Cooking, Baking and Eating - OH MY!

I have always loved to cook. And, I think I am pretty good at it too. I like to make things that make other people happy. I rarely cook good food for just myself, but if I know we are having company or it is a special day, like an anniversary, I will plan for days to make something yummy for everyone.



Since I am home now full time for the next 7 months I thought I would start branching out and cooking and BAKING some new recipes that I had never ever tried before. I was sharing my new creations on facebook but many people wanted a more detailed description and recipe than I could give there. So, I am adding something new to this blog, recipes!



I will share some photos of what I make. The recipe that I used and how easy it was. I guarantee there will be no "okra" in any of these recipes (That is my code for "food people will actually make and enjoy"). I will also be asking Dave to write a short review about what he thought of the meal too.




So, here we go. My first FOODIE post.



My first "new" recipe was a delicious breaded chicken creation via Jamie Oliver. I have provided the link the original recipe, but the one listed below is "my" version with a few changes that I made to it.

Crunchy Garlic Chicken

Ingredients:

- clove of garlic (I used a HUGE one, so you might want two)

- 1/2 lemon

- about 10 saltine crackers

- 2 tbsp butter

- parsley (I used dehydrated)

- salt and pepper to taste

- 2 tbsp flour

- 1 large egg

- 3 chicken breasts

- olive oil

Instructions:

Peel the garlic and zest the lemon

Put the first 6 ingredients into the food processor and whiz until quite fine. I would suggest whizzing everything but the butter first, then adding the butter (soften in microwave) after everything else is crumbed up well (I think I just made up a new "thing" - crumbed! Heck, if Rachel Ray can do it, so can I!)

Beat the egg and put in a bowl

Put the flour on a plate.

Dip the chicken into the flour, then the egg and then coat with the mixture

Push the crumbs onto the breasts so they stick

Bake at 475 degrees until cooked (about 20 minutes, but check after 15, I like my chicken a little more "cooked" then just cooked)

Viola! I thought it was pretty yummy. But Dave was really impressed! He gave it an overall score of 8/10 and even suggested I cook it for guests in the future. This has also been the chicken dish that he has compared to all the others I have tried, so you know it was a hit. This one has been his overall favourite - so far!

If you try it, please leave a comment and let me know what you thought and any changes you made to make it even more yummy!

Happy Cooking!

Needles, The Great Debate

Liam got his first set of needles on our 4th wedding anniversary. I made Dave take an extended lunch hour to come with us to the clinic. I was nervous. Everyone knows why...

There is a huge debate right now about vaccines and autism. I told Dave when we were pregnant that if we had a boy that I would be watching our son every day for regression and signs of the impending diagnosis. That being said, Liam is a happy, healthy and thriving baby boy. We are so lucky to have him and thankful every day for his health. I pray every day that it continues.

When he was a few months old (a baby's first vaccines are supposed to be given at 2 months old) I phoned the health nurse to ask about making an appointment for his shots. Here is a run down of our conversation:
Me: Hi. My son is a few months old and I am phoning about vaccines.
Health Nurse: Are you getting them or not? (insert snarky rude tone)
Me: Umm, sorry. Yes, I am planning on vaccinating but he is already 3 months old. I just need some information.
HN: Oh, ok. I will connect you to your health nurse. What was your name? (Insert polite and friendly tone)
Me: What the HELL? (didn't really say this but thought it)

Now, I immediately understood why she was snarky at the beginning. She must hear a lot of mothers that have questions and concerns about the autism debate. She obviously disagrees with Jenny McCartney and the boat loads of other mothers that have said they experienced the link in their own children. I will not discount those mothers and their opinions and feelings at all.

That being said, I don't think that I could live with my son developing polio, a disease that could be prevented, either.

This is something I didn't walk into lightly, not for one second. Even after his vaccinations I am still wondering.

I had made an appointment before but had cancelled it because Liam had a slight fever. I wasn't taking any chances. Then August 18th approached and he was healthy, no fever, no sniffles, no coughing. I kept this appointment.

Dave and I took lil' man to the clinic. Liam made fast friends with the nurse, of course, he is a heart breaker already. But seriously, who could resist those dimples. She measured him and weighed him. Checked his progress on her list. Check, check, check. She remarked that he was ahead of schedule on some development (see, Grandma Terry, he is "advanced"). She made him smile and laugh. And then, she made him cry.

I held him and she did the first leg. He looked up at me like I had just broke his heart. Then mine broke. I got in a little snuggle. He didn't cry, just pouted and let out a few whimpers. Then she said that the next one would sting a bit more.

Then there were tears. Not a lot, but just enough to let me know that he had had enough and he was through with this lady. I felt the same way.

I still don't know if I made the right decision. Some will say that I did, and others will disagree.

I am hoping that I did.

Hiatus

It has been a long while since I have posted. When I first started my husband asked, "How often are you going to write?" I said, "Everyday." He had written a blog for work once before and knew how difficult it was and he told me so. I rolled my eyes and thought in my head 100 different posts that I could write about at the moment and shut out his well-meaning advice.

Now, fast forward almost a month and I haven't posted. Hmmm. Maybe he knew what he was talking about.

Summer has been pretty busy. But, we are starting to slow down. Dave took some time off of work and we relaxed at the lake with his sister and her family. The boys are just over 3 months apart and it was a blast. Post to come later.

In recent Liam news, he got his first needles yesterday (also, post to come later). So he is a little grumpy today. He has had a bit of a slump with his daytime sleeping routine, so I think it has a little to do with needles, some teething and a dash of bad napping habits. We will see how it goes.