Fried Cube Steak, taters, and college cooking frenzy Chicken edition pt. 1

I know it's late for me this wonderful Friday!!   Hubby's pinball machine was acting up and the guy came out to fix it at 9:30 this morning, it was almost one before he left!  Yep, that cost a pretty penny but the hubster is happy again and my son is not.....the high scores were erased and betcha can't guess who had the high score??!!

Let's catch up....yesterday for lunch I had this... you remember that AMAZING chicken. Well I took a slice of the sourdough bread and cut it in half and then heated up a piece of the chicken and plopped it on top and then drizzled just a wee bit of ranch dressing over it all then slapped on the other half of bread.  HELLLOOOOOO.....it was gooogoogooood!

Time for dinner

First let's get the potatoes going so we need to boil up some salted water

throw as many little red potatoes as you need

in that pot and cook them until fork tender

this is fork tender

Spread those little jewels out on the baking sheet like so

then smash 'em up.  Try to use a potato masher and squish them but I think I got mine a little past fork tender so they were mushing everywhere.  I had a few too many projects going on at one time...photo evidence to come later.  Oh, you should put olive oil all on the baking sheet surface too then drizzle the tops of the potatoes with a little more olive oil.  Hey come on...it's good for your skin!!

Now season those babies up with some salt, pepper and the herb of your choosing, I used thyme.

Pop them in the oven at 450 degrees for about 18-20 minutes, they should be good and golden brown

Do NOT try to eat one right away...you will burn your mouth....just sayin'

Now let's get the cube steak going, cube steak the forgotten beef.  Maybe I'll call this the Forgotten beef steak dinner. Sounds healthier than Fried Cube Steak!  You know like Corn Pops used to be Sugar Pops. Don't change the food, just change the name.

First you need some flour, salt, and pepper in the dish. Use a pie plate or something of that nature.  Then mix it up really good then add a little more pepper.  You didn't add enough the first time... I just know these things.

and if my hubby is nearby, you'll still add more pepper!   This is his piece  :0)    Now let's be clear, I am not trying to kill my husband or myself BUUUT  we are gonna fry these babies in a little bit of canola oil

Yeah, I don't normally fry but have I been on a kick or what this week??!!    Keep that oil good and hot so that when those steaks hit the oil they sizzle right away.  That's important you know.

Cook 'em as brown as you like them. Hubby likes his really well done and with lots of pepper. Can you guess which piece is his?? 

Now let's get some healthier stuff added to the dinner mix

Take your bunch of asparagus and chop off the large ends and then coat them lightly in olive oil, spread on a baking dish and cook on 400 for 6-8 minutes

when they are as tender as you like them...whip them out of the oven and onto the plate

Let's have some dinner

This is what your kitchen will look like if you try to make dinner and cook up all the chicken and ground beef you bought at the grocery.

see, I told you I had too many projects going at once

Let's make chicken tortilla soup in the crock pot.  I turned this on after the Saints whipped up on the Vikings again and it cooked all night in the crock pots.  Man did my house smell good this morning!

The cast of characters

Chicken

15 oz can whole tomatoes, mashed

10 oz can enchilada sauce

1 med onion, chopped

4 oz can chopped green chili's

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups water

14.5 oz can chicken broth

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 bay leaf

10-12 oz package frozen corn

1 Tbsp chopped cilantro (I used dried)

Put everything in the crockpot and cook for 8 hours on low.  If you use boneless skinless thighs then you can let it cook longer if it needs to .  The breast meat tends to dry out so I don't use it much in this recipe. You can also throw in a can of black beans which I usually do but I forgot to add.  If you have a smaller crockpot be careful as this fills the crockpot very full!!!

When you are ready to serve the soup, take the chicken pieces out and break them up

oh and don't forget to dig out the bay leaf

if you are eating your soup for dinner I suggest tortilla chips, lime wedges, cheese, avocado as additions to the soup.  Or you can bribe someone to stop at Rosa's and get some fresh tortillas!!

In any event this is what I did with the soup at 8 am this morning

I made two big crockpots of this soup.  The kids can take it back and then we can have some too as the Mere bear likes this soup too.

Just so you know...my kitchen looked like this when I went to bed

and this is everything I cooked along with dinner

so you can see that I made dinner, chicken tortilla soup but I also made another batch of cowboy stew, spaghetti sauce, sloppy joes and some taco meat.  I was so tired I couldn't sleep, don't you hate when that happens? 

One other important matter to discuss

Apparently my sweet Lilli thinks she is a doorstop.  She sat there for quite some time like this....she's old and crazy but we still love her (most of the time).

Peace, Love and Yummies!!!