Week 15



Sunday, November 22, 2009



Chicken Curry in a Hurry, Carmel Brownies

It was good to be well again and back to our normal routine. Always appreciating a good Curry, we decided to try a recipe called Chicken Curry in a Hurry. Since I am often in a hurry when I am making dinner this sounded like a good one to know. We had a bunch of carmels left since we had been too sick to make the caramel apples I had planned. So, we found a caramel brownie recipe that combined two of my favorite sweet temptations, Caramel and Chocolate-- Mmm Mmm! We set out on a culinary journey that led to not only a delicous meal but also answers to such life pondering questions such as "Which is healthier, carrots, pasta, or chocolate?" and how many barbies does it take to have a million "doll hairs?"

They had fun unwrapping the carmels for which I was grateful because I find it tedious.
The joy of unwrpping has long lost it's savor in my years-- oh to be young again (wistful sigh)

Elayna made sure that each one didn't touch. Too bad they are all going to melt together in the pot.




Look at all those caramels! Yum Yum!

He's Panting



I love Jordan's face as he cringes, waiting for her to spill the milk.

These are some Naughty Brownies.

Preparing the Curry

I always cringe when Jordan has a knife in his hand.

This is why...

He looks like he's enjoying this knife business a little too much

Mmm, I love yellow curry!

Isabel the "scavenger" harvesting the carcuss for leftover chicken. Yummy!

One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it calls for Precooked rotissere chicken- hence the "Hurry" part. It's so much nicer carving up chicken already cooked, than dealing with raw chicken. I know my ancestors are rolling in thier graves at my complaints of touching raw meat. I am grateful I don't have to hack off the head, pluck the feathers, and then figure out how to cook it. I am even more grateful when I don't even have to thaw and cut the boneless skinless prepackaged breast halves. Who needs all that when you have Fry's and Safeway?"

Chicken Curry in a Hurry

1 1/2 tsp. Oil
1 yellow onion
2 tsp. curry
1/2 cup plain yogurt
3/4 Heavy Whipping Cream
1 can diced tomatoes (we used fresh tomatoes)
1 rotissere chicken
2 cup cooked rice
1/4 c cilantro leaves

Directions:
Heat oil in a skillet and saute onions for 7 min. sprinkle with curry powder and cook 1 minute more. add the yogurt and cream; simmer for 3 min. stir in salt and pepper and tomatoes and remove from heat and serve over rice. Sprinkle with cilantro. we changed it by adding the tomatoes and simmering it for about 20 min. It wasn't so in hurry that way-- but it was Tasty. Thumbs up on this recipe!

Interesting Dinner Conversation

This is Jordan proving he can eat his dinner.

It started when Isabel and Laney said how much they loved dinner and Jordan said he didn't. We chided him saying the only thing he loves is "junk food" which most days is pretty true. Isabel said "I don't think you want to be in the healthy family. You want to belong to a "junk" family. " I think Jordan took it as a challenge, because he began to heartily eat his dinner after that. The conversation continued on about healthy eating and then somehow we got on the subject of money. during the course of the discussion JJ introduced the kids to the "doll hair" trick. You know "I'll give you a hundred "doll hairs" if you ..." I know my brother played that one on me when I was young. As we were finishing up dinner, Isabel was quizing everyone with nutrition questions. (see video below) The final question was worth One million "doll hairs."

Isabel's Healthy Eating Game Show

Isabel's pay out in "doll hairs"

This is Isabel bringing the Prize "money" This prompted another thought about whether we were getting "paid in full. " Exactly how many barbies would it take to have a million "dollhairs?" We decided to consult the omnipotent internet and see if anyone was dumb enough to figure it out. Appearantly we aren't the only ones to ponder this important question, but there weren't any legitimate answers. Soooo... (yes this is how pathetic we are) we decided to be "dumb enough" and figure it out. JJ counted his barbie and I mine so we would have an average. The kids were smart enough to know they didn't want to count hairs when they saw the wads of barbie hair up close.

They didn't know tricks to estimation. JJ halved his barbie's hair into sections until he only had to count 1/1024 th of the hair which turned about to be about 19 hairs. Soooo. 19 times 1024 equals about 20,000 hairs.

I unfortunately, didn't half mine quite as much. I did 1/256. I had to count 189 hairs. So mine had roughly 48,000. My barbie's hair was quite a bit thicker. So since a barbie has anywhere between 20,000-50,000 hairs it would take about 20 to 50 barbies to make good on 1 million dollhairs! I don't think Isabel had quite enough. She owes us some barbies. And now we know how many hairs a barbie has. Ahh, I can finally rest at night.

Jordan's helping.

Carmel Brownies

Melt in pan:

1 14 oz. bag of Kraft carmels

1/3 cup evaporated milk

Mix:

1 German chocolate cake mix ( I just used a regular chocolate cake mix)

1/3 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup butter

1 tbsp. water

Topping:

1 cup semi sweet choc. chips

Directions:

Spread half of mix into greased 9x13 pan. Bake @ 350 for 6 minutes. Pour caramel mixture over it. Sprinkle over carmel the chocolate chips. Pat the rest of the dough over the top and piece it together. Bake 16-18 @ 350 let carmel harden before serving.

These were mighty tastey. Honestly, how can you go wrong with Carmel and Brownies? I think you are supposed to let these cool for 24 hours before cutting. Yah right! No one seemed to
mind them gooey. Like this little girl for instance!

Ooey Gooey, nice and Chewy!






I'm not sure what they are doing. But I am thinking of using it as our Christmas card, with the message... "Have a Merry Christmas, or else...."


How's that for spreading holiday cheer?