Tasty Tuesday

This week's recipe is a side dish. Creamed Spinach with Cipollini Onions. I first had this at a friend's Thanksgiving dinner. It was so delicious and stuck with me.

If you've never heard of cipollini onions, don't worry! I had never heard of them either. They are small, flat onions and are sweeter in taste. I found them in my local Publix produce section. They sold them in a small bag.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds cipollini onions
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 onion, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 (12-ounce) bags fresh spinach, stemmed and washed
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups panko breadcrumbs

Directions:

Place the unpeeled onions in a bowl and cover with very hot water. Set aside for 15 minutes to soften the skins. Drain the onions, then peel and pat dry. Heat a large skillet over high heat and add a 2-count of oil. Add the onions and saute until they are golden brown all over, about 10 minutes.

Add the vinegar and honey, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the mixture has reduced to a syrup and the onions are soft, about 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400° F.

Heat a large pot over medium heat. Drizzle with a 2-count of oil, add the butter, and stir it around until it melts. Add the onions and garlic and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the spinach in batches, pushing it down into the pan with a wooden spoon to help it wilt and adding more spinach as soon as there is room in the pot.

Cook the spinach until it is dry, then reduce the heat and add the cream and nutmeg. Stir and cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour the creamed spinach into a baking dish and top it with the onions and the panko. Bake until the breadcrumbs are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Clogged Drain

The other evening I was cleaning up dinner when my sink clogged up. I was running the garbage disposal, and it just started gurgling and filling up with water.

Naturally I freaked out. I had the whole "why me, I've already spent loads of money on other appliances in this dang house now something else" pity party! I also knew Richard would be none too happy at me "breaking" the garbage disposal! So I didn't tell him! Haha.

Anyways, I decided to deal with it the way I deal with things best…by going and painting my bathroom.

The next day I decided I had better figure something out before Richard used the sink and noticed. Plus, only being able to use one side of your sink isn't really the most desirable.

I was having visions of me on the floor, head under the sink, with a large wrench of some sort in hand, covered in nasty sludge. Not cool.

So I plopped on the couch, headed over to Google, and typed in "sink with garbage disposal won't drain". I came across a lot of different options, calling a plumber kept popping up. No thank you, no $200 service for me. Getting Draino or some other sort came up also. I don't really like the idea of paying too much money for hazardous chemicals that you dump down your drain, and probably won't work anyway! One that I also kept seeing was a trick with vinegar and baking soda. Cheap, safe, I have them in my pantry…let's try it!

I abandoned the called for measurements and dumped a box of baking soda down the drain, followed by a large amount of vinegar. Aside from any unclogging benefits, that alone was pretty cool! There's your science experiment for next week.

I let that concoction sit for a few minutes, ran some really hot water, then gave it a plunge. Voile! I have never seen a clog drain so fast!

I may just have to tell Richard how fabulous I was at unclogging the sink! Haha.

By the way, my bathroom looks great!

Craigslist

Have I ever mentioned just how much I hate Craigslist??? Well here it is.

I HATE Craigslist.

It drives me bonkers. I don't know if it's just me, but I have a terrible time trying to sell anything on there. I can't even give stuff away! In all this moving process we've had quite a few things that we needed to sell. I've had a brand new gas range that I've listed on there three times. It sells for well over $400 at Home Depot, I'm only asking $300. I had an offer today for $250. It's brand new, it's still in packaging! I understand bartering, I do it myself. Okay, I have Richard do it for me. Haha. He's much better at it. However, I think there's a huge difference between bartering and just being ridiculously cheap!

My husband listed a free landscaping rail. It's beautiful, but he hates it. I had tons of people call, so I started setting up pickup times, and they wouldn't show. This happened over and over and over.

Seriously, what do you have to do to get rid of your stuff without a massive headache?

Anyone know of another way to sell your items aside from a garage sale? Those I loathe even more than Craigslist!

The Royal Wedding

Did anyone else watch The Royal Wedding??

I stayed up ALL night like a crazy person! I kept thinking it was going to start at 4am our time, so I was cleaning and such. Then at 4am I realized it didn't really "start" until 6am, but by then there was no turning back. I was ridiculously excited and watched every bit.

Richard kept asking me why everyone was so excited about this wedding. Haha. I don't know?? Because we're all obsessed with British royalty. It was a real life fairy tale! I mean, how many times does this happen? It's every little girls dream come true.

He acted unimpressed with my thoughts, but who stayed up with me and watched? You guessed it.

We enjoyed poking fun at all the crazy hats. Some were lovely, and others were…well….I'm not sure WHAT exactly Princess Beatrice was thinking. I kept waiting for a staunch palace guard to crack a giggle…or at least a funny side glance! That would have been awesome!

I do believe Prince Harry stole the show at first. He did look quite dashing with that fiery red hair and cheeky grin! However, not quite as dashing as David Beckham. Hello!

It was a lovely wedding. Kate was stunning, her dress was beautiful, and they both looked very happy!

Tasty Tuesday

This week's recipe is Bobby's Baked Chicken with Dijon & Lime. It's quick, easy, and oh so tasty. The recipe calls for a whole chicken, cut into pieces, but I use skinless boneless breasts instead. It was served with scalloped potatoes, and baby beans with carrots.

For anyone wondering who Bobby is, it is Bobby Deen, the son of Paula Deen.

Ingredients:

1 (3 1/2 lb) chicken, cut into 8 pieces
3 Tbs Dijon Mustard
1 Tbs Mayo
1 Garlic Clove, minced
Finely grated zest and freshly squeezed juice of 1 Lime
3/4 Tsp pepper
Salt to taste
Chopped parsley to garnish

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400. Rinse the chicken and pat dry. In a bowl, whisk together the mustard, mayo, garlic, lime zest and juice and pepper. Season the chicken generously with salt. Pour the mustard-mayo mixture over the chicken, tossing well to coat. In a large baking pan, arrange the chicken in a single layer. Bake until it is cooked through; breasts take about 30 minutes and legs will need 5 to 10 minutes more. Serve the chicken with pan juices drizzled over top and garnished with chopped parsley.

Enjoy!

Is dinner ready yet?

Happy Easter

Human Again

I'm back! I am finally feeling human again. It's been a looong two weeks since all this tooth trouble started. I had my tooth pulled almost two weeks ago, and am almost pain free. It was an easy extraction, for which I am thankful. I had a lot of pain afterwards, and was on vicodin until it stopped working. It wasn't easing the pain, so I took another just one hour before I was supposed to, which I should not have done. My bp dropped quite low and royally freaked me out! All is well though. I switched to ibuprofen and it's worked like a charm.

Unfortunately, all the tooth troubles didn't aid in getting the house pulled together. Everything came to a screeching halt. BUT, I am back, feeling good, and this house will be finished soon, and pics will be up!

I've been dreading opening more boxes as it seems that so many of my things have been broken in the move. Thankfully it hasn't been anything too bad, but aggravating all the same. The worst was my dinner plates. Someone had dropped that box good because all my plates were shattered. Good thing I had bought another set!

I've always prided myself on being a good packer. The past two times we've moved, not one thing has been broken. I guess it was saving it all for this move. Ha! I guess I shouldn't be so prideful eh?

Speaking of unpacking, I better get to it!

Out of It

I really, really dislike going to the dentist. After I moved up to Jacksonville I stopped going on a regular basis. I just did not want the chore of finding a new one. Plus, I wasn't having any problems.

Several months ago, we were eating dinner at La Nop and my tooth broke. It was all the way in the back, didn't hurt at all, so I left it and became accustomed to it. Just a couple of weeks ago it happened again. Same side, but on the bottom. It happened while Richard was at the dentist. What a lovely twist of fate eh! So begrudgingly I had him make an appointment for me.

It was as I fully expected. I needed two crowns. A full one on top, and a partial on the bottom. A whopping $2100. UGH! The bottom was the worst, so we dove into that one.

Thirty minutes into the procedure, everything changed. The tooth started bleeding uncontrollably, the root was badly damaged, and I was informed I needed a root canal. Another $1000. They put in a temporary filling for the now.

Firstly, I think I am being grossly overcharged. Secondly, I was not at all impressed with the new dentist. I have a tiny little mouth, and he was not at all gentle.

The left side of my face blew up like a little balloon. He had given me a script for Vicodin and I am so glad I filled it. I usually like to tough things out, but by the time we got to Walmart I was miserable.

So needless to say I've been out of it for the past two days. He really did a number on my mouth! I've decided I'm just having it pulled. I can think of a lot of other things I'd rather spend $3000 plus on. It just seems absurd to me that people can charge that kind of money. And crowns don't seem to last that long either!! I'm just thankful they are all the way in the back.

On another note, why is it that when your husband goes to the grocery store with you, you always end up spending more?? Haha. Don't get me wrong, I love it when Richard goes with me, but we always seem to spend more!! He hates going to the grocery store, but since I'm on the vicodin I can't drive, so he had to take me today.

On an interesting note, the cashier struck up a coupon conversation with us. He said they have a coupon lady that uses lots and lots of coupons. Apparently she was in today and spent $40 on $400 worth of groceries. Hello! He said she does it all the time.

She must have been the one that cleaned them out! :0)

Precious Child

"PRECIOUS CHILD"

Words and Music by Karen Taylor-Good

In my dreams, you are alive and well

Precious child, precious child

In my mind, I see you clear as a bell

Precious child, precious child

In my soul, there is a hole

That can never be filled

But in my heart, there is hope

'Cause you are with me still

In my heart, you live on

Always there never gone

Precious child, you left too soon

Tho' it may be true that we're apart

You will live forever... in my heart

In my plans, I was the first to leave

Precious child, precious child

But in this world, I was left here to grieve

Precious child, my precious child

In my soul, there is a hole

That can never be filled

But in my heart there is hope

And you are with me still

In my heart you live on

Always there, never gone

Precious child, you left too soon,

Tho' it may be true that we're apart

You will live forever... in my heart

God knows I want to hold you,

See you, touch you

And maybe there's a heaven

And someday I will again

Please know you are not forgotten until then

In my heart you live on

Always there never gone

Precious child, you left too soon

Tho' it may be true that we're apart

You will live forever... in my heart

The House

Things are coming along on the house! Richard and I made a pact that we would take things slowly and not stress about getting everything done in a hurry. So we're takin it slow…maybe a bit too slow! Hahah. This past week I kind of took some time off from unpacking. It was a welcome break. I'd about had it unpacking boxes. I think I'm ready to get back to the grind though. I am excited to get my decorative items out, and get the house looking all cute for Spring/Easter.

I know some of you are itching to see pics of the house. Here's a teaser photo for you. Haha.

It's not the best pic, but it's the only one I have for now. It was taken before we moved in. Home sweet home. We took photos of the entire house prior to closing, so I want to do before and after photos. It may take a while!

We finally emptied out the storage unit. It was so weird not to have anything in there anymore. It had housed all of our possessions since September!

This week we had the last of our appliances delivered. The washer and dryer. For the first time in about a year or so I was able to pick up my dirty clothes and walk down the hall to the laundry room instead of loading everything up and heading to the laundry mart. It felt so good! We definitely learned not to take the little things for granted whilst staying in the hotel. We also learned that we can get by with much, much less than we ever thought possible!!

Maybe I'll get pics up of the kitchen sometime this week. It's the room closest to being completely finished!

Hope you all have a fabulous Sunday!