Easy Chicken Curry

We are major curry fans around here. This recipe is from an uncle of mine who lived in Thailand, and it is seriously delicious and so easy to make! It's a staple at our house, and I hope you love it as much as we do!

Yellow Curry with Chicken

Cook/prep time: 30 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 can coconut milk

2-3 tablespoons of Mae Ploy yellow curry paste (I buy mine here on Amazon, and I'm sure you could find it in some Asian markets too)

Around 1 cup of chicken breast, cut into bite-sized chunks (I cut and freeze large batches of raw chicken at a time which makes this really easy!)

1 potato, chopped into 1/4-1/2 inch pieces

1 yellow onion, diced

1 tablespoon fish sauce (optional)

Rice (I like to use jasmine. Make sure you start cooking this before you begin making the curry!)

Instructions:

Spoon the cream off the top of the can of coconut milk and place into a medium saucepan. Add curry paste and mix until it is thoroughly combined with no lumps. Heat for a minute or two on medium, then add chicken. Cook until the chicken is no longer pink on the outside. Add the rest of the can of coconut milk, the potato, and the onion. Return to a boil and cook until the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes are tender. Add fish oil, if desired. I have made it without and it turned out just fine, but it does add a little bit of flavor, and doesn’t make it taste fishy. Serve over rice. 

Crock pot chicken curry

I have yet to try a curry I didn't like. I love that stuff. Since I've been pregnant, I've been craving Indian and Thai food something fierce, so when I found this recipe on Pinterest I knew I had to try it out. It looked so easy and delicious, and it lived up to my high expectations! 

I will absolutely be making this again, and maybe experimenting with turning it into a freezer meal. I really want to stock up on those before this baby comes along in a few months.  

All you have to do is puree the sauce, throw it in the crock pot with some chunks of chicken breast, stir in some cornstarch an hour or so before it's finished cooking to thicken up the sauce, and serve over some good rice. I used jasmine, my favorite. 

Does it get any easier than that? 

I followed the recipe exactly except for a few minor changes. Since I like a lot of flavor I added some extra garam masala, curry powder, and salt. I also substituted a bit of cayenne pepper (somewhere between 1/2 and 1 tsp) for the dried red peppers, just because that's what I had on hand. Last of all, I didn't end up cooking it for the entire 6 hours. I put this in around 8am and the chicken was done (And smelled amazing. Seriously.) when I got home from church a little after 12pm. I added the cornstarch then and let it cook for another hour or so until Dallin got home from his meeting. It's a good thing it was done a little early because we were both really hungry and the smell was tantalizing. 

Click here for the recipe! Also, if you have any other favorite Indian/Thai/curry recipes you should do this pregnant lady a favor and send them my way. ;)

Pumpkin cookies, sneezing, and naps

I'm swiftly approaching the half-way point in my pregnancy, which is pretty dang crazy. It's been going by so quickly. Uncomfortable as it can be at times, and tired/whiny as I am, I really do love being pregnant. I love thinking about baby names, planning nursery decorations, and looking forward to meeting this little babe. We will be finding out the gender sometime in the next few weeks, and I'm a little worried about that, to be honest. It's hard enough to keep myself from buying every cute baby-related thing I see already... I don't know how I'm going to be able to resist once I know what we are having! 

Anyway, on a more goofy note, here are a few things being pregnant has taught me so far:

• If the baby wants pumpkin cookies, you make pumpkin cookies. The end. (Here's the recipe I used. The only change I made was using cream cheese frosting instead.)

Butter, cream cheese, and pumpkin = magic

• Also, if the baby wants Taco Bell, remind it that no matter how good it sounds at the time you will regret it later, I promise. 
• Do not sneeze while walking, especially when you are in Walmart and have been staying remarkably well hydrated. Need I say more? ;)
• Naps are a beautiful thing. Truly beautiful. Also, it's a good idea to take one (or at least rest for a solid hour+) every day to save your poor, yet eternally patient, husband from having to put up with an extremely cranky wife. 
• Speaking of avoiding being a cranky wife, keep that belly full of food, woman! (Food, not cookies/Reese's/ice cream/kettle corn/slushies/etc.)

• On a related note, take advantage of being pregnant as an excuse for your purse full of snacks at church. (And everywhere else you go, if we're being real here.) 
• Don't even bother buttoning your pants, girl, you know it ain't staying like that for long. Also, all hail yoga pants! 
• Old wive's tales are serious bizness to some people. Serious bizness, I tell you! Don't laugh. (Until you get home and tell your husband)
• No matter how long you put it off, the dishes aren't going to wash themselves. Just do it, you lazy bum. ;)

And on that note, I am going to take my own advice and tackle the disaster area that is my kitchen. Wish me luck... I need it if I'm going to really get myself in gear today! :)

Delicious fruit dip! {Pin a week 13/52}

This isn't exactly a healthy snack, but it sure is delicious and easy! :) Original recipe here. 

It doesn't get much easier than this. Just mix one 8oz package of softened cream cheeese, one 7oz container marshmallow creme, a pinch of nutmeg, and 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon together and dip your choice of fruit in it. Enjoy! 

Crockpot pesto ranch chicken {Pin a week 12/52}

Whoever invented the crockpot was a genius. I need to use ours more. For this week's pin, I tried out this recipe for pesto ranch chicken. 

Click here for original recipe

It really doesn't get much more simple than this, and it turned out really good! I did change it up a bit though. Instead of thighs, I used breasts. I also added some potatoes and chopped onion, and next time I think I'll throw in some freshly minced garlic. 

P.S. Happy St. Patrick's Day from your favorite ginger couple! ;)

Dallin busted out his green suit coat for church today... because how often does St. Patty's Day fall on Sunday? ;)

We like each other.

One year down, an eternity to go

Yesterday was our first anniversary! Believe it or not, my dear husband has managed to put up with living in the same house as me for an entire year... and I think he might even like me still. ;) 

(Photo by Mechelle Felsted)

(Photo by my lovely mama)

To celebrate, we went on a little weekend getaway last weekend, and then had a fancy candlelit dinner last night. Here's some pictures. 

Dallin is a master cheesecake maker. Yep, I'm lucky. :)

I also happen to think he is really cute, so I took quite a few pictures of him while he was making it. Be thankful I only posted a few. 

I didn't take very many pictures of us making dinner. We were both too hungry to think about that!

I'm thankful for our sweet blinds that made it dark enough for a candlelit dinner at 3 in the afternoon... haha. 

Purty!

Photo courtesy of our good friend... le self timer. :)

Awwww. 

We made Macaroni Grill's penne rustica for dinner. Time consuming, but so worth it. 

Fun fact: this is what Dallin made me on our first date. Apparently it worked. ;)

Cheesecake and chocolate dipped strawberries for dessert. Oh, so good.

Man, do I love this guy. Maybe one day I'll figure out why he was crazy enough to marry me, but I'm sure glad he did. He's a keeper. :) 

Happy anniversary, darlin'! You're my favorite.

Happy birthday to us!

Our birthdays are just a few days apart, mine on May 31 and Dallin's on the 3rd.
It's fun to have them so close. :) Here's some pictures from the festivities. 

German chocolate cake... mmmmm. :)

I got an iPhone! It is pretty dang sweet! Of course, any phone is sweet in comparison with my old phone... :) It's been fun playing around with different apps and I love having a decent camera with me all the time. 

This is kind of a funny story. I briefly mentioned in passing several weeks ago this cute bike I had seen at Walmart. My wonderful husband took note and decided to get it for me for my birthday. Unfortunately, I didn't describe it very clearly (I wasn't thinking that he was going to get it or else I would have been more thorough :P) and this is the bike that he thought fit my description the best. It's kind of hard to tell in this picture, but it is quite a bit too small for me... haha. :) Wasn't that sweet of him though? He managed to buy it and stash it away without me knowing, and then got up in the middle of the night to put it in the dining room so I would see it when I got up. He is pretty much THE best. :) I was pretty sad when we returned it but it was way too small for me. 

Originally we were going to make pizza margherita for my birthday dinner, but we ended up going out too dinner with Dallin's parents so we made it the next night. It still tasted heavenly. Definitely my favorite... although I think I've made that pretty clear. ;) I think I take a picture every singe time and end up posting it on my blog or facebook since it is just so beautiful. Yes, I am obsessed. 

Being Mormon, turning 21 isn't as "exciting" as it would be if I drank. I am completely and totally okay with that, but I found it hilarious that this is the most exciting milestone I reached. 

I get to have a HORIZONTAL driver's licence? Thrilling! :)

I got Dallin the Millennium Falcon Lego set. Yes, I am the coolest wife ever. 

I really, really love this guy, mountain man beard and all. :)

Birthday dinner. :)

Well, that's about it. Happy birthday to us! :)

As of late

We really, really like pizza margherita. It's become a weekly meal. :)

My tomatoes! :)

Star Wars pancakes taste even better than boring round ones. ;)

At the Mesa Temple. :)

We got to go to a Diamondbacks game as kind of an early birthday celebration for the two of us. We won... yay! :)

Chelsey was there too and it was awesome to see her!

This weekend's adventures

To start off the weekend, Dallin got up early on Saturday morning and surprised

 me with a delicious omelet for breakfast. :) Yep, I am spoiled. It was so good! 

See the green onion heart? I'm SURE he did that on purpose... :P

Some of the adorable nieces and nephews I gained when we got married came up on Saturday. It was fun to see them! We went to a wildlife fair at the park with the crew. Cy liked watching this snake shed it's skin.

I like his face.

We also hiked Christopher Creek on Saturday. It was beautiful weather and such a pretty canyon. :)

A little slide 

Ryan and Dallin being manly

We were starving afterward so we went and got an Alfonso's burrito to share.
Yes, that is one burrito... isn't it huge?!

I bought myself a cute little tomato plant! 

I also FINALLY got some basil! I love being able to pick fresh basil from my own plants. And it smells SO good. 

I got to use some of my basil for the pizza margherita that we made

 yesterday for Dallin's parents to celebrate Mother's Day! Yum. :)

Look at this sweet present my husband got me for Mother's Day! It's a Lladró figurine. :) 

It's not a great picture but that's the best I could do. It looks so much prettier in real life!

If you don't know what Lladró is (I didn't until I was dating Dallin), it's a Spanish company that makes these beautiful porcelain figurines. Dallin brought some back from Spain, which is where he served his mission. We found this one at a thrift store for MUCH less than they usually cost and he tricked me into thinking it was for his mom. It worked... I was very pleasantly surprised when he gave it to me. :)

Also, speaking of Mother's Day presents, one of the perks of being married is getting a share of the treats they pass out to the mothers (or future mothers) in the ward. ;) Cha-ching!

(P.S. I am not pregnant... :P)

Well, that's pretty much it... have a lovely day! :)