Foodie Friday: Meat & Taters

Greetings Humble Readers...

I hope you are all enjoying your summer.  This week has been a hot one on the flatland, but not totally unbearable.  Poor wee Ginny has had some difficulties sleeping in the heat, but we're making it.

This week's recipe is a really simple supper that can be prepped in 15-20 minutes and has minimal clean up.  It's also totally adaptable.  You can change it up by switching out different spice blends and salad dressings.  You could even swap out the chicken for a butterflied or thin cut pork chop. 

Easy Meat & Tater Packets

(per person)
1 chicken breast, boneless & skinless
1 med russet potato, scrubbed but not peeled, thinly sliced (like thick potato chips)
1/2 med onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp Butter/margarine/olive oil
Greek Spice blend
Your favourite vinaigrette salad dressing (I use either Italian or a pesto/parmesan blend)
Aluminum foil
Non-stick cooking spray

All assembled, just waiting to be covered.

To assemble the packets, spray one side of a square of aluminum foil with the cooking spray.  Then arrange the sliced potatoes on the foil, topped with the sliced onions, leaving one inch of the foil on all sides.  Dot with butter or margarine, or drizzle lightly with olive oil.  Top with chicken breast.  Sprinkle spice blend over chicken breast and potato and onion layers, to your taste.  Drizzle the chicken breast with salad dressing.  Cover with a second piece of foil that has been sprayed with the cooking spray. 

Two packets, ready for the oven.

Seal all four sides by folding at least twice.  If cooking in the oven, place packets on cookie sheets in case of leaks.  Bake in a 350F oven or on a med-high bbq over indirect heat for 45 minutes.  When they are done, carefully open the packets (don't get burned by the steam) and slide the whole contents onto a plate. 

Ready to eat.  Yummy!

The key to this recipe is the indirect heat (if you're using the BBQ) and the non-stick spray.  As I said, this recipe is easily adaptable.  I've used a tex mex spice blend and a lemon & herb blend, but the greek is my favourite. 

Let me know if you try it, or if you make adaptations... I'm always looking for variations.

Bloggity Summer Camp: A Hobbit's Favourite Subject

Good Evening Humble Readers...

I hesitate to say this, but I think I have gotten myself into a good routine here.  I allow myself the time between when we put Ginny down at 8 until we get her up for her last bottle at 11 to write and peruse blogs.  I'm still not up to par on commenting, but I'm getting better.

And it's thanks in large part to Calliope's Bloggity Summer Camp...

Today Calliope asked, "What’s your favorite thing to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Do you read food blogs or would you ever consider writing one?"

She wants us to talk about food?  A hobbit discussing favourite foods?  :)  I could go on for hours!  But I won't, I promise!

Here we go...

Breakfast - While I'm usually craving sweet in the morning, I try not to give in.  I would love to have chocolate croissants and danishes every day, but I know that's just not a good idea.  Instead, I vary things between greek yoghurt, cereal, and once or twice a week I have scrambled eggs and toast.

Lunch - This is my hardest meal of the day, partly because I get so stuck in a rut and eat the same thing all the time.  My favourite thing to have for lunch during cold weather is macaroni with tomatoes, basil, garlic and crumbled feta cheese.  Usually I just have a sandwich.

Dinner - Hmmm, again tough, but this time because there are so many choices.  Things that I've recently really enjoyed... roast beef with sour cream & horseradish potatoes, the black bean salad I posted about last friday, BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, and the chili lime roasted chicken that I posted about last year (made it a couple of weeks ago and I'm craving it again, but it's too hot to turn on the oven)


I do read a couple of food blogs, the Pioneer Woman, and the Tasty Kitchen blogs (links on my blogroll).  I love how both emphasize step by step pictures of the recipes.  I have gotten many great recipes from both websites.

I think I probably could write a food blog, but I would have to remember to take pictures of my recipes before they get eaten, and quite often I forget.  The other thing that would hold me back would be the fact that I don't have all that many original recipes.  Most of mine are combinations or alterations of recipes that are already out there.

If you could have your favourite foods all in one day, what would you have?

Bloggity Summer Camp: Trying New Things

Evenin' Humble Readers...

Today at Bloggity Summer Camp, Camp Director Calliope has asked:

"When was the last time you tried something new? What was it and what was the result? Have you ever done something just so that you could blog about it?"

I have to admit this topic made me laugh.  I mean, not only am I second cousin to a hobbit, but I'm also a Lutheran, so I don't take to change and adventure very well.  I mean, there is a certain amount of truth to the old joke, Q - 'How many Lutherans does it take to change a lightbulb?' A - 'Change?!?!' 

So, in trying to think of something new that I've tried... I confess I'm coming up a bit dry. 

There are a few little things from the last year or so, but they aren't very exciting. 

• My Beloved and I started tracking our family trees in the last year, but we haven't made much progress yet.  I'm stuck at my maternal Great-grandfather.
• There was the blanket I knitted for Ginny.  I had learned how to knit many many years ago (I actually took it as an elective in junior high school), but it was the first time in more than 20 years that I had picked up knitting needles.  I'm impressed that I not only remembered the basics, but that I actually finished the blanket.
• I conducted some experimentation and have found a pretty good recipe for pizza crust.  It has beer in it!  Yum!
• I guess this whole SAHM and parenthood thing is pretty gosh darn new, too. 

I would have to say that I haven't tried new things simply to blog about it.  But as soon as something new or exciting or adventurous happens, I start composing a blog post about it in my head. 

I do have something new looming on the horizon.  I have ordered some Zumba workout dvds and I'm hoping to find them motivating.  I guess we'll see!

On the Nightstand: The Premier Edition

Good Morning Humble Readers...

I hope you all are having a great week.  I'm totally digging the Bloggity Summer Camp that's being led by Calliope of Creating Motherhood.  It's been a ton of fun so far and we're only a few days in.  There's still plenty of time left, so sign up!  (My Summer Camp post for today will be up a little later)

But this post is something different.  A few posts ago I mentioned a couple of regular features that I wanted to institute here at the hobbit hole (the first being 'Foodie Fridays'), and this is the second.  Once a week, probably on Wednesdays, I will post about what books are on my nightstand and what I think of them.  This will not only help my bloggity mojo, but keep me reading as well.

Today's edition is going to be a little on the long side, but I've recently finished or started several books.

Helen Keller's Teacher by  Margaret Davidson (4 out of 5 hairy hobbit-toes)
This was a favourite of mine when I was in fourth grade, and then miraculously I just happened to see it at the library on a reshelving cart, and I couldn't resist picking it up.  This was probably the closest thing to the first biography I ever read.  The story of Annie Sullivan, the woman who broke through the darkness that Helen Keller lived in, is told in an age appropriate manner.  I remember it was the first time I ever read about tuberculosis, the Irish potato famine, and poor houses.  Re-reading it now, as an adult, I was surprised at how the mental images that I had as a child when I read this book came flooding back.  A great story of over-coming obstacles. 

DogTown: Tales of Rescue, Rehabilitation & Redemption by  Stefan Bechtal (3 out of 5 hairy hobbit-toes)
I was really excited when I saw this book on the shelves at 'my' store.  I loved the show 'DogTown' about the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah.  The show chronicles the stories of dogs that have been rescued from the direst of circumstances (dog fighting rings, puppy mills, and death row at other shelters) and are given all the medical care and rehabilitation they need to hopefully find their forever homes.  And if they aren't able to be adopted out, then they will have a forever home at Best Friends.  The thing with the book that I found very disappointing was that it was all stories that I had already seen as a fan of the show.  There were a few added details, but it was just an expensive hard-cover repeat.  Really the only bonus for me is knowing that part of the proceeds of buying the book go to Best Friends.

How To Woo A Reluctant Lady by Sabrina Jeffries  (4 out of 5 hairy hobbit-toes)
I really love Sabrina Jeffries.  She's a great author, and she writes in one of my favourite genres... historical romance.  Granted, her books are a little closer to bodice-rippers than other historical romances I read, but they are fun and light.  This one is the third in the Hellions of Hampstead Hall series, where 5 siblings are forced to seek out marriage partners or lose their inheritance.  Set in regency England, the story was a tad formulaic, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. 

Fall of Giants by Ken Follet  (5 out of 5 hairy hobbit-toes)
I love this book!  I'm not quite finished it yet (about 200 pages out of 1000) but I am enthralled.  This is the first in his Century Trilogy.  The story begins in 1914, and follows four or five families from Wales, England, Germany, Russia, and the US through the lead up to and the duration of World War One.  I will admit, although I knew the basics, I have been fascinated by the political events that led to the start of WWI, as well as all the other contemporary political issues (women's suffrage, the Russian Revolution, etc) and am so enjoying how Follet has woven a great story around these events.  I'm excited to see how he handles the rest of the 20th century.  I know that not everyone enjoys these epic historical sagas, but I think they're great. 

A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley  (4.5 out of 5 hairy hobbit-toes)
Alan Bradley is one of my favourite newer authors.  It doesn't hurt matters that he's from my hometown!  This book is the third in the Flavia De Luce Mysteries series.  Flavia, a precocious trouble-making 11 year old, has a habit of finding dead bodies around her tiny village in late-1940s England.  This time around, a travelling Gypsy fortune teller is found mortally injured in her caravan and Flavia manages to get herself wrapped up in the case.  Meanwhile, the family situation becomes perilous as they are in danger of losing their crumbling family estate.  These books are all funny, smart, and I think they would be a great read for anyone 9 to 99.  (The first two are called Sweetness At The Bottom Of the Pie, and The Weed That Strings The Hangman's Bag... CHECK THEM OUT!!!)

Waiting in the wings... The Independence of Miss Mary Bennett by Colleen McCullough and Standing In the Rainbow by Fannie Flagg. 

What are you reading these days?

Bloggity Summer Camp: My Birthday

Howdy Humble Readers...

It's been a long sunshiny day here on the flatland.  And I'm not complaining!  Tomorrow it's supposed to get into the upper 20s or maybe even low 30s for us here.  (That would be the upper 80s for you fahrenheit folks).  That's a bit warm for my taste, but I'll take it!

Today at our awesome Bloggity Summer Camp, Camp Director Calliope has asked...

"What do you prefer to do on your birthday?"

Hmmm... Honestly, I don't really have a particular preference.  I don't have a favourite restaurant or something that I simply must do on my birthday.  I do like to have a quiet day, with family and a few friends.  Sleeping in is a nice thing, and a nice dinner, maybe at somewhere new.  But really, so long as I have someone to say 'Happy Birthday' to me, someone who recognizes that this is a special day for me, that's all I need.

My birthdays haven't always been fun days for me.  There's a history of angst and turmoil around my birthday (My half birthday has always been so much better).  My birthday is in September, and it always seems to be a time of transition and change.  Some of these changes haven't been the easiest to get through, so if I can have a mellow day I am super thankful. 

If I can just have a quiet day, and maybe a little chocolate cake... that's all I need.