Coming Up.....

I'm doing the long awaited Roasted Chicken Thighs tonight and then blogging about them after. It's a double posting kind of day! The weather is absolutely amazing in Houston. It's so much more fun to spend the days with Landy outside instead of rotating around the house to try to keep things fresh so you won't melt outdoors in the heat and humidity. It might be a double park day! 

Nothing like some good old fashioned rock moving on a nice day!

Speaking of thighs, slip on your mini skirt and spend a little time outdoors. Lunch hour, afternoon, after dinner... You'll be sexy, I promise. 

It's Monday: Take it slow and we'll be with you later tonight to tell you if the sexy chicken thighs lived up to all of the hype! For now, I LIVE for Fall and Spring in Texas. Get out and enjoy it if you can!

- RT

Hot & Cold Links to Love

Greetings.

Space Grandma is legit.

 I am spending tonight packing for a three day wedding extravaganza. My challenge for this packing experience (beyond S's killer fashion feedback) is major changes in temp. I am going to experience Minnesota in August, which is pretty much like December in Houston. Don't worry though, I just picked up a new pair of these and I'm bringing a parka. One of those things is true....

I was also a slacker chef and picked up hot and sour soup from the Hunan Hut for dinner. I just didn't have it in me tonight with the packing and a mildly sick husband. It was takeout time. Landy had salmon for dinner with chopped spinach and avocado. I hope her friends wait a really long time to tell her she isn't supposed to like these kinds of things. I will continue to keep my mouth shut. 

So this is the post that you get tonight... THE INTERNET at your fingertips. Actually just some links to some of my favorite recipes online. Before we get to that, I just watched last night's RHONY and they are all crazy. I really thought this season might bring about some normal ones. I'm not going to pretend like I'll ever stop watching, but Aviva's dirty dad, George, should become the next housewife. Squirting orgasms for everyone! (I know, that was sick. Sorry. But not really.)

SO back to recipes. Whew. I am very obsessed with Cooking Light when it comes to following an actual recipe and not cooking on the fly. Here are a few link selections so I can save some for another night when I am lacking wit, creativity, and energy. 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts from the Barefoot Contessa

and some Jackie D. just for fun.

Spiced Pork Tenderloin with Sauteed Apples from Cooking Light
I can't explain how fast and easy this is, but the photo from the website says enough. We served with lightly sauteed spinach.

Chicken Tamale Casserole by Cooking Light 

Your life in the kitchen will never be the same.  I make this a lot. I use plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream on top (I actually replace most sour cream with Greek yogurt). Addicting.

Buffalo Chicken Thighs by Cooking Light
We made this with boneless thighs because I couldn't find bone in that was skinless and didn't feel like peeling skin, but I actually liked it better. We used Frank's hot Sauce and did regular mashed red potatoes and roasted tomatoes open faced with panko breadcrumbs, salt pepper, and parm in the oven. 

Herb and Goat Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Breast by Cooking Light
So I made this but changed it up a little. I bought a low fat spreadable herb cheese and chopped some sun dried tomatoes in with the spinach. I still added in the parsley but left out the bread crumbs. The cheese MELTED in it. It was amazing.   

Smoky Slow Cooker Chili by Cooking Light
The limes are genius!  And anything in a slow cooker is ideal.

Ceviche Style Shrimp Tacos by Cooking Light
HAVE to use corn tortillas and if you can do a quick grill on them it's ideal. 

Lastly, if you don't know about Soy Vay, you should.  Their Veri Veri Teriyaki is THE BEST Salmon Marinade and is great on pork as well.  Here's the link.

One of my all time favorite chicken soup recipes is on my short list for next month. It will still be 90 degrees, but September is the start of fall whether you like it or not! Wish me luck packing. This adventure calls for a glass of wine. Or two...

-RT

Beating up the weather While Bringing Fresh Farm Veggies to Your Front Door

It's Sunday guys... we made it! I've never been more excited to go to work and see other people and put on real clothes. Here's the summary and wrap up from last time when I was going crazy:

I did. Clouds have asses and I kicked one.

I took my shower and all was right with the world. Then something truly amazing happened, the rain stopped. We were supposed to have flash flooding and downpours and weather crazies. Friday morning there was nothing. We got to go out and do our walk and see the sunshine and then we got caught in the rain and instead of caring and running the Bob and baby back home, we just strolled and it just rained. We got home, and splashed in puddles and slipped and slid around and we kicked the rain and the cloud's asses. Then they left and decided not to ruin the rest of the night or Saturday or today (except for a brief shower) and you are welcome Houston. Landy and I made the rain go away. Then on Saturday our Farmhouse Delivery came. It's like food Christmas.

This Saturday's delivery included tomatoes, okra, zucchini, green beans, eggplant, peaches, butternut squash, yellow cherry tomatoes, and avocados.

I love going to farmer's markets, but it is really hard when you have a new baby. We had looked into farming co-ops in the past and the upfront cost and commitment always made us back off. Here are the amazing things about Farmhouse Delivery that make it so much better than a co-op:

1. You can do every week OR every other week. (we do every other week)

2. You pay week by week, not all at once. 

3. It is delivered to your front door, not a main pick up location. YOUR FRONT DOOR.

4. You get a list of what is in your bushel on Mondays and you can sub out items if you don't like them. 

5. You can put your order on hold if you will be out of town or if it's a bad week, and they don't charge you. 

6. They blog recipes with the ingredients and suggest ways to eat and cook them. 

7. You can cancel at ANY time. No additional charge. 

8. Did I tell you they deliver to your FRONT DOOR?!?!?!

Who is this good for?? I want to tell you it's good for everyone, but the truth is, it isn't. My amazing friend R ordered it for herself and her boyfriend and they didn't cook enough at home and ended up cancelling. If you cook at home, if you want to be inspired to cook at home, if you want to try new fruits and vegetables, if you are looking for more fresh ingredients in your kitchen... THIS is for you.

It has also been great for Landy because we have plenty of veggies on hand for her to try. It helps keep her diet and our diet in a great place all week long. The meal to follow is an example of what we do with a lot of our farmhouse veggies. We usually grill them or broil them or bake them when they aren't fresh lettuces or things we would throw in a salad.

In this bushel from a few weeks ago we got some amazing food. We were steak hungry and decided to use the carrots, green beans, and red potatoes. I preheated the oven to 400. This is how the carrots arrived:

Fresh from the farm.

 I peeled them and then cut off the stems, finally cutting them lengthwise and in half. The finished product looked like this:

Here are the green beans after I rinsed them. Then I snapped the ends off of them and did another rinse.

Then I started to prep the red potatoes. I decided to try something weird and new and on the fly because having fun in the kitchen is what makes cooking fun. I cut some rosemary from our bush and sliced some garlic cloves. Then I sliced an "X" in the top of a potato and stuffed them with the rosemary sprigs and garlic slices. Then drizzled olive oil over them.

Ingredients

 

Stuffed

Ready for the oven

I put the potatoes aside and took the carrots and green beans and mixed them together with and insane amount of dill, sea salt, and olive oil.

On the baking sheet ready for the oven

 I put the veggies and the potatoes in the oven for 30 minutes ready to check them and see how they are doing. Time to start on the steak. We took it out and let it come to room temp, then marinated it with olive oil and rubbed with salt and pepper.

Carrots and green beans are ready to go.

Potatoes and crispy rosemary needed more time. Probably 50 minutes total.

Steak is ready to go.

Here is the finished plate:

So there you go! Great farm fresh veggies that you can use in your meals every day. When we get our deliveries we just plan our proteins and our trip to the store is for those and breakfast fruits and extra snacks. We really love it and it's a great way to do more healthy and fresh eating at home.

Everyone have a great week!

-RT