Monday, July 27, 2009

Eating Good in this Neighborhood! Orange Teryaki Chicken and Parmesan Zucchini Chips!

Let's just start this with a self-explanatory photo. See the middle number there? No it is not an equipment malfunction........that is the outside temperature at 6:00 pm tonight. Earlier today, I knew it was going to be hot so I started prepping bone in chicken breasts with seasonings, and made a quick marinade that would later be the dipping sauce. I started with 1/2 c OJ, 1 tsp lime juice, 2 T teryaki, 1 T soy, and about 1 c chicken broth. I brought this to a boil, then thickened it with about 3 t milk combined with 1/2 tsp cornstarch. I poured this over the chicken breasts and put them in the fridge for about 4 hours.

Since my gracious husband offered to stand over the hot BBQ and grill the chicken, (it may have had something to do with its proximity to the kegerator) I prepped the side dish. Since our garden is overflowing with zucchini, that is our side dish for the next month. Please.send.recipes.
I was craving something deep fried and greasy all day (no! I was not hung over), but I knew I would regret it after I ate it. So I found this recipe for baked Parmesan Zucchini Chips! EASY!


1 cup tempura batter mix
3 zucchini sliced
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 T grated parmesan
1/2 tsp garlic powder
pinch of fresh dried basil
3 egg whites

After the zucchini's are sliced, drench them in the egg whites.

Then coat them in the dried tempura batter. It's ok to use bread crumbs too.

Next, I sprayed my aluminum foil with PAM cooking spray, then place the zucchini. I sprayed the tops a bit too! Since the temps were so high today, I was NOT about to fire up the ovens Muffin Man! (name that movie)

So I grabbed an extension cord and my favorite kitchen appliance of ALL time, my Pizza Pizzaz and put it on my bar on my back patio...........and VOILA! instant outdoor kitchen! I can cook a gourmet 7 course meal on this baby! (not really, but almost) I turned the timer on for 18 minutes, and since it cooks from the top and the bottom, I didn't have to turn them. In an oven, it would take about 12 minutes and you should turn them once.
Here is the finished product, crispy and delicious! A thing of beauty! Just was the doctor ordered! And only 1.5 grams of fat per serving! I made a dipping sauce with 1/2 c soy, 1/4 c rice vinegar and 3 T sugar. Heat and dip!

Chicken was grilled to perfection, moist and delicious! While the chicken was on the grill, I reheated the marinade and cooked it down. It made a tangy dipping sauce. It was a fantastic and healthy dinner!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Life happens............blog later and ask for forgiveness!

I was all gung-ho when I started this blog - blogging semi-regularly and then (in no particular order) I:
  • Spontaneously booked a 2 week trip with my boys to Wisconsin


  • Started a new job
  • Worked through my "Catholic laden mom-guilt" and began playing Bunco with a fantastic group of girls one night a month
  • Watched my baby turn 6


  • Planted a garden and much to my surprise and lack of green thumb have began harvesting veggies





  • Have been cooking and baking and grilling up a storm! I will post recipes and photos!


  • Am trying to enjoy every moment of this summer by taking photos with my new Canon 20d and documenting it by blogging the whole way..........
So I am going to try on my honor to use less words (thank you Emily for Wordless Wednesdays) and letting my photos speak for themselves (work in progress).

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Conversations with a five year old....


The other day while my 5 year old son and I were eating lunch, we chatted (or he talked, I listened), as usual.
He attends a Christian school where they are teaching him about God. He loves to share the new things he learns, and being a great mom, I'm always willing to listen. Besides, with this one, the entertainment factor is always quite good.
Case in point.

Son: "Hey mom, did you know that God makes people?"
Mom: "Yes I did!"
Son: "Isn't that awesome? God is SO cool!"
Eating resumes.
Son: "God collects dead people too."
Mom: Choking on food, "Really?" "Where did you hear that?"
Son: "At school, when people die, they go into a boy bed or a girl bed and then fairies come and take you up to heaven and deliver you to God."
Mom: "Wow"
Son: "Yup, that all." "Can I play playstation?"

That's how we roll in our house. We keep it short and sweet with shot of shock and awe factored in.

We have to worry when he's NOT talking. Then he's up to something.

Monday, January 26, 2009

25, er 26 Random Things......Are you ready for this?

I tag anyone who reads my blog, if anyone..................

I have a hard time making decisions, committing to them, and executing them, without regrets or wondering what if…
I worry everyday that I am screwing up my kids to the point they will need thousands of dollars of therapy.

I get embarrassed very easily, just talking to people, with a red face and all.
I’ve never had one single, exclusive best friend for a long period of time, and I am envious of those who do.
My parents were very strict when I was growing up.
I felt left out many times because I couldn’t go or my curfew was much earlier than others.
I am 33 and wish I had a real career or direction in my professional life.
I love being a mom and a wife, but I feel guilty doing anything for myself that doesn’t involve them.

I love to cook if I have the time.
I am an organizer, a cleaner and a note maker.
I need to remember to enjoy the moment instead of looking ahead.
This economic depression scares the hell out of me, for my family and friends, and most of all the future of my children.
I love summer, 85 degrees all year would be fine by me, I hate being cold.

I despise liars and hypocrites.
I love the sunsets, water, lakes, oceans and rivers. There are times the ocean seems to call me, it’s so calming and peaceful. I hope to live on a body of water someday.
I love the small town I live in, but sometimes yearn for the bigger city with a fancy car/job/travel/clothing/trendy eats, but deep down I know better and I feel lucky.

I sing along to every song on the radio, even if I don’t like the song, if I know the words I’m going to sing along, even though I’m a really bad singer.
I wish I learned to play an instrument really well.
2 years of the saxophone don’t count.
I can literally block out a bad memory.
I am a night owl, and hate mornings, love to sleep in, even though I don’t sleep much.

I suffer from migraines and have hashimoto’s disease. I miss my family terribly,
I miss the huge holiday gatherings with all the kids running around, great food and general chaos.
I wish my sisters and brothers lived down the street and I could just swing by so the cousins could visit.

I always thought I would have 3 kids and would have another in a heartbeat and hope for a little girl.
I loved being pregnant.
I never imagined marriage would be so much work.
I’m a homebody, I could stay home all the time, I would have my groceries delivered it was possible.
I know my parents did the best job they could, and I am very thankful for them and for my childhood growing up, I know know I could have had it MUCH, MUCH worse.


Monday, January 12, 2009

Meat the Carnivore Family

Warning! Some of the photos below are not suitable for young children, my vegan sister Lisa or those of you who have a weak stomach. There is blood, raw meat, fat and deliciously seasoned "meat worms" according to a 5 year old. Enter at your own risk.

Sunday Night dinner menu:
Prime 14 oz. New York Steaks
Mini Slider Burgers (freshly ground from the NY's with my new toy)
Mashed potatoes
Steamed Broccoli

First of all, I should tell you my menu was planned around my newly acquired toy off Craigslist for $20, yes $20! a vintage Oster 5 in one stand mixer with a plethora of attachments including but not limited to: stand mixer, bowl beaters, dough hooks, blender, meat grinder, and food processor! This machine is one of those things your parents talk about how "they just don't make things like that anymore". Built like a brick shit house, built to last, uphill both ways.........blah, blah, blah.
First, I grabbed one of the steaks, cut it into long strips and proceeded in making meat worms for my kids to eat. YUM! They couldn't wait! (Next time if I can actually remember, I will take photos as I go. Bad blogger, now go to your room.)
Now it was time to grate the cheese. I assembled the food processor and put on the grating blade. Oh Snap, faster than the blink of an eye, its done! I will never, ever hand grate cheese again. I still have all my fingernails and skin on my knuckles!

Now to make the mini slider burgers. Not that freshly ground prime New York steaks need anything to make them delicious, I have a couple of things I always add to my burgers: Salt & Pepper, Garlic Powder, Prepared Horseradish, and Grated Cheddar Cheese. Mix it all together with your hands is best if you can handle it! Now for mini burgers, I take about 2 tablespoons of meat, form it into a ball and flatten slightly larger than the buns. You must allow for shrinkage of the meat - I hate shrinkage, but I especially hate meat that is too small for the buns!
Here is what they will look like: Beautiful little meat nuggets waiting to be seared on a hot grill.Stick those beauties in the fridge to marry the flavors together.

Now take your New York Steaks and season them. Now I know everyone has their own special seasoning: McCormick Grill Mates, Steak Seasoning, or whatever but if you have good quality steaks with marbling, you won't need much season, you want to taste the flavor of the steak and the fat is what gives it the flavor, it is also what gives me grief when I want to put on my favorite pair of jeans! Hello hips! Anyway, I just like a little s&p, Lawry's Season Salt and Lemon Pepper Seasoning, go easy, you don't want to oversalt, you will regret it, and too much salt is bad for you.

Hello my pretties, come to mamma! I slap them around a little bit to push the season in to the meat, because I like sound raw meat makes when I slap it, please don't judge me. But I digress.....
Let these babies bathe in seasoning while you peel your potatoes. Peel cut, repeat. Let potatoes boil for 20 minutes or until fork tender. Add a clove of fresh garlic to the water, trust me, I would not lead you astray.
Oh crap! Go light your grill! Get it good and hot, like Jessica Alba in 'Into The Blue' hot, smoking hot, so it will sear the flesh hot. Ok I'm done now. Sorry.
Chop your broccoli into florets, place in steaming rack over pot of water. Turn on high to boil water - steam the broccoli. Not that anyone needs instruction on how to do this, ok well maybe one person.

Potatoes are boiling over making a mess out of stove, turn down to rolling boil. Stir to check doneness (is that a word?).
Go check grill, bring steaks and slap (note to self, stop using that word) them on the hot grates. Searing steaks on the grill is music to my ears. My steaks only required about 4 min per side, they were about 2 inches thick and we like our meat medium rare. After 2 minutes, rotate steak 45 degrees to establish the beautiful, wonderful steakhouse quality trademark "diamonds". My mouth is watering! After two additional minutes, flip steaks over revealing their grill "tattoos". Lean in and take a big whiff! It's a thing of beauty!


Go inside and check potatoes and broccoli. Drain potatoes, put back in pot to "steam out" excess water. My dear sister Brenda has bad luck when it comes to cooking potatoes. She likes to cook all the water out of the pot AND she also likes to cook the bottom right off the pot! See what happens when you drink and cook? Just a friendly reminder from your local fire department.
Turn off broccoli and allow to steam for a few more minutes.. Bring out burger platter to grilling area.

Rotate steaks 45 degrees again, put burgers on grill. These small burgers will only take about 1 1/2 minutes each side, longer and you will have hockey puck burgers that will break teeth. Move steaks over to warming section of grill while burgers finish cooking. Place cheese slices on mini burgers to melt as they finish up cooking.



Allow meat to rest while you whip up potatoes.

Important! Here is a trick I learned that really makes your potatoes better, I don't know why, just do as I say! Warm your butter and milk in the microwave before adding your drained potatoes, this makes a huge difference in the creaminess of the potatoes. Add potatoes to the butter/milk mixture and begin whipping with mixer. I like using a mixer instead of a hand masher because I am lazy, that's all amen. And I HATE lumpy mashed potatoes. After potatoes are mostly mashed and combined, add about 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese and continue mixing/mashing. Add S & P to taste and start serving!

We also had rolls with honey butter. Very easy to make: 1/2 cup butter softened mix with 1/4 cup honey. Chill and spread on fresh rolls.

I would have taken more photos, but after the action, flame licking meat shots I left my camera out on the deck railing, ooops! I will try to be a better person next time and take my blogging photo job more seriously. BWAAHAHAHAH, yea right!

Go forth and eat meat!

Friday, January 9, 2009

Overthinking things......It's What I do

Here it is: My first post. Yesterday I set up my blog, editing and rearranging and editing again. I had some great ideas of things to make a fantastic first post, a great first impression if you will. When I was ready to start the actual "blog" I started to rethink my original words and then came up blank. So much for my Nobel prize in Journalism. Sorry Mr. Swett, I've let you down.
Last night was my Kindergartener's first Christmas Program. The first one was delayed due to snow. As always, it was an entertaining show. The children worked hard and did great! I always love to see the girls dressed up in their beautiful red Christmas dresses. Heck, I am happy if I can get my boys to wear something besides sweatpants! So as you can see, we settled for jeans, tennis shoes, a sweater and an untucked undershirt. That's dressed up - Oregon style!

I've decided instead of overthinking my blog posts, I vow to, like most other bloggers, just type it as it comes. Remember, I am random! What do I have to worry about? Not like anyone will be reading this. I will also try to apply this thinking to my daily life, so many things are out of our control, just take it as it comes, day by day. Scouts honor.

So to end my post with my groundbreaking journalism skills, here is a video of my little performer. You can't miss him, he's the one in the middle waving, whispering sweet nothings in the ear of the poor girl next to him and bowing excessively at the end of each performance. Boy, I'm sure glad he doesn't like to be the center of attention.........Like father, like son.