You Are All Wrong! / Recipe poll

I can't believe it! No one guessed the correct answer to my weight poll. That's right. I really did gain 10 pounds when I quit the old cancer sticks. My weight almost drove me back to smoking again. On top of that, the damn snow storm ruined me! I was trapped inside with no place to go. I just sat around and ate and ate and ate. I still catch myself eating and eating and eating. When I leave for the gym in the morning or afternoon, whenever my classes are, I try to run around as much as I can to stay away from the house. I run around because if I go home, all I want to do is eat.

I will say that food tastes so much better. My fat butt must have really been enjoying the flavors of being smoke free. Of course, it didn't help that I bought a couple things that I shouldn't have. Those of you that know me well, know what I am talking about. I don't even want to say their devilish little names(hint, hint). I feel like a conehead when I eat those little suckers. I just gobbled those suckers right down in just a few seconds. Trust me when I tell you the saying is true. "Good on the lips means 10 on the hips!" This is no joke to me. This is serious business. I will say that I used to be much heavier than this my freshman year in High School, but I won't let that happen again.

Since I got back on a work out schedule, I am down 3 pounds. I have 7 more to go. It is getting very frustrating because I still treat myself quite often. I might have to just fast for a few days and hit me where it hurts, my voracious appetite. I can't believe how much I just want to eat. I am thinking about food right now. It's f------ horrible! I am not cutting out bread! I love bread. When Pat went on his low carb diet, we were all losing weight. Finally the kids said "Hey we're not on a diet. We want some french bread." I agree! Pat will just have to get over it. But, now I may have to rethink the whole carb thing for ME. I haven't diet'd in forever.

I think I have a great recipe to share with you and you can make it low calorie. At least once a week in the house, I have a use what you have already night. I go in the pantry and the fridge and try to use what I already have. On this particular night, I had a whole rotisserie chicken, half of a large onion, and fresh garlic I wanted to use up. What am I going to do with this? I couldn't have my signature hot chicken with gravy sandwiches because Pat couldn't have the mash potatoes or the bread and my big ass could do without it as well. So, I went to the pantry and found ton's of chicken stock. Why do I have so much damn chicken stock? I still have no clue. I always have tons of tomato sauce and diced tomatoes in a can. A girlfriend of mine had told me about a recipe she made once. I couldn't remember the recipe but I thought I could probably build on what I remembered. So I made a chicken tortilla soup. I also remember eating a great chicken tortilla soup when I worked at Smokey Joes. That one was spicy. The one I made wasn't spicy, but it was absolutely delicious! I am going to share the recipe with you. You will be a huge hit with this soup. It is also super quick and easy and for the most part you will probably have these things in your pantry already. I did.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

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• 1 medium onion chopped

3 cloves of garlic minced

• 3tablespoons of corn oil
• (cook these ingredients in a dutch oven until onions are translucent)

add one regular size can of diced tomato

1 large container of chicken stock(32 ounces)

2 teaspoons of Cumin(or more if you like)

add diced, chopped, or shredded chicken

(add as much as you like)

For the piece De resistance' add 1 cup of your favorite salsa. I used Safeway's 3 bean salsa(medium heat) this really spiced up the soup

NOTE:You can add black beans or corn to the soup for interest(or add both). Also to make it easy for me, I bought the pre-cooked chicken and put that in. It saves time to have the chicken pre-cooked. I have made the soup twice now and used the rotisserie chicken once and the pre-cooked perdue strips once and cubed them.

Now you want sides. You add these on the top if you like and they add so much to the soup. WARNING: Some of these toppers aren't low fat or low carb. Toppers are sour cream, Tortilla chips crumbled up, Mexican cheese, and hot sauce if you like. Add one or none. It's up to you. I think the chips are a must(at least a few) If your having a party, use the blue corn chips because they look cool!

This soup is the bomb! I couldn't stop eating it and neither could my family. I can't wait till you try it and let me know what you think. I will have another poll about the soup. Click on to vote.