Fwd: Recipe of the Week

I allow myself one frivilous magazine subscription a year.  In the past I've tried O (i hate to even admit that, it wasn't my style),  Real Simple, and Everyday Food.  For the past three years I have loved receiving Cooking Light. . .and find it my monthly inspiration for trying new things like Black Bean Burgers and Roast Chicken with Balsamic Bell Peppers.

   This was our favorite recipe of the week!

Coconut Chicken Curry Soup

Chicken soup flavored with coconut and curry make this Thai a reader favorite. Snow peas, spinach, and chicken breast give the soup flavor, texture, and a wealth of nutrients.

Yield: 7 servings (serving size: 2 cups soup and 1 lime wedge)

Ingredients

• 4  cups  water
• 3  cups  fresh spinach leaves
• 1/2  pound  snow peas, trimmed and cut in half crosswise
• 1  (5 3/4-ounce) package pad thai noodles (wide rice stick noodles)
• 1  tablespoon  canola oil
• 1/4  cup  thinly sliced shallots
• 2  teaspoons  red curry paste
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  curry powder
• 1/2  teaspoon  ground turmeric
• 1/2  teaspoon  ground coriander
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 6  cups  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1  (13.5-ounce) can light coconut milk
• 2 1/2  cups  shredded cooked chicken breast (about 1 pound)
• 1/2  cup  chopped green onions
• 2  tablespoons  sugar
• 2  tablespoons  fish sauce
• 1/2  cup  chopped fresh cilantro
• 4  small hot red chiles, seeded and chopped, or 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 7  lime wedges

Preparation

1. Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add spinach and peas to pan; cook for 30 seconds. Remove vegetables from pan with a slotted spoon; place in a large bowl. Add noodles to pan; cook 3 minutes. Drain; add noodles to spinach mixture in bowl.

2. Heat canola oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and the next 5 ingredients (through garlic) to pan; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add chicken broth to pan, and bring to a boil. Add coconut milk to pan; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Add chicken, onions, sugar, and fish sauce to pan; cook for 2 minutes. Pour chicken mixture over noodle mixture in bowl. Stir in cilantro and chiles. Serve with lime wedges.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

315 (22% from fat)

Fat:

7.8g (sat 3.7g,mono 2.2g,poly 1.3g)

Protein:

29.3g

Carbohydrate:

30.9g

Fiber:

2.4g

Cholesterol:

62mg

Iron:

3.2mg

Sodium:

841mg

Calcium:

78mg

Tina Washburn, San Diego, California, Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2008

Sledding

I have GREAT childhood  memories of sledding.  My dad always had a stash of the rubber tire tubes that when inflated were all different sizes.  Solo rides were fun and exciting but nothing matched the thrill of piling four or more of us on one of the big tubes and clinging to each other for dear life.  I can still vividly recount the time when we hit a jump at the bottom of the run, and all of us went flying .. . i ended up face down on the bottom of the wreckage with one of my sisters on my head .. . that experience alone has redefined the term "white wash" for me.

Then there was the year that Kari and I had chicken pox.  I remember we were baned to the station wagon.  I can't remember what was more difficult to bear. . . the idea of being locked in the car with Kari (love you sister) or missing out on sledding.  

Sledding in Alaska is an entirely different adventure.  The snow is so dry that you need a monstrous hill to get any type of speed.  Last year we discovered the Loretta French Sledding Park.  We've gone there several times this winter and the boys trade off between snowboarding and sledding.   Mudge even made his first [and last] run down the steep hill in Eric's arms.  While the thrill lingers somewhere between fear of getting snow plastered on your face and the actual excitement from hurling yourself down a steep mountain side, we are definitely have a love for sledding in our blood.

UnAlaskan Alaskans

We don't fish.

We don't hunt.

We don't have a time share in Hawaii.

We don't own Snow Machines.

We don't chop or own wood or even shovel our own driveway (thanks neighbor Kay!!!).

We don't wear flannel.

We definitely don't own a gun, let alone a 2 year supply of ammo.

We can barely Cross Country Ski.

Most of our kids have never seen a bear in the wild.

Some would argue WE are BARELY Alaskans.  

sensory overload

Eric loves to tell this story  . . . When we first got married we lived in this teeny tiny studio apartment.  It was perfect for us.  We didn't own a single piece of furniture between the two of us (dare I say we even rented our bed from the University).  Our home decor was even more sparse.  When my parents came down in December they brought our Utah wedding gifts.  Amongst the presents was this little snowman garland which I hung in the kitchen where I also happened to stock the cupboards with pyrex and measuring cups and gadgets galore.  Weeks went by and I felt unsettled.  Something was definitely wrong.  And then it clicked.  It was those silly snowmen.  Their red and purple scarves clashed.  I opened the trash can, threw the garland in, and never looked back.  It was like I could breath again. 

You think time would melt that disorder.  I have kids that put together some ghastly clothing combinations.  I have yet to buy a set of towels that match.  Don't even get me started on my own apparent lack of fashion, seeing as though I'm wearing three different shades of gray and one very ratty and very much loved Ricks College sweatshirt.  There is plenty color clashing going around here, I just choose not to see it.

Last month though, my color obsession, came hurling back into my bones.  I had no idea that picking a paint color for our house would be so overwhelming.  13 samples later, we final settled on Sudan Sand and Water Chestnut.   If you thought I was color OCD before, I think I even surprised myself by rising to a new level of obsession.  

 Check out my walls.

Spring Break

Nancy Lake, Willow, Alaska Public Use Cabin #4

While pulling our sleds filled with food, sleeping bags and firewood, our chests swelled with a little Alaskan Pride. Where else in the world is this Spring Break?

While the weekend was filled with normal life events (like crying cold kids--all 3 and under, boys on the tops bunks sleeping in their underwear because it was so hot, sleeping on a wooden platform, and nothing says real life like using a outhouse in -10 degree weather), it was at the same time spectacular. My favorite moment, hands down, was standing on the frozen lake around 9PM and looking up at the dancing Northern Lights while we could hear the ice cracking around us and wolves howling in the distance.

Bacon Boys 1st Scout Campout

Christian and Tanner's 1st Scout Campout.

Snow Cave.  Lots and Lots of Digging.

Dinner:  Tinfoil Dinners.  Breakfast:  Sausage and Hot Chocolate.  Lunch:  Peanut Butter and Honey.  (As their phenomenal 11-year-old scout leader said, "It's not gourmet but we've got to start somewhere.")

Hiking down the River.  Campfire.  Smores.  

OH, and did I mention. . . It was . . . 

44 degrees BELOW freezing.