Recipe: Chicken Makhani (sort-of)

Let me start by saying "THIS MIGHT BE MY FAVORITE THING I'VE EVER MADE". It's only fair to say, considering I said it about 25 times last night while eating. I actually said to my dear, sweet husband "I don't even care if you like it, I will eat your's too, because I. LOVE. IT."

I was introduced this week by Andrea to a new blog : Budget Bytes. The writer, Beth, is on a mission to prove that everyone can cook, and they can do it inexpensively and deliciously. God Bless Her! Her "Not Butter Chicken" recipe inspired my "Chicken Makhani Sort Of", an Indian dish which I probably never would've attempted without Beth's post. Also, she forced me to invest the $6 for Garam Masala and MAN! is it worth it.

Ben says it reminds him of something cozy to eat on a cold day (AKA Comfort Food) but I will not be able to wait for cold weather to make this again.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, fat trimmed and cut into large chunks
• 3 tbsp butter or margarine
• Garlic powder
• 1/2 onion, diced
• Ground ginger
• GARAM MASALA (this stuff will change your life)
• Ground cayenne pepper
• 15 oz tomato sauce
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup plain fat free yogurt (PLAIN, not vanilla)
• Boil-in-Bag Jasmine rice ('cuz I'm a cheater)

Before you go any further, you should notice there are no measurements on the spices. That's because this recipe is really about your tastes. I kept throwing more spices in, so I'll give guidelines but you really should keep tasting the sauce to get it to where you like it!

• Heat butter on medium high in a large sauce pan or pot
• Brown chicken in melted butter, Remove from pan and reduce heat to medium
• Add onion, garlic powder (1 tsp), ginger (1/2 tsp); stir and let cook for 2 minutes
• Add garam masala (1 tbsp), cayenne pepper (1/2 tsp)
• Cook until onion becomes clear; Add tomato sauce and tomatoes and stir thoroughly
• Add chicken back in, cover, and reduce heat and let simmer for up to an hour

• Cook rice according to directions on box - Seriously, I don't eff with rice
• Just before serving, mix in yogurt with chicken mixture and stir well
• Serve chicken & sauce over rice and eat your face off 

Stuck in Cary: Volume 4 ... THE BATHROOM IS FINISHED!

This may be hard to believe for anyone who has not had their downstairs bathroom under construction for 2+ months, but Friday was one of the happiest days of my life. My amazing husband and amazing father-in-law finally finished! Sweet sweet Ben made a promise (possibly against his will, but that's irrelevant) that it would be finished by the time my friends arrived and, although it was truly down to the wire, he didn't disappoint.

To be fair, we flip-flopped on how we wanted to handle the updates a number of times. "Let's put in a stand-alone vanity" / "Oh we can't, because we're out of tile". "Let's buy a scrap piece of granite and cut it to fit our stupid custom-sized counter top" / "Just kidding, it's going to cost $200 to get the granite cut". A lot of flip-flopping. So when we finally came to an agreement that we would purchase pre-cut "granite" from Home Depot and my talented FIL would cut it to fit our stupid custom-sized counter top, it became a race to the finish.

Before:

Ugly Ugly brassy fixtures, horrible blue paint

Wallpaper that was a pain in the butt to take down (at least it appeared to be, ask Ben) 

More ugly brassy fixtures, I hate you mid-90's construction 

Poor painting job which resulted in blue all over the floor boards

Things "we" (read: they, with my supervision / sustenance by providing food and drink) accomplished:

• Tearing out fixtures (toilet paper holder, counter top, mirror hanger, towel rack)
• Ripping down poorly applied wallpaper ... to reveal horrid bright ugly blue & green paint
• Painting a beautiful gray/purple color

New flowers, New toilet handle and no-slam seat (sounds silly, but it's cool!)

Polished nickel fixtures - on places where there are actually studs!

And Beanie hand-scraped up all the paint off the floor boards

Fancy rectangle sink

Pretty, pretty new light fixture with beautiful marbled shades & mirror

Installing a great multi-colored granite-esque counter top and fancy new sink

Needless to say, I'm super excited. Once I recover from the 12 extra people who were staying at my house all weekend, you may all (read: the 4 of you that might occasionally read this blog) come over and use my beautiful new bathroom. Huge thanks to Ben & Beanie for rocking it out.

Recipe: Lemony Shrimp with Couscous

Ben launched an awesome site yesterday and worked really hard on it all day Sunday, so I thought he deserved a special dinner (AKA something slightly more home-cooked than frozen ravioli). Pulled out the trusty Real Simple, of which I am so thankful to be on the comp, and found their section of "weeknight dinners". Their's is recommended as a shrimp salad but I served mine warm and it was delish. Also healthy, so YAY for that!

Lemony Shrimp with Couscous
Serves 4; Total Time: 15m

• 1 cup uncooked couscous
• Salt & Black Pepper
• 1.5 lbs cooked, peeled and deveined medium shrimp*
• 0.5 lbs sugar snap peas, trimmed and cut in half
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 3/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 3 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
  *My shrimp was not cooked, peeled or deveined, so I peeled / deveined and cooked it in a pan on medium with fresh squeezed lemon juice and garlic powder until pink

1. Place couscous in a large bowl. Add 1 cup very hot water (I microwaved mine) and 1/4 tsp each salt & pepper. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes.
2. In a medium bowl (or, in the pan you used to cook the shrimp if your shrimp was not precooked), combine shrimp, snap peas, tomatoes, basil, scallions, oil, lemon zest & juice, 1/4 tsp each salt & pepper. Toss to combine. Serve over couscous.

26 has been a big year

if you're older than 26, you're probably laughing at me. and if you're younger than 26 - don't get your hopes up, i'm not sure it's a big year for everyone. but it has been for me ... me, who hates being an even-numbered age, who has been desperate to turn 27 since my 26th birthday, who expected it to be a slow year. me, who - half the time - can't even remember that i AM 26 ... for me it has been a big year. maybe not from the outside, but ive noticed a lot going on. and there's still more than four months to go - i don't even want to begin to imagine what else might happen in my 26th year.

since november 20, 2010, we've paid off both of our cars (what a relief!), i've been moved to a new account at work (not such a relief, but a great opportunity), i've developed a serious problem with heartburn (apparently my mom did at the exact same age) and i've found my first (and second, and third, and probably a lot more that i'm not willing to acknowledge) gray hairs. those might seem like minor life changes, probably unnoticeable to most, and in the grand scheme of things they really are.

now, i am not an overtly religious person, despite what our ongoing church search might lead you to believe. i was raised going to church, normally a few times a week, all the way to the time i graduated from high school. i have had a personal relationship with God in the years since, but i also haven't really been able to find the right place that i want religion to have in my adult life. i'm still struggling with it, but i really have felt God speaking to me this year, specifically in the past few months. He's saying a lot - or trying to, when i'm willing to listen.

He's teaching me that you never know what a person is going through, and He's trying to teach me to be more sensitive. after all, you could have to go through it as well some day, and wouldn't you like to know there's someone else on your side? God is teaching me that there are often very few people in life you can genuinely open up to and rely on, but He's trying to teach me that we're lucky to have even those few. quality, not quantity, in relationships is a hard thing to swallow, but i'm so blessed to have the best friends that i do - especially my darling husband who tries so hard to understand me. God's teaching me that things can always get worse, but He's trying to teach me that they'll eventually get better. i'm not saying i've hit rock bottom or anything that dramatic, but it's often hard to see the silver lining of a tough situation - i'm trying to find those blessings even in trials.

here's the thing - you don't have to be overtly religious (or religious at all!) to learn these lessons. and you don't have to be 26. but you should learn them, or at least try to. all i'm saying is, we could value people more, but understand our material and circumstantial blessings. we don't need to be envious of anyone, not only because our lives are already blessed beyond belief, but because we have no idea what that person has had to deal with - or is dealing with now. i think we could all practice a little more sensitivity, a little more optimism, and live our lives with a little more hope. but maybe that's just me.

as lon solomon would say "not a sermon, just a thought".

Our Trip to the West Coast

The Eckersons took our first trip out west to the great state of California! We were there Friday - Saturday, hit 3 major cities, and saw some very dear friends and family. It was a great trip and we came home EXHAUSTED Saturday night (our flight got in at midnight).

Chapter 1: San Francisco

We stayed with our dear friend Talya and were joined by another dear friend Hank from LA. Both used to work with us at McKinney and moved out to Cali in the past year. Both are terribly missed. The four of us have traveled together before, and had such a lovely time, that we knew this time would be a blast - and it was! We were greeted in SF by rainy cold weather, but Saturday morning brought warmer temperatures and even a little sunshine! We had a delicious lunch at Cha Cha Cha, joined by Ben's friend Roe, spent the afternoon walking through Haight-Ashbury, driving over the Golden Gate Bridge, shopping, drinking, visiting the Ghiradelli factory, enjoying our very first In 'n Out Burger, and drinking some more. 

 We took a twilight tour of Alcatraz, which was AWESOME, and only a little bit spooky, and then had more delicious food - this time dinner at Limon. We danced - and drank - the night away, and Sunday morning found us on the long road to LA. We wanted to take the PCH down, and got about as far as Big Sur before finding out it was closed, so we backtracked and found another route. Despite it being longer than expected, we had such a nice time visiting - just the four of us. You know those moments where it just feels like "home"? That was one of those moments for me, Hank & Ben "talking shop" and scheming in the front, me & Talya draped across each other in the backseat.

After a short stop-over in Santa Barbara (which is adorable!) for dinner at Los Agaves - thanks Yelp! - we finally made it to Hank's apartment in El Segundo around midnight.

Chapter 2: Los Angeles

Our first day in LA, we were lucky enough to have a tour guide in Ben's friend from the Outer Banks, Tyler Nilson. We had the most amazing tacos & gazpacho from a taco truck in Santa Monica, drove around on mopeds (against my will), hung out on the beach and had AMAZING beautiful weather. 

 The evening was spent briefly hanging out on the beach (until it got too cold, so pretty much immediately), and dinner at Father's Office for, I'm not exaggerating, the best burger of my life. Tuesday was spent being tourists - cruising Beverly Hills, shopping on Rodeo Drive, strolling through Hollywood, and - something not so touristy - going on an audition with Tyler! We had another yummy dinner at The Library near Ashley & Tyler's House and called it an early night (after learning a new game - Ninja! ask me to show you how to play ... after a few beers). Wednesday, Ben & I visited a great Farmer's Market in Santa Monica, shopped in some adorable boutiques, and had a farewell lunch with Alina & Hank before heading down to San Diego!

Chapter 3: San Diego

We arrived in San Diego just in time to have dinner in La Jolla with my mom's cousin Johnny, his wife Eve, and their two beautiful children, Ecco and Gray. Dinner was followed by playing on the beach - Ben had a great time with Gray, and vise versa - and visiting with "the grown-ups" after bedtime. Thursday we took on the San Diego Zoo! Something I've been looking forward to for so long. I saw so many animals I've never seen before, the zoo is beautiful, the staff are so friendly, the exhibits are amazing ... I couldn't have asked for more. We got FREE passes from Eve and my friend Jenny, so we "splurged" for the Skyfari ride and the bus tour. My favorite parts were the pandas, the koala, the pregnant and newborn giraffe, being 6 feet away from a male lion, and the POLAR BEAR! I finally got to see one. Highlight of my life. 

 After an exhausting, full day at the zoo, we decided to catch an impromptu Padres game with our friends Jenny & Greg - and they won! Friday Ben & I were left to our own devices, which included a delicious lunch reco from Jenny (Neighborhood, great beer selection! get the steak tacos) and seal-viewing at La Jolla Cove. We ran around for a bit in that area, then joined Jenny & Greg for dinner in Old Town - HOW CUTE! It's all very old-timey, Mexican-inspired buildings and street vendors and restaurants. Lots of fun. Then we headed to a dueling piano bar, Shout House, for a fun night out of singing ... and maybe a little dancing.

Saturday morning, we were awoken by a call that we were bumped to an earlier flight, so we rushed through our packing and goodbyes, grabbed one more In 'n Out Burger for good measure, and began a long day of traveling home.

Our bodies are still readjusting to East Coast time, I think, but it was such a wonderful trip and I'm SO glad we got to do it. Thanks to ALL our friends and family who put us up, out of the goodness of their heart.

Eckerson Church Search: Season 2, Episode 4

It's a two-fer, boys & girls! OK, just girls. But still, two blog posts in one day. Because, I was working until almost 10, so why not give it a few more minutes on the laptop and get it in while I can? Work has been insane, not to mention some personal struggles we've been going through, and a little old thing called MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING to keep me busy. But, the long overdo blog about our most recent church visit is here.

A few weeks ago, Ben & I joined my sweet cousin, also named Ben, and his lovely fiancee Courtney for breakfast at the State Farmer's Market Restaurant - always delicious! - and headed to the middle of nowhere to visit Apex United Methodist Church. All right, I admit that we don't spend much time in Apex, but it felt like the middle of nowhere. 11:00 service? Check! Held in a real live chapel, complete with stained glass? Check! Songs from a hymnal? Check! Anyone in the congregation younger than 65? ... a hesitant "check" but a Check! all the same.

If you're an avid reader of this blog (can you hear the sarcasm?), you are probably aware of our struggles in finding our church home. The aforementioned criteria are all hiccups that have kept us from returning to other churches we've visited. While this was in no way what I imagine as my perfect church, we are continuing to move down the right path. The church was small-ish, despite a very impressive website. We attended the traditional service (though a contemporary one was available at the same time), for Ben's benefit. It was daunting at first to see the majority of attendees are likely 4 decades our seniors, but families with tweens and teenagers filtered in as it got closer to start time - I can only imagine the struggle to get a 16 year old out of bed on a Sunday morning!

They opened the service with a video announcement promoting their service at the park the following Sunday, which featured the minister as a "rapper" (if you want to call it that) that I found endearing and adorable. It was great comedic relief for a conservative Methodist church! Unfortunately, the minister who spoke that particular Sunday was a guest preacher. While we enjoyed his message, and the service as a whole, we feel called to give it another shot and get a feel for the normal teaching from their regular minister. I don't think either of us is sold on it entirely yet, but we're both willing to give it another shot (the next time we're actually in town - notice a trend, here?).

To top it all off, just this wknd, a lovely older gentlemen visited our home (at an appropriate 2:00pm) on Saturday to drop off a gift bag, thank us for visiting, and ask if we had any questions. That contact, two weeks later, was the first we'd had with anyone from the church, which I love. No nagging voice-mails, no guilt-laden emails, just a pleasant house call. Good work, Apex! Oh, and I must add, this recommendation came from my dear friend Katie, who is a Methodist Minister in TN.

Recipe: Trash Nachos

Things you should know about me: my mother did in-home daycare when we were little, which is awesome because it meant she was home with us, and also that we constantly had other kids to play with. The other things it meant is that we were pretty poor, because my mom was kind-of a stay at home mom, and that you are what was put in front of you - because she was not going to cater to 7 little kids. I have a very sensitive gag reflex (insert dirty joke here), so sometimes I got away with not eating what the other kids had if it made me throw up, which a lot of our meals did. However, my FAVORITE thing my mom made when we were growing up (caveat: my mom is not, I repeat NOT, a woman who cooks) was nachos. She would take stale tortilla chips - nothing went to waste in our house! - shredded cheddar cheese and throw 'em in the broiler for a few minutes. It was the best snack ever.

Other things you should know about me: I have a tendency to throw leftovers into a pot and call it "trash _____". Trash pasta. Trash salad. Trash punch. Whatever. I know, super appetizing. But, when you hate leftovers like I do, it has to become a new creation for it to become edible to me. After our Memorial Day cook-out, we ended up with TONS of leftovers, including the better part of a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. Even when it's fresh, that's not appealing to me, so you can imagine how I felt about it leftover. I was, however, extremely proud of what I came up with for dinner last night, when neither one of us was extremely hungry because it's hotter than hades out already. So here's my "recipe" - if you want to call it that. You have to remember that everything listed was already in my fridge, so feel free to make adjustments based on what you have in your fridge.

Trash Nachos

• Rotisserie Chicken (cooked)
• Tomato
• Lettuce
• Fat-Free Sour Cream
• Low-Fat Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• Tortilla Chips
• Velveeta-Fat-free Refried Bean-Salsa Dip*
• Black Olives
• Taco Seasoning

• Line a baking pan with aluminum foil
• Cover pan with tortilla chips (stale or otherwise!)
• Cover chips with shredded cheddar cheese
• Shred chicken into frying pan and heat on medium heat until beginning to sizzle
• Add 1/4 packet of taco seasoning (more or less depending on how much chicken)
• Add a tiny bit of water (optional)
• Broil chips on high until cheese is melted / bubbling
• Reheat Dip in microwave (you could also use just refried beans for this)
• Layer chicken, beans, veggies and sour cream over chips - ENJOY!

*super easy and delicious, equal parts velveeta & refried beans in the microwave, with a few spoonfuls of your favorite salsa. serve hot with tortilla chips