Curried Chicken with Ginger and Yogurt

We had such a productive weekend around here.  And last night we were rewarded with a delicious, easy home cooked meal.

The recipe, Curried Chicken With Ginger and Yogurt, took no time to put together and cooked all day.  We substituted chicken broth for the water and used chicken breasts instead of thighs.

The yogurt didn’t exactly mix in as creamy as the picture looked.  I wonder if it was because I used 2% yogurt instead of the whole milk yogurt the recipe called for.  I also wonder if there wasn’t enough fat in the sauce because I used breasts instead of thighs.

Either way, it still tasted very good, especially for the amount of work that I put into this meal.  I thought it might taste good with carrots or golden raisins mixed in also.

 

Chicken and Spinach Lasagna

I came about this recipe in kind of an odd way.  I had it for lunch in New Hampshire but it had been brought to the home where I had lunch by old friends in State College.  I traveled all the way to New England only to have lunch that was cooked at home!

I’m so glad because it was such a nice alternative to a traditional lasagna. When I got home I talked with the woman who had the recipe so that I could make it myself.

I love the way it browned a bit on top.  And even though they are Mike’s least favorite, my best part of a lasagna are the crunchy exposed noodle bits.

Inside it’s creamy and with tons of delicious spinach.

We cheated and used a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, but even if we had cooked the chicken, it’s pretty easy to make.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 c. flour
• 1 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1 tsp basil
• 2 c. cottage cheese (we used unsalted 1%)
• 9 to 10 uncooked lasagna noodles (we used the no cook kind)
• 2 pkgs chopped spinach thawed and drained
• 2 c. chicken broth
• 8 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 c. milk
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 c. cooked chicken cut up

Here’s how I constructed it.

Melt butter and add garlic and onion. Stir in flour and salt. Cook, stirring, until bubbly.  Stir in milk and broth. Heat to boiling and cook for 1 minute. Stir in mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan, basil, oregano and pepper.  Cook over low heat until cheese melts.

In a greased 9 by 13 inch pan layer sauce, noodles, cottage cheese, chicken, spinach and then sauce.  Add one more layer of noodles, cottage cheese, chicken, spinach and sauce. Top with remaining noodles and sauce then sprinkle with 1/2 c. of Parmesan cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.

So I’m Crocheting Again?

It’s been years and years since I crocheted something.  In fact, I believe the last project I crocheted was a blanket for my nephew when he was born.  He turns eleven this fall.

But last year I saw this post on Nicky’s blog and I thought that pillow was beautiful. Granny Squares are so pretty and I love the way you can mix up colors.  Then in the fall, my mom and I looked at that pattern and she reintroduced me to crocheting which I picked up quickly. In January, I bought the yarn while traveling around the Lehigh Valley.

And yesterday, I started the actual squares for what may be a pillow or hopefully a blanket.  We’ll see how far I get.  But it’s a nice distraction for some of the larger projects I am working on now or plan to start this year.

I plan to mix the colors up but have multiples of the same color combinations. I guess I’ll see as I go along.

It’s been two months!

That was a completely unplanned pause.  I looked back recently and realized I hadn’t blogged in a while.  Maybe it’s because many of the projects I was working on were presents that I didn’t want to spoil.  Also, I feel like most of my time has been planned out ahead of time these past couple months so instead of writing about knitting, I’ve been using that time to actually knit.

Here’s what I’ve been up to.

I finished a New Super Easy Baby Blanket for new baby Liam.

I knit a hat for charity for part of my trip to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.

I’m still working on my Square Peg. This poncho should be finished in a couple weeks.  Really it should be done sooner but I have some travel coming up and I got a little side tracked (I’ll write about that in a future post).

I went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival and bought these super fun yarns.

From Oasis Farm Fiber Mill, I got this skein of worsted weight yarn. I swear I had a Barbie workout outfit that was exactly these colors.

From Delly’s Delights Farm, I got this sport weight yarn.

And I also got this yarn from Juanita Breidenbaugh.

I cooked one new recipe in two months and it was this Slow-Cooker Curried Lentils with Chicken and Potatoes.  It doesn’t look like much but it was so good.

I actually ran a 5K for Special Olympics with some friends. I’ve been feeling like I never move so this is worth noting.  I plan to do some more races this summer.

I helped plan and execute a very successful 2nd Annual End of the Mountain 5K. That’s me ringing the bell as they took off.

And I took some pictures of the new babies that arrived recently. Plus a couple bonus shots of their animal siblings since I sometimes can’t resist their cuteness more than the babies.

So it’s been a busy but good few months.

Penne with Pumpkin Cream Sauce

We might have lost an hour today, but we had plenty of time to make this super quick and flavorful dinner.

It might look like pasta with a cheese sauce but there is actually only a half cup of Parmesan in there.  It’s pumpkin!  And sure, today might have finally felt like spring but this sweet and savory dinner hit the spot.

Penne with Pumpkin Cream Sauce (ours is with rotini) is quick because it has only a few ingredients and minimal chopping and it makes a lot so there are plenty of leftovers. I highly recommend trying it.

Honey Cashew Chicken with Rice

We were able to cook dinner again tonight and we tried a recipe that I took out of Cooking Light last year.

Honey Cashew Chicken with Rice was really easy for us to make together and the results were amazing for a weeknight stir fry. We used brown rice instead of white and asparagus instead of broccoli but otherwise followed the recipe.

What makes this dish is the sauce which is a combination of rice vinegar, honey, soy sauce and Sriracha. It’s got a bit of heat to it but mixed with the sweetness it’s subtle and delicious.

Mike suggested we make this regularly because it was just that fabulous.

Cheesy Penne with Broccoli

Tonight I decided to try Cheesy Penne with Broccoli which was in this month’s Cooking Light.

This was a basic macaroni and cheese recipe except the sauce is made with a few different cheeses plus Dijon mustard and without any butter or oil. I normally like to add something green to macaroni and cheese, so this stood out as I was looking through the magazine.

We opted for shells instead of penne just because we had them on hand.  Otherwise, we followed the recipe exactly.  I thought it was pretty good but could use a bit more flavor.  Mike’s suggestion was to add more Dijon mustard and I read in the comments on the recipe that maybe adding some crushed red pepper would help.  But it was good enough and easy enough for a weeknight so we’ll definitely try it again maybe with a little modification.

Green Spring Chili and French Fry Pie

This week is spring break in our town and even though we still have work, a lot of people are gone.  Town is quiet and many of my regular after work activities are not happening this week so I’m taking the opportunity to cook dinner a little more than we have been lately.

Last night I made an old favorite that I can’t believe I’ve never posted about before.  My friend Jenna was the first person to tell me about Rachael Ray’s Green Spring Chili and French Fry Pie and I was skeptical. Mostly I doubted the french fries but she made it for us, it was delicious and now it’s something we make a couple times a year.

We bake the fries and keep them separate from the chili to make sure they don’t get too soggy since there are tons of leftovers. The chili is very fresh and springy and also works on it’s own or over rice.  But I promise, it’s really good with the fries.

Quick Beanie Break

I decided to take a break from another project so that I could make a hat for Mike.  I was beginning to worry that by the time I finally had time to make a hat to match his fingerless mitts that it’d be too warm.

Also I knew that knitting up a hat in the middle of the other projects that are on my needles would be quick and satisfying. I chose the Regular Guy Beanie because I knew I needed something simple for the yarn.

It turned out great.

I cast on 8 extra stitches because after reading some notes on Ravelry.  Knowing what I do now, I’d probably do 12 although it fits Mike perfectly.  It would have made the decreases make more sense even though I think it turned out good.

I’m pretty pleased with this project.  It only took a couple nights and Mike already wore it today.

 

Finished Baby Bear

It’s hard to post a lot when most of the things you are working on are going to be presents.  Not that everyone I know looks at this blog, but sometimes you just don’t want to ruin the surprise.

When I first bought this High Society Sock Yarn, I wasn’t quite sure what I would do with it.  It is very bright and colorful which always appeals to me but besides making socks (I haven’t finished the first pair that I started over two years ago) it wasn’t clear what I’d actually wear in such bright colors.

But then I realized it would make a great stuffed animal for my newest nephew and I found Susan B. Anderson‘s Baby Bear in her book Itty-Bitty Toys.

For my bear I mostly followed the instructions except that I increased the needle size to a US 5 and I waited until the end to put together all the parts.

The other thing I didn’t do was put a face on this bear.  I started with a nose and besides not liking covering his cute little yellow nose, I decided I didn’t like how my poor hand stitching made for a sort of scary face.

Knitting a whole project on DPNs is not my most favorite (see sock comment above) and you can see in some spots that the knitting could be a little bit nicer. But mostly I just love how he looks like a rainbow.

The pattern was so easy to follow and all of his parts look so great.  I especially love his cute little tail that took maybe five minutes to knit up.

Overall, I am very pleased with how he turned out.  I hope that he becomes a cherished toy that my nephew drags all around the house and snuggles with at night.