Life in General - Tomato Basil Pasta and Chicken Tikka Masala

So, I am a little behind on my blogging.  Let's see if I can recap this last week, shall we?  It's been rainy and sunny and hot and humid, sometimes all at the same time!  Which makes for unpredictable pool and topless jeep weather.  My garden however is thriving!  I am so excited about our garden this year.  All of the other years we have ever tried to grow anything edibly garden related, the bunnies have gotten to it before we even had the chance.  But, this year, the kids built us a garden with chicken wire and all during one of their Science homeschooling lessons.  They planted tomato, dill, basil and peppers from seed.  With much TLC, they started to grow!  Then, we transplanted them into our garden.  Luke went outside one day and called me out to look at the garden and he exclaims, "They grow up so fast!"  Oh, that kid, he makes me smile :)  They have done an excellent job at keeping their little garden weeded and watered and they are so excited to reap the benefits!  We had my in-laws over for an early Father's Day bar-b-que.  We had fillet Mignon, tomato-basil pasta salad and crusty french bread.  For the tomato-basil pasta salad I was able to use our basil from the garden.  We were so excited as it was our first time getting to use something from our garden this year :)  Unfortunately, our tomatoes aren't ready yet.  You can find the recipe for the tomato-basil pasta salad here: http://www.womansday.com/Recipes/Tomato-Basil-Pasta-Salad-Recipe  I will definitely be making that recipe again.  It was very fresh tasting and lot's of fun to use the items from our garden.

Monday night, D and I went to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros at the Pageant!  It was just me and him and that's so rare anymore.  With my parents out of state working, we are rarely ever able to get a babysitter anymore. I don't know if it's my kids or our babysitters just don't want to babysit them anymore.  They are for the most part awesome, well behaved kids.  So, maybe they change when they aren't around us?  I ask them if that's the case and they say it's not.  I have to say, I totally believe them.  I mean, they are 9 and 11 and 9 and 11 years old are pretty low-maintenance!  Oh well, my dear sister-in-law was kind enough to watch them so we could get out for an evening of fun.  Oh, what a night it was!  It was one of the best show's I have been to in a long time!  Alex Ebert climbed down from the stage and over the barricade and out into the crowd.  He made everyone sit down with him and he sang us a song at closing.  What a happy, soulful band!  I left the concert giddy :)

My mom and dad bought me an iPod!  I know, I am a little behind in the times.  My hubby is usually the one that get's all of the new techno toys and I get whatever his left-overs were.  Which, hey, I am not complaining!  So, he gives me an iPod tutorial and helps me get all set up.  The next morning I listen to it for about an hour while I am reading my favorite blog posts and checking facebook to see if it's my turn yet in my scrabble games I have going with my mama and my friend Jen.  Then, it was time to go to the pool so I put my iPod down and proceed to gather the necessary items we need for pool time.  You know, the usual -  towels, suits, goggles, cross stitch project, book, aforementioned pasta salad (which, by the way is even better left over as the flavors have had time to marry) and roast beef and ham for lunch's.  I go to pack up my iPod and realize it's not where I left it.  I start looking around and following the clues as to the whereabouts of where the iPod went.  I finally find a little girl with ear buds in her ears and a big smile gently swaying her head back and forth in time to the song she is listening to.  No sooner had I got it all set-up and filled it was gone!  It didn't take Luke long to start arguing (which is where the well-behaved for the most part comes in. But, really, what brother and sister don't argue now and then?) with his sister that it was now his turn to have a listen.  She begrudgingly gave it up to him after much prodding from me.  So, they each have their favorite songs to listen to.  N - Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill and Katy Perry - Lost.  L's favorite - White Stripes - We're Going To Be Friends.  He listen's to it over and over and over and over!  All in all, I don't really mind if they listen to it, as long as they respect it and take care of it while it's in their possession.  It keeps the world from hearing me sing anyway.  You know how that goes, when you are listening to a really good song and you just have to sing along?  Yeah, that happens to me all of the time, I just can't resist.

I went to tuck Natalie in last night and daddy and Luke were downstairs and there was lot's of laughing coming from down there.  N pulled back from her bed and looked up at me and said, "I have to go downstairs, there's fun going on down there!".  Who am I to hold her back?

Luke has an awesome laugh <3

Anyhoo, for dinner I made another Jamie's Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals recipe.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Yields: 4-6
Ingredients:
4 skinless chicken breast fillets
2 medium onions
1 fresh red chile - I left this out
a thumb-sized piece of ginger
a small bunch of fresh cilantro - I left this out as I didn't have any....next years garden will
peanut or vege oil
a pat of butter
1/2 cup tikka masala or mild-curry paste - Patak's
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 x 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
1x 14 oz can of coconut milk
1 cup natural yogurt - I left this out
a small bunch of sliced almonds
1 lemon - I left this out

Directions:
To prepare your curry:
Slice the chicken breasts lengthwise into 3/4 inch-thick strips.  Peel, halve and finely slice the onions.  Finely slice your chile.  Peel and finely slice the ginger.  Pick the cilantro leaves and put to one side, then finely chop the stalks.

To make your curry:
Put a large casserole-type pan on a medium to high heat and add a couple of lugs of oil and the butter. Add the onions, chile ginger, and cilantro stalks and cook for 10 minutes, until softened and golden. Add the curry paste and the strips of chicken. Stir well to coat everything with the past and season with salt and pepper.  Add the tomatoes and the coconut milk.  Fill one of the empty cans with water, pour into the pan and stir again.  Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on.  Check the curry regularly to make sure it's not drying out and add extra water if necessary.  When the meat is tender and cooked, taste and add a bit more salt and pepper - please season carefully.

To serve your curry:
This will be fantastic served with any fluffy rice and a few spoonfuls of yogurt dolloped on top.  Sprinkle over the almonds and cilantro leaves and serve with some lemon wedges for squeezing over.

Pass it On!

While I am enjoying the Indian recipes from Jamie Oliver, I can't wait to make these Indian recipes the way they are meant to be made.  I am really looking forward to my Indian dishes tasting almost as good as my friend Radhikas!  I hope to make her proud :)

Source: Jamie's Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals