It is no surprise to anyone that is friends with me on Social Media...I have been busy in the kitchen this month!! It has been so nice to have a spacious kitchen again. We also made a pledge to do no restaurants all month of July to help save money for house furnishings, etc. (Restaurants are SUCH budget-suckers!!! Good Lord!)
Ryan has been working a ton lately - and weird hours + it's his "finals week" w/ grad school. - so had lots of "me time" to spend in the kitchen and wanted to spoil him with good food.
I like to send him with baked goods to bring to his squadron on the weekend's he works. And his request was White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies. I went to make them Friday night, and realized I didn't have any Macadamia nuts. So I improvised: and crushed up almonds, and used a little pure almond extract.
They turned out SO GOOD!!! I got the recipe from The Pioneer Woman. Definitely a keeper of a recipe!!
What have you been creating in your kitchen?
What is your favorite breakfast cheat item??
Ryan has been working a ton lately - and weird hours + it's his "finals week" w/ grad school. - so had lots of "me time" to spend in the kitchen and wanted to spoil him with good food.
I like to send him with baked goods to bring to his squadron on the weekend's he works. And his request was White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies. I went to make them Friday night, and realized I didn't have any Macadamia nuts. So I improvised: and crushed up almonds, and used a little pure almond extract.
They turned out SO GOOD!!! I got the recipe from The Pioneer Woman. Definitely a keeper of a recipe!!
Saturday I wanted to send him with a good "comfort food" meal for dinner. And our favorite comfort food is ordering Indian food. But since we aren't doing restaurants....I had to create it ;). I made Chicken Vindaloo. The only thing missing was some Naan. Next time!!
My chicken vindaloo recipe is listed below. I look at food.com to get the idea on how to make chicken vindaloo...and then improvised.Next time I will slow cook the chicken in a crockpot, so it is more shredded.
- Take 4 chicken breasts, cut into chunks, and season with curry, crushed cardamom, pepper, himalayan salt, tumeric powder, ground mustard, ginger. Allow to marinade for about 1 hour.
- In a pan, heat to medium heat. Sprinkle those same spices into the bottom for about 1-2 minutes, and allow the heat to bring out the seasoning's flavor.
- Add 1 Tbsp coconut oil. Add 4 garlic cloves, 1/4 cup tomato paste, more salt, 1 can crushed tomatoes, 4 sliced potatoes, 1/2 red onion sliced, 1 1/2 cups chicken broth. Allow to simmer.
- Add in the chicken. Cover, bring to a heavy simmer. Once potatoes are tender, remove from stove.
When I do this again, I will add a little cornstarch at the end to thicken up the broth.
I also added in some jalepeno powder and sriracha to give it a little kick It was deliicious!!! Best served with jasmine rice.
And finally, Sunday morning, I made quite the decadent breakfast. I did a 6.5 mile hill repeat workout. It was 83 degress and 60% humidity (at 5:30 am). I seriously wanted to cry - I was so hot. I ran 3 miles uphill, 2 miles downhill, and then did 1 mile of a .15 mile hill repeat.
Let's just say by the time I was done, I was SO hungry!!! And sweaty. I had to lay in our pool for a good 10 minutes to get my body temp down!! Oh darn ;)
Breakfast was Fresh Blueberry Waffles with a Blueberry Compote. I totally made up the compote recipe, and I was quite pleased. It had blueberries, fresh squeezed lemon, stevia, a splash of orange juice, vanilla, and a little corn starch! Next time I make this, I think a little ricotta cheese needs to go on top, too!
What have you been creating in your kitchen?
What is your favorite breakfast cheat item??
Comments
I'm glad you are back in a home with a big kitchen so you can be doing what you love!!!
I know you are really enjoying having a real kitchen again and to get all your cooking utensils back to work! What is your favorite thing about your new kitchen?