Monday, September 6, 2010

Bock bock buck bock! Love that chicken salad!

Tonight we wanted something yummy and Kevin and I thought chicken salad sounded yummy. The only thing is, is the thought of drenching chicken in mayo and adding a few seasonings didn't sound so good. My solution was this:

1 can of canned chicken thoroughly drained
1/3-1/2 C. plain greek style yogurt
half an onion finely chopped
1/3 C. chopped grapes
1/3 C. chopped apples
1/2 tablespoon of spicy brown mustard
garlic salt
pepper
paprika
onion powder
a few slices of your favorite bread (we picked up a loaf of Italian everything bread, and it was scrumptious)
a few slices of your favorite cheese (we used muenster)

Basically mix everything together and season to taste! I broiled the bread with the cheese slices on it for a couple of minutes to get the cheese nice and bubbly and toast up the bread a little. It was so good! A very light alternative to most chicken salad recipes. I will totally have the left overs for lunch tomorrow. Some other tasty add-ins would be chopped tomatoes, avocado, mandarin oranges, celery (especially if you are not an onion person this would give a nice crunch), chopped pickles, craisins, shredded carrots and if you were feeling naughty you could add some bacon bits. The nice thing was, it took maybe fifteen minutes to make! Next time I think I will make up some sweet potato fries to go with it... but alas I am too full to even think about that right now so on to last nights dinner which was also a success although, I am not sure how healthy it was. Oh well! So far Kevin has had three sandwiches tonight...

Stuffed Chicken Breast Cluckity Cluck!

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts thawed and then pounded thin ( make sure it is the same thickness throughout so that it cooks evenly)

Filling

one small can of olives finely chopped (set half aside for marinade)
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
1/4 C. part skim ricotta cheese
Italian herbs season to taste
a few pinches of Parmesan or mixed Italian cheese (we used the mixed cheese it has Mozzarella, Parmesan, Asiago, and Fontina... the store brand is like two dollars for a small bag)
The juice of half a lemon or if it is small one lemon
Mix together and set aside.

Marinade
In a plastic bag combine
4 Tablespoons olive oil
Olives from filling
Juice of one lemon
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 clove of garlic
Italian herbs to taste

Pre-heat oven to 350

After mixing the filling and prepping the marinade set them aside. Pound the chicken to the same thickness I think when I made this I pounded it to about one inch thickness. I then cut the pieces in half although if you wanted to be technical about it you could butterfly your chicken for the filling but cutting in half worked fine for me I just cooked it a bit longer. After preparing the chicken (cluckity! cluck!) go ahead and zip it up tight in the bag with the marinade and toss it around to coat the chicken. Leave it in the marinade for as long as you wish... I left it in for about 20 mins while I prepped everything else but I am sure you could leave it for longer. When you are ready to cook the chicken line a baking sheet with parchment place one half of one of the chicken breasts down on the parchment and spread a good sized spoonful of the cheese mixture down. Cover with other chicken breast, if you need to place a toothpick through the middle to keep them together. Repeat with other chicken breast. Cook in the oven until juices run clear and cheese is nice and bubbly. While cooking wrap 6-10 cloves of garlic in foil with a drizzle of olive oil and let it roast while the chicken is cooking. Check after about fifteen minutes if the garlic is soft and a little caramelized on the out side you can take it out, mash it and add it to mashed potatoes for a nice punch of flavor. Or you can add it with your favorite herbs, butter, some Salt and Pepper for a spread to put on french bread. Anyways, it took me about 45 minutes for the chicken to cook through and about 15 minutes of prep. So yummy! Both of us licked our plates clean. Some other add-ins for the filling or marinade would be pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and fried prosciutto.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

"Whatever."

Well as you all know now, Texas has been treating us well. That is, until I went to the stupid DMV. Yes, yes I know everyone has horror stories about the DMV and I am sure that this one is not that bad...but still it happened to me and it felt bad. Sooooooo, I have been trying to get my TX drivers license and on Friday I thought I had all the paper work I needed. As some of you may know we purchased a new car the week we moved here so that Kevin could commute to work. When we bought the car we signed a lot of paperwork as one does when they buy a car and part of that process was spent transferring the registration to our name. Our lender said we would get it in the mail but we haven't and I needed proof to get my license. So knowing that I needed it, I called and talked to our lender. She said to just take in the paperwork we had and that the DMV would take it. Well I should have better checked the paperwork because they didn't. She did say that she would email me a backup just in case they didn't which in fact was what I needed in the first place. So trusting our ever-friendly lender I went on my merry little way to our local cheery DMV. This is also after having had to get my passport, birth certificate, marriage certificate, and my new social security number. Thinking I was good to go, I made light of having to stand in line by making the run-of-the-mill chitchat with the people in line saying, "oh yes it is my third time here in a week, but I think I am finally going to get my license!" Oh how the joy was short-lived. I got up to the counter and here is the conversation from there on:

Over made-up lady drinking out of a Wendy's cup: Hello.

Me: Hello!

Over made-up lady drinking out of a Wendy's cup: What do you need today?

Me: I need to get my license changed to a TX license.

Over made-up lady drinking out of a Wendy's cup: Did you fill out the application?

Me: Yes I did here it is.

Over made-up lady drinking out of a Wendy's cup: Okay.... do you have a TX vehicle?

Me: Yes I do.



Over made-up lady drinking out of a Wendy's cup: It says here that you don't. (Looks at me like I am a filthy liar) You checked the "no" box.

Me: That's an easy fix, let's recheck yes then. (starting to get annoyed mostly cause she gave me a salty look)



Over made-up lady drinking out of a Wendy's cup: Well do you have your registration?

Me: Yes, I think so. My lender gave me this packet when we purchased the car, she said that the paperwork in here should work fine temporarily, we haven't received the new registration in the mail yet.



Over made-up lady drinking out of a Wendy's cup: Ma'am I need your registration.

Me: There should be something in here. I have been here three times already I am sick of being here. (Don't be quick to judge me, she wasn't very nice, kept glaring and tisking and the like... had a very salty attitude)



Over made-up lady drinking out of a Wendy's cup: Ma'am I am trying to help you. ( More like when do I get to go home? I hate my job.)

Me: Okay, then help me.



Over made-up lady drinking out of a Wendy's cup: Talks to here superior or co-worker about situation.

Her co-worker hating her job: Do you have your registration?

Me: My lender told me that this should work, if the registration is not in there then I don't have it.

Her co-worker who hates her job: It looks like you filled the application out wrong...


Me: (EXTREMELY ANNOYED BECAUSE I KNOW THAT IT WAS ACCIDENTALLY CHECKED NO) Well then take a pen and check yes. I talked to the lady outside and she told me what to bring she asked me the first time I was here if we had a car and I told her we did. Maybe she looked over the paperwork wrong when I checked in.

Her co-worker who hates her job: Well you would have known to bring in your registration had you checked this off right...

Me: (VERY ANGRY) Ya'll need to work on a better system!

Her stupid co-worker who hates her job: Well if you would have filled it out right...

Me: Regardless of weather or not I checked the stupid box, she verbally asked me if I had a car and I said yes. She said "Do you have a car?" I said, "Yes I do." She went through my paperwork, I have been here three times if it wasn't right why didn't she say anything?

Her stupid co-worker who hates her job: Well this is why we have an application...

Me: Well, Ya'll need to work on your system!

Her stupid co-worker who hates her job: Well you should have filled out the application right.

Me giving her the hand (not the finger) and walking out suddenly: Whatever.

So, ok, I didn't fill out the paperwork right and I don't care that I have to bring in my registration but please get over the fact that I didn't check yes on the paper work. Then check yes! For heavens sake! To say the least I was very upset not only was this the third time going there in a week. It was also the second time I stood in a long line only to get turned away. The first time it was because they don't take debit cards only cash or check and that was after a twenty minute line. So here is the funny text I sent Kevin when I got home....



So still wasn't able to get my stupid license.
Shona told me that I should be able to bring in
the paperwork from when we bought our car.
So I did but they were like, "We will not do a darn
thing till we have your registration. And besides you
marked your application that you don't have a car."
I was like well then give me a pen and I will mark that
I do. That was a mistake. Well they told me I should
have marked the application that I do have a car. I was like
well regardless I still need the right paperwork. Anyways, I want
freaking scream obscenities at them and then bomb the stupid
crap hole.


Ahh, needless to say, I was a little upset. Notice the lack of punctuation and proper sentence formation. Also, note, the mounting frustration and eventually the conclusion that solving the problem would be screaming swear words at them and then bombing the facility. Which, I would never do. I didn't voice this in the text but I also wanted to yell really cheap insults at them as I left. Like "You should wash your face, your make-up is blinding me as we speak." or "You must hate your job, sitting here all day, not doing much for your own life but making others miserable." Or what I thought the most about the whole application debate. "Well if it makes you feel better about yourself get off your butt, put down your processed sugary drink, and get a pen and mark it yes! We're not getting any younger here, especially you." But I did refrain. No, all I did was give them the talk-to-the-hand sign and say with no expression whatsoever, "whatever".