Ingredients
1 whole chicken cut into parts or 8 chicken pieces, with or without skin
1 large jar tomato sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green, yellow, or red pepper, diced
1 can sliced mushrooms or 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 can black or green olives, drained (optional)
Assembly
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Arrange the chicken pieces, skin side up in an 11x14 pan
Pour 1/2 the sauce over the chicken
Add all the remaining ingredients
Cover with remaining sauce
Place into oven and cook 45-60 minutes or until chicken is tender
Serve with cooked pasta, spooning the sauce over the pasta.
This is so easy it's almost too good to believe. The secret is in using a quality bottled sauce. If you like a spicy touch, go for a putanesca sauce, or one with garlic and herbs; whatever you like. It's hard to mess this up.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Snow Day 2008
It doesn't snow often in the Portland, Oregon area, particulalrly at elevations near the valley floor. So, when it does it's a major event. The local news media saturates us in coverage of every location from every possible perspective. Regular Sunday programming, like Meet the Press, is usurped to present more snow coverage. After all, some areas got almost 4 inches...imagine if we got some real snow, like 6 or 12 incles, or more.
It was a good day for ironing about three weeks worth of shirts, while watching lots of football on TV. Unfortunately, some games were more exciting than others, but it's been a good change of pace from the work week.
If this keeps up I may have to reopen my paint box after a 3 year dry spell. When I do, I hope I remember how to hold a brush. If you now are wondering what my pictures look like, I'll add some in the future
It was a good day for ironing about three weeks worth of shirts, while watching lots of football on TV. Unfortunately, some games were more exciting than others, but it's been a good change of pace from the work week.
If this keeps up I may have to reopen my paint box after a 3 year dry spell. When I do, I hope I remember how to hold a brush. If you now are wondering what my pictures look like, I'll add some in the future
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Easy French Toast
Ingredients
6 slices of bread or 4 thick (1-1 1/2") slices Challah
1 egg beaten
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbs butter
Combine egg, milk and vanilla
pour into a shallow baking pan
Add the bread. turning after a few minutes until most or all of the egg mixture is absorbed.
Melt butter in a large skillet. Brown bread slices on both sides over medium heat, then transfer to a cookie sheet and place int a 325 degree oven for 15~20 minutes or until slices puff up. Reduce heat, transfer slices to a serving plate and serve with maple syrup or top with fresh fruit and serve.
6 slices of bread or 4 thick (1-1 1/2") slices Challah
1 egg beaten
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbs butter
Combine egg, milk and vanilla
pour into a shallow baking pan
Add the bread. turning after a few minutes until most or all of the egg mixture is absorbed.
Melt butter in a large skillet. Brown bread slices on both sides over medium heat, then transfer to a cookie sheet and place int a 325 degree oven for 15~20 minutes or until slices puff up. Reduce heat, transfer slices to a serving plate and serve with maple syrup or top with fresh fruit and serve.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
A Departure from Food...How We Could Really Support Our Troops
I'm going to get off the food and recipes topic for today to get something off my chest... I'm really tired of politicians and others talking about how they support our troops. They don't! They talk instead. Here's what I'd like to see:
- Suspension of mortgage obligations for all troops on active duty, with life insurance to cover their mortgage in the event they are killed. Let the banks and other lenders have a tax credit or deduction for revenue losses under this program.
- Reasonable pay for troops so they can continue to support their families while on active duty. Spending untold billions on contractors while our own troops are paid little and Congress rejects reasonable increases, is in my opinion, seditious!
- Prepaid government medical insurance for all immediate family members of active duty troops. At least the equal of the insurance we provide for Congress today. If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for the folks who protect them, and our way of life. If that's too expensive, then we can't afford to fight wars anymore.
- Suspension of income tax obligations for the period of active duty served.
With these programs, troops would be assured their families could live in reasonable comfort, safety, and dignity while they are putting their lives on the line. If this is too much to pay, they why should they be placing their lives and the futures of their children and spouses at risk. We are either all in, expenses and all, or we should all be out! I'd pay my share of the tax burden for this long before I'd celebrate putting another dollar into Halliburton's or some other contractor's pocket.
Have at me at will! I'm sure someone will have comments about this!
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
5 things you didn't know about me
I was tagged a while back by Greg Hughes to do a "5 things you didn't know about me" post. These things are most revealing, and these are five things many who know me may not know. Anyway, here goes:
1. I was so fat as a small child, I was taken to a diet doctor for pills (probably amphetamines) to loose wight. Let's be clear, by fat I mean 80 pounds in kindergarten. I had a 38" waist. A sphere with hands and feet, and i think, a head--that was me! If there was a non-surgical means to lose weight in the universe, I've probably tried it at least once. Some worked better than others, and none were permanent. I have had some times in my life when I was "normal sized". It's a constant battle even to this day.
2. I used to run 2 miles a day 3-4 days/week. Needless to say, I was thinner then. And I really liked my endorphin high that resulted from the running, which I usually did on an indoor track...14 1/3 laps per mile. I loved indoor track running! A skiing accident messed up one knee and ended the running. I still walk a lot sometimes.
3. When I was eight I made up a design for a nuclear powered rocket for a science project. Then I got into trouble with a teacher who said I copied the design from some book. I had never seen the book she referenced, but it depicted some scientist's design, and it was a lot like mine. In fact, I'd never seen any book with a design like the one I had drawn...it was just one that made sense to me. Fortunately I had a reputation as a good student so the whole matter was dropped. Things were different back in the 1950's. Today the event would have been resolved in a courtroom at great expense to the school district and my parents.
4. I was a bank teller. And later on, helped develop and implement a NJ regional bank's first centralized teller training program. We ran the program out of a converted attic in a small annex building in the parking lot of its headquarters. The program was designed from scratch. We made our own training materials, tests, and course exercises. We had some counterfeit bills, and taught people how to detect them. That part of the program was vetted with a local FBI agent, who thought ours was one of the best he'd seen. Oh, and the last day I worked on the teller line before being reassigned to build the teller training program, I dressed in a tuxedo and worked the day that way.
5. I once oversaw the largest corporate installation of Macintoshes in the US. Unbeknownst to many, a leading NY bank had one in every branch, before there was an Internet, and used their proprietary network for inter-branch communications via email on the Macintosh. This goes back to the days of Macintosh II's. I was responsible for that email system, and the desktop standards for over 7500 machines in branches and retail banking operations and administration office across the US, including some customer service centers. Gee it sure was fun to go to MacWorld conferences back then.
1. I was so fat as a small child, I was taken to a diet doctor for pills (probably amphetamines) to loose wight. Let's be clear, by fat I mean 80 pounds in kindergarten. I had a 38" waist. A sphere with hands and feet, and i think, a head--that was me! If there was a non-surgical means to lose weight in the universe, I've probably tried it at least once. Some worked better than others, and none were permanent. I have had some times in my life when I was "normal sized". It's a constant battle even to this day.
2. I used to run 2 miles a day 3-4 days/week. Needless to say, I was thinner then. And I really liked my endorphin high that resulted from the running, which I usually did on an indoor track...14 1/3 laps per mile. I loved indoor track running! A skiing accident messed up one knee and ended the running. I still walk a lot sometimes.
3. When I was eight I made up a design for a nuclear powered rocket for a science project. Then I got into trouble with a teacher who said I copied the design from some book. I had never seen the book she referenced, but it depicted some scientist's design, and it was a lot like mine. In fact, I'd never seen any book with a design like the one I had drawn...it was just one that made sense to me. Fortunately I had a reputation as a good student so the whole matter was dropped. Things were different back in the 1950's. Today the event would have been resolved in a courtroom at great expense to the school district and my parents.
4. I was a bank teller. And later on, helped develop and implement a NJ regional bank's first centralized teller training program. We ran the program out of a converted attic in a small annex building in the parking lot of its headquarters. The program was designed from scratch. We made our own training materials, tests, and course exercises. We had some counterfeit bills, and taught people how to detect them. That part of the program was vetted with a local FBI agent, who thought ours was one of the best he'd seen. Oh, and the last day I worked on the teller line before being reassigned to build the teller training program, I dressed in a tuxedo and worked the day that way.
5. I once oversaw the largest corporate installation of Macintoshes in the US. Unbeknownst to many, a leading NY bank had one in every branch, before there was an Internet, and used their proprietary network for inter-branch communications via email on the Macintosh. This goes back to the days of Macintosh II's. I was responsible for that email system, and the desktop standards for over 7500 machines in branches and retail banking operations and administration office across the US, including some customer service centers. Gee it sure was fun to go to MacWorld conferences back then.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Simple Pasta
There are so many possibilities. This is one you can serve friends, or use to impress a special someone. If you are carefull, you can do this all in one pot. Boil the water, cook the pasta, then drain, and in the next 5 minutes, make the sauce then add the pasta, and presto, you are done!!
Ingredients
8 oz pasta (spagetti, linguini, shells, elbows, ziti, whatever)
1 tsp salt
1/2 white onion chopped
2 tbs fresh basil chopped
3 mushrooms sliced (optional. If you don't like mushrooms, don't bother)
1 12 oz can diced tomatoes
2 tsp sugar
2 tbs olive oil
6 small mozzarella balls, halved (you can find these in a water filled container at your grocer)
Assembly
Bring a 6-8 qt pot filled 2/3 with water to a boil. Add salt. Then add pasta. Cook according to package directions until cooked but still a bit firm. Drain in a colander.
In the same pot add oil and onions, cook over high heat for 2 minutes, stirring often. Add mushrooms and continue for 1 minute more. Add all the remaining ingredients except cheese. Lower heat to medium, and cook together for 3 minutes more, then add cheese ball halves and pasta. Toss together, and serve.
Options
Chop 2 cloves of garlic and add when you add the onions.
Top each serving with a light dusting of seasoned breadcrumbs.
Add 1 can of chopped clams and the juice from the can
White sauce version: substitute 1 cup of chicken broth for the canned tomoatoes and sugar, include the garlic
Ingredients
8 oz pasta (spagetti, linguini, shells, elbows, ziti, whatever)
1 tsp salt
1/2 white onion chopped
2 tbs fresh basil chopped
3 mushrooms sliced (optional. If you don't like mushrooms, don't bother)
1 12 oz can diced tomatoes
2 tsp sugar
2 tbs olive oil
6 small mozzarella balls, halved (you can find these in a water filled container at your grocer)
Assembly
Bring a 6-8 qt pot filled 2/3 with water to a boil. Add salt. Then add pasta. Cook according to package directions until cooked but still a bit firm. Drain in a colander.
In the same pot add oil and onions, cook over high heat for 2 minutes, stirring often. Add mushrooms and continue for 1 minute more. Add all the remaining ingredients except cheese. Lower heat to medium, and cook together for 3 minutes more, then add cheese ball halves and pasta. Toss together, and serve.
Options
Chop 2 cloves of garlic and add when you add the onions.
Top each serving with a light dusting of seasoned breadcrumbs.
Add 1 can of chopped clams and the juice from the can
White sauce version: substitute 1 cup of chicken broth for the canned tomoatoes and sugar, include the garlic
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Simple Salsa
Make this in 15 minutes or less, for way less money than the ones you can buy ready made. And this one is way better, fresher, and richer in spirit and flavor than any of them.
Ingredients
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup frozen kernel corn
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbs lemon or lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
Mix everything in a bowl. Serve with chips or refrigerate for an hour and serve.
Substitutions & Supplements
If you like your salsa hot, simply chop one fresh or canned jalapeno pepper and add to the mixture
Ingredients
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup frozen kernel corn
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbs lemon or lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
Mix everything in a bowl. Serve with chips or refrigerate for an hour and serve.
Substitutions & Supplements
If you like your salsa hot, simply chop one fresh or canned jalapeno pepper and add to the mixture
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