Chicken Recuerdos de Tucson

I know I've mentioned how much I enjoyed reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle about one million times but it truly was life changing and inspiring.

I finally tried one of her recipes, Chicken Recuerdos de Tucson, or Memories of Tucson for those who don't speak Spanish. If you read the book you'd know that the whole premise was a family moving from Tucson to the Appalachia to live off their land for one year. Sort of the green movement meets locavore meets gardener memoir. Oscar would call it your basic tree huggers bible. None the less, it was a great read and I was happy to finally try a recipe.

This soup is perfect for Seattle's drizzly gray weather right now. We paired it with Trader Joe's "Truly Homemade Corn Tortillas", which if you haven't tried, go to your local TJ's and get a pack right now. Probably the best store bought tortillas you will ever have.

Chicken Recuerdos de Tucson

1 whole cut-up chicken, or thighs and legs
Olive oil (for sauté)
1 medium onion, sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
Brown chicken in a large kettle. Remove chicken, add oil, gently sauté the onion and garlic.
1 tsp cumin seed
Green chiles to taste, chopped
2 red or green peppers
1 large or 2 medium zucchini or other squash, thickly sliced
Add to kettle and sauté, add small amount of broth if necessary.
1 cup tomatoes (fresh, frozen, canned, or ½ cup dehydrated, depending on season)
2 cups corn kernels
2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. basil
2 cups chicken broth or water

Add to kettle along with browned chicken, add water or broth (more if using dried vegetables), cover and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, until chicken is done to bone. Garnish with fresh cilantro.

Bon Appetit!

Kelsey Creek Farm

Well one farm just wasn't enough for us this year so we decided to attend the Kelsey Creek Farm harvest festival after our visit to Remlinger Farms. This time we brought Andrew, my nephew, and my Dad along to join the fun.

If I had to pick my favorite park on the Eastside, Kelsey Creek is definitely it. I loved going there as a kid to look at the animals. I was always particularly struck by the bee house. I am not really sure why but I have vivid memories of loving the bee house. Go figure? As an adult I participated in a boot camp a couple of years ago and got a great workout running and hiking the trails that surround the park.

Their harvest festival was filled with tons of fun. Ozzie and Andy picked a mini-pumpkin to decorate, played with the animals {although Andy refused to pet the bunnies for some reason} and Andy jumped in the bouncy houses while Ozzie looked on with envy. Poor baby, soon enough his time will come.

Here are some pictures from our day at Kelsey Creek Park.

Playing in the on the playground. The playground was a little too young for Andrew but he's a trooper and played with Ozzie.

Until he got bored and sat down with Pepa. Did you notice Ozzie harassing the two ladies for their popcorn in the picture above. Funny thing is I didn't even catch that until I started this blog post. Poor gals, Ozzie can be demanding sometimes!

And here he is harassing a little girl for her sippy cup.

Luckily we found a water vendor. Playing can make you thirsty.

These ducks were hooting and hollering so loud we actually stopped what we were doing and followed the noise. Once we found them we had to take a picture with them. I couldn't get Ozzie to look at the camera or Andy to smile.



Andrew and Pepa decorating pumpkins.

Looking for pumpkins to decorate.

Here is two not so great pictures of Andrew going down the bouncy slide. I have no idea why his head is cut off in both pictures.

A few pictures of Ozzie pouting that he couldn't go in the bouncy house with the big kids. He stood outside of that bouncy house forever wondering why he couldn't go inside.

Andrew waiting in line for the slide. He's so handsome!

Ozzie running all over the grassy area. He just loves to run and run and run!

Andrew posing in the scarecrow maze. Not quite sure what he's doing in the second shot but he really wanted me to take it so I obliged.

Pepa and his grandsons. Andy's crazy posing again!

Another fun day with the family! I will cherish these moments forever.

Remlinger Farms

This year Oscar and I took Ozzie to Remlinger Farms in Carnation for some good old fashion Fall harvest fun!

If you haven't been to Remlinger Farms and live in the Seattle area, it is THE place to take the little one for his Halloween pumpkin. Although it is so much more than a pumpkin patch. Remlinger Farms has a park on the grounds with a train ride, a roller coaster, a petting zoo, bouncy houses, pony rides and much much more. I especially enjoyed the antique car ride. Oscar and I put Ozzie in the drivers seat and crossed our fingers. Okay so the car drives itself but he still had fun moving the steering wheel round and round. They also have a cute market, gift shop and restaurant/bakery on site. We left with a mini-pumpkin pie for dessert later that night and apple pull apart bread, which was delicious with our coffee Sunday morning.

Ozzie had a blast as usual. We are blessed with a go with the flow kiddo. He hopped right into his wagon and was up for anything we threw at him. He even liked his pony ride with pumpkin the pony. We thought for sure he'd scream bloody murder but he didn't, he smiled happily and quite enjoyed the ride.

If you are looking for a pumpkin patch that is fun for the whole family, make sure to check out Remlinger Farms!

Here are some pictures of our adventure at the Farm. Click HERE to see all of them (I know, can there possibly be more pictures? Oh yes many more!).

Riding on the antique car. Ozzie's driving.

Posing on the pumpkins

I love this one. It looks like he's saying, "Hey guys a little help here. I'm stuck!".

Climbing on the pumpkins


This is his new pouty face

Pony ride. The horse was appropriately named Pumpkin.

Fake horses too

How tall this Fall?

Train ride

These are always fun for a laugh!

Driving the tractors

Petting zoo

That's one HUGE pumpkin in my wagon!

Happy Fall!

From the Garden

Now that it is mid-October, it is time for me to prepare my vegetable and herb garden for the winter months. I had a wonderful time growing my owns vegetables and herbs this summer. I really enjoyed it more than I thought I would and am pretty proud of how everything turned out considering it was the first garden I have ever planted.


Here is a run down of some of my favorite dishes that I made using my own vegetables and herbs {patting myself on the back}:



1. Lemon Fusilli with tomatoes from my garden


2. Turkey spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce


3. Turkey burgers with cilantro and lettuce from my garden


4. Spinach sauteed with pine nuts


5. No Cook Pasta with tomatoes from my garden


6. Tortas with tomatoes from my garden


7. Recuerdos De Tucson with jalapenos and green, red and orange bell peppers from my garden


8. Posole with jalapenos from my garden


9. Endless salads with the lettuce and spinach from my garden. I also sent my parents home with lettuce every time they came to visit Ozzie, it was growing like a weed.


10. Fresh parsley added to every spaghetti dish made this summer


11. Fresh cilantro added to every Mexican dish made this summer


12. Fresh oregano added to every possible dish acceptable!


13. Homemade chicken stock with parsley from my garden


14. Mediterranean Chicken and Beans with tomatoes from my garden



15. Carmens's Chicken with Black Bean Enchiladas with the very last of my orange and red bell peppers (recipe coming soon- thanks Carm!).



16. A few caprese salads with tomatoes from my garden. Sadly my basil didn't make it. Our friendly neighborhood bunny got to both my plants before I could.


17. Salad onions added to our countless salads with our baby walla walla onions. This was a mistake, I planted them too close together so they only grew into salad onion size. They were still delicious though.

The only herb that I didn't cook with was the lemon verbena that Oscar's mom gave me. I love the smell of lemon verbena and wished I would have done a better job looking up recipes for it. I'm thinking about drying out what I have left and making bath salts for stocking stuffers.

I am already planning next year's garden and pretty much know what I want to add or omit. I definitely want to add some fallish vegetables, like zucchini. I also want to do some research on heirloom vegetables, specifically tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes are another inspiration from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, she went on and on about them so now I must try them.

We truly enjoyed our summer's bounty and can't wait to try it again next year.

Mediterranean Chicken

Whenever I can I try to catch the Dr. Oz show in the afternoons. I've always enjoyed his groundbreaking and informative appearances on Oprah. So I am happy that he now has his own great show.



Watching his show reminded me about his book, You On A Diet, that I bought years ago and promptly did nothing with except let it collect dust in the cookbook cabinet.



A few weeks ago I decided it was time to try one of his heart healthy recipes. After dusting it off, I looked through it for something that I could pair with kale and the very last of my tomatoes from my garden. His Mediterranean Chicken with Beans sounded perfect.



Mediterranean Chicken with Beans from Dr. Oz:

Ingredients:

Chicken ingredients:2 bone-in chicken thighs without skin ( I actually used 2 half breasts)

1 tomato, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

8 pitted calamata olives, halved

1 tablespoon olive oil1 teaspoon wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar

1 small bunch fresh basil, chopped

Beans:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can (15 or 16 ounces) white beans, rinsed and drained

1 tomato, chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh mixed herbs

your choice1 teaspoon red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper (optional)

Directions:For chicken, heat oven to 375F. Place each chicken thigh on a large square of aluminum foil. Combine remaining chicken ingredients; spoon over chicken. Fold foil up and over chicken sealing edges forming a packet. Bake 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Meanwhile, for beans, heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients; cook 5 minutes or until heated through. Carefully open chicken packets and transfer mixture to two serving plates; serve beans alongside chicken.

Like I said, I already had kale at home and sauteed it as usual.

Kale:

1 large bunch of kale, coarsely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 onion, sliced

1/2 c chicken or vegetable broth

Directions:

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft

Add kale and broth and simmer until kale is tender

It was a delicious and nutritious heart healthy recipe that will no longer collect dust!

Enjoy!