Rice Mix with Chicken and Butternut squash

You can use day before cooked rice (from a mix is always nice)
Or cook it the same day, doesn't matter. This is one way to use leftovers...

1 0r 2 cups Chopped into 1 inch cubes cooked chicken(cook chicken first then cut up)
1 or 2 cups chopped into 1 inch cubes and boil till soft butternut squash

Saute in deep pan until cooked but still crisp tender: one chopped onion, one chopped green pepper, one chopped red pepper, one small chopped zuchinni, one small tart apple chopped, and 1tsp chopped garlic.

Throw into the pan with the veggies your cooked 2 cups of rice, the chicken and squash. Saute until heated throughout. If you used a rice mix no need to add spices. If you used plain rice add 1 tsp herbs such as oregano, thyme or basil and salt and pepper to taste.

You can make this vegetarian by leaving out the chicken.
You can add raisins or white beans instead.

Rainy Day Chicken Soup

Feeling crummy, headache, sore throat and stuffy nose...

I decided to make a soup and since it was raining I called it;

Rainy Day Chicken Soup

I love Costco and I often buy their really yummy baked chickens(big hit with the kids), you can see them rotating on the spit at the back of the store. but there is always more meat left over. So I pull it off the carcass and cut it into pieces and put it aside.

I use Organic(silly I know since the Chicken isn't organic, but I do where I can)Chicken Broth, bought at Costco too.
If you don't have a Zyliss you should consider getting one, it makes chopping so quick. I will try to post a picture of mine in the future. as soon as I can get my son to upload all the ones I have been asking him to!

Saute until translucent and crisp tender in a deep pot,
2 TBSP olive oil
1 diced onion
3 celery stalks (although the last insides of the celery stalk are the best)
2 diced carrots

then add;

3 Qt chicken broth
1/2 head cauliflower chopped
1/3 head broccoli chopped (I used a purple broccoli, pretty cool looking)

bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes and add the chicken you set aside before.
add a handful of chopped parsley

You may add fresh ground pepper to taste or like I did hot sauce to my bowl just to clear the sinuses, and it did!
This soup is fine without adding anything other than the ingredients as it is flavorful on its own.
So easy but such a comfort!

More previous dogs continued...

Ignore the old woman in the chair. Peid piper of dogs.
This pic with me in it is the only picture I have of (from L to R) of Ghost, Lennie, Rudy and Molly.
This is the most dogs we ever have had at once. Ghost and Rudy belong together and were here for 1 night. Ghost was a sweet heart and so was Rudy but they were only here for such a short time.
Lennie was from another family and stayed for 10 nights. Lennie peed all over, and I mean all over the house the first day or so (marking his territory) but after that he was fine. Despite that Lennie really grew on me, he cuddled and loved me and the cats actually didn't mind him as he ignored them. Lennie has been my favorite dog so far! I was sad to see him go, and I think he was too.

Peter is holding the great escape artist, Fletch, he scooted under the fence and nearly gave me a heart attack. No more small dogs for me unless they are 15! Peter took him geocaching and thought he was a hoot!

Previous dogs continued...

We had Ginger and Bubba here for about a week. They had never been on a sleepover before. Ginger was very protective of Bubba(little one). Bubba was 15 years old and so sweet. We loved petting her in our lap. She sure could keep up with the other dogs though. When she got her bath she came tearing down the steps bouncing up and down, she was so happy. Ginger was very protective of Bubba and really mothered her. They were wonderful to have and I hope they will come back again sometime!

So I still haven't figured out how to respond to comments but I am working on it.
Some of you gave me some great insight into items.

About Cilantro:
Lee said - Here's the thing about growing cilantro: you have to do repeated plantings. The plants don't hang out too long in that nice leafy vegetative stage you want for cooking. It bolts, sending up very pretty flowers on long stems with very fine frilly leaves. Nice, but not useful in the kitchen. So get several containers, and keep planting it every three to four weeks through the summer. Also, it is very easy to let some go to seed, and then collect the seed for planting next year.

Peter commented on my Drink with;
A Caiparinha is a very simple drink that Wikipedia calls Brazil's National Cocktail. It's basically Cachaca (or rum or vodka), fresh lime, and sugar. It's served in a rocks glass since it has much less volume than the similar mojito. There are of course infinite variations on the theme, and George's "California" theme throws in basil (in plentiful supply in gardens right now!) and cracked pepper. Substitute mint for the basil if you don't have any, and add sugar to taste. We make ours without sugar because the rum and ginger ale are already sweet. The Barcardi Limon adds a nice lemony flavor but is by no means required.
Finally, "muddling" is the process of smashing something with a wooden pestle or "pounder". If you don't have a pestle just throw all ingredients together and let it sit for a few minutes before drinking to mix all the flavors.

Karen O let me know that she loves tomatillos. We got them in our Veggie Box this year and I cut them up to eat in salads and my gazpacho!

And Lastly;
That crabby Bob loves to comment negatively to my posts. I am not telling you who he is, you will have to keep track of his comments and try to figure it out!