Tortilla Soup with Black Beans

I hardly ever make homemade soups-there are always a billion ingredients, half of which I don't have in the house...so I just never make them. I saw this recipe and it looked very easy so I decided to give it a try.

Tortilla Soup with Black Beans
(Source: On My Mind, Adapted from Everyday Food Magazine)

Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon chili powder (or more to taste)
- 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes in juice
- 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) tomato sauce
- 2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 1 package (10 ounces) frozen corn kernels
- 1 cup water
- Coarse salt and ground pepper
- 1 cup crushed tortilla chips, plus more for serving (optional)
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving
- Mexican cheese, for sprinkling on top
- Dried or fresh cilantro, also for topping (I didn't use this)

Directions:
1. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium. Cook garlic and chili powder until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes (with juice), tomato sauce, beans, broth, corn, and 1 cup water; season with salt and pepper.

2. Bring soup to a boil; reduce to a simmer. Add tortilla chips; cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in lime juice, and season with salt and pepper. Serve soup with lime wedges (we didn't use the lime wedges) and, if desired, more chips. Sprinkle with cheese and cilantro.




Overall this soup was very tasty-it has a kick to it with the amount of chili powder listed. I probably wouldn't add anymore just because I don't like things super spicy. Next time I might add in some rice or chicken just to try it-it seems like it would be really good that way. Definitely a keeper!

Clam Bake, etc.

We had a pretty good weekend this past weekend.

Saturday we took Avery for her 3 months pictures at JC Penney's. Even though she wasn't feeling well, she was still all smiles and in a great mood which was nice. They got some really cute shots of her-can't wait to get them! After that we did some running around and went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner.

Sunday we had Gabe's family clam bake that they do every fall. It was at a park out in Ogden/Spencerport area. The entire family goes so it's nice to see everyone. Some of them hadn't met Avery yet so it was nice that they finally got to see her before she got too big! Of course I don't eat the clams, but they had plenty of other grub to eat! We had a nice time and it was a pretty decent day for it.

Today was back to work. The highlight of the day was that Gabe got Avery to laugh for the first time! He was kissing her belly and she was laughing! It was soooo cute!


These are a few pics from late last week of Avery playing...
Some rattle shots:



Hugging her lamby:

Smiles!

First Illness

Yesterday we woke up to Avery having a pretty rough sounding cough. My poor baby has her first cold! We took her temperature and she didn't have one (yay!) so there isn't much we can do for her. We set up a humidifier in her bedroom and run that at night for her to try and loosen up the congestion. She has a little stuffed nose too but is eating completely fine. I had some plans of running errands yesterday, but with her being that way we decided to stay home and just relax instead. She woke up twice overnight last night-I think she coughed herself awake and then couldn't fall back asleep. I do have to say she is in very good spirits-she's still smiling and acting completely normal which is good. I was fearing she would be cranky and clingy, but she isn't so I'm happy about that. I just feel bad for her when she coughs-it breaks my heart! I knew it was a matter of time before she got sick with her going to daycare and the weather changing daily. So I know it's the first of many illnesses to come!

Oh, and Mommy got the cold as well!

Vote For Avery!

I entered Avery into a Gap casting call....something I did on a whim! They have a "fan favorite" baby which I guess is based on votes. So, do us a favor and vote for Avery!! Just go here and at the bottom left it says "search entries". In this spot, you can search by my username, battybtags, or ID number which is 732149813. Once Avery's picture comes up, you can click on "vote" to vote for her. Just an FYI-you do need to register in order for your votes to count. Just fill out your name, etc and create a username and password. You don't have to fill out the children's info-that's just if you're entering someone into the contest.

The good news? You can vote once a day, everyday! Yes, EVERYDAY!! So please vote for Avery-she needs the votes!!

A New Cousin!

Our cousins, Joe and Eileen who got married last year announced late last week that they are expecting their first child! We are so excited for them!

Joe and I grew up being very close. We were the only cousins in our family that were the same age-he's about 2.5 months older than I am. The next in age is either 6 years younger or about 8 years older. So we grew up being pretty close and hanging out at family functions together.

Now him and Eileen live in Florida so we only see them maybe 2-3 times a year, but it'll be so great that Avery will have a cousin so close to her age! I hope Avery and their baby will grow up close like Joe and I did!

Eileen is due late March, early April so it'll be interesting to see if she hits any of the family birthdays around then....my Mom and late Grandma are March 30th, our Aunt is March 31st and mine is April 12th...so you never know!

So far they're not finding out the sex of the baby (yay!) so we'll be waiting to see what they have! Congrats Joe and Eileen! We can't wait to meet your new bundle of joy!!

Three Months Old!

Yesterday Avery turned three months old! I can't believe how big she's getting! She was sleeping through the night for awhile (10-12 hours straight), but in the past week she's gotten up once every night. Which to be honest, isn't too bad-I mean she is only three months old! I think our new schedule is throwing her off a bit as well so we'll see what happens with that in the next few weeks. Her latest thing is that she has gotten pretty good at sucking her thumb. Sometimes she has trouble keeping it in her mouth, but overall she does pretty well with it. She uses it quite a bit to put herself to sleep. Her nap schedule is still all over the place and she's not very good at fall asleep for naps-that's something we have to work on when I have my days off!

So last night I took her monthly pictures-I thought they turned out pretty cute!

Our Weekend

'Tis Sunday night and the end of another weekend-back to work tomorrow morning. We had a good weekend. Yesterday morning I cashed in a Christmas present from last year-a massage at Andrea Esthetics! Gabe got it for me and since I was pregnant, I couldn't go because they don't do prenatal massages there. So I waited until after Avery arrived to get it done. And it was wonderful! He got me a neck, back, and shoulder massage and it was probably one of the best I've had done-and it was much needed!

After my massage we left for a visit in Buffalo. We haven't been in awhile so we were due. Grammy had to get her baby fix:

We went over to my Dad's house for dinner which was great! We had steak, mashed potatoes, salad, corn and broccoli-very tasty! Dad of course had to put her headband on "homey" style:

Grandpa and Avery:

My little cutie:

A nice family photo:

Today was my friend Renee's birthday so she stopped over and so did Megan and Noah so the kids could visit. We had a nice time! My Mom got a little birthday cake and we just relaxed and hung out. The kids had fun with each other, smiling away-it was so cute!



We left for home shortly after they left-the Bills game was on and Gabe wanted to watch it. Plus with work tomorrow there's a lot to get ready!