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7/30/2011

Killing Me Healthy

7/30/2011 0 Comments
Well I finished a week. Almost. I went to the gym 4 days in a row, and I'm feeling it everywhere.

I'm looking forward to relaxing this weekend and healing a bit. Monday brings bootcamp. I'm a little scared.

7/29/2011

Continuing a Theme

7/29/2011 0 Comments


I really hope you all liked last week's post. Why? Because this week is pretty much a continuation of that deliciousness...kind of. Well, first things first, if you didn't read last week's post but would like to catch up, you can click here to get the flashback. Go on. I'll wait here...

All caught up? Great! Okay, so remember how I got all that beautiful food from the farmer's market (and a few other places)? There's more. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a big proponent of buying local and buying organic. That's why I participate in a CSA for meat. I've mentioned this before, but, in case you aren't familiar with the concept, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. With a CSA, you basically pre-buy meat, vegetables, cheese, whatever. The CSA I've purchased for this season (I test to test several options in all situations before making a final decision) yields about twenty-five pounds of meat a month. That is a lot for two people. Mike and I are probably going to buy a small deep freezer in the next month because we are running out of freezer space...fast. In each monthly pickup, there are usually two whole chickens, which explains why I most of the recipes I blog about feature chicken. Hey, look, here's one now!

Apple Cider Chicken
From Sunny Anderson

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (ab 2 pounds)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 Vidalia onion, chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and sliced into 1/4" wedges
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup apple cider

Heat oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, add to pan and sear until golden, about 4 minutes each side. Remove chicken from pan, and set aside. Add remaining butter and onion, apple, garlic, thyme and bay leaves. Sauté until apple begins to get color and onions soften, about 6 minutes. Add flour and stir 2 to 3 minutes. Nestle chicken back into pan, add cider, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook until chicken is cooked through, about 12 minutes.


I've talked about dismantling a chicken a few times in the past, so I've skipped that today. I'll probably revisit it again at some point. Funny story, though, I actually practiced vegetarianism for about two years as a teenager. For someone who refrained from touching meat for so long, I'm pretty efficient at breaking down a chicken. :-)


Every cook's favorite color: Golden brown. I love the kshhhhhhhhh of searing meat.


Think of the gravy like an ugly duckling. It starts out looking a little dodgy, but ends up a beautiful thing.

A Note About Apples: Even if you're not a fan of Granny Smith's, do not substitute another variety here. The Granny Smith's will sweeten up with the cooking and the other ingredients. They will also hold up better than any other variety. Almost any other kind of apple will fall apart in the cooking process, so please stick to the recipe on this point.


Almost done! You'll notice that I used in-bone pieces. I did that for a few reasons. 1) Bones=flavor. I like flavor. 2) I prefer dark meat, and Mike prefers white meat, so this works better for both of us. 3) Did you miss the part about how I get two whole chickens every month? I also kept the skin because I like the skin. I did cook the chicken just a few minutes longer than the recipe called for to make sure it was cooked all the way down to the bone.


Now that is a handsome meal!


Remember these bad boys? Aw, yeah, I brought the Hassel-back, baby. :-) Love these!


A new favorite kitchen gadget--my gravy separator. This keeps the grease on the top of the pitcher.


Bonus: Mike and I had leftover potatoes and chicken, but we eat up veggies fast. Good thing I picked up some beautiful little carrots from Foggy Hollow Farms at the farmer's market. I cut the tops off, peeled the carrots, and then did a quick saute in a wee bit of oil and a squidge of honey. Really yummy!

This is a straight up delicious meal. There's nothing else to be said about it. I think it would be the perfect thing on a crisp, autumn night with a mug of hot cider waiting for dessert.


7/28/2011

Its started

7/28/2011 0 Comments
Today I went to a class called Muscle Up and while I'm sure that eventually I will 'muscle up' right now I just hurt.

Even picking up H hurts. A lot. Well not a lot, but enough to where I don't want to move.

I also weighed myself after lunch. There's probably a reason they tell you to weigh first thing in the morning.

I have some work to do, but I have set some goals for myself, so that's good.

I'm going to go back to snuggling with H now. :)

I warned you...

7/28/2011 2 Comments
That post title sounds very daunting doesn't it? Well it's not.

I promise.

I warned the folks that 'like' Straight Stitches on Facebook that I'd be bringing back a post today, because I have nothing to offer up. Well nothing  that is done.

In other news - I joined a gym, and I hurt. I've gone every day since Tuesday and the 'ole muscles are telling me about it, but its all good. I am getting healthy, and healthy me knows that its worth the pain and sweat. :)

I decided to link up the post that I linked too yesterday. The quilled 'B' post. So without further ado - Here it is!

So I know that ya'll are expecting to see my completed picture wall done, and it is done. Buuuut I'm not going to show it to you just yet. THHHHHPPPP! Sorry....H has been blowing raspberries for forever, but this week they're extra drooly, so I thought I'd share {aren't I sweet? :-P}

I am also going to share with you the epiphany I had when Jan of Bobbypins Boardwalk commented that I should include more than just photos. Not only did a light bulb go off, but the entire lighting department. First, some history, a while back I saw this post linked up somewhere {sorry I cannot remember where} and knew I had to do this. Yes, I'm going to make you go to her blog, because 1) I'm in an ornery mood, 2) she's got a really nice blog and you should check it out and 3) I'm ornery. Did I repeat myself? :-)


So here's what I accomplished from her inspiring post. :)  Oh yes....I'm making you scroll to the bottom to see the final product. :)
 Lots of 1/4" strips and one 8x10 sheet with a B printed on it. Oh how I wish that the first letter of my last name did not have any curves. To all of you with first letters of your last names that don't include a curve.....You're so damn lucky, but I would absolutely do this project again. IN.A.HEARTBEAT. 

 There aren't a lot of corners to be utilized in a B, but luckily since this was sized for a 4x6 I got away with only using 2 strips. Starting and stopping at corners makes this process much easier. Also I ended up gluing my curves piece meal. I paint some modge podge onto the outline then press the paper into it, gently following the outline, and at the curves I worked in smaller sections, because the paper wanted to do one thing, and I wanted it to do something else. 

 So here is she is in her outlined glory. I chose to do the outline in a shade of paper that was similar to the background, but I found neon colored papers in my scrapbook stash and I have two nieces! Guess who's already brainstorming for Christmas?

 I've started adding the coils to the letter. I'll tell you what.....working on a larger picture  would have been easy. There was not much room in some of those spots. 

 Here she is almost done. You can see where I added the outline of where the mat would go (I had an 8x10 frame matted for 5x7). I should have added this outline first, but c'est la vie. It all worked out. 

 Here she is all framed and matted. You can see the still-drying-glue. Yes, I was that impatient. :) 

Here's just another shot of her. In.Love. I must do more of these. It was fun, relaxing and I got to play with glue and paper. 

Here she is hanging. Oh, you'll just have to wait for tomorrow's post to see the rest of the grouping. :) BTW, in case you didn't notice....the glass is behind the picture, but a shadow box is another option. Since I'm thinking of making some of these for my nieces....at barrier between them and the paper would be a very good idea indeed. :) 

I hope you all enjoyed this trip down memory lane!
Heather

7/27/2011

Day 2 ...

7/27/2011 0 Comments
Well I've been to the gym twice and I'm feeling pretty good. Tomorrow is going to be another story though, because I'm going to a weight training class. We'll see how that goes, but today I did 15 minutes on the elliptical, 45 minutes rotating through various weight machines, and then 20 minutes on the treadmill.

What I really like about the gym I signed up with is that they have child care and H is finally able to socialize without me there. :)

I'm Back!

7/27/2011 0 Comments
I just wanted to write a quick note to say, I'm Back!

I joined a gym yesterday! I went to a Zumba class, and I almost died, but it was a lot of fun.

I'm going back today, in about an hour.  Wish me luck!

Heather

What a Gallery!

7/27/2011 1 Comments
So gallery walls have been on my mind a lot lately.

Makes sense since all of my pictures had to come down for the painting, and since I was starting off with a blank canvas {again} I decided to change up the picture walls again. :)

A few days ago, Stephanie Lynn from Under the Table and Dreaming posted up a gallery wall inspiration post {see it here}, and it got me thinking.

So here's the beginning of my gallery wall. :)
 What do you guys think? I love that its one of the first things I see when I come into the house.
It's not done yet, but I like  that there's room  to grow.

Here's a shot of it from the living room.

I have figured out that I need to print out more pictures of the kids and not just have them live on the computer, because I had to start stealing pictures from other places.
I stole two pictures from here, but you know what I'm ok with that, because I think this whole wall is going to move to the rest of the gallery on the remaining walls in the stairwell.

You guys might recognize some of the pictures, and this project.

There's also some kid art up there! My dear nephew drew this for us last year. :) You can also see my dad's Hargrave picture there. :) He's so handsome, and he looks just like H. Don't you guys agree?

Here's a fresh off the presses picture of H for you guys to compare too. :)

Well that's all I've got for you guys today. I can't wait to see this wall expand and grow. I have more pictures to hang, but I think I'm going to take my time and let it evolve.

See you guys later. :)
Heather

PS - its the hubs birthday today. :) Happy Birthday Sweetheart! I can't wait for our dates this week, and I hope that today is a good day for you {dentist appointment and all} :)

7/25/2011

Form and Fun-ction

7/25/2011 6 Comments
Did you guys see my guest post over at Creating my way to Success?

You didn't!?!?!?!?!

You must go see it. Now. Here's the link - LINK!

Ok, so that console is now done. Yay!

I picked up this beaut at the Salvation Army a few months ago, and knew that she was going to replace the black console that had been in this spot since we moved in. Here's the console that was there.
She wasn't a bad console. Just low and doesn't have a lot of storage. Oh and we have a white dog. Guess what shows up super well on black furniture? Yep, you guessed it. Fur and dust. blech.

So here is what the piece looked like before. :)  I don't have great before pictures, but you get the idea. The piece is a Bassett furniture number, and its HEAVY. I had to make sure to have the thing moved inside before Steve left for Vegas. I just made it.

So now that you've seen her ugly beginnings, lets take a look at her transformation, and how I'm utilizing her oh-so-amazing drawers. :)
 LOOK! They hold the DVDs so very nicely. Not that my children put the DVDs away any better than they did with the baskets, but still they're completely hidden when they are in the drawer!


 I used two different knobs on this piece, which is a first for me. The nickel knobs are from Target and the pretty ceramic knobs are from Hobby Lobby (from my trip to Nashville in June) :) I decided to paint the original backplates a nickel color to match the Target knobs, but to also make the ceramic knobs stand out.



The top is stained with one coat of Minwax Jacobean stain and I protected the whole piece with a coat of wax. The paint color is Metro Mist by Valspar and I primed the body of the piece with tinted Kilz oil-based primer. Oh then I did a light glazing with Valspar Asphaltum glaze. Love the result! Especially against the orange of the family room.


So what do you guys think? Did I do a good job? I love the character that this piece has, not to mention all the storage.

Oh do you want to see how I hooked this baby up without Steve's help?

Yep. I took pictures of how the DVD thing and the DVR cables were aligned. They helped a lot because I hooked it up right the first time! Yay me!

Stephen was quite happy with the change when he got home. The best part? Harrison can't reach the boxes anymore. Oh Yea!

See you guys tomorrow!
Heather

Linking up to:

7/22/2011

Great Explorations!

7/22/2011 1 Comments


I don't know about you, but I love exploring new places. New states, new restaurants, new shops, whatever. I believe Heather recently mentioned my wonderment as I walked through Charming Charlie for the first time here. I'm an insatiable explorer at heart. Well, grocery stores and other food places are no exception. I had the opportunity this week to explore three fun new(ish) food sources.

The first was actually at my usual grocery store, Publix. I had actually just nipped into the loo while Mike was picking up Chinese next door. I came out and spotted this...


"Special Request Items"

How had I never seen this before? I've been in there countless times. Well, I glanced over the shelves and saw this...



Aw, snap! Special pasta! If you follow this blog, you know I eat a lot of pasta...a whole lot. And why not? It's cheap, it's delicious, comes in multiple flavors, and I simply don't believe it when people tell me it's bad for me. I just haven't seen the science or the evidence for that. After all, what do Italians primarily eat? That's what I thought. Holla back, Italians! Anyway, I was swift to pick up a couple of boxes of these strange and exciting spinach nests. After all, I have no way of knowing whether or not I'll ever find these again. I didn't know what I'd use them for yet, but I knew I'd figure something out.

I found some other fun unique and unpronounceable pasta at World Market (remember the gift cards Mike got me that I mentioned last week?) the next day and added that to my list of fun finds.

Then I went to the farmer's market. I love the farmer's market! It's usually the highlight of my week when I go. There's always live music at mine (this is Nashville after all) and always really interesting booths. There's the local honey booth that's there every week, from which I got a big jar with the comb in it. There's a "food-scape" booth, which I have yet to explore because I'm afraid my presence will kill the plants, and the guy who sells fresh eggs. I mean laid-that-morning-fresh. Like I said, lots of neat things to see. I was walking around before picking up my meat CSA delivery when I saw some really good looking carrots (to be featured in next week's post). It might have been Bugtussle Farm's booth, but I honestly can't remember. Anyhoo, I walked over and saw some lovely basil as well at a really good price. I pay $3 for a piddly little package of "fresh" basil at the store. $3 at the farmer's market got me this...


Gorgeous, no? A small part of me wanted to just keep it on display. It looks and smells amazing, but fresher is better...

So I bought up the basil, carrots, and a head of garlic and left feeling very excited. I got my CSA delivery and went home with a plan. This was the plan...

Shrimp With Roasted Garlic Pesto Pasta
Compliments of Sunny Anderson

15 garlic cloves, peeled (ab 1 head)
1 cup olive oil, plus extra for tomatoes
1 lb cherry tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 cup packed basil leaves
1 lb linguine
1 1/4 lb lg shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted (I didn't add any nuts because Mike has this weird thing about combining nuts with anything else. I believe I've mentioned this funny, little quirk of his)

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Place garlic cloves in a single layer in a small baking dish. Add 1/2 cup olive oil to cover cloves, cover with foil, and bake 45 minutes, until golden brown and fork-tender. Meanwhile, in another baking dish, toss tomatoes with enough oil to coat. Lightly season with salt and pepper and roast at same temperature until tomatoes blister, about 25 minutes.

Strain garlic cloves and set aside in a small bowl, reserving infused oil separately. In a blender, add the roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic, Parmesan, and basil. Pulse until combined. While machine is running, drizzle in 1/2 cup olive oil until pesto comes together. Season with 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt. Remove to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and reserve.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium heat. Add the linguine and cook until al dente. Drain.

Meanwhile, heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the garlic oil. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper and sauté until the shrimp turn pink and is cooked through.

In a large bowl add the linguine and some of the pesto. Toss to coat and top with the shrimp. Garnish with toasted pine nuts and serve.

Note: There will be leftover pesto. (No, there wasn't.)


These are the only pictures I have of the cooking process. I got a little wrapped up in that. Don't you love the bright colors, though? Don't forget the bright green of the basil too.

Those bright colors actually make me a little sad because they don't last. Take some of your child's paint and mix together green, yellow, and red. Yeah, that same browny-orange color is what the pesto sauce ends up as. I think I'm going to work on a "deconstructed" version of this dish that preserves those great colors. Are there any world flags that are red, yellow, and green? I'd call it [country name] Flag Pasta. Even the green of the spinach nests gets repainted.

Well, looks don't matter when it comes to substance. I recently saw a [fantastic] quote that said: "Beauty without intelligence is just a masterpiece painted onto a napkin." That's how I think of this dish. It's not pretty, but it is delicious. The basil has a really fresh, cool taste that sort of softly bursts in your mouth. Poof! I was especially glad when Mike told me that he liked it so much he wanted it added onto our Family Favorites list--a very exclusive list indeed. Anything that my sweet, picky husband likes so much is sure to be a hit anywhere., so give it a try.