Dinner Time - Rum-Glazed Italian Chicken

I LOVE this recipe! Like most of my recipes, I pulled it out of my ass one night when I didn't know what to make for dinner. (Not literally.)

So easy!

Rum-Glazed Italian Chicken

Rum (I like coconut rum)

1 lb Chicken tenders

2 roma tomatoes

1/2 red onion

kosher salt

fresh ground black pepper

olive oil

Italian seasoning (Basil, Oregano, Thyme, Rosemary, Marjoram, Garlic powder)

First, heat up the pan to med-high and add the olive oil and onion.

Cook until translucent; add chicken tenders seasoned liberally with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.

Cook the chicken until almost done; add the tomatoes.

I just add maybe a tablespoon or two of rum (it's not like I measure) but just a good coating, don't drown it, I'm not trying to get you drunk. I use Cruzan Coconut Rum, because it's delicious.

Cover, turn to low, and let the flavors mingle for about 10 minutes, then uncovered for about 5. Most of the alcohol will cook out, but it will never cook 100% out. There's very very little left, but I still wouldn't feed it to a baby, so use precaution with whom you serve.

I make brown rice using a spoonful of the tomatoes, onion, and juice, then stir in more once the rice is done; it's wonderful.

Enjoy!

Bronzed Smokey Eye - Tutorial

Spring has sprung and summer is around the corner, so I thought I would share one of my favorite day looks for eyes! This bronzed smokey eye will make you feel like a Grecian goddess in no time!

What you'll need:

Primer (I use Urban Decay's Primer Potion)
Set powder (I use MAC)
A palette similar to Tigi, Urban Decay's Naked or Naked II
Eyeliner (I used Sephora's kohl liner in black, but Tigi's Perfect Liner is great too)
Mascara (Benefit's "They're Real!" is fkn awesome)

Brushes:
Powder brush
Smudger
Wide shadow brush (I use Tigi's Love brush)
Shadow brush (I used the Urban Decay shadow brush that came with the Naked palette)
Flat brush to apply set powder

First start off by applying an eye primer, I use Urban Decay's Primer Potion. While that is drying apply a layer of set powder (I love MAC's) underneath you eyes. The primer helps your eye make-up to stay on longer and the set powder catches all of the shadow that falls off, so when you're done you can sweep it away and instead of having smudged shadow underneath your eye, you will have a brighter area.

Here is a chart of the colors I used from each palette, so when I refer to a color you'll know which one I'm talking about.

Start with "virgin" from the Naked palette on the inner part of the hood (not the corner, just a little above.)

Use the shadow brush to sweep "half baked" from the Naked palette from the inner corner of your lid to about the center. Do the same underneath but stop about 1/3 of the way instead of half.

 Use a wide brush (I used Tigi's "love brush") to sweep "posh" from the Tigi palette across the other 2/3 underneath.

 Using that same brush, sweep "posh" from the Tigi palette across your hood. Blend.

 Use a regular shadow brush to highlight underneath your brow with "champagne" from the Tigi palette. Blend.

 Use a smugger brush to add "chocolate" from the Tigi palette to your crease. Go from the outer edge of your crease to almost the inner edge. Blend.

Use "black" from the Tigi palette to add depth to the outer corner of your lid. I put it in a little triangle and blend.

Sweep another layer of "posh" form the Tigi palette from your inner corner to about halfway across your lid. Don't get it so far in the corner that it covers up the "half baked." Use a clean brush to blend everything.

 Finish with mascara and eyeliner. The eyeliner I use has a "smudgy" foam tip on the end, so I used that underneath my eye to give it a smokey look and blend from a thicker outer corner to a thin inner corner. Sweep away the set powder with a powder brush.

 A good nude gloss to finish this look is Lancome's juicy tubes in "creme brûlée."

Finishing touches I used:

If you want to make it more fun, you can add a pink lip, it pairs well. Sorry the lighting wasn't the best so it makes my right eye look a lot darker..

(The stupid face doesn't help either)

;-)

Dinner Time - Spicy Ragout

This ragout is very simple, yet so tasty! A great thing about this recipe is that you have so many options, I made it up as I went along one night and I've made it with different elements each time. It's great for the times you want pasta, but not a lot of sauce.

Spicy Ragout

1 lb meat of your choice (I used sausage this time, but ground pork, beef, or chicken is good too.)

1/2 lb pasta (I used penne)

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp savory

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp kosher salt 

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you like a lot of heat)

1 tbsp heavy cream

1/2 c red onion, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 roma tomatoes, diced

2 tbsp tomato paste

15-20 pepperoni slices

                   First brown the meat, in this case sausage, in a skillet over medium high heat. Season with salt, pepper, thyme, basil, savory, and cayenne.

I drained the grease off. Then add the onion, I roughly chopped it because I wanted bigger pieces than a dice. It gives it a more rustic feel. I added some olive oil, salt, and pepper to the onion.

Add the tomato paste and stir it in to coat the meat and onions.

Next, add the tomatoes and garlic.

Stir in the heavy cream.

Chop up the pepperonis and add them.

Let it cook over low heat for about 10 minutes before adding 1/2 lb al dente or just before al dente pasta (it'll cook more once in the mix.) 

Let the flavors get to know each other another 5 minutes and serve! You can add other vegetables or mushrooms, anything that sounds good with the current mix. :)

My Favorite iPad Apps!

With the recent release of the 3rd gen iPad, selling over three million devices in less than a week, I thought I would share my favorite iPad apps. These aren’t life changing applications, just the ones I use the most and think are worth sharing.

#5 - Tiny Village - Free

So this isn’t something that simplified or improved my life or daily activities, but it is addicting. This is an RPG where you are a prehistoric gent who must build a village from scratch. It’s one of those free games where they offer a lot of in-app purchases (like the “Everest of Crystals” for a mere $159.99), I don’t agree with that philosophy. I know they’ll get more money that way because people will play and want to skip ahead in the game (crystals are used to speed up processes, and build things quicker, gold coins buy things) but I think they should just charge for the game and include everything or keep in-app purchases < $5. Aside from that, it is fun to play throughout the day. You can earn crystals and gold throughout the game (which is what I do because I’m not buying them) so it’s not like you can’t play without making purchases.

#4 - Geek News - $0.99

This is an app that displays popular tech blogs. I’m aware you could just add these particular blogs (Engadget, Gizmodo, Boy Genius Report, Life Hacker, etc.) to Flipboard or Zite, but I’ve had this one on my iPhone since way before I discovered those, so I still check it and it deserves a spot on my list. Besides I have a lot of sections on Flipboard and Zite, so I like that this one is just my tech stuff.

#3 - Zite - Free

Zite sets up your favorite topics and articles as a magazine. This one has probably the most options for personalization among this type of app, but I like the set-up in Flipboard a little bit more. I still use Zite a lot, thus why it is on this list, but I’m just saying cosmetically, I enjoy Flipboard more.

#2 - Snapseed - $4.99

Snapseed is probably the best app for photography editing I’ve come across, aside from iPhoto, I can’t decide which one is better because I use both, but Snapseed more (unless I’m on my computer, then it’s always iPhoto.) I’ve had it on my iPhone for awhile, and I love it. Of course the set up for iPad is much more glorious, but I use it on both devices. You can do basic editing, like brightness, contrast, saturation, and cropping, but you can also do things like center focus, add cool filters, and spot edit (change qualities in only a specific area of the photo). Over all, I am quite pleased.

#1 - Flipboard - Free

Oh my God, I love Flipboard! You can view Facebook, Twitter, and all of your favorite blogs like a book. I really enjoy the UI because it’s so simple and user-friendly. Love, love, love!

Dinner Time - Garlic Lime Chicken

      This is one of my favorite recipes because it’s delicious and so easy! It’s good for you too! Garlic is very beneficial to your health, it contains diallyl sulfides (to increase ferroportin that aids in releasing stored iron to where it’s needed in the body), selenium ( a trace mineral that is incorporated with proteins to create selenoproteins that are important antioxidants), allicin (an excellent immune booster), and once in the body, it can produce hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas to help regulate blood pressure. An important thing to remember is to let your garlic set for about a minute after chopping or crushing it, because immediate heat or pH change can alter and lower the benefits you’ll get since it can destroy some of those healthy compounds inside. Here’s what you will need:

Garlic Lime Chicken

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast or tenders

2 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 limes (1 for zest and juice, the others to serve with)

kosher salt

fresh ground black pepper

olive oil

     Start by cutting the chicken into cubes and tossing with olive oil in a bowl. Add a heavy pinch of kosher salt, a few grinds of black pepper, and the garlic. Squeeze half of a lime’s juice onto the chicken and add the zest of about half of said lime. USE A REAL LIME. Don’t use that shit in a green plastic grenade! A real lime is usually about $0.30-$0.50 and it tastes so much better!

Heat a nonstick skillet to med-high and cook the chicken thoroughly, being careful not to burn the garlic. Cut the remaining limes into eighths and serve with the chicken so you and yours can up the lime factor to your personal taste. I served mine atop a bed of rice with steamed broccoli.

You can always use the extra lime to garnish your drink. (In this case a beer.)

;-)

Enjoy!

Dinner Time - Pasta

This is an easy recipe for spaghetti and meatballs, my meatballs never end up balls, so I call them meat pyramids. I also used angel hair instead of spaghetti, you can use any pasta really, but long noodles like spaghetti, vermicelli, and angel hair work best in this particular dish. You will need the following ingredients:

Chicken Meat Pyramids

1 lb ground chicken breast

1 egg

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

2 tsp of Italian seasoning (basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, garlic powder)

1/2 cup bread crumbs

Pasta Sauce

1/4 c red onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 roma tomato, diced

1 tbsp heavy cream

a dollop of tomato paste

1-15 oz can crushed tomatoes

1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (depending on your taste)

1 tsp Italian seasoning (basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, garlic powder)

1 tsp thyme

kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

olive oil

              This was my first time working with ground chicken, I’ve made meat pyramids with beef and turkey in the past, but I figured I’d give chicken a try. Heat up a nonstick skillet on medium, then add some olive oil once its hot. 

First I seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Next, I whisked the egg before adding it to the chicken. I started to mix the chicken with my hands, but I was not aware that ground chicken, unlike most ground meats, has the consistency of yogurt; a spoon will suffice. I added the bread crumbs, and honestly I didn’t measure, but it was about 1/2 cup, just add enough to soak up some moisture and get it to a good consistency. I also didn’t specify the type of bread crumbs in the above recipe because I used more than one type. You can use whatever you have, I had some buttery crackers I crumbled in and a mixture I had previously used for coating chicken (cheez-its, seasoning salt, pepper, flour, and cumin in the food processor.) After mixing everything together, I used two spoons to form balls and put them into the pan. After browning the first side, turn about 90 degrees, keep turning after browning each side and attempt to keep the ball shape, like I said, mine are always pyramids, so whatever works. 

I then moved them to the oven. I pre-heated it 275 Fahrenheit, put them on a cooling rack atop a cookie sheet (to allow air on the underneath.) They were cooked while in the pan, I just wanted them to stay warm and crispy while I made my pasta and sauce.

        For the sauce I started by sweating the onion in some olive oil.

Then I diced up a roma tomato and minced two cloves of garlic.

BTW: My cutting board has “NM” on it to prevent cross contamination, it stands for “no meat.”

Add the tomatoes and garlic to the pan. Turn the heat to just above low.

Season the sauce with Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, cayenne, and thyme. I’m aware there is thyme in the Italian seasoning, I wanted more. Next, add tomato paste.

Stir it in, then add the heavy cream. It makes it a not so appetizing color, but it's prettier when the sauce is finished.

Add the can of crushed tomatoes and let simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Finish the sauce with a splash of olive oil, it helps make it creamier, as does the heavy cream.

Add 1 lb of al dente pasta, toss to combine.

Top with the meat pyramids and you're done! Remember to taste your sauce as you're cooking it.  You can personalize this however you want, for example sautéed mushrooms would be an excellent addition. Let me know what you guys add!

Everyday Miracles

I think there are mysterious and wonderful things happening around us everyday, but most people don't open their eyes to see it.

For example, when my son was about three or four months old, he used to look over my shoulder and smile. This is normal, of course babies smile at everything, but he was focusing on something as if somebody was standing there. It started to freak me out a little bit because he would always do it when we were home alone and I thought someone was standing behind me. He eventually stopped, so i assumed whatever or whoever it was had left until a week or two ago.

My backyard needed to be mowed badly, so I was looking out my kitchen window at it and realized there was a tulip beside a tree in my yard. This was weird for a few reasons: 1) We have never planted any tulips out there 2) There weren't any tulips out there seven years ago when my husband bought the house 3) My grandpa was obsessed with tulips when he was alive, tulips and the moon! He loved them both. 4) It bloomed on the full moon.

I believe that was a sign that my grandfather is still with me and watching over my son, who happens to be name after him. Another weird thing is after I picked it and took it out to the cemetery (figured I should give it back to him,) I asked my husband if we could plant a ring of tulips around that tree in honor of my grandpa, he said we couldn't because the roots of that tree are so entangled in the bed around it that you can't plant anything. Tulips aren't a flower that just pops up in a bed that nothing else can grow in, thus my theory that if you just open your eyes, and even your third eye, you will notice amazing things happening in your own backyard!

Revamp Time

Like an old gay man, I have many chotchkies. I love them, all the little, useless, yet interesting statues and candle holders that are completely unnecessary in my decor, but make my day that much brighter. However, I have grown tired of some of the rather plain ones and decided to give them a little makeover. It took about one minute from start to finish, so it's pretty easy.

I have a lot of clear glass and crystal candles holders and wanted them to have something more. I contemplated painting or spray painting them (I've been on a metallic spray paint kick lately), but then I realized I have a lot of skanky tights I don't wear. Now, not all patterned rights are skanky, but on me, they tend to look that way. So I decided they would look better on my chotchkies. All you have to do is place the object inside the pantyhose/tights leg and tie it off on top. If the tights don't have a "foot" you can tie a knot before you place the object inside and turn it inside out to hide the knot. The tighter you pull before the top knot, the more transparent (and in my case lace-like) it looks. Voila! A new look for an old knick knack.