Yearly Archives: 2014

Sweet Spicy Tequila Lime Chicken with Sriracha

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By Jodee Weiland

Anyone who knows me knows I love spicy meals and hot peppers. Give me a little habanero sauce on my eggs or add it to a sauce for chicken, and I’m in heaven. Add hot giardiniera to my Italian beef sandwich, and I’m happy. I would say I am as happy as a clam, but seriously, I’m not sure how happy clams are or where that expression even came from years ago. Nonetheless, my point is this…I love spicy food, so I decided to try something different with chicken, and the result is my Sweet Spicy Tequila Lime Chicken with Sriracha. https://learnfromyesterday.com I was thinking about a tequila lime marinade for chicken and the more I thought about it, the more I thought I would like it even better if it were a spicy tequila lime marinade. Immediately, I thought what could be better than adding sriracha hot chili sauce to what I had already planned to put in my tequila lime marinade. That sounded really good to me, so I kept tugging at that thread and decided to go a step further with it. I decided to add honey to the marinade to give it the spicy sweet flavor I wanted. I love sweet and spicy when done right, so why not? That’s when the whole idea came together finally, and it turned out great! https://learnfromyesterday.com Sweet Spicy Tequila Lime Chicken with Sriracha

2 to 4 boneless chicken breasts
1/4 cup tequila
3/4 cup lime juice (fresh or all natural)
2 tablespoons organic honey
1 to 1 and 1/2 tablespoons sriracha hot chili sauce (vary according to desired heat)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Sea salt to taste

https://learnfromyesterday.comMix together the tequila, lime juice, honey, sriracha sauce, garlic, and sea salt. Blend together thoroughly, and then microwave for about five minutes. Put the chicken breasts in a shallow dish and pour the marinade over them. Cover and put in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn the chicken breasts, cover the dish, and let it marinade for 20 minutes longer. Once done, grill the chicken on your barbecue, basting it with the marinade from time to time.

https://learnfromyesterday.com When the Sweet Spicy Tequila Lime Chicken with Sriracha is cooked, serve with a vegetable of your choice. We like Grilled Balsamic Asparagus or Grilled Zucchini with our Sweet Spicy Tequila Lime Chicken with Sriracha. Another favorite is Grilled Corn on the Cob when we can get it fresh at the farmer’s market. Any of these sides will go great with this meal. This chicken is delicious and will definitely be loved by those of you who like spicy like me. If you don’t like spicy, you can leave the sriracha sauce out and skip the spicy. Either way, I think you will find this recipe to be full of flavor, so enjoy!

Improve the World: Celebrate Earth Day Every Day!

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By Jodee Weiland

Today is Earth Day and people all over are talking about it! There are activities for children in their schools. Various cities are have activities planned for today that encourage recycling things such as, bicycles for restoration, Apple products, and so much more.  Museums, botanical gardens, and zoos have exhibits that will focus on environmental issues of all kinds for us to learn more about our planet and how to preserve it for future generations. Today is a day when we all can learn how to Improve the World: Celebrate Earth Day Every Day!

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You can easily Google what is happening in your city or cities nearby to you to help celebrate this day. In Chicago today, 5 NBC Chicago has posted a list of places to drop off items for safe recycling at Earth Day E-Waste Drop-Off Locations. ABC 7 Eyewitness News has posted a fun activity for families to do at home with their children at Earth Day Family Fun: Dirt dessert recipe. WGN TV has posted a fun outing for for young families here in Chicago and the suburbs at Earth Day 2014; What the Field Museum’s Dioramas are Teaching Kids about Conservation. These are just a few of the things being talked about here in Chicago, but as I searched the web, I saw so many posts from cities everywhere.

Remember, today is a day when we all can learn how to Improve the World: Celebrate Earth Day Every Day! If you can’t find anything near you, you can check out all the ideas for activities you can do with your family being posted on the web today or make the Dirt Dessert recipe from ABC 7 Eyewitness News listed above. Also, Pinterest has whole boards that contain Earth Day activities for children if you search for them. The EPA Environmental Protection Agency has a downloadable free eleven page coloring book for children called The Happy Earth Day Coloring and Activities Book. There are so many options out there if you just look. So have some fun on Earth Day, learn something new, do something to help the environment, and enjoy!

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Bitsy’s Brainfood co-founder, Maggie Patton encourages families to involve kids in Earth Day, to teach them that they can make a difference.

“When it comes to my own family and taking action on Earth Day, we like to think globally, and act locally. There are so many simple ways to get the whole family involved in celebrating Earth Day,” Patton says. Below, she provides 19 kid-friendly Earth Day activities that can extend into loving the environment every day.

19 KID-FRIENDLY EARTH DAY ACTIVITIES

  1. Compost your fruit and veggie scraps and watch your garden bloom!
  2. Buy, fill and refill reusable water bottles — help keep millions of single-use plastic bottles out of landfill.
  3. Save a tree! Use both sides of your notebook paper.
  4. Visit a zoo or farm and learn how to care for animals. It’ll promote local food, too.
  5. Go for a family walk or bike ride and help keep the Earth cool.
  6. Get everyone a pair of work gloves and pick up trash in your neighborhood or town.
  7. Buy or make your own green cleaning products and spring clean your home.
  8. Grow a community garden and nourish your neighborhood green spaces.
  9. Plant more trees in your town — they’ll help clean the air.
  10. Help remove stuck plastic bags out of trees. And switch to reusable bags instead … for everything!
  11. Make an appointment with your town leaders to add more neighborhood trash cans and recycling bins — or start a recycling program.
  12. Collect glass food jars to paint and turn into candle holders (and use soy-based candles!).
  13. Love surprises? Plant bulbs and flower seeds and keep a weather eye for spring blossoms!
  14. “Turn off the lights!” Make switch plate reminders for your whole house.
  15. Show your kids the beauty of the beach. Collect shells and rocks for art projects.
  16. Make extra food for dinner then ditch BPA-lined plastic and get glass storage containers instead for leftovers.
  17. Transform colorful magazine pages, comics and more into artful projects and gift wrappers.
  18. Learn how to donate/recycle old computer equipment and post instructions (with permission, of course) at your local library, cafes, electronics stores and more.
  19. Breathe in nature: Turn off the a/c and open a window to the world.

Bonus activity: Just get outside and play!

 More Ways to Recycle:

 

Ham, Asparagus, and Goat Cheese Frittata with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

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By Jodee Weiland

After baking a ham, I usually look for recipes that will use leftover ham. One of my favorites is always a frittata because it’s so easy, and you can quickly create one with foods you have on hand. When I first did this recipe, I chose to use the leftover ham from our baked ham and food items I had in the fridge to create my Ham, Asparagus, and Goat Cheese Frittata with Sun-Dried Tomatoes.

https://learnfromyesterday.com

Originally, frittata was an Italian term used for cooking eggs in a skillet. A frittata is basically just an Italian version of an open-faced omelet that is started on the stove top and then finally baked in the oven.  Some people will cook a frittata completely on the stove top, while others will vary between how much is done on the stove top and how much is done in the oven. For my frittata, I used the oven this time. When you cook a frittata in the oven, be sure to use an oven proof skillet or baking dish.

https://learnfromyesterday.comMy Ham, Asparagus, and Goat Cheese Frittata with Sun-Dried Tomatoes came together based on the ingredients I had on hand at the time, and it turned out delicious. The ham, of course, came from a baked ham I had made earlier. The fresh vegetable I had was asparagus. I had just bought a batch at the store a day earlier. I frequently have goat cheese because I keep a variety of cheeses on hand at any given time. Sun-dried tomatoes can easily be found in my refrigerator, since I like to add them into any number of recipes I make from soups to sauces to stews and more. So given the ingredients on hand, this frittata recipe was the delicious result!

https://learnfromyesterday.com

Ham, Asparagus, and Goat Cheese Frittata with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

8 large eggs beaten
1/4 cup skim milk
5 ounces diced ham
12 lightly steamed asparagus spears cut into one inch pieces
1 ounce sun-dried tomatoes chopped into small pieces
4 ounces goat cheese divided in small pieces

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare the baking dish with either a butter or olive oil spray. My dish is about 8 x 11 inches, so my frittata is about 3/4 to 1 inch deep. When ready, beat 8 eggs well in a mixing bowl with a whisk adding the skim milk as you do this. Next, add the ham, asparagus, and sun-dried tomatoes stirring it all together. Finally, add in the goat cheese in pieces and stir some more.

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When the mixture is ready, pour it into the prepared baking dish. Place the dish in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. When done, put a toothpick in the center and pull it out. If the toothpick comes out clean, then your frittata is cooked and ready to cut and serve.

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My Ham, Asparagus, and Goat Cheese Frittata with Sun-Dried Tomatoes is absolutely delicious! Since created, it has become a favorite. We like to serve it with toast and fresh fruit. My husband likes to have some extra slices of ham on the side as well. This dish makes a great breakfast or even a quick dinner. We love it because it is full of flavor from the ham and other ingredients blended together. Each ingredient adds its own unique flavor to the overall taste of this dish. Give it a try sometime, and enjoy!