Archive for February, 2011

>

• 1 boneless skinless chicken breast partially frozen and cubed (why? because it is easier to cube when partly frozen, I find)
• 1 C. chopped yellow onion
• 1 C. chopped carrot
• 1 C. fresh frozen peas
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 2-3 T. olive oil
• One box of chicken broth (I use Aldi’s brand Fit and Active and I didn’t use all of it, just pour it over the chicken till covered)
• 2-3 T. (maybe more) of flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour because that’s what I had)
• pepper (teaspoon ish)
• celery salt (maybe a teaspoon)
• paprika (pinch to pinch and a half)
• 1 package of Egg Roll Wrappers (I used the Melissa’s brand found in produce aisle)
• 1 egg, beaten
• tiny cup of water

First pre-heat the oven to 350. Then heat a large skillet on medium. Add some olive oil and cook the onions a little (not brown) and be sure to stir them a lot, add in the garlic when you feel ready.

In about a minute or so add the cubed chicken and cook till all white ( I had to add a little splash of chicken broth because it was too hot and getting sticky).

Add the carrots and peas. Cover with chicken broth, not completely submerged but pretty liquid-y. It gets thicker like gravy later. Add the seasonings to taste.

That will come to a boil pretty quickly and then I added the flour to the bubbly simmery liquid.

Cover the pan and turned it down to low for maybe 10-15 minutes…maybe more…I was just winging it- cook till the carrots are softer and the liquid starts to thicken. Just stay in there and watch it. I could tell when the sauce was gravy like that it was time to fill the pockets.

So here’s what you do: Egg roll wrappers are pretty thin, so I doubled up. Lay the wrapper on a cutting board and dip your finger in water to wet the edges. Drop the chicken filling into the center. Fold over the wrapper diagonally and press the sides with a fork (like pie!) and carefully move it to a cookie sheet (I lined mine with parchment paper – love that stuff). I got 4 pockets in one cookie sheet and there was only a little filling leftover in the pan (which I ate immediately).

So then you beat one egg and brush it over the tops of the pockets. Poke a air vent hole with a fork on the top of each pocket. Bake @ 350 for 25-30 minutes – or until browned and crunchy looking. Pop them out, they will be HOT so blow on them before you eat.

Here’s the deal though – the wrappers get crispy but are tough to break through with a fork. One pocket is pretty large so I cut mine in half (also because I ate the leftover filling already) and had to use a knife. You can eat them pretty much like “hot pockets” because they are easy to hold and there isn’t a ton of gooey gravy coming out. If you want a really gooey more pot-pie-ish situation you might be better off making an actual pot pie. This is my relatively healthy twist. My family loved them!

>

This morning I got to sleep in to a late 6:30 am! Oh joy, really, it’s a good thing. I normally get up at 5:15 so when my bossy first dog waits until after 6 to start rustling around I am pretty happy. Did our dog business, worked out a little, had some breakfast, showered….and then I decided to paint. Here’s the weird thing though – I was determined to paint larger. All the time people ask for larger….so I tried. I drew a few 4×6 size paintings. I started to paint. It wasn’t working out. I could just tell they weren’t going the way I hoped. I trashed them. I started over, in ACEO size with completely different subject matter. This experience made me realize that maybe I am really stuck in this size! Maybe that’s not a bad thing? I don’t know…..I love small art. I think it is interesting. I just hope other people learn to love it as much as me. I am so in love with these two paintings. Can’t wait to scan them. I think these might be “special” enough for some mats.

>I know. I am sick of winter too! I want to go back to daily walks, random photos of nature….oh come on, I know you miss those! Today after I tucked my car into the garage and noticed all these little icy drips on everything I couldn’t resist taking a picture of my daughter’s bird house. It is almost the one year anniversary of when we met my daughter! Our first activity together was painting bird houses in the park. So sweet. We’ll do it again sometime When it’s sunny!

>

>Someone asked me the other day if I ever print my art on canvas so that frames become unnecessary. Trouble is that I really only paint very small things so finding an affordable way to print the image and then stretch it over small bars is no easy task. Believe me, I tried yesterday morning. So in that process I came up with maybe just printing the small ACEO sized reproductions of some of my favorite paintings. But then, here I am again with small art that only a small amount of people really appreciate….so I have to figure out something to create with this expensive pack of printable canvas paper. But what?

>

Oh So Quiet – Original ACEO painting

Monday. Normally a day that I run all over town getting groceries and this, that, whatever. Today however is Presidents Day. A day we all celebrate by… not going to school or the bank or the post office. Lucky me I woke up in productive mode and caught up on a million things I had not had time for the last few weeks. Like scanning and organzing some art, paying some bills, packing orders, ordering new prints, giving my shop a new banner…little things that tend to pile up over time. What do you have on your agenda today? I will be entertaining my kid and trying not to go stir crazy! It’s cold outside again

>

I think it was over 70 degrees today. It was an amazing day. I woke up really early and made some pretty tasty home made banana bread (see recipe below) and went to the market for some fresh fruits. There are berries for a reasonable price that didn’t come from halfway around the world! I have a really shameful garden area in my back yard that I felt compelled to try and clean out in hopes of planting some things. I did not get very far, but it was a start. Then a friend came by for a little brunch. Great time. Later, did a little furniture shopping and may have got my daughter a monster truck sized bed for a closet sized room. You know how that goes – impulse shopping without any measuring tape. It’s what I do when I buy furniture It is in no way practical. After our shopping trip we walked to the park for what seemed to be local park liberation day! Everyone and their mother was there. Well, that’s silly because really there was a ton of mothers…anyway – a good day. GREAT day.

Lauren’s Yummy Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

1 C. whole wheat flour
1 C. whole wheat pastry flour
1 C. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamin
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt

2 ripe mashed bananas
2 eggs
1/3 C. oil
1/4 C. milk
2 tsp. vanilla

half bag of semi-sweet chocolate chunks (or more…why not?)
some nuts if you want them

Preheat oven to 35o. Mix the first group of ingredients in one bowl. Mix the next group of ingredients in another bowl. Combine them all in one of the bowls and then add the chocolate chips/nuts. Pour in a loaf pan that you can line with parchment paper instead of greasing – love that stuff. Bake for 50-60 mins or until toothpick comes out clean or mostly clean Yum!

>It’s a totally wacky time of year. My main career as art teacher kind of takes over my life as I get ready for our Open House night. The halls must be filled with lovely child-made artworks. Here you can see a pretty sunflower still life a la Van Gogh in progress from the second grade. This is one of my favorite projects and always a crowd pleaser. I love it when students get to paint large. I think I have perfected the art of distributing paint which last year took up most of our art time but this year I have a fool-proof system in place. The kids get the primary colors plus white, black, turquoise, and magenta. Why turquoise and magenta? Because they make better secondary colors than “normal” blue and red. It’s true. Believe me. Anyways- I look forward to doing some art of my own soon. Might just have to wait till the event of the year passes

>

Traditional English Shortbread – Vegan by LauraEtoile

Sorry to post so much about food. But really, I’m not sorry about this post. I love finding sellers on Etsy that can bring me soooo much happiness – a vintage/handmade dress, some lovely smelling soaps, a pretty painting, and YES….delicious, homemade, natural, sweet treats like what I discovered in LauraEtoile’s shop. Fast shipping and supremely yummy food. I ordered the shortbread “for my husband” but I have enjoyed them just as much if not more. Soft, chewy, salty/sweet, simple….perfect!

>What better to do on Valentine’s Day then make delicious sweet things for your sweethearts? This morning I made cinnamin french toast. And dinner will be anything but gourmet; we’re having last night leftovers turned into a sandwich. Yum! But dessert is getting a bit more decadent…see above. Okay I have to admit that as much as I am in love with making my own food right down to the most single ingredients…I fell a little short. I made a jello pudding pie! Oh how easy. I couldn’t help myself though – adding crushed chocolate chips and a fresh strawberry. I am sure it will taste “just okay” but I am pretty sure my 8 year old will appreciate it. Speaking of my 8 year old – I am trying to last minute- er…last second plan her classroom Valentine party. Party kick off is in …..just under 2 hours. Better hop to