If At First You Don't Succeed.....

......try, try again! When I signed into Blogger today, I realized that I haven't posted in 10 days! I told myself I wouldn't let the blog go anymore...yet, here I am....

There hasn't been anything terribly exciting to update you on. My arm is doing great. I can't put much for pressure on my hand but I am noticing a lovely lack of pain when I am writing, crocheting, knitting, typing.... I am working my way back into cooking. I can cut veggies and fruits but I still cannot cut chicken. It takes a particular torque and pressure that I just can't achieve in my present level of healing.

I am discovering that not every dish I create for supper is a hit. Take the Chicken and Wild Rice soup I made for supper last night. I had boiled down a deli chicken carcass, removed the bones and peeled the meat off of the bone and threw it back in the broth. Then I chopped some celery, carrots and onion and threw it in. I added about a cup of wild rice, maybe a little more(?). Flavored it with some basil, thyme, pepper, garlic salt and rubbed sage. Thickened it with a little corn starch and milk. Added about a 1/2 cup of milk and 2 tbsp butter to the pot and called it good. Hubby and I loved it. Daughter gagged down a bite and son wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. Go figure. I just had a leftover bowl for lunch that was just as good as last night. lol

However, the chicken (or chicken/black bean) enchilada recipe that we have been messing with has been perfected and the kids beg for those! All you do is cube up about a pound or so of chicken breasts and cook, in a decent sized skillet, with about 2 tbsp olive oil, a chopped onion and about 2-3 cloves of minced garlic. Then, you add to the pan 1 little can of diced green chilies, an 8 oz cream cheese cubed or cut into strips for easier melting and 1/2 a can of nacho flavored cheese (this is my one processed food item I just can't give up yet). Mix until smooth. At this point, you can either add a can of drained and rinsed black beans, or leave it as is. Then, spoon a small portion into warmed (wrap in tinfoil, put into 325 degree oven for 15 minutes) 6" corn tortillas, roll and place seam side down in a sprayed or greased 9x13 pan. This should make you two pans. Pour a can of enchilada sauce on EACH pan. So if you have two pans, you'll need two cans of sauce. Sprinkle generously with cheese (we like sharp cheddar). Leave uncovered and cook at 375 for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly and cheese begins to brown a little at the edges. This has become an absolute favorite food in our house. I don't know why I ever thought enchiladas were hard to make!! lol My hubby has had to make the last few batches, though, cuz of the inability to cut chicken. I'm sure he'll be happy to hand the job back to me. :)

I've been working on knitting some coffee cup cozies. I started with this pattern. Mine does not turn out as cute and tight as hers. Mine is all loopy on the bind off. So I sort of redid it to suit me. Here's what I came up with:

Knitted cup cozy
material: less than 2 oz of yarn, 7dpns

CO 40st, join to make circle
row 1: k1, p1
row 2: inc, continue in established pattern around.
row3-16: repeat rows 1 and 2 ending with 48 stitches
row 17-18: purl each st around
BO in purl. Cut, leave long end for winding.

I will try to post a picture of it soon. It's sort of cute. :)

Ok, I think that's all I have to blather on about for today. Let me know if you try any of the recipes. :)

Tah!