Sad, sad cookies.

Today was the most beautiful fall day.  I took Silas on two walks in the neighborhood.  The leaves are falling and crunchy, the colors are beautiful, there was a little breeze, absolutely perfect.  I had every intention of going to the gym today, but it didn't happen.  I'm getting tired, I feel huge and I'm not motivated.  Haha.  So we took naps and cooked.  I wanted cookies so I pulled out a favorite cook book and got baking.

 

I am a little upset. 

I followed the recipe, I even measured pretty exactly because I wanted GOOD cookies.  I have a tendency to change things and sometimes that doesn't work out but this time, I followed the recipe, dang it!  I'm guessing the author didn't test out her claim of "or coconut oil."  They do still taste good, so at least there's that.  You know I've been scraping them off the pan with a big spatula and eating it. 

I made soup too, and that turned out pretty good.  Thank goodness.  I can't deal with two failures in the kitchen in one day.  I even made mental notes of what I was doing so I could share it here.  

This is like a chicken chili or chicken tortilla inspired soup.   I'll call it Spicy Chicken Soup.  

For the chicken 

8 chicken tenderloin pieces or 4 boneless skinless breasts (I used Trader Joe's frozen tenderloins.) 

Fiesta Lime Mrs Dash 

Preheat oven to 350* and place the chicken on an oiled baking sheet.  Sprinkle liberally with the Mrs. Dash.  Bake until the chicken is no longer pink.  Mine took about 20 minutes.  Chop or shred, you're going to add this right to the soup at the end.  

For the Soup 

1 bag of Trader Joe's Fire Roasted Veggies or 1 medium onion and 2 bell peppers

1 cup Trader Joe's Fire Roasted Corn or whatever corn you have 

1 14 oz can tomatoes, I used "Southwestern with green chiles" 

1 14 oz can kidney beans

1/4 cup chili powder

2 tablespoons cumin

1 tablespoon garlic powder

pinch of cinnamon

pinch of cayenne

pinch of chipotle powder

Chicken stock or water and bouillon 

I started by cooking the bag of veggies on medium heat, these come frozen and cook down very quickly, then I added the corn and spices.  I try to keep things on the mild side so Silas can eat what we do, but I didn't do a very good job of that this time.  He ate a few beans, but I could tell it was too spicy for him.  Poor kid. Once that is cooked down, add the can of tomatoes and the beans.  At this point I added about 2 cups of water and a tablespoon of chicken bouillon.  Heat through.  When the chicken is done and chopped add that to the pot and stir.  Simmer on low for a while or until you remember you've got the stove on.  

You can serve this with tortilla chips, sour cream, cheese, fresh limes or whatever you like.  I shredded a little cheese on the top of mine.  

I love Trader Joe's.  These are a staple in our house.

The veggies, corn, tomatoes, beans and spices.

With the water and bouillon added.

Chicken fresh from the oven. 

 My bowl.

With cheese.  You can see Silas's little plate in the background.  He didn't love it. 

What have you messed up in your kitchen lately?