Thai Chicken Soup

I have made variations of this recipe 100 times and I really really like it.  CJ is not so much a fan of Thai curry, and I am a HUGE fan...so we compromise.  This has all the flavors of curry but in a soup format which some people might enjoy more.

Ingredients:
veg oil
2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
2 handfuls baby carrots, cut in half
1 bell pepper
1/2 an onion
(you can really use any vegetables you want!)
red curry paste
1 T brown sugar
1 T fish sauce
1 14oz can coconut milk
2 14oz cans chicken broth
2 limes
cilantro (optional)

Cook the potatoes either on the stove or in the microwave until they just start to become tender. Do not overcook because they will continue to cook later in the soup.

Add enough veg oil to cover the bottom of a large stockpot.  Brown chicken until no longer pink.

Add carrots, onions, and peppers and sautee. I always add the carrots first since they take the longest to cook. 

Once the vegetables are barely soft, add your curry paste.  I usually use a lot, 3-4 tablespoons but it just depends on your tastes and how spicy you like it.  Then throw in a bit of brown sugar and stir to coat the vegetables and chicken.

Let the flavors marry.  Cook everything together for about 3-5 minutes.  Add the coconut milk and chicken broth and stir.  Stir in fish sauce.

Bring to a boil then simmer covered on the stove for 20-30 min.

Add the juice of two limes and serve.  Garnish with cilantro if you'd like.

Serves 6

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday, and I pretty much wrote it off this year because we wouldn't be with our family to celebrate. I am very happy to say that I couldn't have been more wronger.  This was one of my favorite Thanksgivings ever.  Also, I fell in love with New York a million times over.  I always say CJ dragged me here, but he is also going to have to drag me out of here.  Kicking and screaming.

On Wednesday night we went to see Romeo and Juliet starring O R L A N D O B L O O M. The Channing Tatum of my generation! (Okay, maybe Channing Tatum is the Channing Tatum of my generation but YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.) It was so good! I have always really liked Shakespeare but I still have a hard time following it word for word on stage. The set and music were incredible and I mean...Orlando Bloom. Bye.

Then we were on the train home and started talking about whether or not we wanted to go to the parade...aaaaand neither of us really wanted to. Ha! Too cold and too many people! So we split-second decided to hop off at 81st street and see the balloons live and in person all ready for the parade! It was so cool and they are so much bigger than I thought. Did you know Macy's is the country's second largest consumer of helium?? The first largest is the government...figures.

Hannukah in our apartment lobby...LOLZ. So many variations of tile. Just imagine...this is one small corner of the lobby and you can see four different types!!!

This is the pumpkin cream pie that I actually SLAVED over just for the sake of making something for Thanksgiving. I wish I could properly express the labor that went into this pie, mainly four different grocery stores and a trip to Bed Bath and Beyond. And then I had to actually MAKE IT. But it was so so so so good. Thanks again, Pioneer Woman. You are everything.

This is my hubsband at our Thanksgiving dinner. We went to a restaurant called Jacob's Pickles on the UWS and it was so delicious.  They typically serve delicious southern fare like fried chicken and biscuits, cheese grits, etc. so I mean...we knew it was going to be good.

The first course was pickles (they are fms for their pickles, hence the name) and a deviled egg which I loved because I'm hood like that and CJ did not love so I ate his.  The second course was this lovely potato soup with leeks and bacon and probably lots of butter and cream.  And it was served in a mason jar and it was delicious.  When I saw how small the soup was I was like "WHY SO SMALL" but I later realized that they were just looking out for me because...five courses.

Good salad with rocquefort and beets. I love beets.

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THE MOTHERSHIP. Course four...a turkey leg (makes me feel so barbaric), stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy. Perfection. And yeah I had a diet coke...

Cannot even attempt to explain the eyebrow/squint situation happening here but I promise I did not get botox.

I know what you're thinking...chicken nuggets with honey mustard sauce?  NOPE.

Deep fried oreos with pumpkin spice creme for dipping. Currently salivating...heaven help me.  I will probably crave these every day for the rest of my life.

After dinner we went to Hunger Games at a move theater with recliners and let me tell you.  I don't typically love going to the movies but recliners are a game-changer. 100%.  I suggested we go to the movies probably 5 times this weekend because I liked those recliners a lot.

This is my train to work Friday morning.  My morning commute is usually body-to-body sardines packed onto the train! It was like I was the only person in the whole city going into work on Friday. Oh wait, I was.

On Friday night we ended up doing A LOT of shopping and it was really fun which is weird because I usually hate shopping.  We bought these little elephants from the Bryant Park holiday village.  They were hand-carved in Kenya and I loveeee them. Elephants are my favorite animal besides bears.  We also bought some handmade pillow covers from India and a bunch of stuff from the home section of Anthro.

CJ trying to take a picture of me at Persian dinner...and I did not like it.

But I eventually kind of complied. Kashk Bademjan is like, my favorite food at this point.

The pumpkin cream pie two days later...I was afraid we wouldn't be able to finish it by ourselves.  Understimation.  CJ got me this pie dish with matching rolling pin from Anthro for my birthday.

Saturday we began our apartment hunt.  Our sublet contract is *finally* up after December so we'll be in a new place by Jan 1st!! ...or homeless. Whichever.  PLZ SEND UR GOOD VIBEZ.  This building was actually not that pretty but I'm still not over all the art deco that's rampant in this city.  I LOVE IT.

Scenes from the weekend (no pictures)

I think I am just a hoot because I am calling this post scenes from the weekend but there are no scenes. I need to make myself take more pictures or my children are going to hate me.

On Friday night CJ and I had so much fun! When we were deciding where to go to dinner CJ said he wanted to go somewhere a little nicer. We decided on P.F. Chang's and it was a great decision. I haven't been in a while because the P.F. Chang's in Tri-Cities is TERR.I.BLE. Let me tell you. Just disgusting. I wonder if they have changed their ways but I seriously doubt it and I don't want to risk going back. We shared the Orange Chicken and Crispy Honey Shrimp. In the past I have avoided shrimp even though I love it because it makes me sick. BUT the past two times I have had it I have felt just fine! So that's great. I love food.

Then we went to Sports Authority so CJ could get some new sweats!!!!! SO MUCH EXCITEMENT. We ran into Skyler and Kara in the mall and got to chat with them for a while so that was fun. After we left we headed up the canyon to Sundance Resort to ride the ski lift! During the fall you can ride the ski lift at night when there's a full moon! Funny story...I had planned to take CJ about a month ago the last time there was a full moon. I told him we were going on a surprise date and talked it up a lot and then it rained and stormed the night we were supposed to go. I was so disappointed! But we went to Color Me Mine instead and it was great so whatever. But anyway, basically every time CJ and I plan to do something outdoors it rains. So we got really lucky on Friday night because the weather was perfect. The lift was a little bit scary at first but it was so beautiful and peaceful in the canyon at night. It was wonderful to just sit and talk and enjoy each other's company. (CHEESIN')

Saturday...oy vey/madre mía/etc. I woke up at like seven in the morning, went to Weight Watchers, got some McD's for breakfast (IRONY LOL) and then went STRAIGHT to the library with my diet coke in hand. I was there from 9-4!!!! As much as I hated it it felt so good to get my work done and know that I wouldn't have to do any homework the next day. This semester I have been trying to avoid doing homework on Sunday and it has gone really well so far. I love having Sundays to just relax, go to church, bake, and spend time with friends and family. Sundays really are one of my favorite days of the week. ANYWAY. After I got back from the library, CJ picked me up and we headed to McKay's lacrosse scrimmage. My cousin Kelci who I haven't seen in forever was there and Alyssa was there, too. I could honestly watch lacrosse all day I think it is so entertaining. The rest of the night was pretty uneventful, but I always have fun with CJ. Took a trip to the grocery store to get the ingredients for Sunday dinner. We went to In-N-Out (healthy choices happening all da time) and it was dericious. Then we watched Heavyweights (how appropriate) and just ended up falling asleep.

Sundayz r da best dayz. Went to CJ's ward because my ward is at 1:30 and CJ's is at 11...so pretty easy decision there. I wake up at like the crack of dawn on Sundays and it's just really hard to wait around for church to start. After church I made enchiladas that were pretty good and  lemon cookies that were the bomb and we took them to Brian and Shannon's. It's so much fun to hang out with them and we all get along really well...and Shannon loves to play charades so it's like a match made in heaven!

I love the weekends. And this weekend will be ESPECIALLY FUN because it's going to be MYYYYY BIRTHDAYYYYYY!!!! THE BEST DAY OF THE YEAR!

No Points Pasta

So I am doing a recipe post and it's going to be really boring because I don't have a single picture of the food I made because, like I said in my last post, I don't have an iPhone. BUT you really should make this dish because it's really good and easy.

From the time I was about 11 until after I came to college the only thing I knew how to make was pasta with cream sauce. (My mama taught me right, guys.) And I was good at it, too. Didn't even need to look at a recipe or anything. I loved to make it on New Year's Eve while my friends and I watched old episodes of Laguna Beach, or for dinner during my first year at school. It has always been my go-to and I love the simplicty of it. This recipe is the grown up version of that dish. After all, I am almost 21!

(It's called No Points Pasta because I am doing Weight Watchers and this pasta is actually A LOT of points but I just kept joking about how it's not any points because I wanted to eat the whole pot! HILARITY.)

NO POINTS PASTA (adapted from Pioneer Woman's Penne a la Betsy)

1 box penne
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 sweet onion, chopped
1 package white mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup sodium-free chicken broth
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup cream
1 rotisserie chicken, cut up into bite-sized pieces (I used almost the whole chicken)
handful (or more) fresh spinach
dash cayenne (optional)
fresh basil (to taste)
salt and pepper (to taste)
handful shredded parmesan

Directions:

Boil water and cook pasta until al dente, about 11 minutes.

Heat butter and olive oil in LARGE saucepan. Add garlic and onion and saute until onions start to get soft, about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and saute until mushrooms are almost fully cooked, becoming soft and dark. Then add the chicken broth and let simmer for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once everything is incorporated, add the tomato sauce and stir together well. Then...the cream. Turn the heat down and add your chicken and spinach. Stir well. Cover and let simmer for a few minutes until the spinach is soft.

While the sauce is simmering, chop your basil. You can add as much as you want, I used about a tablespoon but wished I had added more.

If you like a bit of spice, throw some cayenne in the sauce. Then add your basil, and salt and ground black pepper to taste.

Drain pasta and pour it into the sauce. Throw in the handful of parm. Stir until well combined.

You won't be single for long, ladies! LOL but seriously it's extremely delicious.