Sausage and Rice

1 package of andouille sausage, sliced thin
2 cups brown rice
4 cups chicken broth
1 cube chicken bouillion
1 can crushed tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, minced
Onion powder
Paprika
Basil
Oregano
Cayenne
S&P
2 tbsp olive oil

Place brown rice in rice cooker, add chicken broth up to the 3rd line (about 3 cups) plus the bouillion cube and cook until tender.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over med-high heat, add sliced sausage and brown, about 3 minutes.

Add 1 cup broth, tomatoes, all seasonings.  Reduce heat to medium and let simmer.  Add cooked rice, mix well, reduce heat to low, cover and let the rice absorb the liquids, about 5 more minutes.

One Pot Pasta

So freaking delicious.  Way better than I thought and so super freaking easy!

One Pot Pasta

EVOO
1 package Hillshire Farms Smoked Sausage (I used turkey to pretend that I'm healthy)
2 cloves of garlic
1 14 ounce can chicken broth
1 14 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
1 box penne
Colby/Monterey Jack shredded cheese
Parmesan Cheese
2 big handfuls fresh spinach
2 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
S&P
Cayenne, if you're into that sort of thing
Onion powder


Heat a couple tablespoons of EVOO in a large skillet over medium heat, one that you have a lid for.

Open your chicken broth and tomatoes to have it handy.

While the oil is getting toasty, chop your smoked sausage into bite sized pieces then grate your garlic right on top of that sausage.

Slide that into the hot oil.  Saute briefly (you don't want to burn your garlic, he's too delicious to burn).  Pour in the broth and tomatoes, stir.  Pour in the penne.  Stir some more.  Season with S&P, onion powder and cayenne.  Add the spinach right on top.  Cover and let it go for about 10 minutes.

Remove lid and stir.  Taste your pasta to see how done it is.  I wound up covering it and letting it go another 3 minutes.

Add in the cream cheese and sour cream, cover and let it all get mushy with each other.  About another 2 minutes.

Remove lid (do I really need to say "remove lid?"), stir well, taste test and add more seasonings as you see fit.  Cover with the parm and jack cheeses.  Replace lid and let it all melt.  Stir again and serve warm.

Super Delicious!  Aside from the cutting board, it's really a one pot meal!

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie

1 package chicken thighs
1 package frozen veggie mix (corn, green beans, peas 12 ounces)
2 ounces cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup of milk
1 package crescent rolls
1 thawed pie crust


Heat oven to 375.
Remove excess fat from chicken thighs cut into inch pieces.  Add to skillet over medium high heat with a drizzle of olive oil.  Season with garlic powder, poultry seasoning and R.R. chicken seasoning. Cook through.
Add soup, milk, cream cheese and frozen veggies. Heat until boiling, stirring constantly.
Let simmer for 5 minutes.
While simmering, unroll crescent dough.  Spray muffin tin, place one crescent triangle into each muffin.  Place one spoonful of pot pie mix into each triangle.  Fold each one over to make mini pot pies.
Bake 11 minutes.

As mini pies are baking, place one pie crust in a glass pie dish and fill with remaining pot pie filling.  Top with second pie crust.  Cut 2-4 vents and flute the edges.  When the mini pies are done, raise oven temp to 425 and bake pie for 20 minutes.

Bella Age 6

Bella - Age 6

1. What is your favorite color? PINK
2. What is your favorite toy? BLANKET BUDDIES
3. What is your favorite fruit? APPLES
4. What is your favorite tv show? SPONGEBOB
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? PIZZA
6. What is your favorite outfit? RED DRESS
7. What is your favorite game? MINECRAFT
8. What is your favorite snack? GRAPES
9. What is your favorite animal? BUNNIES
10. What is your favorite song? SHAKE IT OFF
11. What is your favorite book? AVENGERS
12. Who is your best friend? RICKY AND ALEXA AND ADRIANA AND EMMA
13. What is your favorite cereal? HONEY NUT CHEERIOS
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? RIDE MY SCOOTER
15. What is your favorite drink? CRAN APPLE JUICE
16. What is your favorite holiday? CHRISTMAS
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? BUN BUN, CHA CHA
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner? MEATLOAF
19. What is your favorite thing to do? HUG MOMMY
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? DENTIST

Drunken Kitchen Experiment

I experiment in the kitchen all the time.  If I had a show on the Food Network, it'd be called Kitchen Improv.  Because I'm funny, dammit!  :)  Anyways, this creation happened last night.  And shit was fantastic.

Eggs
Ham
Cheese
S&P
Muffin Tin
Cooking Spray

Heat oven to 400.  Spray the muffin tin.  Squish the ham in there.  Crack the egg in there.  Scramble it if you want.  S&P that bitch.  Throw some cheese on there.  Bake for like 15 minutes.  I think I meant to bake for less time so I could have squishy yolks, but again.  This was a drunken kitchen experiment.  Not a properly thought out and fully rational kitchen experiment.

But there ya go.  Pop them out with a spoon and enjoy a midnight snack that doesn't cost you a thousand calories and $20 for the pizza dude.  :)

PCS to Japan!

29 Days, people.  That's how long I have before I say Sayonara, America!  In 5 days, the movers arrive to pack us up and in 13 days, we're moving into a hotel.  I think my ulcer has an ulcer.  I'm surrounded by piles of shit that's quasi organized into sections of "HHG", "UB", "NTS", "SELL", "DONATE", and "I HAVE NO FUCKING CLUE WHAT TO DO WITH THIS OR EVEN WHY I BOUGHT IT".  So yeah, there's a lot of piles.  I'm not the neatest freak in the world, but this clutter is making me twitch.  Trying to make hard calls about what to go into storage b/c the housing in Japan is WAY smaller than America.  I mean duh.  They are a tiny people.  And I'm half Korean.  I'm pretty sure the Japanese raped and pillaged the shit outta my ancestors.  But I digress.  My house here is like 1900 sqft, give or take.  The biggest possible place we will get in Japan will be 1600 sqft, and we'll probably get stuck  in a 1400 sqft.  So I need to remove between 300-500 sqft of shit.  That's a lot of shit.  And I have no idea what to get rid of.  I want to move and I'm SO very excited, but dammit, it's all the stuff to do before the move that's driving me batty!

Bella - Age 5

Bella - Age 5

1. What is your favorite color? PINK
2. What is your favorite toy? BUN BUN
3. What is your favorite fruit? APPLES
4. What is your favorite tv show? HELLO KITTY
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? RICE
6. What is your favorite outfit? DADDY'S FROG SHIRT FROM KEESLER
7. What is your favorite game? BAD PIGGIES
8. What is your favorite snack? GUMMIES
9. What is your favorite animal? BUNNIES
10. What is your favorite song? THE MONKEY SONG
11. What is your favorite book? THE FROG BOOK
12. Who is your best friend? KAYLEIGH
13. What is your favorite cereal? FIBER ONE
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? RIDE MY BIKE
15. What is your favorite drink? SPRITE
16. What is your favorite holiday? CHRISTMAS
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? BUN BUN, CHA CHA, SNOWFLAKE
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner? BRATWURST
19. What is your favorite thing to do? PLAY OUTSIDE
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? BE LIKE MOMMY