Meal #12 Thai Chicken with Lemon Ginger Rice

After school today a bunch of us were going to watch that new show The History of Us so I stopped by the store for quick munchy options and dinner for the family. I picked up some chicken and brie and headed home. I pondered what to do which my chicken breast as I flipped through my new Rachel Ray cookbook. I decided on a Thai dish because I feel it is hard to mess that up. I cut up the chicken into bite size pieces and then browned. I didn't have real rice so Uncle Ben came out and I cooked it in chicken broth, a chunk of ginger and lemon juice/zest. That was probably the best rice I have every made. It picked up all the flavors and was totally complimentary to the chicken. I had threw into a saucepan carrots, celery, onion, spices, chicken broth, half n half and some other stuff. I forget. It simmered and smell appetizing. I served it up to my hubby and he loved it. It was a good quick dinner with not much going on. Joel ate some later and he didn't have any complaints or compliments for that matter. Funny how those two words look kinda the same. I will put pictures up soon!

Tiffany

Meal # 5 Coconut Chicken with Lemon and Capers and Rice

This meal was a hit! I don't have any fun stories or mishaps but many people tried this and loved it. The capers were new to me and I wasn't even sure what a caper was. I found them near the olives in Publix and bought a generic brand so that if I loved them I could be okay with a non-brand taste and my taste buds would not get snobby. I got home and opened the jar, first I took a whiff and I was not impressed. Then I poked and protruded this little vinegar covered berry. Not impressed at all. But when I added them to my coconut sauce with the lemons and let the aroma waft into my nose, I was in heaven! They really made my dish. The lemons complemented them along with the onions and coconut milk. I could not stop smelling it as it simmered in the saucepan. Then I layered rice, chicken and draped the sauce on the top, threw it in the oven. It looked kinda like a casserole but had a Thai flavor. The recipe I found was terrific and detailed. I will use that website again. I made a lot of people taste it and the overall grade was 3.5 Stars. That's only because 2 people didn't like my lovely capers. My grade? 4 big shiny stars!

Coco in my Loco Tiffany

Meal #1 Thai Chicken with Rice

So today I wanted to make my first meal and I was more than excited. I had been looking through my recipes and cookbooks all day. My husband was hogging the computer doing his "school" work" and I had to make due with the few cookbooks that I had. Surprisingly I found many interesting recipes to use with my list. I was so excited that I decided to make my first meal (I still felt unprepared with my kitchen accessories) I chose a recipe in my crock-pot cookbook. I grabbed all my ingredients and set them on the counter. I threw the chicken in to defrost for ten minutes and cut up all my sauce ingredients (ginger, lime juice, soy sauce, salsa, peanut butter, cilantro for garnish). I don't know why I was rushing but didn't defrost the chicken all the way and it was still a tad bit frozen when I cut it up and settled it into the pot. I mixed the rest together and smoothed over the slightly frozen chicken, put the crock-pot on low and cleaned up my mess.

In the meantime, my terrific hubby and I went to Ross for clothes, but I was too distracted with my lack of kitchen supplies. As I wandered off into the kitchen section I found a killer souffle dish and two blue creme brulee dishes. When my husband found me he just chuckled. Later that day, I was with my friend Bri and we were on our way to Target for an emergency springform pan adventure. She was suppose to help me but she couldn't keep up because I was running. I was getting really anxious because some people (Amanda and Joel) had come over and were going to eat my Thai Chicken and they didn't have any rice. So we went on another emergency run to get Minute Rice. Then we ran out. However my anxious thoughts subsided because they left to get something faster like Taco Bell or McDonalds. Anyways, I got home and took a picture of my creation which looked like baby vomit. I was not impressed. When Amanda was here she told me that when she looked at it she couldn't even see the chicken part! Plus Gabriel asked me a couple of times if it was even chicken! Okay people, I know what I am doing. Back to dinner, I served up some rice and thai chicken for Bri and Gabriel with cilantro for garnish (which Bri ate after her meal all at once) I took some pictures of the first bite and they .....loved it!

Stars....**** Bri Turner

It was a success! I am super glad I started off on the right foot. Now for licorice cheesecake...

Chef Tiffany