i don't think ana has classes on tuesday because she was home the entire day. she did go out around 6p only to come back at 9p to make dinner. i asked her if she wanted to try some of my mexican chicken soup - less out of generosity, more so that she wouldn't cook again. but apparently she can't handle any spicy food, which kind of makes me lose respect for her taste in food. she can't eat spicy but has no problems consuming two tubs of olive oil in less than a month. it's not very surprising that she's overweight, given how everything she eats is fried.

i decided to make mexican chicken soup today just so i can get rid of the two pieces of frozen chicken breast in my freezer. i took it out this morning so it'd have time to defrost. for lunch, i ate a custard from yesterday and a piece of sesame-sprinkled saobing bread. while ana was baking salmon for lunch, i biked to market basket to get some more ingredients.

my father dropped by after work to bring the taller 3-segment ladder. by that point it'd already started to rain a little bit.

the recipe i use is one for chicken tortilla soup. i've modified it so much, i now just call it mexican chicken soup. i make it at least once a year (2009 2010 2011), usually during the colder season, because it's a hearty soup with an added spiciness that makes you sweat. it goes well with some cilantro garnish but i didn't want to get any because cilantro spoils so quickly it's not worth having just so i can use a little bit. a dollop of sour cream would also go well too. i added some frozen kale this time, nothing i could really taste, but just some added nutrients.

i found the soup to a little bland, with most of the flavors coming from the chipotle peppers. in the past i'd only use a small portion but nowadays i dump in the whole can, sauce and peppers altogether. i could add some salt but as a rule, i try to avoid directly adding salt whenever i can (sodium from other ingredients are fine though). i think some salty tortilla chips would probably be nice too. basically, there are lots of options with this soup, and tonight i was just making the basic.