The Redhead Riter - Witty, Intelligent & Addictive: 3/1/11

Unprepared For Chicken

Thinking about recipes for dinner first thing in the morning before the sun comes up and the birds start tweeting is beyond my capabilities. So I've had to learn to accommodate because of my lack of preparation and still be able to provide delicious food at the last minute.

This recipe is totally for you if:

You forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer.

You don't have any fresh herbs and spices in the refrigerator or the garden.

You only have 25 minutes to get a meal on the table.

There is also a secret to this recipe...

Unprepared For Chicken

If you buy your chicken with bones and the skin still attached, just remove them before you pop it in the freezer. That will help you always be prepared for this last minute meal.

Remove the plastic from the frozen chicken - 3 large chicken breasts.

Put it in the microwave for one minute. This will be just enough heating time to separate it from the package and soft enough to cut.

With a sharp knife, cut the frozen chicken into cubes. Be sure to keep your fingers out of the way.

Try to cut them in uniform sized cubes.

Cut a large onion into large pieces.

Cut across the onion to produce medium slices.

Add 4 tablespoons olive oil to a skillet/frying pan.

Turn the pan on high and add the chicken and onions. Yes, I did say high.

Sprinkle 3 tablespoons garlic powder on top of the chicken and onions.

You can add more if you really like garlic.

Add 1 tablespoon dried oregano, but...

Before adding, rub the oregano between your hands.

Add 1 teaspoon of black and red pepper blend or 1/2 teaspoon of each if you've purchased them separately.

Sprinkle 3 tablespoons dried parsley flakes in the pan.

Don't worry about stirring anything yet. Just add all the ingredients first while the pan is getting really hot.

Now for the secret weapon ingredient - 2 tablespoons Mrs. Dash, Tomato, Basil, Garlic.

It is salt-free and will add a great flavor to the chicken.

At this point you can add salt or not add salt. Either way it is delicious.

The pan is hot now so start stirring.

When you get a steady smokey steam rising from the pan, you know you're on the right track.

The secret to this recipe is cooking it fast and trapping the moisture within the cubes of chicken. By constantly stirring, all sides cook evenly and more quickly.

Everything will start to brown and the onions will caramelize.

Keep stirring and flipping the chicken and onions.

You may be tempted to turn down the heat, but don't turn the heat down.

When you think it looks done, cut open the fattest piece of chicken to check that it is cooked all the way through.

Everything between taking the chicken out of the freezer to putting the completed dish on the plate will only take 25 minutes.

This dish is great served over rice, with a couple side dishes or right on top of a salad.

The flavor bursts with each bite and the chicken is very juicy.

Here...

Take a bite...

Yummy wasn't it?

Unprepared For Chicken
prep time: 25 minutes

3 large chicken breasts
1 large onion
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon of black and red pepper blend
3 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
2 tablespoons Mrs. Dash, Tomato, Basil, Garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)

Remove the plastic from the frozen chicken. Put the chicken in the microwave for one minute. This will be just enough heating time to separate it from the package and soft enough to cut. With a sharp knife, cut the frozen chicken into cubes. Be sure to keep your fingers out of the way.
Try to cut them in uniform sized cubes. Cut onion into large pieces and then cut across the onions pieces to produce medium slices.

Add olive oil to a skillet/frying pan. Turn the pan on high and add the chicken and onions. Sprinkle garlic powder on top of the chicken and onions. Add dried oregano after rubbing it between your hands. Add black and red pepper blend. Sprinkle dried parsley flakes in the pan.
Add Mrs. Dash, Tomato, Basil, Garlic. Sprinkle with salt if desired.

The pan is hot now so start stirring the mixture. The secret to this recipe is cooking it fast and trapping the moisture within the cubes of chicken. By constantly stirring, all sides cook evenly and more quickly.
Everything will start to brown and the onions will caramelize. Keep stirring and flipping the chicken and onions. Do not reduce the heat. When you think it looks done, cut open the fattest piece of chicken to check that it is cooked all the way through.

This dish is great served over rice, with a couple side dishes on right on top of a salad.

The flavor bursts with each bite and the chicken is very juicy.

Knots Add Character

The whole purpose of planting a tree is to have it grow big and beautiful. However, before the Spring arrives, we prune back branches leaving exposed wood where a branch used to grow. Usually we do this type of pruning for aesthetics to enhance the natural form or to stimulate flowering and fruit growth.

The health of the tree is also a reason for pruning. Getting rid of damaged or diseased wood can save the life of the tree. Sometimes the branches have been growing for years and once removed, there is a large area exposed which shows the lines of seasonal growth inside the tree.

Pruning is a tough job and if the saw slips, it can cause a jagged edge or extra chunk of wood to be removed.

In time, however, the wood heals leaving behind gnarly scars. These areas never look the same after they have grown over. Each is distinct with intricate bark patterns even if there are several on the same tree.

Besides pruning, there are other natural elements such as birds and weather that cause the tree to become scarred. The regrowth and healing is sometimes quick and sometimes it takes quite a long time to recover from the removal of the limbs. However, pruning is necessary.

These knots of scarred wood add character and is the exact kind of lumber I look for when building furniture or doing projects. I like how the scars and knots play with my imagination. I also think that the knobby wood adds to the beauty of whatever I've created.

We are like the tree.

The storms of pain and hard experiences thrash us about leaving behind scars, knobs and knots. With the right attitude, a lesson can be learned from the trials. That knowledge makes us more beautiful and prunes our souls towards becoming a wise, compassionate and selfless person.

Pruning is painful and often very harsh.

Even if the knots left behind after the healing are large, they are marks that prove you have lived...

Loved with every fiber of your body.

Given until the last drop of energy.

Comforted another when your soul cried with exhaustion.

Completely and totally lived.

That makes all the knots worth it.

Can you relate with the gnarly tree?

Do you have any knots?

What has life pruning taught you?

After sitting down at my desk this morning, I reached for my glasses. Just as I was slipping them onto my face, I noticed that the right lens had something on it. Pulling the glasses back off my face, I held them up to the light so that I could see the location of the smudge. However, it wasn't fuzzy at all. Smack dab in the middle of my lens was a perfect fingerprint.

I'm sure it couldn't be anyone's except for my print because they are my glasses. It could even be proven scientifically because every person's fingerprint is different. No two people have the same print which is totally phenomenal if you think about it. Billions of people and every print is different.

All those wiggly lines make up a unique fingerprint for an equally unique individual. No two people think, look or act exactly like another human being - not anyone who has lived, now lives or will ever live on this planet is the same. Each person makes some kind of contribution, print or stamp in history.

When my Dad died on October 15, 2010, I obviously grieved. Even when I was trying to be brave, living without him on Earth was too much pain for me to wrap my mind around.

Today, after seeing that fingerprint on my glasses, I thought about the imprint that Dad made in his life. His family and friends all had a personal relationship with him that was exclusive of all others. Each connected with him in their own way and vice versa.

Day after day Dad lived his life touching other lives along the way and making his historic print on the Earth. What kind of imprint did he make with his existence? It made me contemplate how my life might look when it is over.

I reached into the box of Dad's clothes after I got home tonight and pulled out a pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt. As I drew them close to my face, I could faintly smell his soap. I buried my face in his t-shirt and felt an ache in my chest begin to open.

Meanwhile, my mind drifted off to a sunny day when I hugged his neck and could smell Old Spice. I lingered in those lovely memories only a moment because the flood gates had opened and my tears were swiftly falling down my cheeks.

Jeans and t-shirts don't last forever and neither do our lives.

Like the hem of our jeans, sometimes we get a little frayed, but we refuse to give up or completely fall apart. We try to hold up our end of the responsibilities that fall on our shoulders and keep on moving along.

frayed jeans

There are many experiences that put a hole into our hearts that can't always be mended. We learn to live with them and hope that others will accept us in our imperfect state.

jeans with hole

Many stitches are visible on the jeans, but there are many more inside. The threads that show on the outside have a different purpose than the hidden stitches inside. Removing a few stitches here and there could be the demise of the whole pair of jeans. So it is with our lives...a hour here and there can totally change our lives for the good or the not so good. We can hide our actions and no one will see them, but eventually every experience has an affect on the outside of our body and the rest of existence.

Each minute of our life is but a stitch in time and history. How are your stitches holding up to the test of time?

What kind of statement are you making with your life?

Dad may be gone, but he left a whole lot more than just a blue jean imprint on me. I miss you Dad wherever you are tonight.

There are not many things that I enjoy as much as ice cream.

This weekend I was a bit under the weather, so I had to take it easy. That meant that all those chores I had on my "To Do" list went undone. You don't really think a teenage daughter is all that motivated to do them for me do you?

Alyssa did keep me company and chose great movies for us to watch. Getting lost in the movies only made me move my eyes, so that wasn't physically strenuous.

I also ate a lot of ice cream in the form of chocolate milk shakes. Totally not on any kind of diet, but eating didn't require me to break a sweat either. I can't get enough ice cream no matter how much or how often I consume the glorious concoction.

That is the same way I feel about blogging. I have been immersed in designing my new website this weekend. Every new thing that I learn or create makes me want to shout it from the roof top. As the weekend ends, my new template has me totally pumped with adrenaline.

I don't want to sleep.

I don't want to do anything until it is finished.

I'm going to have another giveaway for the grand opening!

I can work on the blog every day, all day and it still doesn't tire or bore me.

It is an obsession!

I just love all the nuances of HTML, writing, blogging and creating something new on the web.

Blogging is like ice cream because I have very little self-control to restrain myself from getting too much!!!

Over the next couple of weeks, I am going to spend more time getting my new blog completed. If I seem to spend less time chatting, forgive me. I will either be deep into web design or consuming more ice cream. Look at the bright side...I'll be happy!

Salt Is Art

Salt.

I love the taste of salt.

Women love to curse salt for making them bloat like bullfrogs on a summer night in the country. Salt regulates the fluid balance of the body, so too much salt makes women look a little puffy. I'm actually a little different than most people and their salt intake. I don't have a lot of salt in my body, so I'm able to eat more of it than the average person. That isn't a problem at all because I love salty stuff!

Anyway, Motoi Yamamoto uses salt in his art. Actually, salt is his art! Salt is a symbol of purification in Japanese culture. After the death of his sister to brain cancer, Motoi Yamamoto started creating intricate patterns on the floors of large structures. These labyrinth patterns are part of his process in healing and coping with her loss.