I Cooked Bacon...

For any of you that know me very well you know that I hate bacon.  The way it tastes, smells, texture, grease, all of it.  I refuse to cook it, but I made on exception last night.  So if you know all of this you know how much of a big deal and out of character it is for me to cook it. 

Here's the story: 

Scott has been starting to get sick and when I asked him what  he wanted for dinner he said he wanted soup, potato soup (see recipe posted below).  I told him I would make the soup if he would cook his own bacon.  The thought of cooking it made me feel sick as I have always refused.  The agreement in our marriage from the beginning was that he would cook his own bacon, preferably when I wasn't around.  So I go home from work pick up a few things from the store that I need and head home. 

I get there and start getting the potatoes ready for the soup since that's the longest part.  Once I get them in the pressure cooker I ask Scott when he was going to cook his bacon.  He was working on an assignment he had to do that night and said he would do it when he got to a good stopping point.  I felt bad because he was working hard on school stuff and was sick at the same time so I didn't want to bother him.  So... I pulled the bacon out of the fridge, got out my pan and started to separate the pieces.  I thought to myself, how do you even cook bacon?  You can tell I haven't done this in a very long time.  I turn on the stove, wait for the pan to heat up and put the bacon on.  It started getting all sizzly and greasy and making the weird noises that bacon does and I thought, okay I can do this. 

I decided to make Scott aware of how good of a wife I was.  I said, "I deserve an award, I'm such a nice wife.  Just listen..."  Scott was too busy paying attention to his schoolwork that he completely ignored me so I stormed out of the room since I didn't get the attention I was hoping for.  I went back to cooking the bacon and Scott runs in and tells me thank you so much (he was very grateful!), and he does me a favor and pulls the bacon out of all that nasty grease so I didn't have to.  Anyways, I am making a big deal about a little thing but I was proud of myself for kind of getting over that fear of cooking bacon.  Now I'm not saying that will happen anytime again soon...  Also for the record, I did not eat it just cooked it.

P.S. Here is the recipe of the soup.  My older sister Amber found this recipe a while ago.  It's our go to potato soup recipe now.  Thanks Am!

*Things I do differently: 
-We have the bacon on the side so Scott can add it to his soup.
-I cook the potatoes in the pressure cooker, it's faster.
-For us I cut the recipe in half so we have leftovers but not too much.

Potato Soup

16 strips Bacon
5 large Potatoes
2 cups Chicken Broth
2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
16 ounce Sour Cream
3 ½ cups Milk
½ large yellow/white Onion
2 cans of Corn, drained

Cook bacon and crumble into small pieces, set aside in small bowl. Simmer onion in small frying pan until tender; add to bacon. Peel and chop potatoes into bite-sized chunks. Boil in large pot until soft (not too soft). Drain potatoes and set aside. In large pot, add bacon, chicken broth, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, milk, onion and corn. Bring to a low boil, stirring often, until thickened. Add potatoes and reduce heat to medium. Salt and pepper to taste; let simmer until desired consistency. Sprinkle cheese on top and serve with rolls.

Yield: 1 large pot of Soup

Recipes I've Made Lately

I made these recipes lately and really liked them! I love finding recipes that are good and would like to share them. I found these recipes online.

Artichoke Chicken
Ingredients:
8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons butter
2 jars (6 ounces each) marinated quartered artichoke hearts, drained
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups chicken broth

Directions:
In a skillet, brown chicken in butter. Remove chicken to an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish; do not drain pan juices. Arrange artichokes on top of chicken; set aside.

Saute onion in pan juices; blend in flour, rosemary, salt and pepper. Add chicken broth; cook until thickened and bubbly. Remove from the heat and spoon over chicken.

Cover and bake at 350° for 50 to 60 minutes or until chicken is tender. Serve chicken with sauce.

Yield: 8 Servings


Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients:
No-Stick Cooking Spray
8 6-inch corn tortillas
Salt
2 tablespoons Oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups cooked chicken, diced
1 can (15 1/4 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained
1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes, with juice
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies, drained
1 package (1 1/4 ounces) taco seasoning mix
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
1 tablespoons lime juice
Shredded cheddar cheese
Chopped cilantro
Sour cream
Lime slices (optional)

Directions:
Spray a baking sheet and both sides of the corn tortillas with No Stick Cooking Spray. Slice the tortillas into strips; sprinkle lightly with salt. Place on baking sheet; bake for 12-15 minutes or until crisp and lightly browned. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven or soup pot, heat Crisco Canola Oil over medium high heat. Add onions and saute until soft. Add chicken, corn, beans, tomatoes, chilis and taco seasoning; stir to combine. Add chicken broth; stir. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, 10-15 minutes. Stir in lime juice.

To serve, place a few tortilla strips into soup bowl; ladle soup over. Sprinkle with cheese and cilantro. Top with remaining tortilla strips. Garnish with sour cream and a lime slice.