Another busy weekend.

There's been a lot of things going on. First off, here are the recipes I'm going to share because people keep asking about them. I made chicken tortilla soup on Friday night and I think it came out all right, besides that it's healthy, I think. I also forgot to put in the tortilla strips, so technically it was just chicken soup, but please don't hold me accountable, Friday was one of the longest days of my life.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 jalapenos, finely diced
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5-ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 (14.5-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
2 limes, juiced, plus wedges for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 (8-inch) flour tortilla, grilled, cut into thin strips
1 avocado, pitted, sliced
1 cup shredded Monterrey cheese

In a large saucepan heat the vegetable oil. Add the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Once the onions have softened add the garlic and jalepenos and cook for another minute. Pour the chicken broth, tomatoes and beans into the pot and bring to a boil. Once at a boil lower heat to simmer and add your chicken breasts. Cook the chicken for 20 to 25 minutes. Once chicken is cooked remove from pot. When cool enough to handle shred it and set it aside. Add lime juice and fresh cilantro to the pot. In a serving bowl add a mound of shredded chicken. Ladle soup over chicken and top with a lime wedge, grilled tortilla strips, avocado slices and cheese.

For our dinner group on Saturday I made Oatmeal Carmelitas and they were TASTY. Although not healthy for you and that is why we ate them yesterday and not today. Because today we started the health kick and P90X. More about that later.

Oatmeal Carmelitas

Crust
2	cups Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose or Unbleached Flour
2	cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 1/2	cups firmly packed brown sugar
1	teaspoon baking soda
1/2	teaspoon salt
1 1/4	cups margarine or butter, softened
Filling
1	(12.5-oz.) jar (1 cup) caramel ice cream topping
3	tablespoons Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose or Unbleached Flour
1	(6-oz.) pkg. (1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips
1/2	cup chopped nuts

DIRECTIONS

1.	Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9-inch pan. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. In large bowl, combine all crust ingredients; mix at low speed until crumbly. Reserve half of crumb mixture (about 3 cups) for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture in bottom of greased pan. Bake at 350°F. for 10 minutes.
2.	Meanwhile, in small bowl, combine caramel topping and 3 tablespoons flour; blend well.
3.	Remove partially baked crust from oven; sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts. Drizzle evenly with caramel mixture; sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.
4.	Return to oven; bake an additional 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 hour or until completely cooled. Refrigerate 1 to 2 hours or until filling is set. Cut into bars.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft) No change.

And lastly the Red Hot Apple Pie that I made when my parents were here:

Red-Hot Carmel Apple Pie

Crust:
1 Cup Flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 Cup + 1 Tbls shortening
2-3 Tbls cold water

Mix flour and salt.
Cut in shortening.
Add water 1 Tbls at a time, tossing w/a fork until all flour is moistened.
Roll out onto a lightly floured counterop into a circle at least 2" larger than a pie plate.
Put in pie plate and pinch edges.
Poke bottom of crust w/a fork.

Filling:
Mix together in a large bowl:
5 1/2 Cups chopped apples
1 Tbls lemon juice
1/2 Cup sugar
1/4 Cup brown sugar
3 Tbls flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup red hots

Spoon into pie crust
Drizzle 1 Cup apple carmel dip over filling

Topping:
Mix together and sprinkle on top:
3/4 Cup flour
1/4 Cup sugar
1/3 Cup butter softened (not melted)
1/4 Cup brown sugar

Bake over a baking sheet @ 375 degrees for 45-55 min, or until bubbly in middle.

Like I've said Friday was a long day. I can not going into too many details.

But please I ask of you to keep the Hahn family in your prayers.

Friday night was Emily's bachlorette party/slumber party, it is this that I am sworn to secrecy. Mainly because I promised I would not post any pictures. However, for those of us that were there, we all have our memories....

Saturday we headed to LV to be with family and that is also where I broke the records and set high achievements for many challenging games on Wii Fit. And Saturday night was dinner group where I learned how to play chicken foot and also learned that I can no longer do addition with numbers higher than 11 in my head. Also Dominos should change the dots to be the same size, especially since 7-15 dots have become a standard on just one side of a domino.


Needless to say today we "rested" by putting in a full hour workout with Tony Horton, the P90X hero. I think I pulled a muscle in my arm and will probably be suffering tomorrow, just to do it all over again.

Alas the incoherent ramble:

The other day I saw a commercial for a new luxury vehicle and near the end of the model was announced as a Kia. Which I instantly thought WOW and then what a crap car. I really know nothing about Kia except that their name and their logo makes me want to puke. It's like saying I bought this car at Wal-Mart. And I don't have a problem with Wal-Mart, but why do we go there? Because it's cheap. However, IKEA is a fantabulous cool modern furniture store that is altogether expensive but unique. That "kea" sounds the same and if it were a car model it would more than likely be the leading car of the future. An Akita dog is also a chic beautiful specis and would be a popular model for SUV's or something of the like. Maybe Kia just needs a new face lift. Or maybe I need to just go get a "be....soda."