Oh. My. GOD!!!

J got this today from his boss. He got a perfect score on a secret shop. It was not only adorable, but delicious.

It is a CUPCAKE LION!!!!!

Last Week

Last week, we here at What Kris Ate were struck down by the head / chest cold that has been going around. This led to numerous days of being couch and bedridden, and lots of soup. LOTS of soup. So much, in fact, that I've decided to review some of the canned soup that we ate last week, to let you know what's worth buying and what isn't.

The Good
1. Campbell's Soup at Hand: Tomato Parmesan Bisque. I'm not going to lie, I really like this soup. I know it's canned, and has a crapload of sodium in it, but it's amazing. I like it with those really thin, cheese water crackers. The ones they sell in the "gourmet" section of the grocery store.
2. Campbell's Chunky Vegetable Beef. This is not the very best soup ever. But I still like it because it has lots of both of the things in the name: Vegetables and Beef.

The Not-So-Good
1. Campbell's Chicken Noodle. This isn't the condensed one, rather the new kind they have that is pre-made in the microwaveable container. It's pretty watery, and just didn't look to have much flavor.
2. Campbell's Select Harvest Maryland-Style Crab. Also a little watery. J ate the whole bowl, but I thought it looked kind of ick. It's tomato based, which was weird for me, and also didn't appear to have any crab in it. Or even any Krab. Lame.

The Really, Really Bad
1. Progresso Lite Vegetable Beef. Oh my GOD. This soup tastes like nothing. There were not many vegetables, and definitely no beef. Gross.
2. Campbell's Tomato Soup. Hands down, the original, condensed version is my all-time favorite soup, simply for nostalgia reasons. The ready-made microwaveable one? SO BAD. There are big lumps of the condensed stuff in the bottom of the "bowl" and it is almost impossible to stir it all in and make it homogenous. It was just plain bad.

Of course, if we're going to talk about the very best soup I had during my Unfortunate Confinement it was the Broccoli/Cheddar from Panera Bread. But that wasn't canned. Well, it probably was, but it wasn't in a can when it came to me. And it was damn good.

Honey Balsamic Glazed Roasted Chicken

Ingredients

• Chicken pieces (whatever kind you like)
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp. garlic salt
• 5 sprigs FRESH rosemary

Steps

• In a large Ziploc bag, combine all ingredients except chicken. Massage them together to dissolve the brown sugar.
• Add chicken to bag. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a pan with a double layer of aluminum foil. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.
• Place chicken in pan. Cover tightly with foil. Cook for 30 - 35 minutes.
• While chicken is roasting, remove rosemary sprigs from marinade. Pour marinade in small saucepan.
• Bring to a boil. This will kill the bacteria from the chicken. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes to reduce to a glaze.
• When chicken is done, baste with the glaze.
  

Notes: This is a recipe adapted from Giada diLaurentis (I think I spelled that wrong). It was on her Giada at Home show. She used drumettes, and sprinkled sesame seeds and parsley on at the end. I went with chicken breasts, because that's what I prefer. She also used several crushed cloves of garlic instead of garlic salt. I just didn't feel like dealing with that, so I switched it to salt. I also spooned some of the glaze on the steamed vegetables I served this with. It kind of reminds me of the honey-grilled salmon from Applebees, except REALLY good.

Menu, Week of March 1

Sunday, March 1
Brunch: Strawberry Strata
Dinner: Short Ribs Bourguignonne with Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Monday, March 2
Poached salmon with Steamed Vegetables

Tuesday, March 3
Leftovers

Wednesday, March 4
Honey-Balsamic Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

Thursday, March 5
Chicken Chili

Friday, March 6
Lasagna

Saturday, March 7
Snodge Burgers and Tater Tots

Notes: I am not going to re-post the two Sunday recipes. I got them both off Food Network, and linked to them. I will say that on the strawberry strata, I did not use ciabatta bread. I used a whole loaf of Sara Lee Brown Sugar & Cinnamon bread PLUS four slices of white bread. Also, it might be the most fantastic brunch food I have ever cooked.