Saturday, July 30, 2011

Chicken Marinade and NEW KITCHEN!!!

When my family was here for the forth of July, my dad left behind a wonderful bottle of organic apple cider vinegar. I've been trying to find ways to use it and have adapted this wonderful simple chicken marinade. Chicken marinade is the busy lady's best friend. Chicken can be so bland when you have nothing to do with it. Marinating it brings out such juicy flavors- I never want to cook chicken if I haven't marinated it! This is a mild marinade and so it is good to use if you'll be putting the chicken into pastas or casseroles. It's good enough to be served alone though! Here is all you need:
For 1 lb of chicken you'll need:
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons of poultry seasoning, or any blend you fancy
spoonful of minced garlic (adjust to taste)

Combine ingredients together well. Add chicken. Marinate in the refrigerator for however long you'd like. Overnight.... 5 hours.... 1o hours... whatever works for you. I like to do it before I leave for work if it for dinner.

Another idea is to marinate it over night, and then cook in the morning. Use the chicken for salad or sandwich for lunch!

I usually just cook 2 chicken breasts... so I half the recipe. Olive oil is pricy after all!

Anyways this is a great marinade. Hope you'll try it.

Now for some news on our new apartment. We are settling in quite well but not all things have yet found their place. In other words... I'm not ready to post pictures of it! However.... I got my kitchen together the first day we got here. I'd like to show you some pictures of it. I LOVE my new kitchen. It's an AWESOME kitchen for an apartment and I love love love it!

There is lots of cabinets and counter space. Also all of the appliances are nice and new and such an upgrade from my old yellow appliances at our old place.

There is a nice size pantry in an easy to get to location. The pantry also has a light! My old one did not. It's such a nice little thing! The counter is nice and roomy so when we do set our clutter on it when we come home... at least there is still room to cook.

There are a few other little details that make this kitchen so much better. Here are a couple of them:


Filtered water and ice on the fridge! No more brita filter pitcher! (which I loved my brita... but it's nice to not have to worry with it)


A towel rack on the oven. This is SO nice to have!
And double sink with a little sprayer. I love it. Although... because of the drought our water pressure isn't amazing so the sprayer is not very useful right now. But double sinks is nice!

Anyways we love our place. It's a one room, which is downsizing for us but we are making it work. It's on the third floor so we are getting our exercise. Our ceilings are extra vaulted and there is no noise from the AC unit or the people above us. We're loving the nice new aspect of it the most. Yukon is a fun place to live and we're getting to know it better! Learning more each week it seems. Life is good!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Let's just start over...

I haven't written in a while, and to be honest I've missed it! I suppose I've felt that I haven't had much interesting to share. With a new job, new apartment, and a never ending allergy/ sinus attack... I've neglected my personal interests.

I'm sure that everyone knew it would happen.... that I'd gain weight. After all of the fattening foods I've been cooking it's no wonder that I'm practically back to where I began before I lost any weight. But I promise... it isn't the food I've been cooking! It's my portion control, my snacking, and my lack of exercise. I'm convinced it doesn't matter what you eat... it's how much of it you eat and how you balance it with the rest of your life.

I started my cooking adventures as a newly wed determined to figure out how to find the balance and so far I've yet to find success. But I will not be defeated.

So I will start fresh. I haven't tried any new recipes in a while and I miss the thrill I got from stressing my little brain planning weekly menus and thoughtfully going grocery shopping and appreciating every special ingredient I put in the basket. (I haven't even been to the farmer's market once this summer!) I miss the thrill I got from cooking from 3 different cookbooks for one meal... and learning new little pointers for cooking. So I'm going to cook again and I'm going to rededicate myself to finding a balance between cooking great food (with real ingredients) and the rest of my life.

I look forward to sharing both my weight loss achievements and my cooking creations! I'm going back to the joy of cooking... and I'm going to enjoy my amazing new apartment kitchen!