Chicken Vegetable Soup

So Mike and I have actually had 12 whole days together - well he worked for part of that and went hunting, but I still got him :)

So we actually cooked this week, novel idea right?

So first we made chicken vegetable soup - delicious right? right

I had chicken in the freezer and Sunday we pulled that out and went and bought some veggies to go with.

I had spinach in the fridge that also needed using since it was starting to wilt in places...eek! Gotta get those greens in.

So we went to Hyvee and picked up zucchini, mushrooms, canned diced and seasoned tomatoes, corn, and some chicken broth.

It's super simple to make soup folks. Make sure you have some stock of some sort (veggie, beef, chicken, hell - duck stock will work too). Whatever floats your boat right?

So we took some onion, and spinach and cooked that down. Then added in mushrooms, zucchini, corn, and diced tomatoes. We didn't need a lot of stock since the tomato juice and corn juice worked pretty well as the stock. We added Italian herbs and some southwest spice that I have sitting around in my spice drawer.

It ended up tasting pretty great, had it with homemade white bread, from my Bread Bible recipe book. I can't say this white bread was my favorite, the traditional bread machine white bread that I made last week was way better. Less funk in the aftertaste, that makes no sense ha ha. Has a similar taste to Mighty Melt bread though, just wrong texture - getting closer maybe?

Mike went hunting, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday mornings. By Tuesday he was tired, but he got the time in and was able to hang out with some friends too. All in all, that's time well spent. Of course, it's strange to have him pass out by 8 pm every night when I'm used to him staying up till at least 10 or 11. That's what early mornings do to you.

So guys, go out and cook. Make some soup for sure, since it's chilly out there now. Will warm you right up.

Grill Master Mike

Alright, summer time + chicken + Mike = grilling time. So last night was the night for a summer tradition.

So Mike fired up the grill, broke out some of the new spices and got to work. Yesterday morning we had been talking about what sounded good for dinner. I said, what are you craving? He replies with "chicken." So what's better than summer time and chicken then BBQ chicken.

We had gone to the Farmer's Market on Saturday and picked up some needed and delicious spices. He got the garlic herb he was wanting and running low on and I picked up more sweet & smokey. He had some sweet and smokey (has a BBQ flavor) already and mixed with sirarchi sauce to create a wet rub.

Then he sliced some zucchini and yellow squash into beautiful discs and laid them out right on the grill to get some nice "tan" lines. He also prepared some asparagus with the garlic & herb spice and probably some butter but couldn't tell as it was in the foil and he forgot to photograph it ;) Trimmed asparagus and butter with the garlic herb seasoning all in foil and placed on the grill makes for tender but crisp deliciousness that is asparagus.

Oh well, it looked amazing. He said it was delicious. So I believe him. I've never eaten anything he's made that I didn't like. I like some more than others but that's true with my baking too and he'll say the same.