What to do with this damn chicken: Wednesday 7

Last Thursday was my monthly Cooking Club again. This month Amanda Harris hosted and she had a great theme.  We cooked Indian food, minus the Curry.  Amanda's sister-in-law is Indian and so she gave Amanda some recipe ideas of traditional foods that did not contain Curry. This was good thinking on Amanda's part, if she avoided the curry, her house wouldn't smell like Curry hard boiled eggs for Easter and our husbands would let us sleep in our own bed that night!

 Naturally, we snacked on Naan and I drank an Indian Pale Ale while, we made some great dishes.  I will share all of the dishes we made with you although, the one I wanted to highlight was the Garlic Chicken. This dish was healthy, so good, and it went great over some Basmati rice.

Garlic Chicken

Naan, Garlic Chicken over Rice and Raita

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts
3 Tsp Garlic Powder
Salt
2 Tsp Garam Masala
5 Tsp Lemon juice
Olive oil
Onion
Red bell pepper
Green bell pepper
½ Tsp Tumeric
½ Tsp Coriander (over much debate, this is actually Cilantro folks)
½ Tsp Cumin

Directions:

Take 3 Chicken Breasts and Cut them into about 1 – 1.5 inch pieces.

Place them in mixing bowl. Add about 3 teaspoon garlic powder, salt to taste, 1 teaspoon of Garam Masala, and about 5 big squirts of Lemon juice. Mix together. 

Leave it to sit for about 20 min and soak. 

In the Wok Pan, put some oil and put in sliced onions, and red and green bell pepper. Don’t let the deep fry, more like simmer.  

Add 1 teaspoon garam masala, and ½ teaspoon of turmeric, coriander, and cumin. 

Then add the marinated garlic chicken. Cook on high for about 4 minutes. Then let it simmer for 20 minutes, and stir in between. 

Then cook on high again for about 4 minutes. Serve warm.

Rice

Ingredients:

2 cups Basmati Rice
Salt
Garam Masala
Tumeric

Directions:

Put 1.5 cups of water for every 1 cups of rice, into the rice cooker. Add Salt and a pinch of Garam Masala. If you add 2 pinches of Tumeric the rice will turn yellow. 

Raita

( the dish on the far left in the picture, tastes better than it looks.)

 Ingredients:

4 Cups of Plain yogurt
½ cucumber
4 Tsp Lemon juice
salt
Pinch of Garam Masala
Red Chili pepper

Directions:

Take about 4 Cups of Yogurt, place it in mixing bowl. Chop about half a cucumber into tiny pieces. Add that in. Add about 4 good squirts of lemon juice. Add some salt, and garam masala (a pinch or two). And whip it until it appears thick. To garnish, place the whipped raita into the serving dish and then “dash “ a pinch of red chili pepper on top of it.

 Enjoy!

Love,

Taco Tuesday Creative Moment: Im Happy ...

My Happy Girl!

In a moment of bliss, (the kids must have been happily coloring) I wrote a little poem.  I did this a couple months back when I was thinking just how thankful I am to be where I am in my life.  Seems ironic since, I also posted about how the economy sucks and I am broke, not too long ago. Truth of the matter is, I am content, no I am happy! I have stopped dreaming of things that are out of reach and started enjoying what I have a little more. I think you get to a point in your life when you aren't constantly looking forward to the next Hawaiian vacation or trying to save save save for a better car or new Pottery Barnesc decorating items. 

I can honestly say, I am not trying to impress anyone and my kids and husband are happy so, why shouldn't I be? I am alive for goodness sake, I am healthy, so are my other family members. Why was I not happy for so long? I think it is because I was letting my emotions take over. I thought that because the idea of a big home with a super stainless steal kitchen made me happy, then naturally I would be happy living in a home like this. UMMM...not the way life works! I  was paying too much attention to what made me happy in the moment but, not what made me happy to my core. Through and through with a direct line to my heart, what made me happy was just being me and having the family that I have and just feeling the love! 

I recently listened to a podcast called TedTalks: The Social Animal By David Brooks. Actually, my brother-in-law had it turned on when we drove home from church on Sunday, so there really was no way not to listen to it. But, it struck a cord with me. One of the quotes in the Podcast was,  "Emotions are not separate from reason, but they are the foundation of reason because they tell us what to value". -Antonio Demasio

So true right! 

Anyway, I will get off of my soapbox. Here is my little doodle below. Enjoy and Happy Taco Tuesday folks! 

I'm happy to be..

I'm going to start by saying I am happy to be me…

I'm happy to be a Sunseri

I was also happy to be a Pawelczyk but, it doesn’t rhyme with a thing

I'm happy to have 2 children and maybe, someday, I will be blesses with three

Even if it is a puppy..hint hint  (okay this came true and just as an FYI, they are a handful!)

I'm happy to live on Sailsbury

I'm happy that life (and my parents) has made it possible to be

There was a time when I thought the world was down on me

When I though there was a dark cloud following me

I am happy that, my fortune in my cookie last night said “everything happens for a reason”

I am happy to say, that reason happened for me!

I am happy I was gently nudged to do more with my photography

I am happy I have a great family that has encouraged me

I am happy that I get to walk my children to school, because “its cool”.

I am happy that as much as I squirmed and stirred last night,

I had 2 cats, a dog, and a snoring husband sleeping with me

I am happy I discovered boxed hair coloring in my time of need

I am also happy to be scheduling an appointment today to have someone do it professionally 

I'm happy to be cold and using my pink snuggie, cause I'm not very happy when I'm hot

I'm happy to say that there are a lot of things I am happy I am NOT!

I am happy I'm not alone

I am happy that my in laws need a bigger dining table and a bigger kids table so my children also aren’t alone

I am happy I'm not working (according to my sweet nephew)

Cause that means I get to not work all day long when I am home not taking care of my children and not trying to grow my photography business…

I'm happy I am not materialistic and don’t need a pair of Christian Louboutins

And I am happy for a can of red spray paint if I decide that I do

I'm not happy my son is growing up and can get his own drinks

Cause what will I do without the title of “Juice Fetcher” on my resume

I'm am happy I'm not watching Dora and my kids have grown “too old” for her

I am also happy that when we go to a Mexican restaurant my son says Gracias and De Nada because of her

I am happy I'm not immune to the problems of the world

I am happy that my daughter cried last night when she was too full to eat her dinner and knew it would be thrown out when there were children with nothing to eat

I am not happy I am going to take my daughter to the doctor  today because “her neck hurts”

I am however happy she had to have kissed her daddy to get what is likely Strep Throat again.

There… I'm happy to have gotten my creative juices flowing today….

Love,

I Heart Faces: Slice of Life

Ahhh to be soccer season again. I have a bug in my pants and and twitch in my leg and I just can't wait to see my little monkeys dribble across the soccer field again! 

The photo challenge this week at I Heart Faces is called Slice of Life. In this challenge we are to depict everyday life moments in our photos. This photo below is one of my favorites from last soccer season. It was my son's first year at the sport and he and his cousin were on the same team. I was in a constant frenzy 4 nights a week to get my 2 kids off to practice with ball, cleats, shin-guards, water bottle and ball in tow. It was so worth it on Saturday mornings when, win or loss, the parents formed a tunnel with their arms at the end of each games so the kids could make their two, moment of glory filled, laps through it.  They could have cared less what the outcome of the game was. They always donned an ear to ear grin on their faces as they ran under our tunnel of pride. 

This is my nephew and my son directly behind him, making their first lap through. I cant wait to share this little slice of life with them when they are playing more competitively in the coming years and have nearly forgotten that winning isn't everything. :)

Love,

What to do with this damn chicken: Wednesday 7

Okay, my chicken is thawed and sitting on the counter. Now what? Today I was very very tempted to put it back in the fridge and convince the hubster to eat out. But no, I have to remember the budget we designed together that said, we are not to eat out so much.  So I stare at the chicken some more.

Then, it hits me like an Aha Moment (Oprah says it better).  One of our friends had sent me a message over the weekend about a chicken recipe that her husband and children like a lot. It really isn't a recipe with measurements and such, as it is more of a mix this and that and Voila!  I like those kinds of recipes. 

Before we get to the goods, I will also have to say that I think the heavens have opened up and I have been heard!  Yes, that is right! Apparently, I am not the only one who needs a good chicken recipe. So here goes, set your TiVOs and DVRs folks, cause the Food Network is dedicating the coming weekend to Chicken!!!!  Thank you to Kari Brose for cluing me into the celebration of all things chicken with your favorite Food Network hosts, this Saturday and Sunday starting at 7am/6c. Hallelujah!!!  Check out some of the recipes for The Bird Is The Word weekend we are about to embark upon!

So for the recipe....

1.Mix Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, dried basil and cracked pepper into a mixture. 

2. cut your chicken into nuggets

3. dip the chicken into the mixture

4. Cook on the stove in a little olive oil

or

5. you can also coat a whole breast and cook it the same way but with the lid on the pan to cook it throughout and not burn the cheese. 

Then you can serve it with pasta, steamed veggies, salad, etc. Sounds pretty easy and versatile and it will be on our dinner plates tonight!  Thanks Kari!!

Remember the Bird is the Word weekend this weekend!!

Love,

Taco Tuesday Creative Moment: Shamrock Shirts

Cute St. Patty's shirts!

I got crafty again, and after my husband told me I couldn’t spend any money this time, I had to get creative with what I already had. I wanted to make something for St. Patty’s day for my little girl. I try to get the kids a little something for the small holidays just so they know I thought about it. After buying my Jedi a giant shamrock cookie, I needed to do something for my mouse.

So, I went through my heaping plastic bin of crafting things and I thought of an idea. I would make her a shirt for school since, 1. She doesn’t have anything green. 2. I will be leaving for vacation without the kiddos on St. Patty’s day and I am feeling guilty. 3. I don’t have the heart to let her get pinched all day by anyone but me. 

After going through my fabric scraps I found some zebra stripped fabric and some polka dot scraps that I could use. Really, anything would work since I added the green later. Here is what happened next….

Caveat…I spent $5 on a solid white shirt at Old Navy. (Sorry Hubby, nothing is completely free!)

1.       I found a clipart on-line of a shamrock that I printed out and cut out. 

2.       I traced the Shamrock onto a piece of HeatBond (iron on fabric paper) which is found at all craft stores, Wal-Mart, etc. 

3.       I ironed the Heatbond that I traced, onto the backside of my cute fabric (pre-washed). You will want to follow the direction on the package as all of them might vary a little.  Sorry, I don't know what happened to my pic here.

4.       Then once the Heatbond is stuck to the backside of your fabric you can cut along your traced shamrock. 

5.       Now, you can peel the paper backing from your Heatbonded Shamrock and iron it (printed side up)onto the prewashed t-shirt.  Again, no pic of me ironing and peeling but I think you can manage.

6.      Hello cute shirt with Shamrock attached to it!

7.       I then loaded my sewing machine up with some lime green shinny thread and sewed a thick embroidery stitch around the outside of the Shamrock. You could also hand sew this with embroidery thread for a thick look without a sewing machine. Totally up to you and your patience. 

8.       Once I was done sewing around the outside of the shamrock, I was done and so I decided to make a matching bow for my Mouse’s hair. I also hot glued a couple little rhinestones to the stem since she loves the sparkles! So fun and ready to wear. Cant you see it with a fluffy green skirt or some black leggings?

9.       Easy Peazy Lemon Squeezy! You can do this with any picture for any holiday or something your child loves. I think I will do an owl next for my little owl lover, maybe with some button eyes!

Happy Taco Tuesday!

Love,