Mexican Chicken

Day 12-Maybe I need to cook more often so that this number is a bit higher! I mean honestly it seems like I started this blog forever ago and somewhere over the rainbow. 12?! This is actually my 20^th post and that thought alone makes me feel happy. I didn’t even know if I would make it this long. Nobody told me how daunting of a task it would be to write a daily blog. I feel like I should just start writing a book while I’m at it. I mean what harm could one more crazy, ambitious challenge cause? I need to change the subject before I really start believing that is a good idea. It's not. I’m not. Ending the topic now.

Onto the more important topic, cooking. I couldn’t have picked an easier recipe then I did last night, Mexican Chicken. To be honest I have no idea where this recipe came from or if it’s even called Mexican Chicken. I hand wrote it into a recipe book and there are no notes on where it’s from. Anyway folks this one is super easy. It definitely isn’t Mexican enough for my tastes, but it’s simple and some nights that’s really all you are looking for.

I pounded out and trimmed 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Put them in a baking dish and seasoned them with Adobo (the recipe didn’t call for this, but I firmly believe in seasoning proteins (the meat part of the meal). I love calling them proteins, I feel like I’m a chef!) and pricked them with a fork. Next I mixed a jar of salsa, a can of black beans, and 2 cups of corn together. I took that mixture and spread it on top of the chicken breasts. Then I put the oven on 400 degrees for 35 minutes. I chose to have Yellow Rice with this meal, so I cooked that up too. I didn’t cook it from scratch. My night needed to be relaxed. What can I say, I love Goya! While this all is cooking, I tore some pieces of Romaine lettuce and crumbled up some blue corn chips.

The recipe then calls for you to plate the chicken on top of the Romaine and crumbed blue corn chips. I decided to just plate in on top of the lettuce. I then put the crumbled blue corn chips and shredded Mexican cheese blend on top. Sour cream is a good condiment to add to this dish, so we had that on the side.

Final Product:

My thoughts for this one, it’s super easy people. Nothing rocket scientistish about it. The chicken came out pretty moist and the flavors were good. If you need a quick meal it works. I do not in any way believe that the Romaine was needed. It was pretty useless actually, so I would just skip that. Dinner in 35 minutes and you barely have to do anything other then putting it into the oven. Hallelujah!

Totals: 5 minutes prep, 35 minutes cooking time, 1 bowl, 1 baking dish

Cooking Quote of the Day:

There is no sincerer love than the love of food. --George Bernard Shaw

My PSA for the Month of August

I really do want this blog to mostly be about food, but I’ve had an issue weighing on my mind for a few weeks now. Cyberbullying. It’s when technologies such as text messages, Facebook, IM’ing, etc are used to post images or words that are intended to hurt or embarrass another person. I think this is an important subject for everyone with a child in their life to learn about. I don’t want to cause further embarrassment and pain, so I’m not going to disclose everything that happened. What I will say is that children these days are mean. There is no better word to describe it. I really don’t believe children were as mean back when I was a child as they are now. It amazes me. Maybe I’m wrong; maybe I just wasn’t the one having meanness directed at me, but I don’t think I’m wrong. I’ve never seen anyone talk to each other the way I’ve seen a group of 13 and 14 year olds recently. They are at the age that is so hard. Right before you start high school and you are trying to discover yourself. I remember being pretty miserable during this time and I wasn’t being bullied.

I just can not fathom how you can talk to people so degradingly and with such hatred no matter what age you are. I don’t care who you are it is not right and it needs to be stopped. Children should not be treated this way by their peers. The most shocking thing was when I stepped in these kids were just as rude, mean, and disrespectful to me. Do kids have no respect for adults anymore? This one girl actually told me to shut the F up! Are you kidding me? She is lucky that I’m 7 hours away from where she is! And she wasn’t the only one; I had even more nastiness flung at me on Facebook from several other children. I thought okay maybe their parents do not realize they are acting this way, I’m sure it’s hard to monitor your child’s ever move. Then I notice that some of these children’s parents are also on Facebook and can see what their children are posting. Is this acceptable now? To allow your child to be mean to their classmates to the point of something like this happening and like this? I was on a Facebook board about cyberbullying and one mother said that the cyberbullying turned into real violence directed at her child. These children tried to push he child over a railing and down 3 stories. They did manage to stab her child with a lead pencil one day. What snaps in a child’s mind to make them believe these are things they should be doing to another child.

It’s not right. It shouldn’t happen. What is wrong with children these days? Is all the technology turning them into little monsters? I really do not know what else to attribute it to. Although I think parents are not raising children liked they used to. I really do believe that parents should all take a class on how to properly raise children. These days it seems there is a liaise-faire attitude that some parents have when it comes to parenting their children. I’ve seen parents say children need to get tougher. Cyberbullying is just the words written somewhere it doesn’t harm anyone. That’s complete BS. I’m not a 13 year old and I was very hurt and offended by what was being said by these children on Facebook. Enough of this tormenting is the same thing as being verbally abused by a parent as far as I’m concerned. The statistics on cyberbullying are shocking. I can’t even imagine being or raising a child in this day and age. As I’m typing this I’m having a hard time dealing with my anger and frustration over this. I thought I had calmed down, but apparently not. It is NOT okay to degrade someone. It is NOT okay to threaten someone. If these children can’t control themselves then there needs to be consequences for their actions.

If you have a child or know a child please talk to them about this issue. Everyone needs to be aware of what is happening. Remember the old saying: If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

Cyberbullying Research Center

STOP Cyberbullying

Thanks for listening. I really needed to get that off my mind.

My Recent Thoughts RE Cooking

It was too hot to cook last night (we don’t have central air just a window unit). So we went out for Italian. I had eggplant parm which I can’t have at home, because Anthony doesn’t eat eggplant. Knowing I wouldn’t have a recipe to blog about today, I decided to do some research on the basics of cooking. I wanted to know what I know already and what I still need to learn.

I went on About.com: Busy Cooks first. The first thing you need to learn is how to read a recipe. I thought I already could read a cooking recipe, but it turns out I don’t read it correctly. Go figure. Who would have thought that the order of the words in an ingredient list was important? I’ve been doing it wrong all along. Example: 1 cup nuts, chopped does not mean the same thing as 1 cup chopped nuts. The first means take 1 cup of whole nuts and chop them, the second means take 1 cup of chopped nuts. This could get really confusing for me now. Luckily that was the only thing I didn’t know about reading a recipe! If it wasn’t, I would seriously think I was a contender for Work Cook in America. The rest of the stuff on this list of things to know is not important to me: How to Use A Microwave? Really?! Meal Planning?? I think I’ll pick my own meals based on what I like, not on the food pyramid and by color. Please. Do people really do this? Next site please.

I wondered around the internet for a bit and then thought, what am I doing?! No matter how many articles I read, I’m never just going to apply this stuff to my cooking. I’m just being real. Did we see any improvement in my cooking skills after researching that? Nope! I believe each person has their own cooking style. I still think it’s important to figure out how to use a knife, so that there isn’t blood all over your kitchen. Other then that, cook how it suits you to cook. I might not look like a professional in the kitchen and my final product might not look like you ordered it at a swanky restaurant, but my food usually tastes pretty good (lately anyway).

Does my new found belief in myself mean that this blog is over? Ha! No way! I still hate cooking, I’m still suffering from kitchen anxiety, I still can’t just throw something together, and I haven’t tackled some of the foods I really want to (such as risotto, chicken pot pie, beef wellington (this is because I love Gordon Ramsay) and something from the Top Chef cookbook (this is a terribly intimidating book for me) . Plus I haven’t made and blogged about the things I can cook: meatloaf, lasagna, and enchiladas! Also I love food and want to share meals that are a wonderful experience to eat and one’s that miss the mark. If nothing else this blog should give you some news ideas to spice up your own weeknight meals.

Also here is a random picture of one of the loves of my life: Max

He is a very kissable pup!

Quinoa Veggie Paella

Day 11-Even though I still feel like I’m not getting anywhere, the challenge continues. I feel like nothing in the last few weeks has changed. I still have a mental blockage when I walk into the kitchen. There is no confidence or a sense of calm. Nothing. I would say what I have as I enter the kitchen is kitchen anxiety. I’m not sure if this actually has anything to do with the anxiety disorder that I suffered from when I was younger. My thought is that it doesn’t and I’m just trying to find an excuse for my terrible behavior in the kitchen. Since this is my blog though and I can say whatever I want, I’m diagnosing myself with kitchen anxiety. Kitchen anxiety is defined as a tensing of muscles, heart palpitations, excessive sweating, and a lack of metal clarity when entering a kitchen to prepare a meal. (note: this is an ailment and definition I made up, don’t go googling this disorder!)

The meal of choice was Quinoa Veggie Paella. Last night I was just hoping for smoother sailing then Sunday, not perfection. Did I get it? Sort of. I was very calm while I was taking my time prepping all the veggies and other ingredients. Then I looked at the clock and noticed more then half an hour had passed, that’s when the anxiety started. I was never going to get this meal cooked by a reasonable hour at the snails pace I was going! Panic, panic!! This quinoa is just flowing through the mesh of my strainer!! Help, help, HELP!! Anthony came in a fixed the quinoa situation by putting it in a bowl and rinsing it a few times that way. I also had problems chopping the leftover huge zucchini from the other day and Anthony took over that too. He obviously must be able to sense my anxiety times and just finishes steps for me. Trust me, I’m okay with that.

Time to cook. This recipe is actually pretty simple once you get everything prepped. Get the onion and garlic soft, than add the quinoa and saffron (I used something at Wegmans called American Saffron, it was $12 cheaper! It turns out the only similarity between the saffrons is color, American Saffron is basically useless for flavor) and cook for 2 more minutes. Then you add a bunch of stuff bell pepper, can of diced tomatoes, kidney beans, vegetable broth, cumin, chili powder, and smoked paprika (this is new for me, I normally just use regular paprika, but there is definitely a difference!). Cover, and cook for 15 minutes. Add the zucchini and cook another 5 minutes. Then add the peas and cook another 5 minutes. Technically by now the quinoa should be done, which mine was but it was still a little watery. I cooked it 3 minutes longer and just decided it was fine, because I’m such an expert! Instead of putting chopped artichokes on top, I put hearts of palm (I had a can of it on hand). Yum! Those things are delicious!

Finished Product:

My thoughts: Now that I realize that American Saffron is nothing like real saffron that might have been why this dish was lacking some flavor. I think I would add more spices, maybe even some hot sauce. I really couldn’t taste anything other then the tomatoes. I would love to try this recipe again and add some flavor to it, but Anthony didn’t care for the quinoa cooked this way. He said the texture reminded him more of the first time we tried it and didn’t like it. I on the other hand didn’t mind it. I’m either getting used to quinoa or I just ignoring it, because I know it’s really good for me! This dish is actually full of good for you foods!

Totals: 30 minutes prep (should have been maybe 15 minutes), 35 minutes cooking time, 1 pot, 1 strainer or bowl (for the quinoa)

I really need to address my kitchen anxiety. I shouldn’t panic over what time it is, or if I think I might panic just start cooking earlier. That’s what I plan on doing tonight. Next up Mexican Chicken.

Cooking quote of the day:

Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.-Harriet Van Horne

Quinoa Vegetable Paella-adapted from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

Please check out the links I recently added of blogs that I read regularly. I also added a link to a document with all the recipes I have used for this blog. I update it as often as I can!

Grilled Salmon and Asparagus with Balsamic Butter

Day 10-If I didn’t feel an obligation to make myself a better cook, I would say it’s over. That I’ve given up. (I just let out a huge sigh. People at work are probably thinking what could be so hard in her life that she needs to sigh like that? If only they knew the truth!). Cooking is like a little gnat that I keep swatting at trying to keep it away, but it never ever goes away and it’s so dang annoying. I have never been as frazzled and out of it as I was last night when I was cooking dinner. I spent a good deal of time in the kitchen earlier in the day yesterday making four loaves of zucchini bread, which probably didn’t help my mood last night. I think I got a 15 minute break between when the last loaves came out of the oven and when I had to start cooking dinner. Um and speaking of the zucchini bread, why the hell did it take so long to bake? I feel like I messed up somehow, but I don’t see how that’s even possible. It definitely took over an hour to cook the bread. I do not remember it taking that long. Stupid bread, I should have known better then to cook dinner after that nonsense.

Yet here we are, Day 10. I’m a glutton for punishment. Torture is like a drug to me. The menu consisted of grilled salmon and asparagus with a balsamic vinegar butter reduction accompanied by creamy polenta. Why I thought that this recipe looked like something that I could manage I don’t know. I’ve never cooked salmon or polenta. I grabbed the only thing I saw in the Goya aisle at the grocery store that said yellow corn meal. Whether it was the right or wrong thing I still don’t know. The recipe for creamy polenta said to boil salted water and add the polenta. Then add 4 tablespoons of butter and cook 30 minutes. There is supposed to be cheese in this too, but apparently I didn’t write that part of the instructions down. Sigh.

The water boiled, I started adding the cup of polenta and in the process was getting burned by the bubbling scalding water. I had grabbed the first whisk I saw which was pretty tiny and that wasn’t the smartest move. So I’m screaming because it was hurting and Anthony comes in ands gets a bigger whisk and starts whisking wanting to know the next step. That step is adding the 4 tablespoons of butter, which I dropped in the pot without cutting it and Anthony said, “NO, you can’t just put a whole chunk in like that!” Then the butter is out of the pot and on the floor. Oops! We got new butter and put that in and then Anthony says it’s done! WHAT?! How can it be done when it’s supposed to take 30 minutes to cook? That’s why I started the polenta before doing ANYTHING else. Yet here we were with the polenta done and no instruction in the directions on when to add the cheese to it. Neither of us knew what to do with the polenta now. Anthony said it would turn into a gummy mess if we just stopped cooking it now, so I keep it on the stove a little longer.

As you can see, this dinner was a disaster from the beginning. Then there was the salmon and asparagus. Who in their right mind choices to pick a recipe with items being grilled when said person doesn’t know how to use the grill? Only me. Anthony had heated the grill for me, so I prepped the asparagus and threw it on the grill. Then I ran inside to deal with the reduction of balsamic vinegar, honey, and butter and prep the salmon. During that process I managed to burn the reduction a little. Too bad, because now I had to run out to the grill and turn the asparagus and put the salmon on. Sadly the asparagus already look as if they could be done, but I leave them alone for now because I have to finish the reduction and deal with the polenta. I add the cream cheese to the polenta, which looks thick and goopy. That’s not very appealing. I ran back out to the grill and realized I have no idea how to tell if salmon is done. So I grab Anthony and make him deal with it. He gets everything off the grill for me. Thank you Anthony!

Was dinner ruined? No. Anthony added some milk to the polenta and made it work. Everything else was cooked fine.

Final Product:

This is the only picture taken last night, because I was not a happy camper.

What are my thoughts on these recipes? I guess they are fine. I have no desire to make either one of them again. I’m over it.

Totals: 5 minutes prep, 10-15 minutes cooking time, 2 pots and a grill.

I’m desperate for tonight’s dinner to be a better experience. I can not have another frustrating night in the kitchen. I just won’t be able to handle the pressure. The other meals I will be cooking this week are: Mexican chicken, sausage curry couscous, something with gnocchi, and quinoa veggie paella. Now to decide which of these dishes will cause the least amount of madness in the kitchen tonight.

Creamy Polenta-adapted from Simply Recipes

Grilled Salmon and Asparagus with Balsamic Butter-adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray