What's for dinner? Casbah Chicken and Couscous

Mmmmm. This was fantastic! I love the savory and sweet combination and the Moroccan flavors. It was a very light dish and perfect for a summer dinner. This was originally a Pampered Chef recipe, but since I didn't have any of their Moroccan Rub on hand, I created my own.

Moroccan Rub
(note: this recipe makes up about 3T., but you only need 2T. for the recipe. Adjust the quantities if you see fit. It will be pleasantly spicy with the cayenne, so leave it out if you don't want a spicy dish. I think this would also work well with tofu instead of chicken.)
1/2t. cinnamon
1t. cumin
1t. ground ginger
1/2t. cayenne
1t. garlic powder
1t. onion powder
1t. sugar
1t. kosher salt
3/4 t. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 t. coriander
1/4 t. ground cloves
1/2 t. turmeric
1 T. paprika
1 T. lemon juice

Additional ingredients:
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1 medium red onion sliced thin
1/3 c. blanched slivered almonds
1/2 fresh cilantro leaves
1 large ripe mango
1 T. vegetable oil
1 can chicken broth (14 oz.)
1/2 c. water
1 pkg. (10 oz.) uncooked plain couscous

Combine chicken pieces and 1 T. of the Moroccan Rub and toss to coat. Set aside.

In a 12-in. skillet, toast almonds over medium heat 4-6min. or until golden brown. Remove nuts from skillet and set aside. Add oil to skillet and heat until shimmering. Add chicken to skillet and cook and stir 5-6 min. or until chicken is no longer pink in center. Remove chicken from skillet and keep warm.

In a medium size bowl, combine broth, water, remaining 1T. rub. Add onion to skillet and cook 4-5 minutes or until onion is tender and beginning to caramelize. Add broth mixture and bring to a simmer. Stir to loosen browned bits from bottom of skillet.

Slice mango into thin wedges. Stir mango, couscous, and chicken into broth mixture. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Roughly chop cilantro and toss with almonds into couscous and serve immediately.

Yield: 6 servings

What's for dinner? Chicken in a Pot

This is one of our favorite dishes that is sooooo easy to make. We discovered it while looking for dutch oven recipes for our camping expedition. It turned out to be fantastic (or we were starving by the time is was ready), and so we've made it again and again. I have altered it a bit to our tastes and ease of preparation. Enjoy!

You will need:
A dutch oven--like our awesome new ceramic coated Lodge! (If you are camping, of course use your regular cast iron dutch oven. Yes, we have 2 of these as well-one for cobbler. )
4-6 chicken breasts, or a whole chicken quartered
1/2 c. white wine (I love Beringer White Zinfandel)
~3 T. olive oil
1 can of diced tomatoes (Italian style with Basil and Oregano)
4 t. Minced garlic
1 large yellow onion, chopped
kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Get cookin'!

Heat a dash of olive oil in your dutch oven, then brown your chicken breasts about 4 minutes on each side. Remove to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Add your onions to the dutch oven and sautee until almost translucent. Add the garlic to the onions and sautee another minute. Put the chicken back in and add the whole can of tomatoes (with the juice) and add the wine. Season with some salt and pepper, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 30 minutes. Don't overdo it or the chicken will not be juicy and tender.
So, this is not the greatest picture, but we were in a hurry to eat and I had to snap a picture before it got devoured!

My latest creations

I've been diligently sewing for the past few weeks for my friend.  She needed two nursing covers for baby shower gifts, but couldn't find exactly what she was looking for, so she asked me to make her some.  Here's what I came up with.

 

My nursing covers have a lined, terrycloth pocket to put keep your nursing pads or baby's pacifier.  You can use the pocket to wipe baby's mouth.  They have removable boning for ease of washing and a snap in strap so you don't mess up your hair! (Patent pending for these design features.)

I used the leftover fabric to make a cute drawstring bag to store your nursing cover.

 The other things I have been working on for myself and my friend are wetbags for our cloth diapers.

Using your saved plastic grocery bags will work for a while, but that gets old rather quickly, so I came up with a design for a wetbag to store your dirty diapers/clothes and wetwipes in that's washable and reusable.  My wetbags have a waterproof PUL inner that is sewn separately from the outer to prevent wicking.  I also sew with polyester thread and a polyester zipper to prevent wicking and leaks.  My bags feature a strap that opens up so you can snap it to your stroller handle if you want. The outer is a high quality boutique cotton.  Easy to care for, just turn it inside out and throw it into the wash with your diapers.  Dry on Medium. 
This one is a large and will hold 4-6 diapers.  It has a bubblegum pink zipper and topstitching and pink snap on the handle.  Too cute!!
 

 I am setting up an Etsy shop to begin selling my creations on a larger scale.  Stay tuned!

And here is one of my all time favorite creations.    Fiona just turned 7 months, has started sitting up on her own and got her first tooth a few days ago!  Yes, the play/craft room had gone a bit crazy while I was sewing like mad.  7 wetbags, 2 nursing covers, and 2 drawstring bags later . . .

1,2,3 Everywhere!

This is my sons latest game.  He takes all of the nursing pads out of the pocket of the chair I nurse his sister in, spins around and throws them in the air and says "they're everywhere!"  and then proceeds to run around and pick them all up.  He did this repeatedly for at least half an hour yesterday.  It kept his sister entertained nicely while I put away her clothes.  When that game got boring, he stacked all of the nursing pads up and pretending we were all eating sandwiches.  Then they became hats.  He's very creative when it comes to things I would rather he not play with.  :)