A Happy Compromise

Mr. J spent two tours in the West Pacific and while there he grew a great love for Curry.  I on the other hand, am still trying to like curry.  Let's just say I am having a rough time.  It doesn't help that I had a bad experience while pregnant with our sweet baby a.  Let's just say baby a does not like curry.

While planning our weekly meals via pinterest, I saw this recipe and immediately knew Mr. J would love it.  It looked just like curry.  I being the loving wife that I am :) decided we would give it a try.  What a great compromise!  It is almost like curry, only there is no curry!  It was great!  We loved it!  And will for sure being keeping this recipe!  I know that this recipe looks like there are a lot of ingredients, but it didn't seem that way when cooking it. Don't let that scare you off!  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Coconut Ginger Chicken and Vegetables

Adapted from: Simple Bites

Ingredients 

• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 inch cube of ginger, roughly chopped
• 1 small sweet onion, peeled, quartered
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 chicken breast, cubed (I used two very large)
• 2 cans coconut milk, not shaken
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 can of baby corn cobs
• 1 cup of frozen stir fry vegetables of your choice

Spice Blend

• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

• Combine ingredients from the spice blend together and set aside.
• In a mini food processor, combine garlic, ginger and onion and pulse until it forms a paste.
• In the bottom of a dutch oven, or large pan, heat olive oil and melt butter.  Add pureed aromatics and stir well.  Cook for a few minutes, then add spice blend.  Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.  
• Move aromatics to one side of the pot and add chicken cubes.  Cook until chicken is cooked through.  Stir to mix well with the spices that are on the side of the pot.  
• Open the cans of coconut milk and remove the cream from the top using a spoon.  You should have about 1 cup.  Set aside.  Pour both cans of the coconut milk over the chicken.  
• Drain the corn cobs and chop in half.  Add to the pot.
• Place lid and good on medium-low for 30 minutes.
• Whisk cornstarch with the coconut cream until smooth and then add to chicken after 30 minutes. Stir well.  Add the frozen stir fry vegetables.  Stir.  Cook for another 30 minutes.
• Enjoy! :)

We servered with a side of rice.

Happy Monday!

Dear Experienced Mothers...Part 2

Thank you to everyone who reads my blog!  I seriously mean that! I had no idea so many of you read it until writing the "Dear Experienced Mothers" post yesterday.  I have had quiet a few people call me and come up to me apologizing and asking if this post was about them.  I can assure you, it is not.  My own mother called thinking it was about her.  Mom if you are reading this, thank you for allowing me to know when to let me learn on my own, and when to give loving and encouraging advice!  It really means a lot to me!

I hope that I have not hurt anyone or offended anyone.  That was not my intent.  My intent was to encourage the experienced mothers to love on new mothers.  To give them support.  To give them heartfelt advice without judging or critiquing their style as a mother.  Trust me experienced mothers, us new moms need you!  I am so thankful for the wonderful women I have in my life.  If it wasn't for a very special lady whom I think the world of suggesting that baby a may have an ear infection, we would probably still be trying to figure out what was going on.  And because of some great advice from some lovely ladies this weekend, I will now be trying alcohol when cleaning out her ears and a trip to the chiropractor.

Being a new mom is a daunting task.  I am constantly learning as I go and without you experienced mothers, where could I turn?  I value you, your opinion and your advice.  But there is a difference in those of you that encourage, support, uplift and give heartfelt advice and those of you that judge, criticize and make us new moms feel like we are horrible parents.

So experienced mothers, I love you!  And I love your advice and support!  And please! please! please!  Keep it coming!  And thank you so much for your love, support and heartfelt advice, without the judgmental tone and eye! I strive to be an "experienced mother" such as you one day!

Happy Sunday!

Dear Experienced Mothers, I appreciate your advice, but...

STOP JUDGING ME; ENCOURAGE ME! 

First off, I want to say I am typing this in a loving manner.  Being a new mother, there is  A LOT to learn!  And I will gladly take loving advice.  But please do not give me the evil stare because you do not agree with something I do, or do not be hateful when giving me advice, thinking it is the only thing that works.  Have you thought I may have already tried that?  Have you thought maybe that worked great for your child, but not mine?  Could you please give your advice in a loving manner?  Could you please be encourage me, instead of belittling me?

I think we as women have to be careful of this in every part of our life (me included!).  Let's stop judging and start loving and encouraging.

With that being said, seriously, I will take all the advice I can get.  Just please in a loving manner, not a judgmental one. :)

A Mexican Food Kick: Roast Chicken Chimichangas

Before I tell you about this seriously amazing dish, I must tell you about a product that has changed my life cooking life.  I sell pampered chef and because of it, I was introduced to their Deep Covered Baker.

You can do so many things with this dish, including cooking chicken breast in the MICROWAVE for about 8-10 minutes!  They turn out so juicy too.  I really believe that every mother, working parent, working spouse, college student and everyone else that wants to have a great meal in a short amount of time needs one!  Seriously...you need to buy one today!  I can share all kinds of good recipes with you. (Lava cake in the microwave in 10 minutes!)

Okay on to this recipe.  You do not have to have a Deep Covered Baker to cook this meal, but it will make it go faster! :) Also, if you have a KitchenAid mixer, which is also one of my favorite kitchen gadgets, you can use your paddle attachment to shred chicken!  It works great!  Such a short cut.  Thank you Pinterest!

Now, seriously, we will get to the recipe.

Roasted Chicken Chimichangas 

adapted from: myrecipes.com

• 2 chicken breast, cooked and shredded
• 1 cup crumbled queso fresco cheese (if you cannot find this you can use monterey jack, but if our Wal-Mart has it, I am sure you can find it!)
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 small can chopped green chiles
• 6 (8-in) flour tortillas
• Cooking Spray
• 7 oz can Salsa Verde

Preheat oven to 475.

Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl; toss well.

Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  You do not have to do this, but it helps keep the bottoms from burning.  Spray the parchment paper lightly with cooking spray.

Spread 2/3 cup chicken mixture on each tortilla; roll up.  Place rolls seam sides down on prepared baking sheet.  Coat tops of chimichangas with cooking spray.  Bake for 7-9 minutes. Serve with Salsa Verde.

Enjoy! :)

My Mamaw would be proud!

I love my mamaw!  And I would love if she was still around!  One thing I remember about her is spending time with her in the kitchen.  She was a fabulous cook.  She was from Arizona and could cook some of the best Mexican food around.  It is still hard for me to truly like the mexican food around here because it taste nothing like hers!  This weekend I made Carne Asada.  A staple to mexican cuisine.  I was excited and nervous about making this.  I found the recipe on pinterest (I know you are probably surprised!) and it was a crock-pot recipe!  Mr J also has a love for mexican cuisine and a love for true carne asada.  While in the Marine Corp, Mr J spent a lot of time in Yuma, Arizona and still to this day talks about some little street joint that "cooked up" carne asada.  Talk about pressure!  My mamaw was a fabulous mexican cook and my husband loves "true" carne asada.  I am not sure if this recipe is "authentic" but I know it was well liked loved in our house!  This will for sure remain in my recipe box!

(I am horrible, I forgot to take a picture again!  I promise in 2012 to do better about that!)

Recipe and Picture Source: Cheeky Kitchen

(Her pictures are so great!  You can for sure tell they are not mine!)

Recipe slightly adapted from: Cheeky Kitchen

Crock-Pot Carne Asada

1 (3-5 lbs) lean roast

1/2 container of frozen, concentrated, margarita mix

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup oil

1 onion, quartered

5 garlic cloves

1 jalapeno, stem removed

2 tablespoons Knorr mexican beef bouillon, granulated (I could not find this, so I used beef bouillon and some mexican seasonings that Mr J mixed up)

1 (7 oz) can salsa verde (green salsa)

1 teaspoon cumin 

1 tablespoon chili powder

You will want to place your meat in a crock-pot early in the morning.  In a blender, combine frozen margarita mix, vinegar, oil, onion, garlic, jalapeno, bouillon, salsa verde, cumin, and chili powder.  Blend well until it is pureed. Pour the sauce over the meat, making sure it is well covered.  Cover crock-pot with a lid and cook all day on low heat (8-10 hours).  After allowing the meat to cook 8-10 hours, shred the meat, then return it to the crock-pot.  Stir and let set for at least another 30 minutes.  Spoon over your favorite tortilla, top with grated cheese, pico de gallo, sour cream, lettuce, whatever toppings you feel and most of all...Enjoy! :) 

Blogging is hard work!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's! I realize it has been a while since I have posted.  Life has been pure chaos in Camelot!  First family was coming so that meant I had to get everything for Christmas finished before they got here so I could spend a ton of quality time with them!  (I only see them about once or twice a year and loved soaking up every minute I could with them this year)  This meant I spent a lot of long nights working on projects to make sure everything was completed, wrapped and ready to go.  After a week of hardly no sleep, our sweet baby a stopped sleeping.  She would sleep for 10-15 minutes at a time and then get up.  Other than her sleeping being off, she was still her happy, hyper self.  After speaking with a couple of people about her lack of sleep (and mom and dad's lack of sleep) we decided to take her to the doctor.  Poor little thing had a double ear infection.  Shortly after finding this out, I came down with something.  I really think it was my body's way of telling me I was passed exhausted.  All is well in Camelot now.  Christmas is over, family is gone, baby a is sleeping, mom and dad are sleeping, and mom is all well!  So it is back to life and blogging!  I am so excited for 2012. A few goals for this year:

-Spend more time reading the bible than on the computer or watching tv.
-Blog at least twice a week
-Complete some type of race (5K, 10K or a half)
-Workout at least 3 times a week
-No sodas for the whole year
-Create a lot of cute sewing projects
-Post tutorials of those sewing projects

These are just a few of my goals for this year.  What are some of yours?  Let me know! :)