One of my goals for this month was to cook something I haven’t cooked before. Easy and enjoyable. While one of the items didn’t work out the way I hoped (tastes good, looks not so good), the other two worked out just the way I hoped. Running allows me to enjoy the food I love without having to worry about calorie content or fat all the time.
Main Meal: Mexican Soup
500g chicken breast
2 onions
1 red capsicum
1 red chilli
2 cans beans
2 cans corn
1 can chopped tomato
1.5l water
2 chicken stock cubes
1 packet of Mexican herbs and spices
20ml oil (for frying)
Shredded cheese to serve
Dice the chicken breast and cover it with the Mexican herbs and spices. Heat oil in a pan and fry the chicken breast. Chop the onion and add to the chicken, fry until it turns a golden brown color. In a large pot heat 1.5l water with two chicken stock cubes. Once hot, add the chicken and onion, followed by the capsicum, chilli, beans, corn, and chopped tomato. Stir gently and cook for 25 minutes. Serve with some shredded cheese. This soup is great for the cold evenings that have arrived.
Dessert: Custard Cracker Cake
I had this dessert the other week at a friend’s house. It was delicious so I had to try making it at home. Traditionally this is made using French pastry which I don’t like but this recipe uses salty crackers and I really like the combination of salty and sweet in this simple high calorie dessert.
1L milk
1 packet of custard powder
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
½ cup castor or icing sugar
2/3 cup flour
3 egg yolks
1 heaped tbsp butter/margarine
1 packet of lightly salted crackers
Heat 700ml milk with the butter, castor and vanilla sugar. In a separate bowl combine the rest of the milk with the custard powder, flour, and egg yolks. Once you get a smooth consistency add the mixture to the warm milk and stir through until everything thickens. Cover the bottom of a rectangular dish with half of the crackers, pour the mixture on top, and cover it with the rest of the crackers. You can serve on its own or sprinkled with icing sugar. This dessert also works well with canned peaches or apricots.
So while I’ve been eating I haven’t been doing any running for the past four days due to the cold I caught. Hopefully the Mexican soup will cure my cold.
