Citrus Chicken

I am always tearing out recipes that appear mouth-watering and finally tried one this week. The finished product didn't look as beautiful as the picture, but tasted scrumptious. It was a nice wedding of moist chicken and flavorful rice wrapped up in a healthy meal. The only tweaks I made were that I added dried parsley in with the broth and let it simmer with the rice. I also served it with steamed carrots and broccoli instead of asparagus. If you use brown rice, cook the rice for a bit longer. For more such recipes, see http://www.swansonbroth.com/

Ingredients:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 3/4 cups Swanson® Chicken Broth (Regular, Natural Goodness™ or Certified Organic)
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice
3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
Orange slices

Directions:
Cook chicken in medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 10 min. or until browned. Set chicken aside.
Add broth, orange juice, onion and rice. Heat to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat 10 min.
Return chicken to skillet. Cover and cook 10 min. or until chicken and rice are done. Stir in parsley.
For a special touch, sauté orange slices in a hot non-stick skillet until lightly browned. Serve over chicken.

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I'm Dreaming of Spring

This week we had a big storm with snow and lots of freezing rain. It turned the roads and our yard into one big ice sheet. I hate cold, but decided that we would have some fun and use the sled that Andy's mom sent us for Christmas. So after wrestling Ben into his snowpants, boots, and coat amidst his thrashing and cries and convincing him that it would be an adventure to play outside, I pulled him around our yard, with the ice cracking beneath my feet. Ben's assessment: "Mommy, it's so loud."

This was earlier in the morning when the most I could get him to put on was his boots, hat, and gloves. Typical Ohio winter day - gray and dreary.

We stomped lots of ice and he loved throwing chunks on the ground and watching them shatter.

Our newest inside toy: a tee ball set. Ben loves it and is getting quite proficient at whacking the ball around. He wants to be like his Uncle Randy, the baseball star. We also went to the open gym at our YMCA this weekend and Ben shot baskets on the kid-sized hoop in the corner while the older guys played on the court next to him. He loved watching the "big boys" and cheered them on.

Ben's a lefty.

Dockums Reunited

As promised, the pictures from our trip to vist my family, the Dockums. There are five girls and one boy in my family, so poor Andy is outnumbered most of the time. My brother was in Thailand and couldn't make it to the funeral and my brother-in-law had to stay in Phoenix for work, so there was lots of estrogen floating around. It's pretty much summed up by a line from the immortal movie, White Christmas, "Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters..." These are just a few of the pictures. more are at to Bekka's blog: http://randekka.blogspot.com/ Bekka, Kaylee, Nanette, Nollie, Kira. My mom, Andy, and Ben are in back.

Ben with his doting aunties

Andy and I got pedicures together on Valentine's day. I am a glutton for pamering, and am a veteran of the peducure scene, but this was Andy's first. Gotta love relaxing with good reading material.

As you can tell, Andy's enjoying it. The salon we went to had a particularly good technician/masseur.

This picture makes me laugh and cringe at the same time. We discovered at my mom's house that Ben is severely allergic to dogs. Within a minute of being licked, he broke out in hives.

Gum Nirvana

As sugar-free gum addict, I'm always looking for a new fix. I'm also picky - strictly mint. A little fruity action is fun every once and a while, but it just loses its flavor too quickly. I love Extra because it's the perfect combination of strong, but not-too-powerful, and long-lasting. Up until now, I've been a religious chewer of the light blue peppermint Extra. But I recently discovered a new Extra flavor that I'm in love with: Supermint. I've only seen it in the 8-packs. If you give it a try, let me know what you think. What is your favorite gum?

Trip Home

My Grandma Maxine Dockum

Last week we took a spur-of-the moment trip to Washington for my paternal grandmother's funeral. Andy was able to get off work so the three of us hopped on a plane Wednesday night and came home late Sunday night. Ben was so big and pulled his Elmo backpack the whole time and he did a great job on the airplane. This our second trip home in three months, since my grandpa (husband of the grandma who died) passed away three months ago. Grandma was 93 and has had Alzheimer's for the past 8 or so years, so we've mourned her loss before now and I'm happy she can be back with her husband and my dad.

Even though we were home for a sad reason, it was wonderful to see my family. We got to take my little sis out for her birthday on Valentine's Day, get pedicures, eat lots of yummy food, laugh, and enjoy some sunshine. I was in a bit of a funk early last week and needed the boost of family. This winter weather is wearing on me, so I'm hoping to also go to Phoenix next month while Andy's in Alabama for his boys only golf trip. I'll upload more pictures as soon as I get them from my sister, the official photographer.

Fire Museum

Last week we discovered one of Columbus's hidden gems: The Central Ohio Fire Museum. Not only is it a repository of fire history ranging from the time of bucket brigades up through hand-drawn, horse-drawn, and steam engines, but it's actually in the old Columbus Firehouse dating back to 1904. They also had lots of fun stuff for kids and Ben loved dressing up in the fireman gear, sliding down the mini pole, and ringing the fire bell. The docents also gave the adults some good fire tips. One I didn't know: If a fire starts in your oven, just turn off the heat and don't open the oven door. The fire will burn itself out because of the lack of air.

Channeling my Inner Martha

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am totally lacking the creativity gene. So when our friends invited us to a fun Valentine's Day cookie decorating party last weekend, I had high hopes for a burst of Martha-esque inspiration. This was a serious decorating extravaganza, and a family tradition of the hostess for many years running. Alas, as others came up with sunsets and lacy piping, I went for the timeless and chic frosting with coordinating sprinkles. Chalk it up to laziness or the fact that that I don't like frosting and much candy (unless it's chocolate, por supuesto). What it really boils down to is why spend so much time decorating the cookie when you're just going to devour it in four seconds flat?

P.S. Just noticed I have frosting under the armpit in the picture. That's embarassing. Like I said, this was a serious decorating party. :)

This was actually Andy's second cookie. He ate the first and gave this one away.


Poor Ben doesn't look too happy about his pathetic wheat-free cookie and frosting. He looks like he's posing for a mug shot.