It has been a snowy couple of days! We were supposed to get around 9 inches and we did get about that much yesterday. I got to stay home and snuggle Fancy and bake. The Husband had to go into work, but got to leave early to come home and said it wasn’t too bad.

I waited to write this review because we used the Instant Pot again last night, this time for Pot Roast and Veggies from the recipe book that came with the pot. It was actually a bit bland and would have been way worse if I hadn’t added seasonings before I pressure cooked it. The recipe didn’t even call for salt and pepper on the meat! I added oregano, a bay leaf, salt, pepper, and garlic and it was still bland.

I still like oven roasted pot roast more. My mother-in-laws pot roast is  the best. My Mom makes a good roast, but my M-I-L’s falls apart if you look at it funny.

I did some baking on my snow day. Fancy needed biscuits, so got pumpkin, banana, cinnamon ones from Endlessly Inspired. http://endlesslyinspired.com/2016/09/01/pumpkin-banana-dog-treats/

I added the cinnamon because she likes it.

She enjoyed these very much. 🙂

(Please excuse the blue fluff all over. She’s shredding her rope and any time she moves it we get a million fluffs everywhere.)

Having homemade treats didn’t stop her from licking my carrots later in the day and shamelessly begging for my pasta lunch. It’s a good thing she’s cute!

After I made the treats, I had a banana and half a can of pumpkin left over, so I made Pumpkin Banana Bread from Oh Sweet Basil. https://ohsweetbasil.com/pumpkin-banana-bread-recipe/

It is delicious! I gobbled a bunch of it already yesterday. It has three kinds of chocolate chips in it, mainly because we’ve used up our semi-sweets without realizing it. I had a quarter bag of mini semi-sweet, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate left, so I threw them all in with wild abandon.

I made a lentil dish for lunches this week. Lebanese Lentil Salad with Cumin, Mint, and, Garlic from Kayln’s Kitchen. The link looks unfinished, but it will take you to the right recipe.

https://kalynskitchen.com/recipe-for-lebanese-lentil-salad-with/

I used dried herbs and it came out fine. It smelled a little weird from the combo of herbs, but tasted good. I had it with rice.

The latest Food Network magazine had an overnight oats page, so I tried the Spiced Mango recipe and it was alright. I don’t know if I’m completely sold on them. I might try heating it up next time.  No pictures because I was running out the door with them.

I made a tortilla chicken soup for Superbowl Sunday, even though we actually recorded the game and then fast forwarded through the game to watch the commercials. We’re weird like that. We watched “Pitbulls and Parolees” instead. 🙂

It was delicious as well. Just a little bit of spice on the back end. I tried to measure so I could share the recipe too. The Husband cut the chicken for me, while I messed around with the rest of it and he did a great job. Here’s the recipe!

Linny’s Superbowl Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 cubed and cooked chicken breasts (seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, Penzy’s “Forward” spice, and chili powder. Cayenne pepper is optional. Alternatively, use leftover chicken.)

1-2 jalepenos, one seeded, one with seeds

2-4 medium to large tomatoes, quartered

1 medium onion, quartered

1 bell pepper, any color, roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled

32 oz. chicken broth

4-8 oz tomato sauce. (I had half a can leftover, but would have used a full can if I hadn’t had a half already opened.)

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 tsp Chili powder

1/2 tsp Garlic powder

Method:

Put the roughly chopped veggies on a foil lined sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Broil veggies until char appears and then flip to broil the second side.

While veggies are cooking, cook cubed chicken in batches, either in soup pot or in a skillet.

Chop the veggies or blend them with an immersion blender until they are in small pieces and add veggies to the soup pot. Pour in the broth, add the spices, and tomato sauce. Bring to  boil and then simmer for 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with tortilla chips.

Chicken Tortilla Soup is one I make frequently when I need a quick dinner idea. There are a ton of recipes out there, so you can customize it as you see fit. It also freezes really well.

We’re doing some meal planning today, I think. We have plans to stay in and be cozy after running the couple of errands we have to do. For now though, I think I’m going to grab a slice of that pumpkin bread and have an Elevensies snack!