The Burlingames

We have some feeders outside (we’ll put more out this summer) and really enjoy watching the birdies come and eat. Eli can identify the Cardinal and squirrels. :-) We are not sure what the small black birds with white chest are called. Here are some of the pictures we’ve managed to capture this winter season.

The female Cardinal keeping watch.

The male Cardinal eating some yummy bird seed.

If you look way in the back, in the trees you can see a red spot. That’s the male Cardinal sitting in the trees, wondering when we are going to fill the empty feeder for him. :-)

Some woodpeckers trying to peck through the plastic portion of the feeder. They eventually figured out where the opening for the bird seed was and started feeding from there.

Here’s another yummy, low-calorie, recipe. It comes from my ‘Fix it and Forget it’ cookbook. We really enjoyed this soup with a small Caesar salad and some french bread. I didn’t take a picture of this soup, but it was yummy!!!

Chicken Corn Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breast, cubed (put in the crock-pot raw, it will cook during the day)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced (I just used a tbsp of minced garlic)
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 2 ribs of celery, chopped
• 2 medium potatoes, cubed
• 1 tsp. mixed dried herbs (I found a mixture for chicken that I used – it was good)
• 1/3 c. tomato sauce
• 12oz cream style corn
• 14oz whole kernel corn
• 3 c. chicken broth
• 1/4 c. chopped Italian parsley
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients, except parsley, salt and pepper, into the slow cooker.
2. Cover. Cook on low for 8-9 hours or until chicken is tender.
3. Add parsley, salt and pepper 30 minutes before serving.
4. ENJOY!!!!

I made this for dinner last night, it is so incredibly time consuming to make but so incredibly yummy!!! We LOVE it!! I have found it works best to have everything prepared beforehand so you can add it as you go. We make a triple recipe each time and freeze a bunch. It takes a some time to prepare and cook. Here’s the recipe.

Chicken Wild Rice Soup

Ingredients:

• 6 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp minced onion
• 1/2 c. flour
• 3 c. chicken broth
• 1/2 c. celery
• 1/2 c. shredded carrot
• 2 c. cooked wild rice (1/2 c. dry rice)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 c. half & half
• 1.5 c. cooked & cubed chicken

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a skillet. Add onion until soft. Add flour to make a roux.
2. Slowly add chicken broth. Make sure to get all the lumps out.
3. Add celery and carrots. Cook until soft. Add cooked wild rice, salt, pepper, chicken and half & half.
4. Simmer on low for 15-30 minutes to let all flavors mix together but do not let it come to a boil.

YUMMY!!!!!