Where the Wild Things Are

Those familiar with my blog, or my life for that matter, know that our move to the city has been riddled with not-very-city like things. We awoke on our first morning as city-dwellers to the undeniable sound of a rooster's crow, we have had raccoons stalk us - both inside and outside our home and we have had a litter of baby kittens in our backyard. Yet, even with all of that history, I was not at all prepared for what Bryan found hanging out by our back porch this morning...



That's right, we have chickens. What do you do with baby chickens? We considered calling animal control, but I was afraid they may meet some unkind end, and I was running late for work, ha, so we decided that Bryan would deal with it after her returned from taking me to work.

That ended up being a good decision. As Bryan got home the young man who lives next door was carrying one of our new found chicks in his arms while the others followed behind. He explained, as if his farm-living was completely normal, that the chickens had just been brought to them by some friends from Detroit (both the chickens and the friends were from Michigan), and that they were trying to "get them nice and fat." You can imagine why.

Poor chickens.

Quesadilla and Italian Green Beans

Dinner tonight was very simple.

Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla:

I marinated my chicken overnight in Kraft Fat Free Zesty Italian Dressing and then threw it on the Foreman Grill. The Foreman only seems to emerge when I am eating shredded chicken in something. For this it worked just fine.

I cut the chicken into tiny pieces, put them on one of the tortillas, topped it with 1/4 cup shredded three cheese Italian blend and cooked it using an olive oil spray in a skillet.

For dipping I used fat free sour cream.


Italian Green Beans:

This recipe seemed to me like it might be gross, as I am not a huge fan of tomatoes, but it turned out well.

Heat 8 oz of tomato sauce in a skillet. Once heated through add a a packet of Good Seasons Italian dressing mix and some green beans (fresh or frozen) and cook for about 7 minutes. That's it!

Here is the result:


Pros:
- The green beans were good! Much better than just steaming or sauteing in olive oil
- Very quick and easy to make
- Low fat

Cons:
- The quesadilla was nothing to write home about. I have been resistant to adding salsa to my quesadillas in the past, but I might they that next time to perk it up a bit.
- The SODIUM. Oops. It was very high. Especially thanks to the tortilla and the Italian seasoning mix. I will have to find some low sodium alternatives.

Overall grade: B

Holiday Breakfast

On Saturday, as we celebrated the anniversary of the birth of our great nation, I made a breakfast favorite from over a half-decade ago when Bryan and I were first dating. I don't know why I stopped making it - except that it is probably extraordinarily bad for you. But it is good. Very good.

1) Crumble and fry pork sausage
2) Heat the country gravy of your choice
3) Scramble a few eggs

Drain the sausage and then return to the skillet, adding the eggs and some shredded cheddar cheese, and cook on low heat until the cheese has melted.



Next, prepare the rolls. I buy the refrigerated tube of the Pillsbury jumbo crescent rolls and pull them apart as if I were going to roll them the normal way, then take a rolling pin to each piece, making it larger in each direction.

As each piece is ready, add a couple spoonfuls of the sausage-egg-cheese mixture to the center of the crescent and roll it up, folding the corners in and wrapping them around the filling to create a pocket.

Bake at the recommended temperature for about 6 minutes.

Top with gravy.

I served them with breakfast potatoes which came frozen in a bag. Lazy. Ha.

Here was the final result:


They were really very good. I might try something similar as a dinner option - like little pizza pockets?