Cupcakes

How to make a cake for your mom's birthday:
Step 1: find the cake mix in the pantry and realize you have no eggs. 
Step 2: Google cake mix with no eggs. And see you can sub applesauce. 
Step 3: kids eat all the applesauce you just found - Google again. You can use a can of diet soda!
Step 4: no diet soda so find club soda - all is good I am sure.
Step 5: remember mom like chocolate cake so melt a candy bar and and that.
Step 6: make cupcakes with the batter... They seem like a better idea with the current situation
Step 6: decide to make cream cheese frosting - you have cream cheese!
Step 7: find all of the ingredients but realize you need more powdered sugar - Google that... And put sugar in the ninja to make some from regular sugar.
Step 8: use pliers to unscrew the ninja blender top stuck with sugar.
Step 9: add newly made powder sugar and realize it was not done as the frosting is crunchy.
Step 10: try to use a hair dryer to warm the frosting while it whips to make it not crunchy (thanks again Google!)
Step 11: throw away frosting and go to trader joes for new frosting just to realize they do not carry frosting.
Step 12: buy more stuff to make frosting.
Step 13: get home to realize you do not have butter
Step 14: ask your sister to buy frosting...

Revelations

In my year quest to cook all of my recipes I have pinned I have come to a conclusion... I am not exactly a "pin-fail" person, but a "pin-whatinthehellisinmykitchenIcansubstituteforthat" person. Some good ideas have emerged. Some bad... very bad (insert cupcake incident here). It has made me a better cook, creating some great recipes without fear and even writing them down (GASP!). Here is a sample of tonight's menu... I will let you know how it tastes:
Maple Dijon Chicken
4 thawed chicken breasts (3 frozen ones should do)
1/4 cup dijon mustard (hmmm. spicy brown is all I have)
1/4 cup Maple syrup (Matt does not like sweet.. only add a squirt or 2)
Rice vinegar (the other recipe says white vinegar... add a little of both)
onion powder (out... oh well!)
Mix the sauce (done!)
Dip chicken in sauce and place in shallow pan (put frozen breasts in a random pan and pour the sauce over)
Cover with salt and pepper before pouring extra sauce on (oops - salt and pepper on top of sauce - done!)
Put in a pan and bake at 400 for 20 minutes (that does not seem long enough. Put frozen breasts in the over and set the delay time to come on at 4:00 and check it later...)
I am sure it will be tasty - maybe.

Old movies

Me: what are you watching
Matt: The Great Escape
Me: What is that about?
Matt:  (Dumb founded) escaping the prison camp
Me: Well it looks like they just escaped, so is it almost over...?
Matt: (silence)
Me: (checking the TV) why is there another hour?? They escaped!
Matt; Now they have to get caught - a lot of them die
Me: why the hell would I want to watch that!
Matt: I am going to bed

I found him in the bedroom watching the rest of it alone....

Freezing jalepenos

I found this tip for chopping green onions and freezing them was so clever I did it with my jalapeños! It works so well with my fall jalapeño crop I can make chili all winter with pre-chopped jalapeño and BOOM! done!

Oven Backed Chicken Fahitas

No words - just GOOD!

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into strips

2 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 teaspoon chili powder

2 teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon salt

1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies

1 medium onion, sliced

1 large bell pepper, seeded and sliced (I use half a green and half a red)

12 flour tortillas

Toppings such as cheese, sour cream, and guacamole

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Place chicken strips in a greased 13×9-inch baking dish.

In a small bowl combine the oil, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, dried oregano, and salt.

Drizzle the spice mixture over the chicken and stir to coat.

Add the tomatoes, peppers, and onions to the dish and stir to combine.

Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.

Serve on tortillas with desired toppings.

Pickeling Jalepeno's

Slice up a bunch of jalepano's (oh, and don't touch your face... argh!)
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 tbsp peppercorns
2 bay leaves
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tbsp coarse sea salt
1 tbsp sugar

Pack the jalapeños in a glass jar.
In a saucepan, add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Pour the hot pickling liquid over the jalapeños and let it rest for a few hours. Shake it up a little so that the peppercorns are evenly distributed.
Keep refrigerated for upto two months or can it.
They are a fun gift for the holidays!

Dog Shaming - It's a shame

Meet Jeff. He is our new dog.
He was flown up from a high kill shelter in California to Spokane and we brought him home to his "forever home" last month.
From day one Jeff has never jumped on anyone, tried to climb on our furniture, growled at the kids (ever after the little one pulled his tail), begged from the table or even slept in our bedroom (yes there is a bed in there...). We have beds in every room, a dog door for him to go out and play and lots of treats and love for him. He prefers to lay in the sunshine on warm days and snuggle up on his bed by the fire on cold ones. It is like we won the dog lottery. Jeff is so kind, obedient, smart and gentle - taking treats from a three year old with care.
But... he is a lab "mix". Yes, probably with some pit bull mixed in. Does that mean everyone is scared of him or feels it necessary to point that out? Yes. Everyone feels it necessary to walk into my home look at my docile dog sitting proudly by the door (not jumping or barking) and say - "ohhhhh... he is part Pit!". Um, thanks? I will take that as a compliment...