Make This!!

Sizzlin' Chicken  Skewers

These chicken skewers are extremely tasty. The marinade is really simple and tangy. I'm sure you have the ingredients in your pantry right now: peanut butter, barbecue sauce & soy sauce. I found this recipe in a 2005 issue of Kraft Food & Family magazine.

Kraft Food Kitchens used to mail Food & Family out for free, now they charge for their subscriptions. I finally bit the bullet & paid for a new subscription ($13.98/1 year - $18.98/2 years). The magazines are full of great recipes and I have a stack in my cupboard from 2005-2007 that I can't bring myself to recycle. You can click this link to get your own subscription. It's worth it!

Sizzlin' Chicken Skewers adapted slightly from Food & Family Magazine

1/3 cup hot water
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sesame oil
1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs

Mix water, bbq sauce, peanut butter, soy sauce & sesame oil in a bowl. Cut chicken into strips & place in a gallon sized Ziplock bag. Pour half of the marinade over the chicken & refrigerate for several hours. Thread chicken onto skewers & grill. Serve with reserved marinade for dipping.
NOTE: I actually poured all of the marinade over my chicken & made up extra marinade for dipping, as I used about 1.5 lbs of chicken.

Make This!!!

Bleu Cheese & Bacon Potato Salad

 

This potato salad packs a lot of taste with just a few ingredients.  It's the perfect side dish to a barbecue & oh so easy to make.

Bleu Cheese & Bacon Potato Salad adapted slightly from Mommy Savers

6 slices cooked bacon, chopped
1/4 cup mayo
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
6 oz bleu cheese, crumbled
1 bunch green onions, sliced

Boil potatoes until fork tender. Let cool, then quarter. In a bowl mix mayo, sour cream, salt, pepper, green onions & cheese. Add potatoes. Refrigerate for several hours. Enjoy!

Make This!!

After eating leftover roasted pork for the last few days (trust me: it get's old!), I decided we needed a different protein for dinner. Matty suggested we go out to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner, but I dislike their prices & the paltry celery & carrot sticks they serve. I vowed to make him delicious chicken wings that rival BWW. Matty was doubtful, but I was sure I could do it.

Enter Pinterest! After looking at what seemed like hundreds of chicken wing recipes, I found one via the blog, Eat, Live Paleo that sounded interesting & delicious. This recipe called for boiling the wings first, then baking them in the oven. I had never heard of this method before and decided to try it. The only difference was that the recipe on Pinterest used drummettes, not wings. My wings were 5 times the size of the one on the recipe. No problem, challenge accepted.

I whipped up the marinade & boiled the wings. I tried to do this while Omid was preoccupied with something else. We are always competing in the kitchen and I didn't want him to see that I was boiling the wings. I was afraid he would think I was crazy. I have to admit, I said a little prayer before I started that the wings wouldn't be ruined by boiling them. This was $14 worth of wings!

After I took the wings out, they felt really 'tacky.' I let them cool & boiled the rest of the wings. I boiled both sets for about 8 minutes each.  After the wings were completely cool, I poured the marinade over them.

I tripled the marinade amount since my wings were larger than the drummettes in the original recipe. I also added some extra ingredients like sesame oil & soy sauce, as we like our wings to have an Asian flair to them.

When the wings had marinated for about an hour, I baked them in the oven for 30 minutes at 450*, then flipped them over and baked them for another 15 minutes. The result? Perfect crispy chicken wings! Continuing with the Asian theme, I poured Thai Kitchen's Sweet Red Chili sauce all over them.

You can find this delicious sauce at Costco.

I had to try it myself to believe it, but it's true! Boiling your chicken wings first, then baking them does result in crispy chicken. Try it!!  All the wings were gone. I love when there are no leftovers! What did Matty think? He liked them a lot!☺

Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Wings Marinade - adapted slightly from Eat.Live.Paleo.

9 garlic cloves, grated
Juice of 4 limes
6 tbsp olive oil
1.5  tsp cayenne
salt + pepper to taste
1/3 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbs Montreal Chicken Seasoning (found at Costco)
*Note - this recipe was tripled because I used regular sized chicken wings.

Make This!!

Carrot Cake!

 

Omid & I LOVE a good carrot cake. I like mine with raisins & pecans, Omid likes his without either of those ingredients. I scoured Pinterest the other night for recipes that I thought Omid would like & came up empty.

I finally turned to the two bloggers I always visit when I need a great recipe: Noble Pig & The Pioneer Woman.  Cathy from Noble Pig had several carrot cake recipes on her blog. The one I can't wait to make is apple carrot cake with goat cheese frosting. Sounds simply scrumptious! I finally decided to go with Ree's simple carrot cake. Just the basics, nothing fancy.

I made two changes with Ree's recipe. I substituted coconut oil for the vegetable oil. I was really nervous about how it would turn out.  It actually turned out great! I also cut the powdered sugar amount down from one pound to 1.5 cups in the frosting. We like our cream cheese frosting more tangy than sweet. In my opinion, nothing ruins a carrot cake than super sweet cream cheese frosting. I also left the pecans out of the frosting & just sprinkled them on top of individual slices instead of all throughout the cake.

This cake got two thumbs up from Omid. ☺ Make it! You won't be disappointed!

Coconut Oil Carrot Cake adapted slightly from Ree Drummond
2 cups Sugar
1 cup Coconut Oil
4 whole Eggs
2 cups All-purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
2 cups Grated Carrots

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 stick Regular Butter, Softened
1 package (8 Oz) Cream Cheese
1 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1 cup Pecans, Chopped Finely

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix together the sugar, coconut oil and eggs in a large bowl. In another bowl sift together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Add to first mixture and combine. Then add carrots and mix well. Pour into a greased and floured pan  and bake at 350F until done (insert a toothpick), about 50 minutes.  Cool completely.

Frosting:
In larger bowl, cream butter and cream cheese. Add sugar and vanilla and blend. Spread on cooled carrot cake. Sprinkle nuts on top or onto individual servings.

Pig Roast 2013

We had our 2nd annual pig roast this past Saturday. The weather was a perfect 79*, 65 people were invited, 63 guests came. It was a huge success and we want to thank everyone for coming! Here are some photo highlights of the day.

 

 

Barley & Remy inspecting the pig.

 Omid & Ward stuffed the pig with lemon grass, bay leaves, limes & garlic.

Check out those sutures. Ward could have been a surgeon!

The pig was on the rotisseries for 9 hours!

We had a surprise for the guests after everyone was done eating. A belly dancer! I passed out dollar bills to the guests & told them we would be playing a game. I didn't know how else to explain why I was passing out money, as I didn't want to give away the surprise. If you are ever in need of a belly dancer, contact Zahara! She did an amazing job! It was so much fun to watch her dance & to see the guests' reactions as well.

Thanks to everyone who came & to the Kelloggs, Stevens & Bacons for helping to make the pig roast a huge success!☺

Power of Prayer

 

This is my dear friend Salla.

 

 

 We have been friends for 28 years.

 

 

Salla & her family are in need of a miracle right now. Salla's husband, Jyrki, has been living with cancer for the past few years and most recently had a stem cell transplant. His body is now rejecting the transplant and Jyrki is losing his battle.

 

Jyrki

 

Do you believe in miracles? I do!

 

Please keep Salla, Jyrki & their three children in your prayers. They really need your prayers & healing thoughts at this time.

♥
Maija, Helmi & Lauri

Update: Dear friends, thanks for praying for Jyrki & his family. Sadly, Jyrki passed away on July 19th. Please continue to pray for Salla & her children!♥

Barry & Blogging

Remember that wonderful Mother's Day gift that Omid gave me? Tickets to Barry Manilow?

Well, the Rose Garden screwed up and double booked a high school graduation for the same day & time. So Barry was cancelled. I am so bummed! I hope I don't have to wait another 8 years for Barry to come to Portland again.
Barry: When Will I See You Again?!?

On a happier note, I was chosen to contribute recipes for our local newspaper, The Columbian. My friend Michelle told me they were looking for food bloggers, so I applied and was accepted. My first post was published today in The Columbian's Sugar & Spice food blog. I wrote about those delicious Monkey Squares. Speaking of which: have you baked some yet? I will also be posting recipes to On the Table featured in The Columbian as well. That blog profiles all types of food, not just dessert.

Make This!!!

 

Banana Brownies a.k.a. Monkey Squares!

 

 

These are my new favorite baked item to take to potlucks. These brownies are so tasty! Much moister than banana bread with a browned butter frosting and oh so delish!  They bake up in no time & the frosting comes together pretty quickly too. I found the recipe via The Girl Who Ate Everything. Just click on the link for the recipe.

Make these! You will be so glad you did!

Note: I sprinkled mine with a little cinnamon. My kids also like these brownies stored in the fridge, while Omid & I prefer them at room temperature. Either way, these are a winner!☺

Make This!!

Katie brought the most delicious broccoli salad to share at our friends getaway last weekend. I love broccoli salad & have a very good recipe; but Katie's version blows mine out of the water.

Make this salad! It's a winner!!

Katie's Broccoli Salad

3 cups broccoli florets

½ cup chopped red onion

¼ sunflower seeds

½ cup chopped raisins

½ cup feta cheese

½ cup plain yogurt

¼ cup light mayonnaise

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

·         In a bowl mix together yogurt, mayonnaise, sugar, and lemon juice.

·         In a salad bowl, stir together broccoli, red onion, sunflower seeds, raisins, and crumbled feta cheese. Toss with yogurt dressing, and season with salt and pepper.

·         Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

Weekend Get-A-Way!

We spent last weekend in the Prosser/Sunnyside/Yakima Valley of Washington with great friends. We planned this trip months ago & were counting down the days until we could all get away & have a 'friends' reunion.   Katie & Tom live in Spokane, so we thought we would meet each other halfway in Yakima. The plan: stay at a B&B, eat lots of good food, visit wineries & catch up with one another!

 

Fun fact: We have known Katie & Tom for 16 years!☺ Katie & I met through Clark County Indoor Play Park & Omid and Tom knew each other from work. Katie & Tom moved their family to Spokane 7 years ago.

 

This was the view in sunny Goldendale, Washington. We left the rain behind in Camas.

 

I texted Katie every now & then with an update to where we were in WA. She did the same.

We arrived at the B&B within ten minutes of each other!

First minute together! A perfect photo opportunity.☺

After getting settled in our rooms, we met in Katie & Tom's room for  cocktails. After that, we moved outside so Omid could make us dinner. He made Persian jujeh kebab, mast-o-khiar & rice with tahdig. The B&B had a large patio area, so we took advantage of that.

♥

Tom & Omid discussing the finer points of grilling 'old school.' Then....Tom showing off his 'tiny fork!'

Fun fact: We are ALL WSU Coug Alum!☺ Go Cougs!!!

 



We invited other guests at the B&B to join us, but each of them declined. A group of three older women were so scared of us, they scurried through the patio area & dashed in the back door. They wouldn't even make eye contact. We were sad!

Happy birthday Lin!
Buttercream...just like you requested!

This was the bed in Lin & Ward's room. Check out that dip!

Shake that thang!
Wait....Katie? You stole my thunder!

We continued to have a lot of fun on the patio until 10:00 p.m., when we had to move it inside for 'quiet hours.'

Awwww! Katie & Tom:
You two are so cute!

Lin & Ward - you two are cute too!

Why is there no photo of Omid & I? Poor Omid had to go lie down.
So I took photos of my sweet friends.☺

Fun fact: This was the first time Omid & I had ever stayed at a B&B. I loved it! Nice digs & yummy farm breakfasts! 

 

The next morning, we met at 9 a.m. for breakfast. I made sure to smile & make 'eye contact' with the three older ladies from the night before.☺ Breakfast was coffee, banana bread, butter & fresh half & half from a local dairy, potato hash, kale & mushroom quiche, asparagus quiche, bacon & Greek yogurt with crystallized honey. Good stuff!

The plan was for Saturday was to visit several wineries. We picked a few on the map & actually visited five. The first winery, Omid & I dumped every single pour. The wine was so new, it tasted like vinegar to us. The second winery was run by former Cougs (GO COUGS!). Their wine was better than the first, but Omid & I still didn't want to purchase any. Next we visited another that had a good Riesling, but I have had better (stay with me here...it gets better!).

Girlfriends!♥

Love these photo bombing pictures of Katie!

Gorgeous Prosser, WA scenery!

Finally, we visited a winery that Omid & Ward had visited before & made friends with the owners. Ground squirrels in the area eat the roots of the grape vines, ruining the crops. Omid & Ward helped take care of the 'varmint' problem. This was my favorite winery of the weekend! It's called Pontin del Roza.

I took this photo for 'planter' ideas!
I also loved the quote on the rock.☺

Pontin del Roza winery is the first winery that offered a dolcetto wine. I'd never had that before. It was good. But the wines that Omid & I really liked were their sangiovese, merlot & Riesling. Their Riesling tasted like sweet honey. I've never tasted a Riesling like that before. Absolutely delicious!

Finally, a 'couple shot!'

The tasting room at Pontin del Roza is absolutely beautiful! It looked like something out of Sunset magazine. I loved every single touch that Scott & Dustin added to the room. I could live there. Seriously!

Wine & a picnic lunch at Pontin del Roza winery.
Thanks for the lunch, Katie!☺

Katie, Lin, Scott & me behind the bar at Pontin del Roza.
We felt special!☺

Friends: Old & new at Pontin del Roza winery.

Just to let you know how much we loved Pontin del Roza winery: we spent almost two hours here! We felt completely at home. I loved talking about the finer points of 'Shahs of Sunset' with Scott & Dustin. They weren't aware that Omid is Persian, but soon found out. So much fun! ☺

Omid & Ward playing bocce ball at Pontin del Roza.
When we first drove up, I thought this was a Zen garden.☺

We finally said our 'goodbyes' & headed to one more tasting room. This last place was awful! We were sure the employees were drinking. Tom paid for our tasting fees (Thanks, Tom!!), then they thought our group hadn't paid & other strange things were said. There were arguments among guests & insults traded as well. I couldn't wait to leave that place!

We finally left that tasting room & headed home so Ward could grill us tenderloin & scallops for dinner. After cleaning up, we all met in the dining room of the B&B and played several serious game of poker (all while listening (& singing to John Denver's greatest hits!). But first...Lin passed out dental picks for our teeth. Thanks to Katie for capturing the photos!

Lin was the big winner of the evening! I cashed out with $1. So much for my 'winning streak' at Christmas.

 

After playing poker, we hit the hay & met again for breakfast the next morning. On Sunday, we had croissant French toast, fresh whipped cream with pineapples & strawberries, steel cut oatmeal (which Omid & I each ate a 'bite to be polite", but we're still not oatmeal fans!), fruit plate and hearty sausages. Lin loved the steel cut oats. She took a heaping scoop & drowned it about 8 oz. of half & half. Wow!

 

After breakfast, we packed up & said our 'goodbyes.' I really didn't want the weekend to end. I had the best time catching up. It had been a year since we'd seen Katie & seven years since we'd all seen Tom. We decided to make this a yearly event. I am already looking forward to May 2014!

 

Fun fact: On our way home, Omid took us to the Legends Casino in Yakima so Lin could continue her winning streak. She didn't want to play poker, but played the slots instead. Did she win? Yes! Upwards of $30! Good job, Lin!☺

 

Surprise to us: this casino was 'dry.' No alcohol allowed on the premises. But...smoking was allowed. I actually felt sick from all the cigarette smoke. Yuck! We walked in a 'blue haze' wherever we went.

 

 

I loved our weekend away! Special thanks to my Dad for coming down to take care of Matty & Remy. ♥

Netflix This!!

 

Omid & I finally watched Silver Linings Playbook last night. It was very good! I thought it started out a little bit slow/hard to follow...(so don't multitask if you watch it), but it got much more interesting. It's sad/heartbreaking in a lot of scenes, but happy too! There were lots of scenes where we just laughed out loud.

Netflix this film!☺

I'm a "Fan"ilow!!

I received my Mother's Day gift a few days early:

three tickets to Barry Manilow!

I am so piggly wiggly about this concert! I cannot wait! I am taking my two dear friends with me. June 7th can't get here fast enough!!☺

 

Thanks so much Omidjoon! This is the perfect
present!! Love you lots!!

Pinterest Fail

I love Pinterest, I really do! What's not to love? So many awesome ideas in one place!

But I do dislike Pinterest's new 'website verification' system. I have spent way too many hours trying to get my website verified so I could have my pins profiled. I uploaded the verification file to my root file on my hosting site...only to have Pinterest tell me it's not there. So I spent several hours yesterday learning about html, ftp & root files when I should have been outside enjoying the sunny weather. I thought the error was on my part. I contacted my hosting site and they verified, that yes indeed, it was there & I did everything correctly. I even enlisted the help of my super tech saavy hubs & Pinterest still said they couldn't find my blog.  So...I tried the alternate route & added a meta tag to my blog. 

Not only was it not verified, but Pinterest told me I tried to verify my website too many times and have been locked out & I can try again later. What?! Something that should have been so easy to do, has turned into something that is beyond frustrating.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Update! Yay! Pinterest finally verified my blog! ☺ If you want your blog verified by Pinterest, check out these step by step instructions. Be warned: it could take up to 48 hours! Mine did. :/

Make This!!

Cinnamon Crisps!

I found this recipe via Healthy Recipes Twitter feed last night. I love when I have all the ingredients for a recipe and can make it right away.☺ This was really easy and my super-picky eater loved it!

Lightly grease a cookie sheet (I used coconut oil). Place won tons all over the sheet. Lightly spray the won tons with Pam cooking spray. Mix cinnamon & sugar together and sprinkle over the won ton wrappers. Bake in a 400* oven for several minutes (10 mins. in my oven) or until golden brown. Enjoy!

Make This...Or Not!

 

Since I have a giant bag of baby kale at home, I decided to make homemade kale chips today.

 

 

 

Only three ingredients needed: 2 handfuls of baby kale, sea salt & olive oil. I tossed the kale with about a tablespoon of olive oil.

Next I placed the kale on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkled it with a little sea salt.

Then I baked the kale in a 350* oven for ten minutes.

I really wanted to like the chips. But I didn't like them at all. They were crispy enough, but smelled & tasted awful. From now on, I will stick to kale salads and cubes for my smoothies.

I forced myself to eat half the pan (waste not, want not). Thankfully, Remy really liked the kale & ate the rest of it for me. ☺