Lily's Chicken

My parents took Jeff and I out to dinner to celebrate a job for him and a promotion for me. Hooray!  We went to Bonefish Grill. I was expecting it to be pretty chain-restaurant like with not that great of food but I was very wrong. So bummed with myself that I didn't take food photos! I started with a lemon drop martini that was the perfect ratio of booze to lemon. It wasn't overly sweet like lemon drops are sometimes and it tasted like they used real lemon juice. I then ordered a scallop and shrimp plate sans the scallops (I am not a big fan) with green beans. When they brought out my plate I was outraged to find they gave me shrimp and scallops! Just kidding, I was not outraged. I thought it would be nice to give scallops another try and I knew Jeff could pick up the slack. The waitress apologized immediately and had more shrimp brought out to me. Score! So I tried the scallop....it was good!The texture was a bit different but it wasn't rubbery or fishy. I ate about half of them while Jeff took out the other half. The shrimp was fresh, grilled, seasoned and just what I wanted. The green beans were fresh and steamed. Jeff got a tuna plate that was cooked to perfection (which freaks me out, it is bright red/pink but rare is the way to go I am told). My dad got the fish and chips and I have never seen better looking fish and chips (granted I have not been to England). I kept stealing malt vinegar covered french fries from him. By stealing I do actually mean he gave them to me willingly. My mom ordered a grilled Mahi Mahi and was having memories of their recent trip to Hawaii. Dinner was followed by a vanilla cream brulee and complementary chocolate creme brulee for the celebrations. I couldn't actually eat the creme brulee but my mom, dad and Jeff were happy to help out. I will come back and remember to take pictures!

A special bonus. Lily's Chicken! I have been blessed with a 2 month old niece named Lily. I texted this picture to her mommy. When she is old enough maybe she can come order this.

Dinner with Dad: Avocado and Caramelized Onion Burgers

My Mom is out of town, so I thought it might be a good idea to go feed my dad and sister so they didn't have to starve to death. Or actually they would have had popcorn and PBJ sandwiches...but still, not a great dinner. I tried to very nonchalantly sneak healthy food into their diet. They eat good when my Mom is home but on their own...they are hopeless. There was some resistance...but I held firm! And the best part? This meal is Candida safe! Grass-fed, organic, Colorado ground beef with caramelized onions and avocado with 'healthy' fries and garlic organic green beans. What a tongue twister!

So here are the wonderful caramelized onions that topped the grass-fed burger. They may have gotten a little crispy...but no complaints here.

The complete burger. Grass-fed, organic, local Colorado ground beef topped with an avocado and caramelized onions. And since I can't eat buns right now and my dad and sister don't like them anyway; the burger was served sans the bun. My dad said the beef tasted normal, but my sister was not as happy. She noticed a difference in the flavor and couldn't finish hers. I will say that grass-fed isn't as sweet as corn-fed beef and that may account for a taste difference. I tried to get her to push past the new taste and think about how much healthier the beef was.

It seems that you can't eat a burger without some kind of potato; these are 'heathy' fries though. First of all, I used little red potatoes that are approved for the Candida diet. Second, I coated them in egg instead of oil. Third, I baked them instead of frying them. Add a little salt, pepper and garlic and oh gosh...heaven! Leave the skins on for the nutrients.

 

Chicken Nuggets, Baked Potato, Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Mary’s Easy Bars, Homemade Croutons

Chicken Nuggets, Baked Potato, Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Mary’s Easy Bars, Homemade Croutons

I decided to host a Sunday lunch party at my apartment to get some recipes out of the way and to have my grandparents over to visit for the first time. I did all of the shopping and cooking on Saturday to leave my stress level low for Sunday. I caffeinated myself up and got to shopping. Once I finished and got home, I decided to carry all of the bags in one trip. This included 8 potatoes, a 2 liter of sparkling soda, Pepsi and a gallon of orange juice. It was heavy! It took quite a bit of strength to lift the bags up onto the counter. The caffeine made me invincible and I pulled it off. The chicken nugget recipe, vanishing oatmeal raisin cookies and Mary’s easy bars are from Mom, and the baked potato and homemade croutons are from me.
I feel totally lied to….Mary’s easy bars are in fact, not easy. Sure the recipe looks simple enough, mix some ingredients and layer them with a chocolate mixture. Sure it only has a few ingredients. The problem comes when the recipe says mix…batter will be thick. I try to stir the batter, which is useless, apparently thick means cement clay. I think hmmm I can probably do this with my hands, kneed the ingredients together. This was a failure! The batter was not only cement clay, but also super glue. I was covered with a paste and every time I tried to scrap it off one hand, it just stuck to the other. I did the best I could, but eventually had to wash my hands and lose some batter. Then I put the mixture in a greased pan…It was too dang thick though to spread out in the pan like a normal cake! It just slipped along the greased bottom. I decided to do something drastic, creative….perhaps a litter weird; I sprayed cooking spray all over my hands and spread it around like a lotion. Stick to this batter! The oil helped the batter to keep to itself and I was able after a lot of finesse to get the batter ready. I added some chocolate and put batter chunks on top (not an easy task either).
I cut up the chicken pieces without making any contact with the chicken and prepared the coating for the next day. The Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies went off without a hitch and I ate a warm one as my dinner. I decided to use up some old French bread and make croutons. I cut the bread into small cubes and tossed them in olive oil with garlic salt, pepper, and parsley and then put them in the oven. I started the dishes and wiped the counters down and played with Max..and why is the oven still on? Oh yea! I am making croutons! They ended up burned (I know you aren’t really surprised) but still decent to eat.
I put out some other leftovers I had, salsa, cranberry salsa, and scramble. The guest list included; Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, Ali, Shannon and Shannon’s boyfriend Conner (or if you are Ali you can call him Simon cause you can’t remember his name). We ate and visited; Max was excited to have people over to play with. Thank you for coming family!