Puppy dreams... and snores

Leonidas fell asleep on Shera's tush and was quite the snorer!

Will Work for Food

Shera had her first day as a therapy dog today! Her first trial run was at Ponce De Leon Nursing Home. Now that's she's been approved for therapy work her personalized vest has been ordered and an orientation at the hospital will be set up. Shera will even get her very own hospital ID tag!!!

Chicken Noodle Soup

Found an amazing chicken noodle soup recipe yesterday and although it takes some work, it's well worth the effort. This is now one of my favorite soup recipes! You can use a bag of wide egg noodles if you don't want to hand make them however, I do suggest you try making them as they are simply delicious on their own. You can prepare them the night before and leave them out to dry overnight.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Instructions:

• Homemade Egg Noodle Recipe (or 2 1/2 C Wide Egg Noodles) Recipe below
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 2 qts. low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. poultry seasoning
• 1 C chopped celery
• 1/2 C chopped onion
• 1 C chopped carrots
• 1/3 C cornstarch
• 1/4 C water
• 3 C cooked chicken diced*

*I roasted a small 4 lb chicken and used most of the meat. I then added the pan drippings to the soup... this adds extra flavor to the soup that can't be missed.

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add egg noodles and oil, and boil for 12 minutes, or until tender. Drain, and rinse under cool running water. If using prepackaged egg noodles, follow directions on the bag.
2. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, combine broth, salt, and poultry seasoning. Bring to a boil. Stir in celery, carrots and onion. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes.
3. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water together until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Gradually add to soup, stirring constantly. Stir in noodles and chicken, and heat through.
   

Homemade Egg Noodles

Ingredients:

• 2 C flour
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1/4-1/2 C water

Directions:

1. Measure flour into bowl; make a well in the center and add egg yolks, whole egg and salt. With hands, thoroughly mix egg into flour.
2. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add only enough water to form dough into a ball..
3. Turn dough onto well-floured board; knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Cover; let rest 10 minutes.
4. Divide dough into 4 equal parts. Roll dough, 1 part at a time, into paper-thin rectangle, keeping remaining dough covered.
5. Cut dough cross-wise into 1/8-inch strips for narrow noodles and 1/4-inch for wide noodles.
6. Shake out strips and place on towel to dry, about 1-2 hours. When dry, break dry strips into smaller pieces.
7. Cook in 3 quarts boiling salted water 12 to 15 minutes or until tender. Drain thoroughly.

French Toast

This is one of my favorite meals for Sunday mornings and I don't think I've posted my recipe on the blog yet! I usually make the french toast on a skillet at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes on each side. The potatoes are coated in olive oil and seasoned (salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder, sometimes rosemary) and baked at 425 degrees for 35 minutes.

French Toast

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of bread*
• 1 egg
• 1 C milk
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Butter**
• Powder sugar
• Syrup

*Buttermilk is usually pretty good, don't use thin bread like sunbeam, it'll fall apart when you dip it.
**I recommend regular butter but I've also made this with butter substitute and it still comes out good.

Directions:

1. Wisk together milk, egg, vanilla and cinnamon.
2. Melt butter in skillet.
3. Dip bread and coat each side with egg mixture, do not soak.
4. Place on buttered skillet, approx. medium heat, and cook each side for about 5 minutes each or until evenly browned.
5. Sprinkle with powder sugar and serve with warmed syrup.

We like regular maple syrup but it's gotten too expensive so we've been using an agave syrup blend, yum!

Canine Good Citizen

Isn't she so beautiful?

Awesome job Shera, you deserve only good things in life!

Check out my new CGC bandanna!

Yeah, I get a medal too...

 

Yeah... I know I look good....

Bang Bang Shrimp

So being totally in love with Bonefish Grill and their Bang Bang Shrimp appetizer, you'll know how difficult it's been to be in the desert about 400 miles away from the nearest restaurant! So I've found a recipe very similar to that delicious appetizer, try it out and I'm sure you'll agree... YUM!

Bang Bang Shrimp

Ingredients:

• 1 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 C mayo
• 1/4 C Thai sweet chili sauce*
• 10 -15 drops hot chili sauce
• 1 tsp. creamy peanut butter
• 3/4 C cornstarch
• Oil for frying (I use canola)
• Iceberg lettuce, chopped
• Scallions, chopped

* Pick up a good brand of Thai sweet chili sauce, brands like Heinz will have more of a ketchup taste to it. I used Maggi Sweet Chili Sauce which is pretty darn tasty!


Directions:

1. Mix mayo, Thai sweet chili sauce, hot chili sauce and peanut butter; set aside.
2. Bread shrimp in cornstarch and fry at medium high heat until cooked (see example photo of cooked shrimp below, shrimp should curve inward.)
3. Drain shrimp on paper towels.
4. Toss shrimp in sauce and serve atop lettuce and garnish with chopped scallions.

*I served this meal with cheesy broccoli, carrots and sliced artisan bread with seasoned olive oil (thanks Dad & Val!)

Example of cooked shrimp

Day Trippin'

Took a trip up to the mountains thru Pecos, NM on Sunday and finally got to see some green!!! Here are a few pics from our day and a few more of the kids...

It's Official!!!

Shera passed her AKC Canine Good Citizen test this morning!!! Next step is to mail in her paperwork, get her certificate and head over to the Santa Fe Pet Outreach Program and begin work as a therapy dog!

WAY TO GO SHERA!!!

Shera practicing before the test...

 Shera immediately after she passed!

Shera & Mommy after passing!