Project 366 Rewind #4

2012 Project 366 Rewind #4

My laptop is acting up and I've been to busy at work. So I'm trying to post this from the blogger app on my iPhone. We'll see how it goes. No fancy templates this week.

This week I discovered Hershey hugs. They're like kisses only better.

My Favorite Mug at Work.

My Cloth Diaper Key Chain. I use it to show people how modern cloth diapers work. It even has an insert.

The soft pretzel bites Tristan and I made.

Elevator sign at work.

Tristan found this wood. It is pretty cool.

Tristan counting his dog sitting money before he puts it in his piggy bank.

My Favorite photo from this month:

Roasted Beer Lime Chicken

I am trying something new to make posts a little shorter after someone said that my pictures took a long time to load. 

My Beer Roasted Lime Chicken started from here and evolved.

Ingredients

• 1 (4 pound) whole chicken
• 1 tablespoon salt, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper, or to taste
• 3 limes, halved
• 1/2 (12 fluid ounce) can beer
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 meat injector

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees 
2. Squeeze the juice from 2 of the limes into a bowl. 

3. Add 1 tablespoon of melted butter to the lime juice.
4. Stir the juice and butter together.
5. Put your chicken on a plate and get your injector.
6. Load your injector with the juice/butter mixture.

 7. Inject your meat. (I inject the breasts, thighs, and a few other places)

8. Put 3 of the limes (already juiced) in the chicken's main cavity and one in the neck cavity.

9. Put your chicken in the pot on the beer can.
10. Squeeze the remaining two limes over the chicken.
11. Salt and pepper your chicken.

12. Cook for 1 hour and 45 minutes.

ENJOY!

Arroz Con Pollo

Recipe From: Skinny Taste

This was an awesome flavorful one dish meal. It took me back to the summer of 2001 in San Antonio, Texas where we ate at a hole in the wall Mexican restaurant and I got this. My whole family loved it. It smelled amazing in my house and it was super simple to make.

Arroz Con Pollo, Lightened Up

• 8 skinless chicken thighs
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1/2 packet sazon (I like Badia Sazon Tropical, Goya Sazon would work)
• about 1/2 tsp adobo powder
• about 1/2 garlic powder
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 onion
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 3 cloves garlic
• 5 scallions
• 2 tbsp bell pepper
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 1/2 cups enriched long grain rice
• 4 cups water
• 1 chicken bouillon
• 1 packet Sazon Tropical (or Goya)
• salt

Season chicken with vinegar, sazon, adobo and garlic powder and let it sit 10 minutes. Heat a large deep heavy skillet on medium, add oil when hot. Add chicken and brown 5 minutes on each side. Remove and set aside.

Place onion, cilantro, garlic, scallions and pepper in mini food processor. Add 1 tsp olive oil to the skillet and sauté on medium-low until soft, about 3 minutes. Add tomato, cook another minute. Add rice, mix well and cook another minute. Add water, bouillon (be sure it dissolves well) and sazon, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Taste for salt, should taste salty enough to suit your taste, add more as needed.

Add chicken and nestle into rice, bring to a boil. Simmer on medium-low until most of the water evaporates and you see the liquid bubbling at the top of the rice line, then reduce heat to low heat and cover. Make sure the lid has a good seal, no steam should escape (You could place a piece of tin foil in between the lid and the pot if steam escapes).

Cook 20 minutes without opening the lid. Shut heat off and let it sit with the lid on an additional 10 minutes (don't peak!!!) Fluff with a fork and eat!

Soft Pretzel Bites

Two Peas & Their Pod had a recipe for Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites that I saw Pinned on Pinterest.

Since today was a lazy Sunday Tristan and I decided to make these. I love cooking with kids. Tristan is 3. It may add a little time and a little stress but it is so worth it. His questions amaze me and I love his insight. As we were waiting the first five minutes for the yeast, brown sugar, butter, water mixture to proof he was standing in the kitchen trying to describe the smell of the yeast. It was so cute.

Ingredients:

Soft Pretzels:
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 package active dry yeast
3 ounces unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
Vegetable oil
3 quarts water
3/4 cup baking soda
1 whole egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water
Coarse sea salt

Directions:

For the Pretzels: Combine the water, sugar, yeast, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the dough hook until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Add the salt and flour and mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 3 to 4 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a flat surface and knead into a ball with your hands.

Oil a bowl with vegetable oil, add the dough and turn to coat with the oil. Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Bring the water to a boil in a small roasting pan over high heat and add the baking soda.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, about 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 ounces each. Roll each piece into a long rope measuring 22 inches and shape. Cut the dough into one inch pieces to make the pretzel bites. Boil the pretzel bites in the water solution in batches. We did about 15 bites at a time. Boil for about 30 seconds. Remove with a large slotted spoon. Place pretzel bites on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Make sure they are not touching. Brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with the salt. Place into the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown.

Remove to a baking rack and let rest 5 minutes before eating.

Blogs I Love

This will take me a bit to finish. So don't be upset if you don't see your button.

2012 Scavenger Hunt Sunday #5

Since I was oh so sick for the week with the flu most of these are archives. Monday I started feeling queasy. Tuesday-Thursday I didn't even get out of bed. I feel better now.



1. Smile

2. Stand Alone

3. Rusty or Something Old

4. Artificial

5. Repeating Pattern

Art with Tristan

I have been super sick with the flu. So Tristan has been using his Crayola Art Case to do art while I recover.

2012 Project 366 Rewind #3 Start of the Day!!

The following pictures are all iPhone pictures and show various ways I start my day! Happy Monday! If you are new follow me, let me know and I will return the favor.