Two Traveling Tuesdays! :) From the Midwest to the Pacific coast!

I'm sure you have been waiting with baited breath for my next post...haha...yea right! ;-) Well I've definitely been busy with just spending time with Matt (and I've been sick). Since he's had to go into the field so often and then working long hours along with prepping for NTC we've decided to make the most out of our weekends together. So we've been exploring Colorado Springs a lot. Which has been really fun!! One weekend we decided to go to the zoo. And let me tell you...it was THE BEST zoo I've been to so far. Not only was the weather beautiful, but it was a smaller zoo with beautiful landscaping and up close and personal time with the animals. It was fantastic!

When you first walked in you were giving a token to "vote" on an endangered animal that they were going to donate money to and stuff. It was fun reading about all the different animals. I voted for the one with the least tokens because I felt bad. I believe it might have been the vultures? Or maybe it was something else. But nevertheless it was fun. So Matt and I started walking and the first thing we came upon were the giraffes! And you could pet them! I was so excited because I have never experienced that before. You could also buy some lettuce for them, but we just wanted to pet them. They came up to you regardless.


It was really neat. And there even was a baby!! See how small it was?? I felt bad because it just stood there looking dejected. But it was really sweet looking. I couldn't believe how small it was.

Maggies

From the giraffes we moved on through the zoo and saw many animals that reminded us of our own animals. Warthogs=Maggie, Meerkats= Tigger...and I can't remember what we spotted as Millie. :) Maybe a skunk...I don't know! hehe...

Tiggies

The interesting thing was the animals were so close that you could literally touch them if you wanted...of course not the tigers and dangerous animals. But these meerkats you could...although there was a sign that said they'd bite. So...we definitely did not touch them. :)

The most fascinating animals by far were the monkeys and apes. There were two sets of families. One family had a baby! They were so human like. But the funniest thing was one of the males would put his face flat up against the window and the kids would come along and do the same to him. He was so intrigued by this that he would get kind of confused when they walked away. I thought this was so funny!! We were there around feeding time so they were busy at some point eating sweet potatoes and carrots and different veggies.

The baby was really funny too. It would climb up the ropes and when it's daddy came along it would swing and try to touch him as it swung by. This angered the daddy at one point and it made this huge stink and went away, but he came back and the baby was again at it's antics. All of the monkeys were funny really. There were some that were eating and lounging at funny angles. I think Matt and I stayed in there for quite some time--even though it was smelly. :)

Here are some other pictures from our visit:

  

It was a great visit and I can't wait to take my parents there when they visit in October. And as you can see the view is beautiful!!! 

So that week I decided to go with a Midwest themed dinner. It's a recipe that I found which is a classic Chicago dish! It's called Chicken Vesuvio and although I know my father would HATE it (but secretly like it) because of how much garlic there is; I know that my aunt and mom would love it! It was really good and the only thing I'd change about it would have been that Matt would have been home to fully enjoy it. :-/ 

CHICKEN VESUVIO 

Serves 4 (for us 2) 

Ingredients 

4 chicken thighs (about 1 1/4 pounds), skinned*

4 chicken drumsticks (about 1 pound), skinned*

3/4 teaspoon salt, divided 

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

1 tablespoon olive oil 

12 garlic cloves (YEA...it says 12)

2 large peeled baking potatoes, each cut into 8 wedges 

1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth 

1/2 cup dry white wine 

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano 

2 garlic cloves, minced 

1 cup frozen green peas

*Note: I used chicken breasts because I had them. 

First preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle your chicken with 1/4 teaspoon (out of the 3/4 teaspoon) of salt and pepper and pour the oil into a dutch oven (or in my case a big pot...because I don't have a dutch oven). Heat the oil over medium high heat and add your chicken.  

Brown your chicken on each side. Getting a good crust on the chicken is important to seal in those juices later! Once brown, remove it from the pan/pot/whatever you're using.





Add your whole garlic cloves to the pot, saute them for about a minute or so. Until they are slightly browned.  And remove them.







Then add your wedged potatoes to the pot. Saute them for about 6 minutes or until browned. And once this has happened, add your chicken and garlic cloves back into the pot. Add the rest of the salt, your broth, white wine, fresh oregano, and the two minced garlic cloves (MORE GARLIC for my auntie!!). Bring all of this to a simmer.




Once at a simmer, cover and bake if you are using a Dutch oven. In my case I put everything into some Corningware. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is done and the potatoes are tender. At this point, add your frozen peas and bake for another 8 minutes or until the peas are tender.



I don't have a picture of the 100% finished product, but let me tell you. The chicken was so juicy and moist and the smell that went throughout the house was lovely! You can't beat the smell of garlic! :) It was extremely tasty and although the original recipe with the thighs and drumsticks was 448 calories per serving; I think this is worth it and I believe my version is probably less calories anyways. I only ate half of a chicken breast and about a half cup of the potato mixture. I can't say enough about it. I think this recipe with the chicken breasts would be great for company! It tastes fancy, but as you can see it's super easy! I really hope you try it! I served it only with a salad since the potatoes were the starch of the meal.

Here's the recipe: Chicken Vesuvio

So the week of Labor Day weekend was exciting. Mainly because I was looking forward to spending
four uninterrupted days with Matt!! Thursday night we decided to go "downtown" which turned out to be a bust because the place we went was doing some sort of samba night. Or something. And there was about 4 people there. Probably more, but you get my drift. So we walked around a bit then went home.

Friday we ended up randomly going hiking! It was College Colors day so of course we had to wear Aggie shirts. Needless to say, Jeni was wearing a cute Aggie Gamma Phi shirt, khaki shorts, hair down....and there we were hiking. :) It was so much fun though. The views were beautiful! We could see the Garden of the Gods from where we were; which is always pretty to look at.

There were a lot of fun trails and we saw a lot of dogs being walked, which we joked about bringing Maggie...who can't walk more than 1/2 mile without getting tired. She's in shape! But she's a bulldog. :)

Baby Cactus!

I believe we walked for almost two hours. We saw people climbing the rock walls, people biking. All sorts of activity, yet surprisingly we were alone walking most of the time and it was really peaceful!






After that we headed over to this castle over near Garden of the Gods. It's modeled Tudor style...which as we all know, I LOVE! It was a gorgeous place! They do afternoon teas and I want to check that out for a girls day with my mom!!




Saturday we wanted to go up Pike's Peak on the Cog Railway. We called. All booked. Of course. Oh well. So we sat there wondering what we could do that day and little to my knowledge my sneaky Matt was planning something! He booked a room in BRECKENRIDGE! I was really uneasy at first because we'd have to leave the animals for the night, but we've done that before and it was fine. So I got excited and we packed up!

The drive there was beautiful! Especially through the winding Manitou Springs area and through some small towns. We hit a sort of plains/valley area and then all of a sudden BOOM gorgeous mountains and hillsides. Beautiful trees and then....glorious TEMPERATURES!! Yes...that says 48!! Brrrr!!!! :) I loved it!!

The place where we were originally going to stay UPGRADED us to their other property. Snazzy. I felt like I was a millionaire or something. It was a gorgeous property. Even without the snow! There was turn down service and lots of fancy directions for the property. The room though was delicious! And we took every advantage of everything! We used the fireplace, drank champagne, viewed the outdoor area on the patio. We went to the outdoor hot tub and gazed at the moon and the stars. It was great!! Later on we went around the town. There weren't a lot of people around so it was kind of like our own town! I would LOVE to go back. We may have to wait until after snow season though. Bummer.  Here are some pictures from the scenery and the room:

It was a lot of fun and we kind of wrote it off as our 2 year anniversary trip since Matt won't be here for that. :( Sad day.

Sunday we drove back a different way. This was unfortunate for my ears. I have very sensitive ears and now know that if we go back, I need to get my trusty Ear Planes :) It wasn't bad going there because we were going slower and not up into the mountains fast. On the way down it was 70 and we were descending pretty quick. Matt was really sweet and was going slower than he should so I would be okay. It was a pretty drive despite the ear problems. But now I know. :) We didn't do much Sunday, just relaxed and well Monday we did the same because I was NOT feeling well at all. I'm not really sure what I have, but all last week I felt really bad. And I still haven't gotten over it really. Monday we lounged though and that was nice to just relax.

For our Tuesday night dinner this week I went with the Pacific/Pacific Northwest type dish and did an Asian inspired Salmon! First of all, it's super easy and quick and the taste is amazing!

SALMON WITH HOISIN GLAZE

Ingredients

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce 
2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce 
1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil 
4 (6-ounce) skinless wild salmon fillets *
Cooking spray 
1 teaspoon sesame seeds 
Lemon rind strips (optional)

*Note: I used two salmon fillets and doubled the sauce for extra sauce and the marinating. 

Combine the first three ingredients into a shallow bowl, whisk together. I added some minced garlic for added flavor as well. Add your fish into the bowl and turn each fillet several times to coat well. Marinate the salmon for at least 8 minutes. I marinated mine for 4 hours! Definitely worth it! 

Once you're ready to cook the fish, preheat the oven to 400, take the fish out of the marinade, and place it on a baking sheet or like me into a shallow Pyrex dish. 


Bake for 8 minutes or until the fish is flaky and reads an internal temperature of 145 to 155. I garnished the fish with the sesame seeds. This is something you don't have to really do. It's a nice touch, but I just happened to have them so I did it. I did not do the lemon rind though. I think lime might be a good touch as well! 




To go with the salmon I made some rice and added sauteed green onions and mushrooms. It was really good!! 







The whole meal was absolutely delicious! I loved the salmon. I had half of one of the fillets and on Thursday I had the other half over a salad. The salmon was 255 calories per serving which included 1 fillet. I really recommend this salmon and I feel myself wanting more salmon with different types of marinades and such. I think it's good to get some fish in your diet every once in a while! I definitely think I'll try it more often now. 

Here's the recipe: Salmon with Hoisin Glaze 

I apologize it's taken me a while to get these two recipes up here, but this weekend was the perfect time for me to do so since Matt is in the field again. I haven't really done anything different than during the week. Except I've been trying my hardest to take it easy since I haven't been feeling well. I went to the usual Saturday tri-fecta  of Les Mills (Body Attack, Pump and CXWORX) and because me not being able to breathe properly and then having something possibly in my chest...well I felt like I was going to die. :) Of course, this also was the day I decided to walk to the gym since it was such a beautiful day...so I crawled home. Not literally. But it was a longer walk home than to the gym! :) Anyway, I hope you have had a great couple of weeks and after tomorrow hopefully things will be a little more calm around here. Until next time!! Take care!! :)

Just a regular 'ol post...

So I realize that I haven't blogged in a few weeks. Mainly because I haven't been cooking. Gasp. Yes...this is true. Unfortunately. Well I shouldn't say I haven't been cooking, unless putting something in the microwave to heat up isn't consider cooking?? :) A few weeks ago, Matt had to go for a week to Fort Irwin, CA...aka the desert. He sent me a picture of the drive from the airport and let's just say...BORING!!! He had to go with his brigade to do some sort of something with some people. Haha. I really didn't understand. I just knew he was gone. So, I had to come up with things to do. My week consisted of watching Netflix, working out (surprised???), and running random errands. I took Maggie to the vet. She was scared as usual. She's been scared of the vet ever since she was spayed. I can imagine it'd scare me too. Going in somewhere and coming out in pain. But she did great. We went on post to Fort Carson. The whole appointment was about 20 minutes long. That included the shots and tests and waiting. I thought the staff was really nice and they loved Maggie.

View from Carson

Of course after the initial scary visit with the nice Vet, she was much better and was showing off for the staff. Typical. I am sad that we weren't able to live on post. It's so beautiful with the mountains right there. I mean we can see the mountains from our house, but they aren't as close as they are at Carson.

Maggie's birthday was also while Matt was gone. We also semi-celebrated Tiggie's birthday as well. Hers is very close to Maggie's.

We had a "girls night" (haha)...which consisted of me, Maggie, Millie, and Tiggie eating a little bit of carrot cake (raisins removed) and playing with a new squeaky toy for Maggie (which kind of looks like a squirrel??) and a cute fish toy for the cats.

It was really cute watching the cats play with their toy. It suctions to the window and they can play by themselves or I can take it off and play with them. I think it was the best $1 whatever I spent. :)

On that Saturday, I tried out a new place to get my hair cut. This has been the hardest thing for me moving because since I was 13 I had the same hairdresser. I love her and how she knows my hair. She has set a pretty high standard so I judge people against her. :) I went to a place that is actually about 10 minutes away from the house and had a nice woman named Missy cut my hair. She did really good work. She was very attentive to making sure my hair was perfect. It felt good to get it into some sort of shape. I got about 4 inches cut off and it's still long. I also got my hair re-layered of course. I think I'll end up going back to her. She was really nice and easy to talk to. The hair place was in a strip mall type area so I was a little nervous, but I had done a lot of research and they had gotten pretty good reviews. Of course initially I really wanted to go to this place that got great reviews and the bonus was the owner dresses up in drag on Fridays!! :) It's kind of far away though and was looking for something closer for convenience. Darn, right?? I love fun places like that.

Yea my hairs all messed up

After my hair appointment I decided to go try on clothes at Chico's. My mom works there now and she was wondering what size I was there. The sizes are confusing! 00, 0, 1, 2, 3....what?!?! I guess it does make you feel slightly good for once to be like "yea I wear a 00 or 0 or whatever" haha! Luckily my mom had told me what the "real world" sizes would equal in Chico's world. It was fun trying on clothes because I really haven't gone shopping. I really need to of course. Especially if I get a job anytime soon (ugh...big time stressed about this). My Express pants don't fit me anymore. They look like parachute pants and then I look ghetto with them hanging on my hips. I keep getting nervous about interviews. I think one pair that I didn't wear too much is okay...big, but okay. I just wouldn't want to go in and them thinking that I look unkempt. Anyway it was great trying on clothes. They have some really neat blouses that I was told by my mom that after you dry them in the dryer you pull them out and they are good to go, wrinkle free! They come in really pretty colors too. After trying things on I went into Starbucks. I got my usual Grande Iced Skinny Caramel Macchiato and that was my lunch for the day. Later that day I went to the gym, of course, and tried out a new (to me) Les Mills class called Body Attack. It was actually a lot of fun. It was a 30 minute class (it's normally an hour), so it was fun to try it out. As I type this, I'm trying to decide if I want to go to the class today as well (*Update: I did go. It was fuuuuun!). After Body Attack was Body Pump 30 and then CXWORX. So I actually stayed for all three. They were all 30 minutes so for just an hour and thirty minutes of work, I was able to do different things. It actually went by really quick.

I started watching Grey's Anatomy among other shows on Netflix. I had never really gotten into the series until I started watching some of the episodes on Lifetime. Definitely funny and good. I know I'm however many years late on that one. My bad. I also did a Harry Potter marathon. The week actually went by rather fast. I think the animals knew something was going on during this week....because they were acting really odd. Like Tiggie trying to "dig" out of the coffee table???

And Millie playing dead? This picture cracks me up. What cat lays like this???

Here is a top view. Strangest cat I've ever known. She doesn't really like to be held or pet...unless it's up to her. Every time I do try to pet her she looks like I'm about to smack her. Which I've never hit her or any of my animals for that matter (maybe popped Maggie on the bottom for being bad...but that's it!). Then every time I walk or look like I'm going to walk near the basement stairs she darts across my feet trying to go down there to get to their food which we keep in the bathroom down there. It's like I starve them. She's a sweet kitty though. Just odd.

I don't think I mentioned it in the blog yet, but a few weeks ago Matt and I went to Estes Park, CO. I got to see the famous Stanley Hotel, which was surprisingly smaller inside than what I thought it was going to be. There was a wedding going on that day so parts were blocked off. But we still got to go inside and look around. I am trying to persuade Matt to book us a room just for one night there :) CREEEEEPPYYYYYYY!!! I don't think I'd be able to sleep. It's a really pretty area though. Very Colorado.

Do you see the chipmunk??

Matt also took me into the Rocky Mountain National Park. Military get in free. :) The whole way up he kept talking to me about all these elk and bighorn sheep and the chipmunks. So I was pretty excited. Especially about the chipmunks. Well. The elk and sheep did not think making an appearance was important that day. But that's okay because I got to feed and see and even hold (for a second) chipmunks!!!!  They were so cute. They'd come and take the peanut out of your hand. The view was absolutely stunning from where we were. I'm so happy that we did it and I'm planning on taking my parents (and auntie if she comes!!) to the park as well. It's just really beautiful.

This week Matt has been living out of his truck. The commander set up a war game type thing on post and they have been doing that all week until odd hours. I was able to sneak over to Carson to see him and give him a few things he needed on Tuesday night. But hadn't seen him since until last night he randomly got to come home and sleep in a bed! I was really excited to see him. This week has been ubber boring. I wasn't really prepared like I was for Irwin. It really stinks to not have a job and have to figure out things to keep you busy all day. I've been very stressed about finding a job. Not just for spending money for myself, but also just for something to do. I've applied to everything under the sun and haven't even gotten an interview. It's very discouraging and I often feel like I'm either over qualified or something is preventing me from getting a job. I won't say any more on that. But it's been in the back of my mind as far as recommendations go. I feel like no one is giving me a chance. Of course, I don't have many networks built up here yet. I did meet with the brigade wives group on last Thursday which was super fun. It felt very sorority-like (which I loved). The CO's wife is super nice and easy to talk to. We met at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort, which is another beautiful place to be. I told Matt that he and I should go there to have a drink or something. The view is spectacular. I've also reached out to the Gamma Phi alumni group here and will hopefully be getting to know them soon; as well as the Aggie group here--Pike's Peak Aggies. Which we will get to meet them on GAME DAY #1 in the SEC!!! So I'm trying. It's just really hard to know that you have a lot to offer, but no one is biting. I know I just have to know someone who knows someone. I applied for a History aide job here at a charter school for grades 7-12...definitely qualified!!! And wasn't even given a chance. I was told by one of the wives who has been a teacher for years that it was because they probably already knew someone for the job. She was utterly baffled that I didn't get it. Which made me feel good because at least I'm not crazy. I know I have to be patient. But it's just a huge let down. All of it. I am in the process of getting my substitute license here which is a good back up plan. It'd let me work when I wanted to as far as going back to school. Just not exactly the job I had in mind. It's a weird long process though. And very headache inducing.

Front yard..possible grass

This week our lawn was actually worked on. About time. The sprinkler guy came and fixed the sprinklers. Then the lawn people came and sprayed the weeds one day and then came back two days later and put down dirt and seed. I was really preferring sod to be honest. But I'll take whatever! As long as it's not dirt and weeds anymore. Matt pointed out this morning when he left again at 5am that there was some grass sprouting up! Yay!

Back yard...used to be covered in weeds

I've just been really embarrassed by the lawn even though it wasn't our fault at all. It was a big disappointment when we showed up and there wasn't a lawn like there had been in the pictures we were sent. But it's progress and we are hoping that the grass will keep growing. Of course there are all these rules for winter watering and stuff, so hopefully my head doesn't explode and I do it correctly. I've been wanting to invite people over like from Matt's work and stuff. But it's just been so gross in the backyard and front that I just have refused. I love to entertain as many of you know, so I wanted everything to be perfect. I can't wait to use the backyard and our fire pit! :)

Well I guess that's about it. I really haven't been doing anything different this week or last week. Lame. Hopefully this war game thing will be over soon and Matt will actually get to rest. I've felt so sorry for him. He's been getting 3-4 hours of sleep, if that, a night. He's some sort of important person in this whole process and has been doing really great at it! He's an awesome leader :) So hopefully, fingers crossed, next week I'll be back to my cooking. But I guess this was a good change of pace. Until next time!! Have a great weekend! :)

Yep...I'm behind...Two Traveling Tuesdays!

So, I like many other people have A. gotten really wrapped up in the Olympics and then of course B. Matt went out of town for a week ( I miss you Matthew!) to Fort Irwin, CA for some leadership thingy majig with NTC (National Training Center). I just know he's gone for a week, it's hot there, and they are out in the middle of nowhere. :) Being my first "real Army" experience, I have not experienced the NTC aspect of stuff yet. Needless to say the past two weeks I've just been wanting to spend time with him before he left. :) But tonight we get TWO recipes. Yippee!

I decided I wanted to do a "trip" around the United States. Splitting it into different taste regions. So I started with something Southern.

ALABAMA PULLED  PORK SANDWICHES WITH WHITE BARBEQUE SAUCE
Serves 12 or so (2 pork sandwiches, 1/4 cup pork and 2 1/2 teaspoons sauce)

Ingredients

Sauce: 
1/2 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise  
2 tablespoons white vinegar 
1 teaspoon coarsely ground fresh pepper 
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice 
Dash of salt

Pork: 
1 1/4 pounds pork tenderloin, trimmed 
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar 
1/4 cup water 
3 tablespoons brown sugar 
2 teaspoons kosher salt 
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper 
1/2 teaspoon chili powder 
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Biscuits: 
2 cups all-purpose flour (about 9 ounces) 
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 
1 teaspoon salt 
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1 cup mashed cooked sweet potato (about 3/4 pound) 
2 tablespoons brown sugar 
3 tablespoons butter, melted 
2/3 cup fat-free milk 
Cooking spray

I also made coleslaw to go on the side. 

CREAMY COLESLAW 
Serves about 6
 
3 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
3 tablespoons nonfat plain yogurt
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon caraway seed, or celery seed (optional)
Salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste
Pre-cut coleslaw mix (with red cabbage, green cabbage, and carrots)

I will have to say that the serving sizes were a little off with both the pork sandwiches and the coleslaw. Matt finished the pork for dinner during the weekend and there wasn't really that much left. I did use a 1 lb 8 oz pork though (from Hormel). But it shouldn't have made that much difference...who knows! I am going to preface these recipes though by saying that the white BBQ sauce...not a fan. And the coleslaw...also not a big fan. I add the caraway seed and it didn't taste right. Live and learn though! It's all about your taste preferences! Anyway...

The first thing I did was get the pork going. Now you can see there are a lot of spicy type spices in it. I will tell you that it wasn't spicy at all. First you cut the pork lengthwise and then again crosswise or so. Just so it cooks quicker.





Next combine the apple cider vinegar and the next seven ingredients through the garlic powder in a pot and bring to a boil. Add the pork into the mix, cover and reduce the heat. Simmer for 1 hour or until tender. 

The next thing I did was mix the white BBQ sauce together. Which is easy. Combine all the ingredients into a bowl, mix, cover, and refrigerate. 

Next...the coleslaw. Also easy!! I took the premixed coleslaw mix. Combine all the ingredients and toss with the coleslaw mix. Cover and refrigerate. 

In this recipe, you also get to make your own biscuits! Which turned out great and in fact Matt loved the biscuits so much, I decided that I'd just keep the recipe for the heck of it and make them again. (Preheat your oven to 425 at this point!) I first cooked the sweet potato. I used only one big one. I peeled it, cut it into chunks and then boiled it until done. Then I mashed them and begun the biscuits. 

First, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt into a large bowl. In another bowl, combine the potato, sugar, butter, and milk, stir well and then pour over the dry ingredients. Stir this until a soft dough is formed. It's going to be sticky! Just an FYI! 

Turn the bowl onto a very well floured surface, knead a few times,  and roll out into a 10-inch circle. The dough will make about 24 biscuits. I used about a 2-inch cup to cut out the biscuits since I don't have a biscuit cutter...that I know of. Place the biscuits on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray and bake at 425 for about 12 minutes or until golden. They are super tasty! Seriously. 






When the pork is done, take it out of the pot and shred it with two forks. Some people on the reviews cut it into big chunks, but the shredding was really simple. It turned out sooooo tender!!! And tasty! Pour the liquid over the pork after you are done shredding. 




 

Now we are ready to eat! I place everything out on the island for a build your own sandwich thing. I did have a salad as well. No surprise there. 

As I said before, they were a hit besides the white BBQ sauce and the coleslaw in my opinion. Matt tried it with regular BBQ sauce and of course it was really good too. But the total calorie count for the sandwiches was 211 per serving. Yep...that's right. For 2 sandwiches..even the biscuits included!! The coleslaw was 49 calories for about a 3/4 cup serving. Not too bad! I loved the pork and the biscuits. And I think you will too!! :) 




Onto the next! So this recipe wasn't a United States one, only because I need to do more research. But I've been wanting to make it for a while. And can I say, I love chicken tenders. They are so easy to cook up and great for fast cooking. They always turn out so tender. I did a smaller recipe for this past Tuesday because I knew Matt was going out of town and honestly, the most I do with leftovers is put the meat over some sort of salad; which guess what my lunches/dinners will be this weekend! :)


QUICK CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA FOR TWO
Serves 2-3 


Ingredients

2 teaspoons garam masala (I found this at Whole Foods!)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
8 ounces chicken tenders
2 teaspoons canola oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small sweet onion, diced
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 tablespoons whipping cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

This was really good and it was a faster version of tikka masala which was great!

First stir together the garam masala, turmeric, and salt in a small dish.  Next sprinkle the mix (reserving a bit for later) over the chicken tenders on each side.

Place the flour in a shallow dish and coat the chicken tenders in it.

Heat one teaspoon of oil over medium high heat and cook the chicken until browned. Remove to a plate or bowl. In the same pan, heat the remaining teaspoon of oil. 

Add the onion, garlic, and ginger. Cook, stirring often, for about 3-5 minutes. Add the reserved spice mix until fragrant which is about 30 seconds to a minute. 

Then add in your 1 1/2 teaspoons of flour and stir until coated. It'll start to thicken. 

Add the tomatoes with their juices and bring to a simmer. Cook them stirring often for about 3-5 minutes. 

Action shot!!

Stir in the cream and add the chicken back in along with the accumulated juices.

Bring everything to a simmer and cook about 3-4 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Once done, garnish with the cilantro.

I also made jasmine rice. I love this rice. It's boil in a bag and always comes out super fluffy!














I served this with the rice and a salad. My only suggestion to this yummy recipe was adding salt at the end before serving. It was a little bland with no salt added. I'm usually not all about salt, but for this recipe it really brings out the flavors. 





The total calorie count for this was 300 calories for a serving of 2 1/2 cups. I don't think that's too bad! It was creamy and very lovely. I could only eat about 1 1/2 tenders. Matt laughed because I guess my eyes were bigger than my stomach. He told me that I "really loaded my plate there..." :) Since it was just me I put my leftovers into the leftover container. I don't mind. :) All in all, I loved this recipe. It was fast, easy, and very tasty! I highly recommend it! 


Here are the recipes: 


Alabama Pork Sandwiches
Creamy Coleslaw
Quick Chicken Tikka Masala for Two


I hope if you try them that you enjoy! Well it's late and I'm off to bed. Until next time!! :)