Tales of a table-less kitchen

When Anderson joined our family, the extra room in our house changed from my home office to a nursery. We didn't have too many options in our cute little two-bedroom, one-bath home, so the dining room currently serves as both my office and Isaiah's fly-tying station.

We usually eat dinner together, which these days means "all at the same time." Anderson is in his high chair, I'm usually standing up at our kitchen island watching him and eating my dinner, and Isaiah is in the living room.

I have big visions of family dinners at our dining room table (which is currently in storage) with place settings and serving dishes, but for now we dish up over the stove and do what works. Don't get me wrong - I'm not complaining. One day we'll look back on this cozy time in our life and think how easy we had it, I'm sure. But, I can still dream of beautiful kitchen tables, right? Especially so close to Easter...like this Easter table I found with a (squee!) Easter Tree!

(photo from Decorpad.com)

Besides dreaming of our family sitting around a set kitchen table, I watched just a *few* shows on The Food Network last weekend. This recipe for Chicken in Mustard Sauce caught Isaiah's eye, so I gave it a whirl. It involves mushrooms and an onion-tomato-flour mixture:

Once you have the chicken and the mixture, you cook it all together in the oven for about 45 minutes and then add Super Noodles! I hate to tell you this, but they are called Super Noodles because they include both butter and sour cream. You really should give them a try.

Notice the chicken thighs. I'm not one for bone-in-chicken, and certainly not thighs with their dark meat. I had a Jessica Simpson moment where I asked Isaiah if "they made bone-in chicken breasts."

He stared at me for a minute and said, "Are you serious?"

I said (just as seriously) "yes."

He said, "Why do you think they bother to write BONELESS chicken breasts on the package?"

Hm. Ah. I see now. Yes, I do remember eating bone-in chicken breasts now that you mention it... (Good thing I don't embarrass easily, right?)

On Sunday we were having dinner at his mom's house he said with a smile, "Look Jenny - these chicken breasts have BONES in them!" Got it.

We're all entitled to Jessica Simpson moments, blonde hair or not. Right?!

Anyway, the finished plate of deliciousness looked like this:

Here are my boys digging in:

Isaiah had been working on re-painting our bathroom all day, so Anderson couldn't take his bath that night in the bathtub. We improvised (after cleaning up dinner, of course):

The next day I was in the mood for Greek Food. Not just any Greek Food, but specifically homemade Tzaziki sauce. When I was younger, we lived on the island of Crete for 3 years, so I love authentic greek food. I didn't do anything fancy, but put together a grilled Greek chicken salad. I made the Tzaziki sauce first so it could marinate in the fridge for a while. (I halved the recipe.)

Then I prepared the chicken by smashing it, and marinating it in olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh sage (because I happened to have some), and dried oregano:

Then I prepared the veggies for the salad while the chicken was grilling:

I also grilled some pitas, but they didn't turn out exactly how I planned since I grilled them for too long. Whoops, another lesson learned. I'll spare you the photos. But here is the finished meal!

For those of you wondering...I just cut up the chicken for Anderson, gave him some olives and feta, and a little pita. He gobbled it up!

Wednesday we had a "superfast" Asian Beef and Broccoli stir fry from Cooking Light Magazine. It said you could make it in 20 minutes, but for some reason it took me a while to prep. And that was with Isaiah prepping the meat for me! Once it was time to actually cook, it did go superfast and I realized I hadn't stopped to take any pictures. So I got a quick one of the almost-empty pan.

Thursday I had to go get Anderson early from the babysitter. He is teething and hasn't been feeling good. We ended up snuggling all afternoon watching "Belbo" (Elmo), so Isaiah grabbed pork chops on his way home and made an easy-but-good dinner for us:

This week, I picked a Spring Break theme for our menu. Not only that, but I am going to wing it on a few an not use recipes. I know - there I go being all wild and crazy again. But isn't that what you're supposed to do on Spring Break? :-)

• Monday - Spring Break Steak and Asparagus Salad
• Tuesday - Grilled Chicken Teriyaki Kabobs with corn on the cobb and Brown Rice
  
• Wednesday - Pacific NW-style fish tacos, black beans, and chips with homemade pico de gallo
• Thursday - Spicy Turkey Burgers with Brett's Granny's Fruit Slaw and baby baker potatoes
  
• Friday - leftovers and vino!

SPRING BREAK 2011, WOO!

Let's get Sprouting!

Well, I am all sorts of behind after being sick last week, and then having family in town over the weekend, but I'm baaaaack! And kickin'.

I am so ready for spring to arrive. I noticed yesterday that little blooms are starting to peek out in our front yard, and I wanted to get down on the ground and kiss them! Don't dilly dally, Spring! I need you sooner than later so we can get out and play at the park, have picnics, go to the zoo, and throw rocks in the river. I've got lots of plans for this summer.

Here are some rambling thoughts for the week:

Did you know Wal-Mart sells the best green onions in town? They come in some sort of vacuum-packed bag, and you get a ton of perfect green onions for pennies. Pennies! I hardly ever shop at Wal-Mart, but I love green onions and might have to go there just to get them weekly.

Brussels Sprouts. Are you sick of me singing their praises yet? Because I'm not done. The first time I made this dish, I wasn't taking pictures for some reason. I didn't mind making it again - it could also become a ritual along with my new Wal-Mart trip. Here is the glorious recipe:

• Quarter 10 oz (or so) of Brussels Sprouts and steam them until they're bright green and a fork easily sticks through them. Drain in a colander and set aside.
• Cut up 4 oz of pancetta and start cooking on the stove until the little pieces smell good and are brown.
• Add 1/2 thinly sliced onion. You can add the whole onion if you like, but I just like to do about half.
  

Once the onions are translucent and soft, add the Brussels Sprouts, 1/4 of dried cherries, some chopped fresh sage, salt & pepper and stir it all together so it looks like this:

This night we had it with grilled chicken and some cheese tortellini that I made for Anderson. It was a really easy and fast dinner for a Monday night!

The next night Isaiah wanted to cook, and I am not one to argue. We found this recipe from NoTakeOut.com. It's called Shrimp and Sausage Purloo, and it's become a favorite...kind of like a southern Paella...

I liked having Isaiah doing the cooking because at first I was able to get some action shots. Then Anderson woke up, so I was afraid I wouldn't get any finished Purloo pictures. But wouldn't you know it, Isaiah dutifully took the pictures himself. It made me smile each time I saw the flash going off in the kitchen. :-)

My favorite part is the okra

This is what I mean about it kind of being like Paella - you put it all together, add the rice, and then just let it all cook together:

And here is the plated dish...Compliments to the chef!

Next up, was Cherry Tomato Chicken out of my Jan/Feb Cooking Light Magazine. I got so much mileage out of that issue that I decided to become a subscriber. I can't wait for it to show up in my mailbox!

Another recipe from that issue was nutty rice. Nothing too special, but Anderson seemed to like it.

It's just rice, then add slivered almonds, green onion, salt, and pepper:

I saw a picture of carrots cut all fancy like this, so I tried it out for the glazed carrots. Had to get a picture of all the garlic, and of course...the yucky raw chicken.

And here was the finished dish! For some reason I didn't get any of the cherry tomato mixture while it was cooking, but this was such an easy, fast, and tasty dinner:

Anderson liked the chicken - we even had it for leftovers the next day. Here he is "sharing" with Shiggy who has become a shameless beggar.

This week's menu:

• Monday - I made Chicken in Mustard, can't wait to share it with you.
• Tuesday - Greek Grilled Chicken Salad with Tzatziki sauce and grilled pita chips
• Wednesday - Asian Beef Stir Fry (I promise I will post the recipe next weekend with the pictures)
• Thursday - Leftovers
• Friday - I'm going out for Sushi!

Top Ramen for the Soul

After three days of living from our couch, knocked out by a horrible, gunky cold, I feel almost alive again. I even found the energy to shower...and open my computer!

My "cooking" over the last several days has consisted of lots of tea and soup. And by soup I mean Chicken Top Ramen.

I do have a real update to post, but it might take me a few more days. Just didn't want anyone to think I had fallen off the wagon.

Anyone out there cook anything good lately? My appetite is coming back and I could use some inspiration...

Our Hobbies

"A hobby is an activity or interest that is undertaken for pleasure or relaxation, typically done during one's leisure time." -Wikipedia

I grew up with a family of hobbyists - bee keeping, make-your-own (insert something here), crafting, etc.

Isaiah is a hobbyist - pottery, fly-tying, fly-fishing, rebuilding (insert something here).

I used to think that I didn't have a hobby. But if I'm honest with myself, it was what I would call "joining organized groups who are saving the world" (read: volunteering and other general do-good-ing). But I've mostly retired from all of that and now am incredibly selfish and do things for me. I'm sure one day I'll go back to trying to save the world, but for now I'm really enjoying the freedom of figuring out what skills I have, what I enjoy doing, and really...just learning new things.

The picture below features three of my current hobbies - 2 puppies and a baby. I took this the other night while I was cooking dinner. The dogs were patiently waiting for me to drop food, while Anderson was having a time out for biting dad.

The "music" I listen to while I'm cooking dinner is laughter from the living room - it's Isaiah and Anderson's play time. I love that sound. But this night, Anderson was just in a mood and had to have a timeout. I couldn't help but snap a picture.

Anyway, obviously, one of my newer hobbies is cooking and learning the many lessons that come from all of the mistakes I'm making. So, here they are from last week...

First up is: Panko-breaded Chicken Tenders, baked oven fries, and fruit salad.

I hate raw chicken, don't you? But I took that chicken from raw to tasty breaded chicken fingers:

Battering the raw chicken is messy, but kind of fun. I did a version of this for coconut chicken fingers on the stove - I much prefer the baking on a cooling rack method.

Here's the before/after of the panko bread crumbs and my batter station:

Next up were the oven baked fries. These were the best potatoes I've ever made in the oven! I followed the recipe exactly. Isaiah came in the kitchen at one point while they were in the oven and this was our conversation:

Him: "Why did you use so much oil for those potatoes?"

Me: "Why do you think?"

Him: "Because the recipe said to."

Me: "Yup."

Him: (shakes his head)

But in the end, my need to follow directions paid off. They were crisp on the outside and perfect on the inside. So THERE! Anyway, here is the picture of them right before they went in the oven. You can't really see all of the oil, but it was there - two tablespoons to coat the baking sheet, plus a tablespoon to coat the wedges before they leave the prep bowl.

You'll want to make extra if you make them. They were that good.

Last up is the fruit salad...I really try not to complain about the weather, because I don't like extremes. And it never fails. As soon as I start wishing for warmer weather - BAM! - it's 103 degrees and I'm wishing for cooler weather. Nevertheless, last week I decided to make an offering to the Sun Gods:

And here was the finished meal! I drizzled honey-dijon mustard over my chicken fingers and - get this - the recipe didn't even say to do it! I know, I know, I'm living on the edge over here.

The next night was Teriyaki Salmon and spicy stir-fried snap peas.

Check out all of that garlic. Yum.

I need to remember not to buy salmon too early. We had kind of a strange week, where my schedule didn't work out as planned. I knew my salmon was just sitting in the fridge, needing to be used, and worried it was going to go bad. I might start buying my meats throughout the week...maybe a stopover grocery trip on Wednesdays.

Also, did you know that Teriyaki means "sugar" in Japanese? Alright, I didn't Google that, but I had no idea Teriyaki Sauce was mostly sugar with a few other goodies, including cornstarch which is fun in a science-experiment sort of way:

These Spicy Stir-Fried Snap Peas are going in regular rotation with the Brussels Sprouts I love. They were really easy and a perfect side to the salmon:

Next "Ah-ha" moment: I need to learn how to cut things on the diagonal. I improved on the peas by the end, but how people cut green onions in those really cool, decorative ways is a mystery to me. I tried, but they ended up looking like I gave them to the dogs first and then put them on the cutting board.

The finished product (with rice blurred out in the background):

And now we are to my Chicken and Dumplings Experiment! I decided to test out the recipe from the Joy of Cooking, so I don't have a link - sorry. But if you don't have this cookbook, I highly recommend it. And if you do, it's on page 432.

I pumped myself up quite a bit to take on this recipe. I felt like it was advanced. So I copied what I see on food blogs and cooking shows and prepped all of the ingredients in advance. It came in pretty handy:

Then I cut the chicken breasts in half. The recipe called for chicken parts, but seeing as how I don't like bone-in chicken or dark meat, I went with chicken breasts. In the end, it was a bad idea (see...I should always follow the recipes, at least the first time...) because some of the bigger pieces got dry. Here you can see the dish go from raw chicken, to raw chicken floating in a lake of butter, to the pot of goodness, to the finished plate:

You might be interested to know that, to me, dumplings are not biscuit-like things as you see above. I wanted pasta-like dumplings, but couldn't find a recipe. So next time I would do that. The dumplings here didn't really add that much to the dish. It would've been better with rice or pasta. Which makes sense, since I was making this dish to satisfy my craving for chicken-pot-pie, which I didn't make because according to Isaiah, he "doesn't like anything in a pie crust, including pie." I've seen him eat pie before, but I decided to nix the chicken pot pie idea anyway ...that was a pretty bold statement.

Anderson was a little helper while I made dinner:

I took a picture of his plate and fork in the sink because it was one of those moments where I stopped and thought to myself, "I just can't believe I have a kid." B.A. (before Anderson), I was sure kids were messy, all of their stuff would overtake the house, and in general everything would be a lot of work. Guess what? I was right. Guess what? Turns out all of that is okay...especially when it's your kid. :-)

Alright, the last meal of the week was REALLY easy. I cheated and bought some pre-made marinade from Fred's, grilled the steak, made a quick salad, and roasted cauliflower.

The cauliflower was really, really good. It will also go into regular rotation, since sometimes you just need something other than a green vegetable to mix it up. I roasted it on parchment paper, which is nice for cleanup.

I know the salad isn't anything impressive, but I just love the look of red-leaf lettuce. We used to buy the bag lettuce all the time, until one day I started buying green- and red- leaf lettuce. Now I can't go back. A tiny bit more work, but it's cheaper and much, much better tasting.

Alright, now it's Monday and I'm back at it!

• Monday - Grilled Chicken, Brussels Sprouts Ragout, and quinoa
• Tuesday - Green Chile Chili (Cooking Light, Jan/Feb '11 issue, page 181)
• Wednesday - Leftovers
• Thursday - Shrimp and Sausage Purloo - Isaiah's night to cook!
• Friday - Leftovers
• Saturday - Cherry Tomato Chicken with glazed carrots and nutty rice (Cooking Light, same issue, pages 136, 160, and 82 in that order)

Have a happy week!