Picked a different 'A' food...

So I had some set-backs on doing the artichokes... But in a nutshell I was out of town and then I was really lazy, so they went bad in my fridge :(

But I did finally made something with an 'A'  food!    Arugula!

We've never been a real leafy-vegetable type of family, so I've been looking for something I can cook into meals other than spinach (which conveniently I do love, but inconveniently, does not start with an 'A'.)

Enter Arugula! Love, love, LOVE the smell of this leafy green. I think it has sort of a peppery-butter odor about it, but in a good way!



I've done the following recipe 'hobo-dinner' style while camping many times before with just the basics, but since I was at home last night I jazzed it up a little and of course, incorporated the arugula.

Grilled Chicky-Tater Packets

4          Boneless-skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" to 1-1/2" chunks
4          Medium potatoes (any kind, I used russets), cut into pieces no wider than 1/2"
1          Large onion (red or white, I used white) *Note* If you love onions add more, the flavor of them really  stands out in the finished product!
4-5      Green onions, white part chopped, green part sliced into 1-2" thin strips
1-2      Bunches of arugula, (enough to get about 1-1/2 cups chopped)

1/2 cup Olive oil
1/4 cup Cider vinegar (rice wine vinegar works ok, too)
2           minced garlic cloves
1/2 tsp  dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp  dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp  Ground pepper
1/2 tsp  Salt  (This is being conservative, I used more)

Mix up the second batch of ingredients and let sit in fridge for at least 30 minutes so they combine. Give it a little taste after about 15-20 minutes and adjust salt and pepper to your liking.
Prep the first batch of ingredients while the liquid is in the fridge and combine them in a fairly large bowl. (FYI- If you have a toddler hanging on your leg 24/7 like I do, this step will take you a little while giving the liquid plenty of time to infuse :)
Once you're happy with the flavor of the liquid, pour it over the chicken mixture.

Pre-heat your grill to a medium-high heat. I used our gas grill, but if you're good at gauging temperature over charcoal, more power to ya'.

Set out six - 12" x 18" sheets of aluminum foil and evenly divide the mixture among the sheets. Fold the foil up and around everything to make packets. Grill the packets over medium-high heat (turning once or twice) for at least 20 minutes, or until internal chicken temperature is at least 170 Degrees F.

All done! We ate them right out of the foil packets outside on the porch with a couple bottles of beer :)

Pssssst... My toddler liked these too! :)

Hmmmm...

No, I didn't make the artichokes yet :(  I've been recovering from a long weekend in Vegaaaaas. Things finally seem to be getting back to normal so let's see where the rest of this week takes me!

Artichoke / Asparagus update...

No, I didn't make it yet! Turned out to be a busier weekend than expected.
(I did buy them though - here's a picture! :)

I picked up 2 of these cute little suckers for $0.97... That price makes it a little too easy to get off track with my plan! So, now here's me postponing even more... I'm out of town starting tomorrow through the weekend (I probably should have planned this thing better :)  Anyway, I believe I'll try and shoot for this one again next weekend!

Unitl then... Happy cooking, Crappy Housewives!

My weekend cooking assignment

I think if I serve my husband and kid chicken one more time, they're going to boycott my kitchen. What can I say? When you're good at something you stick with it, right? Wrong. If I keep this up the only thing that'll be served up in my kitchen is a pink-slip. So I have a plan; we'll see if I can stick to it. I'd like to try a new recipe every week with a feature ingredient that my kitchen would consider exotic. Now I'm a realist - I like things that don't take all day, and I'm also all kinds of brokety-ass broke, so don't expect me to go all Coq au Vin on you. (Crap, that's chicken again isn't it?)

Since this is the starting weekend, it seems fitting to choose an 'A' ingredient. This weekend I'd like to do something with either artichokes or asparagus - this is about as exotic as I'm comfortable with for now... And conveniently I just posted a link to all sorts of nummy asparagus recipes!

So far not a bad way to start out a plan!

Check back to see if I actually follow through!

Cheesecake-stuffed Strawberries

Yes, I said CHEESECAKE-STUFFED STRAWBERRIES!

Props and a big WhoopWhoop to Melissa @ Delicious Meliscous for posting these party favorites that she found at The Novice Chef.

You'll find I don't do a lot of dessert baking so I was all over these like a cheap suit. I have made them many, many times since stumbling upon them just before Mother's Day and usually half are gone before I'm done making them. I made them for a coctail party I hosted for my ladies last month and we ate them all as we were making them. I paired them with a raspberry dessert wine because well, we like to drink wine.

FYI: On my Difficulty-Cost-Speed scale - they're super easy, super cheap (especially when strawberries are in season), but they can take a bit of time.

Stop drooling and make some for you and your friends! Here's the link:

CHEESECAKE-STUFFED STRAWBERRIES BEYOTCH!

Another start-up post about me... and my hubby

There's a quote from the movie The Bachelor that goes something like this...
'It's a wonderful thing, as time goes by, to be with someone who looks into your face, after you've gotten older, and still sees what you think you look like.'

This is a fairly good summary of how I feel about my husband. I honestly couldn't have married a better man.

He's considerate, funny, a great father, works hard for his family...
And he's really really smart! For example, he never, ever complains when a dinner I make tastes like something that came out of the dog's ass this morning. Oh, and he never reminds me that I'm still holding on to about 25 (maybe 30) extra pounds since giving birth over a year ago. Also, I rarely clean the house and when I do it's usually a half-assed effort, he doesn't bring this up...  He's so smart :)

First post... Sort of :)

So this is my practice post :) I'm not really sure what I want to say in my first 'official' post yet, so I'll post this link to a bunch of bitchin' asparagus recipes I came accross this morning on the NY Times Dining & Wine section!

Recipes for Asparagus- Eighteen ways to use one of spring’s quintessential vegetables.

Mmmmmm!