Honey Girl Kitchen

Broccoli 🥦 cheddar 🧀 soup 🥣 + seasoned chicken breast is what’s for dinner. It was a hit. The key to excellent broccoli cheddar soup is to add the cheese once the fire is off and has had about 5 minutes to cool. If you add the cheese at high heat the soup will be grainy.
Here’s the recipe I used.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 medium chopped onion
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half-and-half cream
2 cups low-sodium chicken stock or broth
1 lb broccoli chopped into bite size pieces
1 cup carrot, grated
Tiny sprinkle of nutmeg, (brings out the flavor)
8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese, (2 cups)
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Melt the 1/4 cup butter and sautee the onions in it until soft. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat for 1-2 minutes.
Whisk in the half & half and chicken stock.
Add the broccoli and carrots. Cook over low heat for 20-25 minutes or until the broccoli and carrots are tender.
Add salt and pepper. You can leave the soup chunky or blend about 1 cup of the soup and stir it in for a smoother soup. Turn off heat, let it cool for 5 minutes and add the cheese. If your heat is too high your soup will get grainy. Stir in the nutmeg.
Serve with buttery crusty bread.
Leftovers for lunch…
Enjoy 🩷🥦🧀🥣 🍞 🧈

4th of July salad lunch.
Here’s the recipes.
🥗Chicken Salad :
🥗2 medium chicken breast, finely chopped
🥗Three celery sticks, finely small chop
🥗3 tablespoons of a red onion, finely chopped
🥗salt and pepper
🥗fresh parsley 🌿 tablespoon
🥗mayonnaise to taste. Add mayonnaise to the consistency that you like.
Serve with crackers or bread. This chicken salad is great for little tea sandwiches. Also, good for stuffing tomatoes 🍅.

🥕Carrot Salad:
🥕 2 cups of shredded carrots. These are store-bought
🥕2 tablespoons of golden raisins
🥕1 tablespoon of parsley 🌿

🍯 Honey Mustard Dressing:
🍯2 tablespoons of honey
🍯2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
🍯2 tablespoons of Dijon or any mustard that you have in hand
🍯1 teaspoon of EVOO
🍯 sprinkle of salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl mix the dressing ingredients really well and add the remaining ingredients. Stir and enjoy. Super delicious!

It’s that time of year, where a breakfast meeting ☕️ 🍳 outdoors makes life a little more prettier. 💗💗💗🙏🏽

Sunday roast and mashed 🥔 potato dinner.
Instant Pot:
Small 4 lb roast, 2 cups of carrots 🥕, medium onion 🧅 sliced, 5 cloves of peeled garlic 🧄, 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 1 cup of canned jalapeño juice/brine and 2 of the jalapeños, salt 🧂 and pepper to taste. Pressure cook for 90 minutes (60 minutes is not enough) let the pressure release naturally. Keep on warm till you are ready to serve. Amazing.
Crockpot:
3 medium to large russet 🥔. Crock on high for 4 hours. When a fork 🍴 or knife easy pierces the potato it’s ready.
Peel them. Smash them. 5 tablespoons of butter and 5 tablespoons of sour cream. Salt 🧂 and pepper to your liking. Amazing.
💗💗💗 enjoy 😊

Valentine’s Day Dinner with my darlings. Dinner is a replay from last week. See post from last week for full recipes.
💗💗💗💌🙏🏽

I have been loving, roasted bell peppers in a very simple sandwich. Pictured: toasted Ezekiel bread, a thin layer of cream cheese, a slice of provolone, 3/4 of a roasted bell pepper, topped with prosciutto and black pepper. 👌🏾
X🫑, Darlene

The whole house smells of lavender lemon baked chicken and sweet potatoes. We had double sweet potatoes: savory and sweet for dessert 🍮. Dinner was simple, yet so delicious.
Chicken Seasoning:
1 Tablespoon of herbs de Provence
1 teaspoon garlic powder (fresh even better if you’re in the mood to peel and mince)
1 teaspoon onion powder
Salt & Pepper to taste
3 Tablespoons of EVOO
3 Tablespoons white vinegar
1 squeeze juice of 1 fresh lemon 🍋 zest is nice but optional
3 Tablespoons butter 🧈

Mix all ingredients except butter.
Rub all over chicken.
Add pieces of butter throughout the dish.
Bake at 375F 40 minutes.
Bake the sweet potatoes at the same time.
💗💗💗🍋🎄🎄🎄

Okay…well these sweets 🍬 are terribly delicious 😆. I wrapped them up individually like a piece of candy… because, well they are. Nice, chewy, rich and just a simply delicious confection. As I was wrapping up these morsels of love - my husband, said, “you’re not going to gift them all, are you?” I said, “calm down, honey, there’s enough to go around.” ☺️😉
Inspired by Soft Sugar M&M Cookie Bars. I did not have chocolate M&Ms, but I did have chocolate chips and walnuts. I’d like to say, “use what you have.”
💗💗💗

Saturday morning brunch for 3!
🍳 🥓 🥔 ☕️

Sunday night dinner 🍽 Chicken + Rice 🍚 soup 🥣. Made the soup portion in the crockpot. Rice was cooked separately in a rice cooker. Pretty basic the only spices used were 🧂 + pepper, the herbs: fresh rosemary and fresh thyme.
A side of garlic bread. Simple and delicious. 💗💗💗🙏🏽

Taco 🌮 🌮 🌮 night…it’s Monday
💗💗💗 even 🐩 gets excited 😆 when she smells 🌮🌮🌮! She tried to beat her grandpa 👴🏽 to his seat at the table. 🤣
🐩🐩🐩 Have I told you how much joy, smiles and love this 🐩 brings to our life. She’s everyone’s fav. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

We’re all busy and we’re all hungry. This was very easy and super delicious. Today, I was thinking about how my mom when she would prepare sweet potato for breakfast. She would cube it and boil it with clove and cinnamon sticks. A vey fall aroma. Once ready she put it in a bowl, add butter, milk and Mexican brown sugar. It was the best morning cereal ever.
I miss MaEva.
X💗, Darlene

Sunday kind of L🥯VE
💗
💗
💗

Dinner in is everyone’s first choice. Eating out can take up gobs of precious time when it’s limited on a school night. For dinner spicy 🌶 Mexican Albondigas (Mexican meatball soup). Delicious.

Meatballs and mashed potatoes for a family Valentines dinner.
I like to make my mashed potatoes with butter and three dollops of sour cream, plus salt and pepper to taste.
Today’s meatball recipe:
1 lb grass fed ground beef
3 tablespoons of almond flour
1 handful of parsley, chopped finally 1/2 of a medium onion, small chop
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon of black pepper
1 teaspoon of salt
1 egg
1 tablespoon of mushroom powder (from the Asian market).
gently mix all the ingredients together. Make the meatballs as small or as big as your heart ❤️ desires.
Today, I baked them in the oven at 400° for 30 minutes. Meatballs were golf ball size. As you can see, in my description I say “today”… Homemade meatballs vary in the way I make them and also in the way I cook them. Happy Valentine’s Day. Wishing you L💗VE everyday of the year. ❌💗, Darlene

That TikTok sushi 🍣 bowl 🍚 trend.
👌🏾 all simple, the only thing we mixed up was the Japanese Mayo.
Recipe: 1/2 cup mayo, 1 Tablespoon rice vinegar, squeeze of lime and sriracha to taste.

Caldo de Pollo…Mexican chicken soup. Made this last night for dinner.…well, it was absolutely delicious. MaEva, my mom, would make soup quite often. Year-round. She was a good teacher by way of always asking us to help in the kitchen. I miss her dearly. Hug your sweet little parents while you have them. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of mom and dad. I bet 10 to 15 times a day, they pop in my head for seconds or minutes throughout the day. 🤗
Recipe in the bio. 🍲

New Year’s Day dinner. Black eyed peas + sausage, greens 🥬 + bacon 🥓 and cornbread.
In our home we are in agreement that this menu needs to be on rotation, at least once a month.

🥣 Black-eyed pea soup recipe:
•6 cups chicken stock (homemade is always best. It has depth).
•1 lb of black-eyed peas
•1 lb of your favorite smoked sausage, slice small cubes
•2celery stocks, small slice
•1/2 jalapeño, small chop
•1/2 medium onion, small shop
•2 chipotle peppers + 1t of the adobo sauce
•1 teaspoon cumin
•1 teaspoon oregano
•salt and pepper to taste
Add all ingredients to the Instant Pot. Pressure cook for 30 minutes. Natural release.

🥬Greens Recipe:
•2 lb’s collard greens (or your favorite) rinse 2-3 times and chop into bit size pieces
•Radish greens, rinse and chop
•3 strips of bacon 🥓 small chop and cook in a Dutch oven
•1/2 onion, small chop
•2 celery stalks, small slice
•3 garlic cloves, minced
•1 cup of chicken broth or more if you like it soupier
•2 Tablespoons white vinegar
•Salt and pepper to taste
In a 4 quart or bigger Dutch oven, cook up the bacon. Once nice and crispy add the celery and onion. After two minutes add the remaining ingredients. Cook on medium to a small boil. Then turn the heat to low for 15 to 20 minutes.
Enjoy 💗💗💗💫

Dinner was amazing. I prepped the meal. Which means:
•marinating the chicken 4 to 5 hours.
•scrubbing/washing the sweet potatoes, ridding the of any soil.
• bathing the baby mushrooms in olive oil, salt and pepper.
• slicing lemons and tomatoes.

grilled the meal. The sweet potatoes took the longest. 40 minutes. Delicious!

set the table 👌🏾
🐩 is just waiting for a crumb or two.

This meal was inspired by I am currently watching/listening to her MasterClass…which is the most lovely Christmas gift. In her master class she grills chicken, grills mushrooms, grills fingerling potatoes and makes an aïoli. I made her salsa Verde for the chicken and you can see the rest is just beautiful. Fully inspired by her. 💗💗💗🙏🏽

Sunday Night Dinner:
🥄Chicken and rice soup 🥣 with broccoli 🥦 and roasted squash
🥬Romaine, radish, and micro greens
🥖Bread + Olive 🫒 Oil + Balsamic Vinegar
💗💗💗🙏🏽

A traditional New Mexican Christmas…red chile 🌶 is the star ⭐️. My parents are both from Chihuahua, Mexico 🇲🇽…our Christmas meal has always been asado. A freshly butchered hog and red chile. The entire meal is made outdoors. A meal that takes all day to cook. It’s an event. We cook, drink, tell stories and laugh together. Spices and lots of love go into it. It’s been a while since we’ve gathered as a family to make asado. I miss the long family tradition. Today in Dallas our Christmas meal is New Mexican red chile cheese enchiladas, cilantro coleslaw, cilantro rice, beans, salsa, avocado cream and an egg atop the enchiladas (optional). I always choose to have a fried egg with my cheese enchiladas. It’s the right way ☺️. This chile sauce is made with New Mexican dried red chile. It’s rehydrated, puréed, spiced up and cooked on the stovetop till it’s nicely stewed. Then it’s ready for the assembly line. A peaceful Christmas. 🙏🏽 Merry Christmas to all. I love you. Yes, even if we’ve never met, I love you. 💗🙏🏽🎄
•
•
•
‘s