Mr. Postman! by Lady of the House

I recently learned that the mail arrived sometimes 12 times a day in Victorian England. Coincidentally, I also recently decided I was born in the wrong era.

It's a dramatic understatement to say I love mail. Despite my best efforts to temper a wild romantic within, I have decided three parcels (one with fine soaps from Italy), two breezy hand-scrawled letters from afar (one from someone I miss and wonder about), and a peppering of postcards and glossy catalogs are destined to arrive at my doorstep each day. I am at a complete loss to quell these lofty hopes.

So, when the typical arrives--the we-didn't-receive-your-final-payment notice, and ValPaks for the last 3 tenants, and 6 pre-approved credit card offers, and an oh so exciting catalog for camping gear--the romantic is dropped like a bad pair of clip-on earrings and the claws come out.

You already know I'm private. (Hello! Lady of the House??) So when I've decided my name and my address have been whored out, cross-referenced and tasted enough of ooh-you-like-that-then-you'll-love-this, I reach for DMAchoice.org. That's right people. The Direct Marketing Association. I just updated my profile now that we have a new address (one I think we can live with for the next little while), and I smiled to think of all the junk mail that won't be printed in vain. An empty mailbox is another thing to deal with in my case, but I do fare better this way.

I wonder, do you end up dumping most of the mail in the recycling bin? Oh my goodness, sign up! It's free, and it's your chance to stick it to the Man. Okay, not really, but it's that same sick joy you might have had tattling on the kid cheating in biology. (Wonder how his love life is these days?)

With DMAchoice.org, you're dealing with the people hounding you. You can opt out of everything (my personal favorite), opt out of most things and opt in to a few old standby catalogs you do enjoy receiving, and you can also link to a portion of the site that handles those pesky credit card offers.

Now go write someone a letter for Pete's sake.

xoxo

{ Lady of the House }

Tilapia with Oranges and Olives

The husband requested tilapia for dinner the other day. Because I bought a bushel of oranges at Costco recently, I thought I'd bake the tilapia in foil packets with orange slices on top. I wanted to add some flair, and I had this idea in my mind that oranges and olives would be a good combination. So, some chopped Kalamata olives went into the packets, too. When I opened up the foil, a wave of orange-y steam smacked me in the face.  I liked it. I thought the fish tasted pretty darn good, too.

The husband, on the other hand...not so much.

He looked up at me with his beautiful, brown eyes, and said, "This isn't how you made it last time, was it?"

Uh oh.

After some fact-finding questions, I discovered that the husband doesn't like baked oranges. And the combo of oranges and olives really weirded him out. Well, you live, you learn. No more savory oranges for the husband.

But I'm curious, readers. What about you? Was I crazy with my orange-olive combo?

Tilapia with Oranges and Olives
Serves:2

2 tilapia fillets
Salt and pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon orange zest
2 tablespoons chopped Kalamata olives
6 thin orange slices
2 tablespoons white wine

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut two large pieces of aluminum foil to create your packets. Place one tilapia fillet on each piece of foil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Evenly divide garlic, shallot, parsley, orange zest, and olives between the two packets. Top each fillet with 3 orange slices and 1 tablespoon wine. Carefully fold up the sides of the foil and crimp the top to form a packet. Place packets on a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes, until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

Has your kitchen ever looked like a crime scene?

Mine has.  On a number of occasions, in fact.  For instance, the time I was Dexter (the serial killer/hero on the hit Showtime series of the same name) for Halloween.  The husband volunteered to splatter fake blood on my costume, and we thought the best place to do said splattering was the kitchen.  I am still finding that doggone blood under my cupboards.  Needless to say, the kitchen is not the best place for a (faux) crime.

The most recent incident was when I was making these green chile chicken enchiladas.  Holy cow, these suckers are messy!  Enchilada sauce on the counter and floor.  Red, sticky fingerprints on the microwave.  But their messiness is rivaled only by their deliciousness, so don't let it hold you back.  In fact, revel in the enchilada sauce-splatter.  If you have kids, get them involved in dipping the tortillas in the sauce.  They'll love it.  And you won't have to mess up your manicure.

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas
Serves: 6-8

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2-4 cloves garlic, peeled and diced
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
4 ounce can diced green chiles
4 cups cubed or shredded cooked chicken
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
Salt and pepper
2 10-ounce cans red enchilada sauce
12-16 corn tortillas
1/3 cup shredded cheese
Sour cream and salsa, for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent and softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cumin until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in chiles, chicken, and cream cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, warm up enchilada sauce in a medium saucepan. Pour 1/2 cup sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Wrap corn tortillas in damp paper towels and microwave until they are pliable, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Dip one tortilla into enchilada sauce. Place about 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture onto the tortilla and roll up tightly. Place seam-side down in the prepared baking dish and repeat with the remaining tortillas and chicken mixture.

Pour 1 cup of the enchilada sauce over the enchiladas in the baking dish and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, until the enchiladas are hot and the sauce is bubbly.  Serve with sour cream and salsa.

Science Geek strikes again!

The husband has dreams of being a line chef, so my mom gave him his own griddle. This weekend, the husband decided to christen his new culinary toy with homemade buttermilk pancakes.

Grand idea! I thought. I love buttermilk pancakes!

One minor issue. The likelihood of me having buttermilk on hand was incredibly small. The likelihood of me changing out of my jammies to buy buttermilk at the grocery store? Even smaller.

This was when my inner science geek took over. I had read that you could add lemon juice to milk and use that in place of buttermilk. Well, it was high time I did a little experiment to test this out.

I whisked lemon juice into regular old milk from my fridge. Then, I let the mixture sit on the counter for a few minutes to thicken. Although I was dubious when I went to check the results, the experiment worked! The milk had thickened up and looked just like buttermilk. And, most importantly, it made the husband's pancakes light and fluffy.

So, next time you're making pancakes, unleash your inner science geek and remember this:

1 tablespoon lemon juice + 1 cup milk = buttermilk!!

Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash

I promised more quinoa recipes, and today I deliver!  If you have leftover Quinoa Pilaf, you can stir the spices, dried cranberries, pecans, and parsley into the pilaf, then spoon it into the baked acorn squash.

Quinoa-Stuffed Acorn Squash
Serves: 4

2 acorn squash
Vegetable oil spray
2 tablespoons honey, divided

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1 cup quinoa

2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/3 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Microwave squash on high power for about 3 minutes.  (This will soften the squash so it's easier to cut.)  Cut each squash in half lengthwise.  Scoop out and discard the seeds.  

Coat a baking sheet with vegetable oil spray. Brush 1/2 teaspoon honey on the cut side of each squash half. Place squash on the baking sheet cut-side down. Bake about 40 minutes, until the squash is tender. 

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion, season with salt and pepper, and saute until it begins to soften, about 4 minutes.  Add garlic, cumin, and ginger, and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Stir in quinoa and allow it to toast for about 2 minutes.  Add broth and stir, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.  Bring liquid to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until quinoa has absorbed the liquid and is tender, about 15 minutes. 

Stir lemon juice, pecans, cranberries, and parsley into quinoa.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  

Remove squash from baking dish and place onto your serving platter.  Sprinkle each squash half with salt and pepper, and fill with one quarter of the quinoa mixture.  Drizzle remaining honey on top, and serve.

Simply Dashing! by Lady of the House

* pretty photo by Dash & Albert *

Now that our little one is (ahem!) enjoying meals with us, I've been plotting ways to protect the ground beneath her. Despite my best efforts to keep things neat, inevitably a long-handled spoon flops from a little dish, she loses those little bits of banana and of course there's always the ever-dreaded sneeze. I had it in mind to make my own so-called splat mat with some pretty oilcloth fabric, and of course I could just as easily order one, but I can't bring myself to make the house look like a daycare center.

To my extreme delight, I learned today that one of my favorite rug companies, Dash and Albert, also offers several of their designs in indoor/outdoor fabric, or as they put it, "superheroic polypropylene." Are you picturing beach mats? I was too, but check them out and you'll see why they bothered to throw 'indoor' beside 'outdoor' when they went to market. They're lovely, and supposedly they can be scrubbed, hosed down and even bleached if necessary. I believe this may be the perfect dining room rug--kids or no kids. But with all the sizes on offer and prices this reasonable, I may put one in every room!

xoxo

{ Lady of the House }

Chicken Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Yesterday I told you about the wonderful visit I had with my mom. We cooked ourselves a delicious dinner with the items we scored during our grocery shopping trip: Chicken Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomatoes. It was so good. But do you know what's not good? My picture of said stuffed chicken. I'm obviously not a photographer. Please do not let the crummy picture deter you from making this dinner. Like I said, it tasted so good.

P.S. If you don't feel like mixing all the herbs into the goat cheese, I'm sure you could purchase herbed goat cheese and just use that instead.

P.P.S. Today's my dad's birthday.  Happy birthday, Pops!

Chicken Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Serves: 2 (my mom and me)

2 chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
2 ounces goat cheese, softened
2 tablespoons diced sun-dried tomatoes
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Using a sharp knife, cut a wide, deep pocket in each chicken breast.  Season with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, combine goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, parsley, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, and lemon juice.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Divide mixture in half, and roll each half into a cylinder.  Place one cylinder of goat cheese into the pocket you created in each chicken breast.  Use toothpicks to "sew" the chicken breast closed so the cheese doesn't ooze out when it cooks.  Dust chicken with flour.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook the chicken for 4 minutes on each side, to give it a golden-brown color.  Place skillet in the preheated oven and cook the chicken for about 20 minutes, until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.  Remove chicken to a cutting board, tent with foil, and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.  Remove toothpicks and slice chicken on the bias for a lovely presentation.  Or just dig in!