a super chunky soup. Again, you can add/take away as you please. Here is what the yumminess looked like!!

My little helper...begging...*cough cough*...patiently waiting to see if you can get some of the yumminess.

Pretty darn cute <3>

Back to the soup...so after everything was in the saucepan, I covered it and brought it to a slow boil over medium to medium-high heat, let that go for about 2-3 minutes then cut it back to low and let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Stirring here and there. In that time I was able to clean up the little bit of mess I made, load the dishwasher and get bowl and spoon out! Super easy y'all...and delicious! I totally recommend trying it. I started prep at 6:05pm and was eating my soup at 6:30pm!

*Clean*

Perfect amount of spice and freshness.

A little dash of cheddar and some blue corn chips....YUM!!

Let me know what you think if you try it!!

Until next time...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's to wishing everyone a day filled with love and sweets!!! I can't believe it's 2011, I can't believe it's February, I can't believe we are halfway through the month and another Valentine's Day is upon us....man.

SWL and I showed a little extra love by going on a "day date" to the delicious Olive Garden, yum! I was so stuffed I didn't even have room for dessert. Shocking. I know. We were tempted to get some to go and then decided to pull the "healthy/smart" card and say, "Eh, we don't need it." As soon as the door shut behind us and we were walking to the car, I was second guessing my decision of turning down the scrumptiousness that is all of the desserts at O.G. But it was too late, I would look totally lame if I ran back inside, drooling, to order the dessert that I had just turned down...so I let it go.

That's probably why I decided to whip up some goodies of my own....mmmm. It always works out for the best when I fix the sweets I am craving. Not only do I get to fix exactly what I want but then I can scarf it down in the peace of my own home, not having to worry whether the person in the next booth is disturbed by the bits that seem to escape as I'm shoveling the goodness down the hatch. Anyway...back to the sweets!

I found this recipe over at an amazing site, Bakerella. And while my cake balls definitely didn't turn out looking anything like Bakerella's, I must say I thought they came out pretty tasty. I didn't follow the recipe 100%, I went with a Devil's Food Cake mix....and I think these would be good with any cake mix really. Here a few snapshots...

(ewww....)

(ahhh....)

(YUM!)

I hope you all have a great Valentine's Day and enjoy any sweets that come your way! Love you all!!

Until next time...