Colonial Quarantine Adventures

Happy days! We've made it safely to Yorktown due to the gracious gift of my niece who so kindly let us borrow her training potty 😂 (which spectacularly includes song and flashing light features). 

We are safely snuggled into our new quarantine quarters. 🤣We may have a little lapse in posting for a week while we visit, but feel free to keep posting great books and recipes and loveliness! See you in a bit and happy warm days! 

Happy colonial-style quarantining 🤣

Strawberry Salsa Fajitas...Oh. My. Goodness.

It's official. My husband is the bravest man alive. I wanted to do something fun and was in a big-time chopping and stirring kind've mood...so I discovered/enhanced/perfected Strawberry Salsa

Fajitas🍓🍓. Oh my, oh my. Thankfully I had tried mango salsa before so I had some sort've fruit salsa reference point to keep the decision from being a complete leap into the dark; However, it was still a rather dramatic and nerve-racking experience. And I'll admit there was some radical nervousness as we both took our first bites....

Miracle of miracles, we loved it! It's been added to my when-I-open-a-restaurant list and got a 4.8 on the taste scale and a 5 for creativity (if my husband liked scallions it would have been a 5, I'm sure of it haha).

So here it is!

Salsa:
1) About a cup of cut-into-tiny pieces strawberries...more wouldn't be bad though 😉.
2) 1 tbsp. of chopped green scallions.
3) 3 tbsps. finely chopped cilantro (use more or less depending on your love of cilantro).
4) Salt and pepper to taste (I did a few cranks of my shaker/dispensers).
5) 1/4 a 10oz can of diced tomatoes and green chilies (you can also add cut up jalapeño,s but that was off the table for my pregnant self haha).
6) 3 tbsps. lime juice (can add more if you love the flavor)

Simply cut all this up and add it all to the bowling giving it a good mix and then store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Chicken:
1) 2 tbsps. lime juice
2) 2 tbsps. olive oil
3) 2 tbsps. honey
4) Salt and pepper to taste (a few cranks on both sides of the chicken as you cook)
5) 1/2 tbsp. cilantro

Instructions:
1) Defrost chicken (I used chicken tenderloins) and cut into smaller, long strips for fajitas.
2) Mix up the lime juice, olive oil, honey, and cilantro in a bowl.
3) Drizzle a little olive oil into the bottom of a frying pan and add the chicken on medium/high heat. Add the salt and pepper to the first side of the chicken.
4) After first side is no longer pink, flip the chicken  and after you have salted and peppered this side, drizzle half the lime, honey, olive oil sauce onto the chicken. Keep stirring and flipping and adding the sauce as the chicken cooks (go until slightly browning and has reached 165 degrees and is cooked all the way through).
5) Keep chicken warm to serve with the salsa on corn tortillas.

Fajita Toppings/Additions:

1) Corn tortillas (This is a link to my favorite online instructions for heating tortillas....funny and insightful 😅:  https://www.bonappetit.com/story/how-to-warm-corn-tortillas). I heated mine in a skillet until they were just getting the little brown spots on both sides.
2) Lettuce (we did finely chopped up iceberg because it was more for the lettuce crunch).
3) Shredded pepper-jack cheese.
4) Any other toppings you might like!

Set the table, pray, and set forth on the journey of decorating and eating these delicious creations. Don't be afraid of the salsa....ladle it on with courage. It's amazing. Plus you'll feel really brave when it's all over and can then tell everyone about the bravery it took to eat one of the tastiest meals of your life 😆.

Happy strawberrying!

Flavored water experiments

To encourage myself to drink more water, I have been trying some of the “recipes” for flavored water.  Day 1 - not really an experiment, I just sliced fresh lemon 🍋  My stomach can’t handle the acid, so on to day 2. Day 2 - cucumber 🥒 and strawberries 🍓 - too many cucumber slices (I put in 5!) and could hardly taste strawberries. Day 3 - had fresh ginger, so peeled and cut a chunk in 5 pieces (put them ALL in) and threw in a handful of frozen blueberries. Yum! Even my husband was drinking it now. Kept that in fridge for 3 days and kept adding water. Day 4 - back to cucumber and strawberries. This time only 2 slices of cucumber and lots of slices strawberries 🤞🤞

Blueberry/ginger on left, strawberry/cucumber on right

The English Game: How a Series Captured Our Quarantined Hearts

The English Game

I know this isn't a book or recipe and is only mildly connected to exercise in a topical sort've way (watching the history of football aka soccer counts, right? 😁), but I just had to share about one of the best things we've watched while in quarantine: The English Game.  As a loving and kind wife who was trying to serve her sweet husband by picking a show that would particularly interest his soccer loving heart, I randomly selected this masterpiece . . . never realizing how self-serving it would be as it quickly became one of my favorite mini-series events ever. 

Why is this such a good film? While trying my absolute best not to be the worst spoiler of all time, this series encapsulates all of my favorite movie themes: sports competition, radical forgiveness, broken marriages and redemption, sacrificial and joyful living, and some good classic make-you-think ethical dilemmas. Top all this off with the beautiful sets, directing and cinematography of the Downton Abbey team (and some of the most magnificently entertaining period-piece facial hair I've ever seen 😆) and it's too good to be true. 

Unlike many movies today, this series captured my heart by actually depicting honest character growth and one of my favorite portrayals of really grappling with grief and how to face it fully without ignoring its reality or pushing it away, but also not allowing it to swallow you up. It is a rare and beautiful thing to see a true story of people who learn to let grief and hardship teach them how to love and serve and to feel deeply for others - and that is precisely what this movie does (hint/spoiler, this movie is not simply the story of soccer, but of sanctification and growth). To sum it up, the series embodies one of my favorite verses: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God" (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). Instead of letting pain or suffering control their lives, the movie paints a picture of hope in how God can use such times by allowing His comfort to enable us to comfort those  around us. It's a broken world that we live in with so much pain and hurt and sin, but, we are enabled to love, feel deeply for, and pour into others, even when we feel the brokenness most. It makes you ask yourself if that is how you view suffering. Do we see it as a chance to grow in our ability to comfort and love others?

I'm going to stop here so as not to ruin things, but for anyone thinking about how to channel loneliness, disappointment, or suffering into good and beautiful things, it's definitely worth a watch ❤ Also, it includes sports and British and Scottish accents, which certainly don't detract from the wonderfulness. Happy viewing!

P.S. I've chosen a whopper book, but a review is coming and....sneak preview, but, Strawberry Salsa Chicken Tacos....amazing. 

Muffins for the Morning or in the Afternoon or Even in the Evening and Underneath the Moon

The glorious day has arrived! I have begun work again in earnest and I'm LOVING it. I love routines and deadlines and meetings and it's terribly weird of me, but is just the truth. I am now officially Professor Woodward, Esq., though I haven't yet convinced Camden to make this his main manner of addressing me haha. Also, we are officially having a little baby boy and my goodness what an exciting adventure that will be! 

To celebrate the momentous nature of this week and the crazy business that has begun, I have baked my new favorite muffins. These little muffs were a way to get out my wiggles of excitement with some solid mixing and pouring and impatient oven-watching. (Baking was a necessity for otherwise I was going to be banished to the basement as my dancing was simply not conducive to creating a good work atmosphere). Credit for these little puffs of goodness goes to the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook (one of my favorites as my mom used it when we were little so it tastes like sweet memories).  I slightly modified the recipe (as can you!) to fit our dietary needs and taste preferences. Here it is!

Ingredients:

1) 2 cups all-purpose flour (we used King Arthur Gluten-Free flour and it worked great!)

2) 3/4 cups sugar (we did a little less because we don't like super sweet).

3) 2 1/2 tsp baking powder

4) 1/4 tsp salt

5) 2 eggs lightly beaten

6) 3/4 cup milk

7) 6 tbsp melted butter

8) These are optional and can be changed out for other fruits/nuts,  but we did about 1/2 cup craisins and 1/2 cup oatmeal as added flavor/texture

9) A tbsp of brown sugar for sprinkling lightly on top of muffins

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 375

2) Grease or line with muffin cups a 12 cup muffin tin.

3) Stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and make a little well in the center of the mixture into which to pour the wet mix in step 4.

4) In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, milk and melted butter and then pour the mix into the well created in the flour mix.

5) Stir, though it will stay lumpy. Once all is wet, add in your extra taste ingredients such as craisins and oatmeal.

6) Ladle batter evenly into the muffin cups and then sprinkle each lightly with the brown sugar.

7) Bake for 18-20 minutes or until it gets that happy golden look.

8) Cool a bit and then serve. Great as a side or snack or dessert or breakfast...whatever you might need haha. 

I only have a picture of one muffin now....as the rest were demolished by the two boys in my life, sweet Camden and Baby Yoda. But let this picture stand as a testimony to their tastiness haha.  Enjoy!

The last muffin standing

Exercise Check-in

Happy completion of week 3 of the quarantine blog! This is the picture of my barely-survived-the-frost garden haha. Here's to warmer days ahead! Feel free to post below your steps/work-out achievements for the week. My step counter was out of commission due to visiting a hospital for a check-up this week so I had to manually count, but I think I got close to 50,000 (we did more than 10,000 today as penance 😄). Looking forward to more tasty food, walking, and posting about my newest book on Covenants...soooo good. Happy Mother's Day!

Winner Winner Pineapple Chicken Dinner

Ingredients:

• one large chicken breast (1 - 1/12 pounds)
• 15 oz. can of pineapple chunks, liquid set aside, or fresh if available
• tri-colored bell peppers (1 cup total - yellow, red, green, orange, whatever you have), diced
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 2 stalks sliced green onions, whites separated from greens
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. sesame seeds
• sprinkle of ginger (i had a jar of the dried spice kind)

(Photo totally stolen from www.cleanfoodcrush.com)

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa according to directions. Generally 1 cup of quinoa requires twice as much water. I like to toast the quinoa for about 4 minutes in the skillet prior to adding the liquid. I also throw in a cube of homemade chicken stock to amp up the flavor. Bring to boil, lower the temp to low and allow to simmer for approximately 15 minutes or until germ curlicue has become separated.
2. Cut raw chicken into bite sized pieces and season with salt and pepper. Warm sesame oil in large skillet. Cook chicken for a few minutes on each side until cooked through. 
3. Add white part of the onion, peppers, and ginger to the skillet with the chicken. Cook until peppers become tender, less than 10 minutes. If you need to add a little more oil at this point go ahead!
4. Add the pineapple chunks and half the liquid to the pan and let everything cook down for a few minutes. Once fragrant, it is done!
5. Place 1/2 - 1 cup of quinoa on a plate (or in a hollowed out pineapple - see pics) and top with the 1/4 - 1/3 of the skillet contents and a splash of the remaining pineapple liquid. Garnish the dish with the green part of the green onions, sesame seeds, and a drizzle of soy sauce. Hoison sauce would also work as a delicious substitute.

Notes:

I used a recipe as inspiration for this dish, but I didn't have all the ingredients so I sort of just made it up as I went along. I've shared the picture from the original receipt because...I mean come on, look at that beauty. 

I've also shared a picture of my own meal since it was slightly different. It was delicious. I ran out of soy sauce, so I topped the rest with super hot sauce I got in Texas and it was a good substitute for gluten free people (I'm looking at you Jax). I also just blatantly forget the sesame seeds. Oh well. If you don't have quinoa, I'm sure rice will work - a fragrant jasmine for sure. Thinking of trying it with shrimp at some point!

 

Blueberries. Stuffed Chicken. Yum.

It is time to confess that we have had a couple real rough dinners lately. We have agreed to never speak of one again...let's just say it involved carrots and was disasterful 😆. For any of you who spoke with me on the phone that fateful day, you know the meal of which I speak.

However, in the midst of darkness there has still been much light. And last night was a bright and shiny night. A night that makes you want to cook again and raises you from the depths of kitchen despair.

Last night, we had Gluten-Free Blueberry Pie and Asparagus Stuffed Chicken. Oh my. Oh my. It was tasty. I think if Camden hadn't already married me, he would have seriously considered proposing over that meal. So, in the interest of sharing the love and deliciousness, here are the recipes!

Here we go: dinner first.

Ingredients:
1) 4 chicken breasts cut into halves for easier cooking
2) Half a package of fresh asparagus
4) 4 minced garlic cloves
5) 1/4 tsp salt and pepper
6) 2 tbsp of olive oil
7) 1/2 tsp of dried basil

Instructions:
1) Take chicken breasts and cut in half so you have two fat sides and then cut a little sliver down the middle so you have two thin flaps that are still connected (kind've like a pita bread). Since it's not for a fancy meal...basically just cut a slice in the middle of your piece of chicken into which you can put the tasty filling.
2) Rinse and then cut your asparagus bottoms off and lightly drizzle some olive oil on them (you can add a dash of garlic powder to them as well).
3) Now for the fun part: take your chicken "pitas" and put a little mozzarella and some asparagus (about 4-5 pieces) in each half of chicken. The asparagus will hang out of the sides and mozzarella will sort've spill out. But never fear! As long it all ends up in the same pan together, all will be well.
4) Preheat your oven to 425.
5) Next, on medium-high heat, pour a tbsp of olive oil in frying pan and add the minced garlic and place stuffed chicken pieces in the pan (add salt and pepper to chicken). Cook chicekn on both sides until no longer pink and just starting to get that golden brown color. (Flipping is a challenge, but just go for it and re-stuff as you go haha).
6) Take a glass baking dish and drizzle remaining oil in the bottom of the pan, adding the basil to the oil. Remove the contents of the frying pan and place them in your baking dish, trying not to overlap the chicken so as to enable it to cook evenly. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella on top.
7) (After pie crust is done prebaking...see below). Put in oven and bake for about 20-30 minutes (you want temp to reach at least 165).

Dessert:

Ingredients:
1) 1 stick of butter
2) 1 1/4 cup flour (I used King Arthur Gluten Free Flour)
3) 1/2 tbsp sugar
4) dash of salt
5) 4-6 tbsps of cold water
6) 1 1/2 packages of blueberries
7) 1/4 cup sugar

Instructions:
1) First make the crust: add flour, 1/2 tbsp sugar, and dash of salt to a bowl and mix. Then cut in the butter (I cut it into little bits so it's easy to crumble in with the flour) Add the cold water in tiny increments as needed and with a fork mash all ingredients together. Be careful not to make the dough too wet. It will be crumbly at first, but eventually use your hands to gather it into a ball.
2) Roll the dough out over lightly floured surface or just hand-press it in your pie pan.
3) Then, in your oven that was preheated to 425 for your chicken (but before you start to bake your chicken!) bake the crust for about 5 mins without any filling.
3) Next, wash blueberries and place in bowl, mixing in 1/4 cup sugar. Add it into the pie pan on  the now lightly baked crust. After the chicken is done cooking, turn temp down to 375 and pop your pie in to bake for about 50 minutes or until golden brown and berries bubbling. If the top is starting to look too brown, put some foil on top of the pie to protect it from over-baking.

And voila! You have stuffed asparagus chicken and a beautiful pie! I served mine with apple sauce and a side salad and then made some homemade whipped topping for the pie since we didn't have any in our quarantine stash. It was delicious. Hope you enjoy!

Dijon Chicken: A recipe so good it ruined all other recipes

Dijon Chicken

        Either our sense of the delicious has suffered a terrible blow at the hand of quarantine or we have discovered our new favorite meal. We liken it to a fancy Chik-Fil-A chicken and we ate it so fast we almost forgot to take a picture because the smell drew us to our plates where we truly lost all sense of decorum 😅 The meal received 5.0 stars and we haven't been willing to give out another 5 star rating since as we loved it too much to have anything else join this paragon of deliciousness on its lofty pedestal. 

So here it is. Dijon Chicken.

Ingredients:

1) We used 3-4 medium chicken breasts cut up into smaller pieces (tenderloin chicken would work great too). Adjust to the size of your crowd. We definitely had enough sauce to go over more chicken.

2) 4 tbsps of Dijon Mustard (we just used the stuff from Aldi)

3) 1-2 tbsp of honey depending on how much you like sweetness

4) A single sprinkle of garlic

5) 1 tbsp butter

6) 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream or milk 

7) 1/2 cup chicken broth and 1/2 cup water

8) A drizzle of olive oil

9) Penne pasta (enough for your group size....you can also make rice or mashed potatoes)

10) Stuff for a side salad (we did red peppers, tomatoes, craisins, carrots, lettuce and spinach, and balsamic vinaigrette from Aldi)

11) 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

Easy Instructions: (You can make your salad first and pop it in the fridge so it's ready to go!).

1) Cut up chicken and cook in the drizzle of oil over medium high heat until no longer pink

2) While chicken is cooking, take out a saucepan and on low heat (I went between 2-3 on my burner) pour in the chicken broth, milk, and butter and stir. Next add the honey and Dijon mustard and do a sprinkle or two of garlic powder. Keep stirring as it will take a bit for the ingredients to fully mix together (it's okay if it stays a little lumpy)

3) Put penne pasta on to boil (you could also make rice or mashed potatoes. Rice is bothering me currently with pregnancy so we just did pasta).

4) Once chicken is no longer pink, but before it is beginning to brown, pour 1/3 of the sauce into the chicken pan and continue to cook chicken, flipping it so that sauce gets on both sides. After the sauce evaporates a bit, add another third and continue to flip chicken (watch so as not to burn, but getting a little brown is great). Add the final bit of sauce and allow chicken to cook until golden brown and then turn down to low heat. 

5) Take noodles off and drain them, placing them in a bowl and sprinkling them with the parmesan cheese (making sure to mix it throughout the noodles for ultimate deliciousness 😍).

It's ready to serve! We put the chicken right on the noodles and it was fantastic. We didn't use the extra sauce on the noodles as it's strong by itself, but it's really great for prepping the chicken! Feel free to adjust the recipe and sauce to how you like it! I tasted mine as I made it to decide if I wanted to add any extra honey or garlic, etc. But the sauce will taste a little strong before going on the chicken, so in the words of Julia Child, ladle it on "with conviction" and don't be worried if it's not great tasting by itself 😆.

Happy Cooking!

Happy BEAUTIFUL Sunday! Here's our weekly step count/exercise achievement post! Keep up the good work and sending you all love from afar ❤️😊 Looking forward to posting my new favorite dinner....Special Dijon Sauce Chicken aka Fancy Homemade Chik-Fil-A and posting about my new book for the week!

Also, feel free to comment any type of exercise you are doing!