Thanksgiving Day Feast

First look at all that food!

This was the Thanksgiving day menu:
Turkey
Sausage Stuffing
Stuffed Squash
Rolls
Mashed Potatoes
Squished Potatoes (find recipe here)
Corn (from a can)
Lima Beans (from a can)
Cranberry Sauce (from a can)
Pecan Pie
Buckeyes

Today I'll comment on the turkey and the stuffed squash.

For the turkey, I mixed together minced garlic, fresh parsley, fresh sage and fresh rosemary with EVOO.  I rubbed this all over the turkey.  I also got some cheese cloth and soaked it in melted butter (1 stick) and placed it on top of the turkey breast.  I learned this trick from someone on food network - the point is that the top/breast of the turkey doesn't get too brown.  I stuffed the turkey with garlic (the whole bulb), an onion, and the rest of the rosemary and sage and some parsley.  Here's the final product:

Now for the stuffed squash:
Blue Cheese Stuffed Summer Squash (8)
4 medium yellow squash &/or zucchini (I used 2 of each)
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 c shredded carrot
1/3 c blue cheese crumbles
1/3 c green onions, thinly sliced
1/3 c fine dry bread crumbs, divided
1/4 c sour cream
1/8 t pepper (I did not measure this - com'on it's a pinch!)
2 tbsp chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 400F.  Spray 3 qt rectangular baking dish (I used a 9x13)
2. Halve the squash lengthwise and remove the seeds.  Put squash cut side down in dish.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove squash, but leave oven on.
3. In medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, carrots, blue cheese, green onions, 1/4 c bread crumbs, sour cream, pepper.
4.  Spoon mixture into squash halves.  Top with walnuts and remaining crumbs.
5. Bake uncovered about 10 minutes or until squash is tender and filling is heated through.

I made this ahead of time through step 4.  Refrigerated over night and finished baking them the next day.  Perfect when you have a lot of other food to prepare. They were really tasty.  Even my dad who claimed not to like squash enjoyed them!
Here they are:

Not Forgotten

I have had quite the hiatus from blogging.  Part of the lapse is justifiable.  I had knee surgery mid-November and wasn't cooking at all let alone anything new.  Then Thanksgiving rolled around and I was busy hosting family.  But I have no excuse for where I've been for the last 2 weeks or so.

This is me recovering from surgery.  I watched A LOT of food network that weekend.

I've also been bad about taking pictures recently of what I have made.  Oops.

Here's where I stand:
I made an entire Thankgiving dinner for my parents, Brian and me.  I tried some new sides and made some tested and tried favorites.  I took plenty of pictures that I will have to post later in a separate blog about all the fixings (my goal is to do this tonight).

Since Thanksgiving I made 2 new recipes.  Chipotle and cheddar mac and cheese and sloppy jerky turkey joes.  Both RR recipes.  I have no pictures to share though because I was being lazy.  I plan on making both again in the future so I'll be sure to capture pictures at that time.

Then just last night I made a turkey stew with left over turkey from Thanksgiving (love left over turkey). I'll post about this dinner this week!

Sorry to be so quiet lately, but I'm ready to ramp it back up.  So check back for the Thanksgiving dinner edition!

Pecan Crusted Chicken with Blue Cheese Sauce

Tonight I tried a brand new recipe, one that I came up on my own.  Pecan crusted chicken with a blue cheese sauce.  When I was thinking about how to make this, I knew that the chicken part wouldn't be too bad.  It'd just be like making a breaded chicken which I have recently mastered.  The blue cheese sauce part was going to be tricky though.  At first I considered using the food processor to make it more like a sauce instead of just chunks of cheese.  In the end, I decided to melt it and add milk.  I had to add some flour too to help it thicken.  The meal was really delicious and easy.  Slightly messy because of the coating the chicken, but it was worth it.

Here's the recipe:
 Serves 2.
About 1/2 cup of chopped pecans
2 chicken breasts
1 egg - beaten
flour
About 1/4 cup of Blue cheese crumbles
milk (a little less than 1/4 cup)
Grape oil - enough to lightly fry the chicken in a shallow layer

Method: Roast the pecans if not previously roasted.  (I wasn't sure if I was going to do this, but I tried some and they tasted raw, so I went ahead and roasted them).  To roast, just place the nuts in a dry (no oil) pan on medium heat.  Shake/stir occasionally so they don't burn.  Takes about 5 minutes.  (I went by smell, once I could smell them I took them off the heat).

Coat the chicken in flour and then dredge it in the egg.  Then coat with pecans.  Heat grape oil over med-low heat. Cook and cover.  Turn chicken after about 8 minutes.  Add more grape oil if needed.  Be careful flipping so the pecans don't fall off.  Cook until chicken is cooked through about 20 minutes total.

For the sauce, in a small skillet, mix the cheese and milk over med-low heat.  Whisk together as cheese begins to melt.  Add flour to thicken sauce.  Bring to boil and reduce heat.  Sauce will thicken.  (Be careful I turned off the heat at this point but wasn't quite ready to prepare the meal and after a few minutes the sauce was pretty thick).

Serve the chicken with the sauce over it.  Enjoy!

Parmesan Tilapia with Roasted Parm Potatoes

This weekend I was extremely adventurous and tried 3 new recipes!  So today is going to be a double entry!  Friday night I attempted a tilapia recipe that one of my friends finally convinced me to try.  It was a simple recipe, and Brian really enjoyed it.  However about halfway through my fish fillet I had about as much fish as I can handle.  Tilapia is a white fish.  It's relatively mild, but I am iffy about fish.  I really like sushi.  I can eat salmon and tuna without too much problem, but bring in the white fish and it's just overwhelming to me.  This recipe was good though because the marinade was super tasty and as long as I had enough of that in every bite I hardly knew I was eating fish.

Here's the recipe from whole foods market:
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2243

My modifications: I used fresh basil instead of dried.  I used sour cream although I'm sure greek yogurt would be fine.  As long as it's plain.  I didn't have either tarragon or onion powder so those were omitted.

Also the marinating part of the recipe was a little odd for me. My marinade was fairly thick and not what I think of for a typical marinade.  So I just coated the tops of the fillets with the sauce and let it sit in the refrigerator for awhile (longer than 20 minutes I think).  Then it was into the broiler.  I ended up cooking mine probably 10 minutes total just because I am a coward and freak out about anything undercooked which definitely means I overcook pretty much everything.

I decided to pair the fish with a potato that I saw RR make one day.  The potatoes looked delicious!  Here's the recipe for those:
http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=3233

I didn't make any modifications to the potato recipe although next time I think I might use an actual skillet instead of a pot.  I might also let them get crispier.  I had one potato that was slightly undercooked, but it was hard to maneuver all the potatoes in the pot.  Also the cheese distribution was awkward as well so I might sprinkle that on top of the potatoes once they make it to the plate.  I don't think I'll actually squish them next time either because I'm not sure that really adds much besides a mess.  They were delicious though and will be made again.

White Pizza

Last week I was craving a white pizza.  I decided that I should try to make one on my own.  I looked up a couple of recipes and ended up finding a Rachael Ray one.  Perfect.  I made a side salad to go with the pizza since the pizza was only cheese and bread, I figured we could use some greens.  But it was a pretty filling pizza and we ended up having 2 slices leftover.  Pizza leftover is a rare thing for us.  I used a whole wheat pizza crust already made (I don't really like messing with dough).  Next time I might try white instead.  I also just used packaged cheese pre-shredded.  My recipe called for provolone and I couldn't find any shredded so I got a bag that was mixed with mozzarella and provolone already.

Here's the recipe:
1 - pizza crust
1 L garlic clove minced (I pressed mine)
1 - 2 tbsp EVOO
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella (I definitely used more, love the cheese)
1/2 cup shredded provolone (I definitely used more)
1/4-1/2 cup shredded parmesan

Preheat oven to 500F (yes it really goes that high).  Combine EVOO with minced garlic in bowl.  Brush on oil, spreading garlic evenly over crust.  Top with cheese.  Cook for 6-8 minutes until cheese is melted and beginning to brown.

The next time I make this I think I plan on roasting the garlic in the EVOO and then spreading it on the crust.  I got some bites of fresh garlic and I think it was just too much for me.  I can see this recipe becoming a favorite fast.  It was easy and quick and tasty.  The trifecta!

Cheese Tortellini

Tonight's meal was a cheese tortellini with a bean sauce.  It's a super easy and quick meal.  And I think it's sooo yummy.  I've made this a meal a few times now, and it is quickly becoming a go-to meal.  I like to serve it with garlic bread, but really the meal can stand on it's own.  I think the sauce is a healthy substitution for alfredo sauce.

Here's the recipe:
1 - package tortellini (I use cheese, but use meat if you are a meat lover).  I get the 1/2 size package since I'm cooking for 2
1 - 15 oz can of great northern beans (or any white bean really), drained
1 clove of garlic
2/3 cup of milk
salt and pepper
oregano (probably 1 tsp worth)
2 bell peppers - use different colors!, chopped
1/4 cup of shredded parmesean cheese (I never measure this and most likely use close to 1/2 cup).  You can add more cheese to help thicken the sauce if needed (but it will thicken slightly as it cools as well).

Cook the tortellini according to the package directions.  In a food processor combine the beans, milk and garlic until smooth.  Add to skillet.  Add the cheese, seasonings and peppers.  Heat through over medium heat.

Combine the cooked tortellini with the bean sauce!  See isn't that an easy meal!  It's very fulfilling and satisfying as well.

Notes:  The original recipe serves 4 and uses 1 can of beans and 2/3 cup of milk.  Since halving a can of beans is awkward, I've always used the full amount for the sauce.  There ends up being a little extra sauce.  But it's easily used up with the garlic bread.  If making for 4, and you like a decent amount of sauce, then consider doubling the beans and milk.

Pizza Pasta Salad

First, I know it's been a few weeks, but I had back to back trips which prevented me from cooking and blogging.

Ok, now down to business.  The new meal for this week is Pizza Pasta Salad.  This was the second time that I have made this meal.  I made it up on Sunday** for Monday's dinner and left overs for lunches this week.  This is a good summer meal since it's a cold dinner.  Being in hot, humid Houston I'm always looking for cool meals like this.  (**So I wrote this blog and then forgot to publish.  Oops.  I made this a week ago and have a new recipe to share in my next blog!)

I think the next time I make this I might do 2 sweet peppers in different colors.  I also might leave the olives whole instead of chopping them or I might leave them out all together.

Ingredients:
Salad:
Sausage (or pepperoni) - I used pre-cooked sausage, 1 link (2 come in the package)
mozzarella - cubed (I used the whole ball which is ~6 oz I think)
1 cup mushroom, sliced
2 lbs tomatoes (I used 1 large tomato and 1 medium guy), chopped
1 sweet pepper (yellow this time and it added color nicely), chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 cup olives, diced (but again I think it's better to leave them whole or maybe halved; oh I used both green and black, but I think black work better for this)
1/2 lb pasta, cooked and drained (and drizzled with EVOO to keep from sticking) I used rotini this time
Vinaigrette:
6 tbsp EVOO
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, pasted (this is where you dice it and then smush it really well with the side of you knife)
salt & pepper
seasonings (I used Italian seasoning and oregano)

Salad - mix all the ingredients together!  Vinaigrette - mix vinegar with seasonings and garlic.  Whisk.  Stream in EVOO.  This should combine (the original recipe says thicken, but I don't really see this).  Then drizzle the vinaigrette over the pasta salad.  Chill and serve cold!

Chicken Parm Salad Sandwich

Over Labor Day, I had a weekend get-a-way to Arizona where I was joined by 6 other friends. It was our girls’ weekend. We decided to pair up and cook some meals so that we wouldn’t be eating out the entire weekend. I paired up with Michelle and we had lunch so we decided to make a Rachael Ray chicken salad. We doubled the recipe..

Here’s the recipe from RR’s website:
http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=2803

This was my first experience with rotisserie chicken, and I was quite pleased. Michelle and I had 2 chickens to work with, but it wasn’t too bad. She worked on getting the skin and bones off and then I shredded up the chicken. We decided to omit the mint in the recipe and used dried parsley instead of fresh. But since basil is my new favorite flavor, we got some fresh basil like the recipe called for.

After we had all the chicken shredded up, we worked on the dressing. Using the food processor we used chicken stock, garlic, basil and fresh parmesan cheese. Then we streamed in the EVOO while processing. At first it didn’t look like there would be enough to coat all the chicken, but there definitely was.

Next we sliced up the onions and tomatoes. Since we were doubling the recipe, we had 8 plum tomatoes ready, but we only ended up using about 5 of them. It just seemed like plenty. Remember to get the seeds out of the tomatoes. The seeds can make things too runny/watery. The onion that we had was large, so I only used about half of it.

We got good reviews all around and we had some leftovers. Be warned though the basil and garlic from the leftovers are pungent. The next day when we opened the refrigerator we would be over taken by the smell. I recommend keeping the leftovers in a sealed container (we just had them covered with saran wrap).

This past weekend I made this recipe again so that Brian and I can have another option for lunch this week. It’s a really easy recipe, and I plan on making it regularly on Sundays so we can eat it throughout the week. Another tip is to get the rotisserie chicken the day before using it. Since it’s cold, it’s much easier to work with.

Take 2 - Panko Crusted Chicken with Tomato Basil Sauce

The other night I re-made my panko crusted chicken dinner.  I was successful at not burning the breading.  It was really good.  The panko crumbs have a distinct flavor.  This is what I did differently:
1. I pounded out the chicken a little just to even the pieces out
2. I did not pre-heat the skillet and oil.
3. I used medium (or maybe just less than medium) heat. (I turned down the heat after the 2nd side was on for awhile to probably med-low).
4. I covered the skillet.

One side did get a little toastier than perfection, but not burnt by any means.  I also had to add more oil in the middle of cooking (originally I just added enough to barely coat the skillet).  The chicken probably needed about 10-12 minutes per side before it was cooked through.

No picture for this one because it essentially looked like it did last time, except the bread was more a brown color and not black (success!).  Usually the second or third time I make a meal is when I decide how much I like it.  I rate on ease of cooking, time required, mess made and taste.  This one is high on my list.  It's fairly easy...neither the chicken or sauce needs much attention once it gets going.  It is kinda messy since we have to coat the raw chicken.  It was fairly quick to make - this time around probably took me about 25 minutes, and it was delicious.  I'm sure I'll be making this recipe on a regular basis!

My next post will be a chicken parm salad that I made with the help of a friend when I was in Arizona for a Girls' Weekend.  Stay Tuned!

Chicken Jumbalaya

This week’s new recipe was chicken jumbalaya. Brian’s dad was visiting this weekend and I thought this would be a good dinner for Sunday. Brian and I had soccer so we didn’t end up trying it until Monday. I was a little nervous about serving it without trying it first, but I was reassured that it was tasty.

This was a pretty simple and easy recipe and it used the crockpot. I actually made quite a few modifications to the recipe which isn’t something I usually do the first time making something.

The recipe called for frozen onions and peppers and that’s not really my thing. I prefer fresh, and I didn’t think this should affect the recipe too much. Also the recipe called for diced tomatoes with jalapenos. Instead I used Rotel tomatoes with green chilis. I chopped up the onion and bell peppers and into the crockpot they went. Then I added the canned tomatoes, turkey sausage (which was already cooked), raw chicken and water. The recipe I was following also said to add the seasoning from the jumbalaya rice package. Well the rice that I got didn’t have the seasoning packaged separately from the rice so it didn’t go in yet. This cooked up in the crockpot while I was sleeping (definitely lazy cooking!) which was about 3 hours on high. Then I added the packaged rice (and seasoning). At this point I was worried that there wasn’t enough rice. I used about 20 ounces of canned tomatoes and the recipe only called for 14 ounces. After I got the rice in the pot, it just seemed that there wasn’t enough so I added about ¼ cup of plain brown rice too. Then I let it cook for another 45-50 minutes on high.

Well, there is a lot of rice now. I think there would have been plenty without that extra amount so I probably won’t do that next time.

Here’s what it looked like stewing in the crock pot.

Here’s the recipe (modified):
Servings: 6
1 medium to large white onion – chopped (larger pieces)
2 bell peppers – chopped (larger pieces) I used green and orange for the colors
2 - 10.5 oz cans Rotel tomatoes with green chili, undrained
2 cups water
8 oz turkey sausage, cubed
8 oz chicken breast, sliced
1 – 8oz packaged jumbalaya rice

Add onion, peppers, canned tomatoes to crockpot. Add water. Add sausage and chicken. (If your rice has the seasoning separate, add it now). Cover and cook on high for 2.5-3 hours or low for 5-6 hours. Then add rice, cover and cook on high for another 45 minutes or until liquid is soaked up and rice is tender.

Hash Browns

Even though this isn’t the most exciting side to make, I’m pretty excited about my recent effort to make hash browns.

I have to start with the first time I ever tried to make hash browns. I didn’t bother with a recipe or anything. I mean it’s just hash browns…how hard can those be? Well they aren’t hard, but you do have to know the method. My mistake was stirring the potatoes. I didn’t know better and I thought this is how I’d get them all cooked. Not successful. Later I found out that there is no stirring required. Just get the potatoes in there, let the bottom brown up, flip and let the other side brown up.

Fast forward to this past weekend…

I’m also pretty excited about this cooking event because I used the shredder plate on my food processor for the first time. I always knew that it was capable of shredding, but I didn’t really understand how it would work. Saturday morning I had 5 potatoes cleaned up and ready to shred. At this point I was still skeptical of the food processor shredding ability so I got out the hand shredder. After I finished potato #2 I decided to get daring. The old fashioned way was taking a long time and my hands were already tired! Well the food processor was amazing. I just had to cut the potatoes in half length-wise and drop them in the little chute. They shredded up nicely. It does leave a thin slice of potato (very potato chip like), but that’s ok. And 5 medium sized potatoes shredded ended up being a lot of potato (2 plates of hash browns worth!).

This time I consulted a cookbook just to get a reality check on what to do, basically heat level and time. It said medium heat about 10 minutes per side. To grease the skillet (large skillet), I used a little bit of EVOO and butter (about ½ tbsp). I had a large skillet, but I still only got about half of the potatoes in there. I salted and peppered the top side on the first batch, but not the second batch. I’m not sure it made a difference even though I thought I used a lot of seasoning. After a few minutes I decided to cover the skillet…I was a little worried about all of those potatoes getting cooked up. After about 10 minutes I looked underneath as best I could to make sure the bottom was browned up. It was time to flip them.

Here comes the tricky part. I decided to try a trick I recently say Rachael Ray do (I can’t even remember what she was cooking though). I got a plate that was about as big as the skillet and I flipped the hash browns onto the plate. I added a little more EVOO and then I slid the hash browns back in the skillet to let the other side brown up. I was worried about burning myself or that the hash browns would stick or not flip over right, but it turned out beautifully. I used my left hand to tilt the plate up as I was turning the skillet upside down in the right hand. It worked pretty well. I put the skillet back on the stove and let the hash browns slide back into the skillet which also worked fairly easy. If you are nervous about this trick (which I’m sure can be applied to many other things), I recommend practicing with a smaller skillet. My plate was just smaller than the skillet. Ideally the plate will be slightly larger. Then you can put the plate upside down over the skillet. Place one hand on the bottom of the plate and flip the skillet while the plate is in contact with skillet. Or you can always just put the potatoes in half the skillet, then flip it over to the other side.

And the recipe…this is about half of what I did. I had to make 2 batches though.

Servings – 2ish
2-3 medium potatoes, cleaned
½ tbsp butter
½ tbsp EVOO (divided)
Salt and pepper to taste

Shred potatoes. Add salt and pepper. Heat butter and some EVOO (just drizzle) in large skillet over medium heat. After butter is melted, add potatoes. The thicker the layer the less crispy the hash browns will be. Cook about 8-10 minutes (covered) until bottom is browned. (I just poked around the outside to see). Flip and add more EVOO to skillet. Cook until bottom side is browned about 8-10 minutes.

If you like to get daring with your hash browns, I recommend adding chopped onions, garlic, maybe some peppers.

Things to look forward to.

In my first blog I said I had 3 pictures.  Wrong.  I only had 2.  So I won't be posting again until I cook something.  No fears though, the plan is to make Chicken Jumbalaya on Sunday.

I also have a new quest for myself.  Last night at a delicious restaurant (BJ's) I had the Santa Fe Salad.  It's one of my favorite meals so I'm going to try to reproduce it, probably not as a salad though.  The main challenges will be figuring out the dressing (I'm guessing sour cream and salsa) and how to blacken chicken.  Maybe we can learn together!

Panko Crusted Chicken with Tomato Sauce

Today’s creation is Panko Crusted Chicken with a tomato sauce. I found this recipe because I want to use up the panko crumbs I have left over after I tried to make salmon cakes (disaster!). Panko crumbs are basically bread crumbs…I think they are usually used in seafood – like the breaded shrimp I believe is with panko crumbs.

I should have known that I was not going to nail this recipe the first time I tried it. I always burn breaded chicken. For some reason I just haven’t gotten the hang of it. So here’s how the evening went…

Since I was trying something new I read through the entire recipe, and then I got out my ingredients. I like to be extra ready the first time I try something because I just never know how it’s going to turn out. In order to bread something, you generally coat it in flour and then egg (the egg sticks to the flour - without the flour, the egg would slide off the raw chicken). Then comes the crumbs. For this recipe the crumbs were mixed with seasoning and parmesan cheese. This recipe is a little messy and dirties a lot of dishes (one for the flour, one for the crumbs, one for the egg) which is something that turns me off of a meal but this one is good enough to at least try again. I preheated the oil in the skillet while I was getting everything ready (maybe that made the oil too hot?).

While I was burning the chicken I was getting the sauce ready. This was completely new to me and I have to say it was amazing. The recipe calls for cherry tomatoes and basil and garlic. The tomatoes basically stew in the saucepan and then they burst from the heat! They become incredibly soft. I usually don’t use fresh herbs even when the recipe calls for it. I substitute with dried. Fresh herbs can be pricey, and I can never use an entire package before it goes bad (add a papertowel to the package to help them last longer). For the basil though I went with the fresh kind and I was extremely happy I did. I think basil is sort of licorice-ishy. It was fantastic with the tomatoes.

The tomato sauce tops the chicken (ideally chicken which is not charred). I then sprinkled the combo with fresh parmesan. I believe this recipe to be a slightly healthier version of chicken parmesan. It was pretty tasty even though the breading was burnt. The chicken stayed moist and the tomato sauce was extra yummy. Next time I make this (planning to in a couple weeks) I’m planning on using less heat than what the recipe calls for. I have a gas stove which I think tends to be hotter than electric ones. I’m also thinking that I will pound the chicken breast slightly or maybe even use tenders. Hopefully that will help prevent burning!

And here’s the recipe: http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=3313

Since this is a Rachael Ray recipe, I’m just copying the link. Not sure how reproduction rules work in this case, but I like to avoid legal trouble.

Peanut Butter Chicken and Fried Rice Recipe

My first meal is Peanut Butter Chicken and Fried Rice. This is probably my favorite meal. It’s pretty simple and it’s delicious. I mean you can’t go wrong with peanut butter. I have made this dish a handful of times so I’m really getting the hang of it. Here’s how I do it.

First I cook the rice according to the package directions. I always use brown rice since that’s supposed to be healthier. The rice needs to cool before you actually make fried rice with it so this is more like the preparation stage (if you’re cramped on time just use the refrigerator to help cool it down). I like to incorporate tofu into this dish. I like to eat tofu on a regular basis just for the health benefits. This is one of the easiest dishes to add it to I think. So after I get the rice started, I drain and dry the tofu. I use half a package for the 2 of us.

Next is the chicken. I cut the raw chicken (2 breasts) into cubes so that it cooks faster.  My standard method for cooking chicken is pan-cooking. I drizzle the pan with extra virgin olive oil and heat it to medium. Then I add the chicken, let it brown on one side, flip and let the other side brown. Usually a few minutes on each side. At this point I add chicken broth to the pan and cover and let the chicken cook the rest of the way (I also add the tofu here too). I turn down the heat just a little too, but keep the broth simmering. Since we are smothering our chicken in peanut butter it doesn’t matter too much how it gets cooked.

While the chicken is cooking away I start on the sauce. In a small sauce pan I melt butter and peanut butter and add a little oil (I use extra virgin olive oil most of the time). I don’t usually measure things anymore; it’s usually not necessary. But roughly it’s a tablespoon of butter, tablespoon of EVOO, and 1.5 – 2 tablespoons of peanut butter. I just stir this all together after the peanut butter softens up enough. I keep the heat very low as well.

Now it’s time to get back to the rice. I use a large skillet and heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add some garlic and onion to this (I’ve used anything from red to yellow to green). Sometimes I save some of the tofu and add it to the rice. If I did, this is the point to add the tofu. Now beat 1 or 2 eggs (1 is usually plenty for 2 rice servings) and mix the egg with the rice until the rice looks evenly coated. By this time the garlic and onion should be browning up. Add the rice to the hot skillet and stir as needed. After it looks like the egg has fried up, add teriyaki sauce (soy sauce would also work). I use about 5 shakes of the bottle. Enough to turn the rice darker, but don’t soak the rice. Keep stirring, but it only takes a few more minutes for the rice to be complete.

By this time the chicken is cooked so I add it (and the tofu) to the peanut butter sauce that is melted. I cover all the chicken and tofu. Then I pile the rice on a plate and top with the chicken! Delicious. Here’s the finished product! And after the picture is full recipe.

Peanut Butter Chicken and Fried Rice – 2 servings
Peanut Butter Sauce
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp oil
In small saucepan melt ingredients together over low heat. Stir to combine.

Chicken
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
2 chicken breast, cubed
Half package extra firm tofu, cubed

Drizzle EVOO in skillet. Brown chicken 3 minutes on each side over medium heat. Add tofu. Add chicken broth. Reduce heat slight, but still allow broth to simmer. Cover. Cook until done. (Add more broth if all broth boils off but the chicken isn’t done). Stir the chicken and tofu into the warm peanut butter sauce to cover completely.

Fried Rice
Cooked rice (cook according to package directions) and allow to cool
1 clove of garlic, diced
½ tbsp EVOO
½ onion, diced
1 egg, beaten
½ cup teriyaki sauce
Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion and allow to brown. (If using green onion, add when the rice is added). Mix the beaten egg with the rice to cover the rice. Add the rice to a hot skillet. Allow the egg to fry on the rice – stir as needed (few minutes). Add teriyaki and stir to coat.

Top the chicken onto the rice and serve!

New Look New Subject!

My dear blog I have abandoned you.  For awhile I've been thinking of posting about my new hobby - cooking.  Since it's a new subject, I decided the blog should have a new look!

I guess since it's technically the first post of the new blog I'll start with background.  (Oh don't worry, I'm sure I'll be compelled to add stories about the puppies every once in awhile).

When I was in school, cooking consisted of spaghetti.  Actually this was the first meal I made for Brian.  He claims to have liked it, but I now know that Brian does not like spaghetti.  I guess back then his taste buds were clouded since he had a crush on the chef.  When I started cooking for both Brian and myself, the meals were generally easy ones: hot dogs, veggie burgers, pasta, etc.  Thanks to Rachael Ray I have matured in the kitchen.  I think RR was a good way to learn cooking because her meals seem repeatable.  The main advantage is that she cooks them in 30 minutes!  After a few years of watching her show and getting a cook book or two, I'm pretty comfortable in the kitchen now.

So my current idea is to blog about my newest culinary achievements.  My goal is to try 1 new recipe a week.  I'm pretty good at meeting this unless soccer gets in the way.  I've started taking pictures of the dinners too so I already have a few meals to catch up on.  Those will be the first blog posts.

Here's what you can look forward to...
-Panko Crusted Chicken (RR recipe)
-Peanut Butter Chicken (Krista original)
-I know there was one more, but I can't remember it now...

By the way, I use chicken in about 93% of my meals.  Every once in awhile a meal will be meatless (I have to sneak these past Brian), and sometimes I use beef.  Chicken just seems the easiest to me.

Dog Obedience Round 2 Begins

Unfortunately a lot of time has passed since my last blog update. Sometimes there’s no stories to tell and sometimes there’s no energy to tell the stories. I’m not sure there’s either right now, but I’m going to try!

Heineken was sick. One night she puked. Then the next day she was coughing. And then there was diarrhea. So I took her to the vet. I was worried that Heineken might have a worm, so I took Stella along too. I figured if Heineken had a worm then Stella probably caught it as well.

Rewind to the last visit (pre-dog training) to the vet: I struggle with Heineken and Stella as I get them from the car to inside. Once inside, we bark/lunge/scream at an innocent dog at the counter. The receptionist asks us to wait outside until she can get a room ready. So yes we got demoted to the parking lot waiting room. Then when we were in the exam room, Stella was so out of control that the vet could barely examine Heineken. Not to mention that Stella would tackle every new person that came into the room. I left feeling very frustrated and pretty much like a failed dog owner.

Ok, back to present times. So for the first time in a long time I had both dogs to contend with. I did practically get dragged inside again, but once inside we were able to act fairly normal. I got Heineken on the scale, then I got Stella on the scale. Stella actually stayed still enough to get a reading. Heineken even saw a cat in the waiting room, but I was still able to maintain control! Once in the room, we did a lot better greeting visitors. Stella also handled Heineken’s examination much better. She sat next to me and waited her turn. This time I left feeling like I actually could control my four legged friends!

Heineken has started her school. We missed the first class, but I still worked with Heineken on the heeling. We had our second class last night. It’s a lot easier the second time around. Plus Heineken is much calmer than Stella. We started out a little shaky. When we were walking in circles, Heineken just wanted to either get to the dog in front of her or behind her. But after the first round she was getting the hang of it. We did the normal heeling exercises with the sits. Then last night we started the stay as well. And we also learned the lay down. Heineken felt like a breeze student though compared to Stella. We will be busy as we work through our lessons!

Dog School Graduation!

We have passed graduation! Really graduation was much easier than Trainer Jason hyped it up to be. That’s ok though. By the end of the class, there were 5 student dogs (we probably started with 10). All but 1 dog passed (this dog made improvements, but he still liked to lounge at other dogs/people if they got too close to his human).

We started with our heel, right turn, left turn and sit. We did a warm up sit-stay. I’m proud of Stella. Not only does she sit when I stop walking (she’s on about a 90% rate when we train), she also mastered her stay. Then we did the races. We raced on the paper plate recall game. The first round was Gracie and the greyhound, Sweetness. Gracie easily won. Sweetness got distracted and thought it was time for socialization so racing wasn’t even on her mind. Next up was Stella and a lab, Baubers. Baubers basically did the same thing that Sweetness did so Stella won. Boomer, the last dog raced against Sweetness and won and then he raced against Baubers and won. Then Stella had to race Gracie (Fierce competition). Gracie had Stella on the recall, but Gracie either didn’t sit or didn’t stay so Stella was declared the winner. (Stella then had to race Boomer, but Stella easily won). We all think it was pretty close between Stella and Gracie so they are sharing the title “Paper Plate Recall Champion.” (They don't mind though because they are BFF).  Then the dogs had an extra long time of socialization.

Now that we’ve passed we can take Heineken through free of charge and we can also bring Stella back if she ever needs a refresher. I’m still debating, but I think Heineken will be a student in the next class.

I don’t think I ever blogged about my initial desire from dog school. My goals were simple.
1. I wanted to be able to walk both Heineken and Stella without fear (basically meaning if we saw another dog I wanted to be able to keep them in control). All the while retaining my arms. This does not seem like too much to ask.
2. I wanted Stella to stop jumping on me.

While being in class, my goals have expanded (I want Stella to listen to me all the time, I want Stella to be better behaved with visitors, etc).

So did training meet my goals? 50%. I still don’t feel that I can walk both of them enjoyably, but if I do try to walk them I won’t be so nervous about it. We can get out of the house without Stella screaming and this is a huge accomplishment. I also think that Heineken needs to learn to heel before walking both of them will be completely enjoyable.

For the jumping, Trainer Jason did tell us how to handle it, but it was very difficult to practice. Stella is such a spasoid that it’s hard to anticipate her jumps. But I do think the jumping is better but I think this is mostly because she listens to me better. So when she jumps, I tell her to sit and she actually does as opposed to before when she would just continue to jump.

Stay tuned because we will probably have Dog School Part 2 in the near future. I’m sure taking Heineken through will result in different challenges too.

Dog Obedience Training Progress!

Ok, so another month has gone by. Quickly too. Stella has had 4 classes in dog obedience school. She is progressing better than I am! After the second class, we have learned how to quiet Stella when she’s barking and going crazy like she was for the first class. Apparently what happens is that she gets so excited, she just becomes pure adrenaline and has no control. I have to snap her back into the real world, remind her that her main responsibility in life is to focus on me.  I learned how to correct this at the second class.  At this last class, we got to the yard and took our spot. The trainer turned around and saw us, and I said, “You didn’t even hear us coming!” He was impressed with the improvement.

In class we have been gradually learning more and more and sending less information to the dog.

Here are the training goals – as in what needs to be demonstrated at graduation, yikes! and where we are (in class and Stella’s progress):

1. Walk in heel including the dog sits when the person stops walking – our new assignment for this week is that Stella will sit with only the command spoken (in the past, we pulled on the leash, and pushed her butt down – we are slowly taking information away). I have not worked with Stella on this part yet, but she does fairly well now at stopping when I stop, so I feel confident that this will be a smooth transition for us.

2. Lay down for 2 minutes – this is a newer item and one that we struggle with a little. I haven’t been disciplined in working with Stella on this one as much, but I will have to get better if I want to graduate school. Right now Stella is fighting going down, but on our 3rd go around, she’s generally ok laying there until I start walking.

3. Recall (maybe with a dog race too?) – this one is tricky. In our last session, we started working on this with a distraction. It’s easy to get a dog to come to you when it’s just sitting there, the real test is if it’s distracted on something else. Will it respond to your call then? Our assignment has been to recall the dog 5 times a day (Stella has an inside leash now and is in the pinch collar often). Stella does great with this. Actually I have a hard time even testing her because usually when I start to walk away, she follows me. However, when I am calling her after socialization, she’s not as quick to come. It always depends on how tired she is. So now we are learning with treats! The exercise is this: we approach a plate a certain distance away. I tell Stella to stay. I step away from Stella and walk toward the plate (the first time, it was 1 step). I place a cookie on the plate. I walk back to Stella. (This is assuming she has sit/stayed the entire time). Then I allow her to get the treat. As soon as she gets and eats it (they are small so this is seconds), I start running backwards and call Stella. When she gets to me, I tell her to sit which she does and she gets the treat. I have a feeling Stella will learn this exercise extremely fast because she loves treats.

4. Sit/Stay, this is where Stella sits and stays and I walk around her or to another person or wherever. Eventually dropping the leash. – Stella is getting really good at this one. We practiced with a tennis ball (it’s tough for a dog to sit and stay when a ball is thrown) and the first couple times she would always get up, but she got the hang of it. In our last class, I was able to drop the leash and walk to the fence and she stayed the whole time. I think the graduation task is to be able to walk across the yard which will be hard, but I think she can do it. Once in our neighborhood I dropped the leash (in a controlled manner). It was nerve-wracking, but Stella stayed!

5. Meet and Greet – this is a new one. Also one that he doesn’t expect us to make much progress outside of class because a second person and dog are needed. For this one, we walk across the yard and shake hands with another person. The dog sits when we stop and stays in a sit until we are ready to walk. We struggled with this one. Probably more me than Stella because I was weak in my corrections. But Stella got too focused on the person and dog approaching us so she wasn’t focused on me. The trainer taught us some corrections that I need to work through. I might use Brian and Heineken so that we can in fact get a head of the class.

When I think about graduation, I get really nervous. I feel that it is unlikely Stella will graduate. I also feel this is more of a reflection on me than on Stella. Stella is learning though.

So we will continue to work through our homework. We are also going to start working around Heineken. Heineken is a big distraction for Stella so it will help to test her and get her really good at her exercises.

Now I just it need to stop raining so that Stella and I can get outside to practice.

First Class of Dog Training

I’m pretty excited today. Last night was our first night for Stella’s training class. I was a little nervous, but excited. The three of us left, and Stella was completely excited. I did feel bad for leaving Heineken behind though, and it didn't help that she was obviously bummed out.  We get to the class early because the trainer needed to size the pinch collar. There were already 2 dogs there, and Stella was barking and jumping like a crazy animal. We had to wait while the dog in front of us got fitted. It felt like a long time even though it was only a few minutes, because Stella was pulling, barking and jumping. Then it’s our turn. The trainer gets Stella fit and teaches us about the collar (it basically applies pressure evenly around the neck when the leash gets pulled), and then we go find a spot in the yard. Before we got started, all the dogs had to get fit so we were probably standing there for about 15 minutes. Stella barked about 13 minutes of those 15. All the other dogs were sitting there being normal and quiet, but not our Stella. She was definitely proving to be the clown of the class.

Now we were ready to get started. The trainer tells us that we will start with heeling. Basically we will walk back and forth and if the dog gets ahead of us then we do a 180°. He decided to use Stella for his demonstration to both Stella's and my happiness. He’s walking with Stella and as soon as she gets ahead of him (the dog’s nose should be in line with the human’s knees), he turns around. Stella lets out a squeal, but he kept going. He said that it didn’t hurt her (I believe it, Stella is made of steel), but that she was just complaining about turning around. Then as they were walking, Stella started to drag or as the trainer said, “Now she’s trying to plant roots on me.” But he just kept walking and of course she had no choice but to follow. Then it was our turn. At the beginning of our exercise we had to turn around every couple of steps, but after a few minutes Stella was getting the hang of it.

The trainer continued to use Stella as his demonstration dog. She did well too. She seems to be a quick learner so she probably was a good demonstration dog. I was grateful because it was that much more training for Stella and by an expert too! We continued with our exercises. Next was to have the dog sit when we stop walking. Overall I think Stella was receptive to the exercises. She still barked a lot, but she wasn’t barking when we were moving so at least it wasn't 100% of the time.

We end the class with doggie socialization, so the dogs get to run around and be dogs.  Stella is of course done barking at this point - she's off the leash and moving.  The dog that was next to us started barking as soon as socialization started.  At one point he got in Stella's face and was barking at her.  Brian and I felt that was good pay back for Stella!

We will be continuing the training at home this week. The goal being once per day for just 15 minutes or so. I’m anxious to see how Stella takes to the training when she’s on familiar turf as opposed to the class yard, but I’m also excited to keep working with her. Our classes are weekly so hopefully every week we’ll have more progress to share!

Benefits of the dog park

We took Heineken and Stella to the dog park for officially the first time. (We had gone there before, but Brian and I were too much of chickens to let them off their leashes). Stella was obnoxious from the minute we touched the leash at the house until we got her inside the fence. It must be that the excitement just boils out of her. It’s only about 15 minutes away from the house, but Stella whined the entire ride so it felt longer. Then when we got out of the car, she let out her typical high pitched whine/bark to announce to all the other dogs and people that she had arrived. But that dog park is magical. As soon as Stella was close enough to get a different scent she was distracted enough to stop the racket. Thank goodness.

I was in charge of keeping an eye on Heineken, and Brian was responsible for Stella. Heineken is quite boring to keep an eye on actually. I decided that she must be socially awkward or an introvert or something. She was more interested in the smells on the fence and trees than in meeting other dogs. She was concerned about the security of the park, because I saw her do her perimeter walk. This is where she goes right to fence and runs the edge. I think to make sure there’s no squirrels or other creatures that don’t belong. Eventually Heineken did make a friend. She found a dog that would chase her so she had fun running around like a maniac for a few laps. Then she got excited when a small dog showed up. Heineken has always preferred the little dogs.

Stella was far more entertaining to watch. She loved chasing the dogs around. It was almost like there were so many dogs she didn’t know what to do or really which one to go after first. Stella’s preferred play method (at least with Heineken) is to run straight at Heineken and plow into her. I think she’s comfortable doing this with Heineken only though because I didn’t see her doing that to her new friends. At one point, Stella saw Heineken and she took off presumably so that she could plow into her. At the last minute, a new dog ran by. Luckily for Heineken, this new dog distracted Stella from her original plan.

It was a little muddy at the park and there were some puddles. I was thankful that Heineken and Stella are somewhat prissy. They consciously avoid the puddles and the places where it was very muddy. We saw other dogs that would just go lay in the puddles. Heineken takes the relaxed method of walking around the mud, and Stella takes the Stella method of flying over the puddles. Stella found a nice German Shepherd to chase around the park. The German Shepherd was not bothered by the puddles and ran through a big muddy one. Stella was chasing him, so she jumped over the puddle, but she didn’t clear it! She ended up right in the middle of the puddle with an Oh Crap look on her face and a wet belly!

We only spent about a half hour there, but that was enough to completely wear the dogs out. They slept the rest of the day and they were still tired on Sunday. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them so well behaved!

Stay tuned for the next post. We start doggie training with Stella tonight which I’m sure will result in stories.

Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve blogged. Too long. I can tell because I have multiple dog stories to tell. But one at a time!

Brian and I went to Florida for Christmas. My parents have a condo there and we spent the week with them. My parents brought their dog, Molly, to the condo for the first time. The condo has a lot of mirrors. One of the main mirrors starts at the top of the stairs and goes back to towards the sitting room. An illusion to make the place look larger. The bedroom closet doors are also full length mirrors.

Molly got to the condo, saw the mirror, herself and went ballistic. She does not handle other dogs well, and this one in the mirror was especially wicked. When Molly showed her teeth, this other dog showed its teeth. It was Molly’s worst nightmare – a dog that won’t back down. We thought for sure that Molly was going to either break the mirror or her teeth. She was getting ferocious with that other dog there. Molly sported the Mohawk all week and had a hard time walking past the mirror without getting snarly. Once it was especially bad when I was sitting in front of the mirror applying makeup. Molly walked by and noticed that this other dog was awfully close to me and she got defensive. I had to walk away before she would calm down.
Here: the picture says it all.  (In case your reality is blurry like Molly's is - Molly is on the right and the other dog is on the left).