Celebration Dinner

Today I decided to make some ice cream for my sweet baby.  As I rounded a corner in Publix, I heard a kid say, "hey Mrs. Brown" and it was in fact one of Viv's kindergarten teachers, Mrs. Brown. We chatted and she clued me in that Viv had been chosen as today's "Student of the Day."  She swore me to secrecy and I headed to the dairy aisle.

Armed with the necessary ingredients, I headed home to complete this ice cream mission.  My child is one of those who actually loves and chooses vanilla over crazy, wacky, chocolaty, gooey flavors.  But, to jazz it up a little, I used my expensive vanilla and mini chocolate chips.  I was so excited about this little surprise I could hardly contain myself!  Oh yeah, that mom of the year trophy is gonna look good on my bookshelf.

After an excited recount of the Student of the Day activities, she had a kick-ass karate class (no pun intended.  Well, ok, maybe I intended that.)  Then we came home and made coconut chicken, mashed sweet potatoes and steamed green beans.  I gotta tell you...I am a sucker for coconut food.  Shrimp, curries, pina coladas, you name it.  This is so easy to make so I decided I'd share it with you.  It can be done very quickly which makes weeknights a little less hectic.  

Coconut chicken (or shrimp)

• 1 1/2 cups shredded coconut, toasted
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 Tbs sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 egg whites, slightly beaten

Cut chicken breast meat into chunks or peel and devein your shrimp (about 24 jumbos).  Mix coconut, cornstarch, salt and sugar together in a shallow dish.  (If you're not cooking for kids, adding a little cayenne here provides a nice little kick.)  Dip meat into egg white and then into the coconut mixture, pressing to adhere. 

Add 2 Tbs veg. oil to a baking dish.  Place prepared chicken in a single layer.  Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and the coconut browns up.  Yum, yum, eat 'em up.

My mom cooks better than your mom

 As you can see from the Vivver, she was diggin' her meal and I'm pleased to report that she ate it all.  Afterwards, we had our homemade chocolate chip ice cream which then sent her off into a sweet dreamland.  Try this recipe when you want to shake up dinner with something new and easy.  I hope you like it as much as we do!  Bon Appetit!

School Lunch Uncertainty

We're in Week 3 of Kindergarten.  The wunderkind is loving life.  She comes home so pumped about her day.  What's really sweet is that she keeps citing "making new friends" as her favorite part of kindergarten.  So far it's all going just swimmingly but I wonder about lunch.

I've been packing lunches since she was two years old.  When I was a kid, we always ate the school lunch and for the most part, we liked it.  So, I went into this expecting that Viv would like having a hot lunch instead of a ham sandwich everyday.  Some days she tells me that she only ate the bread. Other days, she reports making a "happy plate."  I went to school on Monday to visit her during lunch; she polished off her whole Sloppy Joe, tater tots, an apple and some spinach salad.  I was so encouraged.  Then, yesterday she let us know that she didn't even try the chicken alfredo because she could "taste it on the bread" and didn't care for it.  I suppose what we're talking about is the sauce.  

So we had yet another talk about the importance of not wasting food and being thankful for what we're given.  I don't want her wandering around hungry either.  I've learned that she, like yours truly, gets headaches when we haven't eaten.  I'm hopeful that she's just adjusting to new things and this will get better.  Really hopeful...I don't want to have to go back to packing lunch everyday!

Utopia has grown!

Utopia had very humble beginnings.  Very. It was first located in the tiniest building in Columbia (I bet).  But Kathy Siokos had a dream and a vision and she packed it into that tiny little building.  Here we are several years later and she's relocated down the road into a larger, more comfortable and more useable space for her dream and vision.  We first met Kathy years ago when she worked for the Rockaway's folks. Before I had my baby, we went to either Rockaway's or Pizza Man so often that one day in the bank drive-thru I heard a familiar voice say to me, "so what do you want for dinner?"  There was Kathy in the car next to me.  I went home that day and told Neil "we are eating out way too often!"

Kathy and me

Tonight we finally had the opportunity to check out the new location. 

One Man's Junk...

I love to crab, which is good because I also love to eat crab.  I've crabbed in the surf, in the boat, in the creek, from a pot, off the rocks.  Because I know a good crab when I see one, don't even try to talk to me about crab with a "k", surimi or whatever else people try to pass off as crab.  I'll eat, and enjoy, Alaskan crab but it's just not in the same league as a "real" crab...the blue crab that adorns our waters here in the South and all up and down the East Coast.

Tales from the "Blue Cookbook"

I have a cookbook whose actual title is Land O Lakes Treasury of Country Recipes.  It was published in 1992 and I bought it off a roving, door-to-door book saleslady who came into my office one day.  It's a huge book filled with pretty easy recipes from dinner rolls all the way to homemade pies.  My younger sister fell in love with it and used it often.  It became simply known as "The Blue Cookbook."  We had a supper club when we were in our 20's and many a dish from the Blue Cookbook graced the palates of our friends.  We both consulted that book at almost every turn.  Then, it was taken away...

My Thai

Heavenly ingredients!

Thanks to Neil's Asian market shopping-trip-on-steroids, I was able to whip up an awesome green curry this week.  Having good curry paste on hand makes this such an easy task.  Tasting Thai curries in a restaurant probably makes most people think it's impossible to make at home.  But, trust me, find some good curry pastes, keep them in your pantry and on busy weeknights you can gather up whatever veggies and meats you have available and crank out a delicious and different meal.  If you're anything like me, different is important.  I get bored very easily!

Here's one little trick.