{Free} Wall Art

I recently did a bit of rearranging in my living room and found myself with an empty wall. I didn't have much money to buy anything for decoration, so when I saw this tutorial, I knew it was just what I wanted to do. I pulled out some four-year-old Target shelves that weren't being used, found a piece of wood at the park, and I started collecting paper towel rolls and toilet paper rolls to create a little vignette.


What do you think? Not bad for not spending any money, right?

Marinated greek chicken in Na'an bread

One of my favorite restaurants here in San Antonio is Pasha's. Their Na'an bread is to die for. Seriously, I could eat it all day, which could be good or bad since they keep on servin' it! I searched for a recipe and made it for New Year's Eve but it fell way short of my expectations.

So, I was strolling along the bread aisle at Costco a few weeks ago when a nice big package of Na'an caught my eye. I wasn't sure if this pre-packaged stuff could meet my expectations, but I thought I'd give it a try.

Um. Yum.

So, I found a greek recipe for chicken, bought some feta, and made up a slew of my favorite hummus for a dinner that got 12 thumbs up. (There are six people in my family. Yeah, they all loved it.)

Hummus

2 cups canned garbanzo beans, drained

1/3 - 1/2 cup tahini (found at HEB near the peanut butter, or a whole foods store)

1/4 - 1/2 cup lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pinch paprika

1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley

Combine all ingredients except 1 tablespoon of olive oil, paprika and parsely  in a food processor. Blend until smooth. Place in a serving bowl and drizzle remaining olive oil over top. Sprinkle with paprika and parsley.

Marinated Greek Chicken

1 8 oz. container fat-free plain yogurt

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 container crumbled feta cheese with basil and sundried tomatoes (or plain)

Mix first seven ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken, turn to coat, cover and marinate for three hours in the refrigerator. Now, here's where you can experiment. We don't have a grill so I placed my chicken on a broiling pan and broiled until the juices ran clear. You could place the chicken on a skewer and grill over and outdoor greill on high heat.

Prepare Na'an according to package directions. (If you make your own, serve them warm - and then post the recipe so we can all enjoy it!) Place desired amount of hummus, chicken, and crumbled feta cheese on Na'an. Wrap and enjoy.

Ready to Start a Garden?

This is the first in a series of posts about vegetable gardening in South Texas....

Seven Steps to a Great Garden

1. Find an area in your yard that gets 8 hours of sun. Outline it with a hose and watch the sun’s progression throughout the day. This step is crucial!

2. Determine what you’d like to grow by asking yourself: What varieties of fruits and vegetables will thrive in Texas? What will my family eat? What do I have time to preserve? Use this website to determine the best planting dates for each season.

3. Draw out your garden bed and make sure you’ve got room for all of your crops. Feel free to be creative...let your pole beans climb up your tomato cages or trellis your squash on the edge of your bed.

4. Build that raised bed at least 12 inches high. You can use railroad ties, 2x6’s, stone, anything durable. Fill it with Garden Soil containing compost. I like Garden-ville.

5. Select plants from a nursery or seeds from a catalog and get planting. For plants, use your fingers to comb through tightly-packed roots and water-in immediately after planting. Remember, it's the roots that need the most attention. The top of the plant may look a bit waterlogged but the roots are priority #1. For seeds, make sure your soil is moist and closely follow planting instructions on the packet.

6. Fertilize at least every 6 weeks. I like using a slow release fertilizer from Osmocote or Miracle Grow, other varieties are available. If you choose to go all organic you’ll need to increase amounts and frequency.

7. Check on your plants. Gardens are living so they need different things on different days...take a look each day and note water needs. If you stick your finger in the dirt and it's moist, it's probably ok. It's natural (and good!) to have bugs but if they're eating up entire plants or seem especially pesky, look up answers online or take leaves to a local nursery for problem diagnosis. Be careful about pesticides because there are a lot of good bugs that keep bad bugs in check. Good luck!

Lindsay

St. Patty's Day Mint Brownies

St. Patty's Day hasn't been much of a holiday in my house. Aside from the token wearing of green to avoid being pinched by my all-to-eager leprachauns, I'm never met with much enthusiasm when I offer to make corned beef and cabbage to celebrate. Nope, no takers on that one.

Because it is my nature to do SOMETHING holiday-ish on every holiday, I swiped a fun tradition from a heaven-sent neighbor in Colorado. Who can refuse chocolatey mint-infused brownies. Green food-coloring gives it the St. Patty's Day punch in a holiday hue.

For those of you who don't want to spend a lot of time, use your favorite boxed brownie recipe. If, you want the authentic version, begin with:

Brownies

1 cup melted butter

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 whole eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a large mixing bowl, blend butter, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in eggs. Combine remaining dry ingredients and gradually add to butter mixture. Mix just until all ingredients are incorporated. Do not over beat. Spray a 9 x 13 inch cake pan with baking release spray. Spread brownie mixture into pan. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from edge of pan. Cool completely. 

Icing

2 ½ cups powdered sugar

½ cup butter

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon water

1 teaspoon mint extract

Green food color

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

6 tablespoons butter

Prepare mint cream center by combining powdered sugar, ½ cup butter, water, mint extract and food color.  Beat until smooth.  Divide and spread evenly on brownies.  Cover; refrigerate until cold. 

          Prepare chocolate glaze by placing remaining 6 tablespoons butter and chocolate chips in microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave for 1 minute or until mixture is smooth when stirred.  Cool slightly; pour over chilled brownies.  Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.  These are very rich brownies so cut pan into 32 to 40 pieces.

You can't see the green food coloring very well, but it's pretty!

 

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice soup

"Mom, can you make that soup with leeks in it?"  These are words I never thought would come out of my oldest child's mouth. Picky eater #1, the enemy of chicken and all things meat, sulk about dinner as if it will magically transform into a quesadilla. Yes, he asked for a soup full of leeks, potatoes, CHICKEN, celery, and carrots.

I know you want the recipe. So, without further ado and with a big "Thank you" to my friend Kendra for sharing it with me, bon apetit!

While preparing the soup, bake 2-3 chicken breasts in a 350 oven for 1/2 hour, chop when juices run clean.

In the meantime...

Cook 1 box wild rice mix WITHOUT the seasoning packet or mix half wild rice and half white rice.

Melt 1 cube butter in a large saucepan and saute 1 teaspoon minced garlic for about one minute.

Add

2 leeks cut lengthwise and sliced (clean these out really well since they tend to have dirt in between the layers)

2 peeled and sliced carrots

2 stalks celery

1 teaspoon salt,

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 bay leaves 

1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon sage (to your taste)

1/2 teaspoon thyme 

1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning

Saute veggies until tender.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup flour over mixture and stir and cook (med. high heat) about 1 minute.

Add 1 qt. chicken broth while whisking into the flour mixture (keep veggies in pot).  Whisk until smooth.

Add 3-4 red potatoes chopped with skins on and cook until potatoes are tender.

Add a small carton of whipping or heavy cream first, then add 1 qt. of half and half a little at a time until desired consistency (you may or may not use the whole qt.)

Add wild rice and 2-3 cooked chopped chicken breast. Adjust the seasoning. I always cook to taste, so add what you think it needs. 

Garnish with a few chopped chives. My kids love this with french bread.

Jacquie

Little Women

The memory of my mom reading to me is one of the clearest of my childhood. My sister and I squeezed together on a twin bed, trying not to wiggle too much for fear that mom might leave. Anything to stay up a little later. Though we went through countless books from Freckle Juice to Harriet the Spy, my memory of these read alouds begin and end with Jo, Beth, Amy, and Meg. What little tomboy doesn't want to be Jo March, constantly battling her good and bad habits, and stumbling through the conventions of society? Somehow her akwardness is more graceful than my own ever was. Because of Jo I wanted to conquer the world and become a writer. Neither has happened yet. Now I find myself being the mom and the reader and it's harder than it looks. But the virtue of the Marches and the lessons they learned are now being passed on to my own Little Women. If you've only seen the movie, pick up the book. And read it out loud.
Allison

Books for boys (and maybe girls, too)

My boys LOVE to read. I attribute this to starting them early on books. We're talking eat-the-book early. My oldest child could turn a page before he could roll over. Nine years later, we find him awake hours past his bedtime with his nose stuck in a book. Makes me proud (until I have to roll his too-sleepy rear out of bed the next morning).

That's a story for another time.

Today I wanted to share our favorite books. These are obviously my boys' favorites, and to be fair, I have no idea what girls like. Not true, I'm a girl and I like them, so you be the judge!

Books for babies and toddlers

Look and find books: My kids love the large Look and Find books. Ours are falling apart due to the use they've gotten, but we have Dora, Lightning McQueen, and Batman.

My First Word books (also falling apart).

Ages 3 to 5

The Froggy Books by Jonathon London. There is a predictable pattern to these stories so the kids enjoy the familiarity of the storyline.

The Berenstain Bears by Stan and Jan Berenstain. So many lessons to learn!

The Scrambled States of America by Laurie Keller. We can't get enough of this one. The kids learn where the states are, to boot!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault and Lois Ehlert. Honestly, this book seems so simple that it's popularity amazes me.

Ages 5 to 9

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S Lewis. We started reading these to our boys when they were around five.

The Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne. I'm not one to read a book twice, but that doesn't seem to bother my kids because they like to read these over and over.

The Adventures of Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown. This is a great book for readers who are ready to start chapter books. The chapters are short and the story is easy to follow.

The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo. Do NOT read the movie version. It's just not the same.

Ages 8 and up

Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. My son has read this series twice and I'm pretty sure he'll read it again. It's amazing how one story can bring a subject into popularity. My kids are interested in Greek mythology after reading these books.

A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck. This is one of my all-time favorite books. My son and I spent hours laughing at Grandma Dowdle.

Schooled by Gordon Korman. This book mentions The Beatles. My son was in heaven.

The City of Ember series by Jean Duprau. I love the sleuth-like nature of this book. It makes it a suspenseful read.

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull. Although my children haven't read this yet, I've had several pre-teens tell me they love it. I don't usually like fantasy-type books, but these were very entertaining.


These are all series I have personally read and I feel good about recommending them. They are clean and most of them teach a moral lesson. Gotta love that.

Other books that didn't make the top list for my boys, but I like 'em!

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins (yes, she wrote the Hunger Games and this is NOT gory).

Wolven by Di Toft. I've only read the first one, but it is a series.

The Candy Shop Wars by Brandon Mull

As a side note I do NOT recommend Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I feel that it teaches children to be dishonest and is not appropriate for my children's ages. The older brother introduces inappropriate subject matter. They are banned from our house. I didn't read them until my children had read all of them. Now, I read their books first. I suggest this become a practice in your home also.

Happy reading!
Jacquie