Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is so newsworthy! I cooked again for the first time of the year:) I made this soup that I found on the internet, but of course I changed a few things (missed a few things) and made it my own. Yummmmm!!! IT's SO good. Dan's not a huge fan, but it's because he prefers more creamy soups. This one is chicken based.

1 onion
1 rotissiere chicken (pull off big chunks)
2 tbls olive oil
1 can black beans
1 bag of steamed corn
1/4 cup cilantro
2 cloves garlic
dash of salt
1 and half tsp of cumin
6 cups water
6 tsps. of chicken base

The original recipe had a whole system of adding this and then that in some special order while cooking it on high and then low to simmer. Yeah, I just threw all of it in the pot at one time and heated it up. It's also dairy free since Svea is not loving the dairy right now.

Of course a post wouldn't be a post without Svea...this is she and I after we made our soup!

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

Ha! I found some chocolate I can eat. The other night we had Pastor Audrey and her husband Don over for dinner. I melted chocolate and cut up strawberries for part of our dessert. I couldn't have the chocolate and it made me really grumpy. So I've been on a mission.....must find chocolate that I can eat or one's head will explode! I found something and it wasn't at the store the last time so either they are adding products to their health food section or they knew I was desperately in need of this! I made a cake for Valentine's Day complete with chocolate frosting. All gluten AND dairy free! It's actually pretty good. I even got the memory in my head of my Great Grandma Selma's chocolate cake...............ok, maybe it's not that good, but Dan actually liked it and said he'd eat it again. PTL....seriously because he has provided and my head is now saved!!! It's so good that I'm eating it RIGHT now, as we speak, for breakfast! Mmmmmm........

Easy Egg Bake That I've Only Messed Up Once!

The first time I made this I didn't let the ingredient's stand overnight and it was very flat. Apparently that's a no-brainer when it comes to egg bakes, but when it comes to cooking there's "no brain" up there for me! I've made it two other times now for work and for the Anderson's and since Lacee actually asked for the recipe I thought I'd share.............share because it might never happen again where someone will ask ME for a recipe;)

Ingredients:
6 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp. ground mustard
1/2 tsp. pepper
cubed ham
frozen brocoli w/cheese
half bag of colby jack cheese
6 pieces of bread

Mix eggs, milk, ground mustard, pepper, ham, and cheese together. Pour over 6 pieces of bread in pan. Sprinkle brocoli w/cheese over the top. Let stand in refridgerator overnight. Bake at 375 or 400 (depending on your oven) for 30 minutes.

Our Favorite Cake!

INGREDIENTS

 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1/2 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
 6 ounces caramel ice cream topping
 3 (1.4 ounce) bars chocolate covered toffee, chopped
 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

DIRECTIONS
Bake cake according to package directions for a 9x13 inch pan; cool on wire rack for 5 minutes. Make slits across the top of the cake, making sure not to go through to the bottom.
 In a saucepan over low heat, combine sweetened condensed milk and caramel topping, stirring until smooth and blended. Slowly pour the warm topping mixture over the top of the warm cake, letting it sink into the slits; then sprinkle the crushed chocolate toffee bars liberally across the entire cake while still warm. (Hint: I crush my candy bars into small chunks as opposed to crumbs - I like to have pieces I can chew on!)
Let cake cool completely, then top with whipped topping. Decorate the top of the cake with some more chocolate toffee bar chunks and swirls of caramel topping. Refrigerate and serve right from the pan!

Yum! We had some tonight!  I don't put the candy bars on top, but I'm sure it's extra good!