Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Chicken Pasta for One

Hey guys! Sorry I've been neglecting this blog, I've been really busy and also blogging elsewhere.
I thought I'd share a recipe today.  I got the idea to do something with roasted red peppers from Pioneer Woman's recipe, but I didn't have all of the ingredients to make her version.

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Chicken Pasta

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast

1/2 cup tomato puree

1/2 of a large red bell pepper

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/4 cup milk

1/4 of a large onion

2 cloves garlic

3 tbsp butter

Plenty of salt

Black pepper

Italian seasoning

1 cup Parmesan cheese

Broil or grill the red pepper (skin side up) until the outside is completely blackened.  When finished, remove from heat and place immediately into a sealed ziploc bag (It needs to sweat!)

While the pepper is roasting, melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet.  Dice the onion and garlic, and saute them in the butter.  Remove to food processor.

Take the pepper out of the Ziploc (be careful! It's suuuuuper hot!) and remove the blackened skin.  Gut the innards from the pepper.  Chop the fleshy part into strips and add to food processor, along with half of the ricotta cheese. Puree until smooth, set aside.

Cut the chicken breast into strips and season liberally with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.  Saute in the skillet you used for the onions and garlic until fully cooked.  Dump in the pepper sauce mixture, the remaining ricotta, the Parmesan, and a splash of milk.  Stir until blended, simmer on low to medium heat for a few minutes, adding more Italian seasoning and salt to taste.

Cook the pasta of your choice (I used whole wheat spaghetti) in salted water until al dente, place in bowl.

Using tongs, put the strips of chicken on top of the pasta.  Add more sauce to pasta if desired.  Top with more Italian seasoning or fresh herbs of your choice and plenty of Parmesan cheese.  Enjoy!

Macro Practice

Tonight, while I was sitting on the couch, browsing tumblr and facebook and generally being useless, I looked out the window.  The sun was just starting to set over the snow-covered field.  Suddenly, I had a burst of inspiration.  I bounded up, grabbed my camera and macro filter, pulled on my boots, and ran out the door.  There was a vision in my head of what I wanted to see through my viewfinder, and I didn't click until I found it.

It's that time of year again.  The hints of warmth on the breeze tease my nose with summer's seductive scents.  Daylight Savings Time has passed, and the sun goes down later and later each evening.  My heart is feeling the tug, the memories are flooding back more strongly.  I'm restless.  My legs twitch.  My lungs long for clean, warm air.  The thoughts in my head focus on bonfires, long drives, and open windows.  My soul desires friendship, laughter, naps in the sun, and my favorite dog.  It's nearly impossible to focus on anything for an extended amount of time.  Work drags on and on.  My heart aches for summertime.

Let's Pack Up and Move to California

Otherwise known as California Spring Break: Day 1

The morning of the day I left is a blur of packing, showering, checklists, frantically searching for items I haven't needed since summer, and painting my toenails.  My watch broke into two pieces while I was packing, so Mom and I stopped at WalMart on the way to Flint.  From Flint, Dad and I drove to Eureka and met Kaylie.

I hung out with Kaylie for a while (FINALLY!) before she drove me to the airport.  I checked my suitcase (43.5 pounds. Phew.) and went through the super secret hotel security gate within about 5 minutes.  Then I checked my ticket and headed toward gate 31C.  I walked through a trippy underground corridor with moving sidewalks and light-up glass walls set to music, and finally found concourse C.  "Weird," I thought, "I've never been to this concourse before.  And most of these are commuter flights."

Eventually, I found a departures board.  My flight was listed as on time... at gate A23.  I checked my ticket again, and sure enough, 31C was my SEAT number.  I scolded myself and turned around.

As for the flight itself, I had the aisle seat, and the middle seat was empty, so I had plenty of room-or as close to "plenty of room" as is possible on an airplane.  The family behind me was eating pickles, and the man across the aisle had boiled eggs, so I spent a lot of the flight trying not to breathe.  I read 2 chapters of my philosophy book, watched some late night talk shows, and read the latest issue of AP.

We landed on time, and I headed towards baggage claim.  On the way to the carousel, I saw a small, blonde person with extremely long hair... which, of course, was Jenney.  We hugged, I got my bag, and we got in her mom's truck.  It took around 15 minutes to get back to her house, where I ate some delicious cheese.  We talked in her room until midnight (3 am Michigan time) then I fell asleep when she went to get food.

Sick Day

Last night at work, I noticed my throat starting to scratch and my head starting to hurt.  I swallowed a couple Tylenol, drank some water, and thought nothing of it.
This morning when I woke up, it was worse, but I decided to try to go to church anyway.  I made it to the offering before asking Mom for her keys and heading home.  On the way home I called into work.  Mark told me that I had to have a doctor's note tomorrow, since this is my second sick day.  How convenient for me.

I got home at 11, went downstairs, and went to sleep.  At 4:00, I woke up, ate some lunch, and went back to bed for a couple more hours.  I've been awake from around 6:30 until now, and I'm going to sleep in a couple minutes.  Sore throat, headache, low fever, extreme fatigue... basically, the exact same thing Bo's had lately.

So, I have to go to the doctor tomorrow, pack, go to the library, and finish my lesson plans, before 3:30.  I work 3:30-9 tomorrow night, then 8-2:30 on Tuesday, then I'm leaving for California! I am SO READY for this vacation.  Get ready, Jenney-- I am going to do some HARDCORE relaxing in between our movies, zoo trip, theatre night, cooking, beach days, tacos, Bergsteining, and laughter.

Prayers that I'll feel better soon would be greatly appreciated.  I hate being sick, and it always happens at such inopportune times. :/

Extreme Makeover: My Room Edition

I had Tuesday off, so I decided to tackle a MUCH needed task-- cleaning my room.  And by "much needed," I mean, "I still hadn't unpacked the suitcase I took to my grandparents' house for Christmas."

Before... note the bag from winter retreat, the clothes all over the couch, the junk on the floor, and the wide-angle-lens distortion :)

During... Two boxes of stuff to get rid of, and half the clothes from my closet

Dirty clothes, stuff that goes upstairs, stuff to give away, and trash. Also, my heater.

So. Many. Hangers.

After! Sooo clean! Moved my bed to the other wall, took out the couch, dusted, vacuumed... ahhhh.

My bookshelf. Dan Stadt turned all of those bottles upside down when he stayed in my room at New Years.  I didn't notice for a week.

Another view... note the desk, Peruvian flag, letter on the bed, aaaand, wide-angle lens distortion :)

Mandarin Chicken- The (super) Easy Way

I found all of these pictures on my camera, and I can only guess that I intended to blog this "recipe."  Although, it's not so much of a recipe as it is a way to use store-bought sauce... but it's still delicious.

Gather: instant rice, garlic salt, cumin, an egg, Mandarin Sauce (make your own if you're more ambitious than I am), lemon juice, olive oil, cherry tomatoes (or grape tomatoes. or Roma. or any kind of tomatoes, really), an onion, and one large boneless skinless chicken breast.

Chop the chicken breast into (roughly) 1-inch cubes and sprinkle with garlic and cumin.  

Go easy on the cumin.  It's a pretty distinct flavor (sort of like chili-cheese Fritos) and can be overpowering.

Put a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a frying pan and throw in the chicken, diced onion (about 1/2 cup), and chopped tomatoes (1/2 cup to a cup)

When most of the chicken is white on the outside, and the oil is bubbling, make a well in the middle of your pan.

Turn the heat to medium-high. (I have no idea why I took a picture of this)

Crack your egg into the well and...

...scramble it up with the chicken and veggies

Pour in a capful or two of lemon juice.

Add around 1/8 to 1/4 cup of mandarin sauce

Then turn the heat to low and let it simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally

The sauce will get less... well... saucy... as the food simmers.  

Cut open a couple pieces of chicken to make sure they're fully cooked.

Serve it up over a bed of white rice.  I used instant, but I'm sure "real" rice would be even better.

Yum.