Birthday Monkey and Posole Soup

I love monkeys - they make me smile. I found this digital freebie on Dustin Pike's blog http://dustinpike.blogspot.com/ and had to have it. His images have such a cute personality. I colored the monkey and vines with Copic markers, added some brown grosgrain ribbon and cuttlebugged the bottom layer.

I made Posole Soup for dinner the other night and it was YUMMY!!! I love mexican food and I love soup. I've had Posole at restaurants, but I've never made it at home. I think the recipe came from a Family Circle magazine. I altered the recipe slightly since I don't eat meat - changes are in parenthesis. It was a slow cooker recipe, but I cooked it on the stove and it worked out fine.

Chicken Posole
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken cut into 1-inch pieces (I used Quorn Chick'n Tenders)
2 cans (15 ounce each) white hominy, drained and rinsed
1 medium-size onion, chopped
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. dried red pepper flakes
2 large chicken flavored bouillon cubes (I used vegetarian chicken broth powder)
4 cups water
1 can (14.5 ounce) petite cut diced tomatoes with jalapenos, drained
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Lime slices
*I also added a small can of roasted green chilies, drained

Combine all ingredients except lime slices and cook on HIGH for 3 hours or LOW for 5 hours. Serve in bowls with lime on the side.

(I sauteed the garlic and onion in a big pot until soft and then added the rest of the ingredients and simmered, covered, for about 15 minutes. The lime juice really added a nice tang.)

Stamps: Dustin Pike digital image, Hero Arts message
Accessories: Grosgrain ribbon, cuttlebug, Copic Markers
Paper: SU! Handsome hunter, chocolate chip, white