52 Projects #11 - Middle Eastern Spicy Chicken Shawarma and Rice Krispies Squares.

 I wanted to try to cook something that I had not done before.  We always try different cuisines, and although we had gone to Middle Eastern restaurants I don't remember ever eating Tahini before so I found this recipe in one of my magazines ( Cooking Light) and decided to make it a project!

Spicy Chicken Shawarma Ingredients:

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley 

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/8 tsp ground coriander

5 tbsp plain low fat Greek style yogurt, divided
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice, divided
3 garlic cloves, minced and divided
1b skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, thinly sliced
2 tbsp EVOO
1 tbsp TAHINI
4 (6 in. ) pitas, halved
1/2 cup chopped cucumber and plum tomato and pre-chopped red onions!

1.  Combine the first 6 ingredients with 1 tbsp yogurt, 1 tbsp lemon juice, and 2 garlic cloves.

2.  Add chicken; toss to coat.

3. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add chicken mixture and saute for 6 mins. or until browned.

4.  While chicken cooks - Combine remaining yogurt with the rest of the lemon juice, garlic clove, and TAHINI.  Stir well.

I found out that this brand is really good!

5.  Spread the mixture in your pitas equally. 

6.  Fill each pita with the chicken, cucumber, tomatoes and onion.  Decorate with some grapes or more of the veggies!

And for dessert I made Rice Krispies  with Mike.  I had never done squares, he has.  :)

I could not believe how easy they were. I am sure most of you know how, but here are some pictures of ours.

Not very flat, but they were very tasty :)  We need to work on that part.

Inauguration and Yummy

The day finally arrived and now we have a new VP and President. Let's hope that the change is positive...



Arianna was playing and goofing around while the Inauguration was on. I guess not that entertaining for a 1yr old, but she liked the singing and music parts! (Can you see her molars? The top ones are coming down too!)


Yesterday, I tried to make arroz con leche and came out good, but I need to work a bit more in the rice (there was one step that was omitted from the instructions that turned out to be very important, but it was still very good). I also made some chicken tacos with chipotle, cilantro and some other spices.

What's cooking?

That is the name of a website that I found when I was looking for a rice pudding recipe. I'd been trying to find different things to cook so take a look at it!

http://whatscooking.us/

Yummy!

German Pancake and nature

On Sunday, we decided to try our luck by baking a German Pancake. Our first try to make the mix, I messed up because I read cup instead of teaspoon. I don't know how I did that :( So, we had to throw it away, too much cinnamon and vanilla in there. Our second attempt, Mike kept an eye and we were able to get the right portions and after 25 minutes here is our result. This is not a dish you eat too often. Has lots of eggs and butter, but it was really good especially when we added the maple syrup. We did not have confectioner's sugar so we used sugar cane instead.


This little birdie came to drink! That is a bit of water that was on the chair. We are going to try to buy a small fountain that can keep water running (no freezing) during the winter. After her, there were more birds trying to drink as well.


I also went to an art fair that was raising funds for the Evergreen Pantry. It was an exhibition of drawings, paintings, photography, pottery, woodworking, and cake decorations. Some of the stuff was for sale, but the items left on Sunday where mostly for show (Not For Sale). The event was for 3 days and I went the last hour so I am guessing most of the things that you could buy were gone by then, but I still found really nice things to see. The entry fee was "a suggested 2 dollars" that was going to the pantry.
I wish the little toaster was for sale :( It was so cute and brought me memories of my brother when he was little. He loved that movie.

I did buy this picture. My picture can't tell you how nice it is, but you can see the photographer that took it. She is a mom of 2 that uses photography as her outlet and business. (There was a second photographer that took nature pictures, but I did not take pictures from his work. If you would like to see he has some posted on www.smugmug.com - then type his name -Adam Bykowski)


There was a lady that makes cakes (Caketopia the name of her business). They looked so good I wanted to eat it. The prices were not bad either. We might try her in the future.


I think this girl has a lot of talent (Hadley). She looks to be in first or second grade on College. I wish I could afford some of these things, maybe next time.

Two new things that I have not done before...

Last week, Mike had a get together with some friends from school. We met at this restaurant called African Harambee and I was not sure if I was going to like the food, but we always try it at least once. I did with sushi, which I am afraid I did not like it. I did like the California rolls and tempura. Anyway, we missed the restaurant at the first try because it was next to another restaurant and we missed their sign so we turned around and decided to park in this huge lot behind that restaurant and walked around (we knew it was around there). The parking belong to a bunch of stores. So, we are trying to get back to the street and I found this path between the restaurant that we saw early and a huge building, the path is about 2 ft wide. Of course, me being the silly girl I can be, tripped in one step that I did not see and fell like a sack of potatoes so now I scraped my knees, my hands, and hurt my chin (plus next day it felt like my entire right side had gone under a truck) so anyway it turns out that the restaurant that we were looking was next to the one we saw at the beginning.
We went in and Barb (whom I met before), Michelle, Jen, and Prof. Kilzer are already at the restaurant. So, after waiting a bit for someone else that was supposed to come we ordered our food. I decided to order spinach meat (picked chicken, but you can get beef or lamb) and it had (beside the spinach), potatoes and carrots. It came with two sauces, one mild; it reminded me of chick peas, and another one that had a kick, but it was very good. I decided to try the injera (looked like a spongy pancake-crepe shape). I liked it except when it got too saggy (in the middle of the dish, but you don't have to eat it, it is like a taco salad when you don't eat the bowl). So, I was happily surprised because I liked it so much we may go in the near future. It sucks that the restaurant is not near our place. Mike ordered a bamambo (I hope I am not misspelling). A grilled-beef with some vegetables. I cannot remember what vegetables except for green beans, but it was good.
We got to try a Kenyan beer, which I forgot the name :(. I really don't drink, but I decided to try it, it was good. They said it was light, not for me. I think I was getting sleepy. Then, dessert, yummy! A "turnover" filled with different nuts, honey, and some other things that I could not tell. It came with a vanilla scoop. So, I recommend the restaurant. Nice ambiance, and we were there until 10:20pm , we did not know they closed at 10 pm, but they did not rush us at all. That is good service, unlike Sesame Inn. We went once around 40 min. before closing and felt rush the entire meal. We had not gone back there.

And the second thing, I baked a butternut squash! I had eaten them before, but I had never bake one. It was pretty good. I used salt, butter, pepper, sugar, and ginger. It took about 75 minutes at 350 degree.
We'll see what new things come our way!