Food on the Fourth

Ben is was the cook in our relationship. With such a great cook in the house, I basically gave up trying to cook our meals. I mean, every now and then when he was feeling lazy, I'd whip up one of my standards: pasta, chicken, or ribs. Now he's gone all week for work, and when he gets home I know he doesn't want to spend his time cooking. I have made it my mission to learn how to cook more meals for us.

This fourth of July, he ended up driving home to be here with me, and I wanted to have some special meals for us while he was here, to thank him for his efforts. It's no lie that Pinterest makes these endeavors easier.

On Tuesday the 3rd, I came home at lunch and threw some frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot. I also threw in a beer, and 1/2 teaspoon of the following:

• Paprika
• Cumin
• Garlic Powder
• Black Pepper
• Minced Onion
• Basil
• Thyme
• Cayenne
• Salt

It came out GREAT and talk about EASY!

On the night of the 4th, we wanted to BBQ. I looked up a recipe for a chipotle marinade, and found a Bobby Flay recipe on Food Network. It included:

• 2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/2 cup good red wine

We let the tri tip sit in the marinade all day long. To be honest, Ben used 6 cloves of garlic (we're garlic FREAKS). I know he also threw in some Cayenne. It was DELICIOUS!

Since Ben is gone all week, I'm trying to take up some DIY projects. Last week I made a fourth of July wreath:

Ignore my bare mattress, it's laundry day :)

Up next, I want to create something to hang on the wall above our bed. I found a tutorial for a "washer" monogram on Pinterest. I'm going to make a K and a B and hang it over our respective sides. After doing some more thinking, I'm considering doing an ampersand as well. I think it'll fill the space better. We'll see how "gung ho" I feel after doing two of them.

Before I leave you on this beautiful Saturday, let me share one more recipe we tried and LOVED! (It's nice to be able to have a place other than Pinterest to store these, just in case)

Chicken:
2 large chicken breasts
1 sleeves Ritz crackers
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/2 C milk
1 egg
1 C cheddar cheese, grated
1 t dried parsley

Sauce:
1 10 ounce can cream of chicken soup
2 T sour cream
2 T butter

1. Cut each chicken breast into 3 large chunks.
2. In a small food processor grind up the Ritz crackers.
3. Pour the milk & egg (mix), cheese and cracker crumbs into 2 separate small pans. Toss the 1/4 t salt and 1/8 t pepper into the cracker crumbs and stir the mixture around to combine.
4. Sprinkle flour on the chicken.
5. Dip each piece of chicken into the milk/egg mixture, then into the cheese/Ritz mixture.
6. Spray pan with cooking spray and lay the chicken inside the pan.
7. Sprinkle the dried parsley over the chicken.
8. Cover the pan with tin foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove the tin foil, bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until the edges of the chicken are golden brown and crispy.
9. In a medium sized sauce pan combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream and butter with a whisk. Stir it over medium high heat until the sauce is nice and hot. Serve over the chicken.

Enjoy! (WE LOVED THIS ONE!)