July 14, 2011- Rotisserie Chicken & Salad

I had planned on buying a rotisserie chicken at Fred Meyer on Monday, but we were there too early to get one.  We went to Safeway, which is a bit closer to our house, to pick one up this afternoon after Katie's nap.  It was a fantastic chicken.  Much better than Fred Meyer's if you ask our family.  The chicken was moist and full of flavor.   It was definitely worth the extra dollar or two it costs to buy the Safeway chicken instead of the Fred Meyer one.  I served a salad made of butter lettuce, raspberries, and glazed walnuts for our side dish.  Katie had chicken and raspberries.

After dinner,  I removed and shredded the remaining meat from the chicken bones.  I'll end up using that in a meal tomorrow. 

Friday, 4/1/2011

A friend of ours mentioned that her family was going to be "spring cleaning" their freezer.  That meant they were going to eat or toss everything in it this spring rather than continue to add to it.  Once it is cleared out, they will start adding things to it again.  It seemed like a really good idea.  I started to work on our freezer tonight and made a pizza.  

I started by defrosted one sheet of Pepperidge Farms puff pastry.  After about 40 minutes, I unfolded the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. I rolled the pastry into a 15 x 10-inch rectangle and place on a baking sheet. The directions said to prick the pastry thoroughly with a fork, which I did. The oven pre-heated to 400°, and then the pastry sheet baked for 10 minutes.  Even though I pricked it with a fork, it was quite puffy when I pulled it out of the oven.  I pushed it down a bit before adding zesty pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, shredded rotisserie chicken, crumbled sweet Italian sausage, and grated parmesan.  I put it all back in the oven to bake for another 10 minutes.  The result was a delicious pizza.  The good news is that we still have some pizza sauce and another pastry sheet to use some other day!

Thursday, 3/3/2011

We had enough rotisserie chicken remaining to have chicken burritos again tonight.   For the second night in a row, Katie played with her burrito, but didn't eat more than a few tiny bites.  I wonder when she will switch to being hungry at the same times we are:)

Wednesday, 3/2/2011

I shredded a rotisserie chicken yesterday, getting it ready to use for meals this week.  It is so much easier to shred the meat when it is still warm, rather than waiting to do it after it is cold.  For tonight's meal, we made burritos with some of the shredded chicken.  I put a couple handfuls into a frying pan, heated it up a bit, added chicken taco seasoning and water, brought it to a boil, let some of the moisture simmer off, and then add it to tortillas with grated cheddar cheese.  It was a tasty, simple meal. 

We are really struggling, as most parents of toddlers do, with getting Katie to eat what and when we want her to.  She is rarely hungry when we are.  And, when she is sitting at the table to eat, she spends so much time playing and trying to get our attention to look at whatever she is doing, that it takes an hour each meal.  She is an expert at pushing our buttons during meals.  For instance, she won't take a spoon full of food directly from her bowl to her mouth.  She has to make a pit stop and rub the food on her other hand first.  Then she needs to get our attention to show us the mess she made, maybe ask us to clean it up, but still hasn't eaten anything.  Argh!!!  It gets very frustrating.  We know that she is just programmed to experiment and push boundaries.  We just don't have to like it.

But at the end of the day, we say our prayers and she is our sweet girl again.  She folds her hands in her lap and says "Dear God."  We then take turns thanking God for the people and things in our lives that make us happy and asking God to help those we know need it.  She finishes with a sweet "Ah-men."  What a dear girl she is:)

Wednesday, 12/29/2010

Spencer's girlfriend, Kate, arrived from Chicago late last night.  It was nice to finally meet her this morning!  The six of us, Jennifer, Spencer, Kate, Ben, Katie and I, went to Zoolights at the Portland Zoo this evening.  It was very cold and we even had some snow:)  We all got hot cocoa or coffee as we entered the zoo to take the edge off.  Katie did great with her cocoa.  I don't think she spilled any of it.  It was true progress for her!  What a spectacular light display!  I was really impressed.  There weren't many animals out to see, but we did see a momma elephant and her baby Sam, otters, monkeys, snakes, penguins, and fish. 

Kate, Spencer, Jennifer, Ben, and Katie

After the zoo, we drove to Montage, a restaurant which serves Cajun comfort food.  We've tried to go there several times and have been thwarted each time.  We thought we would be home free tonight since it is a Wednesday.  Nope.  No such luck.  There was an hour wait when we arrived.  We ended up going to Gustav's, very close to Jennifer's home.  It was actually a much better option for us in the end.  Katie didn't nap today and fell very asleep on our way from Montage to Gustav's.  She didn't wake up as Ben got her out of the car, into the restaurant, or as we laid her down on the bench of the booth we were seated at. 

Ben and I shared a small order of chicken alfredo with penne noodles.  It was really good.  Jennifer had Königsberger klopse-- poached pork and beef meatballs, caper sauce, and spätzle noodles.  Kate and Spencer shared a plate of rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, and brussel sprouts.  I don't think they ate many of the brussel sprouts.  Ben, Spencer, Kate, and I all enjoyed Hacker Pschorr Dunkel Weisse-- a true dark, German hefeweizen.  Yum!!!  

Katie woke up after the bill had been delivered to the table.  We think she thought we were just sitting down.  She acted like she should be getting her dinner soon and was not happy when we said it was time to leave. 

Monday, 12/13/2010

This week is going to be very busy.  I've planned for simple dinners to help us get through the week without stressing about meals.  For dinner tonight, I bought a savory rotisserie chicken from the Fred Meyer deli and put together a Fresh Express salad with strawberries, almonds, and spinach.

Monday, 5/10/2010

I am singing in a benefit concert this coming Saturday; so, my normally open afternoons are filled with rehearsals. I usually do my grocery shopping Monday afternoons, but didn't get out the door until just before 4pm today. Katie and I decided to pick Ben up from work and headed to Costco. We purchased our standard Costco grocery items and added a rotisserie chicken. Man, they are super cheap at Costco. I think we paid $4.99. About a buck cheaper than Fred Meyer and several cheaper than Safeway. Anyway, we paired it with a caesar salad and the meal was complete. I removed the remaining chicken from the bones and will use it later in the week.

Monday, 4/19/2010

Boy, today I just could not plan a menu for this week. After writing down the staples we needed and looking after dozens of recipes, I decided Katie and I just needed to go to the store. Thankfully I wasn't indecisive at the store. For tonight's meal I got a rotisserie chicken from the Fred Meyer deli and made the following salad to go with it:

BALSAMIC & PEAR SALAD

Ingredients
3 cups spring mixed greens
1/2 pear- diced
handful of craisins

Dressing
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon salt
dash of pepper

The recipe makes enough dressing gor 3-4 salads. So, go lightly when you pour it on your salad and save some for another day. Tip: If you warm the honey a little, it will mix with the other ingredients easier.

My mom sent me this recipe...not sure where she got it, but I love it! Katie was a big fan of the chicken and did a fair job eating the pear pieces we gave her. Although she did have a good number of goldfish crackers today, I'm pleased that I didn't have to give her any cheese today:)