How do you make wicked good chicken without over salting, over seasoning, and or losing flavor? Our favorite seasoning for chicken is an Herbs de Provence recipe that is sure to be a favorite, on or off the grill. Some times the best seasoning is the least amount of seasoning. Let me tell you that the barbecue grill is not only the key to fabulous chicken, but it is an energy saver where you are not slaving over a hot stove. Continue reading “Chicken Herbs de Provence Recipe”
How to avoid food poisoning
So this last week I was sent to Atlanta, Georgia for work.
You can see the details and ME here.
But what I can tell you is how you can avoid food poisoning which is by avoiding the famed Taco Mac restaurant. Curse you Taco Mac and your 130 beers on tap and your buffalo wings. But those cursed wings are what made me ill. Next time I am in Atlanta, I will be avoiding Taco Mac, sad….they were so good going down.
Fiber Rich Pasta and Tastes Great
How do you get your kids and family to eat more fiber in their diet? How do you get more fiber in their diet without all the nasty taste?
The answer is Barilla’s Piccolini Rich in Fiber Pasta.
Personally I love and adore whole grain, whole wheat, off colored pasta, but I am not alone in my household and let’s face it, I am outnumbered 4:1 when it comes to choosing what is for dinner.
NEW Piccolini Rich in Fiber – White.
It looks and tastes just like regular
pasta but with 3X more fiber!
Play hide and seek with fiber!
Piccolini created a whole range of white fiber pasta that looks and tastes just like regular pasta but with 3x more fiber.
Introducing Piccolini Rich in Fiber – White
• Contains 3x more fiber than regular pasta
• Provides 30% of daily whole grains (per 100g serving)
• Looks and tastes like regular pasta
Creating your favorite pasta meals without adding additional vegetables and or fiber additives is a great way to get your daily dose of fiber without the after taste or off taste that may be accompanied by whole grain, whole wheat types of pastas or the gripes and complains that come from picky eaters.
One of my favorite recipes is a chicken de Provence with pasta, fresh grilled chicken and summer vegetables tossed with a dash of olive oil and Parmesan cheese. Not only do my kids love to eat this dish, but little do they know it is loaded in great nutritional value.
So try Piccolini rich in fiber pasta for your next meal and share your tastes and recipes. Visit the Barilla site for more details and recipe ideas.
This is a sponsored post on behalf of Barilla, I was compensated for my time by posting this information and in no way were my personal views compromised or altered.
Grilled Chicken Enchiladas Recipe
My husband took my family’s favorite household meal, Mexican food, and put a new spin on our favorite of chicken enchilada’s. I have been making this recipe for years. Our dear family friend Mary Herrera, taught me authentic Mexican cuisine. Salt over the shoulder, a small prayer to God and she won my heart by showing me that cooking is about love and making wonderful food for the ones you love. However my love for culinary adventure has been limited due to my working schedule which does not permit me the opportunity to cook as much. The Chad has been taking over the role as family chef and when we made my recipe,”lazy girls way to make enchilada’s” as Mary called it, I was in heaven, as were the kids.
My husband made “Man-chilada’s” as we called it that night, they were the best grilled chicken enchilada’s anyone could ask for and I hope you enjoy as much as we did that night for dinner.
4 large chicken breasts, slow grilled
Tortillas, small, corn or flour, about 8 0r so
1c. Sour Cream
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1/2 can of Green Chile Enchilada sauce
2 small cans green chile
2c. shredded Colby Jack cheese (or more if desired)
1/2 c. chopped red onion, black olives (to taste, if desired)
My husband’s beautiful secret is the slow grilling of the chicken in this recipe as well as topping with onions and black olives to really give this dish some zing!
After the chicken is cooked all the way through, shred, and mix together the wet ingredients (sour cream, soup, sauce). Slowly add the chicken to the mixture. Shred the tortillas to cover the bottom of the baking dish. We like the 13×9 baking dish for lots of food to go around. Spread around the tortillas, spread the sauce and chicken mixture creating a layer, add a bit of shredded cheese to the top. Do this again and again, creating layers until all of the sauce and chicken mixture is used. Top finally with tortillas again and cover with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees until all the cheese is melted. Cut and serve. Garnish with chopped cabbage, red onions and black olives.
Enjoy!
The Alternative to Purchasing Textbooks
As a much indebted college graduate I can share my woes of financial burden and hardship of my college years were spent wasting away in the words and higher learning’s of textbooks. The ever dreaded and might I add bank breaking textbook. Nowadays there are lots of options and alternatives to purchasing textbooks for money savings and recycling.
Much of my textbooks ran in the hundreds of dollars range or they ran into that range due to the fact that I had to have multiple books for the class. Luckily I took a similar class  line as my husband so we were able to share books, albeit some were a bit outdated yet the material was the same. I would shop feverishly to find low priced books or a way to NOT have to buy the books because now I have bookcases stuffed with college text I will probably not refer to again unless I am playing Trivial Pursuit with a gaggle of friends and we are adding alcoholic beverages to the playing lineup. Oh I digress.
However I was introduced to a fabulous website Campus Book Rentals and life saver for college students. Rent your textbooks, purchase at a reduced price and not only do you receive a smoking good deal but the organization supports one of my favorite not for profit organizations Operation Smile. Â Campus Book Rentals has partnered with Operation Smile by donating over 1000 life saving cleft lip surgeries this year to children in need. So for every book that is rented a portion of the proceeds help fund Operation Smile.
Talk about two for one with saving money on college textbooks, but your funds are further being used to support a great cause. Don’t just take my word for it, take a gander and try out Campus Book Rentals for more information on saving money while in college.
Stuffed Baby Peppers Recipe
So I have become more of an aficionado for the raw and vegetable based meals. Blessed be my love affair for organic, supporting local food co-ops, and VOILA! Fabulous family meals. My last offering with Bountiful Baskets pleasured my palette with an assortment of fragrant and beautiful baby peppers. These baby bell peppers are crunchy, sweet and a wonderful snack. Here is a great recipe for a snack, lunch or dinner option.
Now I have seen these little vitamin C filled cuties all over Costco and the farmer’s market and I see folks purchasing them and I knew a recipe had to exist outside of a Cacciatore. Don’t get me wrong, I love a hearty Italian meal, but the Irish in me screams for rich, filling, sticks to your bones where you didn’t know you had bones meal for very little. Something I have become accustomed to as a single income household is how my strong Irish descent has offered me creative ways of making a lot out of a little. Or maybe that fact that I am a finance guru with a way to dissect the bits and pieces. Oh I digress.
The peppers. The sweet, full of bite, tangy, orange, yellow and red baby peppers. What to do. So I sought out the net to expand my palette of culinary fare. But I did not want an extravagant amount of time exerted to make a delightful dish either as a light main summer meal or lunch time snack. Furthermore, I wanted to utilize my refrigerator and pantry to it’s fullest in order to stretch my ever weakened dollar. And my creation was such:
1-2 dozen baby peppers, washed and seeded
2T. red onions sauteed and caramelized, add more if desired
1 clove of garlic (because I big puffy heart garlic)
2 breasts of chicken (I had some left over in the fridge and wanted to use it up)
3T mayonnaise
1/4 c. Gorgonzola cheese, or to taste
I love cheese. I am a giant mouse stuck in the aura of a Leo so cheese of any sort is a staple in my house, and especially a great form of a blue cheese.
So saute and caramelize the onions and garlic, add them to the mayonnaise in order to maintain the flavor without being overly pungent. Finely dice or shred the chicken, you can substitute canned chicken, but I love grilled chicken, it has a slight smoked taste which is wonderful for this dish. Begin to mix together all the ingredients and to ensure all the chicken is coated with the mayonnaise mixture, then slowly add in the Gorgonzola, continue to stir until all the ingredients are mixed thoroughly. Add small amounts of mayonnaise as needed but I found this was the perfect amount. Then begin to stuff the baby peppers, place in a Tupperware container to chill and serve later, or for a few moments in the oven melt some cheddar cheese over the peppers for a warm delight.
The chicken mixture can be served alone as well, we served all the excess on toasted French bread baguette slices with cheddar cheese as sandwiches and the kids loved them. Bon Appetit!
Family Recession
The news has sensationalized and down played the truth and reality that is the economic recession. Her effects, downfalls, triumphs, gripes, and how the recession has affected this family amongst the many that struggle each day to survive, maintain their home and not live on the streets, in their cars, or worse.
Our family became afflicted by the recession when DH was laid off shortly after the twins were born. Luckily he had another job lined up before the layoff, however, this was a large reduction in pay. While a job, the position was a struggle and a struggle for our family as we had to learn to scale back when our family was expanding as were our expenses.
But as we began to get traction again, we had yet another blow and The Chad was impacted yet again, and after a few months of struggling we began to find some solid ground. Yet, as with any restless waters, we began to feel our ship sink again when another blow came to us just a few short months ago.
The recession has been a learning experience and has been a tried and true gauge of my testament of love and marriage. Stress levels seek all new highs and lows during a financial crisis. Emotional levels are taxed to their very limits. Evil lurks in the depths of one’s mind and they begin to question their own faith in love and marriage, they doubt their partner and their position in the union, and eventually you feel like checking out. But the truth that has withstood the seams coming apart at their ends is love, truth, family. Without those I know our family would have not been able to weather this storm, on a couple of occasions.
I find solace in knowing I am not alone, but the evil comes in and I feel shame. Shameful for reasons I am not sure about. Maybe because I feel I cannot provide for my children the way I want to. Maybe because I feel I need to be more accomplished for my family. Maybe for the lack of adult time The Chad and I get to share with one another. So I wonder where will life go from here. I wonder how many share in my stress, my concern, who have been impacted, who have survived, and with my wonder I find solace once more. I am at peace to know I am not alone, but also fear no confirmation of having others share in my experience.
Pity too I have become a story I read when I underwrite a file at work, I share in these strangers stories of loss, heartache, stress, and fear. I can sympathize and empathize all at once and I cannot help but to ponder how many of my blog brethren share in my situation. How we hide something so common, but yet we feel so shameful and I think of how many have experienced the recession and lost something even greater than just a job and income. How has life changed for you if at all? What losses have you experienced?
The Magic of a Blog
I have had my blog for many years now and during my ages of virtual verbiage and prophetic stories of motherhood that be told, I never once believed the magic to be lost. Where one day my Peter Pan syndrome of writings and ramblings of the inter-webs would eventually lose the lustre.
My children are growing and with their seemingly ageless passing of time, only so sadly marked by yet another wrinkle, another yawn, and an additional candle to extinguish I grow weary and sad with my online friend. I would retreat to her and share my woes, my triumphs, but now I find her and wonder what to say, what to share, where to start, what matters, and I ask myself why share. My magic will be lost.
How can the magic be lost though in sharing a story? No longer will the experience be mine to have and cherish but a commercial experience to share with random strangers who may revel in similar events or can relate. No longer will my memory in life be mine, be special, but it will be read, rehashed, scrutinized, or tossed by the wayside.
My magic is lost. I no longer miss coming to my old friend, finding my words was like water when the faucet was twisted on, they would flow, no longer will the words come. I question if this is my age, the lack of lustre for my online friend, stress, missed chances, or that I simply ran out of magic fairy dust, or maybe I simply ran out of lame motherhood stories of ass wipings and whine feasts.
Yet the words still flow, even if pointless, meaningless and nothingness they are something to me, to someone, they are true and felt which is what I have always prided with my blog. Raw, pure, honest, no bullshit, no fluff, and those qualities are what have driven away readers and engaged them all the same. Maybe, just maybe my unbridled magic for the blog will return, or maybe my fairy blog-mother will come and get me ready for the ball again.
The Next Mini Chef
Are your children adventurous in the kitchen? Do they offer to help cook dinner and or other meals for the family? Are your kids interested in trying a variety of foods that are both healthy and tasty?
My mini chefs definitely favor homemade quesadillas with a variety of cheeses and meats. In fact two out of three love making and choosing what is for dinner they end up wearing it! We even began experimenting with different sauces, vegetables, and textures for different flavors. They especially like mom’s homemade salsa with fresh tomatoes.
As they have begun to experiment with various tastes and recipes they have expanded their taste for great healthy food that will foster healthy eating habits for a lifetime.
Allowing children to create their own recipe can benefit them even further than the brain power and healthy living power but they can yield even additional brain power with the chance to win a $10,000 scholarship.
Barilla and their line of fiber rich pasta Piccolini are offering the opportunity to enter to win a $10,000 scholarship. But time is running out! You only have three days left to submit your favorite mini chef recipe with photo to be eligible to win.
For more details about the contest check out the Barilla site for your chance to enter to win the scholarship and other great prizes by boasting your favorite magic food moments from your little chef.
Encourage good eating habits and enter to win a $10,000 scholarship! Enter Now
This is a sponsored post on behalf of Barilla, I was compensated for my time by posting this information and in no way were my personal views compromised or altered.
Battling Summer Boredom
We are just a mere month into summer and already my kids are whining of the dog days of summer. Bored. Stiff. Endless hours by the pool, swimming to their hearts content, camping, and family outings just do not seem to foot the bill for a child’s endless imagination and entertainment.
Summer is a great time to encourage children to let their imaginations soar. School schedules can sometimes be demanding and time for less structured, imaginative activities is often scarce. The freedom of summer gives children large blocks of uninterrupted time to create projects of their own choosing that can last several days or even longer.
Here are 10 ideas parents can use to keep young minds active during the summer months:
1. Boredom Buster Jar: At the beginning of the summer, sit down with your family and brainstorm a list of activities that can be done alone or that you can enjoy doing together. Next, write everyone’s ideas down on slips of paper and as a group decide which ones should go in the jar. Anyone in the family can pull any idea out of the jar to fight the summertime boredom blues.
2. Stories Alive: It sounds too simple, but reading is one of the most important ways to keep young minds engaged during the summer. Make reading even more fun by finding ways to bring the stories to life.
3. Art Start Box: You’ll need to gather basic art supplies–child safe scissors, glue, markers, tape and construction paper. Put them in a special box along with empty oatmeal boxes and paper towel rolls, colorful magazines and bits of aluminum foil. Occasionally add a special surprise like chalk, stickers, or stamp pads so there’s always something new for the children to find. Even if you normally have these supplies around the house, it‘s fun for children to know that the Art Start Box is just for them. They’ll probably have some good ideas of other household items that can be recycled to fuel their creative energies.
4. Family Performances: Break out old clothes or costumes and encourage children to make up characters and create a play to act out. They are the directors, actors, and producers. They can also make musical instruments out of pots/pans, wooden spoons, empty canisters and have a parade; or everyone can play along to your family’s favorite songs. Record or video the performances, and enjoy the replay. You’ll also be capturing a bit of family history everyone will enjoy for years to come.
5. Family Dance Party: Crank up the music and encourage your entire family to boogie down. Dancing gives children a great outlet for self-expression through their own motion and helps build self-esteem. It also enhances motor and coordination development by incorporating skills like jumping, landing and leaping. Dancing is a great activity that can involve the whole family and doesn’t take very much preparation.
6. Fort Building: Children love to build all kinds of structures–from small towns to large towers. Constructing forts or tents is an activity that can keep children focused and problem solving for hours. All the items you need can be found around the house–some chairs, cushions, blankets… and of course adult supervision.
7. Cookbook Fun: Have you ever shared your favorite cookbook with your children? Take it out and ask your children to choose a recipe to try. Measuring can be a fun and easy way to keep math skills fresh.
8. Summer Scrapbook: All you need for this project is a spiral notebook. Encourage everyone in the family to draw pictures of favorite activities and collect mementos from special events throughout the summer. Children love to go back through scrapbooks and albums and tell about what happened at each occasion. They will also be building their storytelling skills at the same time.
9. Camping Out: Pretend to campout in the backyard. Plan a meal, pack a backpack and set up a campsite. You might even decide to spend the night!
10. Scavenger Hunt: Make a list or picture cards of common household items and have your children find the items on the list. Invite friends or neighbors to join in the fun to make it a competition.
While these are just a few great ideas, also look into your local newspaper and or community and recreation center for free or low cost activities. Zoo’s, museum’s, and other venues offer plenty of free activities and fun for your children to enjoy.
For more great ideas on beating summer boredom check out www.DrZandFriends.com or www.primroseschools.com
THIS IS A SPONSORED POST ON BEHALF OF PRIMROSE SCHOOLS, MY OPINION AND KNOWLEDGE REGARDING CHILD BOREDOM IS BASED ON MY OWN EXPERIENCE WITH Â MY OWN CHILDREN. HOWEVER, SOME SUPPORTING INFORMATION WAS PROVIDED ON BEHALF OF PRIMROSE SCHOOLS.