Dinner's Ready...

Lemon Chicken and Chicken Fried Rice

School resumed just over two weeks ago and I have already contracted some horrid sinus funk. I honestly think it is allergy related. Last Friday I had that horrible "allergy eye" that feels like pink eye.

Feeling poorly only increases my appetite for homemade, well-balanced meals. And Stephanie over at A Year of Sow Cooking always has some very tasty suggestions. Today, I thought I would give a couple of them a try.

First, I started with the Lemon Chicken. I took four chicken breasts and hacked them into manageable chunks and dusted them in flour with salt and pepper. I browned them a bit and tossed them into my Crockpot.

Then I mixed up the sauce and dumped it on. I goofed, and added the entire container of lemonade. Ooops! Also, I used rice vinegar instead of the suggested balsamic vinegar.

Then I decided to give the Chicken Fried Rice a try. I was feeling a bit dubious about the efficacy Crockpot Fried Rice, but I was feeling adventurous... Or perhaps it was just all the antihistamines I had consumed. I trucked out all of the goodies I thought I might need: chopped onion, chopped green onion, peas, carrots, and left-over baked chicken.

I tossed in a good amount of soy sauce, a touch of sesame oil, and gave it a good stir. I made sure to leave a well where I poured in three eggs, scrambled. It was my hope to return in about an hour and give it a good solid stir, combining the cooked egg with the rice. But alas and alack! The Crockpot was on "warm" instead of "high". Again, it must have been the antihistamines. So I gave it a stir and cranked it up. Hoping that the hour I had lost wouldn't make a huge difference.


The results were not only attractive (see the first picture in the post), they were quite tasty. I am thinking fresh pineapple and a hint of red pepper would be just the ticket on the next go around. Even with the extra 1/2 of a container of lemonade John still gave the chicken a 7/10. I gave it an 8.5/10. The fried rice was another story. My left-over rice was a bit moist and I think it would have fared better if I had used three or four day old rice. With the Crockpot on "warm" for the first hour, the rice didn't heat as quickly as I had hoped. The stirring broke up my long Jasmine rice grains into short, stubby bits. But the taste was quite good. I could have used a bit more of the sesame oil and the soy sauce, but I was guessing as I was working with a lot of rice. The rice got a 4/10 for texture (my fault, I'm sure) and a 7/10 for taste.


Readers, give it a try and let me know what you think. And thank you Stephanie for the inspiration!

Ravelry

My friend Jen (from Arkansas, not Missouri) came to visit last weekend and shared an awesome online community for knitters, crocheters, spinners, and weavers! It's awesome! And it's called Ravelry! Ravelry has just about everything a (wannabe) crafty Kat. Plenty of patterns and project ideas to keep me busy until 3069. I love that I can organize my knitting needles and crochet hooks, message my friends (both named Jennifer- I need some more friends!), share photos of my finished work, and so much more! You can find out more about Ravelry by clicking here. If you want to me my stitchin' buddy, you can find me as katmangione.

Crock-Pot 365

The crock-pot is an interesting invention. Some say it is nothing more than a giant Petri dish, just warm enough to grow your favorite bacteria. Others tout its money saving capabilities! Personally, I have always been attracted to the time saving factor associated with the original "set-it-and-forget-it!"

About a year ago I found the Rival Crock-Pot Cooking cookbook on my friend Ruth's shelf. It was published in 1975 and I have found it to be most useful. So much that I haven't returned Ruth's book! Last weekend while shopping the antique stores with my friend Shannon I found a copy for my very own! I was so excited I told Ruth she could have her copy back! That's when she told me about A Year of CrockPotting!

You can find a Year of CrockPotting at http://www.crockpot365.blogspot.com/. I liked this blog so much I've book marked it! I zipped Stephanie, the Crock-Pot Lady, an email asking if I could link to her blog and rave about her recipes. She was quick to respond in the affirmative. (Thank you Crock-Pot Lady: for your permission and your hard work!).

At a Year of CrockPotting you will find a diary of Crock-Pot experiences for the past year. There are breakfast recipes, veggie recipes, and dinner recipes as well as several things I never thought to use a Crock-Pot to create (Soap?). I love that Stephanie begins each post with a picture of her creation. Then she lists her recipe with the steps and provides a picture of her ingredients. Each entry ends with a "verdict." I find this most helpful as there are some creations I think I'll pass on after reading about Stephanie trying them not once, but twice!

Visit the Crock-Pot Lady and let her know what you think! It's one of the best blogs I've seen!

Ten Days

I cannot believe it has been ten days since I have posted! It just might be a record! I apologize; it is simply an indicator of how busy the past few weeks have been. My absence from the blogosphere, the pile of laundry, the unmade bed, the sticky kitchen floor, and the unpaid bills all point to the same, wicked truth. School has resumed!

I have been spending roughly 14 hours every day on campus. This has been my attempt to get caught up so that I can devote more time to research. You may ask how I could be so far behind during the first week of school. I didn't even have papers to grade until Thursday! After all I went to work a week early to get things ready. Alas, I had a student that consumed a particularly great deal of my time (over thirty hours in a week an a half). This student was not prepared to enter their internship and waited until the last minute to begin making corrections to the document that would enable them to participate in the internship. Said student had nearly three months to make corrections. And while the quote "Failure to plan on your part does not constitute and emergency on mine," continually played in my head over the course of dealing with said student, I was still the one who ended up being the most affected. Who pays for a students inability to follow directions, to plan, to organize, or to write coherently? Not the student. The teacher.


That aside, a great deal has happened in the last few days.

• School started for all three of us! Orion is navigating the often choppy waters of middle school. John is taking two courses (Anthropology & Ecology) in the mornings. And I am attempting Meteorology. I say attempting because I am conducting research with the professor of the course (Sally) and hanging out. I fear that I may not have the time to dedicate to studying.
• John has returned to the late night shift of 3:15 to 12:15.
• I am teaching another full load this semester, however I have taught all of these classes before so at least I have a vague idea of what I am doing this time around!
• An old friend died last week.
• Helen, the grey kitten, was adopted by three young ladies, students at UCM.
• I've been pretty sick and I have a mild case of pink eye! Allergy related? Perhaps.
  

And this is only a sampling of what has been happening! I have decided to use my blog as an incentive or reward! When I complete a certain amount of tasks, I will allow myself to post to the blog. Unfortunately, I doubt that there will be much to report. All work and no play makes Kat a very dull blogger!

Let's hope not!

Introducing...

A Day in the Life of Orion... Orion has his own blog! Several days ago Orion asked to start his own weblog, so I took a few minutes and showed him how Blogger operates. He's hungry for a blog audience, but being a semi-good mother, I have restricted access to his blog. It is invitation only. Unlike some blogs where you enter a name and a password to visit, you will have to log into Blogger to see Orion's goods. So far he's posted a picture, bragged about his Guitar Hero scores, and shared several funny jokes. If you are interested in becoming one of Orion's readers, send me an email and we'll get you invited.

Revert

I have returned to the previous format for my blog. I decided, after much thought, that I liked the clean lines and plain blue background that I originally chose. With this change, readers may once again leave comments.

The Galactic Apple Lives!

The Galactic Apple started as a class assignment some years ago. It later turned into a place to host a few materials from some of my workshops and presentations (e.g. PowerPoint slides). Over the past year, it fell into disuse and eventually succumbed to "web rot." Well, after a little bit of work-cleaning and rearranging, finding a new home, and adding a great deal of content, the Galactic Apple is ALIVE!

Check out the Galactic Apple for math games, literacy activities, and more! Or visit the Galactic Apple Blog to read my thoughts on just about anything school related. Check them out! I'll see you there!