Thankful

I am fortunate. There are many reasons for me to be thankful, but I am very thankful for the other SAHM's that I have met. Having gone from a person that abruptly quits a successful career to being a Mom has it's challenges. I have to admit my first year as a SAHM was very difficult. Unless you have a sick or special needs child, the act of caring for a child is not very difficult, but the isolation from the rest of society is. You find, at least I did, that you can lose a lot of your identity that first year. It is hard when you are constantly on the go and every day is a new and exciting challenge to staying at home feeding and diapering this little person that gives little in return those first few months. It was a rough transition to say the least. Now MJ is 2 1/2 and things are going really great.

I am sincerely thankful to have met other SAHM's. Most of them have the same or similar story. They decided to put there career life on hold to raise children. Some struggle financially to do this and I have a great deal of respect for them for making the choice to stay at home. Some struggle with the fact they they must return to the workforce either for personal fulfillment or monetary reasons. I have a great deal of respect for those women as well. I am sure it is a decision that weighs heavy on their heart. We have regular play dates for the kids. This is a great way for us moms to introduce social skills to our little ones, especially those of us that have one child. But it's also good for us moms too. We get to hang out with other moms that understand what it's like to not be a part of the working society. We chat for a bit eat some food, chat a little more and eat a little more food. What not to like about this? They are truly great group of women to chill with. For that I am very thankful.

Family, friends and other people that have known me forever still tell me on occasion how surprised and happy they are for me. They would have never in a million years guessed I would ever be a Mom. Quite frankly, I still tell Mark how it hits me once in a while (in a good way).

Italian Style Chicken

There is a chicken recipe I have been making for years using my homemade tomato sauce. I modified it so you don't know how to make tomato sause. This is what I came up with:

3-4 boneless/skinless chicken pounded a little (dont want it too thin, you can even slice it lengthwise once)
olive oil for the pan
garlic clove cut in half
Basil-fresh
Parsley-fresh
1-lrg can of whole tomatoes (28-oz) yes whole and canned San Marzano if you can find them.
red pepper flakes -about a teaspoon
grated mozzarella or fontina cheese
1/2 cup white wine or 1/2 can of chicken stock if you dont use wine.
salt and pepper

First the Tomato sauce- using a food processor or blender if you dont have one. Blend until smooth or a little chunky, which ever you like best. Add a small handful of Basil, the pepper flakes and a little salt to taste.

Now the chicken~again pound it a little just to thin it out or slice lengthwise once to make thinner. salt/pepper both sides. Get a large pan add olive oil (few tablespoons) and garlic clove sliced once. Warm the pan before adding the chicken. Brown the chicken on both sides for just about 2-3 minutes each side. Remove from the pan and but on a plate for a bit. Throw awway the garlic. DO NOT cook the chicken all the way. You will finish the cooking a little later.

In the same pan you browned the chicken add the white wine or stock, again, whichever you prefer. scrape all the bit of chicken off the bottom of the pan and let it reduce a few minutes.Add the tomato sauce and let it simmer another 5 minutes.

Put the chicken back in the pan with the tomato sauce and let it simmer for about 10-12 minutes. This cooking time will depend on how thin the chicken is to finish cooking. When it's done cooking, turn off the heat and add the a small palm of fresh chopped parsley.

Plate the chicken, pour a little more sauce over it and sprinkle with the cheese and a little more chopped basil if you like.

Wanna Pway?

So Mark gets home today after a hard days work. He gets up at 430 everyday and gets home about 630 or 7. MJ, who thinks his dad hangs the moon, runs to Papa with excitement of Christmas every time he sees his Papa. Mark goes the room with MJ in toe, to take off his suit and tie, which by the way he hates that he has to wear a suit to work everyday. Anywho, Mark sits and trys to relax with some TV and a drink after a long day while I warm his dinner. MJ walks up to Papa and says "wanna pway (play) Papa?" What does Mark do? As tired as he is and wants to relax says, "sure Big Guy, lets go play". Not just for a couple of minutes, but an hour later he is still playing with his Big Guy and dinner is getting cold again. Just gotta say how lucky I am.

Pumpkin Patch 2010

Chicken Satay

Recently I came up with a chicken satay recipe I made for a group of women. The ladies loved it! I came across it yesterday for a BBQ. It is simple and taste really great if you like Thai food. If not, may not be for you. Thought I would share it.

3 lbs Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breast (or thighs if you prefer)

MARINADE

3t Ground Coriander
4t Light Brown Sugar
3t Fresh Ginger Shredded
3t Lime Juice
4-6 Garlic Cloves
2 - Shallots
6T Peanut Oil
1/4 - 1/2c Soy Sauce
Mix marinade ingredients. Add chicken to mixture and marinate at least 2 hours.

PEANUT SAUCE
1c Chunky Peanut Butter ( you can also use smooth or as I do 1/2 and 1/2)
2-3t Sambal
3 Gloves Garlic Shredded
3T Brown Sugar or Honey
1 Lime Juice
1/4 c Soy Sauce
1/2c scant Peanut Oil
Mix ingredients together. This should be sweet with subtle heat. Add more Sambal if you like a little more kick to it. Taste and adjust ingredients accordingly.

This is the kinda stuff I now do as a SAHM.

 

Today we had a Pirate's Treasure Hunt. There is something about seeing the excitement in the eyes of a little tyke that is heartwarming. Yeah, I said heartwarming! Their excitement, curiosity and laughter is contagious and the look in their eyes as they discovered a new treasure is priceless. We all had a great time.







 

Pirate's Treasure Hunt (MJ 2nd from the Left)



On Guard!

 

Treasure Map

 

Pirate Cupcakes



Pirate MJ & his Booty!





 











MJ Dancing

My Little Guy loves to dance!

Reminder: Clean the garage.

Pico De Gallo, It's Not Just For Chips!

When people think of pico de gallo, usually they are thinking of something they have with chips at some Mexican restaurant. It's actually a little more versatile than that. Instead of mayo on the burger or herb butter on the steak try some pico de gallo. It's full flavor can along side just about any beef.

Taste great with grilled chicken too.

Ingredients:

4 Roma tomatoes

1/4c Red or yellow onions chopped

2 Garlic Cloves chopped

2 Jalapenos seeds removed chopped

1 Palm full of cilantro chopped

1/2 of a lemon juiced

1t cumin

salt/pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and serve!





This is what topped my grilled chicken today

You can take this same recipe and with a little modification, you know have, wait for it....

CORN/BLACK BEAN SALSA! Ta Da!

From the recipe above take away 2 tomatoes and 1 jalapeno. Then add one can of black beans drained and rinsed and one corn. I found grilled corn taste best.  Second choice would be cooked on the stove.

And if you use canned corn I don't wanna know about it!