Enchilada Soup

This last week Mike and I tried another InstantPot recipe that I found here. I’ll confess, thus far we’ve mostly used it to make rice, but decided to give the slow cooker a go with Enchilada Soup. It was absolutely delicious!

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Ingredients

For the enchilada sauce:
Neutral cooking oil, such as canola or safflower
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons Mexican-style chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon sugar
2 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
2 cups chicken stock, plus more for thinning if needed

For the soup:
1 (15-ounce) can yellow corn, drained
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
2 to 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Heavy cream, to taste, optional
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Cayenne pepper, optional

To serve:
Grated cheddar cheese
Sour cream
Tortilla chips
Cilantro

Directions

Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a large Dutch oven or skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and jalapeño and cook until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and sugar and stir until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, and stock. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a gentle boil, then transfer to the bowl of a slow cooker.

Add the corn, beans, and chicken thighs to a 5-quart (or larger) slow cooker. Cover and set on low for 6 to 7 hours (or high for 4 hours).

Shred the cooked chicken using two forks. Stir in a splash of heavy cream if desired. Give the soup a taste and season the soup with additional salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper, if needed.

Serve with cheddar cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, and cilantro for garnish.

 

Chicken Wonton Tacos

Last night I tried a new recipe that I found on Allrecipes.com… chicken wonton tacos. They were absolutely amazing! They’re tiny, so if you have them for dinner, be prepared to eat like eight of them. They’re great as the main dish or would be awesome appetizers!

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Ingredients

1/3 head of red cabbage, sliced and chopped

4 small carrots, peeled and grated

1/4 cup coleslaw dressing

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 pound ground chicken

1/4 cup stir fry sauce

14 wonton wrappers

Directions

Mix cabbage, carrots, coleslaw dressing, vinegar, soy sauce, and teriyaki together in a bowl; refrigerate until flavors blend, 1 hour to overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Heat sesame oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir ground chicken in the hot skillet until browned and crumbly, 5 to 7 minutes. Add stir-fry sauce, cover skillet, reduce heat to low, and simmer.

Form wonton wrappers into taco shapes and arrange between the cups of an inverted muffin tin.

Bake in the preheated oven until firm and lightly browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons chicken mixture into each wonton taco shell and top with slaw.

 

The Chicken Chronicles: Rest in Peace Stretch

Well, I was planning on posting a review of my Apple watch, but sadly, I have some bad news to share. Today we lost our first chicken, Stretch. I’m not sure exactly what got her, but something made it into the orchard and killed her. I’m sad because she was one of my favorites from the start – named Stretch because as a chick she was always craning her neck to check out her surroundings and loved to be held.

I went to put the chickens to bed this evening and noticed Bruce (the rooster) was sitting in the doorway of the hen house making a lot of noise – he wouldn’t let the rest of the girls out.

I decided to bury her – even with pets it just seems like the right thing to do. Our ground is ridiculously hard right now, but it felt good to take out some of the sad on the dirt. She’s in a nice little spot near some rosemary.

Rest in peace, Stretch.

Stretch
Stretch

The Chicken Chronicles: Meet Bruce

Well, at 15 weeks of age, one of my hens has undergone a transformation. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Bruce (formerly known as Legs):

Bruce (formerly known as Legs)
Bruce (formerly known as Legs)

How do I know for sure?

I’m not entirely certain what I’m going to do about it… I definitely know I can’t kill him. And I don’t want to get rid of him (I’m attached!). I guess we just have a rooster. I need to read up a bit more to find out what the implications of that will be…

The adventure continues!!!

The Chicken Chronicles: Chickens In The Wild

It’s been a while since I’ve updated the world on my chickens. I’m happy to report that all nine are doing well and growing up fast! I’m also happy to report that to date, I think they’re all still girls. There was one that I was a little bit worried about (Legs), but it turns out that she’s just an early bloomer.

Since I last posted, I made a critical decision… my chickens are going to free range during the day. So, when I open the door in the morning, they’re allowed out of the coop, out of the run, and into the larger orchard. I suppose it’s not complete free ranging since they still have a fence, but there’s probably half an acre for them to run around on. Sometimes they decide to hang out under the coop in the shade, sometimes they go back in. Other times they take dust baths under my rose bushes. I love seeing them run around all day and now they’ve even started approaching me when I take them treats!

I took my camera out to get some “chickens in the wild” pictures the other day… here are the ladies now!

Legs
Legs
Domino
Domino
Stretch
Stretch
Chip
Chip
Cleo
Cleo

The Chicken Chronicles: Moving Day!

I had it in my head that I would photo document and blog every step of the coop building process and was actually doing pretty well for a while. Then I got tired. And was frantically working on the coop after work and in the morning, and any other spare minute I had. Lesson learned: build the coop before you buy the chickens. Those little suckers grow fast!

That said, today I finished the coop and moved the girls in! I still have some touching up I want to do on the trim (where the screws are, etc), but it’s good enough to live in!

Side View of the Coop
Side View of the Coop
People Door Side
People Door Side

I will be adding some stairs so that it’s easier to get in and out of the coop.

Chicken Door Side
Chicken Door Side
Roost, Nest Box, & Floor
Roost, Nest Box, & Floor

Inside I put a roost and took a tip from a lot of folks online and used linoleum floor. It helps with cleanup and I scored a remnants roll for only $13!

I hand carried Stretch down and she got to be the first chick to be in the coop. Because she’s my favorite.

Stretch Checking Out Her New Home
Stretch Checking Out Her New Home
The Ladies Settling In
The Ladies Settling In

Next up: the run. I bought the lumber for it today and will get to work on it tomorrow after work. I have some time… the chicks have to stay inside the coop for a week or so… that’s how they learn it’s home and “come home to roost” each night.

The Chicken Chronicles: Meet The Girls Part 4

It’s time to meet the last four girls… everyone seems to be doing really well! I’m hoping to get the coop as close to finished as I can tomorrow… might have to hold off on the painting as it’s supposed to rain on Sunday.

Gwen

Meet Gwen. I think she might be my lone Dominique chick, but it’s hard to tell with these last 3 black chicks. However, she has the most while, mostly on her belly, like a penguin. She was really mad at me in this picture because I set her down on the workbench and she wanted to be with her buddies. She’s the littlest of all of my chicks.

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Gwen

Cleo

Meet Cleo. I think she’s my Speckled Sussex chick. I named her Cleo because she has very Cleopatra-like eyeliner.

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Cleo

Domino

Meet Domino, who I think is one of my Barred Rock chicks. She’s got a couple white splotches but is mostly black.

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Domino

Dice

Meet Dice, who I think is my other Barred Rock chick. She gets her name because she has the most black and white speckles all over her (unlike Domino who has patches).

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Dice

The Chicken Chronicles: Coop Progress & Growing Girls

Things have definitely been moving along with the coop and with the chicks. Over the past few days I’ve been working hard on the coop, but my hubby has been working extra hard!

Walls With Roof Beams
Walls With Roof Beams

After that, it was time to put the siding on. We were super tired because we had the Garth Brooks concert the night before (stay tuned for that post), and it seemed to take forever to get just two walls up. Mike was driving home the next day and remembered his trick for putting siding up alone (leveled nails across the bottom) and had the other two walls up before I got home.

Two Sides
Two Sides

Then, he got bored while I was at work today, and poof! we have a roof! It’s the same color as the roof on our house and pump shed… I’ll be painting the coop the same wall and trim color as well!

Roof!
Roof!

I did my part today and built the nest box when I got home from work. I still need to cut the hole for it (it will go just under the window you see in the roof picture above) and screw it in, but it’s set!

Nest Box
Nest Box

Tonight the ladies got a new little home… for now at least. They were starting to outgrow their little tub… they were always stepping all over each other and squawking. So, I decided to make use of my childhood fort building skills and create this architectural wonder that rivals the Egyptian pyramids:

The New Hangout
The New Hangout

Ok, it’s ugly. But it gets the job done and the chicks are already loving it. The first thing they did when I put them in was to run around and flap their wings.

Tomorrow will be the final “meet the girls” post with the last four chicks. I can’t believe how fast they’re growing!

The Chicken Chronicles: Meet The Girls Part 3

No one died today (can’t wait until I don’t have to start a post with that) and the walls are up, so I thought I’d name another.

Eagle

Meet Eagle. I think she’s one of the Barred Rock chicks, but it’s really hard to tell… the remaining unnamed chicks are all very similar in coloring and I have a feeling I may have some of the breeds wrong on the others. Her name comes from the fact that she is the first chick to roost… she flies on top of the feeder and settles in there, like an eagle in it’s nest. In fact, she spends most of her time up there looking down on the other chicks.

Eagle
Eagle
The One Who Roosts
The One Who Roosts

The Chicken Chronicles: Building The Coop Day 3

Today was wall day… Mike and I headed down to the orchard with my walls strapped to the back of the truck. They went up pretty easily. Well, with one confession… we did put that front wall on backwards at first. But it was quick and easy enough to fix! I am blown away… it’s like a real structure now! Solid and everything lined up… I can’t believe it! Not bad for someone who has never built something in her life!

Walls Up!
Walls Up!

Next up: the roof beams!