Nothing Fancy; Tortilla Soup

The best thing about this soup is how flexible it is, vegetarian? use vegetable broth, add more legumes and leave out the chicken.  Carnivore? add more meat.  Allergy issues? leave out the dairy or corn chips etc.

Additionally, it can be all made from canned items or it can be made fresh from your garden.  

Rosa’s Tortilla Soup 

·        14 1/2 oz can undrained whole tomatoes (about 5 fresh diced tomatoes)

·        1 small onion 

·        1 cup fresh cilantro

·        2 minced garlic cloves

·        1/4 teaspoon sugar (this can be omitted)

·        10 cups chicken (fat-free or low sodium) or vegetable broth

·        1 tablespoon cumin

·        1 teaspoon black pepper

·        1 can black beans drained

·        1 can Mexicorn or sweet corn drained (about 3 cobs of fresh corn and one small jalapeno or chili)

·        optional 4 chicken breast, cooked and chopped (or chopped raw chicken can be used if allowed to cook for 30 min)

·        1-2 diced avocados (optional)

·        2 cups low fat cheese (I prefer sharp cheddar)

·        tortilla chips

·        Salsa

·        Sour Cream

1.)         In blender/ food processor combine tomatoes, onion, cilantro, garlic, and sugar; blend until chunky.

2.)        In a large soup pot combine tomato mixture and broth; simmer 20 minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. (cooked, chopped chicken breast can be added at this time)

3.)        Pour hot soup into bowls, sprinkle with cheese and tortilla chips.

4.)        Serve hot.

Nothing Fancy

I'm thinking about starting a series of post about food.  The title being "Nothing Fancy".  I have the glorious privilege of having married someone whose family is from the South, Mississippi to be exact.  When we lived on the West Coast and would come back to visit family we always ate the best of Southern food; and my Mother in Law always said "It's nothing fancy, just what I know you'll like" 

She was right, the foods aren't fancy but they are delicious and sometimes a little labor intensive. 

Aunt Fannie's Squash Casserole (from the now closed Atlanta restaurant Aunt Fannie's Cabin)

• 3 lbs. yellow squash

• 1/2 cup chopped onion

• 1/2 cup bread crumbs

• 1/2 tsp. black pepper

• 2 eggs

• 1 stick butter

• 1 tsp. sugar

• 1 tsp. salt

Wash and cut squash. Boil until tender, drain thoroughly, then mash.  

Add all ingredients except 1/2 of butter to squash.  

Melt remaining butter.  

Pour mixture in baking dish, then spread melted butter over top, sprinkle with bread crumbs.  

Bake in 375* oven for approx. one hour or until brown on top.

I am not small

As our family is growing, and we now have a boy and girl to rear, I've begun to notice the extreme differences in the way each gender is instructed to behave.  I'm not referring to boys can be wild and dirt loving while girls must be quiet and neat.  Though that does play a part in gender related behavior.  No, rather it's the idea that women must be small. 

Have you ever ridden on a bus or subway and noticed how men sit; knees splayed covering two or three seats?  Meanwhile most women try to touch as little surface as possible, perching on the edge of a seat or worse sucking in their being to avoid contact with anything more than the hand bar.

After seeing this blog I started looking at how we instruct girls vs. boys to occupy space.
http://www.bustle.com/articles/34279-why-do-guys-spread-their-legs-when-sitting-on-the-subway-my-weekend-of-sitting-like

Reflect for a moment on common things we say to children.
Stand up straight
Suck your tummy in
Keep your knees together
Be quiet

Or flip through a magazine and note how women seem to be more slim each year and men are bulking and more muscular than ever before.  Girls are perceiving pressure to be thin from a younger and younger age.  As explored here when 5 year old girls were asked about dieting (kindergarteners!) 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2530935/

It's almost as if society wants women to just disappear. 

Hi there!

Welcome to The Sugared Magnolia
 
Today I am launching into the blog-o-sphere.

Recently, I have had a few people suggest that this would be a great way to share some of the things I love.  I have no idea where this blog will land in the future, but for now I will be posting  random things that I find interesting.

Currently, I am exploring the world of healthy living and have discovered a handful of ways to use essential oils in my every day life by making various items.

The first thing that was a successful creation is laundry soap.  I have always preferred unscented detergents and, have therefore, spent much more money on it than I needed to over the years.

Powdered Laundry Detergent
1 bar Soap (Fels Naptha, Zote, Dr Bronners, Ivory)
1 cup Washing Soda
1 cup Borax
20-40 drops Essential Oils for scent (can be left out if no scent is desired)

Grate the soap bar, mix together other ingredients in a glass jar.    

I have found cutting the soap bar in chunks and then pulsing in a food processor works very well, then add washing soda and borax and pulse to blend all ingredients.

Use 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon per load.  For extra dirty laundry use a bit more of the powder.

This is enough for my family laundry for 6-8 weeks.  The cost to make is $1.75 and that breaks down to about $0.07 a load.

At my local Publix 
Washing soda $2.99
Borax $2.99
Fels Naptha $0.99
(the Washing Soda and Borax boxes hold roughly 8 cups each)

I first found this laundry powder at this blog: http://www.diynatural.com/homemade-laundry-detergent-soap/

This powder works in HE machines, just use the smaller amount noted above.
It also works on cloth diapers, actually cloth diapers are the main reason I started exploring the world of chemical free detergents.  More on that in another post.