I love to cook! But there is a difference between having the time to experiment with foods and flavours and getting dinner on the table. If I have all day, I will make Irish Soda bread from scratch, fuss with stuffing chicken breasts, or mincing fresh strawberries and papaya for a salsa but those don't lend themselves well to getting home at 5:00 and sitting down to eat with the family at 6:00.
Luckily, I have found some great recipes that are quick, easy to make, healthy, and delicious. Very few of my recipes are my own creation but rather I am a thief - I have stolen some of great recipes from some of the best, Martha Stewart, Nigella Lawson, the Barefoot Contessa, and my hero Sandi Richardson.
I get requests for these recipes all the time so I thought adding these to the blog would be easier than copying them out for people (plus I can add pictures). I have to admit though I have been blessed with a family of good eaters, or perhaps I have created them.
I'll start with one of my absolute favourites, Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes from Nigella Lawson. This recipe is fancy enough for company and quick and easy enough to make any night of the week. The chorizo adds a nice bit of heat and plays perfectly with the orange and oregano. If you're lucky enough to have any leftovers, it makes a great lunch the next day at work. Serve with a salad or some steamed broccoli to get your veggies in.
Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes by Nigella Lawson
Serves 6
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
12 chicken thighs (I use boneless and skinless and often use a mix of breasts and thighs)
1.5 pounds (750 grams) (chorizo, cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
2 pounds (1 kilogram) new potatoes, halved, red or white
2 red onions, peeled and roughly chopped
2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 orange
Method:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Put 1 teaspoon of the oil in the each bottom of 2 shallow roasting pans. Rub the chicken with the rest of the oil and divide the chicken pieces between the pans.
Divide the chorizo, potatoes, and onions between the two roasting pans. Grate the orange zest , using the whole orange, and set aside. Cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice from one side over each pan. Sprinkle with oregano and the orange zest.
Cook for 1 hour, swapping the top tray and bottom tray after 30 minutes and basting the contents with the pan juices.
Tuesday, 24 March 2015
Wednesday, 4 March 2015
Welcome to my perfect imperfect life ...
It's taken me a really long time to become comfortable with myself - close to 50 years in fact - but I can actually say that I am pretty happy with my life and myself. I don't have a perfect life and I'm far from a perfect person but I love the life I have created.
This blog will share my loves, passions, lessons, and interests - everything from yarn crafts, cooking, travel, painting, writing, reading, thoughts, tips, and tricks to creating a life I feel comfortable living.
A little bit about me to introduce myself. I'm a mom, a friend, a teacher, a learner, a wife, a dog lover, a cook, a traveler, a dreamer, a reader, a listener, a connector, a creator, an environmentalist, who is passionately curious about the world around me. I love learning and I love helping others learn.
Always wanting to complete a university degree, I went back to formal school when my daughter started kindergarten. I started at the local community college with a couple of courses and this ignited my passion for learning. Since that time, 1999, I have completed an undergraduate degree in English Literature, a Masters degree in Library and Information Science, and am working on a diploma program, the Provincial Instructor's diploma, and a second Masters degree in Children's Literature.
Alongside of school, with the support of my amazing husband, I have worked at an out of the home job and raised my family. Often people comment, I don't know how you do it! The truth is I have a lot of support and I have learned a lot of tricks along the way. But like all things, it came with a cost. For me that was internalized stress and constantly striving to be perfect and losing the ability to relax and being too hard on myself. It's taken me a long time to start to figure it all out and have some balance, my sincerest hope is that this blog may help make someone else's life a little bit better, easier, more comfortable - not perfect but imperfectly beautiful.
This blog will share my loves, passions, lessons, and interests - everything from yarn crafts, cooking, travel, painting, writing, reading, thoughts, tips, and tricks to creating a life I feel comfortable living.
A little bit about me to introduce myself. I'm a mom, a friend, a teacher, a learner, a wife, a dog lover, a cook, a traveler, a dreamer, a reader, a listener, a connector, a creator, an environmentalist, who is passionately curious about the world around me. I love learning and I love helping others learn.
Always wanting to complete a university degree, I went back to formal school when my daughter started kindergarten. I started at the local community college with a couple of courses and this ignited my passion for learning. Since that time, 1999, I have completed an undergraduate degree in English Literature, a Masters degree in Library and Information Science, and am working on a diploma program, the Provincial Instructor's diploma, and a second Masters degree in Children's Literature.
Alongside of school, with the support of my amazing husband, I have worked at an out of the home job and raised my family. Often people comment, I don't know how you do it! The truth is I have a lot of support and I have learned a lot of tricks along the way. But like all things, it came with a cost. For me that was internalized stress and constantly striving to be perfect and losing the ability to relax and being too hard on myself. It's taken me a long time to start to figure it all out and have some balance, my sincerest hope is that this blog may help make someone else's life a little bit better, easier, more comfortable - not perfect but imperfectly beautiful.
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