Risotto & Jerk Chicken

Tonight for Sunday dinner, I made Baked Jerk Chicken, Spring Vegetable Risotto, and carrots.

I had never had Jerk Chicken before, but it sounded good. It turned out neither one of us liked the flavor, but the good news is, the chicken did turn out juicy and tender. One step at a time, I guess.

I had never had risotto before either but when I was at the store earlier this week I saw a box of Arborio rice used to make risotto and started to think about it. I was nervous to make risotto because on the t.v. show, Hell's Kitchen, Gordon Ramsey always has mushroom risotto as an appetizer and the apprentice chefs rarely ever make it to his liking. But for some reason, the idea of constantly stirring and tasting for a long period of time appealed to me.

So here it is.



As you can see, my risotto did not have the appropriate texture and Gordon Ramsey would not be pleased, but luckily for me I wasn't feeding him. I really put an effort into constantly watching and tasting the risotto to make sure it was going as instructed and I think it did, but at the very end when I added the freshly grated Parmesan cheese it went from a very light fresh taste to sticky cheesy rice. Cheese is good, but I almost liked it better without. Still, it was good and refreshing to have something a little different from the usual.

I really enjoy cooking my little meals and even preparing for them. It has been nice to have someone to eat with.

Finally, in case you aren't on Facebook, and just because this photo makes me smile I am posting it here as well. My sister Margie took this photo of her daughter Brooke and I while I was recently in Logan.


Brooke is so cute. When Margie began to get ready to take this photo, I got down on my knees to be more at Brooke's height, so then cute Brooke, of course got on her knees. She is adorable. I love her.

Sleeping Beauty Makes Marinara

Unbeknownst to me, this morning began with a photo opportunity.


Moving on...

Dinner was delicious. I made Giada's Marinara Sauce (per Becca's suggestion), with spaghetti, chicken, and broccoli. Becca was right. This sauce is perfect in every way. Like Becca, I found myself eating it all by itself. The recipe is so simple, it surprised me that it was so good. It was way better than spaghetti sauce.

I decided I better cook some form of meat with this meal, or it might not be considered a meal. The chicken was good, but could have used a little improvement. I split a chicken breast in half horizontally and planned on pounding it thin, but forgot. I dipped the halves in flour, egg, and a mixture of bread crumbs, garlic powder, salt and pepper before frying it on the stove. If anyone has any suggestions on a better way to do chicken or a different meat to add, please share.


Thank you so much Becca. Your suggestion was fantastic. I will definitely be making Giada's Marinara Sauce again in the future.

Woo hoo! It's a winner!

The Olympics

The Olympic Spirit is all over Salt Lake City. Not only does Salt Lake City still have oodles of Olympic banners and statues all over, the people dress in their Olympic earmuffs, hats, and coats like the Olympics are here right now. With all the Olympic excitement, I thought it would be appropriate to make an Olympic post and share some of my athletic activities with you.

Either I have become acclimated to Salt Lake's weather or we have had a mild winter. It must be both because I remember past winters when it was impossible to run outside because the sidewalks were just covered in ice. We are currently experiencing temperatures in the 40s and I took full advantage of it.

I thought I might start with tennis at Liberty Park. They have a fantastic new tennis facility which costs $5 to use but the practice walls are free. Practicing tennis is a greater workout than it appears to be. When I play against a wall, as opposed to a full court with an opponent, the ball only has half the distance to travel. Thus the ball comes at me twice as fast and there is very little time to rest. Plus there are no resting breaks when an opponent misses the ball and has to go after it. I am the only one there going after every missed ball. It is a real workout. I started out wearing a jacket and didn't need it one bit after about a minute of warming up.


Then there is biking City Creek Canyon. My bike is rad. It is a blast to ride and I love that there are no cars on City Creek. It is a beautiful ride but also a brutal hill. Of course that also means, once I make it to the top, it is all down hill :)


Then there is basketball. I don't know what it is about this sport, but I've always liked it. I've never played on a team, but I'm surprisingly good at it. Shooting hoops is a lot of fun and time flies. I can easily waste a few hours on the court. These courts are at Madeleine Choir School just kitty corner from our place.


Finally, my favorite, running. How I love to run. It makes me feel so good. If I ever feel like I'm going out of my mind, all I have to do is go for a run and by the time I hit 30 minutes, reality hits me and I can think rationally once again. It's like a drug. There are so many reasons I like to run, I will have to do a separate post about it.

I hope this post made you smile. Now get outside.

Logan & the Library

Today I went to Logan to visit my sister Margie and her three girls. Here is a picture of the two oldest girls munching on the Little People sugar cookies I made. I always have a good day when I visit Margie in Logan, it's like a little retreat. Margie's girls are so full of love, they must get it from their mom. Thanks for the fun day!



Before I go to Logan I almost always go to the library ahead of time to bring a fresh stack of books for the girls. Paige recently turned five and she reads better than most kindergartners.



Salt Lake has an outstanding library with a humongous collection. They have always had every book I've ever wanted even if it was a new release. It is wonderful.


I'm so glad I got to write a little post about today because Margie and her girls bring so much happiness into my life. I will be back soon. :)

Brisket & Little People

Today for Sunday dinner, I made Beef Brisket with Roasted Cajun Potatoes, Asparagus, and White Rolls. MMmmm...

I marinated the brisket overnight in a combination of liquid smoke and seasonings. In the morning I put it in the crock-pot on low. I seem to struggle with my crock-pot but I still thought I would try it because I don't have a roasting pan. Sure enough, I did overcook the beef a little which should be hard to do in a crock-pot, but it was still good and I will know how long to cook it next time.

The potatoes were my favorite. The combination of shallots, garlic, paprika, cayenne, salt, pepper and parsley were fantastic. Totally worth having to buy two new spices. I will definitely be making these again in the future.

For the asparagus, I brushed some olive oil on a foil lined cookie sheet and rolled the asparagus in the oil before sprinkling them with sea salt. I really like it when everything on the plate has it's own taste. I'm not a big fan of cooking everything together in a crock-pot. I am really happy with how dinner turned out and better yet, there is a little leftover beef for tomorrow. :)


For dessert, I made Little People. I think seeing all of the Valentine's Day sugar cookies around gave me the urge to make some myself. I don't have a heart shaped cookie cutter, but I saw this idea on-line and I liked it. They were so fun to make. Even though they consumed a good portion of my day, I truly loved having some girl time in the kitchen.


You might say I made an army. :)


A little tip for anyone who likes to save a penny. When you buy your bag of powdered sugar to make icing, you are actually buying your piping bag at the same time. I learned that from my Dad. :)

Spectacular Shepherd's Pie

Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! Tonight I made Shepherd's Pie and it was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Believe it or not, with the exception of 61 cents I spent on a potato and an onion, this meal was made of leftovers galore. I combined a recipe from AllRecipes and a recipe from a Williams Sonoma cookbook to use what I had on hand. The beef is topped with a layer of mashed carrots followed by a layer of cheesy mashed potatoes and a sprinkle of paprika. It feels good to receive a positive review. Hooray! :)

p.s. I know I should have blanched the peas to prevent wrinkling but I was lazy.

Happy Valentine's Day

Love is in the air. Our Valentine's Day Weekend started by receiving a gigantic sweet fortune cookie from a secret admirer. We think it is from Eric's Mom. Thank you Betsy. It was such a fun surprise.


It was suggested we go to Blockbuster and rent a couple of movies to watch together over the weekend. Well, really cuddle together while we watched, but I don't want to ruin the good thing I have going.

The first movie was Ghost Town. I think most people have seen this, but we had not. It is rated PG13 for language. Overall it was a great romantic comedy with more emphasis on the comedy rather than the romance. The ghost on the right tries to get the dentist in the middle to keep his widow (on the left) from marrying a scum bag lawyer. The dentist suggests that he get the widow to be interested in him instead of the lawyer and the ghost laughs at the idea of his widow being attracted to the dentist. We both laughed a few times, which says a lot. I highly recommend it to those looking for easy going entertainment.


Saturday night we went out to my favorite place for dinner (which shall not be disclosed). Those who know me well, know where we were. It was fantastic as always and we even shared a hot fudge sundae for dessert. So sweet.

Sunday after church I cooked filet mignon with mashed potatoes, vegetables, rolls, and juice. It was sooo good. I surprised myself. Sometimes a good steak is ten times better at home compared to a restaurant, but I like to be at home.

Truth be told, just so you don't think I'm a perfect chef, I cooked these steaks per recipe instructions and they didn't seem done, so I cooked them for about 6 more minutes and they still didn't seem done, but I didn't want to overcook them, so I served them. Sure enough, after I took this photo, we dived in and they weren't done enough. Ten more minutes in the broiler and they were cooked to perfection.


Yes, those are the same birthday flowers purchased almost two weeks ago. They are still going strong. We have a fantastic floral department at our Costco. Oh, and exciting for me, I realized after dinner that I have been failing to use my "dinner plate" mode on my camera, so maybe my food photos will look a little better in the future.

I ate a bunch of these for dessert and have no regrets thus far. At the same time, I'm still under the happy influence chocolate brings me and will likely have regrets tomorrow.


Sunday night we watched our last movie, "Is Anybody There?" Umm..ya, what can I say? I thought it was going to be about magic, but it was really more about death and moved very slowly. Eric predicted everything that would happen in it and it just wasn't very entertaining. Don't waste your time.


Even though the last movie wasn't very good, overall, I can't think of a better Valentine's Day Weekend. Love makes even a boring movie good.

An Abridgmement to the Chamber

Sunday was Flank Steak with Garlic Wine Sauce and mashed potatoes. I think steak should be cooked on an outdoor barbecue, but we aren't allowed to have one here. I found this recipe on AllRecipes and it gave instructions to cook the steak on the stove, so I thought it was worth a try.

This recipe really pushed my comfort zone. First because I had to make a roasted garlic puree and second because this was my first time cooking with wine. It was delicious and kind of elegant. Definitely different from anything I have cooked before.

An extra perk was I got to cut the steak with my electric knife. I always take advantage of an opportunity to use that fun gadget. It is my one power tool.



Dinner was followed by these incredible chocolate chip cookies made with butter. They are the best!



Monday was Chicken Chimichangas. When I began to eat this Chimichanga my mind began to race ecstatically because I couldn't believe I made this. It has a light and crispy shell and perfection on the inside. I really thought it was going to be a home run, but alas, I was alone in my excitement.


I finished making the cookies and brought some to Clare.



Tuesday I was feeling discouraged. Leftovers were great.

Wednesday we went to Chipotle in Bountiful for our Wednesday night date following Eric's evening class.


Thursday an agreement was reached that I would just cook twice a week. Hence, the Chamber was abridged to eliminate the torture.

Charlynn's Torture Chamber

I shared with Trina my struggle with feeding my husband and she was so generous to take the time to share some of her favorite recipes, so I thought the least I could do was take photos and share my results.

It all started on Tuesday last week. I made chicken pillows for dinner. The husband didn't appear to like them but he ate it all (really slowly). I think he was being nice. He did say he thought they were okay. I thought there was too much cream cheese. I think they are worth a second shot, especially since they are so easy. I will try them again with half as much cream cheese next time.


This was my lunch of leftovers the following day. I decided it was better with broccoli because then the excess cheese could be used as a sort of sauce for the broccoli.


Wednesday was Cuban Beef Picadillo. This recipe was from a Williams Sonoma Cookbook given to me as a Christmas gift. It was disappointing. It was pretty much just ground beef and rice. The sad part was this was probably the most expensive meal we had all week because I had to buy spices, red wine vinegar, and I few other ingredients I didn't have to make it.

The husband didn't like it at all. He forced himself to eat five bites and walked away.

Even though dinner was a bust, I'm still glad I did it. It still felt good to sit down to a dinner and get full. I am tired of just snacking to fill up on calories. I do feel like I won't be able to eat ground beef for awhile though.

The best part was the awesome Jiffy cornbread, which was only 44 cents.

Cheers to cornbread!!!




Thursday was Caramelized Baked Chicken Drummettes. This recipe is from AllRecipes.com. The husband did eat four drummettes and mashed potatoes but also said he didn't like the flavor. He said that it tasted too much like Teriyaki which he doesn't like.

I thought the meal was delicious and I enjoyed it. The husband definitely likes potatoes more than rice so I'm going to make an effort to have potatoes more often.

I won't cook the next two night because of work. That's good because I need to work on eating leftovers and it will give the husband a break.

I'm craving my fish usual so I may eat that for lunch tomorrow before I dig into the leftovers :)





I went to Logan today and loved playing with Margie and her girls. They are so good and happy.


Sunday I cooked Allen Bros. BBQ Roast Beef sandwiches (thanks to Betsy) on Rhodes Dough Crusty Rolls (so easy) with scalloped potatoes, green beans and cantaloupe. The husband said he didn't want me to make ribs with BBQ sauce because he doesn't like BBQ sauce but he said he would eat this beef his mom gave us. I thought the dinner went super well. The husband had thirds and wanted more, however he wouldn't say he liked it. He would only say he didn't hate it.

Here are the scalloped potatoes made from a recipe on AllRecipes.com.



Here is the whole meal.


I finally got to have the fish I was craving for Monday's lunch. This is (Costco's) Panko Breaded Tilapia with rice and salad. It is so easy (15 mins. in the toaster oven) and so good. It is a usual for me. The husband has tasted a bite of mine and says it is good, but he never wants to eat it when I offer because he doesn't like fish.




Monday I made Lentil Soup (with a grilled cheese for me, the husband didn't want a grilled cheese). I'm so glad I made one for me. I had never had lentil soup before and it was about as I expected. Not something I want to eat again.

I made it because the husband saw a recipe for Lentil Soup when I was browsing and expressed an interest in it. When he ate it, he said it was fantastic. However, neither one of us ate any of the leftovers. They were donated to Clare.


After dinner, we went to a movie at the library about Nazi Germany. It was based on the lives of real people and terribly real, but a good movie at the same time.



Tuesday was the husband's birthday. He didn't want to go out to eat because his grandparents were taking us out to celebrate on Thursday but I also didn't want to torture him with a home cooked meal.


So I cooked dinner and gave the husband the option of whether to eat or opt out with no guilt. He opted out, but I like to think he regretted it. This was Chicken a La King courtesy of Trina served with leftover scalloped potatoes. It was like a super easy version of chicken pot pie and was my favorite meal all week.


For Friday and Saturday I made a Chicken Noodle Casserole (the husband chose instead of beef stroganoff). We both agreed it was good and worked well for me to take to work and for him to eat at his leisure. It has a light cheesy sauce in it. However if I ever make it again I will make major improvements to the recipe. The way the recipe is designed, it tells you to first cook the chicken with onion and garlic and then the chicken continues to cook with the vegetables in the broth, and then cooks some more in the oven for 20 minutes, hence juicy chicken turns dry. In addition, I would cook the noodles just a little bit, because they cook too much in the oven with the sauce making them softer than they should be. The husband was awesome to eat so much of this and not complain one bit about the obvious flaws.


Thank you to Trina for giving me so many good ideas and the motivating push I needed to keep trying.


Thank you to Aunt Sandefur for the updated photo for my profile.