The Pictures are Off The Walls.

do·mes·tic

 –adjective

1.   of or pertaining to the home, the household, household affairs, or the family

Right now my home is in a state of packing chaos. No really. You can barely get from the kitchen

to the living room with out having to perform some amazing act of acrobatics to get around the boxes, tape dispensers, wrapping paper, bubble wrap and the like. Today I packed the family pictures that are on our walls. 

I don't know why, but the packing of pictures always makes moving so... final. Maybe it's because the walls look barren. Maybe it's because the pictures absorb sound and now the room seems to echo. We're a pretty ruckusy bunch, so to have an echo of the noise... just be sure to bring your ear-plugs if you're stopping by anytime soon. 

There are family pictures everywhere in our house. We have a HUGE display of them above where our couch used to be (thank you Craigslist). Or perhaps I should say had, since they are all currently packed away carefully wrapped in newsprint. Family pictures are more to me than a snapshot of time. They are how I relive time that seems to pass all too fast. I can't believe that so much has happened in the last 7 years. 


7 years 7 days. That's how long we were in Az. They say that every cell in your body in renewed every 7 years. So we are completely different people than we were when we came down. I kinda like that. 


I'll be off grid for a while. But the best part about moving?  I get to do a bunch of house stuff when we get to Idaho. :)

A Little Bit of Fun

I love my job. Okay, I suppose I should put that in past tense as I am currently unemployed due to our impending move to Idaho (13 days!). I loved my job.

The best part about it (besides the fulfillment of helping children with disabilities) was/is the schedule. I get summers and holidays off. So during each of those times I get to be a (temporary) SAHM. Today I got to do just what I love. Come up with a creative something and let my kids go wild. Today only the 2 year old got to do the wild part. The baby...yeah she's not so big on painting yet.

Anyway. A while back I had pinned this craft idea on Pintrest. (What? You haven't heard of Pintrest?! You MUST go see. It's like a bulletin board for the internet. Think of it like bookmarking with pictures and notes. Love it!)

 I wish I could have gotten her picture when she saw this tray of paint. She was so excited and then said " Thank you Mommy! You're best". One of those melt your heart mom moments. 

Here's the scoop. You mix equal parts cornstarch and water in a muffin tin (I used 3 TBS each). Then add food coloring. And voila! you have great outdoor sidewalk paint that washes off with a spray of the hose. My 2 year old was in hog heaven.

 Very busy coloring the back patio.

She was very annoyed to have to stop painting so I could take a picture. 

 We moved from the ground to the wall. I feel a framed version of this may be in my Father's Day future.

The Before and After

We got a cute kids table from our neighbors (when they WERE our neighbors. They moved. Sad.).

It took us almost a year, but we finally refinished it.

Here's the before (please ignore the small child in her Daddy's swim shorts. Unless you think she's cute, like I do):

Here's what we did:

We sanded it and then primed it.

We painted the base colors

Then we painted big flowers in the opposite color!

I think they turned out great!

The Grinnell Farewell

For those of you that don't know, my family is moving to Idaho. This doesn't mean anything for those of you out there in Blogland, other than there will be a serious absence of posts during the actual move. But the upswing of that is that there will be many posts about how the house is coming along.


For my family it means packing everything we own into a pod, an undetermined length of transition, and saying goodbye to an amazing network of friends that has become really more like family over the last 7 years.


The last two weekends have been those times to say so long. I had a recipe party last week and a Farewell party last night. It was bittersweet. Of course we loved to be with all our friends, but it is so hard to think that I will not see these wonderful people for another year, or possibly never. (insert blubbering here)


Anyway after we had everyone over last night I got a slew of well wishes on Facebook. I also got quite a few people saying they were angry at us for leaving... not sure how I feel about that. I'm taking it as a compliment. :-p


Ad mist the comments about people wishing us well or saying that they hope our truck breaks down in our driveway, there were several requests for my Mediterranean Couscous Salad recipe. It's really a Giada De Laurentiis recipe. 


So here it is:

Ingredients

·         3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1/4 cup

·         2 cloves garlic, minced

·         1-pound Israeli couscous (or any small pasta)

·         3 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock

·         2 lemons, juiced

·         1 lemon, zested

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

·         1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

·         1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves

·         1/4 cup dried cranberries

·         1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Directions

In a medium saucepan, warm 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the couscous and cook until toasted and lightly browned, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Carefully add the stock, and the juice of 1 lemon, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the couscous is tender, but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the couscous.

In a large bowl, toss the cooked couscous with the remaining olive oil, remaining lemon juice, zest, salt, and pepper and let cool.

Once the couscous is room temperature, add the fresh herbs, dried cranberries, and almonds. Toss to combine and serve.

Amazing as Usual

There's a dinner that I make the we call Amazing as Usual. No really, that's what we call it. This is how it is in our recipe box and how it reads on the family menu. "Amazing as Usual". The meal we make has 3 parts and it is always the same three parts. Chicken, couscous and green beans. They are all cooked separately, but are always included.

So here's the recipe:

Sauteed Chicken Breasts

Serves 4

3 boneless chicken breasts, skin removed and sliced in half lengthwise (or 6 chicken escalopes)

1/2 cup of flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil 

1 large shallot, chopped into thin slices and separated into rings

1 cup chicken stock (or white wine if you're into that kind of thing)

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons brown sugar

salt and pepper to taste

To saute the chicken:

Cut chicken breasts in half (if you are using escalopes, skip this). Pound lightly with a mallet to even them out. Pat them dry with a paper towel. Mix salt and pepper with the flour and put on a large plate. Dredge the meat in the flour. 

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. 

Add the chicken to the skillet. Don;t overcrowd the chicken. Work in batches if you need to but use the same pan(no washing in between) to cook both batches.

Saute chicken about 3-5 minutes on one side and then flip it over and cook 3-5 minutes on the other side. It should have a golden crust on it. Once chicken is done, remove it to a clean plate and cover with foil to keep it warm.

For the sauce:

 DO NOT WASH THE PAN OUT AFTER YOU COOK THE CHICKEN!! All those browned bits have amazing flavor! For the love of your sauce, do NOT wash the pan!!! Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet. Saute the shallots over medium heat, stirring frequently. Cook until they begin to brown (4-5 minutes.)

Deglaze the pan with the chicken stock. Then add the mustard and brown sugar. Increase the heat to medium-high and whisk very well. You want to get all those little browned bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan. Cook for 5-7 minutes or so, until the sauce begins to "reduce" and darken in color. (It will be thick and bubbly.) Add salt and pepper to taste (be sure to use that tasting spoon!).

Pour sauce over chicken breasts and serve.

Dressed Israeli Couscous (because a naked couscous is a sad couscous)

1 1/3 cup Israeli Couscous 

1 3/4 cup Chicken stock (heated)

2 Tbs Olive oil

2-3 garlic cloves minced

Dressing-

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Heat a medium sauce pan with olive oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant. Do NOT brown. Add the couscous and toast it. It will turn a wonderful golden brown color. But stir it often and don’t leave it alone. Couscous can go from yummy to burned in no time.

Once the couscous is toasted add the chicken stock (make sure it’s heated. It really is important.). Be careful! It will sputter when the liquid hits the hot pan. Stir the couscous, reduce heat to medium and then put a lid on it. Let cook for 15-20 mins (stir occasionally) until all the liquid is absorbed. Test the couscous, if it is still not done, add a bit more liquid.

Once it’s done take it off the heat and let sit to cool slightly. While the couscous is cooling, make the dressing. Pour desired amount over couscous (I rarely use all the dressing).  

Shallot Green Beans- The token veg

2 big handfuls of green beans

4Tbs Olive oil-divided

2 large Shallots (sliced thinly and  separated into rings)

Salt

Pepper

Blanch the green beans in boiling salted water.

Heat 2 Tbs olive oil over medium heat in a medium skillet. Add shallots, a pinch of salt, and some pepper. Now let the shallots cook, stirring up off the bottom frequently. Keep stirring from time to time, perhaps every 15 to 30 seconds. They will lose much of their volume and begin to brown. Once browning begins, lower the heat. When the desired caramel color is reached (after at least 10 to 20 minutes), add remaining oil and then mix with the green beans.