Simple Thai Coconut Curry

Strawberry season is here! Matt's been making smoothies galore, and I had them atop some french toast this morning. Later, some plain yogurt with bananas and strawberries and a (ok - hearty) drizzle of honey, and I'm already thinkin' up excuses to make my simple and delicious strawberry peach pie. It's a summer slice of heaven.

But this recipe isn't about strawberries, but don't be sad. It's still meets all the criteria: delicious, simple, and...well, that's all the criteria, really. It's an adaptation of an ol' Betty Crocker recipe, and old Betty girl sure knows how to cook. I served with basmati rice, pot stickers, and a Thai cucumber salad (recipe coming!).

Simple Thai Coconut Curry

• 1 lb. skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 tsp. lime zest, plus juice of lime
• 1-2 tsp. minced ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 serrano chillies, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro (reserve some for topping before serving)
• 1 can (14 oz.) coconut milk
• 1 tsp. brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar snap peas
• 1 Tb. soy sauce
• 1 large bell pepper (any color will do)
• 2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
• salt to taste
• Thai basil for topping, if available (cilantro will also do)

Stir-fry chicken in a large skillet with oil. When chicken is no longer pink in the center, add garlic, lime zest, ginger, chillies, and cilantro and stir-fry for another minute or so. Add coconut milk, brown sugar, sugar snap peas, the pepper, soy sauce, and salt to taste (about 1/2 tsp). Simmer up to five minutes until the veggies are starting to get tender but still retain some crispness, and then stir in tomato. Serve with rice and top with Thai basil or cilantro.

2 Months Unemployed - Whaaa??!!??!!!

This will be me...soon enough!

You know you reached a whole new level of "total lazy ass" when you complain about having to run errands two days in a row and thus have to put on normal clothes (sans holes, stains...or most likely both), brush your hair, and put a lick of mascara and balm on. Because that, my friends, is just too much damn effort. At this point Matt is lucky if I dust the crumbs off my sweatshirt. Scratch that: he's lucky if I'm wearing a different sweatshirt than I wore the day before. And the day before that. And yes, I'm gonna say it: the day before that. Weep for him.

I'm not doing well with unemployment. As much as a clock-watcher I was while working, my house has become an insufferable prison. I have long conversations with Penny. (I swear, I am not being cutesy.) I argue with her about totally humanoid topics while she wearily chews her bone. Today we had a frank discussion about the Bin Laden death photos, which I was against releasing. Penny, as misguided as she is, disagreed. When you're having fake conversations with your dog you know you need to get out more.

Today, like an adult, I attended to my previous 401(k) and moved it into an IRA. I spoke to real humans at Vanguard and went to the bank for a change-of-name guarantor signature. I felt good about this. It was a very adult thing to do (more adult than talking to your dog, at least). Matt has been pestering me for the last two months to call our insurance company to inquire about life insurance. I figure one adult thing a day is enough and - if he's lucky - I'll tackle this tomorrow.

This Friday I'm having friends over for a potluck, which I couldn't be happier about. Another week and I would have ended up all Nell-like in this vacant house. Then Saturday Matt and I are volunteering at the annual Crohn's walk. I'm sure there will be a lot of humans there, which will be good for me. One friend said I should volunteer somewhere, and another said to take a class at the local community college. I keep putting all of this off because I'm under the delusion I'm going to get a job. Really, really soon. I swear!

Until then, excuse me, as Penny and I need to have a heart-to-heart regarding the amounts of dog fur she's leaving all over the house. I tell ya, someone's not earning their keep!

Dog gone goodness

I love dogs. Their desire to serve is humbling and heartwarming and whenever there is a dog store anywhere (even our local 11 o'clock news which often warrants an eye roll) I cry. A lot. I turn to Matt, who is often unmoved, and stammer, "Don't you...don't you see what they DO for us?! They are AMAZING!" I make quite the scene.

I don't understand people who don't like dogs with all they do for us: seeing eye dogs, dogs who serve individuals with epilepsy, rescue dogs, bomb-sniffing dogs, sled dogs, police dogs, parachuting dogs used in war (!) - the list is endless. Of course, then there's the ubiquitous pet dog who enjoys sniffing unmentionables and whining for kitchen scraps. They're pretty good too. Check out these amazing pooches!



UPDATE!: Wonderful, eye-opening photo essay on war dogs.

These dogs work with the Navy SEALS! Look at them strapped outside of that helicopter!

Three dogs who risked their lives and saved 50 military personnel from a suicide bomber (video).

I can't get enough of parachuting dogs!

Here's another parachuting dog in Norway!

Look at this amazing mutt!

Okay; the last one was Penny. Fine. You got me!

But regardless, show me a cat who can do any of this. Meeeeoooowwww!

Greek Orzo Salad

I hope everyone had a nice Easter. Or Passover. Or, if neither of those are apropos, a good weekend! We spent the weekend with Matt's parents. Penny loves it there because she can roam the property and take hourly dips in the pond. Every night, after exploring, she curls up in her dog bed and snoozes through the night so she's ready to go at 6 am the next morning. Promptly at 6, she comes to my bedside, sits down so her face is no more than a foot from mine, and commences her staring. She's got it down pat, and I gotta say, it's unnerving.

For the festivities I brought a simple-as-pie Greek orzo salad. I make a lot of stuff like this that require no recipe and virtually no thinking: take a grain (couscous, quinoa, some sort of pasta) and mix with a simple vinaigrette and summertime vegetables. Easy on the eyes and the stomach. (It also travels well and you really can't botch it up.)

My go-to vinaigrette is this, and it's a classic: 2/3 cup of good olive oil to 1/3 cup vinegar (this time I used red wine). Whisk in a heaping tablespoon of Dijon mustard, a diced shallot, 1 teaspoon of dried thyme (this is patented by yours truly) and salt and pepper to taste. If I have cooking sherry I add a splash of that, but you know, that's when I'm feeling particularly opulent.

All my salads have a Mediterranean flare given the warm-weather vegetables, and this one focused on Greece given my very eye-brow raising amounts of feta involved. My favorite cheese is feta cheese. Actually, every cheese is my favorite cheese. Duh.


Greek Orzo Salad

• One package orzo (16 oz.), boil to al dente
• One jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and diced
• One jar sun-dried tomatoes, drained and diced
• One large red onion, diced
• 2 bell peppers (orange, red, or yellow will do), diced or cut into think 1/4" strips
• 1 package baby spinach
• 1-2 pints grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup packed and chopped fresh Italian flat parsley
• feta cheese to taste (about one Athenos package)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Vinaigrette, recipe above - makes 1 cup
• Optional: toasted pine nuts

Directions: Mix all ingredients to a large bowel (except pine nuts and feta). Add vinaigrette and mix. Fold in crumbled feta, and garnish with pine nuts and additional parsley, if desired.

Tales from Unemployment (Installment 1)

I haven't been sleeping well - well, I never sleep well - but I've been waking at 3 am every night and every night I throw my hands up in the air and screech, "Are you kidding me?!"  I gave Matt permission to sleep in the guest bedroom because I can't imagine it's fun to share a bed with an incessant insomniac, especially one who screeches.

There are no good things about insomnia, but today it did get me out of the house at dawn and down to the river trail with Penny.  We walk it often: it's a minute drive from my house and closely hugs the Schuylkill River for three beautiful miles of woods and water.  It's busy on the weekends but near empty at dusk and dawn, so I took her off the leash and we strolled, inhaling the crisp morning dew.  Everything was glistening and I could see the puffs of Penny's breath as she trotted before me, looking back every minute or so in puzzlement as to why her two-legged owner was so darn slow.

And the bluebells are out.  Their periwinkle bonnets are glorious and carpet the forest floor.  Earlier this week, on Monday when it was 80 degrees, we saw turtles, so many of them, basking on logs in the river, their flat shells shiny and smooth  When Penny would leap and bound toward them they hulled themselves into the water and, with their heads peeking out, looked at us wearily.  We also spot a mysterious swan occasionally.  There are tens of geese, with their bothersome honking and bickering, but amidst all that cacophony is a lonely swan floating slowly down the river.  I didn't know swans lived in rivers.  I'm not sure where I thought they lived - parks? 

It's good to have these moments so I can unwind from the truly awful interviews I've had.  I'm not sure when being antagonistic became an interviewing style, but I've had the displeasure of going to two interviews where I felt a bit berated and where I was constantly prepping for the next sneering question.  I work in the recruiting field and I've always made my interviewees feel comfortable and welcomed, and our interviews were lively conversations sprinkled with laughs and puppies (okay; no puppies).  Now I feel like I have to down a drink before walking through the front doors.  To be fair, it was one interviewer at each company out of several and the big wig, and perhaps intimidation was their game.  But they both came off as pricks and left a severe distaste in my mouth for them and their organization.  And that's saying a lot for a girl who's desperate for a gig.

Singin' the Unemployment Blues

I have been unemployed a month.  A month isn't so long when you think about it, and I still punch out "Determined to enjoy this time off!!!" with three exclamation points in emails to friends and former colleagues and chirp "It is what it is!" when asked, but, when at home applying to jobs and watching Dr. Oz, it's apparent: I am officially down and out.  My special talent is getting an interview, even sometimes a second, and then never the offer.  Last week, while on Linkedin, I saw someone update their profile with their new title: a job I interviewed for.  Three interviews, really.  Usually when you are dismissed and rejected, you don't know who they opted for over you: it's a glorious ignorance.  This time I stared at the accepted woman's profile.  For ten minutes.  I read her accomplishments.   My failure was staring me in the face - a rather vibrant face with long chocolate hair and a smug smile (maybe I was reading into this a bit).  With my nose stuffy and my cheeks wet, I typed to Matt, "No one wants me!"  But he immediately responded with, "I want you."  and then "you'll find your match" which made me cry more. Because with every declination, I am disappointed in myself.  I'm embarrassed I'm not pulling my household weight. 

This post has taken so long to write because I get upset whenever I sit down to talk about my unemployment.  I've now had several interviews in which I was declined, and after each "thanks but no thanks" email my ego deflates just a bit more.  I've had poor luck, too: even when offered a contract position it was put on indefinite hold due to budgetary constraints.  After I told everyone.  And when I do interview it's invariably at a company that recently had lay-offs (you know, "strategic reductions") and their staff is over-worked to the tune of 11-hour days and constant travel and I think, "I just can't do this."  That happened last week at a company that boasts $12 billion in annual profit, but to what end?  

Maybe there are people who milk unemployment, but let me say this: there are many, many more of us who would take a drastic pay cut just to get out of the house and do something.  To contribute.  To feel like we add value again.

Speedy Tagine-ish Chicken

I think unemployment, with its constant "no's" and "thanks, but no thanks" or "we'll call you's" is pretty much the pits. It's humbling, demoralizing, and I really think it's driven me to put meat back in my diet because I've up and gone meat crazy this week! First it was that sausage lasagna (still lickin' my lips) and now a Moroccan chicken dish. I also cooked some Thai with chicken that will be featured soon. Frankly, it's probably just a reaction to a year-long diet steeped in beans. My stomach was bound to rebel sooner or later when Matt brought up chickpeas for the millionth time.

Here is a very good (and super quick) Rachel Ray recipe called Quick Tagine-Style Chicken. Tagines are these clay pots used in traditional Moroccan cooking. They're gorgeous but heck, I'm a simple Pennsylvania girl so I used my skillet. The original recipe is printed below, and I made it to a T except I doubled all the spices and suggest you do too! What's a little chicken without some spicy intrigue? The recipe also calls for prunes and I was like, "What?! Do I look like an 80-year-old granny?!" so I opted for apricots. Next time I'm going to add a few veggies and perhaps a can of diced tomatoes. Simple and delish, with a savory sweet finish.

The recipe calls for prunes, but I chucked them and opted for apricots.

Definitely double the spices - you can never had too much cumin!

Quick Tagine-Style Chicken

recipe courtesy of Rachel Ray

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed beneath the flat of your knife with the heel of your hand, discard skins
• 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into large bite-size pieces
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grill seasoning blend (recommended: Montreal Seasoning by McCormick) or coarse salt and coarse pepper
• 2 medium or 1 large yellow skinned onion, quartered and sliced
• 10 pitted prunes, coarsely chopped
• 1-ounce box or 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 2 cups good quality, low sodium chicken stock,

Spice blend:

• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika, eyeball it
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander, eyeball it
• 1/2 teaspoon tumeric, eyeball it
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon, a couple pinches

Couscous:

nocoupons

• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 1/2 cups couscous
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball it
• 2 scallions, finely chopped

Directions

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, in a slow stream, and add smashed garlic. Season the chicken with seasoning blend. Scatter chicken around the pan in an even layer. Cook chicken pieces 2 minutes on each side to brown, then add the onions, prunes, raisins and stock. Mix spices n a small dish and scatter over the pot. Cover and reduce to moderate heat. Cook 7 or 8 minutes, remove the lid and stir.

To prepare the couscous, bring chicken stock to a boil. Add couscous, extra-virgin olive oil and scallions and remove the couscous from the stove immediately. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff the couscous with a fork.

Uncover chicken and cook another 2 to 3 minutes to thicken slightly. Adjust the seasoning, to taste, and serve chicken on a bed of couscous. Garnish with chopped cilantro and scallions.

Sausage and Mushroom Lasagna

I thought being unemployed would permit me to post all the time. I would go to coffee shops and out would come the laptop and the inspiration. I would tackle new recipes and keep a clean house and be all 50's housewife-like with a really cute circle skirt and kitten heels to boot. But no. Big belly laughs come out when I think of that now. Oh, Kathryn...

I didn't think it was possible, but I am lazier than ever. I still get up early and I have doctor appointments and apply to jobs and talk on the phone with potential employers, but in between I do the following, in order of time allotted to each activity: I sleep, I sleep some more, I take the dog out, I mock Oprah (jealousy probably has everything to do with it), I cook (so that's not so bad), and I eat ice cream and cereal. Between those big time wasters I get the mail and contemplate putting on different yoga pants than yesterday's yoga pants.

But this week I've made three (count them! 3!) new recipes which, as someone who doesn't know when the last time she washed her hair, is really kind of monumental. The first I am going to feature is a super easy and super cheesy lasagna with mushrooms and sausage. I needed a make-ahead meal for a friend visiting and this fit the bill. I generally don't make lasagna: obviously it's not healthy (this is coming from the girl who has been eating ice cream for breakfast), and for some reason I never find it completely filling. But paired with a salad and a crusty French loaf (because you can never have too many carbs!) it's outstanding. You cook the mushroom/onion mixture and sausage in a cup of red wine, and boy does it work wonders. This is one of the top rated recipes on www.epicurious.com and I have no doubts why. Salud!

Mmm...onions and mushrooms. The basis for everything great.

Layer two being applied...

At this point I refrigerated the sucker over night. The meal made for perfect timing (and belt loosening. Well, not really seeing as I only wear yoga pants these days.)

Quick Sausage and Mushroom Lasagna

recipe courtesy of Epicurious (originally printed in Bon Appetit in 2008)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 8-ounce packages sliced crimini (baby bella) mushrooms
• 1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons dried Italian seasoning blend
• 1 pound hot Italian sausages, casings removed
• 3 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 4 2/3 cups marinara sauce (from two 26-ounce jars)
• 1 9-ounce package no-cook lasagna noodles
• 1 15-ounce container ricotta cheese
• 2 8-ounce bags Italian blend grated cheese (4 cups)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat oil in heavy large pot over high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, and seasoning blend; sauté until vegetables begin to soften, about 6 minutes. Add sausage and sauté until brown and cooked through, breaking up with back of spoon, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and stir 1 minute. Add wine; cook until almost all liquid evaporates, scraping up browned bits, about 2 minutes. Set aside.

Spread 2/3 cup marinara sauce over bottom of 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Place noodles (about 4) over sauce, forming 1 layer (noodles may overlap slightly). Spread 1 cup sauce over noodles. Top with 1/3 of ricotta, then 1 cup grated cheese. Spoon 1/3 of sausage mixture over. Repeat 2 more times with noodles, sauce, ricotta, grated cheese, and sausage mixture. Cover with 4 more noodles. Spoon remaining 1 cup sauce over; sprinkle remaining 1 cup grated cheese over. Cover with foil, tenting in center to prevent cheese from touching foil. Bake lasagna 45 minutes; remove foil. Bake until bubbling at edges and cheese is browned, about 10 minutes longer. Let stand 15 minutes.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/bestof/toprecipes/bestpastarecipes/recipes/food/views/Quick-Sausage-and-Mushroom-Lasagna-350399#ixzz1HjjUUMBX

Video: Dog Caring for Dog in Japan

Small pleasures escaped the days during my first week of unemployment. And then last Friday I learned of the earthquake in Japan, then tsunami, and now, of course the chilling news about the meltdown of Japan's nuclear power plants. When you're unemployed you watch a lot of television, and read a lot of news. I sift through these tidbits all day long in between applying to jobs, fixing lunch, and finally putting on different sweats (from the ones I sadly slept in) to take the dog for a walk. I've been watching what's happening in Japan with a sort of frozen half-belief, but it wasn't until today that I actually cried when viewing a clip of the devastation. And it was from The Today Show, no less! Not some venerated newscast! And about a dog! Jeez. I don't know what this says about me - or about other people who cried at the same clip - but there's something so innately vulnerable about animals and particularly dogs: they have no clue what is happening yet they nurture nonetheless. Their loyalty is startling. I talk to my dog, Penny, throughout the day and her ears always perk up at the sound of my voice. We cook together, get the mail together, greet our neighbors together, and together we wait for Matt to get home. She's my best friend.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I'm Out!

My sentiments, exactly.

Today is my last day at work.  Talk about the last day of purgatory!

Catch you on the flip (unemployed, still wearing my pajamas at 2 PM) side!