Soup-a-palooza: White Bean Chicken Chili with Artichokes

Since it has been, on average, 20 degrees here in Chicago I have been making a lot of soup lately. My soup-making desire has also been enhanced by the fact that I'm broke, eating all my meals at home to save monies, and to top it off Chris is working on a project out of town Monday am through Wednesday pm so I have to eat alone a lot.

So, I've been making giiiinoooormous pots of soup (so big in fact that the pot won't fit in my dishwasher and I have to wash it by had!) and freezing half.

Last week this is what I made which is super easy and only uses 1 pot:

White Bean Chicken Chili with Artichokes

This recipe is from Chris' mom and super easy to make!

Prep: 30 minutes Serves: 6

1 Medium white onion

2 TBSP olive oil

1 4oz can chopped green chilies- drained (I used 2 serano peppers we already had in the fridge- finely chopped)

2 tsps cumin

2 16 oz cans Bush's great northern beans

1 14.5oz can of chicken broth

1.5 cups finely chopped chicken (I kind of chopped/shredded/just threw it in there)

1 large can artichokes- drained

1 large can diced tomatoes and juice

Saute onion in the bottom of a large pot for about 4 minutes until transparent (I put the seranos in here at the same time). Add chilies and cumin; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add beans, chicken broth, and tomatoes. Bring the whole pot to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the chicken and artichokes and cook until the whole pot is hot.

Yum!

I doubled this recipe to make extra frozen servings.

I didn't take pictures of this soup, but I will tomorrow when I make lentil soup!

italian word of the day

Cono: ice cream cone, Or more imporantly a gelato cone.

just trying to make you guys all cultural and stuff

Happy Thanksgiving

I know I am a day late on a Thanksgiving post, but oh well.

I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving day filled with friends, love, and lots of food. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Christmas seems comercial to me, don't even get me started about Valentines Day, Easter is also commerical, and does Halloween even count as a holiday?

I simply love Thanksgiving. It's the only holiday when family and friends gather together to enjoy a huge meal with the only expectation of being thankful. (Or at least I guess that is the ideal...)

This year there are so many things that I am thankful for: my family, my incredibly friends, the amazing future I have ahead of me, the ability to travel the world, the chance to be healthy and happy, and so much more!

And, I am thankful for each and everyone of you who reads my blog posts. It makes me happy to know that even if I can't talk to y'all on a regular basis I can tell you a little of what is going on in my life!

Happy Thanksgiving!
M


**p.s. when I get home Chris and I are going to go all out and make our own Thanksgiving dinner because I also LOVE Thanksgiving food! So, be excited because you will definitely see pictures and hear stories about me cooking my first turkey ever!!

I love: Cooking

Y'all, I love love love to cook. There is no doubt about it, it's possibly my favorite thing to do in the entire world. Yes, it is my favorite thing to do. No, I lied, I like playing with puppies more than cooking. Back to my point... cooking is one of the things I miss the most about traveling. I have of course been making a large number of meals for myself (which, I swear I have pictures galore to share with you when I finally get home and can upload and organize all THREE THOUSAND pictures I've taken) but it's not the same. Yes, making veggies, pasta, samis, etc is delicious and fun but it just doesn't cut it. I want to be in my kitchen in an adorable apron with flour on my face and in my hair, 4 pots going at once on the stove, a sink full of dishes and the most amazing smells drifting through my house. For me, the moment when I put down plates of delicious food that I've made is sheer heaven and it's even better because Chris is a wonderful dinner companion with amazing complements for good homemade food.

So, because I'm a cooking nerd and a foodie, I've been making a list while I travel of all of the meals that I want to make when I move home:

Pho

Falafel

Stewed red cabbage

Rissoto

Shepard's pie

Homemade calzones

Chicken curry pot pie with phyllo crust

Turkish food which I look a lesson for while I was in Istanbul!

All kinds of quiche

Bouillabaisse

Osso Bucco

Warm and tasty soups

Thai food

the list is so much longer but I'll stop now!

Plus all of my regular meals

Roasted chickens

Turkey pot pie with giblet gravy (Chris's favorite!)

Green chili enchiladas

5 pepper 5 alarm Chili

Stuffed peppers

And anything else anyone wants to recommend!!

I don't think that I have talked about this on the blog before but Chris and I are moving to Chicago when I get back for a few months before we leave for our huge 18 month trip around the world. So, imagine Chicago in January, February, and March; now imagine this Texas girl in Chicago in January, February, and March. Besides work I am never going to want to leave the house because it will be so damn cold! Which gives me the perfect reason to start up the ovens! And maybe I'll put these beauties from Anthropology on my Christmas list?

love the button and the ruffles at the bottom!

Does this come as a dress too?!?!

hint... hint... I've been good this year Santa...

The Paris Overview

Paris has been great. I arrived 6 days ago and have been really busy walking around the city, seeing the sights, and trying not to break my budget!!

Day 1
After taking the world's most expensive cab ride in the history of all cab rides my flight to Paris was perfectly smooth and I arrive in my hostel around 12. The first hostel I stayed in was in Montemarte so I walked through Sacre Coure Cathedral and the surrounding neighborhood. While I was walking I stumbled into some sort of French festival complete with French singers and some sort of renamactment.

Day 2
I went on a great free 3 hour walking tour provided by NewEurope. We saw all of the major sites and I definitely got a better lay out ofParis in my mind. I also walked around the Latin quarter. This area is where the prestigois French school Le Sorbonne is located.

Day 3
I saw Notre Dame Cathedral. The stained glass windows are beautiful; actually the entire church is mannificent. When I am in these churchesI always try to image what it would be like to be present in the church right after it was built. These were built before cranes, computers, and modern architecture and engineering. The construction just completely blows my mind. After Notre Dame I went to an area of Paris called the Marais; it's the old Jewish area of town and is filled with delicious falafel stands, amazing bakeries, and tiny winding streets. This night I also went out to bars with some Californians from my hostel and stayed out way too late.

Day 4
While battling feeling tired from the night before I went to my favorite museum in Paris, and I might dare to say the world, Le Musee d'Orsay. I treated myself to a giant bowl of amazing soup in the cafe and then spent the next 5 hours in the museum. I'm going to write more about the museum later.

Day 5
I went to the Louvre, l'Orangerie, and a really cool English bookstore called Shakespeare and Company. I then had a little dinner picnic in front of the Eiffle Tower

Day 6
I was going to go to Versaille this day but after a hostel crisis (note to self: do not leave booking a hostel until that morning!) left me scrambling for a place to stay until 12:30 I had to change plans. So, instead I went to Pere Lachaise cemetery where Heloise and Abelard; Jim Morrison; Oscar Wilde; Edith Pilaf and others are burried.

Today
Today I walked to the oldest still existing flea market in Europe, wandered around the stalls, and then just walked around Paris taking it all in.


I leave for Frankfurt tomorrow and will meet Chris and our friends Eddie and Allan there on Monday before we all head to Munich for Oktoberfest. I am so excited to see friends and to go to Oktoberfest.

I'll be sure to keep you updated about our progress along the way! I'm trying to upload photos as we speak but who knows how it will go on the hostel's computer. If not I'll fork out the 5 euro to have all of my photos downloaded to a CD just for you my loves!
Xoxo,
M