July 2007 Archives

Another recipe post

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White Wine Chicken Fry

Liquid
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup cheap chardonnay (2 Buck Chuck works well for this.)
3 Tbs brown mustard
3 Tbs sugar/splenda
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried dill weed
a few grinds black pepper

Chunks
2-3lbs boneless chicken breast or thighs
2-3 lbs summer squash
8-16 oz sliced mushrooms
Olive oil
Salt

Directions
Mix all of the sauce ingredients in a bowl or measuring cup and set aside.

Slice your squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds.
Chop the squash into chunks about 1"x.5". (The last dimension determined by diameter of the squash.)
Lightly salt the meat.
Put a pan over medium heat and add not quite enough olive oil to cover the bottom.
Once the olive oil becomes fragrant, put the meat into the pan and fry until both sides are golden brown, and/or the meat is done.
Remove the meat and add the squash to the pan. Meat drippings should provide sufficient liquid, but if more is required, add olive oil or butter.
Simmer the squash on medium heat until it is par-cooked, and has picked up a little bit of color.
While the squash is simmering, chop the cooked chicken into pieces approximately the same size as the squash.
Once the squash is par-cooked, add the mushrooms and continue cooking until the mushrooms are browned, and the squash is nearly done.
Now re-add the chicken to the pan along with the sauce.
Taste the liquid after a minute and adjust seasoning as necessary.
Cover and simmer until vegetables are at desired level of done-ness.

If you aren't on a diet like myself, serve on a mixture of wild/white/brown rice, or on pasta.
If you are on a diet, it's still a filling meal.

Possible Variations:
-Addition of cheese upon serving. (Not much.)
-Shredded frozen spinach, just before adding the liquid. Make sure spinach is done before serving.
-Sugar/splenda is added to cut the acidity. Reduce amount to increase acidity, or add 1 tsp lemon juice.
-1 can of diced tomatos (drained), added with the liquid.

Back from the dead

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This is my first post in about 2.5 months, and the last one doesn't really count since it was just recipe. So, what have I been up to?

I guess I've been working a lot. Thankfully I enjoy my job and the variety of stuff I get to work on. I've also been doing a tiny bit of job-oriented self-betterment in my spare time. I should do a bit more, especially branching out into some independent research projects. I want to keep my brain working and learning, and I suppose at least some of that should be devoted to stuff that could better my job-related skills.

I've been holding steady weight-wise (by design). I've been wanting to make sure that I can actually maintain the weight loss I've already accomplished. It's been a while now, and I'm still sitting about where I was, so I'm thinking about continuing loss down to my goal weight. I'm lighter now than I have been since I don't know when, but it feels good so I'll keep dropping til I hit the 'ideal' weight range for my height and musculature. Even the amount that I've dropped thus far has definitely improved my life.

I've pretty much dropped the WoW playing. No amazing revelations, no 'interventions', I just got bored with it. I still pay for my account, and play with people when they ask me to. I guess it's a good way to keep in touch and interact with some people. Not quite sure when I'll drop the account.

Went for a walk in the Mackinaw CA today. (They don't call them Conservation Areas in this state, but I don't care.) I was mostly scouting for places to hunt this fall, as well as just to get outside for a nice long walk. I found a few places to look for bunnies (indicated by scat and environment), and a few more for deer (indicated by tracks and environment), as well as some interesting scat that I'm going to have to assume is coyote in origin. The contents were rodent fur and bone, and it was not an owl pellet. And since there are officially no cougars or wolves in this state which might leave similar trace, I'm pretty much left with (judging from the leavings) a really, really, big coyote. I also found a decent place to try fishing on the Mackinaw River, may as well see if there's anything worthwhile in there.

Shorties:
-Teaching Matt and Kat some martial arts. It remains to be seen if this is a good idea.
-Bought a dehydrator to make our own beef jerky. Cheaper, and way better flavor. (Recipe to follow.)
-Tried out Deus Ex - Invisible War. As reported, not as good as the original, which is still one of the best single player games of all time, in my opinion.
-Making a list of life goals. Should be interesting to see where this takes me.

Low Carb Teriyaki Jerky
1 C. Soy Sauce
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tbs. grated ginger
3 Tbs. (heaping) off-brand splenda
Beef, sliced thin and against the grain (at least 2 lbs)
Black pepper mill

Combine first 5 ingredients in a seal-able plastic bag. Squeeze out all of the air and seal it up. Place in the fridge for at least 16 hours. (The batch in my fridge right now has been in there for days.) You can use as much meat as you can reliably have covered with liquid in the bag.

After done brining, remove the meat from the bag, allowing excess brine to drip off. Lay into your dehydrator, and then grind pepper onto the meat as per your desires. Finally, follow manufacturers instructions for making jerky, and enjoy.

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This page is an archive of entries from July 2007 listed from newest to oldest.

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