Sunday, March 10, 2013

Finished my Fair Isle hat!

I finished my Fair Isle hat yesterday!  I love it!  It is warm and cozy and super-soft.  I wore it out last night because I just had to show it off.

Here is a quick pic.  That's all; I just wanted to share!

Have a happy Daylight Savings Day - I hope you all got enough sleep!

Cheers,
-Erin

Friday, March 8, 2013

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

I made this awesome slow cooker chicken tortilla soup last night, so I thought I would share the recipe.  My mom sent me this recipe a while ago, but I made some minor modifications to it this time around, and it turned out fantastically well!  It is full of lean protein and makes a hearty meal.  The flavor is chili-like, although the soup is more broth-based than chili-style.  I love it - and it's a good thing, because I live alone, so I will be eating it for the next week!

Slow cooker chicken tortilla soup - garnished with sour cream, a tortilla chip, and a sprinkle of chili powder
Slow cooker chicken tortilla soup - garnished with sour cream, a tortilla chip, and a sprinkle of chili powder
This recipe only has four "hard" parts:

1.  Chopping the onion
2.  Mincing the garlic
3.  Shredding the cooked chicken
4.  Trying not to eat the whole pot once it's finished!  :)

The rest of the recipe is just dumping everything into a slow cooker and waiting for it to cook.  I find the easiest way to make this soup is to start the recipe in the morning before I go to work.  Then, I shred the chicken first thing when I get home in the evening, and I eat it an hour or so later.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
Makes 3.5 quarts
165 calories per cup

Ingredients
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 19-ounce can dark red kidney beans, including liquid
1 15.5-ounce can black beans, including liquid
2 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, including liquid
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 15.25-ounce can whole-kernel sweet corn, drained
1 package taco seasoning
1 cup chicken stock
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds total weight)

Instructions
1.  Mix onion, garlic, kidney beans, black beans, tomatoes with chiles, tomato sauce, corn, taco seasoning, and chicken broth in 4-quart (or larger) slow cooker.  Stir well until completely mixed.
2.  Place chicken breasts on top of soup mixture.  Push to the bottom of the slow cooker so the chicken breasts are completely covered with liquid.
3.  Cook on low heat 6-8 hours.
4.  Remove chicken breasts from soup.  Shred into pieces with two forks.  Add shredded chicken back into soup.
5.  Continue cooking for another 1-2 hours to allow flavors to soak into shredded chicken.
6.  Serve alone, or garnish with tortilla chips, sour cream, and/or a dash of chili powder.

Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm!  Just the thing to warm you up on a cold wintry day.  :)

Slow cooker chicken tortilla soup - garnished with sour cream, a tortilla chip, and a sprinkle of chili powder
Slow cooker chicken tortilla soup - garnished with sour cream, a tortilla chip, and a sprinkle of chili powder

Sunday, March 3, 2013

First quadrant of Celestial Dragon - FINISHED!

Well, THAT took awhile - but here's a pic!

"Celestial Dragon" by Teresa Wentzler - first quadrant finished!
"Celestial Dragon" by Teresa Wentzler - first quadrant finished!

I am going to work on the bottom right quadrant next.  It only took me a year to finish this one...

I also finished a fluffy afghan for one of my pregnant lady friends!  It is slightly less square than it should be, but hopefully some blocking will tighten up the corners.

Is anybody else working on any fun projects this weekend?  Please share if you are!

Oh, and thank you to everyone who left such nice comments on my Fair Isle piece - I appreciate your encouragement!  It's always nice to know people are popping in here to look.  :)

Have a great weekend!

-Erin