Chicken Papadoris
I love to plan our meals for the week. My 2017 goal is to make/try one new recipe a week and depending on the success (or failure) of the recipe, post it here for you to enjoy. Most of my inspiration comes from reading magazines. My favorites are Bon Appetit and Sunset. I don’t have a lot of time to myself but each month I get giddy when I see one of the magazines in my mailbox. I also use recipe books I’ve saved over the years, things I made forever ago and wrote out on a recipe card, and of course cookbooks. Some weeks inspiration is abundant and I get excited about my ideas. Other weeks I’m uninspired and get frustrated with any book I open.
A few weeks ago, I opened an old recipe binder filled with recipe cards I wrote when we were newly married and found the recipe for Chicken Papadoris. I used to make it weekly and it was a total favorite of the hubby and I. Immediately, I squealed with excitement at the idea of surprising him by making it! I was excited for the girls to try it and for the nostalgic smell of this dish simmering in my kitchen. Both girls LOVED it and it brought back memories of the hubby and I eating by candlelight, drinking two buck Chuck because it was all we could afford and talking about our day.
The curry flavor is not heavy in case curry isn’t your thing. Give it try and let me know what you think!
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 1/4 butter
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
- 1 brown onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1-2 cans unsweetened coconut milk
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
- 1/4 cup cold water
- 2 cups jasmine rice, cooked
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pine nuts and cook stirring frequently until evenly toasted. Remove pine nuts and set aside.
- Add butter to the skillet and melt over medium heat. Stir in chicken and cook for 10 minutes or until no pink is showing and juices run clear. Pour off any juices.
- Add onion and garlic and cook until tender. Stir in half of the pine nuts, soy sauce and coconut milk. Season with paprika, cumin and curry powder.
- In a small cup, mix water and cornstarch. Add to skillet and stir until a thick gravy forms. Serve over white rice. Sprinkle remaining pine nuts on top and serve!
BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad
You guys.
It’s the the third week of school and the dreaded letter has already come home. The letter that instantly sends parents into a panic. The letter that makes you start itching all over and contemplating whether homeschooling might be a better idea than ever having this damn letter ever come home again. You contemplate whether a pixie cut might look good….on all of you.
I go straight up 72 hour psych hold over the thought of bugs in my hair or the girls hair. After their nightly shower, I’m a head lamp wearing, comb wielding, anti-lice spray lunatic as I scour their heads inch by inch.
Thank goodness we are all clear. Each day the girls hair is coated in anti-lice spray (which is a delicious Rosemary smell so it just makes them smell even more yummy) and pulled back into some headache inducing hairstyle that hopefully deters any jumping bugs from making contact with my kiddos.
Such a perfect food blog subject, right? Like, you are totes excited to talk food now, aren’t you? I promise my recipes are always bug free so give this salad a shot. It’s beyond delicious and is another easy weeknight meal. For the kiddos, just keep the jalapeño on the side.
- 2 cups diced chicken, cooked (feel free to cheat with Trader Joe's Just Chicken or any stores rotisserie chicken)
- 6 cups mixed greens (I love baby kale, arugula and the spicy spinach blend from Trader Joe's)
- 1/2 cup pearl or grape tomatoes, cut in half
- 1/4 cup diced red onion
- 3/4 cup canned corn, drained
- 3/4 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
- 3/4 cup jack and cheddar cheese blend OR 1/2 cup Crumbled Gorgonzola
- 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup ranch dressing (in a pinch, I like the Homestyle Ranch or Jalapeño Ranch by Litehouse)
- 1/4 cup BBQ sauce
- 1/2 cup tortilla strips
- 1 jalapeno, diced (optional)
- This is going to be really complicated... you ready?
- Add salad to four bowls.
- Top with tomato, corn, beans, cheese, cilantro, onions, chicken and jalapeño.
- Drizzle with Ranch dressing and BBQ sauce. Top with tortilla strips and serve!
Mommy Bistro: Chef, Mom and Lice Hunter
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I keep doing this. I fall off the face of the planet and then I come back apologizing for being gone for so long. But here’s the deal: My life; my kids, husband, and commitments surrounding them are what comes first. It’s not that I don’t love sharing my recipes and writing for Mommy Bistro. It’s that I was busy playing an epic game of hide-n-go-seek or teaching our daughters how to tie their shoes. It’s that I’ve been busy volunteering for their two schools or taking them to gymnastics and art class.
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Storm Watch 2014 is here.
We’ve had a super mild winter. And by super mild, I mean we really haven’t had one. I still have a flip flop tan and it’s been averaging between 70-80 everyday for months. Well, get out your emergency supplies, make sure you have batteries in your flashlights and totally forget how to drive a vehicle in that stuff that falls from the sky cause THE BIGGEST WINTER STORM IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND is about to hit Southern California.