Chunky chicken and mushroom soup…
We are working, I hope, through the last of the days on end rain storms where even the worms drown in unforgiving driveway puddles…
and unplanned driveway streams…
Goats are hanging near the doorway..
As well as the dynamic duo…
I love this salad. I’ve been working on some new lunch recipes to cover us through the week. Roasted chicken breast, Chobani plain greek yogurt, pomegranate, walnuts and fresh tarragon. Um hell yes.
I’ve been sitting on this post for a few weeks so if you can’t find the pomegranate I have substituted grapes split in half or even quartered if you have the patience. Just a pop of sweet is what I like.
Print recipe: {Chobani chicken salad, pomegranate & tarragon}
I’ve been making yogurt lately from raw milk we get locally, but if I don’t have it on hand I’m happy to turn to Chobani yogurt. Really. Yes, contact from the company did motivate this post but I was happy to do it. And though I think healthy fats are totally good for us, I wanted to go with the plain yogurt to dress this salad and went with the 0% fat. I used one small container for the recipe.
Here we are already ending the first week of July. The garden is going gangbusters and we’re loving every minute and every morsel. We’ve been enjoying greens since March, peas over the last month and the broccoli has actually gone to seed now. But for me when the root veggies start showing their true selves, I feel summer harvest knocking at the door. These baby carrots and beets are only moments shy of fully maturing. We are devouring the first zucchinis, blissfully ignorant to the idea of the late August green giant overload. We have Green zucchini, Costata Romanescos with the racing stripes, and Scalloped green/yellow pattypans soon to arrive. Unfortunately, I mismarked the yellow crookneck and they seemed to have gotten lost in the shuffle.
I’m rounding up January with one more healthy dish. I won’t even pretend to disguise the fact that I’ve been nibbling at the chocolate with virtual abandon but will also report, I’m starting my fourth week of regular exercise. Despite the scale’s refusal to acquiesce in a manner I’d prefer, there is just less meat to grab in the middle, if you know what I mean. I can work with that. Unfortunately, being on my own right now there is nobody to test my theory… but I’ll keep you posted 🙂
We’ve had a good couple weeks, striking through many items on our list(s) and feeling like we are moving forward in life. O, still in Germany, is back in the room where he grew up till he finishes the semester and homeland security gives us a green light. We are counting down the days till we can enjoy life as a non-commuter family, at least till October.
I also finally set up the Lowell Ego light I received as a Christmas gift from my mother. Thanks mom! Don’t take this the wrong way, but I was amazed at how such a flimsy, plastic, kind of crap light is so entirely perfect. Granted, I’ve nothing to compare it to, but so far it has proven far better than photos with overhead room lights. Leary about its quality after reading many reviews, I was prepared for the worst. It is a wee bit scary to put together. Simple, but you feel like you are going to break it before you even flip the switch. I did only buy one to try out and I’m not sure if I would buy a second. So here’s my first ever set of photos taken after dark. I’ll keep practicing.
On to some chow…I’ve got a simple dish here that will please your palette and your waistline. It is combined inspiration from Karen @ Backroad Journal’s spaghetti squash and Karista @ Karista’s kitchen’s meatballs. It is the lazy version.
The spaghetti squash is split in half and seeds are scooped out. I drizzle a little olive oil, salt and pepper and some herb- tonight it was thyme. Often it’s fresh rosemary. I love how these guys are starting to break a sweat under the light!
The squash was baked with a little water at the bottom of the pan (glass dish is fine) at 400°F for 45 minutes. You know it’s done when easily punctured with a knife. The inside is scraped up with a fork into strands… hence the name spaghetti squash.
Again, being the lazy road here, I used one 16oz package of Isernio’s breakfast chicken sausage.
All I added was a little fennel seed, oregano, thyme and sage and 1/2 cup of diced apples. We are still working off a few of our apples in cold storage from December.
And 1/3 cup diced onions…
The meatballs were a little sticky and rough around the edges because I skipped on the egg and breadcrumbs. I could lie and say it was to keep it GF. It was just due to the lazy part and frankly, being completely caught up with my new light. Honestly, there’s no need for the accurate measurements, it was just easier for photos!
I heated up a little olive oil and butter and plopped sticky balls in the pan to brown them. I finished them off in the oven at 400°F for about 10 minutes.
I steamed a little kale in the frying pan juices and had a little fun plating it up. I drizzled a tad more olive oil on the squash. Chloe was impressed with the presentation but not mad on the squash. I had to pull out these sweet Pillivuyt plates because our everyday dishes are fiestaware and I wanted a white plate. But I’ll say, it was a little more fun to eat like this.
I’m so looking forward to baking again.
Tschüß xo
And a little hello from Otis.. the days of rinsing him off in the sink with the sprayer are numbered…
One Year Ago: Espresso Cupcakes
I know what you are thinking… what is it with this chick and the glass noodles? People, I could eat these everyday. I think I must have been Vietnamese in a past life. Or Thai. My palette extends pretty far and wide but I find that when I’m trying to eat healthy, I could add cilantro and/or mint, basil, ginger and garlic and a squirt of fish sauce to just about everything. And I’m thinking the thai chili sauce isn’t so bad either. And I would rather not hear anything contradictory to that warm fuzzy feeling I have about it.
But first, the turkey kebabs…
This tarragon chicken salad with cranberries and hazelnuts, exploding with flavor and texture, easily kept my mind off the cupcakes and yeasted cakes I’ve temporarily sworn off. And it will yours too. I didn’t search for any recipe this time because I didn’t want to know if someone’s already done it. Sometimes, with the access we have online to practically everything, it can take a bit of the thrill out of thinking you’ve discovered something for yourself. Now I know tarragon chicken salad is nothing new. And I know somebody out there has put cranberries or hazelnuts with chicken. Maybe they even used an orange vinaigrette to dress it. And yes, once I publish this post I might very well google it… but until then I’m enjoying having put this together myself.
Ok not the rubber kind and it was the car that got the bath. Happy Valentine’s day honey. Right? What do we get for our loving husbands? Mine isn’t into power tools but how about washing and vacuuming the car, I thought. It was my first car wash in Germany. I was returning from dropping Chloe off at school.. which on a side note is so totally American. These kids here are trained young for church, getting themselves around, and crossing streets only when the green guy flashes. We see 5 year olds out there rain, sun, snow walking to school. They’ve got backpacks as big as their little bodies and until they leave home at 18, they are independent. It’s great. But you have to start straight away. Like with church. My choir did a couple songs for the kids service today and these kids start so young going to church. It is just something you do on Sundays. You start them before they realize they have choices. It’s not like a “hmm… should we go to church today?” It’s just what you do. By the time they hit puberty it’s part of a structure that just is. I’m not religious per se so it’s not about going to church… but the principal of training, ya know?
You can read further about my car wash experience down below. It was pretty funny. But now here are a couple ideas for a lovely Valentine’s Day meal or weekend dinner.
Wendy's Place 