Black Eyed Pea Dip

Hands down my favorite dip...for the moment!
It's my friend Meredith's recipe and it's soo tasty! Perfect for the upcoming Superbowl on Sunday. I couldn't find a picture, but the next time I make it I will be sure to post one.

Here it goes...

Ingredients:
3 cans black eyed peas
1 Red Onion chopped
2 cups shredded cheese
1 can green chilies
3 fresh jalapenos chopped without the seeds (or if you like it hot, you can leave the seeds)
1/2 stick of salted butter
garlic powder to taste

Mix everything except butter. Pour in casserole dish. Melt butter and pour over mixture. Cook on 350 until cheese is melted and dip is bubbly, check at 25 minutes
Serve with fritos or tortilla chips

My mouth is watering...

Best part, It's low fat and has no calories! I wish!

Free

Me and AK are loving this song right now. It's on replay a lot here in the Kelly household and our singing is just beautiful! We think we may both try out for American Idol!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

The pioneer woman has done it again! This is my second go at tortilla soup, I made one a couple weeks ago but it was too creamy, this is much better!

Ingredients:

• 2 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1-½ teaspoon Cumin
• 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
• ½ teaspoons Garlic Powder
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 cup Diced Onion
• ¼ cups Diced Green Bell Pepper
• ¼ cups Red Bell Pepper
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 can Rotel Tomatoes And Green Chilies
• 32 ounces, fluid Low Sodium Chicken Stock
• 3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
• 2 cans Black Beans, Drained
• 3 Tablespoons Cornmeal Or Masa - I didn't add this ingredient and the soup was still fab!
  
• 5 whole Corn Tortillas, Cut Into Uniform Strips Around 2 To 3 Inches - I just used tortilla chips
  

• Garnishes:
• Sour Cream
• Diced Avocado
• Diced Red Onion
• Salsa Or Pico De Gallo
• Grated Monterey Jack Cheese
• Cilantro

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix cumin, chili pepper, garlic powder, and salt. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil on chicken breasts, then sprinkle a small amount of spice mix on both sides. Set aside the rest of the spice mix.

Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until chicken is done. Use two forks to shred chicken. Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a pot over medium high heat. Add onions, red pepper, green pepper, and minced garlic. Stir and begin cooking, then add the rest of the spice mix. Stir to combine, then add shredded chicken and stir.

Pour in Rotel, chicken stock, tomato paste, water, and black beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes, uncovered.

Mix cornmeal with a small amount of water. Pour into the soup, then simmer for an additional 30 minutes. Check seasonings, adding more if needed—add more chili powder if it needs more spice, and be sure not to undersalt. Turn off heat and allow to sit for 15 to 20 minutes before serving. Five minutes before serving, gently stir in tortilla strips.

Ladle into bowls, then top with sour cream, diced red onion, diced avocado, pico de gallo, and grated cheese, if you have it! (The garnishes really make the soup delicious.)

Enjoy!

Too Many Options!

The week of Christmas AK got a call from his sister who lives in our condo (soo thankful for her!) saying that the water heater was leaking and that the hallway was wet. We weren't sure of the damage, it was worse than we had hoped but A LOT better than it could have been.

We had to replace the hardwood in the kitchen, water heater, padding in the hallway and poor L&T had to listen to loud fans for 5 days to dry the place out.

bye bye hardwood!

We couldn't match the hardwood exactly with what is in the entryway and with my type A personality I had to have it match, so we went with tile which I'm really excited about. I haven't seen a picture yet, but L tells me it looks really good!

Since this happened, I told AK we should just completely renovate the kitchen! Ha! Little did I know what we were getting ourselves into! We met with a consultant at Home Depot and I could feel both of our blood pressures rising as they were explaining the million things that we could do, the choices, what we had in mind, etc. After a lot of thinking, we have decided to just do backsplash, new dishwasher and change the knobs on the cabinets.

There are soooo many options it's overwhelming!
Home Depot offers like 1600 different knobs, Really??

This is the color of the new tile floor

Backsplash 1

Backsplash 2

Backsplash 3 - I'm really like this one!

I wasn't sure about this color knob on white cabinets, until I saw this kitchen

Or I could stay safe with the stainless.

Here goes nothing! I will keep you updated on the progress!

Casey & Doug

Meet Casey.
Isn't she sooo sweet! I'm officially a aunt and my mom is so excited that she has a granddoggy! Clearly, we need a baby in the family since both me and mom are so excited about our new names! ha! She is a Belgian malinois, which is pretty much a miniature German Shepard.

So, now that my bro has a new pup it has AK and I back into the conversation of getting one. The last time I posted, we were having a discussion between a maltipoo and a basset hound. We talked some more and AK agreed that we could get a maltipoo only if he could pick out the name. I thought that was fair, then he told me the name...Doug. We were both hysterically laughing and I thought he was joking, but he wasn't. ha! I told some friends at dinner last week and they thought it was hilarous and that it was perfect, seriously??!

I guess before I worry about this we actually need to have the dog!
I will keep you posted about Doug!

2011...Let it Rock.

This new year is already off to a great start, it's 4pm and I'm still in my pj's!!!

Football is on, black eye peas are on the stove and cornbread is in the oven. Yum!

I am not one for making new year's resolutions because the eating better, working out thing, just never really seem to go in my favor. But this year I am going to try my hardest to live for today and not worry so much about tomorrow and the future.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34

God has a plan and I'm ready for him to lead me the way.

Wishing you a happy, healthy and blessed 2011!!

Let it Rock.