Two Chickens in Every Pot

Hatch, New Mexico...green chile capital of the world. Once upon a time, green chile connoisseurs like my in-laws had to make a pilgrimage to New Mexico in August to get Hatch green chiles. It's that wonderful time of year again, and these days you can smell the aroma of Hatch chiles roasting outside of participating grocery stores across America. When you get home with your twenty dollar or so box of freshly roasted green chiles, you will want to: 1. Peel off the blackened skin and remove the seeds from each chile. Ideally, you will do this under running water. Some people wear gloves to do this. 2. Place 4-8 of the chiles in a small freezer bag. Repeat this process...ABOUT EIGHTEEN TIMES until they are all bagged. Still with me? This is not a project for the lazy, but it is so nice to have these packets in the freezer year round. Now that you have your chiles portioned out and stored in the freezer, you can use them in omelets, salsas, stews, and best of all, "chile...

To keep little people busy away from home, I keep certain items in the back of my car. These are different items than whatever toys they might bring along to play with while riding in the car. The special items in the back are activities to keep them busy at certain destinations. We keep this stuff in the car for a few reasons: 1. Since they don't play with them anywhere else, they are excited to get them out. Novelty is key sometimes when keeping kids entertained. 2. I like to get out of the house quickly without having to pack much. 3. I'd rather not have to hand over my cell phone or an ink pen to a toddler out of desperation.  When we arrive at church, I grab these quiet toys from the back of the car and put them in my purse to pull out one by one when my toddler gets bored. He usually doesn't need them until about 45 minutes into the service so he is gradually learning to sit still and listen for longer periods... While we are watching ...

Lately, I am all about making fast frappes in the blender using instant coffee. This particular frappe is non-dairy, all natural, and only 100 calories. Here's the simple recipe: 1 cup All-Natural Vanilla Almond Milk (I buy mine at Aldi) 1 scant tablespoon instant coffee granules 3-4 ice cubes a pinch of salt (optional to reduce foam) Blend all ingredients for about 60 seconds and enjoy! The store bought vanilla almond milk I use contains cane juice so it is already sweetened, yet it still has less calories than whole milk which would need an additional sweetener. Almond milk has a delicious nutty flavor and can be easier on the stomach than milk--especially on days when I end up drinking two of these in the course of the day. I'm not a vegan or anything, but some of us have our limits when it comes to guzzling too much milk. The calorie savings and easy digestibility make this creamy cold coffee drink a win win! These are so good, I've been known to have a decaf ve...

One way that we save money on groceries is by doing some of our shopping at Mexican grocery stores. I don't mean those small, storefront taquerias, though. Those have their purpose, too-- like when we want their specially seasoned fajita meat or jerky or just a place to practice speaking Spanish. No, I'm talking about the full-sized supermercados where you can not only buy Mexican foods but also your favorite brands of cereal, spaghetti sauce, and ice cream. A couple of the stores like this that we have here in Fort Worth are "Fiesta" and "Carnival." Some of the items we get for low prices at these stores are tortillas, rice, and beans. Cheese and other fresh staple items also cost substantially less at these places. There is always a large selection of interesting produce, and there are usually inexpensive steaks, as well as hamburger meat and chicken, which really saves us a bundle. A lot of the fun, imported hot sauces are only a few cents a bottle. W...

Although real maple syrup has about the same number of calories as white sugar, it tastes sweeter so I end up using less. It doesn't make my coffee drinks taste like pancake syrup either--it just sweetens them as sugar would. This homemade mocha frappe is the perfect pick me up on a summer morning! Ingredients 1 1/2 cups milk 1 tbsp instant coffee granules 1 tbsp cocoa powder 2 tbsp real maple syrup 3-4 ice cubes Directions Add all ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth and frothy. This makes enough for two people or this one very busy and active mom!

Today's post is a guest post from my ten year old daughter who I'll refer to here as "Little Chef." She did everything herself including taking the picture. I am now turning the keyboard over to her... I baked a batch of white cupcakes. And instead of using unhealthy store bought chocolate frosting, I used a chocolate hazelnut spread. It was good so why don't you try making it too?