What a long strange month it's been

I started this month (less than 2 weeks after I started my blog) committing to posting each and every day. I joined NaBloPoMo for the month of November - and miraculously was able to keep the blog posting up. I completed the challenge! And...I signed up for December's challenge.

I have met so many great bloggy moms in this past month (virtually) and feel like I'm really a part of a community.

Yesterday, a friend came over with her daughter to play. It was 1pm and no one had eaten so I decided to make lunch.

The way I cook my Thanksgiving Turkey is to boil it (with onion, celery, carrots and peppercorns), breast side down, for 2-2.5 hours, flip it breast side up, remove most of the broth, smother with mayonnaise, and bake at 350 degrees for another 1.5-2 hours (this was for my 17 lb. bird). The bird turns out amazingly juicy, and beautifully brown.

Anyways, I keep the turkey broth from the bird, to use instead of chicken stock. It makes the most amazing stock. And I had leftover turkey, of course. So, I decided to make the most amazing Tortilla Soup from, of course, the Cooking Light Bulletin Board. If you click on to the thread, you will notice that this recipe is #1 on the Most Popular threads archive. For good reason, too! I just swapped out turkey stock and leftover turkey for chicken stock and chicken breasts.

Since I was in a hurry to put this on before our friends came over, I forgot to take a picture of my ingredients. The picture of the final product is from today (I had 2 bowls left over).

According to my girl-friend, "If I cooked this for my husband, he would buy me lots of jewelry". That's sounds like a resounding thumbs-up to me :) And the perfect way to use up left-over turkey without most people realizing it is turkey.

Tortilla Soup
6 tablespoons vegetable oil [I used 2 at most]
6 corn tortillas, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 diced tomato
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
3 bay leaves
6 cups chicken stock (I used turkey stock)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 to 6 cooked chicken breast halves, shredded (about 2 cups) (I used leftover Turkey)

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add tortillas, garlic, cilantro, and onion. Saute 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in canned tomatoes and diced tomato. Bring to a boil and add cumin, chili powder, bay leaves, and chicken stock. Return to a boil. Reduce heat. Add salt and cayenne. Simmer 30 minutes. Remove bay leaves and stir in turkey. Reheat.

Garnish with cheese, avocado, sour cream, and tortilla strips (we just used avocado).

Serves 6 (1.5 cup servings)