salsa chicken

I am about to reveal one of my staple recipes. It's called salsa chicken. Are you ready? These are the ingredients:

Salsa and chicken. Complicated, I know. The instructions are equally complicated.

Step 1: Place chicken in crock pot. Any chicken will do. I'm using frozen chicken breasts, but I also like it with thighs.

Step two: cover chicken with salsa. You can use pretty much any salsa imaginable and available. I've done it with hot, medium, mild, smoked, etc. 

Step three: cover and cook. If on high, at least 6 hours. If on low, at least 8.

Step four: enjoy. Its applications are endless: taco salad, quesadillas, pasta sauce, stuffed in a pita, and so on.

And let me tell you, it's fantastic. The chicken is fall-apart tender. My favorite time was when I used a smoky salsa. It gave it this wonderful, deep flavor.

Occasionally when I make this, my chicken turns out dry. Recently, though, I've been adding chicken stock along with the salsa and that seems to fix the problem.

If you make any of my recipes, please let me know! Feel free to share photos, tips, and experiences.

Happy eating!

dear nutella,

It's not you. It's me.

There was once a time when we were so happy together. I spent so many nights being comforted by your creamy, chocolatey goodness. You were always there for me when I got a low test score, or when I felt lonely, or when boys were confusing the heck outta me. I even did a report on you for school.

There was once a time when you made my heart swell But now you make my throat swell too, and I don't like that because I like being able to breathe.

Don't think this is because I don't love you still. I do! But we simply can't be together any more. And it's all because of your third ingredient.

I don't know how else to break the news, so I'll just say it: I'm allergic to hazelnuts. After years of loving hazelnuts I developed an allergy to them over Christmas break. And since they are an essential part of your recipe, I think you can see why this has to happen.

I'm sorry, Nutella. I didn't want it to be like this. This hurts me too! If there was some way be could be together...but it's better this way, trust me.

My love for you cannot overcome the effects of eating you: the tummy ache, itchy tongue, restricted throat, sneezy nose, and general ickyness. In fact, I am suffering these things right now because I was not strong enough to resist one last spoonful.

But it was my last.

Goodbye, Nutella. 

I'm breaking up with you.

blackberry days

My blog has been alive for less than a week, has one post (not including this one), and I've already run into problems. Sigh.

Good news, though! These are all problems I can solve. And I can solve them by using my brain.

Jessica's List of Problems That Can Be Solved by Using Her Brain

1. I don't have pictures of the foods I've made
• How to solve: TAKE PICTURES
2. I am not a good photographer
• How to solve: Admit you aren't a good photographer, and take photos anyway
3. I don't like getting my camera out and taking pictures with it
• How to solve: Admit your camera skills are terrible, and use your iPhone instead
4. I am no good at Photoshop
• How to solve: Use Instagram

TL;DR: The photos on this blog will be taken with my iPhone and edited with Instagram. If I'm feeling fancy, I'll use my Nikon Coolpix P80 and pretend I have Photoshop skills.

I apologize to those of you who will be offended by the lack of quality photography on my blog. To you I say, my passion lies in food, not in taking pictures, and food is the main goal here.

Speaking of food, blackberries.

I love blackberries. At perfect ripeness they're juicy and sweet—very sweet. Like, syrupy, jaw-achingly sweet. When I eat them with cream, I don't even sprinkle sugar over them like I do with raspberries. However, if they aren't ripe enough, they have an off-putting sour flavor and bitter aftertaste.

I got these beauties at Sunflower Market, a lovely natural and organic foods grocery store near my apartment. They tend to have great prices on their high-quality produce, and run weekly in-store specials that are simply fantastic. When their berries go on sale, I always buy way too many of them.

For example, this past week, I bought eight cartons of blackberries. Eight. My roommates thought I was crazy (I probably am). But they aren't going to waste!

I'm down to my last three cartons. Well, last two. I just finished off one of them (the berries and cream you see above). The other five cartons went toward making dessert for my dinner group that meets Sunday nights.

Here is where pause, shamefaced. Remember how I told you I have problems that can be solved using my brain? Well, when I made that dessert, I didn't use my brain and I didn't take pictures. So all I have is what was left after I let six boys and seven girls go at it.

Oh, the carnage! Oh the deliciousness! Oh, the last remains of my blackberry and peach cobbler.

I'm sorry. I wish I could have shared it with you. But it was very good and earned the approval of those roommates and friends.

Oh. Right. I have a fifth problem.

I don't use recipes very often, and I have little experience in writing recipes. So I don't have a recipe for this cobbler. I'm sorry. Please forgive me.

At this point I've made cobbler enough that I can just throw it together, changing up the fruit and spices to fit my desires. So, I guess what I have for you is more of a blueprint rather than a recipe.

Fruit Cobbler Blueprint

Pick your fruit. It can be one fruit. It can be two fruits. It can be three, but don't go too crazy. I used fresh blackberries and frozen peaches I "defrosted" by cooking in a pan on the stove with a bit of sugar.

Pick a pan. I like to use glass.

Fill the pan about 2/3 full of your fruit. You want to make sure you cover the bottom. Obviously, a big pan needs more fruit than a smaller pan.

Sprinkle yellow or white cake mix over the top. Just enough to cover the fruit. Then gently mix than in a little bit. Then, if you want a cobblery-crust (and I always do), cover the fruit with more cake mix, and press that down firmly.

Cut butter and and place pieces on top. The amount of butter you use will depend on the pan size.

Bake at 375 until done. The fruit should be bubbling and the top should be golden brown. This is usually between 30 and 45 minutes.

Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Those are the basics. Feel free to get creative! Worried it will be too tart? Mix sugar into the fruit. Think cinnamon sounds divine? Add it in! You can also adjust the amount of cake mix you mix into the fruit. If you're concerned about too much juice, just mix more in.

Perhaps one of these days I'll post a definitive cobbler recipe, but until then, I hope this blueprint will serve you well.

and everything nice

I was a college freshman when my lovely then-roommate bestowed upon me the first nickname that's really ever stuck. It started as the gangsta "J-Swens," simplified to "Swens," and settled into the cute "Swensy."

I'm a second semester sophomore now. My then-roommates are now dear friends, as are the many FHE brothers who are now spread out across the world fulfilling the Lord's mission. I've changed a lot since then. I've had my first kiss, changed my major, learned to love, started painting my nails, and made many, many desserts.

Not many people call me Swensy anymore, but I treasure it as a symbol of happy memories, many adventures, and treasured laughs.