Bourbon chicken, some catch ups, and another deployment

Hey blog world! Remember me? No, you don't? Please forgive me for abandoning you. I just felt like I had nothing interesting to write about. But I do miss it and I love accounting for my boring lil life, so I guess I'll continue. Plus Charlie left this morning on a deployment so I want to account for what is happening since I delusionally think he'll care :-) Love you sweety!

 I made some yummy crockpot chicken the other day but didn't snap any pictures (whoops). It looked like crockpot chicken, haha! My dad randomly said he liked Bourbon chicken, and that he decided he likes "alcohol in meals" even though he doesn't drink a drop (and never has!). I knew Charlie would love it so I looked up a few reference points and came up with my own formula:

Pam spray (for the sides of the crockpot)

1/4 cup ketchup

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 tbs apple cider vinegar

1 tsp ginger

1 tbs garlic

1/2 cup whiskey

2 chicken breasts (for charlie)

4 chicken thighs (for dad)

*I would have done 4 breasts for Charlie but he was leaving on his deployment the next day*

I cooked it on high for 4 hours. It was yummy! Sorry for the lack of pictures.

Okay so more catch up will come soon but for now I'll just share some fun pics.

Here is Maya burying her little head in me at a sweet moment at Starbucks right after we got back from italy (yes I realize that was at the beginning of May).

I love when she does that! And sheesh, I look old. Can we speak about the fact that I recently had a birthday, but as you all know, I turned 24 yet again.

Charlie got me this for my birthday:

Amazing! Now I just need to find embroidery software compatible with Mac. I'm surprised by the lack of options. He also got me some boxing stuff which we'll now have to wait to use until he gets back in September.

My favorite part was probably this card from my parents:

Seriously - most fitting card! Almost made me less jealous of the European cruise my parents were on, lol!

I got a visit from this little one later in my birthday week: 

My how she has grown! I can't believe it's been a year since you stayed with us little "mazy" I miss you and your momma, but am so glad you're not too far in AZ.

Look how cute she is:

And guess what? This 1.5 year old is potty training! Birdie, whatever's in your water, we all need it!

"Peepee peepee!!!" She knew when to tell use and went in the potty. Amazing!

I actually got Charlie to take some pictures with me before he left, which is a huge accomplishment since he hates when I take pictures of him or us.

Haha this one is funny:

Check out his multi cam two piece flight suit!!! Too bad he can't wear it here when it's this hot.

I'll miss you my love, and can't wait to be with you in December. I love you!

French Onion Chicken

I made this for dinner last night and didn't think to snap pics along the way. In my blogging hiatus (hiati for plural?) I do keep cooking awesome things if I say so myself, I just forget to snap pics. So it's only natural that upon the return of one, I don't think to obsessively photograph each step. Sorry!

Anwyay, it was really good so I snapped pics of the leftovers which really don't look that good, but I promise they taste great!

I do normally use glass tupperware. I guess not last night.

I sent Jaren and Eden an email with the instructions. Here was my email t them:
I served this over pappardelle noodles, but you could serve over whatever.

I bought chicken breast cutlets from costco - I think I probably used an equivalent of 4 chicken breasts cut into strips. It wasn't organic chicken, we'll survive.

-1/4 block of low fat cream cheese

-1/4 cup fat free plain greek yogurt (or fat free sour cream)

-1 packet of liptons french onion dip

-olive oil

-2 medium onions (I would have done way more onions but i only had 2)

-white wine and chicken broth - I have no idea how much since i just eyeball (start w/a 1/4 cup each and go from there)

1. Rinse chicken. Sprinkle some oil in the crockpot and put the chicken in it - no need for salt, plenty in the liptons. Turn crockpot to high.

2. Mix the greek yogurt, cream cheese, and french onion, then mix in the wine and broth. The mixture should be more runny than creamy (if this helps determine how much broth and wine to put in). Dump it over the chicken and mix.

3. While the chicken is getting started in the crock pot (on high), slice the onions and separate them. Melt a tablespoon of butter and some olive oil over medium heat and add the onions, with some salt. Let it cook for about 10 minutes, then lower to low to caramelize, cover, and let cook for about 30 minutes.

4. Add the onions to the crockpot, stir, and cook for about another hour. It doesn't need to cook for very long since the chicken is smaller strips and the crockpot is on high. I think it was about 2 hours before it was completely cooked through.

It was easy and yum!

Here is a picture of it plated for lunch today:

I added some shredded part skim mozzarella cheese.

By the way, here was Jaren and then Eden's response to the e-mail:

Jaren Rabe	9:46 PM (16 hours ago)
to me, Eden

I stopped reading at "it wasn't organic chicken". 

Sent from my iPhone

Eden Sherman	5:47 AM (8 hours ago)
to me, Jaren

Hahaha oh man I wish I lived in Vegas... Never thought I'd type that

Sent from my iPhone

Haha love my friends, they make my heart smile. Enjoy the chicken!! Oh and speaking of friends and food, one of my favorite things is that Katy will pin a recipe, I see it, and make it for dinner that night or the next (obviously inviting her). We didn't really realize this until one day she said "I love pinning things, they magically appear for dinner at Avigail's that night". Hahahahahah! 

A hotel room meal

Cravings: a real meal, not a sandwich! When you're living in a hotel room, most of your meals are sandwiches. Ughhhhh.

Disclaimer: I wrote this about 5 days ago but could not post it due to no internet access.

These posts are going to be very all over the place since so much has happened and my connection is so spotty. I have many pictures and do not remember the order of everything, especially since half are on my camera and half are on my iphone!

What I do know is that last Friday I decided to make chicken in the microwave. Charlie's flight was grilling but we wanted to go see The Avengers (base movie theater was showing it), so we didn't have time to grill. The result was mediocre, but mostly due to lack of seasoning. The chicken actually cooked decently.

I bought a package of chicken "tenders" - basically breast strips w/o fat or skin chopped into thinner slices.

The recipe can be found here.

Along with my microwave chicken, I had a salad. 

Charlie made the point that I don't have to buy all of my salad ingredients and prepare them myself, but that we live in a country where they actually do that for you. Wow, I have been overworking myself! I bought one of those salads that has all the ingredients in little pouches, and it was delicious! All I needed was a fork and bowl. And my mouth.

Look everyone - I need my scissors, I am so happy I brought them! (For other things you may need when living in a hotel room, please reference this post).

I also had a brown rice microwavable packet. You literally just open the container and microwave for one minute. I usually buy these at trader jos or costco, but found these at the commissary and they were great as well.

I hope if you are living in a hotel room, that this meal has given you some inspiration to eat something more than a sandwich! It can be done :-)

White Enchiladas with Chicken Breast, Spinach, and Corn

Cravings: a gluten free, healthy, rounded, re-heat-able dish

How do you spell reheatable? I put the dashes because I'm just not sure.
This reminds of my junior year of high school when my mom and I sat down to make a list of what colleges I would apply to and I went to write "Ivy League" and stopped and said, "Wait, how do you spell league...?"

Yes that came out of my mouth...At least I was organized and categorized things even back then.

Okay on to the food. Mmmmmmm. Enchiladas, yummmm.


(a corner with no cheese for Charlie)

After a while of no cooking I was craving it, BAD.  I would see a recipe on pinterest and get so upset I couldn't make it due to my no kitchen. Well, last weekend we were staying in Enterprise with Charlie's parents, and his Aunt Susan and Uncle Eddy were visiting. Aunt Susan doesn't eat gluten. Challenge accepted! (yes that was a Barney Stinson reference).

My new running buddy Alison had told me about white enchiladas she made, and I based my recipe off of hers, with some tweaks.

White Enchiladas with Chicken Breast, Spinach, and Corn
Ingredients:
-about 10 corn tortillas, or flour if you do not need it gluten free
-two containers of plain, nonfat Greek yogurt
-one small can of chicken broth
-two jalapenos (you can use green chili peppers or omit if you don't want it spicy at all)
-3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
-2 tbs corn starch (or 3 tbs flour, but then it's not gluten free)
-1 pound of skinless chicken breasts
-cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper for seasoning (I eyeball)
-juice from a lime
-2 cups of part skim shredded cheese (you can omit this if you are sensitive to cheese)
-small bunch of green onion
-one can of corn (frozen or fresh works as well, but I had canned on hand)
-one packet of frozen spinach, thawed

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400. Sprinkle your chicken with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, and cumin. Cook for 25 minutes. Let cool, and shred with a fork and knife (or two forks)



2. While the chicken is cooking, remove the setting from your gas burner, and put your jalapenos directly on the fire. I forgot to take a picture of this. I let them sit for about 10 minutes until they were charred and black. Put them into a ziplock bag so they steam.


3. While the chicken is cooking and jalapenos are steaming in the bag, start your "roux". Mix your olive oil and corn starch, and stir on medium low:



Add about a tablespoon of cumin, teaspoon of garlic and onion powder each, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Peel the skin off your charred jalapenos and chop them finely. Add half the jalapenos into your roux:


4. Add the chicken broth to your roux and stir it. Let it thicken on medium. I have no idea how long this took - you want it to be thick but still runny, it should coat a spoon. Once the mixture is slightly thick, let it cool for about 10 minutes, and add your greek yogurt.



5. Chop up your green onion, and slice your lime.



Add them, as well as the spinach, corn, and remainder of the jalapeno to your shredded chicken. If you are good to go on the cheese, add about 3/4 of it all as well. Mix well together.


6. Scoop the mixture evenly into your tortillas. Line them up in a casserole dish and secure with a toothpick.



7. Top your rolled tortillas with the yogurt mixture, and top with the remaining cheese. (If you love someone who doesn't do cheese, leave some naked, they still taste great!)


8. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. You can broil it at the end if you want the cheese to be a bit crispy.


Don't forget to remove your toothpicks before you serve!

In retrospect, I think I would rather make these as a Mexican "lasagna" next time, stacking layers of tortillas, chicken mixture, and sauce, (repeat), instead of rolling them. But they are still yummy, nutritious, and gluten free! You can also substitute almost anything for the stuffing - any veggies you fancy, shredded beef or pork, or even tofu. Hope you enjoy them, and let me know what creative combinations you come up with.

Recipe: tricolor pasta with veggies and chicken

Usually pasta dishes are super simple, and this one was, but for some reason, it took me forever to get all the veggies ready. I am sure there are people who are quicker in the kitchen who could get it done in no time.

Ingredients:

1 package of tri color spiral pasta

1/2 bag of frozen broccoli

2 cups of chopped kale

1 cup of mushrooms

1 yellow pepper

1 zucchini

1 jar of low sodium tomato sauce

1 chicken breast

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Meanwhile, chop your zucchini and pepper and put it in tinfoil with a little bit of salt and olive oil.

Seal up the foil and cook for about 45 minutes. When this is complete, open the bag and broil for 10 minutes. It should look like this or more browned (I got impatient).

2. Cook tri-color spirals as indicated on box. The last 5 minutes of cooking, add the frozen broccoli to the cooking water. Drain, and put back in the pot with half of the jar of tomato sauce. Add the pepper/zucchini mix.

*Note* I used dehydrated shiitake mushrooms since I have a big jar of them. I added them to the cooking water as well. If you are using fresh mushrooms, I recommend adding them to the zucchini/pepper mix.

3. While the oven is on 400, cook a chicken breast for about 25 minutes. I didn't marinate it, but cooked it with salt and other dried herbs.

The chicken won't be cooked through. In a small saucepan, cook the other half of the tomato sauce on medium heat. (I also added a bit of water). Cut up the chicken into bite sized pieces and add into the tomato sauce. Cook for ten minutes on medium. Add to pasta mix.

4. Steam your kale (you can do this in the microwave by putting it in tupperware with a tiny bit of water and sealing with saran wrap. It takes about 2-3 minutes in the microwave. Chop it up really small and add it in. 

5. Stir it all up, and serve yourself a bowl!

This pasta is FILLED with veggies, and everything is bite sized, so you are getting in a lot of nutrients, as well as eating less calories per bite because of the volume the veggies take up. Enjoy!

Random things I've been upto

Random things I've been up to in no particular order (seriously, some of these are from January).


Hugging one of my favorite Shaynas! (end of April 2012)


Helping some doggies find forever homes with Rose. (mid April 2012)


Making my own Indian dishes. Loosely based off of My little sis Caroline's recipe. Let me say, quitting my job has made me quite the housewife (as if I wasn't before). Charlie's not complaining. (mid april 2012)


Hanging out w/some lovely ladies making crafts. (wreath pictures to come, although it's not complete yet!) (end of april 2012)


Making kale chips. And Juice. I loved it. Charlie said it tasted like grass. I guess I didnt' put enough fruit in for his taste. (March 2012)





Spending time w/my savta (who is 90) and Charlie in Israel.



Updating pictures on instagram from me and Charlie's first date. Yes he took me on a hellicopter ride.  No he did not fly it.


Opening (and LOVING) presents from our engagement party.




Playing at Duty free. Guess which one came home with me and which one came home with mom? (end of march 2012)


Donating blood and loving the fact taht the tape matched our outfits perfectly! (March 2012)


Hanging out w/my two Vegas bridesmaids.