Henny Penny Cafe is a restaurant along Quezon Avenue. Their menu caters breakfast, desserts, and lunch/dinner. They also sell different types of bread, cakes, pastries, and imported coffee.

I eat here whenever I feel stressed or if I want something tasty that’s beyond my meal budget. You must try their roasted chicken since it’s the house specialty. I can’t quite figure it out why their chicken has a very distinctive taste. It’s either the chicken itself or the sauce that comes with it.

The Carbonara Fettuccini with grilled chicken is my all time favorite. I consider it my feel-good-pasta. It’s quite expensive if you’re dining on a tight budget. It costs almost P200 including taxes. Sorry if there’s no picture. I forgot everything else if it’s in front of me.

With almost the same price, there’s the meaty lasagna. This is soo good. I seldom order this because it’s too delicious for my taste.

The most affordable pasta in the cafe is the spaghetti, P120us tax. Well, the spaghetti is definitely worth the price. I’m not rich so I spend money according to my means. I’m no longer in the phase of wanting branded things, gadgets, and anything that glitters. My only vice is eating out. Having said that, sometimes it makes me feel guilty to spend so much for pasta. If I am feeling guilty and wanted to have something nice to eat at lunch at the same time, I order spaghetti and extra dinner roll.

Did I mention that most of the time I dine alone at Henny Penny Cafe? Not, when my fashionista friend at the office is around. She’s the only person who can afford to dine at the cafe daily and more than 3 times a dime.

The ambiance at the cafe is relaxing. The color of the walls matches the furniture. They also serve free bread with butter for waiting, granted that you order rice meals. Once you’ve tried eating at Henny Penny Cafe, you’ll definitely keep on coming back to try their other dish.

DISCLAIMER: These are personal opinion based on personal experiences. It’s not my intention to harm any businesses or bad mouth anyone.

• Make and eat mass amounts of Pumpkin Spice Roasted Chickpeas (the smell alone will hook you even before these wee beans of delight hit your tastebuds).

• Make and drink mass amounts of coffee. Okay scratch the make and just go with the drink. My mom makes the coffee. Hey, she gets up the earliest! And my recent attempt at making a pot of coffee all by myself resulted in the most watered down weak pot of sludge I’ve ever tasted. Only I could screw up a pot of coffee.

Consumption involves both the black hole hot and the foamy iced versions. Less emphasis on the ice kind since the weather’s chilly and they’re chilly and thus that makes me chilly and I’m not really down with that. Except when I’m really feeling an iced coffee, then I suck it up and put an extra sweater on.

• Make and eat slightly less mass amounts of Maple Apple Butter. With apple peach juice instead of cider because that’s all that was in my fridge. I was being resourceful!

• Make and eat mass amounts of vegetables (and wraps…and pieces of plain tofu with BBQ sauce…)

• And continue with the veg trend by making and eating mass amounts of steamed broccoli topped with marinara mixed with…What’s that? Hummus? Oh yes. Marinara + hummus, heated and eated (erm… heaten and eaten? I like to rhyme okay?) in all of its delicious creamy goodness.

• Not make but just eat mass amounts of mom’s spaghetti (“She’s nervous but on the surface she looks calm and ready…” Come on, who didn’t love 8 mile…)

• Paint my nails in hot pink shades.

• Make and eat awesome breakfasts that all involve pumpkin.
  Sometimes mixed with yogurt, Weetabix and frozen blueberries

Sometimes mixed with yogurt, clems, banana, fresh blueberries and topped with a frozen Pumpkin Pie Baby (Make them. Freeze them. Love them.)

And sometimes mixed with oats and egg whites to make a pumpkin oatmeal pancake that gets topped with jam, vanilla yogurt mixed with peanut butter, bananas and blueberries and makes for one happy tummy.

• Scarf down random “I don’t feel like writing so instead I’ll eat (and I might be a little hungry too)” snacks

• Feel a lot of numb bum from sitting for long periods of time trying to make coherent and sensical words happen on my word documents.
• Take brisk night walks, sprint to jiving tunes on the treadmill and kick numb bum’s butt with some Tae bo action in order to get some movement in my day during this school-induced stationary period of time
• And within all of that a bit of essay writing gets done. Here and there, you know…

I feel like I’ve made some progress so right now I’m chillaxin, but exams start next week and with all of the midterms, essays and assignments I’ve had constantly coming up in the last while, I haven’t cracked a textbook in ages. Meaning the relief I get from handing in my three essays this week is going to be immediately replaced by mass amount of stress and grief as I try to frantically cram studying for my three biggest exams that fall within the first three days of the exam period (Dec 10-12) into hardly one full week of time. Not so pumped.

Anywho, I think it’s time for some shut eye before another new week begins. Woop de joy. Let’s hope for a good and productive one!

Did you ever consider a plate of spaghetti with red sauce, a healthy source of antioxidants?  Interestly, the spice oregano, a predominate spice in spaghetti sauces, is an antioxidant and great source for calcium, and vitamins A & C too! 

Now you can also choose to use whole wheat spaghetti noodles, making a plate of spaghetti even better!  But don’t spoil a great dish using a premade sauce filled with msg and preservatives.  Look for all natural blends so that you can control the ingredients.  Round out your meal with a tossed salad and a slice of Italian bread. 

This is my favorite red sauce:     

  1 Tblsp Wildtree Hearty Spaghetti Blend                                                                                             1 Can Tomato Sauce 28 oz                                                                                                                                       1 Pkg of Whole Wheat Thin Spaghetti                                                                                                         1 Lb Ground Beef or Turkey                                                                                                                             Put sauce and spice blend in pan on medium heat.  Brown meat in skillet, drain and then add to the tomato sauce.  Boil water and add spaghetti; rinse and put in meat sauce.  Simmer meat sauce and spaghetti on low for 10 minutes.

My favorite salad dressing is as follows.   Moisten salad greens with red wine vinegar.  Stir greens and gently sprinkle Wildtree Garlic and Herb Blend over greens.  Grated Parmesan Cheese over the greens is optional.                                                         

I was forced to cook. As always spaghetti. But this time I improvised and put in green apples, sausages, chili pepper, onion, tomatoes, black pepper, and salt. Sounds disgusting but it turned out pretty good. It might be because of the excess chili. All you could taste was chili that burned your tongue.

I was sending out my survey links on facebook and realized that my ex-boyfriend, who is rapper (“Turkmen rapper”), deleted me from his friend list! Should I be laughing out loud or should I be sad? Three months have passed since we broke up and I moved on. But it just feels weird as I did not want the relationship to end but still I was the one to end it because I thought he was cheating on me.

I think I have issues with “cheating”. Everyone around is cheating! Not good!

ST.

It’s the end of November and I realized that I still had a bit more spending room for “cheap fancy” grocery—not just your usual meat, eggs, dairy and bread variety (which I consider to be the 10 EUR weekly budget shopping). So yesterday (Friday), I went straight to the nearest grocery (Exotic World, along Brusselstraat) after dragging myself home from the lab.

Yes, I hauled in some essentials, like eggs (a must-have for guerilla-cooking in a communal kitchen…for a future post), bottled white beans in tomato sauce (instant side dish, or main course with rice), sardines (ooh, Carrefour Discount! I wonder if it tastes fine), a tetra-pack of tomato sauce (again…but just stock in the cupboard), glutinous rice, and frozen veggies…

Frozen veggies. When I picked up my usual “minestrone” pack (I was tired of eating the cauliflower-broccoli-carrot mix, which had more carrots than the other two vegetables), I noticed that the store had some frozen assorted mushrooms.

Then I heard my mental gears whirr and click into place. A non-rice meal idea!

Without hesitation, I picked up a bag and added it to my basket. Today, after continuing my shopping in another supermarket (ALDI), where I found a 500-g bag of uncooked spaghetti (for around 45 cents, cheap!), I whipped up something non-rice for supper: Pasta met champignon en spek (Pasta with mushroom and bacon).

Materials
- 125 g uncooked spaghetti / any pasta
- 50 g smoked bacon fine lardons (I had a lot of this in my freezer space…lardons are useful to have!)
- a thin slice/pat of butter
- dried garlic, dried onion, ground pepper
- some frozen assorted mushrooms
- extra-virgin olive oil

Methodology
- Cook pasta according to manufacturer’s instructions (water with a bit of salt and cooking oil at medium to high heat, 10 mins average), or until al dente. Drain and rinse with cold running water, then toss a tablespoon or so of olive oil to keep the pasta from sticking.
- On a non-stick frying pan, melt a thin slice or pat of butter. Saute the lardons, season with a dash of dried garlic, onion and ground pepper.
- When the lardons begin to brown, add the frozen mushrooms. Saute until the frost has melted and the mushrooms give off their liquids. When the resulting sauce thickens, remove from heat.
- Assembly: cooked al-dente spaghetti + mushroom/bacon topping.

Results and Discussion
Cooking spaghetti. It’s absurdly easy to cook pasta noodles. It’s so easy, it’s prone to overcooking! Always check the manufacturer’s directions for the cooking time…but don’t follow it too closely. A few minutes before the recommended cooking time, fish out a strand of pasta and bite through. If it’s firm but chewy, (and if the strand’s cross-section doesn’t have that white uncooked core), immediately take the pot from the stove, dump the pasta into a colander and wash it with cold water to stop it from cooking further, then toss with a bit of olive oil to keep the noodles moist and not sticky. I cooked my serving of pasta in less than 10 minutes.

No…salt? Yes, if you had noticed, I did not include salt in the Materials list. First off—I cook the noodles with a bit of salt already. Second—smoked bacon lardons are a bit salty themselves. Note that the butter I usually use for cooking is the unsalted kind.

Wrapping up
It took me 15 minutes to come up with a pick-me-up supper with a few ingredients (look, Ma, it’s not afritada!) yet has a slight sophisticated touch (assorted mushrooms). A 15 minute gourmet dish that has carbohydrates, fats, protein and vitamins/trace minerals to break the monotony of rice meals.

Who says grad students cannot be gourmets nor gourmands?

I am pretty bored today, and my attempts in the kitchen have been a failure because I’m alone. It seems I can only cook well when I have someone else to eat what I’m making. So I decided to contradict that and tried this out:

I’m not really sure why it came into my mind but I made a list of things I had home and the idea popped into my head. Why not? So, this is my dinner with a couple more things, but I wanted to cook this in specific.

It actually turned out differently than I expected so I had to put the peas by the side instead of in the egg because I used small eggs which have almost no white part.

]]> http://wabisabipix.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/six-gunsswords-and-sorcery-a-road-trip-in-almeria-and-the-alicante-region-of-spain/ Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:14:55 +0000 wabisabipix http://wabisabipix.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/six-gunsswords-and-sorcery-a-road-trip-in-almeria-and-the-alicante-region-of-spain/

Howdy Partner! the Gunslinger announced as we turned up unannounced in a Wild West Tumbleweed town strangely somehow  familiar after traveling hundreds of miles across the sun scorched desert.There had just been a torrential down pour and the ground steamed as we disembarked from our metal horse and examined our surroundings. This Sure isn’t Kansas anymore toto i muttered as my boots hit the sand,then again it isnt quite America either,more Almeria Spain,mmm! think i fancy a pepsi and some Tapas might be a good idea!!!

We had just arrived in Almeria Spain,surprising to some this was the real Wild west that is portrayed in the classic movies from the 70s starring such famous stars as Clint Eastwood,Yul Brynner and many others.

Clint apparently even bought his famous Poncho locally in the area.

It was the location of such Spaghetti Western classics by Sergio Leone  as ” a fistfull of Dollars”,”for a few dollars more”,and ”The Good,the Bad and the Ugly” and also for other films such as Conan the Barbarian and Michelangelo Antonioni film “the Passenger” starring Jack Nicholson.

My interest had been drawn to the area after seeing a hilarious Spanish black comedy film by Director Alex de la Iglesia called  “800 Balas” meaning “800 Bullets”(2002),starring comedy actor Sancho Gracia,Angel de Andres Lopez and Carmen Maura.Its an hilarious film about a Stuntman and his colleagues who make a living at a Wild West town in Almeria Spain.They are making a living entertaining small groups of tourists that are deposited in their Wild west  movie set town.The Stuntmans son also a stuntman was killed in a filming accident back in the towns golden age somewhat far back in the decadent past when Westerns were popular and his child grows up fascinated in the life his deceased father lived.So begins a hilarious quest as the son runs away seeking out the Wild West town to learn more about his fathers percieved heroic past.When the childs powerful Theme Park Executive Mother finds out the son has run away she pursues them angrily trying to close down the park with hysterical results.

This film rekindled my interest in the Spaghetti westerns and i was totally stunned to find that the town portrayed in the film was in fact very Real and that it did indeed have a contingent  of Actors making a living out of the old Wild West movies.

Its called Texas Hollywood in the area known as Tabernas Almeria.

So Hi ho Silva and Away and here we are!!!

It was a hilarious afternoon walking around the exact same set as 800 Balas almost pinching ourselves as to how we had stumbled across the attraction.

Throughout the day they put on shows for the public and provide excursions and carriage rides around the area giving a tour and insights into its movie past.

There are pictures from its film set days and you can see quite a few famous faces portrayed treading the dusty streets in which you now find yourself.

Theres also an Indian village and a few Buffalos oh! and dont miss the Camels apparently related to those in Lawrence of Arabia which was partially shot in the area!!

Most Recently Pepsi shot here starring David Beckham and his pals and the area is frequently used by Car commercials needing that Authentic Wild West touch.

All in all it was quite a surreal and amusing afternoon as well as quite informative from a movie history point of view. Ive been watching the old Spaghetti Westerns lately just trying to catch a glimpse of parts of the landscape.

After some refreshments at the Saloon  we saddled up,put in some more petrol,set up the Sat Nav and headed south  across the pass and into other areas of movie interest.

The area was  also the location of the film Conan The Barbarian by John Milius starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sandahl Bergman and the nearby Las Salinas mountains featured  in scenes portraying Conan in Hyboria  that were well known areas in the Land of the Spaghetti Western.

Almerimar was the scene of the Wizard/Stone Fortress encounters along with La Ciudad Encantada,El Condor,Cuevas de Roque and Penon De Bernal the famous Mount Doom in the film.This was the location we headed for next in our whistle stop tour of the region.

Penon De Bernal was the Mountain upon which a spectacular Temple of Doom was built and Arnold Schwarzenegger Aka Conan The Barbarian confronted his Nemesis ultimately burning down the temple Film set in the movie.

It is located near the town of Almeria itself.you can find more locations from the film here:

http://www.western-locations-spain.com/almeria-top-20/conan/index.htm

I found the Conan Completist Web site very useful in finding these locations and it is packed with great information on the area.

I am sure local tour groups provide tours of this movie history rich area and a little research would provide a great trip if you are interested in the area.

After a long day passing thorough several periods in movie history we turned our wagons back north and headed back into the sunset.

Mmm where did i put those Bangers and mash? errr! Black Lotus ,anyone? Stygian The best!!

Contemplate this on the Tree of Woe!!

Enjoy.

Blog Pictures:Copyright Kerry Davies.

Recipe 119: This is so much a classic, that it’s a dish we cook often when we want to eat a good and quick plate of pasta. In fact in my recent trip to Holland, on my last day we ate at home and we cooked spaghetti alla Carbonara.

Of course i first tried all the Dutch specialties , but a nice plate of pasta is very difficult to beat!

However if you pass for Holland you will need to try the fresh made dutch waffles, the Gouda cheese, you need to eat out and try one of their mix-asiatic dishes (their colonies in Asia have created a nice mix food culture), the special queen Wilhelmina’s peppermints (but i can suggest you these very good gums too, also if the name is not really inviting) and finally you need to try one of the FEBO’s specialties and you can’t avoid that considering there are so many FEBO and in the weekend everyone goes around with french fries and junk food.

But let’s comeback to the recipe of the pasta. The ingredients for 2 people are: 250 gr spaghetti – 2 fresh eggs – 1 onion – 75 gr pancetta – Parmesan (better if you can find Pecorino cheese) – salt – pepper. Very easy!!!

Cut the onion in little pieces and put it in a pan with a bit of oil. If you want you can also give more taste to the oil adding a little piece of garlic that you can cook and then remove.

Then add the pancetta and in the meantime put the Spaghetti in hot salty water. Wait a bit for the pancetta to cook and in the meantime you can grate the Parmesan or  Pecorino cheese (depending if you like a stronger flavor). Put the 2 eggs in a little container and mix a bit until you reach a worm yellow color. No comments about his portable colander!

At this point when the pasta is ready (and still just a bit hard) drain it and place it back in the sauce pan with the pancetta and onion, Parmesan or Pecorino, mix all and then add also the 2 eggs, without put anything on the gas. This is the secret of this pasta. You don’t need any cream, but just the eggs will give the necessary creamy consistence to the dish.

When ready just serve with some more Parmesan and black pepper.

Buon appetito!!!

PS. Mamy questa e’ la carbonara che abbiamo fatto con Carlo prima che prendessi il volo. Avevamo una fame e devo dire che lui e’ stato bravissimo. La cottura era perfetta ed immagina che c’aveva anche il pecorino! Che buono!Chi la batte la carbonara? Invece prima ho parlato di alcuni prodotti tipici danesi, che a dire la verita’ non sono moltissimi, ma buoni, specialmente i waffles.

I’m still incredibly lazy in the word stringing department.  So, take a gander at this fabulous PES video I saw on alejna’s site a while back.  Pixie pic-up Stix with butter are Gab’s current favorite food.  I’m quite fond of candy corn gas flames myself.

The survey of 3225 drivers revealed the scariest road systems in Britain. Among top 10 spots eight were taken by Birmingham, Glasgow and London

Survey also revealed other drivers fears. 8% of drivers claim to avoid ’scary’ junctions and admit driving an average of 238 miles extra.

Large roundabouts were told to be most confusing aspect of urban driving, followed by one-way systems, speed bumps and box junctions.

“But what this research shows is that badly designed and confusing junctions are spoiling the driving experience for many motorists.

Top 10 UK’s most scariest junctions:

1. Gravelly Hill (Spaghetti Junction), Birmingham
2. M8 junctions through central Glasgow
3. Marble Arch, London
4. Magic Roundabout, Swindon, Wiltshire
5. Hanger Lane Gyratory, west London
6. M5/M6 intersection, Birmingham
7. Piccadilly Circus, London
8. Five Ways junction, Birmingham
9. Magic Roundabout, Hemel, Hempstead, Hertfordshire
10. Kingston Bridge, Glasgow

So last night we made a(nother) Jamie Oliver recipe – Salami and Fennel Linguine (Jamie calls it Spaghetti with Salami, Fennel and Tomatoes).  It was yummy, with the delicate flavours of the fennel coming through a hearty tomato sauce and fatty slithers of salami.  This is my tweaked version of Jamie’s.

Salami and Fennel Spaghetti

Feeds two

spaghetti or linguine for two
a couple of thick slices of salami (I used Milano salami and asked my deli to cut it into thick slices rather than thinly sliced)
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
small bulb of fennel, finely sliced
feathery fennel tops
1 tin of tomatoes (I used tinned cherry tomatoes)
pinch of dried chilli flakes
chunk of stale bread, whizzed into breadcrumbs
sprig of rosemary

Take your slices of salami and cut them into matchsticks. 

In a pan, heat a couple of glugs of olive oil and add the salami, sliced garlic and crushed fennel seeds.  Stir over a low heat until the fat starts to cook out of the salami and it starts to crisp ever so slightly.

Add the sliced fennel and stir – cook for a couple of minutes until soft.  Add the tinned tomatoes and a pinch of dried chilli.  Cook on a low heat for about 25 minutes until the sauce has thickened.  Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, heat a pan of boiling salted water and cook your spaghetti or linguine.

In a small frying pan, heat a glug of olive oil and add the sprig of rosemary.  As the rosemary starts to sizzle and release its aromas into the oil, add the breadcrumbs and fry until golden and crispy.  Remove the rosemary sprig and discard.

Drain the pasta and toss it into your tomato sauce.  You can either stir through the crispy golden breadcrumbs and serve, or sprinkle them over the top of your pasta once plated up.  Top with a few green feathery fennel fronds.

*Taken from and slightly adapted from Jamie Oliver’s Happy Days with the Naked Chef.

Sesame Noodles

Prep 15 minutes

Salt

1 package (16 ounces) spaghetti

1 cup fresh orange juice

¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup creamy peanut butter

1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil

1 tablespoon grated, peeled fresh ginger

2 teaspoons sugar

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 bag (10 ounces) shredded carrots (about 3 ½ cups)

3 kirby cucumbers (about 4 ounces each), unpeeled and cut into matchstick-thin strips

2 green onions, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted (optional)

Green onion for garnish

1.   Heat large saucepot of salted water to boiling over high heat.  Add pasta and cook as label directs.

2.   Meanwhile, in medium bowl, with wire whisk or fork, mix orange juice, vinegar, soy sauce, peanut butter, oil, ginger, sugar, and crushed red pepper until blended; set sauce aside.

3.   Place carrots in colander; drain pasta mixture, cucumbers and sliced green onions with sauce in bowl.  If you like, sprinkle pasta with sesame seeds.  Garnish with green onion.

Woke up around 2230 last nite and started out by ringing my mom that has tried to reach me in these last days… Well, I’ve turned my day up side down again so I’d better call back while there is a chance she was up *lolz*. Anyways… at least now she don’t have to worry for another week *giggles manly* … høhøøøh ?!

Ofc my day started with me kinda blushing as I read my favorite blog ’cause it’s the first time someone ever managed to name a pet with my original name (my rl name … kinda gotten used to Silver now so Tom actually doesn’t sound that bad anymore *lol*)… And it’s kinda suiting for a Crocodile aka Sewer beast don’t ya think? Anyways… I thinkz it was cute. Thanks Elise, that was a sweet gesture, nao getz back on your dk (at some point when i’m awake so we can go out on adventures and sneak through dungeons ^.^ ).

I love the soundtrack from Macross Frontier ! If you like anime series and haven’t seen this one you have missed out for sure. What a great soundtrack it has. I luvz Megumi Nakajima…

I’m sitting here in my bed trying to figuring out if I’m gonna sleep for 4 hours then set my alarm so I can wake up in time for raid and check if it’s a go or If I’m gonna try stay awake till midnight… I have a feeling the second won’t go so well heheh… So I’ll go for the sleeping I guess.. Right now I iz kinda stuffed on spaghetti… again … Why do I torture myself ? Can’t I make something more interesting to eat ? But but… it’s so darned easy… Oh well… gotta try something else tomorrow.

It’s weekend again for the mere mortals (for me the last year has been a long weekend)… NOT ! Even tho I don’t do anything try a year in my shoes and you’d shut up pretty fast. Thank God for WoW is all I can say at this time.

PS : I stopped using Snus at 7th of July this year … and I’m still managing (tho the temptation is there in the weekends) It feels like it’s been a year since I enjoyed “a nice fat klyp of snus” but it’s barely been 5 months… *sigh* Only two good things has come out of quitting… Water tastes much better and teeth are white and shiny ^.^

I had a craving for some really simple pasta this evening, so I knocked up this dish. It’s got a classic, authentic taste and I’m sure it’s not original, but here’s my receipe anyway.

Ingredients for the sauce:

Heat a glug of olive oil in a medium sized pan. Throw in the anchovies and fry over a low heat until they start to dissolve. Add the garlic and cook through, but don’t let it colour. Add the tomatoes. If they’re chopped just simmer away, if they’re still whole break them up with your wooden spoon and then simmer. Add the chilli, salt and pepper.

Reduce down until you’ve got a decent thickness. Add the capers.

Cook some spaghetti and stir into the sauce. Plate and serve with some parmesan grated over the top.

Simple, quick and delicious.

On this, the eve of Thanksgiving, I am reflecting (as we all should) on those things in my life for which I am truly grateful.  In keeping with traditional subject matter for this outlet, I’d like to write about my parents:

My parents have been divorced, officially, for 15 years.  Tomorrow, I intend to share Thanksgiving dinner with them- at the same table.  Because, after all the turmoil precipitated by their separation, they have remained friends.

I’m grateful that my parents decided to separate- after… I don’t know how long... of feeling that heavy tension when they were both in the house, the sarcastically muttered comments, the fights that woke me up in the middle of the night….

Hurray for my parents- for showing me that you don’t have to always grin and bear it- that there’s a way out.  And sometimes, it’s infinitely more rewarding to take the risk for an emotionally healthy existence.

I am thankful that my mom, back in 1993, never told me that my dad’s new girlfriend was a whore.  And I’m glad she didn’t tell me that her new boyfriend was our Savior.

I’m grateful that my dad didn’t point out the shortcomings of my mom’s new boyfriend.  And that he didn’t comment on what she did with the support money he gave her (at least, he didn’t comment to me).

I’m grateful for those nights with my mom and sister, eating cold spaghetti in the kitchen, with our fingers, and talking about… whatever… (this never would have happened when we were all still pretending to be the Cleavers)

I’m grateful for the camping trips with my dad.  And his girlfriend.  And her daughter.  And their dogs.

I’m so happy to have the memories of those Friday nights with my parents and sister- hanging out on the porch, sharing beverages and daily events before Transition Time.

I’m thankful for my mom, getting up from her bed and giving me a hug while telling me “it’s not your fault…” and “time heals all wounds and we’re going to get through this.”  (it was one of my weaker moments and still brings tears to my eyes)

I’m grateful for the family wisdom:  “You do what you have to do and things have a way of working out.”

I’m grateful for my family, which has expanded and contracted through many relationship-related changes over the past couple decades.

I’m thankful for the lessons learned.  For the strength displayed to me.  For the imparted wisdom which allows me to be who I am today.

Thank you Mom and Dad, for the opportunity to see our family, our house– the world– from a different perspective.

I made Spaghetti and Meatballs from the blog Guilty Kitchen.

I didn’t have spaghetti squash so I used regular spaghetti with great results.  Usually I don’t really like “tomato” sauce, for me there has to be meat in it.  And also I’ve never made spaghetti sauce with meatballs.  So that was a first for me.  I really liked the taste of all combined together.  The meatballs are great and yummy.  Cheese on top would be great but like that it’s very good.

Und zwar bin ich bei der Recherche nach Mirácoli und Miraculix beim Wikipedia-Artikel über Spaghetti über den Hinweis gestolpert, dass man Spaghetti im ungekochten Zustand nicht zerbrechen sollte. Und frage mich nun, warum nicht? Ich mache das immer um kleinere, handlichere Portionen zu haben und solche Sauereien wie auf dem Foto zu vermeiden. Kann mir jemand die Frage beantworten? Bitte, bitte.

I accidentally discovered that I can make a dish very similar to Wagamama’s ‘Chicken Chilli Men‘, which just happens to be my Wagamama’s favourite! It was delicious!  GO ME!!!

It is very simple and I made the dish for 2 people for less than £3!   Mind if I share it with you?

Please be aware that I always, always, always have jars of Easy Ginger, Easy Garlic, and Easy Chilli in the fridge and have used them in this recipe, but feel free to replace these with the fresh equivalent.  I also have a bottle of lemon juice (the kind you can put on pancakes) laying around, but you can use this or leave it out altogether.

The important thing is that you can add, remove ingredients to taste, as long as the fundamentals are there you can’t go wrong!  Enjoy!

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -

Rich’s Chicken Chilli Men  - 2 Servings.

Mmmmmmm

Ingredients:

• 4 teaspoons of ‘Easy Chilli‘ (feel free to use 1 fresh, finely chopped red chilli, seeds included)
• 2 Chicken Breasts (general rule of thumb is 1 per person).
• 2 teaspoons of ‘Easy Ginger‘ (again, feel free to use fresh).
• 3 cloves of garlic (Or 2 teaspoons of Easy Garlic, personally I use the frozen cubes of garlic from Asda)
• 2 lemon grass stalks (preferable but not necessary)
• 1 Red Pepper (you can use half a pepper if you are bulking out with other veg)
• 3 teaspoons of sugar
• 1 tbsp of tomato puree
• 1 Tin of Tomatoes (chopped).
• Salt and black pepper to season.
• A splash of lemon juice (the bottled process stuff is fine).
• 1/2 pint of Water

Optional ingredients:

• You can bulk out the recipe with courgettes (I did, and gave a wonderful texture to the dish).  I usually use half a red pepper, and half a courgette (cubed) and save the rest for another day!
• I add a frozen ‘Spinach Pellet‘ to most of my pasta, noodle, sauce-based dished.  It breaks up to the same consistency of most dried herbs, doesn’t alter the flavour,  and adds a little extra nutrition.

What to do:

1. Fry the chicken, sugar, ‘Easy Ginger‘ and the ‘Easy Chilli‘ in a little oil on a low heat for 5-8 mins.
2. Add the lemon grass (optional), the garlic, and onion. (If using it, add the courgette at this stage). Season with salt and a generous portion of black pepper.
3. Continue to fry on a medium heat until the chicken is brown and the onion is soft.
4. Add the red pepper, the tomato puree, tinned tomatoes, lemon juice, and the water and simmer for 10 minutes.

NOTE: Unlike most tomato base suaces, make sure you don’t over-cook it. If you leave it simmering for too long the edge will be taken off the rich flavours and it will spoil.

To serve:

Mix with some cooked noodles (spaghetti will also do the trick) until fully coated in sauce. Then serve.

Voila!  Please comment and let me know how it worked for you!