Bean Fung Shui

My husband loves to cook. Not in your average "I love to cook" way, but in a "I wake up dreaming of _____ (fill in blank with any kind of dish) and now (even if it's 4:00 AM) I must cook ______" (again, fill in blank with previous answer), way. It's scary. It's a delicious, my wife of two years has gained 10 pounds, kind of sickness. It's a passion.

Although we cook a huge variety of dishes, one of our favorites is Red Beans.
It's just funny that everytime my sister calls on a weekend, we have a pot of beans on. Here's yesterdays conversation:

Lori: "What'cha doing?"
Me: "Just hanging out in the kitchen with Jim..."
Lori: "What'cha cooking?"
Me: "Beans and a pork loin's on the smoker."
Lori: "Ahh, I know everything is right in the world when beans are on the stove!"
Me: "It's bean Fung Shui!"

What To Have For Dinner?

 

This for dinner I think.  Had no idea what to cook today, but after looking through the fridge I realize I have a huge stockpile of carrots.  Time to eat carrots!  So I Googled "chicken and carrots" and this popped up and looks good!  Plus it'll go well with our FREE appetizer Jim's picking up @ Panda Express!  Yummy!!!

Roasted Chicken with Carrots

Ingredients

• Whole fryer chicken, 3 1/2 to 4 pounds, preferably organic or kosher, wingtips removed
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lemon, sliced in half
• 1 bunch fresh thyme
• 10 cloves garlic, peeled
• 8 carrots, peeled, trimmed and halved crosswise
• 1 to 1½ cups chicken stock
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

 Method

1 Preheat oven to 425°F. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Season well with salt and pepper. Stuff with lemon, thyme and half of the garlic, then, using butcher's string, secure the wings and legs to the body.

  

2 Place chicken in a small roasting pan or large, deep, oven-proof heavy skillet. Surround with the carrots and remaining garlic, then add 1 cup of the chicken stock. Drizzle with olive oil.

 3 Roast the chicken for 15minutes at 425°F. If you have a convection oven, you can reduce the heat to 375°F for the remaining time (otherwise, just keep it at 425°F). Roast until chicken is golden and carrots are well caramelized, 1¼ to 1½ hours; baste, with broth and pan juices every 15 minutes for the first 45 minutes. Add stock if pan looks dry.

  

4 Transfer chicken, carrots and garlic to a platter. Discard twine, thyme and lemon, and let chicken rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Skim fat from pan juices and discard. Add vinegar to remaining pan juices and serve over the chicken.

BBQ Roasted Chicken with Parmesan Potatoes

BBQ Roasted Chicken with Parmesan Potatoes

What You Need!
1 lb. small red potatoes (about 8), quartered
1/4 cup KRAFT Italian Vinaigrette Dressing made with Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1-1/2 tsp. chili powder, divided
4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)
1/4 cup KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce
2 Tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

Make It!
HEAT oven to 400ºF.
TOSS potatoes with dressing in 13x9-inch nonstick pan; sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. chili powder. Bake 25 min.
STIR potatoes; push to sides of pan. Place chicken in single layer in center of pan; sprinkle with remaining chili powder. Drizzle with barbecue sauce.
BAKE 20 min. or until chicken is done (165ºF) and potatoes are tender. Transfer chicken to platter. Stir potatoes to evenly coat with pan drippings. Spoon around chicken on platter; top with Parmesan.

Kitchens Tips
*Using one pan to roast the potatoes along with the chicken makes for speedy cleanup


This recipe came from the KRAFT kitchens......obviously you can use any brand.  Easy, looks good and I say it's gonna be dinner!

No Shower, Car Trouble And I'm On My Period.

"Ohhh... OH! Well....yeah. Of course you've had a bad day. Yup, you're on your period!".

OK, I admit that the statement, the tone of voice that implies the statement, or even the THOUGHT of the statement above makes me momentarily cringe and become somewhat rabid cranky. I mean didn't you notice the car trouble...the no shower???

I have come to the conclusion that it's not really "the period" that's so awful, it's the menstrual bad JuJu. The once-a-month visitor that brings tidings of hormonal miscontent. Not Joy. There is no joy. I am a joyless lightening rod for all good things to go sour. I have lost my MoJo. Plus, I have cramps.

With that said, yesterday morning I made the breakfast bake. I figured, good hearty breakfast for the boys before our college adventure. And it was good! I figured that between my son (who would eat the vacuum cleaner if I put it between two slices of bread) and my nephew, Sean (the pickiest eater I know) I would get a fair assessment. It was deemed "good", and devoured. I will definately make this again.



While I cleaned up from breakfast I sent the boys off to shower and get ready.
So far, so good...and right on schedule. My turn for a shower and wait for it......no hot water. What is it about the "no hot water" we don't get? Standing there, cold and naked, with the shower going full blast while you shove your hand in and out repeatedly? Nope, still no hot water. Minutes pass, maybe...no. No hot water. It finally sets in. Now it's decision time...cold shower or cold sponge-bath? Geez, well we are running late now, so no time for a shower anyway. Decision made. Icy sponge-bath it is. Hair won't behave, I feel gross and I'm running late. Bad Menstrual JuJu.

Once in the car, balance is restored. Directions, well-groomed boys, gas, and I even remembered to bring gator-aids for when I got the "Hey, can we stop and buy a coke....I'm thirsty." Mental pat on the back and we are off to the college.

The trip was 37 miles long. Of those 37 miles the last 15 were spent in quiet panic with soaring blood pressure, and a cold-sweat of indecision. My car seems to be stuck in high gear (the screaming whine of the engine heard over the radio is indicating something is amiss). Definately something is WRONG. Wait, lets turn off the radio so we can hear it better. Maybe if I concentrate on the pitch of the screaming I will be able to instantly diagnose the problem and make a decision AS TO WHAT TO DO. "What's that noise, Mom/AuntLinda?" Oh, well guys, that's the sound of lightning striking out at my hormonally charged, dark aura.....never mind. Wait, I notice that as I lift my foot from the accelerator the screaming stops. Completely. Testing it I apply my foot to the gas...instant scream! Scream , scream (playing with it like a tongue with a sore tooth). What does this MEAN? I shift my concentration to take inventory as to where we are exactly (actually...looking for a SIGN to help me decide what to do.....if a Pep Boys appeared...THAT could be a "sign".) My engine scream has settled into a consistant, loud "emergency-vehicle" sound and we are just a mere couple of miles from the college. Decision made. We scream up to the college and (Oh Thank you Lord!) there is one, just one parking space left in this tiny, metered parking lot. I slide my car in, shut the engine off and ask the boys...Do we have change?

10 minutes for a quarter, 4 minutes for a dime and 2 minutes for a nickel! After scouring the boys pockets, the car floor and my purse we have 1 hour and 44 minutes. I can actually feel the bad JuJu gathered around my unwashed head like rainclouds, just waiting to bust loose.

The college tour was blessedly uneventful. The highlights for me were the(very good and strong) coffee and watching my nephew during part of the tour. He was standing off to the side of the group, completely engrossed in finger-combing and flipping around his glorious mane of hair. My sister had previously told me of this phenomenon, but I had never witnessed it before. (It truly is great hair. I envied his glorious, clean hair.)

After the college tour ended, we drove off whined away with 30 min left on the parking meter, and a car waiting for our spot. (My random act of kindness for the day......did I tell you that today was the first day of "Acts of Random Kindness" week? Huh.) See how the days glow has just tarnished away? Just get us home, you stupid car. You piece of junk.

We screamed all the way home, but we were home. And safe. So now we just wait for my husband, fixer of all things broken, to come home and we can figure this out. He test drives it and ...it drives fine. Evil, two-timing hunk of crap. Jim looks at me kindly, searching for just the right words....(no rash movements, here) and states it must be an "intermittant problem".

I'm tired, unvalidated and ...I'm on my period. End of story.

Spicy squid, Snowmen and Bad Paprikash

GOT SNOW?  We do!  Yesterday was a fabulous day.....my Dad took all "his girls" (which also included my brother, ha ha) out to a great Thai restaurant for a pre-Valentines lunch.  Yummy!  I got the Spicy squid salad...whoo hoo!  While there it started to snow...those big, wet,  picture-perfect flakes.  It was beautiful!

In the evening, Jim, Nick and I played and played.  We made a snowman, snow-angels, had a snowball fight and just generally had a blast!  Our snowman turned out to be taller than our son, who is 6'6! 

For a Georgia-boy this is BIG snow!

As for the paprikash...well while I was putting it together I realized I didn't have enough regular canned tomatoes...so I used a can that had jalepenos in it.  We like it spicy anyway, I figured.

HOT!  Very hot!  Jim had to come to the rescue and fix it so we didn't incinerate the linings of our mouths.  Oh well.. after much "tweaking" it finally simmered down.  Delicious, but definately not quick and easy, as I had hoped!

Shopping and tackling a Beef Briskit

So, yesterday was my monstrous shopping extravaganza. I gathered my list, coupons and off I went to Kroger, Publix and Ingals. Last week I came up with an idea to stock my sister up on grocery items while shopping for myself each week. She works full time at our local newspaper (my personal coupon resource!) goes to school full time, as well as being a single mom to my nephew, Sean! She NEEDS a personal shopper! This is what I got ->

Not bad, and with the hamb. helper and ground beef, she has 4 emergency meals for $1.75 each! The 22 bags of dog food was a major score.....free except tax. I'll be getting more of those coupons (Smart Source 1/31 Purina Pro-Plan...redeemable only at Petsmart).

Once home it was time to tackle the beef briskit................

My husband is in charge of all the meat purchases 'cause he gets GREAT buys at the Kroger near his work. One night last month he brought home a beef briskit for $4.35....where it was promptly banished to the garage freezer since I had never cooked one before. I found this recipe and decided to try it out. Had to dig out Jims Momma's old, cast iron dutch oven from the "hasn't been used in years or ever" pile of stuff, on the floor in our pantry. It was under the wok.... and I realized as I was doing this, that pack rats all over the world were nodding and going "uh Huh....yep,.... told ya!....you'd need that someday! And they were right.

Final result: Success! The onions and sauce cooked down to a thick jazzy sauce and the beef is falling-apart tender. We are having it for dinner tonight (it didn't finish cooking until 8:30 pm last night). Yea! So now as I put the pot back into it's hole in the pantry....it knows it will be back to cook another day.

Today I am boiling chicken thighs in preparation for chicken paprikash, which we'll have Friday night. I add a can of diced tomatoes and serve over egg noodles. So easy and delicious!