Orzo with Lemon Chicken and New Tools

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Our Growing Paynes

Some learning curves can be exciting. Some not so much, like my learning curve with statistics in college. Loved the subject but come test time it was always like I’d never been to class. Never got far on that curve, bell or no bell. But now I’m liking my learning curve. Because there are a few projects I want to do, such as start a YouTube channel, and I was in the weeds with Unix, much to my chagrin, I needed tools that I could make headway on my own. I.e not bugging my husband/IT guy all the time. He has always been good about helping me but I hate not knowing how to do something!

So I am now a proud new owner of an iMac. And I’m loving my new setup. One, I can find and set up software I need, that is a big step in getting things done. Though if it heads into Unix territory like GIMP then I have to ask for help there but for the most part it’s been good. And it’s pretty easy to get an apple person on the phone if need be. I’m quickly collecting senior tech phone numbers.

I do like the iMovie on the desktop, much easier than the iPad. So watch this space as they say, I hope to have something soon. The big thing I need to figure out is the uncopyrighted music so I don’t get slapped by YouTube.

Going through our cupboards I realised we had orzo still so I thought it would be nice with lemon, yoghurt, and oregano.

I also wanted to grill up some chicken thighs. Prep these ahead of time with a marinade. With a ratio of 2:1 mix olive oil and lemon juice together. Season with sea salt and pepper. Finely chop a couple of garlic cloves and a small handful of fresh oregano. Mix well and coat two chicken thighs.

Set aside for about an hour. In a skillet heat up a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and start softening about half a cup of chopped red onion. Once the onion starts to become translucent add 3-5 cloves (depending on size) of garlic, chopped.

At this point start grilling the chicken on medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 2 cups of chicken stock. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a medium simmer. It’s important to stir frequently as orzo has a tendency to stick to the bottom of the skillet. Add more liquid as necessary because you want to make sure there is enough for the sauce.

When the orzo is half cooked add a few sliced mushrooms and another small handful of oregano, chopped. Stir well. Near the end of cooking add a third of a cup of plain yoghurt and about a cup of chopped red bell pepper. This gives the dish a nice pop of colour.

Serve once the chicken is cooked.

The flavours of this dish are very bright with the yoghurt and lemon. It’s a great dish if you are getting tired of salads!

Pomegranate Chicken and Don’t Be Cruel

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Our Growing Paynes

If people want plastic surgery that’s their business. Though vanity can get many into trouble. It gets a bit obvious. But hey if they want to muck about with their bodies regardless of the outcome that’s their business. But I really have a problem when people extend their vanity to their dogs.

I took my goofy dogs to the vet the other day and there was this little doberman puppy with its ears taped up. Without thinking (something I do a lot!) I asked what happened to him. They replied that it is normal to do this. I said if it was normal they would be born that way. I was so disgusted! Our neighbour did that to his boxer as well. The poor thing was taped up for over a year.

Of course they were a bit snarky about it and while I was weighing Murphy he overturned a cookie bowl and I had to wrestle them off the cookies. So much for keeping my dignity!

I asked the vet if he really performs these unnecessary procedures. Being that it was his first day he said he would ask his dad who owns the practice. Though he did say they are between a rock and a hard place because if they don’t do it and do it safely these people would go elsewhere and possibly harm the dogs more. I really would they would ban these procedures.

I stuck with the salad theme last week as the warm weather continued. A while back Chica Andaluza blog about a chicken made with pomegranate molasses. It looks amazing. But it was too hot to bake so I mixed it up a bit so I could grill the chicken.

In a bowl mix the following:

8oz of plain greek yoghurt

2 Tablespoons of pomegranate molasses

3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1″sq/2.cm of fresh garlic grated

1-2 teaspoons of chili powder

1/2 teaspoon of garam marsala

Season with sea salt.

Mix well and add the chicken to marinate for at least an hour.

Heat the grill to medium. I ran into a bit of trouble with the chicken sticking which was unfortunate as it left some of the flavour on the grill!

For the dressing I mixed up a bit of olive oil, pomegranate molasses, and white balsamic vinegar. I also made some croutons. Slice some bread and butter both sides. Season with dry rub and cube the bread and brown in a dry skillet. Slice the chicken and top the salad and serve.

Nice and light. It was the first time using the pomegranate molasses and I really like it. Now to figure out what else I can use it!

Stuffed Cucumbers and If It Looks Like a Duck and Walks Like a Duck…

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Our Growing Paynes

I’m not a conspiracy theorist by any stretch of the imagination but there are times when the military or government are so blatant it beggars belief. About 2pm on Wednesday afternoon there was a massive boom that shook all the homes over several towns and it lasted just a second or so. Because it snowed the night before a lot of us thought snow was falling off our roofs but as we only got an inch and most of it melted by then we were very quickly puzzled about what the hell just happened. It felt like a truck hit the house.

So of course a lot of people were circling their homes and businesses looking for damage. What was it? A sonic boom. Which is illegal over populated areas. So the MA National Guard are saying it was just normal jet noise. The only ones that seem to believe that are the people at the MA National Guard. It isn’t the fact it was a sonic boom that bothers me, though given how it freaked out our dogs I’m ok without the booms, it’s the fact they are lying about it. I mean, give over people. Guinness was very needy for about 24 hours. Murphy was just fine in his armchair of choice.

Fortunately this past Sunday was much quieter. We got the family together to celebrate a few birthdays and we did a sort of tapas lunch. Loads of flavours but not a ton of cooking required. My mum loves peaches so we did up some peach bellinis which was fun and went down very easily!

I came across a recipe for cucumber feta rolls that looked interesting and I did a variation of those for Sunday.

I decided not to make them into rolls as it would be less messy and I wouldn’t have to worry about toothpicks making their way to the floor then into the dogs. So I sliced the cucumber into 3/4″ or so slices then hollowed out the top.

My husband found some locally made feta cheese that was quite nice. Crumble about 4oz and add a few dollops of plain greek yoghurt.

Slice up a few pieces of sun dried tomatoes. It’s on my list this summer to try to make some with the tomatoes from our garden. Should be an interesting experiment!

Mix with the cheese and yoghurt, add some chopped oregano and salt and pepper. Squeeze a splash or so of lemon juice and stir it together. My husband and son don’t like olives so instead of chopping the kalamata olives and mixing them in I just topped most of these with a slice of olive.

Very easy to make for a dinner party or for a healthy snack. And I do love the pairing of sun dried tomatoes and olives.

Our Growing Paynes

A journey about cooking, traveling, gardening, and crafting.

Tag Archives: yoghurt

Orzo with Lemon Chicken and New Tools

Pomegranate Chicken and Don’t Be Cruel

Stuffed Cucumbers and If It Looks Like a Duck and Walks Like a Duck…