Spring in full Swing

I haven't been writing on here as much as I would like, but I have been enjoying this beautiful weather an awful lot. By the time I put H to bed, I'm pooped. I unplug and have actually been reading a bit. 

So much happens in such a short span of time these days. Spring time is amazing. I feel like we were cooped up for so long, and the only weekly activity we really did, was the library. But oh my, the weather warms up, and the sun starts shining it's a whole different story. There are so many hidden gems in Rhode Island, places and things to do that you don't need to spend money doing. 

I love that my daughter finds nature so fascinating. She notices everything; new growth, array of colors, insects, birds, absolutely everything. We go on hunt treasures (two dyslexic parents equals a dyslexic three year old), collect all sorts of findings, go home and catalog all the treasures. H has an old planner and traces all of the leaves, flowers, rocks anything she can fit in her bucket. 

I love watching her when she's doing this. She has such a serious look in her face, she concentrates so hard with her colored pencils in hand. I love her determination, and imagination. 

I took her smaller plastic kitchen set outside, She loves making dandelion soup, and Rock cakes. I would have loved to put together a mud kitchen, but we don't have the room. On the bright side, wayy less messy. 

I thrive the sun; I want to be working so bad right now, but being able to be outside with my lady, soaking up all the Vitamin D I can- definitely has it's upside. Work will come when the time is right, I'm not taking any of these beautiful days for granted.

Im trying to teach my lady to be thankful and grateful for what she has. Every night we talk about our day, the simple "I had so much fun mommy" warms my heart. It makes up for those frustrating terrible three moments. I want her to appreciate this time as much as I do. It's hard for her to understand, because she is only three, but I know these days won't last forever. 

Okay okay enough about the weather, let's talk food. 

It's been a while since we went grocery shopping so we went double duty and hit up my favorite duo, Trader Joes and the Local Meat Market (Sandy Lane MM). 

Which leads me to this Aaaa-mazing creation 

Italian Naan Pizza with Homemade mayo and Italian Salsa

Okay I don't know if I didn't add enough oil, but my food processor didn't cut it for this one. It was a bit runny but it tasted pretty darn good

Mayo- 

I added, egg yolk, salt and pepper, lemon juice, a little pepperchini juice (instead of vinegar), Sriracha, and olive oil. Next time I will read some directions and maybe add a little more oil. The taste though, that was spot on, consistency not so much

Italian Salsa (I could eat this strait from the jar)

In your food processor add, one plump tomato (from the vine, or two smaller plum tomatoes), half a red onion, two cloves of garlic, a handful of sliced pepperchinis (banana peppers will do), two pickle slices or half a whole pickle, half a red bell pepper and half a green pepper (I actually didn't have any bell peppers this go around but I usually add them when making this delicious concoction), Italian seasoning, garlic powder, balsamic vinegar, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste. 

When I was at Trader Joes I found this amazing whole wheat naan bread. I instantly thought I could make personal pizzas on these. 

When I got home from grocery shopping, that's exactly what I did. The first was a breakfast pizza. The next was Italian.

For the Italian Naan, add spinach first ( there are small holes I wanted to make sure nothing dripped through), drizzle homemade mayo then add Italian salsa, meats and cheese. I like to layer one piece of each; ham, salami, hot capicola, slicing pepperoni, provolone cheese- then roll up and slice. It makes it look pretty and you get perfectly proportioned meat bites. Bake on 400 for 3-5 mins and enjoy. I'm pretty sure I ate this in three minutes flat. It's that good. 

Winner winner Chicken Dinner

I truly enjoy when you can roast a whole meal in one pan. Sunday night I threw together a quick and easy dinner. 

I'm mostly self taught in the kitchen. I did a 14 week training program in which I learned an awful lot. However throughout the years I have learned most by reading recipes, cookbooks and Pinterest searching. Trial and error really. I have had way more than I can count absolute disasters, but that's how you learn. What I have found to keep chicken juicy when roasting is marinading it in an egg, milk mix. 

This time I made some buttermilk (add lemon juice to milk and sit for a few minutes), added the egg, Sriracha, 21 Salute (trader joes amazing spice blend, I use in Everything), parsley and garlic. I add this right to the bag I was defrosting the chicken in. 

An easy trick to quick cooking chicken is to slice the breast in half (Butterfly it).

Let it marinade in the buttermilk bath for an hour or so.

I chopped a giant sweet potato into rectangles (about half a steak fry), and few carrots (try to keep roughly the same size).

Toss with a lemon vinaigrette (lemon, honey, olive oil, garlic, shallot, cinnamon, nutmeg, 21 salute) and roast at 425 for 20 minutes 

After 20 minutes I added broccolini tossed in the same vinaigrette and chicken

For the chicken. Take out of the marinade and shake all the excess off. You do not want any liquid dripping off. Next dip it in a dredge of flour (I use whole wheat), parsley, lemon zest, dried garlic, 21 salute, paprika and Parmesan. 

Place in roasting pan with broccolini and roast for 18-20 minutes 

This isn't a true one pan meal because I made some Rice pilaf to go with our Roasted Goodness

Rinse one cup of white rice until water runs clear. 

In a small pot toast the rice in olive oil along with broken up pieces of angel hair pasta and garlic. Once it starts to smell nutty add two cups of chicken stock. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes

This was a very simple and delicious meal that even my little one loved. I try and offer some rendition of my meal for my little love. She definitely gobbled this one up. 

I don't always have such luck  

(I opted out of rice and had my chicken on a bed of arugula and baby spinach) 

The last recipe I'm going to share tonight is something that is clearly becoming a favorite 

Chai pudding

I didn't add any coconut oil this time just to try and it came out just as delicious. I think I actually like it better, I usually eat it cold so the oil hardens and is a little gritty. 

I whisked cocoa powder into vanilla coconut milk until it was combined. Next I added cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, a mashed banana and a handful of raspberries. I mashed it all together and poured in a jar over some chai seeds. Very yummy. When it was time to indulge in my sweet treat I stuffed some chocolate chunks inside raspberries and threw a few inside my pudding ( a few went strait to my tummy). Every time I whip up a new batch I dub it my favorite; this is definitely the best yet. 

Hope you enjoy,

Cheers!

-K