Apparently Hell is freezing over square foot by square foot.

Y'all I am a cooking fiend lately.  I don't know what it is, but we are eating some good stuff over here.  Sadly, not much else is getting done. 

Today, for example, my day went like this:

Got up, made lunches, made breakfasts, got kids on the bus, dressed Girl 3 and got her ready for school, went for a run, showered (see my last blog post for the reasoning on that one), tried to drop Girl 3 off at school without losing my shirt or exposing my boobs - or lack thereof (again, see my last post for more on that), drove to be fingerprinted, got fingerprinted and photographed (said a silent prayer of thanksgiving that I had showered so as not to scare the F.B.I.), went to Target to buy Girl 3's birthday presents (that Target sucked), drove to another Target to get the rest of Girl 3's birthday presents and cursed myself (loudly) for having wasted time at the sucky Target (who knew sucky could be an adjective for Target?), drove home, ate some leftover Tortilla soup (more on that later in this post), answered the phone and it was my lady doctor's office (and by lady doctor I mean the doctor who tends to the lady parts).

Lady doctor's receptionist told me they had a cancellation so could I be there in about 45 minutes otherwise it would be another 20 years until my lady parts could be checked (apparently unless you're have a baby that is crowning from your lady parts, lady doctors eat lunch and go on vacation and such - damn them).  I scorched my throat by swallowing the rest of my soup in one gulp, told her I'd be there and then did a frantic little thing I like to call:  one load of laundry, one sweep of the kitchen for dirty dishes and such, one making of all the beds with one hand while the other hand brushes my teeth, one call to hubby to tell him to pick up Girl 3, one *accelerated* drive to drop-off a car seat for Girl 3, and one *accelerated* drive to the doctor.

I got home not having done a damn thing on my to-do list and it was time to get the big kids from the bus.  Damn my lady parts.

After dinner (more on that later) I quickly went to the pharmacy (again, damn the lady parts) and to get gas.  Hubby just called me Lazy because I always hook the little gas thingie so that I can hop back in my car and like balance the checkbook or something useful while the gas is pumping as opposed to standing there like a moron and holding the gas pump.  Well, today the hook didn't spring up when I heard a click and thought the gas had stopped (either it hadn't clicked, or something malfunctioned).  I pulled the nozzle out and gas spewed everyfreakingwhere.

I came home showered, washed my hair (two times in one day - that's got to be record), and put my jammies on (slowly realizing I never should have taken them off this morning).

Why am I telling you this?  Because here is what we have had for dinner, y'all!  NOTHING is getting done, and I am obviously turning into a babbling basket case, but we are eating like kings and I just wanted to show you.  Note:  hubby asked me last night if I was going to photograph the Tomato Pie.  I felt like royalty (but not the topless kind).

Here's my first attempt at Tortilla Soup (tortillas are indigenous to my people, Tortilla Soup is not).

Here's how I made it.  It seems (after all the soul searching and whining about being Hispanic and not knowing how to make the damn soup) fairly simple and forgiving to the point of you *might* not even need soup or tortillas to make it.

I boiled one chicken (I used a purportedly grass fed chicken as opposed to feces fed chicken) and used about half of the shredded meat from that chicken and six cups of the broth (about).  I then sauteed one yellow squash, about three cloves of garlic, and about half an onion.  To these veggies I added:  cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper enough to make the mixture pretty reddish.  I brought the broth back to a boil and added the veggies.  Then I added some cooked whole baby carrots that I had, some frozen corn and some cut red potatoes that I had microwaved just a bit so they wouldn't be hard in the soup.  Then I added about two cups of shredded chicken and let the whole thing simmer for about 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, Girl 2 sliced up some corn tortillas we have been buying that have no preservatives.  She fried them in oil until they were crispy.

Y'all it was yummy.  We added sliced avocado, the fried tortillas, canned and fresh jalapenos, and cilantro to the finished product.  Hubby and I are not eating a lot of cheese, but I did grate some cheddar cheese that I had on hand for the kids.  Yes, the kids liked it.  Miracle?  Probably.

P.S. to that recipe - I am the only person in the history of persons to put the word "feces" into a recipe.  I think I need my own cookbook.

And, the second dish (sorry that this post is turning novelish) - Tomato Pie that I got from this lovely lady.  I love to travel and eat yummy food vicariously through her blog.  She has fabulous photos of...everything.  I used Leigh's exact recipe (to be found on her blog - click on recipes) and it is super delish.  Now, it did have the puff pastry which does have preservatives and it did have quite a bit of cheese which we are trying to cut out.  But, it was sooooooo worth it.  I used farmer's market tomatoes and the only thing I didn't quite get right was I was running short on time (imagine?) and I couldn't quite let them dry on the paper towels as long as I should have.

Wanna know the kicker with the Tomato Pie?  My girls claim to hate tomatoes.  Girl 1 loved the pie and Girl 2 ate it.  Girl 3 drank water (which has been her dinner for about a week now).  Ah, well.  Can't win 'em all.

That's my eats, readers.  What's cooking in your kitchen?  (And if you're just setting off the smoke alarm a lot, don't feel bad - that's mostly what I do.)