Thursday, January 11, 2018

Chicken Curry and Jam recipe

I got a message from Jessica asking about my Chicken Curry recipe, so figured it would be easier to put it up here for her to get.

This is a family recipe that I grew up with that has morphed into my own version. Old version was all chicken bone-in pieces and I think you cooked it with the rice so it was done when the chicken was cooked.

Tami's Chicken Curry

1 chicken breast per person - I use boneless, skinless, use what your family prefers, my husband doesn't like thigh meat, so I don't use that

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 or 2 teaspoons Yellow Curry Powder

1 teaspoon Turmeric (optional)

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup, you can also use Cream of Mushroom (family recipe uses this) or Cream of Potato

1 potato per person

1 regular sized carrot peeled and chopped, or a handful of baby carrots either left whole or chopped

1 yellow onion (chop and saute and add to mixture - also optional if you don't like onions)

1 can of coconut milk (found in the Asian food aisle, don't skimp and you want the whole coconut milk!)

Garlic can also be added if you like garlic

This can be put into an Instant Pot with frozen chicken pieces, do the Stew or Soup setting. It can also be put into a slow cooker and cooked during the day. I used to put the chicken breasts into a pan of water and defrost/cook them with dried Walla Walla onions I had on hand.  Then once breasts are cooked, shred the chicken and add to liquid mixture. You can also microwave the potatoes and carrots and add in with the cooked chicken. Then its just a matter of heating up all the other ingredients and heating until hot.

This can either have a gravy like consistency or a soup like one. If you want it more soup like, add half to a full can of milk when adding in your Cream of Whatever soup.

Cook Jasmine rice and serve over, or in, if you're going with the soup consistency.

If you want it the "old" way, Spray a 9x11 pan to prevent sticking. Put in rice, place chicken pieces on top, make mixture and pour on top. Bake in 350 oven for 30-45 minutes. This assumes defrosted chicken! You'll need to add the milk with this soup for this option. Oh and it didn't use the coconut milk, potatoes or carrots or onions. (See much better now!)

Last week I had a container of cranberries leftover from the holidays as well as three pears from my Imperfect Produce box. So I pulled out Michele's Cranberry - Pear- Bourbon-Ginger Jam recipe.

My changes:
I didn't have 4 cups of cranberries, I had 3. I also didn't have Bourbon or the Whiskey ( I used it on the Irish Cream also on the link), but I did have some Spiced Brandy! I also only had half of a small jar of Penzye's Candied Ginger Bits.

I ended up with a pint jar, two jelly jars and two tiny Pot de Creme jars I was reusing. One of the jelly jars refuses to stay sealed, so its in the frig. I think the other jars will go in the pantry until Thanksgiving when they'll be gifted. 

I'm busy making a Bigger on the Inside shawl for our friend Jenna (my project link over on the sidebar). She's a Dr Who fan. Of course, I can't do it as the pattern is written! I'm using three skeins of yarn in different colors. Only the middle in Tardis blue as it should be. I've added in a couple extra Tardis motifs in that section, so that means I widened out the top. I used Abstract Fiber's Mighty Sock in the Constellation colorway. the middle is Spud & Chloe's Fine in the Snorkel colorway. The bottom I'm planning to use a different edging and using Alexandra's Crafts Silver Falls Blue Pacific colorway. I want to do a swirl knit on edging to simulate a vortex.

Sorry, no pics, but a couple of links to check out. ;-)

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Self-Care for 2018

I decided that while I haven't been terrible about my personal care, I could certainly do better!  I used to be really good about walking the dogs. I got better in December and I'd like to carry that forward. Liz had shared this in December - http://wantforwellness.com/30-day-self-care-challenge/ I looked at it and thought that it was something I could do and asked to be buddies with her in the process. Accountability really helps!

So last night before bed I got a couple of TED talks in. Did not intend them to work this way, but since they were both in Spanish, I had to watch and read. They were these - https://www.ted.com/talks/martina_flor_the_secret_language_of_letter_design#t-723300 and https://www.ted.com/talks/karina_galperin_why_don_t_we_write_words_the_way_pronounce_them#t-657640

Today, I need to drink a lot of water. I have some elderflower syrup that will help with that. Though with how cold things are, might make that some of my elderberry syrup to help boost the immune system!

How is your self-care?  What do you do regularly for yourself?

Monday, January 1, 2018

2018 Knit Designer Goal

My dear husband was the one that encouraged me to learn how to knit. I resisted for a couple years, happy with my crochet. Then took the plunge and haven't looked back. I use crochet skills still, but knitting it my love.

Along the way, I was changing things that didn't work for me in a pattern. Then he started saying that I should be writing my own patterns.

2016 and 2017 I actually did create some patterns, but nothing officially written down and published on Ravelry, except for one - Number Play (Using link will open a new window). To date I have 710 unique downloads of the pattern!  I need to knit up the Knit Picks version so that I can submit it there. I've written the Number Play Two shawl, a fingering weight version knit with Fierce Fibers yarn and Knit Picks Stroll Gradient. The first one I was inspired by the Equinox colorway of Stacey's Buxom yarn and told her it needed to be knit up as a sample for Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival. I had a little over a week to write and knit the pattern up! Then go back and test knit it to fix errors, and there were a few. ;-) With Number Play Two, I've figured out a better format so when I release it, I'll also do one more update for Number Play.
So I'm going to be blogging more this next year! Hope you enjoy the ride along with me!