Chicken and Sausage Soup

It's a cold snowy day here in Virginia Beach, VA so it seemed like a good day for soup.  Yesterday I picked up some bone-in split chicken breasts on sale plus some Andouille sausage.  It sounded like an interesting marriage!

Here is what went in my big green soup pot:

(4) bone-in split chicken breasts
(1) medium onion, chopped
(8) cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped
(2) packages Johnsonville New Orleans brand Andouille Recipe smoked sausage
(1) package crinkle cut carrots
(1) package peas
(1) package roasted red & green peppers
(2) cans of Hunt's diced tomatoes
(1) small can of V-8
(2) drops of Texas Pete
chili powder

Boil the chicken until done and no longer pink.
While the chicken is boiling, saute the onion and garlic in 1/2 a stick of butter until tender.
Slice the Andouille sausage into about 1/2" thick rounds and toss with onions.
When the chicken is done, remove from bones and discard bones and skin.
Chunk the chicken and add back to the broth, keep at a low boil.
Add the sausage and onions to the pot with the chicken.
Add the remaining ingredients, the chili powder and Texas Pete are to your liking!

I served this with jalapeno poppers! It was very good.

The Kitchen Sink

I have not been grocery shopping nor do I feel like grocery shopping.  I stood in the kitchen wondering what to do.  I needed to feed the troops so I started poking around the cabinets, what to do?  This is what I came up with:

2 cups of long grain, white rice
Green peas, frozen
Carrots, frozen
Brussel sprouts, frozen
1 onion, chopped
1 turkey sausage, chopped
butter (duh!)

While the rice is cooking, throw the peas, carrots and brussel sprouts into a pan with some water and butter to heat through and get warm.  Slice the turkey sausage into rounds and then in half.  Put into a saute pan with the chopped onion and cook until the onion is wilted and the sausage is hot.

When the rice is done, dump the sausage and onions in the rice and stir. Next drain the vegetables from their water and add them to the rice and sausage mixture. Stir well and serve.  I did not pull this out of any cookbook or show.  It came out of my brain (scary, I know!) and since it was just a conglomeration of whatever I could find, I named it "The Kitchen Sink".

Traditions?

I honestly cannot remember any Easter traditions that my family did when I was growing up except for going to church service.  I do miss the "old days" when we would have Easter Sunrise services at 6:00 in the morning! Those were glorious services....they were always held outside.  The grass was wet with the morning dew, the folding metal chairs were cold, everyone was wearing jeans and their jackets, deacons had their baseball caps on, the sun was just beginning to peek up over the horizon.  There is something special about singing "Up from the grave He arose" as the sun makes its appearance in the sky!

I don't remember if my mother fixed anything specific for Easter dinner.  Our standard special on Sunday was pot roast.  I loved my mother's pot roast.  I have NO idea how she could afford to do it.  It can be so expensive these days.  The only holiday I truly remember what she made was Thanksgiving.

I guess I was yearning for that tradition yesterday as impulsively I purchased a large turkey that was on sale at Wal-Mart.  I put it in the oven before we left for church this morning.  I made my mother's stuffing recipe, mashed potatoes, corn, peas and carrots and deviled eggs.  I completely forgot to do any gravy or bread.  Sort of an epic fail but it was good.

I rounded that hearty meal with a nice afternoon nap with my sweetie.  It was a good day overall.  And the most important thing to remember about today? The celebration of our Savior's Resurrection.

Just as I was getting ready to close this post I suddenly remembered one Easter tradition.  My mother would keep a big white box in the garage with Easter hats and gloves.  Each year she would pull that box out and dress up my sisters and I.  This is a picture I found of it.  I am not in this picture as it was taken before I or my baby brother was born.  The oldest woman in the picture is my grandmother, Cora.

Probably not a good idea for me to be in the kitchen right now...

I have a very close family member in the hospital.  I am so stressed that I am not even sure what I am going to type will be coherent or even spelled correctly. So I guess just bear with me.

The good thing that happend to day was that I got to spend the evening with my favorite three girls.  They belong to my associate pastor.  We try to get together at leaast every other month for a marathon of Barbie movies and chocolate.  It was fun.  We watched the new Barbie movie with the pink shoes.

I am home now.  I am sad.  I am probably hungry because I am trying to cope with my emotions.  I ate a croissant but it just did not do it.  So I did the following:

One box of Kraft mac and cheeese, noodles boiled till tender
one cup of frozen peas, thawed and heated in the microwave
3/4 cup of butter, in slices
1/4 cup of milk
Cheese packet from the Kraft mac and cheese box

I combined all of the above and then I ate it.  The only thing missing was the Spam in cubes.  I did not have any.

Sad + hungry equals gross.  I dropped a macaroni noodle on my bed somewhere.
I don't care.

Oh well, when I feel better I will go back to making something real and good.  Until then, oh well, icky food it is.