Hello World

I have not disappeared, been sucked into a black hole, or forgotten the blogging world. I've simply been enjoying two weeks of vacation before the big girl world starts for me. I soon begin my last semester of school  before I get my Masters degree! Needless to say, it's going to be an extremely busy semester for me. Stephen and I are in for quite the ride, but we're very excited. Married life is still blissful, but does require lots of communication so it's a good thing that Stephen is my favorite person in the world to talk to!  Nothing extremely eventful has happened for us lately, mostly lots of cuddling and good cooking. We're also doing so serious work on the house. My very handy husband just finished painting our bedroom and it looks fantastic! I'll be sure to post pictures as soon as we upgrade our bedding.

I leave you with our favorite recipe from the week:

Chicken Gyros
Ingredients:
For the tzatziki sauce:
16 oz. plain yogurt (not nonfat, if possible)
1/2 hothouse cucumber or 1 regular cucumber, peeled and seeded
2-3 cloves garlic, pressed through a garlic press (or finely minced)
1 tsp. white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped dill

For the chicken:
4 cloves garlic, smashed
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 heaping tbsp. plain yogurt
1 tbsp. dried oregano
Salt and pepper
1 1/4 lbs. chicken pieces (I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts)

To assemble:
Pita bread
Fresh tomatoes, seeded and diced
Red onion, sliced thin

Directions:
To make the tzatziki sauce, strain the yogurt using cheesecloth over a bowl. Let strain for several hours or overnight, if possible, to remove as much moisture as possible.

Shred the cucumber. Wrap in a towel a squeeze to remove as much water as possible. Mix together the strained yogurt, shredded cucumber, garlic, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, and lemon juice. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld.

To prepare the chicken, combine the garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, yogurt, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste in a medium bowl. Whisk together until mixed well. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and mix well to coat. Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour.

Cook the chicken as desired, either in the skillet or with the broiler. (I butterflied the chicken breasts and then cooked them under the broiler.) Once the chicken is completely cooked through, transfer to a plate and let rest for 5 minutes. Cut into strips.

Heat pitas (I sprayed with some spray oil and then popped them in the toaster oven for a few minutes). Top with chicken, tzatziki sauce, diced tomatoes and sliced onions. Serve immediately.

Hot dogs, get your hot dogs

No this post really isn't about how to cook hot dogs, because in all honesty the only way I know how to cook them is in the microwave or on the grill. In honor of the very festive weekend full of cookouts (thus the hot dog reference), I figured I would include an appropriate dish for tasty Tuesday. I bring you

Summer Potato Salad

8 red potatoes
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup of dill
1/4 cup of mayo
2 tbl spoons of Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

-Cut potatoes into bite size chunks and throw in a bot of boiling water until tender, but be careful not to overcook
-Strain potatoes and place in a bowl in the freezer to cool
-While potatoes are cooling chop dill & garlic
-When potatoes are done cooling combine all ingredients and toss

Keep refridgerated until ready to serve

It's very fresh & super light. I love it!

Introducing Tasty Tuesday

In order to motivate myself to post more regularly I am going to institute Tasty Tuesday. Every tuesday I will come to you with a new recipe I'm going to try out that night. I love cooking, it truly is a huge passion of mine. I would love to end up a famous chef in a beautiful restaurant (preferably NYC, a girl can dream right?), with my handsome hubby by my side. In case yall didnt know, Stephen grew up working in restaurants and is an AMAZING cook. Like truly fabulous, thus my love weight that I've gained. He also knows how to make dishes look as amazing as they taste, I havent quite perfected that skill yet. Anyways, I digress. So in case you need some culinary inspiration, you know where to turn every Tuesday.

Today, I'm taking Stephen to PF Changs to celebrate starting STE school. I'm going to leave you one of their fabulous recipes, and my personal favorite.


Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons oil
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup water chestnuts
• 2/3 cup mushrooms
• 3 tablespoons chopped onions
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 4 -5 leaves iceberg lettuce

Special Sauce

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon hot mustard
• 2 teaspoons water
• 1 -2 teaspoon garlic and red chile paste

Stir Fry Sauce

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

Directions

1. Make the special sauce by dissolving the sugar in water in a small bowl.
2. Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and sesame oil.
3. Mix well and refrigerate this sauce until you're ready to serve.
4. Combine the hot water with the hot mustard and set this aside as well.
5. Eventually add your desired measurement of mustard and garlic chili sauce to the special sauce mixture to pour over the wraps.
6. Bring oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan.
7. Saute chicken breasts for 4 to 5 minutes per side or done.
8. Remove chicken from the pan and cool.
9. Keep oil in the pan, keep hot.
10. As chicken cools mince water chestnuts and mushrooms to about the size of small peas.
11. Prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing the soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar together in a small bowl.
12. When chicken is cool, mince it as the mushrooms and water chestnuts are.
13. With the pan still on high heat, add another Tbsp of vegetable oil.
14. Add chicken, garlic, onions, water chestnuts and mushrooms to the pan.
15. Add the stir fry sauce to the pan and saute the mixture for a couple minutes then serve it in the lettuce"cups". 
16. Top with"Special Sauce"

 Enjoy!