Chicken with Olives, Raisins, and Spinach Rice

Recipe & Photo By: Martha Stewart

• 1 cup long-grain white rice
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 bunch flat-leaf spinach (1 pound) chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 chicken culets (about 1 1/2 pounds total)
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives, slivered
• 1/4 cup golden raisins

In a medium saucepan, bring 1 3/4 cups water to a boil. Add rice, season with salt, and return to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook just until tender, 16 to 18 minutes. Remove pan from heat; add spinach, cover, and let stand, without stirring, for 5 minutes. Using a fork, fluff rice and mix in spinach.
While rice is cooking, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Cook in two batches, until browned outside and opaque throughout, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate (reserve skillet); cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.
Add wine, olives, and raisins to skillet. Cook over medium-high until wine is almost evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Add cup 1/2 water; cook until sauce is reduced by half, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve chicken over spinach rice, and top with sauce.

Notes...

Super easy. Really good.....although it had a slightly different after taste my kids and husband still really enjoyed it....My husband NEVER eats spinach so I didn't tell him that's what the green was and he ate it and liked it. (tee hee)

got the recipe here

My Review of Strawberry Shortcake Goodies-To-Go Scooter

Originally submitted at Toys R Us

She might be tiny, but Strawberry Shortcake has a huge heart. Her friends love to gather at her Berry Cafe™, where they can always count on Strawberry Shortcake for a helping hand and some berry delicious "treats"-no wonder she's everyone's best friend in Berry Bitty City...

Strawberry Shortcake Goodies-To-Go Scooter

super cute but not for $$

By momof2intx from seabrook tx on 1/18/2011

 

3out of 5

Pros: Cute

Cons: The small pieces are TINY

Best Uses: Kids ok w small parts, Older Children, Imaginative Play

Describe Yourself: Parent of Two or More Children, Stay at Home Parent

Was this a gift?: No

The small pieces are a pain to keep up with because they are TINY. The doll is super cute and the bike is easy to use and easy to put the trunk up and down. My daughter is 2 1/2 but she is pretty good about puting everything back into the bin I got for all the small SSC stuff. So far she has loved this with the strawberry house. The seat belt is the only part she has a problem with but a four year old (the min age on the box) shouldn't have a problem. I just don't think its worth 20$ maybe the 15 or 10 I paid for it on sale

(legalese)

swagbucks?

This is just a quick little FYI post.....

I have just started to use stwagbucks.com. I so far have 39 sb and I signed up yesterday. I will up date you every week as to how the "pay to search" toolbar/website is working for me.


Ok so it has now been close to a month and I have 243 SB. You need at least 400+ to get anything. The searching is really not that convenient as the first few search results on the list seem to be ad's or a redirection. Try searching for medical info/advice its a joke!

So in conclusion I am going to keep it up for a bit longer and give it a chance. I search silly stuff in the SB search bar and any real search that I need the correct info on I search google or yahoo.

I will update again in a few months.

OMG I FINISHED

The bookcase and it is BEAUTIFUL! I am always amazed at what a little paint can do.  I started at 10 am and  I decided to, for what ever reason, forgo the primer......the lazy in me got the best of me this morning =/. Well due to the lack of primer it took FIVE coats of paint count them 1. 2.3.4.5. I didn't finish until 7pm...oops. I have painted whole rooms in less time so count that as lesson learned ; )

Now back to the bookcase that is now white and organized.

Please ignore the paint supplies I had just finished some touch ups. I still have to figure out how to clean it of the brick...I may be white washing it just to hide the roller slip up =) So I have one project down and by the self promised deadline. YAY. Oh happy day! So hopefully I can keep up this momentum and continue the rest of the living room make over and kit make over.

I just had to post tonight before bed. I am so proud of myself for sticking to the plan, executing the project nicely.

just to remind you here is what it looked like before

straight out of the 70's....bubble light saber and all.

To whitewash or to leave natural? That is the question

I love brick as much as the next person but I have the MOST hideous fireplace and bookcase. It's straight out of the 70's! I am to scared to paint it(bit of a decor commitment phobic) I have been blog stalking for a few days now and have seen a lot of really nice redone fireplaces. From new tile (outta my budget right now) to white wash and paint (more up my alley$$ but so permanent) here is a pic of what I am working with.......ummmm......I should warn you its not pretty, Its NOT organized, Its not me!!! I avoid this area at all costs so please keep that in mind as I show this pic.....no judging allowed here where the messy unorganised learn to clean up their act =P

Now Here is my plan.... I want to paint the book case white and the inside a accent color( haven't decided if I am going with a grey or a Green or sticking to red) I have to CLEAN the fire place obviously, I want a mantle that is defined and I would like to tone down the dark fireplace. It is actually that ugly brown orangy brick color. It looks more red here but I am not a photographer and in real life trust me its DARK!

SO here are some of my ideas.

1. White washing the fireplace
2. cleaning out and painting the bookcase
3. Getting storage containers for the toys and clutter in the bookcase
4. changing out my curtains (WHITE here I come!)
5. paint the walls and ceiling( they are goldish and red right now I am going with a warm light grey....i think....)

So there is my before and Now I  HAVE to get on it lol. I hope to be done with the bookcase this weekend(so today) and the wall color by mid week and the curtains by next week and then if I still feel the need to white wash the fire place I will.......I am sooooo scared

NYE 2011 Ya baby

OK so on NYE this year I swore up and down I wasn't in the mood to throw a party. I was not feeling well and so tired after only a total of 4 hrs sleep in 4 days thanks to a lovely sisters airplane travel and my lack of organisation....LOL went to pick her up at midnight on the wrong day lol..... Anyhoo my kids convinced me to throw a party so at 1pm on the 31 I finally relented  (i really think deep down I wanted to all along) So...............Here is what I was able to pull together in a matter of hrs. Love a last minuet party. Sorry the pics are dark and off colored the settings were wrong on the camera and I didn't realize until it was too late.

I put the numbers 1-10 with a silver metallic sharpie on the wine glasses. (I used stickers for the plastic kids wine glasses)

Dollar store hurricane vase with those glass bead/rock things and candle(also purchased at the dollar store) the same silver metallic sharpie= a $3 NYE decoration. I placed these on square mirrors left over from my wedding this past Aug. On the mirrors I placed two tea lights and wrote 2011 on them as well.

I  had four or five of these placed around the house. This one was on the dessert table.

Made two cake stands with dollar store plates that had a silver/gold trim on the edge and a martini glass. I Filled the martini glass with tinsel and placed the plate on top of  the martini glass. I then wrote 2011 on them

I made two for 2$ I had the martini glasses on hand. I then ran out to the store and purchased cupcakes, cookie mix, frosting. I had the truffles left over from Christmas. I put 2011 on the cookies with the frosting.

The main table...Again sorry about the color and the painted paneling(YAAY I finally get to tackle drywalling the living room in a few months) I took some framed mirrors and wrote Happy NYE  2011 on them we had honey wheat rolls and a meat and cheese plate, chips queso and salsa, mixed nuts, fudge my neighbor made and these chocolate balls of heaven she makes...I HAVE to get that recipe!

I placed noise makers in vases, hats, and crowns in gold and silver through out the house in little groupings.

now for the obligatory cute kids photos.....lol aren't they cute though.....I just love them and so for them I threw a last minuet New years eve party! I am actually pretty proud of how it turned out seeing as I only had a few short hrs to shower, clean, and prepare for a party let alone decorate. I wish the camera was better but hey.....
Happy New years 2011 to everyone I hope its a great year for you all!!

Dinner is served maaannnn.....

So it has been a normal daily occurrence in our house hold for me to wake up and start the day with the same question "What am I going to do for dinner?" Literally I would go to the store EVERY SINGLE day. I know how ridiculous it is and I hated the time wasted until, that is, I found  this website! I tried the week 1 meal plan. The shopping list is so easy every meal took me no more than 40 min to prepare. On average it was around 30 min. The time and $$$$ I saved going to the store just once was AMAZING!

I just had to pass this along. I will post all about my last min new years party (literally decided to throw it 10 am NYE) and by 8pm it was in full swing.......... to our first Christmas in our home even though we have lived here for three years=) Its been a great end  to a pretty good year. I hope the same for all of you and let the resolution's begin.

So I am in full holiday craft swing. I have a few projects that I have on my to do list. The first is the annual gingerbread hand print ornaments for the grandparents.

Cinnamon Craft Dough

• 4 cups of cinnamon (if you can, buy in bulk--this is cheapest)
• 3 cups applesauce
• 1/2 cup white school glue

They love these and the kids love making them. They are non edible so that last forever and they smell like Cinnamon every time we take them out of the bag for the tree. We are getting the tree tonight so look out for photos =)

Next is this wonderful invention from knockoff wood.com. Anna is a genius for sure. http://ana-white.com/2010/12/moms-lego-table.html/comment-page-1#comment-25729

 I can't wait to get started and I hope that it is as easy as  the bookcases

 http://ana-white.com/2010/01/creative-guest-knock-off-wood-bookcases.html I made around T day that are still a conversation piece whenever people come over. I did mine in black with baskets for the shoes on the top shelf and the boots on the bottom shelf.

I am also on a hunt for an easy and classy holiday wreath for the windows and front door. I found this at another fav blog http://joyisathome.blogspot.com/2010/12/berry-beady-wreath-tutorial.html. I can't wait to get started but I think I may add a  classic red bow to them.

And for the table top

I found this wonderful table center piece here go over and visit her blog and be truly inspired. She made this for a under 5$ I believe. I am not going to use the flocked mirror though. I think I will do some of that fake batting snow they sell in the stores.  I can't wait to get started on these projects. Now if only I could get organized enough to actually finish them LOL

Happy holiday you guys and happy organized crafting. =)

First time building furniture!

So I hope every one's holiday went well. We had a great week off. I got a few things done among the cooking and cleaning.

I BUILT a bookcase (shoe storage) by myself with a little help from Knockoffwood.com. Anna has some great, easy to execute plans. I have only build one of the two bookcases so far. I plan to build the second this week. It cleaned the shoe corner near my back door perfectly. I need to get baskets still but so far so good. It made the whole corner feel much bigger. I will post pics as soon as I get the baskets but so far this non building non organizeed mess of a homemaker is pulling things together YAY!

Ana-White.com

http://ana-white.com/2010/01/creative-guest-knock-off-wood-bookcases.html

So I had a really busy couple of weeks. I did manage to get a few small projects done. I reorganised my kitchen drawers with these http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=126988&RN=205&, lined and organised my dresser drawers, organised my linen closet, bought bins 10 for 16$ they are the shoe box size at Bed Bath & Beyond. I have used two of them for the kids blocks and one for the craft odds and ends. It is AMAZING how much the small things I was able to get done these past few weeks have inspired me to do more. Slowly it is turning into a fun job and less of a chore. I hope to get some photos up soon. I am going to attempt building a bookcase that I am turning into a shoe bench for next to the sliding door(the main door that is used) If I do find time I will try to remember to take pics of the process. I found the plans here http://ana-white.com/2010/01/creative-guest-knock-off-wood-bookcases.html. It looks pretty simple. I post if it is truley simple to do for the non-crafty/organized person. =)

New to blogging

Hi my name is Beth and I am a mom of a 5 year old boy and a 2 year old diva! I am tired of dealing with all the clutter that two small children can bring into a home. I have never been a great organizer but I have always had a clean house. Now I have a house filled with toys, school papers and projects, craft stuff, book, books, and more books. So I am on a mission to tackle the clutter and learn to organize. I am going to document my journey and hopefully pass along any helpful tips and tricks I come across. I am a newbie to blogging as well. =)
So I will take on the front room this week and creating a clutter free “toy zone” in my family room as well. Take care and here’s to new beginnings. YAY

Beth

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