Spicy Dinnertime Conversations

I really enjoy cooking and baking, and my husband enjoys eating, so you would think we frequently would experience dinnertime harmony.  You would be correct only if you liken harmony to going to the dentist's office while listening to nails on a chalkboard. (The first problem is my 2-year-old likes dinnertime as much as most kids like naptime, but that's another blog.)

"Those look ... interesting... " my husband muttered tonight as I served dinner.

I was placing crunchy, baked tortilla strips on the table.  Not exactly a controversial food.  They taste like crunchy salt, and who doesn't like crunchy, salty stuff?

This kind of comment is a regular occurrence at our house. And when I say "regular occurrence," I mean this happens every single day.

If you ask my husband if he is a picky eater, he might say yes.  If you ask him if he complains about my cooking, he will adamantly deny it.  He is in whining denial.

The problem my husband and I have is that I have this obsession with really yummy yet very healthy food.  It's like a double obsession, because I am not only very interested in my food tasting good, but I am super fascinated with what our bodies do with what we eat.

My husband, on the other hand, likes to eat large amounts of cow, fried carbohydrates and soda pop.  And that's about it.

I truly am not trying to speak ill of my sweet man.  I speak the truth, and honestly, it's surely the truth about most men (and heck, women, too).  It's not as if he only eats those things; it's just that those are what he wishes he only ate.

That fact combined with the fact that my husband truly is a picky eater (he does not like mushrooms, broccoli, most other vegetables, beans, chocolate, casseroles, mayonnaise, or many other items) creates a situation where he basically never jumps to joy when I bring dinner to the table.  Unless we are having cow.

Now, I like to think I am a decent cook.  Other people compliment me on my cooking. 

I have tastebuds, and the stuff I make tastes good to me.  It's also generally low in fat and calories, so that makes me doubly happy.  

But my husband's subtle, unintentional criticism has definitely given me a complex.  I dream about cooking for people who treat me like I am the Rachael Ray of Wichita.   

Unfortunately, my husband has never heard of Rachael and will never stroke my cooking ego like I'd it.  I most likely am going to have to live vicariously through Bethenny Frankel, my healthy cooking idol.  

If you don't know who she is, puh-lease look her up because she is a domestic goddess, and she's really pretty, and I want to be just like her when I grow up. 

But back to the tortilla strips.  I was serving them with chicken tortilla soup.  

Here's my recipe:

1/3 cup chopped onions

2 stalks celery

one clove garlic

2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

one can corn

one large jar tomato sauce

1/2 cup dry white cooking wine

one can Rotel

2.5 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

4 large tortillas

one bag mixed Mexican shredded cheese

Sautee veggies in skillet with olive oil and garlic clove.  Place contents of skillet into large soup pot with all ingredients through chicken.  Simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Meanwhile, cut tortillas into strips, spray with olive oil-based cooking spray on both sides, salt and place in 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes, until edges are brown and strips are crunchy.  Serve soup with strips, cheese and sour cream if you wish.  

Yum!