Chicken Rice Skillet

The Recipe:

1 tablesoon vegetable oil

1 ¼ lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 cups water

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

1 bag (1 lb) frozen broccoli, red peppers, onions and mushrooms (or other combination), thawed, drained

2 cups uncooked instant rice

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1. In 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Cook chicken in oil 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink in center.

      2. Add water and butter, heat to boiling.  Stir in vegetables, rice, salt and pepper.  Sprinkle with cheese; remove from heat.

      3. Cover and let stand about 5 minutes or until water is absorbed.

I wanted to try something relatively simple.  When I came across the recipe for the Chicken-Rice skillet, it looked simple enough.  Not to mention that it is filled with veggies and chicken, so it’s also reasonably healthy.  However, this particular recipe required me to overcome one of my big disgusts: raw chicken.  I don’t know what it is, but I hate the look and feel of raw meats.  But, in my own attempt to ‘grow,’ I decided to tempt fate and handle the raw meat.

Overall, the experience of cleaning and cutting the chicken was not as bad as I had thought it would be.  I put on some music (Britney Spears Femme Fatale) and jammed out while I handled the meats.  Although it wasn’t as bad as I had thought, I was glad when it was over.  Luckily, I didn’t have to deal with any ‘extra’ chicken parts still attached, but I’m sure it will eventually happen. 

The recipe was just as simple as I had thought it would be.  The entire thing took about 20 minutes to make, but I’m also a very slow cook.  The one thing that I was concerned about was the chicken being cooked through and the veggies being cooked.  However, chicken and veggies came out fine, probably from it being in the covered pan for 5 minutes.  Another thing that was different, was the type of rice I used.  While I used the instant rice, the brand that I had gotten came in a small bag in which the rice was cooked in.  So, the water in the pan was not completely absorbed because the rice was cooked in a different pot.  

In general, I would say this recipe was a success.  The food itself was not the best meal I’ve ever had, and probably could have used a bit more flavor, considering my experience level, it was pretty good.  

*This blog post was taken from a previous blog that I attempted titled “Shenanigans in the Kitchen.”  All content is my own original work and is owned by me.  To see the original blog posting, go to http://shenanigansinthekitchen.blogspot.com/

IPOD Apps

After my old Ipod Classic finally died, I took the plunge and got a new latest generation Ipod touch.  Ever since, I’ve gone App crazy.  Here are some of my favorites.    And because I don’t like to spend money on things like that, most of these are free or really cheap. : )

Sleep…Lite – This App is a sleep sounds app that comes with a sleep timer that works to help you fall asleep at night.  Since I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately, this app (and the many other sleep machine apps that I’ve been trying) have been helping a lot.  They work really similarly to the way a white noise machine does, so if you’ve had any interest in using something like that but don’t want to spend the money, try this app!

SIMS FreePlay or The SIMS 3– If you like SIMS, these are great apps to try out.  While they are not exact versions of the popular game, they are decent versions of the regular computer games that I’m obsessed with.  The downside is, you need an internet connection to play, so if you’re not always connected, you can’t always access the game.

Solitaire – If you like the old classics, there are tons of versions of solitaire out there, and most of them that I’ve seen are available for free download.  For me, getting solitaire was one of the first apps that I got for my IPOD.  While playing solitaire isn’t the most exciting thing in the world to do, it does give me something to do while I’m waiting to my professors to start class.

Bubble Shooter – I don’t know what it is about this game, but for some reason, I am able to play this for hours on end without stopping.  Something about it is so entertaining yet so simple, making it the perfect game.  There are also tons of ways to play this game for free online, which is how I originally go into the game, and when I found the free app I just couldn’t resist.

So there you have it!  Those are some of my favorite apps!  What are your favs?  I love looking for new ones at the app store (especially the free ones) and am always trying out new ones, and would love some suggestions.

Farfelle con Piselli

I love pasta.  It’s probably one of my favorite things to eat.  Although pasta is great, being at school without containers full of my Mom’s sauce, has forced me to get a bit more creative with my favorite dish.  This dish, Farfalle con Piselli (peas!) was different enough from what I typically make that I decided to try it.

The Recipe:

1 pound farfalle pasta

1Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 cup cooked fresh or thawed frozen peas

1/3 cup light cream

¼ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

                    

    1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat.  Add the farfelle and cook according to the package directions until just tender.  Time the pasta so it is done at about the same time as the sauce.

    2.  Meanwhile, heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but not browned, about 5 minutes.  Add the peas, cream, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil.  Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm. 

    3. Drain the pasta well.  Return the pasta to the pot.  Add the sauce and toss well.  Sprinkle with the parsley and serve hot.

This recipe itself was really easy to make, but because of my limited ingredients, and only wanting to make it for myself and have no leftovers.  I improvised a little bit, but I was surprised that I was able to make it taste good.

The sauce was not as creamy as was pictured in the recipe, but it still tasted great, and it was probably better that it wasn’t super creamy, since it made the pasta taste more light.  Overall, this turned out to be a great meal that was yummy, and super easy to make.

 *This blog post was taken from a previous blog that I attempted titled “Shenanigans in the Kitchen.”  All content is my own original work and is owned by me.  To see the original blog posting, go to http://shenanigansinthekitchen.blogspot.com/

Charlie

A few weeks ago (on 12/23/2011 to be exact) I got a dog!  I’m so excited because this is my first ever pet.  My friends were very surprised that this was my first pet ever, but my mom always said that she didn’t want a dog and/or that she doesn’t like them, even though everyone else in my family wanted one.  But, recently I’ve really been feeling upset because of a lot of things going on in my life and I’ve been having a hard time getting up in the morning because things have been really bad.  So, I spoke with my parents, and because the dog with will be with me in my apartment while I’m away at school, they said YES!!!

My dog’s name is Charlie.  He is a white, 7 pound Maltese.  Right now he actually has almost no fur because right before we adopted him he was taken to the groomer and they shaved off way too much of his fur.  So now he looks like a little Chihuahua and he keeps shivering when we take him outside.  So I had to buy him a little sweater, which makes him look even more adorable.

The only real issue we’ve had with him is the fact that he wasn’t trained very well by his previous owner so we have to work on very basic commands like ‘sit,’ and work on house-breaking and things like that.  But, overall, he is such a sweetie and is pretty well-behaved so it’s really not a huge issue, especially since we knew beforehand and we’re expecting it.

My Blog Inspiration

As I’d mentioned in my previous post, I’ve never had the motivation to actually commit to blogging before, although I’ve always had an interest in it.  Now, however, I’ve made the commitment.  I just want to take a few minutes and share with everyone where that newfound inspiration has come from. 

A few months ago, one of my close friends introduced me to the Wrock band “Ministry of Magic.”  I instantly became obsessed, and began googling each of them members.  I discovered that most of the members have done solo projects and fell (slightly) in love with one guy in particular – Luke Conard. 

Luke Conard is an incredibly talented person.  I have watched every single one of his videos on YouTube multiple times, and haven’t found any that I have hated.  In addition to loving his music, I also discovered the world of vlogging.  Vlogging, for those of you who don’t know (and most of my friends didn’t) is video blogging.  Luke’s vlogs are incredibly hilarious and I have watched every single one of them including most of his friends’ vlogs. 

After discovering Luke and his world, I was led to discover a whole other side of YouTube that I had previously not known had existed.  I am now fans of Luke’s friends and constantly check their channels for new videos and vlogs, and I now constantly discover new people.  I strongly encourage anyone that had never looked at vlogs before to do so.  You never know what you may discover.

Although I am clearly not vlogging, discovering vlogs has inspired me to commit to finally creating the blog that I have wanted to.  Seeing how so many people can openly be themselves in front of a camera each and every day has made me wonder why I cannot even do it behind a computer screen and keyboard.  I was interested in vlogging, but without a video camera or video editing experience, blogging is a much better fit for me.  So, THANK YOU to all the vloggers out there that I have discovered and all those that I have yet to discover for giving me the push that I needed to do  something that I’ve wanted to do for quite a long time. 

To check out Luke's music site go to: http://www.youtube.com/user/lukeconard (his vlog channel is linked to it)