Tuesday Suppers

I have finally gotten some normalcy back to my life and schedule. Except for the disarray that is my bedroom and the mounting boxes in the garage everything is pretty much back to normal. Who am I kidding! My life will be anything but normal in the next 4 weeks. We have started looking for a house in Jacksonville so hopefully we'll find something that works for us soon. The process is more than daunting and I am starting to feel a little crazed. What do I know about renting a house 6 hours away?! My Dad has helped us get in order the steps we need to take, but I am still a little apprehensive. With that being said I have been cooking so I can get back into posting some more quick weeknight suppers. This week is Pan Seared Chicken Breast Tenders with Parmesan Garlic Roasted Broccoli and Steamed Brown Rice...

8 chicken breast tenders
2 crowns of fresh broccoli, florets separated from the stem
olive oil
2 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese
2 cloves of garlic, minced
salt
pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 cups steamed brown rice

1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. On a baking sheet arrange broccoli so it is in a even layer. Toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper
3. Roast in oven for 15 minutes.
4. Remove the broccoli from the oven and sprinkle with parmesan cheese
5. Heat olive oil to coat the bottom of a medium skillet over medium heat 
6. Season chicken breast tenders on both sides with the garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper
7. Add to skillet and brown on one side without moving for 5 minutes
8. Flip and cook through on the other side, remove from pan and allow to rest for 10 minutes
9. Season the steamed brown rice with the butter, salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Finals, Orders, and New Adventures

I'm so sorry to have neglected this space for so long. So much has happened in 2 weeks. I have finished all my finals and will be graduating in a few weeks. I really thought I would never get here. Of course it was always a goal of mine but when you're elbow deep in textbooks, Legos, and other responsibilities it's easy to get discouraged. So I am just glad this one part is done and I can kind of catch my breath for a moment. So on top of finishing up finals Jon got his orders!!!! So in just a little over a month we will be moving to.... Jacksonville, NC! That's right he will be at Camp Lejeune and we will be starting another new adventure. It's strange how I was anticipating this time when we found out where we were moving to but it actually was quite anticlimactic. Needless to say we are looking forward to tackling this adventure together. We only have about 25 days till he graduates and it can't come soon enough!

Tuesday Suppers

So let me start by saying I am postponing my Tuesday Suppers post. I have been crazy busy with finals and projects I have barely eaten this past week for dinner. When I get home I pretty much have been working on my final projects and papers for school. Seeing as though tonight's dinner consisted of microwave popcorn and raspberry lemonade I think postponing the post would be in everyone's best interest. Ahhh I feel like I'm back in culinary school. Back to the days when a bag of chips was all I saw in the way of food outside the classroom. Yes me and my fellow culinary students ate many a bag of microwave popcorn. What you thought we were whipping up Beef Wellington with whipped potatoes and haircot verts? I'll be the first to tell you we all probably ate just as much if not more junk food as the average college student. Well my books aren't going to study themselves... Or can they? Any suggestions? At least I have one thing to smile and dance about... Just broke the 30s! Happy dance ensue now!

Friday Letters

 

Dear Hubby, Thank you so much for such a great weekend last week... now if only we could do it again this week, sigh. Back to the real world I guess. Just think we only have 43 days until you graduate! This long distance thing is about 7 months too old...

Dear Landon, I know you miss Daddy because I do too! Your understanding about what Daddy does cracks me up. When I asked you what Daddy does the conversation was too funny...

Me: You know Daddy's a Marine right? What does that mean?

Landon: He beats up bad people.

Me: It's a little more complicated than that Landon.

Landon: Nuh uh, and Marines are better than police officers.

Me: No they're not they have different jobs.

Landon: Yes the are because they have bigger guns.

Me: *sigh*

Dear Planner, I really need to open you one week and see a blank page, I mean completely blank. I have been running at the speed of light for the last week and I need a break. Like a big one, okay maybe a little one, please?

Dear Yard Sales in DMV, Please have something I can temporarily use as a TV stand. Since the hubby decided our old bedroom furniture should go and I sold it on Craig's List last week I need something desperately. I don't think my neck can take the strain from looking at the TVon the floor anymore.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

From Richmond With Love

So I am sitting in my room eating a piece of delicious pie... What kind do you ask? Lemon Chess Pie from Richmond, VA. Yesterday I came home from class and was greeted with this wonderful confection that my Uncle Junior in Richmond UPS'ed me. I was elated! Me and this pie have some very fond memories... Ones that include my Great Grandmother that passed away almost 12 years ago. I miss her dearly. She was born in 1912 so she had some pretty awesome stories to tell. She was probably the biggest driving force in me working towards getting my degree. As I am winding down classes and graduation is just on the horizon it seems fitting that I got this slice of her memory and hometown of Richmond. Although I am only one step closer to my ultimate goals (Bachelors in Marketing and eventually my MBA) I know she would be proud. Oh and this pie, it taste just as good as I can remember.

Tuesday Suppers

So this is post #2... before I jump into the recipe for Semi-Homemade Pasta Vodka Sauce with Pan Seared Chicken let me recap the great weekend I had in Virginia Beach. Jon is really busy even at night and on weekends. His school requires a lot of work outside of the classroom so I decided to go down on Saturday. Well that and Northern Virginia traffic is murder on friday evenings! I was going down solo this time so Landon stayed with my mom who he affectionately calls Fifi... long story. Fifi is his favorite person in the world so I was so surprised when he said he wanted to come with me. All the times I have asked him if he wanted to ride down with me to Virginia Beach he has told me no in effort to stay with my mom. I was shocked! It was hard to leave him, but the waterworks lasted only as long as it took my mom to ply him with pancakes. See what I mean... my son sells me out for my mom and pancakes any day. I got down to Virginia Beach in only about 3 hours so I had some time to kill before I could meet Jon. I went the mall and walked around until I decided I better go to Starbucks and start my term paper before I didn't get anything done. I started to fall asleep so I left and read in my car a while where I promptly fell asleep... just as I was going to get out the car and walk around Jon called and I was on my way to get him. It was so good to see him I don't think I stopped smiling for a good 3 hours. After checking in at the hotel we got all dressed up went to this great restaurant in downtown called Sonoma.

I had every intention of taking pictures of the great food...but I was kind of wrapped up in the fact that I was with Jon so I only got one of the dessert which was a blood orange cheesecake, delicious! We always seem to find great restaurants together.

Sunday we went to a church where we have some friends and it was awesome to see them. Since Jon had to be back at base by 3 to get back to his work for school we grabbed some Chipotle and headed over there. I hated to leave him, but we only have 47 days left so time is dwindling. Oh and for the record I don't think Virginia Beach likes me very much because I had snow last time and monsoon downpours this time... go figure!

Semi-Homemade Pasta Vodka Sauce with Pan Seared Chicken

1/2 pound whole wheat penne pasta

1/4 pound of pancetta, diced

1 jar vodka sauce

2 chicken breasts

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp sugar

olive oil

salt

 pepper

grated parmesean cheese

1. In salted boiling water cook the pasta until al dente (with a little bite)
2. Slice chicken breast lenghtwise to make 4 thinner cutlets, season liberally with salt and pepper on both sides.
3. In a medium sized skillet over medium heat add olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Add chicken breast and don't move for 4 minutes or until browned on one side. Flip back and forth until cooked through and skin is brown. Remove from skillet and set aside to rest.
4. In the same skillet saute pancetta and garlic adding olive oil if necessary to prevent sticking. Try hard not to brown the garlic.
5. Add the vodka sauce and sugar, stir to combine, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Toss the pasta with the vodka sauce.
7. Slice chicken breast and place on top of pasta.
8. Top with parmesean cheese and a drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy!

Running in Flats

Today was a great albeit busy day! It started at 5:15 am with me dragging myself out of my bed. I am so not a morning person, but somehow I manage it each morning. I went downstairs to check on the collard greens I put in the crock pot before bed last night. We had a farewell luncheon for the big boss today so I had to make something. From there I showered and dressed then attempted to rouse my less than enthusiastic son from his deep slumber. A child after my own heart! After I ironed his clothes and dressed him we brushed teeth and hair and flew out the door. I made excellent time and for DC traffic that means it took me 45 minutes... And I dropped Landon off at my friend Serinia's house. I had to make it to work early and school wasn't open yet. As I landed at my desk I worked up until 12 when I had to leave. This is when the day got real interesting. I had to volunteer for a conference for my class downtown. So I hopped on the bus to metro, thankfully my job is metro accessible, and made it to the hotel. It was so much fun to work the conference and great hands on training for hopefully my next job. I greeted the attendees, directed guests, pretty much anything that needed to be done. Phew, I was so tired from running around I was thankful I had chosen my comfy flats to wear today! Then I caught the metro back to the station got on the bus to pick up my car and then hightailed it to Landon's school to pick him up. If only my day ended there... I had to get Landon's hair cut! These are the times I really miss Jon because he always took care of these things... So needless to say I didn't cook. I barely made it through the line at Chick fil-a. So here I am enjoying my lemonade and looking forward the weekend with Jon ... and him studying... and my term paper. Well at least I can see and touch him... Friday can't get here soon enough, Virginia Beach here I come!