A "Keeper" -- recipe that is

I like to try a few new recipes every week. I usually get my ideas from magazines although I have a decent collection of cookbooks as well. Sometimes these new recipes are a bust, or just OK, but once in awhile one gets labeled "a keeper" by the family and this is one of those.

This recipe came from the May issue of Sunset Magazine. (I tried to load up the link to the recipe from the website but it doesn't seem to be working so I am going to give you all the information you need to do this yourself...just in case you run into the same trouble.) My pictures could be better still working on that....I did cook the chicken a little longer than pictured so the cheese was completely melted!



Southwest Grilled Chicken and Avocado Melts
Serves 4 Time 30 minutes

2 T vegetable oil, divided
4 Anaheim or poblano chiles
4 boned, skinned chicken breast halves
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. cayenne (I didn't have cayenne on hand substituted paprika)
1 tsp. kosher salt
Lime Wedges
1 avocado, pitted, peeled, and sliced
1 cup shredded jack cheese

1. Prepare a grill for high heat (450 to 550 degrees) Rub 1 tbsp. oil over chiles. Cook chiles, turning often, until skins are browned. (this is easy but allow 10-15 min) Put chiles in a bowl, cover and let cool. Seed chiles in a bowl, and rub off skins. (I rubbed skin off with a paper towel, cut the top off, made a slit down the center and scraped out seeds.)

2. Meanwhile, rub remaining 1 Tbsp. oil over chicken. Combine cumin, cayenne, and salt and sprinkle over each breast. Grill chicken, turning once, until browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes.

3. Squeeze a little lime over chicken, then top each breast with a few avocado slices a chile, and about 1/4 cup cheese. Grill covered, until cheese melts, about 4 minutes.


That's it!! It really is very easy. Don't let the roasting of the chile scare you! Or the chile scare you! It is really not too hot.....that's why you take the seeds out.

They served it with a side of black beans. I served it with a can of whole pinto beans drained, combined with 1 cup frozen corn, and a salad.

Hope you try it!!

Weekend Projects--upcycled!!

It was a busy weekend! The "big kids" were in "class" all day 8-5 learning to be soccer ref's. Why you may ask? $25 per game ref'd that's why. Can you believe it? That is good money when you are a teenager. Fortunately they both passed the test....in true form Ben got the high score of the class...too funny, his competitiveness transfers to all things...he won some line flags though so that paid off. Games should start sometime in August which will be especially good for Ben ... he is going to need gas money when he starts driving in about a month. Yikes!

So the projects. We did some IKEA investigation...that is always an outing that takes a couple of hours but needed to be done. We didn't buy anything while there....unless you count a little plate of swedish meatballs!! (they are not bad!)

We started revamping this table. We got this table for free years ago along with 4 parsons chairs. We had it inside for a long time but it has slowly been pushed out. The table itself is a bit wobbly, and smaller than I want for outside; I really want to be able to seat 8 comfortably. So my handy MAN took the table apart, we really only salvaged the legs.

We went to Lowe's and bought some birch plywood, it is 8 feet long and we trimmed the width to 3 1/2 feet. He doubled the thickness and built the frame...here is where we are at as of this morning. Now we are trying to figure out the stain/paint combonation we want, and there is still some sanding and smoothing of the edges to be done....but so far I am liking it! I also finished refurbishing these chairs. We already had done the table and four chairs, but then we got the arm chairs and wanted to paint and recover the seats to match the others. The whole table was this honey colored wood....I am not a fan.

So we repainted them white and antiqued them a bit. You can see the table in the background, we refinished the top of the table with a darker stain, with less shine. I recovered the chairs myself with genuine "pleather"! Don't laugh it is economical $10 per yard, so I recovered 6 chairs for $30; and they wipe clean....since this is our everyday eating area and I have a 2, 13, and nearly 16 year old in the house they need to be washable.

So that's it. I also tried two new recipes this weekend which the family called "keepers", I will share those another day as this post has already rambled a bit. Hope you like.

May Gray and a Recipe!

OK I don't know if you know this about "Sunny San Diego" but May is affectionatley known as "May Gray"; June is "June Gloom". This does not always hold true but so far this month we have had alot of gray!! Yuck! (This was taken moments ago...another gray day ahead.) This makes it a little hard to get motivated to get moving (or maybe it is because I was at the gym at 5:30am!)

So I thought I would show you a little update of the patio. We planted some more plants at the end. Two crepe myrtles which when they bloom should look great, some hedge plants, some beach pebbles and stepping stones, Ellie's sandbox (had to find a place for it), an outdoor rug, and my "stick art". We trimmed a tree and I had these big long branches so I anchored them into a large pot with gravel and rocks. I am considering removing the rocks and replacing it with soil, and then planting a plant that can climb up the branches or wrapping little white lights through the branches. It is one of those free projects, haven't decided if I totally like it.

Switching Gears:
I also wanted to share with you a flavored mayonaise. This is great anytime of the year, but basil is in season and many of you may have it in your yard.

Grab about a dozen basil leaves, 3 large cloves garlic and approximately 1 cup of mayo. Blend in your blender/food processor, or you could chop everything by hand....you can add more or less basil, or garlic depending on your taste. We use this on hamburgers and sandwiches. The nice thing is there is a lot of flavor so you don't have to use as much on your sandwich. Let me know if you like it!

(I know this picture doesn't look too good but it is hard to make mayo look good, but trust me this is tasty!)

Hanging Flower Pot Update

Remember when I posted how to make the hanging pots a couple of weeks ago? Well, I know the finished product did not look like much. Thought you might like to see the change in just two weeks!!
Hope you all had a Happy Mother's Day!

Cinco de Mayo and Coconut Flan

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo by getting in the spirit and making some mexican food. OK I am going to cheat and I bought some carnitas and rice and beans from Costco(it is so good and so easy, just microwave and go). That will leave me time to make the Coconut Flan!! I made this a few years ago (ok it has been more than a few years since Heather moved) when I went all out with homemade enchiladas, rice, beans and margaritas. Don't be intimadtaed by the "expert" in the difficulty box, and don't worry about using tuna cans....I made one large flan in a pie shell. So follow the directions in the recipe, but use a pie shell. Don't worry if your carmel congeals a little in the pie shell it will loosen upon cooking. Are you up to the challenge?

Hanging Flower Baskets

Every year a make my hanging baskets for the front porch. Usually I try to get them assembled in March but I was a little behind this year. I made two for my front porch on Monday, this is what it looks like as of this morning. I know it does not look like much yet, but give it a month or so and it will become a big flower ball. If you are interested in making one of these see the process below... This is what you will need.

A wire hanging basket

A bag of green moss (not spaghnum moss)

Some potting soil of your choice.

4-5 six packs of flowers

(Your choice choose what is best for your location, my location gets morning sun so I stick to impatients and lobelia, but I have used begonias, pansies, dusty miller you can use your imagination.)

1 topper plant

I usually pick one plant to go in the center on top this year I am using vinca minor, it has a purple flower and will trail down. I also like to use fuschia (but I could only find upright version this year, I like the trailing version so it will hang down.)

You can always use more plants so it looks more finished from the get go, I go with a little less and let it fill in, it is a little cheaper that way too.

I made two baskets so I have a few more packs then I mentioned above.

My helper...put the bag of moss in a bucket and soak with water.

Line the bottom of your basket with the first layer of moss.

Put a few plants in evenly spaced. I usually put the rootball in the center and gentley push the plant to the outside of the basket thru the rungs.
Put another layer of moss along the edge. Layer in some soil and add more plants.
My helper didn't really want to get dirty.
Keep lining the sides of the basket, working your way up, with more plants on dirt.

Place additional plants on top. I also put a layer of the moss all over the top dirt you see pictured here to help trap in moisture. (I did not get a picture of that but you know what I mean.)

Then hang it up. Once it is hung water thoroughly. (Hanging first is helpful, because if you water first it gets pretty heavy.)

I like these hanging baskets because the flowers will protrude from all areas of the basket. These plants do need to be watered daily as it is exposed to air more than a pot, and also feed regularly. Mine usually last about 6 months!!

Chalkboard

I haven't posted anything for awhile. We were so busy before the company came with the ski trip, and then getting the yard and house ready. Then we had my brother-in-law, sister-in-law and their two boys for a week which was alot of fun and included trips to the park, the tidepools, easter brunch, legoland...fun fun.

My big kids returned to school after two weeks off for spring break and back to the busy daily schedule...afterschool activities including academic league, swim team, track, volleyball try-outs, dentist appointments, doctors appointments...you busy moms know the drill. Anyway with the busy schedule I am always looking for something for my little one to do while I am trying to get dinner on the table (besides watch tv) and I like to have her nearby. She likes the leapfrog magnetic alphabet toy found here. It is great for learning the letters and sounds. We have done colors, markers, water color paints, play dough (a little messy at dinner time), but then my husband helped me build this.
I had a chalkboard in the kitchen area but it was too high for Ellie to work on and it was not adhered well to the wall so it didn't work out too well. I got the idea from Joys Hope to build a bigger one, she has directions posted here. I was a little lazy and only did 3 coats of paint which seems to have worked just fine.
The chair really isn't needed but it does give her more area to chalk and she likes it!!