chunky chicken salad

sometimes we splurge.

and by splurge I mean buy and de-bone chicken. and buy five dollars worth of fruit, including a tiny little portion of purple grapes.

then Holli makes her chunky chicken salad and we both rejoice in occasionally making things that take a little more time, effort and money here.

what you'll need:

-chicken. we used two chicken legs, boiled them, took off the meat and then finished cooking the meat on the stove (save the bones and skin for later!)
-sour cream
-honey
-grapes
-apples (we used crab apples because they're in season right now and cheap)
-nuts of your choice (we used peanuts- because they're the cheapest)

chop, de-seed and mix.

enjoy with toast or if you really lucky and have just received a package of goods from your parents, some Wheat Thins :-)

kitchen sink soup

What does one make with a bag full of garden-grown potatoes and carrots, some soaked and sprouting chickpeas and some onions?

Add in water, vegetable boullion cubes, bell peppers, pasta and some leftover chunks of frozen chicken and you've got yourself a mish-mash vegetable soup that is super easy to make and perfect for a chilly fall evening.

I was so lazy I didn't even peel the potatoes, just washed them really well and cubed them. Then I threw everything together (minus the pasta) and let it simmer for quite awhile. Once the vegetables were soft I added in the pasta and let it cook for a little while longer.


And you know every bowl of soup requires some delicious bread and jam on the side, not to mention some extra-special Wheat-Thins that arrived via my parents' wonderful fall package.


You can't beat soup for dinner when you live in a place where it's already snowed and it's only the beginning of October.

Everything but the sink- a la vegetable soup in our Mongolian kitchen.

comfort food

sometimes you need the good stuff.
and by good stuff I clearly mean chicken club sandwiches and french fries.
this is not a culinary feat but more of a using up of hoarded ingredients that are hard to find.

such as chicken and bacon...


we also cooked up some onions and sliced up some potatoes- tossing them with olive oil and seasoning.

and then we used up some lettuce and tomatoes (I am already mourning the end of summer and the relative cheapness of these veggies) and piled high our bread with the goodness.


the french fries got thrown in the oven until crispy and they were quite possibly my favorite part of the meal. Also baking was much easier than frying them. I think the key to potatoes not taking forever to cook is slicing them really, really thin.

what are some of your favorite comfort foods?