Tortilla Soup, Eggs Over Hard, Veggie Chili, and Cornbread Muffins

This has been an eventful week in the Abby/Betty project. The more I cook, the more I want to cook! And the more I cook, the easier it is to decide to cook and whip something up.

My first meal for this week went--gasp!--undocumented! I made tortilla soup Saturday night when Shane got home from work. The recipe was really simple: 1 carton of chicken broth, half a jar of salsa (I used H-E-B peach salsa), and 2 cups of cooked chicken (for which I used an H-E-B rotisserie chicken). You bring all that to a boil, then pour it in a bowl over broken tortilla chips. On top, you add avocado pieces, monterrey jack cheese, and cilantro. Making this meal came so naturally, I forgot to take a picture! It's a shame, because with all of the toppings it really came out beautifully. With such a simple recipe, I'm sure I'll make it again and have a chance to photograph it :).

The next thing I made was for myself on Sunday morning. I wanted a big breakfast, so I decided to try to make eggs sunny side up. The cookbook said to heat butter on a hot skillet, carefully break the eggs into the skillet, then turn it down so the eggs just gently sizzle. I did this, and even after the whites were done the yolks were runny. Runny eggs are not my thing, so I ended up flipping the eggs over and kind of making eggs over hard. I had them with some H-E-B buttermilk waffles with raspberry jelly. This made for a delicious Sunday morning breakfast!

Last night I came home before Zumba class and had about an hour to spare. I really wanted to make the veggie chili before the veggies went bad, so I whipped it up. I had a minor mishap when making the chili in that it said to "bring the ingredients to a boil," but the ingredients up to that point were essentially just a pile of vegetables. There were potatoes, an onion, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, and a cans of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. I had to call mom for stat cooking advice. She told me I should add some chicken or vegetable stock, but I didn't have any, so I added a cup of water. She thought that might make the chili bland, but it turned out sooo good! The other ingredients were zucchini (which I put in later), cumin, and chili powder. Shane liked it to. Zumba class sucked. Tall girls were not meant to dance! I think I'm more into Pilates/Yoga... stretching, breathing slow, and working on my posture.

Today I made cornbread muffins to redeem myself for the grody cornbread I made last weekend. Mom said I stirred the cornbread too much, or possibly put too much flour because I packed it in the measuring cup. I made the cornbread again today, stirring the dry and wet ingredients separately then just giving them a quick whip together. Two things: buttermilk is a vile substance and my cornbread muffins are freaking delicious!!