Thanks hubs

     Don't you love it how on a particularly emotional day (I won't mention of course who was the cause of most of the turmoil...) your significant other or even someone else special in your life will come through and totally make the day at least end better? Well thanks to the old husband, that is exactly what happened. After that long and stressful day, compounded by a few or more taxing conversations about money, kids etc. he managed to pull it all together with even more sit down time...maybe a little crying time, and YES, a Weinerschnitzel Chilli Cheese Dog.
*sigh* Life was most sweet again. SO, by a quick raise of hands out there, lets see who has a secret chili dog passion? Anyone? No? What about you, over on the left, trying to hide behind that hat...yeah I saw your hand. Any other late night craving secrets? Do tell. I love to swap juicy stories (and when I say juicy, I mean "where's the best place around here for a seriously juicy and amazing burger?!") You may not call that healthy, but I am pretty sure that mental health definitely qualifies as a key component factoring in on your overall daily health quotient. AND, the naturally occuring endorphins from such food eating bliss are sure to create such a rush, thereby aiding in increasing one's metabolism, consequently expelling the unwanted fat promptly and producing an overall cleansing affect on the body that might not have even been experienced without the said chili dog. Yeah...or something like that! The real beauty of this happy hour hot dog was that it really was a happy hour for it...after a few tears, mommy and daddy time, NO interference from the TV, and trying to get settled in bed we were back to our newlywed tricks.
 Don't sit there blushing like you don't know what I am talking about. 
Anyway, food was something that brought us together (you know, the whole "hey, you like food, I like food, we should make out" thing). Seriously, though. Since there wasn't a Del Taco around for those ever delectable chicken soft tacos or bacon double del's, we settled for the dog at 11pm and proceeded our late night talking and laughing ritual, just like the old days, til well past midnight. Maybe you folks are more fun and do that regularly. I am pretty sure we hit our middle age hump long before now...so the buzz is still keeping me afloat today. And just to add sweet sticky icky sugary gooey syrup with whip cream and a cherry on top...I found leftover pine nuts in the cupboard today due to a seriously zealous packer of a husband who lugged them in his weighed down and no air-conditioned car all the way from California. i think I'll keep him. And what a good thing it was too, because I threw together an amazing Chicken and Rice Pilaf Salad that would not have been complete without it. So go on, laugh at the anti-blogger who now posts all my most intimate of intimates out into cyberspace (what comedian was it anyway who said blogging is just a glorified diary and that we used to hide that behind lock and key underneath your mattress!) Kick back and chuckle that I am no longer able think rational thoughts about my day without turning them into some headline for my next post. Get a good giggle out of the fact that I did name my Blender 'Gary'. Whom I might also add has become such a favorite of my 5 year old that he informed me today that 'when I am super old like grandma (sorry mom) and he is a daddy and has kids he will take my blender so he can use it'. I promptly responded with "Just because I am old doesn't mean I won't still use it, or even share it with you!" to which he replied, "Well then when you are asleep I will sneak into your house and steal it away and you'll never know!"
Kids say the darn'dst things don't they?
I tried to fool him with the old, "well I'll get an alarm that goes off when you sneak in my house" technology response and he just threw his head back and laughed, ever so  cynically might I add. How do you even respond to that? Maybe we'll hold a contest at some point and I can just will Gary to the winner. Seems fair. And since I am still so high off of a good night lack of rest and a yummy satisfying lunch, I figured it was time I share my lunch-time easy idea with you, so enjoy the salad and maybe even some late night food raids of your own,     
just for sanity puposes.

     Chicken and Rice Pilaf Salad

• 4 chicken breast tenders (or 2 chicken breasts) or Tofu (optional) cooked in a saute pan with a little olive oil and italian spice, basil and garlic, or whatever else suits your fancy. Be sure to add salt and pepper.
• Leftover rice pilaf, homemade pilaf, or any other plain leftover grain such as quinoa, barley, brown rice etc (basically whatever might be in your fridge or could quickly cook up. Try the 'Near East' brand of quick foods as it has no msg, and great ingredients.Warm it through if using a leftover.
• 1/2 - 1 whole summer squash and zucchini chopped into rounds
• 1/4 of a white onion diced
• 2-3 tbsp. pine nuts toasted (or any other delicious nut favorite or even just a nut you happen to have around like walnuts or pecans)
• Mixed greens (salad) and extra olive oil and lemon juice are all optional, see below

After cooking chicken, set aside and quickly saute the veggies. Toss all the ingredients together til well incoporated and take a quick taste to check seasonings. Add any as needed and serve alone or over a nice bed of mixed greens with an extra shot of olive oil and squirt of lemon juice. Delish! Leftovers great for lunch to go. If vegetarian, simply omit the chicken and add Tofu or nothing at all!

WARNING: Don't Try This at Home!

     SO...Gary let me down this weekend. Yup, he just may be moved to the back burner...for at least a week. I was in a particularly productive mode yesterday, not only was my little chicken in the roaster before church, but I had set my potatoes and cauliflower in a pot to boil and left them in the hot water while I was gone. Lunch was otherwise quick and easy, leftovers from the night before, and the kitchen was even clean. A-maze-ing. We get home from church about 3 hours later, (side note is that a 5.2 lb chicken cooks to absolute perfection on 250^ in that amount of time, little butter rubbed on the skin, herbs in the cavity, and all those drippings on the bottom, YUM!) and I finish preparations for the meal. Set aside the cauliflower for pureeing, bring the potatoes back to a boil, let the chicken rest before carving, and start the gravy...(again, drippings are great here, about 2 boullion cubes, 2-3 TBS cornstarch in water or the water from the potatoes for thickening, and even a little veggie base from my fridge and it was the BEST gravy ever!) Another little note that might be good to add here is that this was officially the best chicken I had ever roasted, it was juicy, plump, moist, tasty etc. AND, the gravy was pretty much perfect. Anyway, the kids were relatively quiet, low blood sugar and tired from no rest time, so it was a great time to finish things up. Then I make the dreaded mistake, I have to blame my husband for part of this though as it was HIM who added too much milk. Again, I digress. I decided the easiest way to make the mashed potatoes (also with most of the skins left on for nutrients) was to add them to the blender with the cauliflower. I wanted them really smooth right? Well this is what it turned out to be;

That's right! Mashed potato soup. The moral of this story? Never try this at home. Stick with what ya know, the good old fashioned hand mixer would have perfectly sufficed in this situation! Luckily my kids didn't seem to notice too much (after they got over the awkward, do I eat this with a spoon or fork swirling it around on their plate scenario) and my husband only reminded me once that the leftovers would probably go to better use as soup rather than the shepherd's pie I had so carefully planned.




Which brings me to another exciting note in what I would like to call "Food Creativity".....The Double Duty Meal. I am quite sure most of you have figured out that if you make extra of something, you have a meal for later. I would like to expound on that just a little by adding, purposely make extra of certain items and you are in like flint for quick and easy healthy meals. For example, extra mashed potatoes are excellent for things like, shepherd's pie, or in my case, creamy and cheesy potato veggie soup. (Shepherd's pie by the way is a dish from England that consists of a saucy and sometimes meaty bottomed veggie dish, topped with cheesy mashed potatoes and baked to casserole perfection). Extra rice from Saturday's Thai night will be perfect for what we like to call "Hawaiian Haystacks" (maybe you've heard of them, maybe you haven't) we usually just throw a quick sauce together of
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 -1 c. chicken broth (depending on how much you need and how thin you like it)
1/4-1/2 c. milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 can chicken or any leftover chicken in your fridge


Then we cut up tons of veggies; carrots, tomato, green onion, green/red pepper, olives, peas, spinach,  etc. We use a can of pineapple, mandarin oranges, chopped nuts (usually cashew of mixed) some shredded cheese, shredded coconut and little dry chow mein noodles or other crunchy noodles that we have around. Then load the rice, sauce on top, and any combo veggie and toppings and you have a quick and super yummy crowd pleaser, as everyone can make their own exactly like they want it.


Another easy one, is fried rice (which is of course not really fried) or a sweet rice and chicken bake, with a similar but smaller batch of the above sauce, shredded chicken from the can or fridge, shredded cheese, and any combo diced veggie mixed thouroughly and baked at 375^ anywhere from 30-45 min. We like diced squash, zucchini, corn and the like. I could go on and on about rice, it is my favorite ingredient to make extra of, as it is so versatile. While growing up, we used to have poor man's rice pudding after certain dinners by adding cold milk, sugar, and cinnamon to some leftover hot rice for dessert.
P.S. Not only is it good for dessert, but make sure you do all brown rice or an easy 3/4 brown and 1/4 white rice combo and it makes for a perfect breakfast as well, especially for any of you gluten free kids out there!
Enjoy, and here's to more good eating and less kitchen disasters!