Need some opinions!

Ok here is the deal. My current car is a Toyota Camry. It's a limited edition and fully loaded. I absolutely love it. HOWEVER - it's a 2012 that we leased in 2013. The lease it up this week and we've been trying to figure out what to do!!

Buy out the Camry and have a car payment on a 4 year old vehicle that we've maintained and know is good, or purchase or lease a new one. 

Interest rates for new cars is 0% 

For my Camry it would be 5% - which kinda stinks. 

So I've been looking at a few cars. 

The Mazda CX-5 is on the top of my list right now. 

So we may be going to look at one tonight. 

Another car we were looking at is the Volkswagon GolfWagen 

But do I really want a wagon? I dunno. 

My thought is that the small SUV will be good for baby and dog! Because let's not kid ourselves, my Jakey is my first baby. Hahah 

It's frustrating because up until this week we were set on buying the Camry. 

Now it's a toss up! 

Any suggestions or opinions or thoughts would be super helpful!

~TIFFANY~

Chicken Tortilla Soup

So I'm about to type "What's Cookin' Wednesday" in my post title, and I realize it's Thursday.

That's exciting... haha but anyway.

On Monday I made Chicken Tortilla Soup for dinner and it was delicious!
It's another Pioneer Woman recipe which I modified a tad to satisfy our taste buds...

Here is my version....

You can find PW's here

 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

About 1 1/4 teaspoons chilli powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 package of Chicken Breast tenderloins

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small diced onion

Half of a green bell pepper, diced small

Half of red bell pepper, diced small

3 cloves garlic, minced

One 10-ounce can diced tomatoes and green chiles, such as Rotel

3 cans of low sodium chicken broth

4 cups hot water

1 can of tomato paste

Half a 15-ounce can of black beans, drained

(Use more beans if you like them, I hate them so I only put them in for Ted)

2 tablespoons cornmeal

2 tablespoons of Masa

5 small white corn tortillas

 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

 

Start by mixing together the cumin, 1 teaspoon of the chilli powder, the garlic powder and salt. Drizzle the chicken tenders with some olive oil. Then sprinkle with some of the spice mixture. Set the rest of the spice mixture aside. Bake until the chicken is cooked all the way through, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove it from the oven. Shred chicken.

 

Next, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.

Throw in the onions, green and red peppers and garlic.

Throw in a tablespoon of the spice mixture used to season the chicken.

Add a little extra chilli powder (about 1/4 teaspoon) for heat.

Stir to cook the vegetables until they begin to turn golden brown, about 5 minutes.

Add the shredded chicken and diced tomatoes, juice and all.

Add the chicken broth, hot water and tomato paste.

Stir to combine and bring the mixture to a boil.

 

Reduce the heat to low.

Add the drained black beans.

Next, mix together the masa with 4 Tablespoons of liquid from the pot.

Add the mixture to the pot.

Give it a taste and add salt or seasonings as needed; be sure to not under salt it!

Then mix together the cornmeal with 4 Tablespoons of liquid from the pot.

Add the mixture to the pot to thicken.

Simmer the soup for 10 to 15 minutes.

 

Cut the tortillas into uniform 2- to 3-inch strips.

Stir most of them into the soup just before serving.

This is what makes tortilla soup tortilla soup!

Turn off the heat and get ready to serve it up.

Ladle the soup into a bowl, then add avocado, red onion, sour cream, cilantro, cheese, and extra tortilla strips to the top.

Enjoy!!

~Tiffany~

 

 

Catching Up....

Let's play catch up, shall we?

Also, I'm going to link up with Jenn to share what's been hap-pinning!

~

So it's been a super busy, crazy, fun, relaxing and exhausting winter break.

Back in December (hah like it was so long ago) on the 14th, my husband left for the week to go to California for business. He came home Thursday the 17th late at night and I was just thrilled to see him. I hate when he has to fly far distances alone.

That Friday, our new kitchen was delivered.

So demo began! And my oh my what a mess! I can honestly say I'm not a fan of living among a construction zone!!

Aside from that, we had a great Christmas with both of our families.

We spent New Years Eve together on the couch eating Chinese food!

We spent lots of time hanging out together and enjoying eachother.

I'm thankful Ted took the week off from work too and we got to do that.

 

Here is a random recap in pictures...

 

 

So here is the before picture of the kitchen:

This is photo-shopped actually - there were two drawers missing....yup big ole' black holes...

 

And this is the after picture...

We still have to finish the kick plate under the angle

And we are putting up a backsplash - but that's this weekend...

We got new counters, new cabinets, a new sink and ditched the portable dishwasher for a built in one and my heavens, this thing is amazing!

 

I was craving Enchiladas one night, so I made them and boy were they delicious!

 

I also whipped up some Brownies for NYE and fancied them up a bit...

and ate every bite...  

 

We took a walk on our beach....with the doggie

We found some shells and watched diving ducks look for fish 

 

Speaking of cravings... I told Ted I was craving Starburst jelly beans....

The next day he delivered!

I was excited!!  

 

My annual Christmas Cookie swap was the Sunday before Christmas.

It never disappoints... and this year it was great.

This is the platter of cookies I brought home.

They were all yummy

 

This is how I wrapped my cookies this year...

 

 

Ted has a work Christmas party (if we want to call it that)

All the wives/girlfriends send in something that the men volunteer to make.

Ted usually puts me down for meatballs or something fun and easy.

This year? Corn bread.

I was a little surprised... and laughed a little.

In what way does corn bread play into this shin dig - but I made jalapeno cheddar corn bread and apparently it was gone in minutes...  

 

We hosted a friends Christmas party - here are the boys.

The girls were on the couch talking

 

 

Every year my mom hosts Christmas Eve dinner after Church for my dads side of the family.

And every year I make an antipasto.... this is the one I made this year  

 

I got this shirt and wore it to work on the last day before break.

It says Mistletoes and has two little green foot prints and a bow...

 

 

This was our tree Christmas morning...

Next year it's going to look SO different!!

 

This beauty was one of my gifts from my amazing hubby :)

I love love love it !!

 

 

My cousin sent me this and I laughed out loud....so true.

 

We took a 3.5 hour road trip to visit our cousins in North Western PA

and saw the tallest bridge ever.

 

This guy in my moms neighborhood has the biggest moose in his front yard.

I love it and I want one!

 

My Lilly has been super snuggly lately and I love it!

 

I got all my containers from the container store along with my labels and filled all my jars and have them in my pantry. I love how it came out!

 

And here is my Instagram top 9

 

From top left across:

When Ted proposed to me

Rook Coffee and Broad Street Donuts

My Oeo cookie cupcakes

Next Row:

When I made it public that I'm pregnant

Our first dance and as husband and wife

Oatmeal craisin white chocolate cookies

Bottom Row

The lady bug cake my mama made for my Birthday

Christmas preggo pic

My daddy <3

 

 

Happy Wednesday Ladies...

I can't wait for this week to be done!!

 

~Tiffany~

 

Happy 61st Birthday in Heaven to my sweet Dad.

I miss him dearly every single day...

xoxo