Salad Pizza

Yesterday I got up at 6am and then didn't go to bed till 11pm.  Today will be the same story and tomorrow will be another repeat.  That means for seven hours of sleep. I am not sure that is quite enough for me to function at full capacity on an ongoing basis.

You know what helps...lots of vegetables.  This was seriously was the fastest, easiest meal to put together.  I cannot really call it a recipe.  Trader Joe's garlic naan bread topped with leftover chicken breast slices, goat cheese and mixed greens.  Tomato slices on the side.

What doesn't help is champagne but it sure does taste good.  Everyone needs a little champagne in their lives.  I missed a true New Year's Eve toast.  Life got in the way and Mr. J and I never celebrated but the champagne stayed in the fridge.

An unexpected celebration is always the best kind of celebration.  We toasted to us, the weekend, and relaxing.  Going on seven hours of sleep, I am keeping this celebration on my mind till I can make it till next weekend. 4 mores days to go...

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken

Need an easy flavor packed dinner?  Here is one for you.  Normally on the weekends I like to be lazy and play around in the kitchen.  This weekend though it seems like there was lots to do and I absolutely had to check out The Hunger Games movie.  Priorities right?

I saw this recipe and knew I wanted to try it.  Throw all of the ingredients in the slow cooker and then take off for the movies.  Come back and the whole house smells like Chinese food. 

After the cooking period you take out the whole chicken pieces and cut up into bite size pieces.  Add a little cornstarch to the sauce mixture for an extra ten minutes of cooking to thicken up and throw the chicken back in.  

Besides the rice, I had some steamer snap peas from Trader Joe's. I literally took the package out of the refrigerator and then turned around and popped it into the microwave for 2 minutes.  Done and done.

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours

6020853

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thighs would be fine too)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup honey
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (could also use olive oil or canola oil)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• 3 whole dried chilies
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 6 Tablespoons water
• Sesame seeds

Instructions

Season both sides of chicken with lightly with salt and pepper, put into crock pot.

In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on high for 3-4 hours, or just until chicken is cooked through.

Remove chicken from crock pot, leave sauce. Dissolve 4 teaspoons of cornstarch in 6 tablespoons of water and pour into crock pot. Stir to combine with sauce. Replace lid and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes or until slightly thickened.

Cut chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce before serving. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over rice or noodles.

Powered by Recipage

Weekend Edition: Welcome Spring

This week we saw Spring arrive. Can you believe it?  I am loving the pretty blossoms all around.

I sampled some Banana Bread beer. Have you ever heard of such a thing?  I cannot say it tasted of banana but it really did smell like banana bread.

What I have been up to...


Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie with Pretzel Crust

Brownie in A Mug

How to Be an American Housewife and WIAW

Chicken Putannesca

Friday's Favorites: Anthropologie

Philadelphia and Bistrot La Minette


I also got nominated for the Versatile Blog by three lovely bloggers. This is so sweet and truly means a lot.

Thanks to the ladies of The Cooking Actress, Whipped, and Oishiis Treats!

Wondering what the Versatile Blogger Award is? “It is a great way to introduce different bloggers to each other and to promote quality blogs that awardees and their readers may not have discovered otherwise.”

There’s also a few guidelines for what to do when you receive the award:

1.  Thank the person who gave you this award.  
2.  Include a link to their blog
3.  Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly.
4.  Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award.
5.  Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.  
6. In the same post, include this set of rules.
7. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs.

Here’s the 15 amazing blogs I’d like to nominate for the Versatile Blogger Award!

1. Sweet and Salty http://www.sweetandsaltysf.com/
2. Healthy Foodie Travels http://healthyfoodietravels.net/
3. That Skinny Chick Can Bake http://thatskinnychickcanbake.blogspot.com
4. Flour Trader http://www.flourtrader.blogspot.com/
5. Baker Street http://bakerstreet.tv/
6. Crunchy Creamy Sweet http://www.crunchycreamysweet.blogspot.com/
7. RavieNomNOms http://ravienomnoms.wordpress.com
8. Cooking Healthy For Me http://www.cookinghealthyforme.com/
9. NYCityEats http://nycityeats.com/wordpress/
10. The Spiffy Cookie http://www.thespiffycookie.com/
11. Dinners, Dishes and Desserts http://dinnersdishesanddesserts.com/
12. Eat.Drink.Love http://eat-drink-love.com/http://eat-drink-love.com/
13. All Day I Dream about Food http://www.alldayidreamaboutfood.com/
14. Inside a British Mum's Kitchen http://insideabritishmumskitchen.blogspot.com/
15. Dulce Dough http://www.dulcedough.com/

And now seven things you don't know about me...

1. I have milked a goat before.  Just once and once is enough.
2. I was born in Iowa. I  lived briefly in Georgia before moving back to Iowa.  At 16 my family moved to Maine where I graduated from high school. I went to school in Pennsylvania. My first job was in Connecticut.  Due to this job I lived in New York for two years before moving back to Connecticut. Whew.
3. My stint in Georgia gave me an incredibly thick southern accent which made me extremely shy when we moved back to Iowa.
4. I do consulting work for colleges and universities across the country.
5. I have extremely high knowledge of the best places to eat in the Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis airports.
6. If I am in a bad mood the ultimate cure is a latte. 
7. I have a type A personality to the extreme.

 Thanks again!