Tonight's Dinner: March 20, 2012

Tonight I worked up a garlic-rosemary butter lamb roast with mushrooms, broccoli and cous cous.  It was delicious and now I'm quite food coma-y.

Tonight's Dinner: March 19, 2012

When I'm working I get massive cravings for junk food.  Pizza, hamburgers, Mexican, Chinese, Kinders, you name it.  Today I wanted Taco Bell.  To stop the craving, I decided to make burritos instead.  A much healthier, but tasty alternative with items that I had in my fridge and pantry.

The recipe for the chicken is below, however, the veggies consisted of red and yellow bell pepper, sliced onion and garlic.  After the chicken was done cooking there was sauce left in the pan from the chicken.  I sauteed the veggies in the sauce.  First add the onion and garlic over medium heat.  Once those are al dente, add the bell peppers.

For the rice I always use the Spanish Rice I recipe from Allrecipies.com.  I use it so much that I do it from memory now.  :)

Fajita Chicken 

1 pack boneless skinless chicken thigh  

3 tbsp chili powder 

2 tbsp onion powder 

2 tbsp cumin powder 

2 tbsp garlic powder 

2 tbsp red pepper flake 

2 tsp salt 

2 tsp black pepper 

1 tsp sugar 

5 tbsp EVOO 

Directions: 

In a large ziplock bag mix spices.  Add EVOO until it is thick like a paste.  Add chicken thighs.  Marinate for 5 hours.  

On medium high heat in nonstick skillet add EVOO.  When oil is hot, add chicken and cook until firm; add a splash of chicken stock or water and cover if needed.

Grade: A-  (Nick said that there could have been some citrus.)

Tonight's Dinner: March 17, 2012

I spent St. Patrick's Day with my family as usual.  I LOVE corned beef and cabbage.  Whenever my mom makes it I make sure to go home.

Tonights Dinner: March 15, 2012

Bonnie had introduced me to a PBS show called Downton Abbey and now I'm hooked.  Needless to say, I haven't wanted to cook at all so that I can catch up on the first season.  Last night I stopped at Papa Murphy's and got a stuffed pizza.  It was so good and so easy (not to mention only $16.00).  It was huge!

Tonight's Dinner: March 13, 2012

I had gotten a lot of veggies over the weekend while I was grocery shopping.  I wanted to make sure that I used them all since I've been noticing a lot of veggie waste from my fridge.  I had also defrosted some chicken, but the highlight was really the veggies for me.

Roasted Vegetables 

3 zucchinis, 1/4 inch sliced
1 head garlic, peeled
3 carrots, chopped
10 button mushrooms, halved 

2 tbsp garlic powder
3 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp pepper
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp EVOO 

1/4 cup chicken broth 

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place all of the vegetables in a large roasting pan.  In a small bowl mix the garlic and onion powder, salt, pepper, worcestershire sauce, and EVOO.  Pour EVOO mixture over veggies and mix thoroughly.  Pour chicken broth over veggies.  Roast for 1.5 hours.

I'm not a big fan of chicken breast, but Nick seemed to really like it.  He said it was the juiciest chicken breast he's had.  That's big!

Roasted Chicken Breast Concoction 

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 tbsp dried parsley
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper 

Directions: 

Mix parsley, garlic powder, cayenne, mustard powder, allspice, salt, and ground pepper in a small bowl. Coat chicken breast in seasoning mixture.  Cover chicken and vegetables with foil and roast on top of vegetables for  one hour.  Pull off before the last 30 minutes baking of the roasted vegetables.  

Tonight's Dinner: March 12, 2012

Tonight I had a hair appointment and am super tired from the time change and not being able to sleep last night.  All three factors being put together, I just didn't feel like doing anything complicated.  So pasta with meatballs it was.  This only took me 30 minutes to put together.  I had defrosted some ground beef and a pasta sauce that Nick and I made a few weeks ago. Using what was left of my saffron rice/onion/spinach/gouda concoction as well as a little more saffron rice.  I have to you use this stuff up before it goes bad.  Saffron is expensive!

Lamb-Tomato Sauce 

3 lamb necks
1 lb medium Italian sausage
1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
10 button mushrooms, diced
1 head garlic, roughly chopped
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
2 tbsp red pepper flakes
2 cans fire roasted tomato
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
pinch sugar
salt and pepper to taste 

Directions: 

In large dutch oven, brown lamb necks on all sides.  Remove lamb necks.  Add Italian sausage to brown.  Once brown, add onion, bell pepper, garlic and mushroom.  Sautee until tender.  Add oregano, basil, and red pepper flakes.  Stir until aromatic.  Add all tomatoes.  Bring to a boil.  Add a pinch of sugar and also salt and pepper to taste.  Once at a boil, let simmer for 2+ hours.  The longer you simmer, the better.  

Leftover Meatball Mix 

1/2 lb ground beef
Saffron Rice Mixture (from stuffed chicken)
3 egg whites
1 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
EVOO 

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine all ingredients except EVOO.  Spray baking sheet with cooking spray (I lined mine with foil).  Mix meat thoroughly and roll into medium sized balls.  Drizzle EVOO over the top and add a sprinkle of salt and pepper over the top.  Bake for 35 minutes.

Molten Chocolate Cake

The other night Bonnie and went to visit Abby's new house and I brought some molten chocolate cake for dessert.  It was a good time as always.  I'm so happy I have such good friends.

Christmas makeup backlog

This is long over due, but I did get some makeup for Christmas.  It was very exciting.  Nick's sister Melissa gave me Laura Mercier, Auntie Mary game me Avon, Linda game me Stila, and my friend Vanessa gave me a Sephora giftcard.  Woooeee!  

Even the box is gorgeous.

For some reason I can't get this to rotate, but these colors are AMAZING.
Avon has really come up since the last time I bought any of their
eyeshadows.  

Target Makeup Haul

One day after a very rough day at work I went to get some retail therapy.  It must have been the universe telling me that the week would end well because there was a makeup clearance at Target!

Squeal!

I REALLY like NYC's bronzer called Sunny (two on the left).  This is
a great bronzer for contouring.  I had heard that they might be discontinuing
it so I got two backups on clearance.  

Physician's Formula: Blushing Mocha
I don't particularly like this blush/bronzer.  I find that it's a little chalky, but the color
pay off is pretty good.  I do enjoy that it is a nice matte bronzer since many are quite
shimmery.

I particularly like the Covergirl single eyeshadows.  For less than $4 each, these have great color pay off and can carry their own weight if I wear them alone and without any primer.  

Top eyeshadow: Covergirl French Vanilla
Bottom eyeshadow: Covergirl Bedazzled Biscotti
Left lipstick: Loreal #760 Silverstone
Right lipstick: Loreal #402 Compelling Coral

I love Bedazzled Biscotti.  I wear this a lot on its own.  It picks up a lot of light
in the different areas in the eyes without me having to blend in lighter
or darker colors.  This is definitely a go-to color that I'm glad I picked up.

Right: Loreal Compelling Coral
Left: Loreal Silverstone

#800 Black
I do like this mascara because it does do what it claims.  It's very natural!
I don't find that this formula clumps up and it definitely separates my lashes
for that natural look while also enhancing the color.  I really like to wear this
on casual Friday's and weekends.  

I got these two simply because they were on clearance.  The pigmentation
is just so-so, but the are buildable if you want more color to your cheeks.
Left: #651 Riverside Rose
Right: #652 West Side Wine

I'm not a big powder person so this one is just okay.  I find
it to be a little bit chalky.  Good thing it was on sale. 

Tonight's Dinner: March 8, 2012

Tonight I wanted to try my hand at a stuffed chicken breast.  I've never done it before, nor was I using a recipe.  Originally, I was trying to cut a pocket into the side of the breast but then didn't like that it would really limit how much stuffing I put in.  I decided to butterfly the breast and then roll my stuff into the chicken.  For the stuffing I used left over saffron rice as my base and then added some veggies and cheese.  I'm actually more excited about the salad as I'm not a very big fan of white meat even though I know it's better for you than dark.

Saffron Rice Stuffed Chicken 

1 cup saffron rice (seasoned rice will be fine if you don't have this)
1 cup baby spinach, chiffonaded
1/2 green bell pepper, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 gouda, shredded
1 tsp salt 

2 chicken breasts, butterfliedsalt and pepper to taste
EVOO 

Directions  

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a bowl, mix saffron rice, spinach, bell pepper, garlic, gouda.  Taking 2 tbsp of rice mixture and flatten it onto the chicken.  Roll chicken and place in greased pan.  Salt and pepper top of chicken to taste and drizzle EVOO over the top.  Bake in oven for 35 minutes; broil for 5 to brown the top.   

Grade: B

For the pasta I sauteed minced garlic, julienned radishes, and radish greens in some EVOO and then tossed in my pasta.  Pretty good. 

Milani: Silver and Silver Dazzle

This week Nick got a new video game so I've been watching a lot of tv in the bedroom.  In all fairness, he did warn me on Monday that he'd be playing his game for five hours straight once he got home from work.  I'm all for that.  I get some "me" time.  Tonight, after my run with Emmy, I did my nails in Silver and Silver Dazzle and I'm really liking it.  The deep blue Silver Dazzle reminds me of my old Toyota Tercel.

Tonight's Dinner: March 6, 2012

Tonight I was inspired by a bunch of saffron that I found in the cabinet during my refinishing project.  I decided to make an Indian-style dinner.  I wanted to use up the second half of our asparagus bag from Costco as well as use what I had in the fridge and freezer.  To use some of the saffron, I made saffron rice.  I just combined two recipes I found on Allrecipes.com.  I think I'll try again with long grain rice before I make any comments on it.  I only had short grain in the house so it came out a little mushier than I would have liked.  

Indian-Style Chicken 

1 container plain Greek yogurt
3 tbsp garam masala
2 tbsp turmeric
2 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
1 pack chicken thighs 

Directions: 

Combine yogurt, garam masala, turmeric, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and salt in large Ziplock bag.  Marinate chicken for 2+ hours.  Preheat oven to 375.  In a roasting pan, bake chicken for 45 minutes. 

Tonight's Dinner: March 5, 2012

Tonight I did a dry rub I had concocted a while ago on a small pork loin.  I believe that there is cayenne pepper, salt, paprika, black pepper, and a little cumin.  I'm not really sure, but it's probably something I've posted in the past. Whatever the case, it's a pretty standard BBQ dry rub.  Beneath the pork is asparagus with Parmesan shavings and a caprese salad along side.  I cooked the 1.5 lb pork loin for 1 hour and then broiled it for a couple of minutes after sliced.  We like ours a little rare, but if you like yours fully white just leave it in for another 30 minutes or so.

For the asparagus I pulled the pork out to rest and put the asparagus into the same pan so that it would cook in some of the good flavors the pork left.  Roasting it on a cookie sheet will be fine too.

Spicy Asparagus 

1/2 Costco sized bag asparagus
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp crushed red pepper
3 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp worcestershire sauce 

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 375. Trim about 1.5 inches of stem off of the bottom of the asparagus.  Mix olive oil, red pepper, salt, black pepper, and worcestershire sauce in a large baggie.  Add asparagus and let marinate for two hours or more.  Roast in the oven for 10 minutes.  Serve hot. 

CVS Haul

I just wanted to post some of the stuff that I've gotten recently.  ...well just a little bit of what I've been buying lately.  Hee-hee.  I haven't really tested much of the stuff yet, but I can tell you that I LOVE the Milani Liquif'eye. (I've used it before.)  I wanted to take the picture so that you could see how pretty everything is before I started using it an ruining the design.  The best part, I got a good deal on all of this stuff.  I'm getting good with using my CVS bucks.  This time I made sure to buy the things that were going to get my Extra Bucks back in one purchase and then use those Extra Bucks for the second half of my purchase.  All I had to do is tell them that I wanted to make two purchases.

Last Night's Dinner: March 4, 2012

Last night, Nick, Dennis, Melissa, and I went around the City for a family dinner.  First we were going to go to a shrimp restaurant in the Sunset district, but they were hosting a large party so they couldn't accommodate us.  They don't take reservations so we didn't have much of a choice.  Then we decided to go to the Stinking Rose.  After making our way all the way there, we decided to go to a place in Japan Town.  Sheesh.  We ended up at a Japanese BBQ place where you cook your own food. It's kind of like hot pot, but no soup.  It was enjoyable, but I'm not sure that I'd go all the way out to the city for it.

 

Today's Lunch

I've been trying to be a little healthier.  Trying is the key word here.  Today I had a bagel and cream cheese sandwich with an avocado and tuna.

Now that I look at it, it kind of looks like cat food.  It really is delicious
and the cream cheese gives me my cheesy fix. 

Kitchen walls

I decided on a whim that I'd paint the kitchen walls today.  After refinishing the cabinets I noticed that the color of the walls didn't quite match with the cabinets.  The cabinets are a cool tone while the walls were a warm.  It had been bugging me all week.  Also, Nick and I decided to go with a dark granite for the countertops so I wanted to paint the kitchen a light color to brighten it up.  While at Home Depot I did see nice dark colors that I would have loved to paint the walls, but that would have just made the kitchen look smaller.  Maybe I'll do a dark accent wall in the bedroom.  Hee hee. I settled on Behr's Swiss Coffee, one of their most popular colors.  It's an off white shade that reminds me of the foam on top of cappuccinos.  It's kind of hard to see from these pictures, but the walls are significantly lighter than the previous taupe color that I had.

New walls

Old Walls

Before painting the walls I spray painted the switches
and switch covers.  They were previously the ugly yellowish
color that the rest of the kitchen used to be.  They actually do
make a difference.  

This is a sample of the granite that we're most
likely going to get. 

It's been a busy day.  Emmy and I went for a long walk and also spray painted a desk that I got for free from work.  It still needs one more coat, but I'll post pictures when it's done.  It will be Nick's computer desk.  We're using the chair from our bedroom for the desk so the ugly brown of a normal office desk didn't look right with the cream and black of the nice chair that I have.  I also gave Emmy a bath.  She was so dirty that I had forgotten how white she naturally is!