Hawaiian Chicken with Rice

Living Alone Lesson 4: Screaming will not kill cockroaches.

Hate is a pretty strong word. I know I over-use it and don't really mean it sometimes when I say it. Honestly, I feel privileged to say that there are only a few things in life that I truly hate.

Growing up in South Florida exposed me to the nastyness of palmetto bugs. Just thinking about them makes my skin crawl. There wasn't much you could do to prevent them from crawling into the garage or house in the hot, humid weather! Luckily I could just scream or run away and someone else would have to deal with it. 

Spring break in high school, I was in Texas with the besties. We were having a great "before bed" conversation when I quickly jumped out of bed to run to the bathroom. I flipped on the light, did my thing, then turned around to flush the toiled...AND SCREAMED! A huge palmetto the size of my middle finger went scurrying across the back of the toilet into the vanity. I woke up the whole house: parents, brothers, friends, everyone.  When they came to the rescue there was no mysterious bug to be found. I am positive it is hiding in the wood. To this day, they all probably think I was on hallucinogenics.

College came around and I was supposed to mature. There was a small, more private weight room in the basement of one of the old, dingy dorms near mine. It was beyond disgusting, smelled like feces, and the roof leaked in more than seven places. I am still shocked that I used it, but it was closer than the trek across campus in the -40 degree weather during the winter. I usually felt pretty safe around one of my good buddies and would venture to go lift over there with him as I was confident he had my back if a creeper ever decided to get me while lifting. Pretty sure it was a Sunday afternoon when my perception of this brave soul drastically changed. As soon as we entered the hell hole of a room, I recognized these HUGE, nasty antenna and immediately freaked out! (Well, I thought it was a freak out until I witnessed Ben's reaction.) He legit was in the corner screeching like a girl telling me "to do something about it." After I realized that the two of us combined yelled louder than a school yard full of children and that I would have to be the bigger person in the situation, I started chucking 25 lb. plate weights across the room. I creatively trapped the nasty cockroach, then smashed it with a mound of six weights. They sat there for the rest of the school year and I never, EVER, will go back to check on it. 

After over twenty years of my life, Jeanie can finally say she witnessed me screaming like a girl. I turned on the toaster oven for her one night and after about three minutes of it heating up, I opened it to put her bread in. Never thought I'd ever see a cockroach run from a heated toaster over, but it happened, literally, right before my eyes. I jumped to the ceiling and let out the highest pitched yell of my life. For sure thought the bug was going to crawl on my face. Just one of those things I never expected to find toasting bread, but was glad to have someone close by to take care of the bug for me!

Yesterday I was in the bathroom and saw a big, black mark on the wall behind me. At first, I was trying to figure out what dinner guest made a scuff that high up on the wall and how I would come up with a story for the house owner upon arrival. Quickly I noticed the trademark, long antenna and realized it was no mark at all. I could yell and scream all night, but that bug was not going to magically disappear and the neighbors were probably contemplating calling the police. I gathered myself together, did a little pump up speech and ran to grab the vacuum. I closed my mouth really tight, turned on the high powered thing and sucked him up super fast with one eye closed. I heard the crunch and left the machine on for a few more minutes just to make sure he was drowning in the sea of hair already trapped in the vacuum. I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. 

Hawaiian Chicken

3 chicken breasts

4 cups pineapple tidbits with juice

1/4 cup brown sugar

splash of olive oil

1 cup brown rice 

1 cup white rice

2 cups water

I surgically cleaned and chopped the chicken into about 1 inch pieces and added the pineapple pieces, juice and sugar to the crock pot. After about one hour or so I added a splash of oil to prevent it from sticking together. I let it cook on high for about 3 hours total and it was moist and tender!

With about 20 minutes remaining on the chicken, I cheated and used the rice cooker for the rice. Half-white, half-brown rice and it was ready in just a few minutes!

I don't hate pineapple, or chicken, or people that kill bugs for me. I can handle fruit flies and spiders, but Lord bless me when a nasty cockroach (or any closely related relative of his) enters my home. I like to think I am making baby steps in the right direction.

Lamb Stew!

Living Alone Lesson 1: How to de-clog the sink.

The sister is out and about enjoying pineapple, coconuts, and volcanoes. She is celebrating her birthday, her recent addition of PhD after her name, and many years with her hubby. In the meantime, I am throwing raging parties every night. The house will be clean before she gets back.

It's been nice to make a mess when I cook and not have to worry about it. Or leave my clothes all over the house. In fact, I think I have been doing it these past few days just because I can! I will admit, I did pick up and play housewife today. The counter-tops are shining and I can see the carpet in my room!

Garbage disposals are great. Don't have to worry about scraping out the crumbs or peels from the sink. Just push the little button. However, today we had a little spit up. Usually when this happens, I just stand there and look cute while Jeanie plugs the mess away. Doesn't seem too complicated and, to be honest, I have plenty of toilet plunging experiences from the good ol college days (o how I miss the roomies!) With no Jeanie to do the work for me, I was left to use my own skills...

Lamb Stew
1/2 medium onion
3 stalks celery
3 carrots
2 potatoes
6 stalks of parsley, stems removed, tops chopped
about 3/4 lb lamb meat
1 bottle dark beer
1 can Hunts tomato sauce (you can use fresh or diced tomatoes as well)
rosemary
thyme
pepper
olive oil

Peel, rinse and chop all the veggies and add to crock pot. Remove the stems from the parsley, chop the tops and add to the pot. Carefully trim the lamb meat, cut into chunks and add in. Pour in the beer and tomato sauce. Add a splash of olive oils and seasonings to taste. You can always add more later! Set the crock pot on high for 4 hours and enjoy!

my stew with some fresh French Baguette!

We all know how capable I am...so after plunging for 20 minutes, I called papa bear for some guidance. I learned how to create more pressure by using the stopper for one side of the sink and plunging on the other. I heard WOOOOOSH and magically the water drained! Thank God for cell phones, the engineers in my life, and my amazing ability to follow directions.

I am not sure if it was the potato peels or carrots, but needless to say, next time I might just throw the peels in the garbage. (My personal plumber highly recommended that) I know I should probably be eco-friendly and compost, but I don't want raccoons. I do not think I am ready to deal with them. At least not yet.

Chili and Corn Bread!

Comfort food. Does it really comfort you?

Some dishes, and even drinks, make me think of certain people. It usually brings back lots of good, fun memories of times together.

I have been craving chili all week. It could be cause it's Super Bowl weekend. Or it could be because I needed a minor trek down memory lane...

I miss hanging out with one of my good pals and the long chats we had together. We would stroll to the dining center for bunch after a wild night out. I would eat cereal by the bowl full. He would dominate the chili. And corn bread. I think it helped us recall the night's happenings...

I remember multiple tailgates when warm chili in my belly made me so much happier! My favorite memory probably has to be the VT Duke football game last fall. My cousin, sister and I had a super fun time "taste tasting" the chili at 3 am the morning of the game! Hey, we did discovered a new love for chili with corn chips! And only needed two hours of sleep...

Chili
1 1/2 onions (or one really large one) chopped
1 pepper, chopped
1 lb lean ground beef
2 cans dark kidney beans, rinsed
2 cans light kidney beans, rinsed
2 cans diced tomatoes (can use one can of fire roasted)
1 can tomato sauce
1 jalapeño, diced
chili powder
pepper
Frank's hot sauce
cheddar cheese
corn chips

sauté the onions and peppers on medium heat with some olive oil. add in the ground beef and let it brown. you might need to drain the excess liquid that comes off as it cooks. lightly season the meat while it is cooking. 

drain and wash the beans in a colander. add them to the crock pot and combine the meat on top of the beans.

pour the diced tomatoes and sauce on top of the beans and meat. add the jalapeño, spices and hot sauce. gently mix it together.

let it simmer on low heat for 5-6 hours. mixing every few hours.

beef n bean chili!!

Corn Bread with Chiles
from mama!

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup corn meal
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup shredder cheddar cheese
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
1 can corn, drained
1 can green Chiles, drained

preheat oven to 400. mix together dry ingredients and cheese in bowl.
beat together egg, milk and oil in separate bowl.
add wet ingredients to dry. do not over-mix. add in the corn and green Chiles.
put in muffin tins, or bread loaf pan.
bake for 20 minutes until golden brown on top!

I heart football. Lots. And am pumped for the big showdown this weekend. Rodgers was on my fantasy team so part of me feels like I need to cheer him on. Having some roots in PA, cheering for the Steelers seems appropriate. Honestly, I don't really care who wins. I just want to be entertained. Whether it's MillionDollar HairBoy picking everything off or Concussion Man airing out 1298371982 yard passes to Jennings, I'll take it.

The commercials never fail. And the Black Eyed Peas always make me wanna dance! I am looking forward to a good time with more friends, good eats and sports! Chili goes great at any get together, inside or out.

A Birthday Celebration!

I know I have been MIA for quite a while, but excuse me as I was celebrating the big birthday...I had a great time exploring the big city with the besties and enjoyed a bake off with friends in town! Peanut butter, apples, and pretzels were the theme for the birthday potluck/bake off. I got lots of great snacks and it was hard for me to chose the winner, but an apple, Brie and prosciutto panini got the cake for the "real food" category and a peanut butter, pretzel amazingness ball got the baked good prize. I did enjoy baked apples, fresh ground PB, PB cookies, chicken with PB sauce, salad...lots of tasty things involving three of my fav things in life! :)

I also was spoiled with a peanut butter crumble cupcake and apple cake on my actual birthday! SO TASTY!! Went great with milk! :) My friends came over and joined in on the homemade pretzel and caramel apple making festivities! We had fun experimenting with chocolate infused pretzels and chocolate dripped caramel apples! Made some pretty nice designs! HA. I'll get better in the future. We did try to boil to the apples for a few minutes before coating them in the caramel to help it stick to the apple. While it did help the caramel stick, I would not do it again because it changed the texture of the apple and I was not a fan. Maybe we boiled them too long...not sure?! But be careful if you do boil them to watch and not do it for more than 1-2 minutes!

My contribution to the bday potluck was a rosemary, garlic, apple and chicken crock pot dish. We served it on top of couscous. It was super tasty and moist and def loved the flavors together! Made the house smell like fall! :)

2 chicken breasts (whole)
2 apples (sliced)
2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
2 small onions (diced)
2 TBSP fresh rosemary (chopped)
1 pint apple cider
1 pint water
pepper (salt if you must)

add all the ingredients and put the liquid on top to cover the food. let it cook on med heat for 6 hours. feel free to experiment with different types of apples...

Recently, I made almond and chickpea (garbanzo bean) burgers. I got the idea from my Women's Health magazine. Super easy and quick to make. Def a good change up from traditional burger. I did not add spices or anything to them, but it needs a bit more flavor. Instead of frying it in the pan with extra oil, I baked it for about 10-15 minutes (until golden brown) to make it a bit healthier/less fatty. There was a chipotle mayo that was supposed to go with it, but I despise mayo and all things related...I served mine with fresh avocado, spinach and tomato!! delish!!

1 can chickpeas
1/2 cup almonds
1 egg
fresh parsley
pepper
add whatever spices you enjoy maybe coriander, cumin, paprika....

grind beans and almonds in food processor. do not over grind the nuts (stop before it becomes a powder) you want it kind of chunky. add the egg, parsley and the ground mixture into a bowl. mix with hands until you can form into a patty. place on baking sheet and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Being in NY did put me in the fall mood. I had a GREAT pumpkin beer and enjoyed the fall leaves!! Cannot wait to make some pumpkin treats along with other fall tasties! :)