Rainy Day Blues

It's cold, rainy and foggy. We needed to get a few groceries and I wanted to rent a movie from the library, so we headed out early. Well, the store hadn't gotten it's milk shipment yet and the library was closed for the day. Urg. Then I tried going to the university library to get a movie, but there was nowhere to park (as we are being invaded by alums for homecoming weekend). So we went home with an extra grey cloud traveling over our car. I decided to make things a little better by making homemade hot chocolate.

I also dug out the Muppets Take Manhattan and the kids loved it. Muppets, chocolate, and snuggle-time on the couch, what better way to chase the blues (and rain clouds) away? .


Since it seems most people are having the same weather today, here's the Hot Chocolate recipe. Just doing my part to brighten your day:

Homemade Hot Chocolate:
(serves 1 Mommy and 2 kids)
3-4 cups milk
3 heaping tablespoons of cocoa powder
pinch of salt
1-2 Tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon

On the stove top, place all above ingredients in a pot, keep heat on medium and don't leave it. Whisk until all powder dissovles. Do not scald. Add a handful of chocolate chips and stir until melted. Take off heat and stir in a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Pour into mugs, top with whipped cream and a few chocolate chips. Enjoy!

Chicken Tortilla Yum, Yum

Here's our dinner tonight...I know most of you probably don't care about recipes but I need a place to put things I've created so they don't get lost and maybe someone out there might actually use something I made. It's nothing fancy, just dump it in and let it cook but I tend to forget simple things like this. Enjoy!

Chicken Taco Soup
2 T Olive Oil
1 Med. Onion
1/2 cup pepper (we only had red but green would probably be better)
2 cloves garlic crushed
2 medium chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1 package taco seasoning
lime juice
cilantro
sharp cheddar cheese
Tortilla chips
Sour Cream

In a stockpot/dutchoven, simmer onion, pepper and garlic in olive oil until translucent, be careful not to burn the garlic. Add taco seasoning, tomatoes, beans, corn and stock. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add diced chicken, simmer 20 minutes. Add lime juice, stir. Dish out tortilla chips into bowls, top with soup. Top soup with what you like: shredded cheese, sour cream, more chips, cilantro, etc...

YUMMMMMMMMMM......

Mmmmmmuffins!

We had a surplus of blueberries and had our priest over for breakfast today so I made these muffins. I found this recipe in a Wondertime magazine. They are delicious! The oats gives them a more wholesome feel and makes them not as sweet as regular blueberry muffins. They are fairly time-consuming but well worth it. The recipe makes a lot (24) and you need to have paper muffin cups.

I'm taking some over to our friends' house tomorrow for a 4th of July brunch after the annual 4th of July parade in Peachtree City. For those of you who don't know, Peachtree City is known for it's golf carts as a means of transportation and everyone decorates theirs in red, white, and blue for the 4th and then parks it along the parade route. Local businesses, churches, etc. have floats and throw candy and other goodies. It's small-town fun at it's best. Apparently the 4th is a big deal ("the social event of the season") in Sewanee. They have real small-town fun like a cake contest and bicycle parade. So again, we're leaving things we love but have new excitement to look forward to.
P.S. If you want the recipe, let me know and I'll e-mail it to you, I don't feel like typing it up right now to add to this post. Perhaps I'll come back and add it later.

7/7 Update: here is a link for the muffin recipe, how exciting I didn't have to type it in! I used light sour cream and it worked fine, this is anything but healthy but quite delicious! Enjoy!