Soup and cornbread = yummmmmmmmm

Food post!!  Yay - I did cooking tonight and it is yummers!  I made a very simple chicken, veggie and rice soup and a pan of jalapeno whole wheat cornbread...all from scratch :-)

First soup:

No recipe because it was one of those random soups that you just throw together based on what sounds good and is in the fridge, but here is the basics - 

- 1/2 homemade turkey stock 1/2 water (I simmered it so long that I got really nice, rich, jellied stock so I thinned it by half to get more of a soup base)

- onions and garlic sauteed in butter

- chicken breast sauteed in olive oil and chopped

- bag of frozen gumbo style veggies

- 1 cup leftover cooked brown rice

- 1 cup plain yogurt (I was going for creamy, but it didn't really work that well...oh well!)

- seasonings, salt, lemon pepper, garlic and herb grinder, just kept cranking it in until it tasted good!

Simmer and nom!

This made a metric crap ton of soup, like more than fits in that pot, so I am going to package, fridge and freeze and have soup for awhile.

Next cornbread:

This I followed a recipe on the back of the cornmeal bag and just tweaked it a bit.  And yes, I bought just plain cornmeal this time because it was the same price to buy a giant bag of cornmeal as a tiny bag of cornmeal mix and I think it turns out a lot better.

- 1 cup cornmeal

- 1 cup flour (I used whole wheat)

- 4 tsp baking powder

- 4 T melted butter or shortening (recipe called for shortening, I used butter)

- 1 cup milk

- 1 egg

- 1 tsp. salt

Optional addins

- chopped jalepenos

- can of whole corn or creamed corn

- 1 cup shredded cheese

- 1/4 cup brown sugar

- whatever else your cornbread lovin' heart desires!

 Cornbread batter in a pie plate - because everything is better shaped like pie

1. Combine and mix dry ingredients in a bowl
2. Add melted butter/shortening
3. In a separate bowl, beat egg and mix in milk
4. Add enough of the milk mixture to dampen dry ingredients and mix well (as more as needed)
5. Stir in your optional add-ins if desired (I used jalapenos and a can of whole corn kernels)
6. Pour into greased baking pan or muffin tin
7. Bake on 400 deg for 25 minutes, until top is golden brown and toothpick comes out clean
8. Cut a piece directly from the pan while still too hot to handle, slather with butter and moan orgasmically while eating hovered over the kitchen counter
9. Eat another slice with dinner, also slathered with butter and/or honey and comment repeatedly on how amazing you are while shoving every last crumb in your face.  

last 2 steps are optional, but I dare you to not do it!!  You can't!!

Magic Hat on the side...warming winter dinner complete!