Hearty and Warm

This past Saturday was DH's day to do whatever he wanted (his birthday is tomorrow). So we went to one of his fave breakfast places, went to Fry's and Harbor Freight, and then drove to Belton for a gun show. While driving to the gun show, much to my delight, I noticed a craft show going on at the same place!

So we wandered around the gun show, looking at guns, ammo, knives, etc. There were a couple of jewelry booths as well. You could easily tell which of us was interested in certain booths. He'd linger at a gun booth and I'd wander and then I'd linger at a jewelry booth and he'd wander. :-)

Then we went to the craft show (Sami show) next door. I know he was probably cringing at the thought but it wasn't too bad. Granted, there were some girly things there but then there were some awful crafts (people do the strangest things!). But the cool things about the show were the food booths! One booth had flavored vinegars. I remember buying their stuff at a booth at Lakeline Mall back in 2001 and I loved their vinegars. I had recently found the bottles in my pantry and thrown them away, as I figured they were 7 years old and probably weren't good. I had saved their information, hoping that they had a website. I just hadn't gotten around to searching for them yet. Well there they were right in front of me. I was so excited! I bought 2 bottles: Basil and Garlic (awesome on tomatoes) and Dill and Garlic (awesome on cucumbers).

Then we wandered to another booth. They had soup and dip mixes, as well as samples. We tried a couple of the soups and dips. After a lengthy conversation with the guy behind the booth, we bought 2 soup mixes, 1 chili mix, and a dip mix.

Well, while DH was playing airsoft yesterday, I decided to make the "Vaquero Soup Mix" and have it ready for him when he got home. The mix called for 2 chicken breasts, 1/2 pound of ground beef, and tomato sauce (or Rotel). I changed it up a tiny bit. I put in 2 chicken breasts, 1 pound ground beef, small can tomato sauce and a can of Rotel. I let it simmer WAY longer than the instructions because I wanted it to be thicker and hearty. While it was simmering, I made some cornbread muffins.

When he came home, he couldn't help but notice the smell in the house. We tossed some fritos on the bottom of our bowls for extra kick. Put some cheese on top. Man, it was AWESOME. Hearty... Simple... Filling! I am definitely ordering more of this mix online!

All of Us Old Plantation Soups, Vaquero Soup Mix, www.allofussoupdip.com or www.oldplantationsoup-dip.com

Next we will try the Gumbo mix!