I can’t believe it’s the end of March already. A quarter of the year has gone by, and soon summer will be here. Summer is one of my favorite seasons. The weather is nice, everyone is relaxed and going on vacations, and I get to wear my cute little summer dresses and sandals (yes, I specifically chose not to mention that it is also bikini season…ugh)!

I’ve traveled to many places during my summer vacations, both near and far, and have fond memories of each one of them. However, one of the best trips I had was in 2006, when my hubby and I went to Napa for our 5th year anniversary. And while I don’t know the difference between a Syrah or Shiraz (besides the fact that I have 2 Indian friends that also go by those names), or what the hell a decanter is used for (which is why I once put the lovely red roses my hubby gave me into it), my hubby is a wine freak.

We would spend our day wine tasting (well actually, hubby did the wine tasting. I had the duty of writing down all his comments about the wine in his wine notebook, that I stupidly bought for him), but at night we would try the many fine restaurants in Napa. I can still remember everything we ate at each restaurant, and how good it tasted (why can’t I remember more useful things like where I parked my damn car at the local mall?).

Anyways, one of the wineries we went to actually had a restaurant in there too (thank God), so that we could actually dine in the outdoor garden, while enjoying our delicious lunch and a nice glass of wine. It was quite romantic.

I had a tomato and basil pasta dish, with a pan seared chicken breast on top, and it was so good. The pasta was light, fresh, and simple, perfect for the summer months (hubby had 2 bottles of wine, with a side of soup and salad). Ever since then, I’ve made a similar pasta dish whenever I feel like summer is near.

Today I awoke to beams of sunlight shining through the window, baby birds chirping excitedly outside, and hubby walking around in shorts exposing his blindingly pale legs, and I knew, summer is near.

So today I made my delicious Tomato and Basil Pasta with Chicken, and it brought back all those wonderful memories from 3 years ago. Just the smell of it reminded me of summer.

This dish is simple and fresh, exactly what a summer dish should entail, so here the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 pieces of chicken breast fillets
• 4 medium sized tomatoes, cubed
• ½ cup of fresh basil, julienned
• ½ cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup of tomato sauce
• 1 box of bow tie pasta
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

Tomato and Basil Pasta with Pan Fried Chicken Breast

Chicken Marinade:

• 2 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley leaves
• lemon zest from half a lemon
• juice of half a lemon

Directions:

1. Rinse and pat dry the chicken breast
2. Put the marinade ingredients on chicken, and set aside
3. Heat a pan with oil and add garlic, and tomatoes and stir fry about 4 mins, or until tomatoes are soft
4. Add the tomato sauce, and let boil
5. Once boiling, add the mozzarella cheese, followed by the half the fresh basil
6. In another pan, heat, add oil, and cook the chicken breast about 4 mins on each side on medium heat, or until no longer pink in the middle
7. In another pot, boil some water, add the oil, salt and pasta, and let cook for about 8-10 mins until al dente (follow instructions on the box)
8. Slice up the chicken, put the sauce on top of the pasta, and garnish the pasta with the remaining basil and enjoy!

So I’ve been unemployed for more than a month now, and while it may have been fun the first few days, my patience is wearing thin. Things I used to be able to enjoy (eating out, going shopping, taking nice vacations) are now a distant memory. I can’t even remember the last time I left the house with anything besides my gym outfit on. (And seriously, I doubt my old track pants from high school, which are a tad tight now, and my ratty old south park t-shirts from signing up for new credit cards in college, even constitute as a gym outfit.)

But as much as I love shopping and adding new pieces to my closet, I miss eating out even more. My hubby and I use to eat out every weekend, as a treat for my slaving away in the kitchen for an hour a day, five times a week. But those days are long gone (hubby says we need to save money for our mortgage and bills, and lectures me about how these are hard times and that I need to think outside the box).

One of the restaurants I long for the most, is this cute little Thai place in the city. It is small, but quaint, which makes it quite romantic especially since the place is lit by small candles (and everyone looks better in candlelight!). They have the best Curry Chicken there.

Since eating out is no longer in our budget, I have now been given the task to create my own delicious curry to be enjoyed in our dining room (the only up side is that I can now control the lighting in the room, and on the days where I am too tired to drag my ass to the shower after a sweaty day at the gym, or too lazy to wash the free makeup trial I got at the local mall by a blind lady at the MAC counter because I had nothing better to do, we are practically eating in the dark).

I have made curry many times at home before, but I always used the store bought curry cubes that you simply add water too. But these days I’ve been craving for the real thing! So I bought all the ingredients, and even bought modern white plates just like the restaurant, in hopes of having the same happy feeling I get from eating out. And sometimes…I even amaze myself!

I couldn’t believe how good it turned out! It is the best curry chicken my mouth has ever tasted (and my hubby’s)! The chicken was juicy and tasty, the potatoes and carrots were cooked perfectly, and the curry sauce was light with a hint of coconut (I just drooled onto my hello kitty robe). It is truly perfection.

My hubby got so upset thinking about how much money we wasted eating at that Thai restaurant week after week, when I could’ve easily made the same thing at home but even better! Which gave me a great idea. I now have a tip jar on my dining room table, where I politely ask for half of what we use to pay at the restaurant for the same dish. (Now that’s a deal, if you ask me. New gym outfit, here I come!).

So without further delay, here is my Curry Chicken with Coconut Milk recipe!

Ingredients:

• 1lb boneless and skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
• half a bag of baby carrots, or two regular carrots cut into bite size pieces
• 3 medium sized russet potatoes, cut into large chunks (about the size of 2 bite sized pieces. The smaller you cut the potatoes, the faster they will disappear when you cook them, so if you like potatoes, leave them bigger)
• 1 medium sized white onion , sliced
• 1 large green bell pepper, cut into bite size pieces
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 slices of ginger
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

curry chicken with coconut, served with coconut rice

Marinade:

• 2 tablespoons garlic salt
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 2 teaspoon Lee Kum Kee chicken powder
• 2 teaspoons curry powder

Directions:

1. Put the chicken with the marinade ingredients in a bowl, and set aside
2. Boil a pot of water, and add the oil and salt in the water, followed by the carrots and potatoes. Let boil about 10 mins, or until the carrots and potatoes are slightly tender on the outside, but still a little hard on the inside. Then rinse under cold water, and set aside.
3. Heat a pan with the oil, garlic, ginger, and onions, and let cook for about 3 mins, or until slightly brown.
4. Add the marinated chicken, and stir fry about 7 mins, or until chicken is no longer pink.
5. Add the coconut milk, and turn to low heat, until boiling.
6. Add the green bell pepper.
7. Serve over rice, and enjoy!

Since I have so much free time these days, I have taken the initiative to go back to the gym. The last time I went was before I was married in 2007, when I was trying to look good in my wedding dress. I bought a 3 year membership back then, because the more years you pay for, the cheaper it is (yes, I am a sucker).

The day before I got married, I told my trainer it was my last day, because what good is it to get married if you still need to work on looking good? To me, that was one of the biggest advantages of getting married. I could get fat, sloppy, and just really let myself go in the looks department, and my husband would still be legally bound to me forever.

But because of the present unfortunate circumstances, I have hauled my ass back to the gym. I was actually looking forward to going to the gym (you can only watch Maury Provich so long until you realize the uncle is always the baby daddy). But the moment I stepped foot in the gym, all the unpleasant memories came raining down on me.

While the gym I go to is relatively new and clean, it still doesn’t hide the fact that it reeks of BO, that the body building wannabes are constantly making loud grunting noises as if giving birth, and that people seem to think that it is ok to wear whatever you want to the gym (I thought this big lady had no pants on, until I realized her tiny shorts were sucked into her big ass). I am all for freedom of expression and I heavily support being proud of your own body and all that, but still, we should be considerate of other people’s eyes.

I also find that every time I am in the gym, I get hungry. Not because I am burning off hundreds and hundreds of calories, but because the smart asses that work at 24, think it’s a really good idea to put on the Food Network while everyone is working their asses off trying to get in shape. As a result, I go straight to the kitchen when I get home, to stuff my face. But on the plus side, I do come up with a lot of cooking ideas while watching those mouth watering cooking shows.

Today on Barefoot Contessa, she was making baked herb chicken with a side of vegetables, and it looked delicious! I was trying hard to make a mental note of all the ingredients she was using, but once she hit 10, I gave up. I figured I’d just go back to my own tried and true chicken drumsticks recipe.

It is so quick and easy, and again, the oven does all the work. I make chicken drumsticks at least once a week, because it is so quick. I even have marinated drumsticks in the freezer that I just take out, thaw, and throw in the oven. It can’t get any easier than that!

So here is my recipe for Chicken drumsticks, and because that is so easy to make, I’ll throw in my recipe for vegetable medley (otherwise known as whatever veggies are still left in your fridge):

Ingredients:

• 6-8 chicken drumsticks (medium sized)

chicken drumsticks and vegetable medley

Marinade:

• 2 cups Italian dressing
• 2 tablespoons parsley leaves
• 2 tablespoons garlic salt
• 2 tablespoons black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Rinse the chicken drumsticks under cold water, and pat dry
3. Cut 3 slits in the meatiest part of the drumsticks, so the marinade can hold better
4. Evenly coat the drumsticks with the marinade ingredients (save one third of the marinade for later)
5. Line a baking dish with foil, and lightly coat with oil
6. Place the drumsticks on foil, and let bake for 30 mins, then turn the drumsticks over, and pour remaining marinade on top
7. Let bake for another 20-30 mins, or until chicken is no longer pink inside
8. Let cool for 10 mins, then serve

For the Vegetable Medley:

Ingredients:

• Half of a large white onion sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 each of a large green and red pepper sliced
• 2 small zucchinis, sliced
• 2 small yellow squash, sliced
• 1 pat of butter (about the size of a starburst candy)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1. To a heated pan, add the garlic, onions and butter
2. Add the zucchini and squash and stir fry for 3 mins, or until slightly soft
3. Add the red and green peppers, and stir fry another 3 mins (the zucchini and squash should still retain its color. If it is turning gray or is soggy then you have cooked it too long)
4. Add the salt and pepper

I love watching Rachael Ray on Food Network. It intrigues me how she can make a full meal in 30 minutes or less. Out of the hundreds of cooking shows on Food Network, I am the biggest fan of RR because it is the most realistic.

I like the other chefs on that network too, but when I watch those shows it is purely for entertainment purposes (and to make myself hungry), but I know I would never spend as much time as they do in the kitchen. It still cracks me up when I see them putting a dish in the oven, and thanks to the magic of editing, it comes back out 5 mins later perfectly baked. (too bad that doesn’t happen in real life. trust me, I’ve tried!)

Back in the day, when I use to come home from work at 5, I would dread having to cook dinner. By the time I finished changing, eating a snack, and going to the gym, it would be close to 7pm. Of course, I could just get take out, or go out to eat with the hubby, but you just can’t do that everyday. It’s neither healthy or economical. So I was always thinking of ways to make a tasty dinner, that was quick and had little clean up. I like to call these meals One Pot Shops (because the final product is pulled out of the oven with my entrée and veggie dish already done, and when dinner is finished, I simply throw away the foil the meal was on).

I haven’t been able to come up with many of these dishes, but there is one that I have perfected. Neither my hubby or I really enjoy eating pork chops, because it is usually dry and tasteless. But this recipe results in tasty and juicy pork chops, with broccoli and mushrooms in a cream of mushroom sauce. You just throw everything in the oven, wait 15 mins, and everything is done! (ok, there is a 15 min preparation time, but that means you are only really cooking for 15 mins, the other 15 you are waiting). I always look forward to making this dish, not only because it is delicious, but also because I know I will be able to read 3 chapters of my favorite book, give myself a mani/pedi, and vacuum the entire house, while dinner is cooking! You can’t say that about many meals!

So here is my recipe for Baked Pork Chops with Broccoli and Mushrooms:

Ingredients:

• 5-7 slices of thinly sliced pork chops (I like boneless better, but bone in is perfectly fine. The thinner the pork chop, the faster it is to cook, and the less dry it turns out)
• 1 package of sliced white mushrooms (about 8oz)
• 2 small crowns of broccoli chopped (or 1 large crown)
• 1 can of cream of mushroom
• 2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon oil

baked pork chops with broccoli and mushrooms in a cream sauce

Marinade:

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons Worchestershire sauce
• 1 table spoon garlic salt
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley leaves
• 1 tablespoon black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Evenly coat the pork chops with the marinade
3. Heat pan with oil
4. Pan fry the pork chops until lightly browned on both sides (about 1 min on each side for the thin pork chops, 2 mins each side for the thicker chops)
5. In a separate pot, heat up the cream of mushroom, and add the pepper and thyme leaves until boiling
6. Then add in the raw mushrooms and broccoli until all the veggies are evenly coated with the cream sauce
7. Line a baking pan with foil, and lightly grease
8. Put in the browned pork chops, and pour the sauce and veggies on top
9. Bake in oven for about 15-20 mins (or until pork chops are no longer pink in the middle)
10. Let cool 5 mins, and serve straight from baking pan!