Pan-Seared Chicken with Pecan-Scallion Gremolata

One of our favorites. It's hard for me to eat one serving. This dish is amazing with any green. Our favorite is chicken placed over arugala. For 2 of us, I grab 3 large handfuls of arugala and place in mixing bowl. Squeeze 1 lemon over arugala. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Season with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. Toss with tongs. DELICIOUS combo!



The gremolata can be served over chicken, fish, beef, or on a toasted sandwich. Party of 1? It never hurts to have cooked chicken in the fridge for salads and prepared meals. Gremolata can also be kept in fridge.

hands-on time: 20 minute
total time: 20 minutes
makes 4 servings

4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, pounded to 3/4 inch thick if necessary
1/4 tsp kosher salt for gremolata
1/8 tsp fresh cracked pepper for gremolata
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 cup pecan halves, toasted
1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
4 green onion chopped (green and light green parts only)
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Regiano cheese

Combine pecans, juice, onions, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper in a mini food processor; pulse until finely chopped. Add the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil, and pulse to combine. Transfer mixture to a bowl; stir in cheese. Set aside.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken generously with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. Add 1 tbsp olive oil to pan; swirl. Add chicken; cook 4 minutes on each side or until done.Trasnfer to a cutting board.

Slice chicken across grain. Place on plate; top with gremolata. Garnish with chopped green onions and a lemon wedge. The warm chicken softens the gremolata. Ahhh...I can taste it just thinking of it.



Recipe courtesy of Cooking Light

Baked Meatball

Finally!! Thank you, Alton Brown, for coming up with a way to make delicious meatballs without spattering oil all over my stove. My son loves meatballs. I just don't make them often, as I hadn't found a tasty and easy recipe til now. Plus, the spinach in it is just bonus.

I used Alton Brown's recipe and changed a couple of things for our family.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/baked-meatballs-recipe.html

tips:
*I use 1 pound 90%-10% grass fed ground beef and 1/2 pound 93%-7% ground turkey. I tried 99% fat free turkey for the entire recipe, and they were completely dry. The meat needs some fat to help the bread crumbs glisten.
*I use 1/2 a bag of this frozen spinach. It's easier than the frozen spinach block to work with. Heat in microwave in 20 second increments til thawed and squeeze out the water.

*I didn't weigh them as Alton suggested. I just separated them into 20 portions.
*I've used Progresso parmesan bread crumbs, and omitted the grated parmesan to save money. They still turn out flavorful. I do like them best with the parmesan, though.
*Reviews suggested baking sheet if you don't have a muffin tin.

hands-on time: 20 minute
total time: 40 minutes
makes 4-5 servings

1 pound ground round
1/2 pound turkey
5 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and drained thoroughly
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan
1 whole egg
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup bread crumbs, divided

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the meat, spinach, cheese, egg, basil, parsley, garlic powder, salt, red pepper flakes, and 1/4 cup of the bread crumbs. Using your hands, mix all ingredients until well incorporated. Use immediately or place in refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

Place the remaining 1/4 cup of bread crumbs into a small bowl. Separate the meat into 1.5 ounce portions (20 portions) and place on a sheet pan. Using your hands, shape the meatballs into rounds, roll in the bread crumbs and place the meatballs in individual, miniature muffin tin cups. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Serve immediately.

A simple garlic, olive oil, lemon pasta, vegetables and salad make a delicious accompaniment to these meatballs. They also make great meatball sandwiches or are perfect in marinara sauce. My 3 year old eats them. He uses ketchup, of course.

My Wardrobe Staple Giveaway

I've loved wearing necklaces for as long as I can remember. They're my wardrobe staple. They can change a plain old tee and jeans to a completely different outfit. I tend to have new favorites every year. My new favorites for the season are these 2 from J. Crew and Francesca's. The yellow necklace can be paired with so many things from a maxi dress and jean jacket to a striped tee and jeans or shorts. The white and silver necklace goes with absolutely everything. I love them both and am having fun making old outfits look new with a little necklace help.

Which brings me to Nifty Neighbor's first giveaway. Let's celebrate the season with my wardrobe staple giveaway! I'm giving away this J. Crew necklace to one lucky winner. The necklace is no longer available on their website and retails for $138.00.

Giveaway Requirements:

1. Follow niftyneighb on Instagram and tag 5 friends on the giveaway post.

2. Like Nifty Neighbor on facebook www.facebook.com/niftyneighbor.blog

That's it! Two simple steps. The giveaway begins Monday, April 18, 2016, and ends at midnight on Thursday, April 21, 2016. The winner will be announced on Friday, April 22, 2016. Good luck!!!



Disposable Hand Towel Tip

We have 24 people, participating in a nonstop 200 mile relay race, coming through our home this weekend. My husband is competing in the Ragnar Race, and we offered our home as a resting/eating/showering place in between legs. I'll be using our favorite disposable hand towels in the restrooms.

My mom turned me on to these. They're perfect for guests and every day use. They're made by Kleenex. Just the perfect size. And, best of all, disposable. You know how you have that one hand towel for all guests to use? Ew. This way, every one gets their own hand towel out of a nifty little box. There are about 5 different designs. I've only been able to find them at HEB for $2.97/box. Amazon sells them for $17.82 for a pack of 6 boxes ($2.97/box); and 5% cheaper for subscribe and save. 

We still use the every day washable hand towel, but it's nice to have these out for anyone to use. I've only used them in the downstairs powder bath since that restroom has the most traffic between neighbors and overnight guests. They have now made their grand appearance in all the other restrooms for the weekend. 

Thank you

When my son was 1 year old, of course we told him thank you for the obvious things. Thank you for bringing me something. Thank you for giving me something. Thank you for using kind gestures. Then my husband and I got a Daniel Tiger song stuck in our head. "Thank you for everything you do." It was a funny habit to sing this one line when we said thank you to our son.

In that same year, I began thanking him for things to acknowledge good behavior. He quickly caught on. I would thank him for holding my hand while we walked in a parking lot. I would thank him for being a good boy after church, at a store or a restaurant. I kept it simple back then. At age 2, I began to elaborate. If the situation was appropriate, I would thank him for his specific actions and tell him I was proud of him.

By age 3, he beams when my husband and I thank him for his specific behavior. It's such a wonderful way to build self esteem. He remembers how much we appreciate his behavior and continues that behavior when back in the same situation...most of the time. :) I also tend to thank and praise his cousins or friends for playing well together when our playtime is over. I recently sat he and his girl cousin on the last step of her stairs when it was time for us to leave her home. I squatted down and thanked them for playing so well together and how proud I was of them. The 2 beaming faces smiling at me were so precious. They genuinely appreciated my words and acknowledgement.

He will sometimes say excuse me, excuse me, mommy, mommy, mommy, when I'm speaking to someone. He knows it's not appropriate. He knows to say excuse me, but wants me to acknowledge him right when he says it. We're working on that. We haven't tried the placing of his hand on mine (so I know he wants to tell me something), while I'm speaking to someone. I chose to teach him to say excuse me. When we were at lunch yesterday with friends, he knew when to interject in conversation, didn't obnoxiously say excuse me, and was such an angel. Before we got in the car to leave, I squatted down and placed his face in my hands. I looked him in the eyes and told him, "Thank you for being such a good boy. I am so proud of you and the way you behaved at lunch." He was glowing, and said, "Thank you, Mommy!"

Mom Tiger

I grew up watching Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, so it was no surprise that I fell in love with Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. My 1 year old also fell in love with it several years ago. Luckily, he still enjoys watching it at 3 years old.

The show centers around Daniel Tiger, the son of the original Daniel Striped Tiger (Mr. Rogers hand puppet). The program is targeted at preschool-aged children, and is based on the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. Two 11-minute segments are linked by a common socio-emotional theme, such as disappointment and sadness or anger, or being thankful and appreciative. The theme also uses a musical motif phrase, which the show calls "strategy songs", to reinforce the theme and help children remember the life lessons. We often sing Daniel Tiger songs that apply to our situations.

I learned so many new ways of parenting from this show and am intrigued by Mom Tiger (Daniel Tiger's mom). I appreciate her patience, firmness, actions, and choice of words. While I have my own style of parenting, I incorporate her ways into mine.

One of the shows features a song titled: When We Do Something New. When my son was 1, I began using this song to talk about what to expect. While the song focuses on talking about what to expect when something is new, we did that and what to expect in general. He grew up genuinely appreciating and listening to me explain what we are going to do and/or what to expect. It led to us talking about the next day when I lay in his bed with him after prayers. He says: Let's talk about our day tomorrow! We start with waking up, having breakfast and continuing with something he or I may have going on the next day. If he hasn't had one of our homemade frozen blueberry muffins in awhile, I will throw that in the conversation. Something to look forward to. After all, they are his favorite breakfast. We may not always have something going on the next day, but we always wake up, have breakfast, play together and play outside.

I don't sing the song anymore, but I still talk about what to expect. We had an emergency room visit on Easter Sunday night. He DID NOT want to go. He was scared and very upset. I explained how doctors and nurses are helpers just like police officers and fire fighters (his favorite), and they just want us to feel better. I also told him what to expect when we get there (from checking in to taking x-rays) as we were in the backseat while my husband drove. He calmed down and knew exactly what to expect when we arrived.

I am grateful for all Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood has taught my son and I. We do still sing some songs and have our favorites. "You gotta try new food, cause it might taste goo-ood. SO-O good!" Great episode. And guess what! He tries new foods. He may not like it or want to finish it, but he tries it.



My Martha Pic

Recreating the cover of a Martha Stewart cookbook, from 1984, was one exceptionally fun cocktail party of 3.

The day I posted the intro for my blog, my mom sent me a picture of a recipe she and I were texting about. When I asked where she got the recipe, she sent me a picture of the cookbook she was looking in. I could not stop laughing when I saw it. How had I not see this cookbook before??! I'm still discovering things about this woman I'm so close to. I thought, "Oh my goodness! I have to recreate this picture." It captures what I love to do...entertain, cook and create.

I'm all about bringing humor to our lives in this ever so critical world we live in, which is why I wore my bridesmaid dress from 1994 and pearls given to me when I was a child. I used a mix of mine and my moms things, vintage from the 80's and modern from today (my napkins, her plates from the 80's, etc). Old and modern...exactly what my blog is about. The only things I purchased for the picture were food and flowers.

There have been many requests for "the shrimp appetizer" featured in my picture. It was also served at the Be Wine Party and has been in the family for over 20 years. Here is the recipe!

hands on time: 45 minutes
total time: 2 hours, 45 minutes
feeds 10 with other appetizers; makes about 45 shrimp


Snow peas, deveined
1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined boiled shrimp (20-25 count)
Marinade:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic cloves
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt


Boil snow peas for 4 minutes. Drain and cool.
Marinate shrimp for at least 2 hours.
Wrap shrimp in show peas with a toothpick to hold. Drizzle remaining sauce over shrimp.
*TIP* Whole Foods will steam your shrimp at no charge. It's already peeled and deveined. All you have to do is slide off the tail!

Thank you to my girl friends for taking my picture and turning it into such a fun girls night!