Broiler S'mores

The broiler: the most forgotten kitchen appliance. It's not stand-alone so we forget it's there, but it's too useful to call a mere "feature" of the oven. I use my broiler all the time. It's the only way I cook fish, make toast and [now] make s'mores.

Simply stack your ingredients starting with a graham cracker on a pan while the broiler heats up, then place the pan on the top shelf and watch for the marshmallows to turn brown, get bigger and then just start to smoke. It takes about 1 to 2 minutes for ooey, gooey perfection.

MAKE SURE TO WATCH THEM THE WHOLE TIME.

Devour 3 to 10 times a week like we do ;o)

TTC Adventure #1: Continued \\ Eat Your Peas!

Last week I mentioned we were interviewing doulas and last night a second doula, Carrie, came over. She is lovely and we like her a lot! Very knowledgable and hilarious.

After she left I made us a very healthy dinner with peas, shrimp, egg and quinoa. It is protein-rich (supportive of male fertility) and so delicous that even Shawn (who doesn't eat peas) had a second helping... and third.



You will need:

1 cup frozen green beans

3/4 cup frozen peas

1 egg

6-8 LARGE shrimp (cooked and cut into bite size pieces)

1/2 cup Quinoa (any color)

2 Tbsp Sunflower or Olive oil

Garlic, diced

Cayenne Pepper

Sea Salt

First thing, make the quinoa. I use a rice cooker for my grains: I add the two parts water to one part dry quinoa and set to "cook." After it goes on "warm" I unplug the cooker and let the grain soak up the remaining water.

While the quinoa cooks I prepare the other ingredients (I chopped the green beans in half; you can also beat the egg in a separate bowl) and get a sauté pan nice and hot over medium heat. Add about a tablespoon of oil to the pan and coat the bottom evenly. Taking care of the splatter, add the green beans and peas to the hot pan and stiry-fry for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and stir. Push the ingredients over to one side of the pan and pour/crack the egg into the other. Scramble as it cooks, gradually mixing egg pieces in with the peas and beans. Add the shrimp and mix in well.

When the quinoa is done, stir it once to make sure it's fluffy (if it's still liquid-y let it sit longer). If it's dry add two tablespoons oil to the pan, increase the heat one level to medium-hi and add the prepared quinoa. Stir constantly until mixed evenly and decrease heat back to medium.

Serve immediatley!

Well, slap me and call me observant... and foodie.

via... why would I not use a picture of a baby for this?!


 Apparently the guest recipe post I wrote for Offbeat Home was published last night! I missed it! BAHHHHH... not observant yesterday. I wrote out a recipe for Guacamole and Homemade Baked Tortilla chips and it's good!

Other posts I've contributed:
Recipes
Quinoa Pilaf
Mooseloaf

How we decided to have babies
How and When in the Now

Smothered Chicken over Lime Cabbage

This morning I mentioned that dinner last night was really good. I want to share the recipe!

Chicken Smothered in Fajita Veggies with Lime-Cabbage
(Serves 4)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast (frozen is fine)
1 bell pepper of any color
1 onion
1 jalapeno
1 clove garlic
1 tsp olive oil

3 cups shredded green cabbage
4 tsp olive oil
1 lime
salt and pepper
Avocado

Preheat the oven to 350F for the chicken. Heat a pan to medium-hi and add a tsp of olive oil. Dice the garlic and chop your veggies into strips or chunks, whichever you prefer. DON'T TOUCH YOUR EYES!!! Add the veggies to the pan and saute until the edges get brown. Place the chicken in a roasting pan, top with the veggies and place in the preheated oven to cook (about 25 minutes).

Once the chicken is almost done, start preparing the cabbage. Roll the lime around on the counter under your palm to loosen the juice; cut in half and collect the juice. In a medium mixing bowl, add all the ingredients and stir well to coat evenly. Add a pile to each plate and top with the chicken and veggies, as well as some avocado slices. YOM!

HiLLjO - Update

Hi everyone! Still busy and crazy!

My recipe for Quinoa Pilaf is published here at Offbeat Home. Go on and see it if you're in the mood for a recipe! It's a great way to use up stuff in your fridge.

I've been out of work a few additional hours this week with my cyst. Pray for me any way you choose, if you can. And for Janet, too.

Keep the word out until a match is found.

OFW and Drunken Banana Bread

Happy Monday yet again!
The weeks are going by so fast. It seems like it was just New Year's, doesn't it?

Over the weekend we stayed snuggly and I even made banana bread! Well... Drunken Banana Bread!
I was reading about how Jamaicans love banana bread as their favorite "sweet ting" and that quite a few Jamaican Banana Bread recipes call for a hearty splash of rum.
I recommend more than 1 shot in your recipe and make sure you compensate extra flour for extra liquid added to the batter. I've shared the recipe here  if you want to give it a try! I made it for breakfast Sunday since we ran out of cereal and I couldn't have been more happy with how it tasted!

On another note, I'm in full-panic mode for Omaha Fashion Week. I have the pattern drafted and the fabric yardage calculated with math. It's quite odd to design a miniature wedding dress... same proportions, fabric and craftsmanship a regular-sized wedding dress will demand but in a third of the size. It's crazy!
I decided on my outfit for the Designer Application interview and I have to apply on Wednesday.

TIRAMISU ICE CREAM. +week in review

I KNOW, Jamie!!! I KNOWWW!!!

Shawn and I got restless Saturday Night and felt like getting Ice Cream. We used to just go to a drive through for sundaes but since we are saving money we went down the road to Target. There he found Monster Cookie Ice Cream (also nuts and AMAZING) and I found this little guy. Apparently this is an exclusive flavor to Target and it is supposed to stir up volunteer opportunities in the community by teaming up with VolunteerMatch's website. So my ice cream purchase was holistic, really. At least that's my stand.

Here's what the inside looks like:

I ate so much I...  ...I'll spare you.

It was lose-all-self-control Good.

Working backwards, here's the rest of last week:

Friday:

New bag of Potato Chips found this heart shaped chip. We're keeping it!

Wednesday:

We are not getting the Chickens from my work, but we are prepping for them in Spring. We'll make the coop now and shop for chicks later. Meanwhile we're reading about it at the gym. I cannot explain to you the amount of sideways and puzzled glances this creates in the eliptical row.

"Wait... that's not a wedding/beauty/fitness magazine..."

Tuesday:

We tried Roasted Cabbage from Pinterest!

We had it alongside veggie chili and bell peppers stuffed with venison, quinoa and veggies. YUM!

Sunday:

We had Portabello Mushroom lasagna for dinner! Instead of meat you slice them across, revealing a rather moustache-y looking mushroom slice... at least I thought so. This picture resounded with the ususal "Oh, Bun..." from Shawn.

WELL?! It totally looks like a 'stache!

We also had a great weekend with the Peach pug and we even went out yesterday in our matching coats.

What did you all do and make and eat last week?

Link to articles/pictures/recipes in the comments!

It's Friday, I'm in LoVE! #5

Wahoo for Friday, people! Happy Rastafarian Christmas, too!

Tree by Juan Luna

I love me because:

1. I have values, I am aware of them and I walk around acting upon them daily.
2. I am very spiritual. I can relate to people of all faiths deeply through a broad overstanding* of divine presence. (*overstanding is Iyaric)
3. I did a good job being in the moment this week... several times. I felt like a child.
4. I pray in my own way daily. And I like it.
5. I appreciate my life. Truly. It rocks.
6. I cook yummy food from scratch everyday. And I like that, too.
7. I don't weigh myself. This is random but I don't even know how much I weigh to obsess.
8. I have started to replace my sense of sin and wrongdoing with compassion and overstanding.
9. I've helped keep the house clean since Christmas. Yeeeuh.
10. I am researching baby stuff now in anticipation of our future children. Hopefully one will be conceived later this year...

So... Rastafarian Christmas! To celebrate, we are not eating anything outside of the the Ital from sunset tonight until sunrise on Sunday. Enjoy your carnitas for lunch now, Shawn; we're having quinoa pilaf and fish for dinner!

Basically for us this is a way to celebrate our beliefs and also to do whatever the hell we want, which is the spirit of the entire Rastarfari movement and way of life. As long as love is in our hearts and we are pure of motive we can celebrate in our own way; there is no "Rasta Christmas" tradition that is set.
Our tradition will be something like,

• Smudge ceremony to cleanse the house
• Start a fire in the fireplace for reflection
• Take part in the religious rite
• Meditate for an extended time
• Eat Ital dinner
• Exchange handmade gifts (if any)

Then tomorrow we will wake up, meditate and do some yoga stretches. After that we'll do whatever we feel like, I guess! It will most likely mean we do nothing, which is great. I found some Ital recipes for tomorrow, too. Here's one:


Baked Sweet Potatoes Ingredients 2 lb (900 g) sweet potatoes2 oz (55 g) unsalted butterjuice of 1/2 orangefreshly ground black pepper2-3 firm tomatoes Method 
Carefully wash the sweet potatoes and boil in their skins in plenty of water for 20 - 25 minutes until soft. Drain. When cool enough to handle remove the skins and rub the potatoes through a sieve. Mix 1 oz of the butter into the sweet potato puree with the orange juice. Lightly season with freshly ground black pepper. Butter a shallow baking dish and spread the mixture evenly on it. Top with sliced tomatoes and dot with remaining butter. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees f for 20 minutes. Serves 4

Thanks for reading; if you do anything special for ANY holiday I'd love to hear about it in the comments!