A Trio of Mess

It is dark, cold, and rainy outside today.  It is just a gloomy day - one of those curl up by the fire, with a blanket and a good book kind of days.  But because I have no fireplace, and am between books, I am instead writing this post while little girl is napping.

The view outside my window.  It's gross out!

I am in the middle of two projects right now, and because I want to show them to you when I am done, I am going to write about three quick things today instead of one big one!

The Blog

My blog used to give me headaches.  Too much pattern and design and I didn't know where to look.  So in an effort to simplify things in my life, I have changed the design to a lot simpler and (I think) sleeker.  Let me know what you think.  But if you don't like it, don't worry!  I'll probably get tired of it and change it again soon.  Also, check out the "About Amy" section at the top of my blog- it's new!

I'm a Gardener

My very useful plant! After about 1 week of growth!

I found this idea on Pinterest.  I am not really sure that it has to do with mess, but it was a great tip, and I wanted to share it with you!  

I tend to a cook a lot of asian dishes.  I really like Thai flavours, so many of our dishes end up with an asian flare (I go through a lot of Hoisin sauce!).  One of the ingredients that is frequently called for in the recipes I use is green onions.  I am not a big onion person, but I like the extra little kick that green onions bring to a dish.  And I am lucky that they are pretty cheap, but I was constantly having to run to the grocery store for a $0.99 item.  So I started growing my own!  This project will take you about 2 minutes, and it will cost you anywhere from $0 and $2.

First, you want to take your green onions and cut them down to the top of the white/light green parts.  I forgot to take a picture of this, so bear with me.  Once you are done, place them in a mason jar and fill the jar with a reasonable amount of water (make sure the roots are covered, but not the whole thing).  In a matter of days you will notice sprouts and you will have reusable green onions.  No more running to the grocery store for them again!  Just make sure they are left in a place with lots of light!  You may also want to switch out your water every once and a while so it doesn't get stale.

The Secret Project

I am working on a top secret project that I can't wait to share with you all.  It is a big project, but I think it will help streamline our life a lot.  Here is a little pictorial hint!  I am hoping to have it done next week so I can share it with you then!

Can you guess what I am working on?

I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

P.S. - If you haven't had a chance to vote on what to do with my laundry room area, check out the sidebar and vote now!

ฮันนี่ไก่ไทยถั่วลิสง

orrrr... Thai Honey Peanut Chicken.  For those of us who aren't fluent in Thai.

Last night's yummy supper!
Eaten January 24th, 2011

That is what we had for supper last night - Thai Honey Peanut Chicken.

I had found the recipe a while ago online, and I pretty much love anything with "Thai", "Honey", "Peanut", or "Chicken" in the title.  So when they all came together in a title, I figured I had struck gold!

There was only one problem.

The recipe calls for the chicken to be marinated for two to three hours before cooking.  And, well, you see, I work 8:30-4:30 everyday, and my dear husband works (usually) 9:30-6:00 everyday - and he gets the car.  So, I don't get home until about 6:30 from work everyday, and by then I don't have time to marinate chicken for two to three hours.  If I tried, I am pretty sure my husband would resort to eating his own arm or something.

So, I took the chicken out to start thawing before I went to bed on Sunday night, and made the marinade.   Yesterday morning before leaving for work, I cut the chicken up, re-mixed the marinade and threw the chicken in with it.  So instead of marinating for 2-3 hours, the chicken marinated for about 11.  This fact is somewhat important, because I think it led to some of my problems a little later on in the recipe.

The good thing about marinating it in the morning was that it made a really quick supper when we got home.  I just threw the chicken (and the marinade) into the skillet and cooked it up.  The only issue is that my chicken didn't come out looking perfectly like the chicken in the recipe picture.  Mine looked much darker, almost burnt.

But - don't worry - it wasn't burnt.  The marinade had just gotten lumpy around the chicken and made the chicken look a lot darker.  It also meant that I didn't have all that good sauce to put on my veggies and rice.  Which was kind of lame.

I think there are most likely two reasons for this faut pas.  The first is that I let it marinade longer than I was supposed to.  Luckily, it didn't break down the meat, but it might have done funky things to the sauce.  My second hypothesis is that when I turn my stove on to a setting higher than the lowest - it gets really hot.  And I imagine the pan was too hot and that did funky things to the sauce too.

I also didn't have sesame seeds or chopped cilantro.  So my chicken looks a lot less appetizing than in the recipe picture.

But, let me tell you - it was some good!  I don't like Curry Powder all that much - so I only used the mild stuff - and I could barely taste it!  I think my poor husband was slightly upset that I hadn't used the hot stuff, but I don't have that kind of balls.  So I didn't.

Even though it looks awful and didn't have yummy sauce to go with it, this is definitely a keeper.  I am pretty sure Dave told me four times while he was eating it that he really liked it and wanted to have it again.

Hopefully next time I can try to get it right.

Edit: For those of you like my sister who didn't know the sweet recipe link I put up top (look for the word 'recipe' in blue).  You can also find it here.