Home Maid Simple

Day: May 4, 2012

  • Foodie Friday – Chicken and Pasta

    Foodie Friday – Chicken and Pasta

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    Earlier this week Diane posted about the Mediterranean Diet. I got curious and checked out the link she had posted. I am trying to eat healthier, and introduce a better variety of food to my kids, so I decided to add a recipe from the Mediterranean Diet to my menu each week.
    I wanted to start with something similar to foods we already eat, you know, to not go completely foreign on my poor husband and kids.  I wanted to try the Penne with Arugula Pesto, Peas and Grilled Chicken.
    Let me tell you something, before you decide to start making a dish, double check you have all the ingredients. Assumption means some last minute and strange substitutions.  Using the original recipe as a base, I created for dinner
    Rotini with Spinach Pesto, Tomatoes and Chicken

    Ingredients
    12 oz Tri Color Rotini Pasta
    A bunch of Spinach (eyeball it)
    1/2 cup sliced Almonds
    1 tsp minced garlic
    3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
    1/2 tsp salt
    1/2 tsp pepper
    1 large Tomato, cut into chunks
    2 lbs cooked chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
    4oz Asiago cheese grated

    Directions
    In a food processor, process Spinach, Almonds, garlic, salt and pepper. If you don’t have a food processor a blender works, but you have to push the spinach down between pulses.  Slowly pour in olive oil while processing. Pour the Pesto into a large serving bowl.
    Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain and pour on top of pesto. Toss the pasta to cover with pesto.
    Toss in the tomato, chicken and cheese. Serve.
    Yields about 8 servings

    I am so excited to see what you all have to link up this week!  Here are a few of my favorites from the last weeks linky (there were so many yummy ones!)
    For a yummy and unique breakfast check out Tessa the Domestic Diva’s Mexican Eggs!
    For a Meatless Dinner, head over to Meatless Mediterranean and try out this White Bean, Tomato and Vegetable Stew

    Finally, please enjoy this yummy yummy looking dessert (my mouth has been watering all week with this one!)
    Italian Tartufo from Life is Sweets

    If you’ve been featured please grab this button to display on your blog!

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  • After (sort of) Kitchen

    After (sort of) Kitchen

    Ok I really really wanted to link this up last week, but I just kept hoping we would get the Kitchen done before the end of April. Well, it’s May now, and we’re still not quite done with the Kitchen. So I decided to show you anyways!

    Let’s take a quick look back at what we started with, shall we?

    ~Shudders~

    I am so happy to say, that even though it’s not done, my kitchen is finally a place I truly enjoy being in!  Check it out. I’ll try and point out everything we did for you.
    I gave these sneek peek photos on facebook.

    New cupboards from Ikea! We assembled them all ourselves (and I only messed up a few times, haha)

    We also bought this butcher block counter top from Ikea. I loved the blonde wood, but we stained it a little darker than this picture shows. Oh and see what’s under the counter? A DISHWASHER!!! I’ve been handwashing all our dishes for the past year. Having a dishwasher has been pretty nice.
    Are you ready to see it all together?
    really?
    ok here it is!

    Pretty much the whole kichen is brand new. I absolutely love the glass doors. It makes this otherwise cramped space feel more open and friendly.
    By bringing the door frame down we were also able to thread some electrical through the wall and put the lightswitch on the other side. The fridge is no longer in the way of it! 
    Speaking of the fridge, we also placed a water line in the sub flooring so our ice maker actually makes ice now, whodathunk!

    We still need to finish the backsplash, add the toe kick to the bottom of the cupboards, trim the  doorway and add a light over the sink. After that, it will be officially done.

    The biggest problem we ran into here was the plumbing.Nothing was up to code, and we’ve never worked with plumbing before.  Sadly the consequence to that is another flooded basement, and a call to the professional plumbers. They were great though and taught is some things for future DIY attempts.

    Now how about my other before project?  Baby Prince arrived 5 days after his due date, and at almost a month old this is how that project turned out

    At 10lbs 6oz now, and on a schedule. I couldn’t have asked for a better baby (fingers crossed that I don’t jinx it by continually bragging about him, but really I’ve never had this good of a kid!)

    TDC Before and After