BEFORE photos

We're changing some things at our house. It's still in progress though so I thought I'd put up a teaser post. I know, I'm so nice. I'll post the AFTER photos as soon as we finish! This is the living room:

The spare bedroom:

The office:

It's Soup Season

Green Chile Chicken Stew

4 cups of chicken broth
1 large onion
1 can (10 oz) Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chilies
1 Tbsp garlic powder
2 tsp dried basil
1 (or less) tsp dried cilantro
1 Tbsp dried parsley
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
thinly sliced carrots
2 cans (4 oz each) peeled and diced mild green chilies
1 can cream of celery or cream of onion soup
1 can green enchilada sauce
2-3 cups cooked chicken
2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese, for creamier stew

In a large stockpot, place broth, onions, the can of Ro-Tel tomatoes and chilies, and all the seasonings. Bring to a full boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and add potatoes and carrots, cooking until tender. Reduced heat until the stew is smoothly blended, and the cheese is melted.


Cheese Broccoli Soup

3 1/2 cups water, divided
2 1/2 - 3 cups fresh or frozen broccoli cut into small pieces
1 packet (1.8oz) of Knorr Leek Soup mix
1/2 lb. Velveeta processed cheese, cut into 1" cubes
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp. cornstarch

In a large saucepan cook the broccoli in 3 cups of water until tender. In a small bowl combine 1/2 warm water with the leek soup mix and stir until all the lumps disappear, then stir it into the broccoli and water. Add the cubed cheese and stir until the cheese is melted. In a 2-cup measuring cup combine the milk and cornstarch. Slowly stir it into the soup mixture to thicken, stirring constantly to prevent lumping. Keep heat at a lower temperature to prevent scorching.


White Chicken Chili

2 jars/cans of Northern Beans
1 jar of salsa
1-2 lbs. cooked chicken, cubed
8 oz Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded

Stir it up, heat it up. You can put it in a crock pot. You can even add 2 tsp Cumin, or 1 can chicken broth, or some chopped and sauteed onions.


Chicken Corn Chowder

2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
2 cans creamed-style corn
2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup
2 cans Cream of Chicken soup
1 1/2 cups milk
2 chicken bouillon cubes
salt and pepper if needed
cooked bacon bits, optional

Saute pepper and onion. Heat milk in a large pan. Add bouillon cubes. Add soups, corn, salt, and pepper. Then add chicken, bacon, onions, and green pepper. Stir and simmer. (make sure the bouillon cubes are dissolved!)

Happy New Year!

We had a good New Year so far. Last night we spent it playing cards and Wii with some friends from church and today I went to Debbie's open house. It's so fun to spend time with friends. I'm not really looking forward to the reality of it all on Monday.

So I made some new years resolutions... but I'm too chicken to share them. I guess I'm afraid you will all hold me accountable or something! I'm trying something different this year. I'm making or adding a new goal each month. Rather than naming like 5 things that I want to do or do better this year and then not doing any of then after a few weeks and giving up, I'm going to start with one and get good at it then add another in February and so on. We'll see if this works...

Share your resolutions, if you dare! Oh, and tell me what you did for New Years... (Amy!?!)

Oh, and we did not win the "cloudiest month" award. We received "too much sun" yesterday! Ha!