Menu Monday, a New Favorite and Pictures

So my New Year's Resolution to post more on my blog has really been hit and miss. So here I am cramming a week's worth of blogging into one post. Sorry, I suppose it's a bit long...

This week we have decided to eat out a couple of times. One night we are headed to a local minority street for some "pulled noodles." It's really neat to watch the men make the noodles by stretching them out. And then we decided it was time to have some Mexican food at Peter's (whoo-hoo!). Other than that we'll be having split pea and barley soup, shrimp salads, and bbq chicken sandwiches. I figure that telling you all what we eat for breakfast and lunch is getting a little redundant. We'll also be celebrating a birthday at a friend's house.

And lastly, I'm going to try my hand at corned beef and cabbage on Wednesday. I figure that I might as well celebrate St. Patrick's Day. If it's worth eating, I'll post more details on it next week!

I have to admit that I love Rachael Ray recipes. I'm not a huge fan of her talk show, but I love her recipes. This week I stumbled upon a new(er) recipe of hers for Chicken Divan. I'm posting it below with a few changes.

• about a 1/3 sliced almonds, toasted and then set aside until serving
• 1 qt chicken stock or broth
• 1 zested lemon or 3-4 tblsp lemon juice
• 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme, or about a tblsp thyme (I'm guessing, I didn't measure)
• 4tblsp butter, divided
• 11/2 cups white rice
• 1 1/2-1 3/4 lbs chicken breasts or tenders
• a little more than 1/2 cup all purpose flour...again, I didn't measure
• 1 tblsp poutry seasoning
• 2 tblsp olive oil
• a large bunch of aspargus (alas, I couldn't find it, we had peas with it instead)
• 6-7 button mushrooms
• 1/3 cup white wine (you can substitute chicken broth if you don't have it)
• 1/3 cup whole milk, half and half, or cream (I had whole, the other is expensive here)
• generous tblsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tblsp fresh tarragon or 1 tblsp dried
• 2 scallions chopped

Bring 2 3/4 cups of chicken broth, zest of lemon, and 1 tblsp of butter to a boil. Add rice. Cover and simmer on very low heat for 18 minutes.

Meanwhile, season chicken with salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Dredge in flour. Heat in a large skillet 2 tblsp olive oil and 1 tblsp butter. Over medium to medium-high heat, cook the chicken until the juices run clear. Remove from the pan and set aside, covering to keep warm.

While cooking the chicken (if you have more than two burners, unlike me) bring about 1-2 inches of salted water to a boil in a shallow pan. Add the asparagus and cook for about 4 minutes until just tender but still bright green.

In the skillet used to cook the chicken, melt 2 tblsp of butter. Add the mushrooms and saute for a couple of minutes. Whisk in about 2 heaping tblsp of flour and cook for about a minute. Whisk in the white wine and burn off the alcohol by cooking for about a minute. Then add the remaining chicken stock and the milk (half and half or cream). When the sauce bubbles and starts to thicken stir in the mustard and tarragon.

This really is one of the best recipes I've had in a long time. The only complaint I have is that I had enough meat for another adult, but no where near enough rice! Next time I will double the rice recipe. It sounds a little complicate, but it's really not. She said the recipe could be done in 35 minutes, and I think it took me about 45. I will admit that I re-wrote her directions because hers were not very clear. I hope that mine are clearer and that if you try this you will enjoy it as much as we did!

And last, but not least, here are some pictures from this last week.

Ellie's new make-up application technique. This is lipstick on the cheek.

You may not be able to tell from this picture, but Lydia's hair is very, very curly. One night after bath, I styled Lydia's hair VERY big. The 80's are back, baby!

This week I washed the girls' sheets. While they were off, Lydia grabbed the mattress saver and played with it. She was doing her "workout" on it. And when she was all done, she rolled it up neatly and put it on my yoga mat.