Testing....Testing...1-2-3

Welcome!
   Not quite sure how many people will actually follow me and thus I am led to my introduction.  I am doing this blog more for my personal use rather than for others enjoyment.  I am a 25 year old working mom that absolutely LOVES to cook healthy, satisfying meals for my family and I try to plan these meals out way in advance.  This blog will mostly be about my adventures in the kitchen with a little toddler running around who loves to 'help' mommy!  I wanted to be able to keep a journal, so to speak, with pictures and recipes that I've tweaked to make my own throughout the years and hopefully I'll get some helpful input from other moms out there.  I'm always on the hunt for new and exciting ideas on what to make for dinner and things to do with my son. 
 

                                                       a little slice of heaven...my family


      Back to the cooking...I have been a vegetarian for the past 15 years and my husband is an open-minded carnivore.  Our son, Ethan, is a picky eater who decides that meat is better to chew and then spit back out.  He'll get there.  I try to come up with recipes and adapt ones from cookbooks, online and magazines to suit our families unique tastebuds.   

With that being said...dinner tonight shall be....Vegetarian Tortilla Soup!
   This recipe calls for a stir fry mix of onions and peppers.  Well living in Victor, ID provides a slightly limited selection on what frozen mixes are available.  So instead I am going to be using fresh onions and peppers to make up for it. Any alterations to a recipe will be in italics.
  I'm 15 minutes into this recipe and already the house is filled with the most delicious aroma.  Can't wait to try this one.  I'm thinking I might add some Morning Star Farms Chik'n Strips on top as well.  We'll see....
 
VEGETARIAN TORTILLA SOUP from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 (1 pound) package frozen pepper and onion stir fry mix (1 onion and 1 red pepper)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons ground cumin (2 1/2 tbs cumin and 1/2 tbs chile powder)
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes (3 cans diced tomatoes with green chile peppers)
• 3 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chile peppers, drained (subbed 2 cans)
• 4 (14 ounce) cans vegetable broth (vegetable base boullion)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (11 ounce) can whole kernel corn
• 12 ounces tortilla chips
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 avocado - peeled, pitted and diced

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the pepper and onion stir fry mix, garlic, and cumin, and cook 5 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Mix in the tomatoes and chile peppers. Pour in the broth, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 30 minutes.
2. Mix corn into the soup, and continue cooking 5 minutes. Serve in bowls over equal amounts of tortilla chips. Top with cheese and avocado.         

So I've sampled the goods on this one and wowzers!  It's a spicy one.  Perhaps with all the fixings it would bet toned down a bit but next time I'll tone it down to only one can of peppers.