I love the tangy bite that Kalamata olives have with lemon. I decided to try it with chicken thighs, garlic, onion and braise them. 
We love Cavendar’s Greek Seasoning. I use it in meatloaf’s, steak, and pork. 
Sliced onion, 6-7 whole garlic cloves, two lemons – sliced, and about a cup of olives.
Saute the onion until translucent. Add the thighs, garlic, and one cup of chicken broth.
Simmer for about ten minutes or until blended. Add oregano, olives, and lemons. Cover, and roast for about 45 minutes or until the thighs are cooked through.
The flavors are fresh, and light.
David had his with rice (most always with rice).
My plate.
The meat was very moist. I loved the flavors, and the texture from the olives. It was a nice refreshing chicken dish.
Category: Uncategorized
Hold Hands
Carmen and I went to one of her friends weddings this past weekend. It was a really sweet wedding, and had lots of country charm in the decorations. One of the things they had guests do was to write down marriage advice on these pre-printed cards.
Mine was very simple. Hold hands while speaking of anything difficult. It is hard to be angry or defensive with someone if you are holding hands. It means you are in this together. Whether it be finances or the storm that just cause three things to crash, it means you are in this together. Together.
Touching means that you care for one another. That nothing in this world can come between you. That is huge! David and I are both on the second time around in this marriage. We wanted to be able to conquer whatever came our way. Holding hands when talking about difficult things makes things seems reasonable. Obtainable. Doable. Together.
Always together. We can conquer anything together. Sometimes it is the hardest thing imaginable. I don’t want to confess that I haven’t been the best steward about spending. He doesn’t want to say what is bothering him about money or the house, or whatever. But we realize that holding each others hand makes us in it together. Marriage isn’t always the best day…it is getting through the worst day together.
Blessings!
Bad Storms
“A bad storm can blow in a beautiful season. The Bible proves over and over that how something begins does not get to dictate how it ends.” – Beth Moore
Hurricane Nate brought down our tree, our oven went out (igniter) and my computer crash with my final essay on it for my English class. My Mom used to say that everything comes in threes. Well, we had our threes. David was wonderful in being able to repair the oven (replaced the igniter), and my computer (he does this for a living). Purchasing a chainsaw and allowing friends to help is difficult. Relying on help is not something either one of us like to do.
I was told once that you take away someone’s blessing when you don’t allow them to help. This is so true. I love helping—if able. Why wouldn’t we want help? Well, we are independent, secure, we can do it ourselves – right? I love being able to say, “let them help.” It blesses both the giver and the receiver, right? It does!!
Storms never bring good things…but what comes out of it, can be good. We only suffered a tree falling over. That is it. Well, and some tiles off of the roof. But really nothing major. We now have a chainsaw, and will be able to assist if others need assistance. Love that.
I absolutely freaked out about my final essay, and my computer crashing. I cried when David was able to retrieve the Word document. Cried. I used to say bubble over. You know, when you just can’t hold it in anymore, you bubble over. Tears flow. Cried.
My anxiety is such that I manage fine while something is gong on…but the moment it is completed, or over, tears flow. Relief. My body knows that it can let go.
I am so very grateful for family and friends that were able to help David take care of the tree. I am grateful for my hubby being able to recover my document for my English class, and to Google to repair our oven. I am grateful.
Blessings.
Hurricane Nate Part 2
We ended up purchasing a chainsaw. Thankful for sweet friends and family to come and help. So very thankful that this was the only damage.
Apparently, it only took about two hours with the many hands of help. So thankful for these hands.
Feeling overwhelming grateful.
Blessings.
Hurricane Nate
Woke up this morning to our front oak being uprooted. So very thankful that it didn’t come toward the house or on the cars. Julie (bestie, and neighbor across the street) took this picture from her house. 
We will have to wait until the storm is done before we can do anything about it. Thankful as well that the trees in the back yard are still standing, and have a good root system. Also thankful that David and Stephen have tomorrow off to work on this project, although both had other plans. I am sure that the squirrels that had a nest in this tree had other plans as well. Will post more pictures of the progress in the next days ahead.
Blessings!!
Climb
“Climb the mountains and get their glad tidings. Nature’s peace will flow to you as the sunshine flows into the trees. The winds blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares drop away from you like the leaves of autumn.”
– John Muir
Hurricane Nate is supposed to hit tonight, and we are on the East side of the storm. We shouldn’t have too much issue as the storm is directed a bit more West this morning. I am trying not to worry about what should or shouldn’t be done.
Busy trying to finish up my English homework before Carmen and I leave for a wedding of a friend of hers from school this afternoon. Lots of things to do or to accomplish. Just taking it a step at a time…climbing my mountains.
Blessings.
Storms
Blessings.
Carmen’s Thoughts – Decisions
Life was so much easier when people made my decisions for me. Except nowadays when people try to tell me what to do, I get upset and don’t want to do what they tell me to do. Is this adulthood?
I have always been a people-pleaser. When I was a kid, I was a teacher’s pet every year, so my grades were amazing (and I rarely stayed in trouble, which was a huge plus). But even then, I spent more time trying to get everyone around me to like me, instead of figuring out who I was. Being told that you’re not good enough for someone is terrible, and assuming it because of how they treat you is almost worse.
Now that I’m an adult (kind of), I still try to get people to like me (because I’m awesome and everyone should like me), but I also try not to get fixated on if someone approves of me or not. It’s upsetting and disappointing, but I’m getting too old to waste my time being around people that I don’t actually want to be around me, or vice versa. Same thing with social activities. I’m going out a lot less than I was because I started to see my grades decline and my scale incline, when I’ve wanted it to be the other way around.
I’ve NEVER been the decisive kind of person (Mom will agree to that), but it is something I’m working on. I need to take charge of my life, and part of that is saying “no” to things that I really don’t want to do. It’s not easy, but decisions rarely are. Dad would tell me, “A bad decision is better than not making a decision at all”. I’d rather make a good decision, but taking action in general is better than watching your life go by and going with the flow because you’re too afraid to decide for yourself.
Take action. Unless it is harmful to you or others.
Time for Pumpkin
Pumpkin muffins that is…
Okay – it is officially Fall. I turned down the AC, and decided it was time to bake. I found this recipe for pumpkin muffin tops at Liluna.com and decided to give a whirl.
We followed the instructions, or so we thought, and it was runny. Really too wet, like we didn’t add enough flour.
Well we didn’t add enough flour (actually we were missing half of it!).
So we followed the recipe this time, (added the correct amount) and we used a brownie pan to hold everything together.
These were not bite sized but a good snack. I really did enjoy the bite I had. Took a bunch to work as it ended up making about 60 of them. We sent a package to Carmen as well.
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 1½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp allspice
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ginger
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- 1 – 15 oz can pumpkin puree
- 2 eggs
- 3½ cups flour
Streusel topping
- ½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour, leveled off
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ⅓ cup pecans, finely chopped
- 1-1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 4 TB unsalted butter, melted
Directions
- In a large mixing bowl. beat together sugar, brown sugar and oil, until blended.
- In a separate bowl, mix baking soda, baking powder, salt, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Add to sugar/oil mixture and beat until blended. Add pumpkin puree and eggs. Beat until combined and mix in flour.
- Drop ¼ cup of batter, 2 inches apart, on baking sheets lined with parchment paper (or into greased muffin tops pan if you have one).
- Sprinkle streusel over tops.
- Bake at 375 degrees 12-15 minutes or until done.
Streusel topping
- In a medium bowl, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon, and salt. Drizzle melted butter over the top and stir to combine. Sprinkle over batter.
Blessings!
Emeril’s Coastal Italian
I love Emeril. Always have. We loved dinning at Emeril’s Delmonico in Las Vegas. He now has a restaurant in Miramar Beach – Emeril’s Coastal Italian.
David and I were out in Destin on Saturday, and decided to take a chance and have an early dinner/late lunch.
We had a wonderful time. Robin and Lindsey were our servers, and they were helpful, and attentive. David had the smoked fish dip and flatbread meatball pizza, and I had the coastal board with Bluefin Tuna Tartare, Jumbo lump crab salad, and Grouper cerviche. I also had Emeril’s Chardonnay.
It was wonderful. We ended with desserts; David had the Chocolate Hazelnut pudding, and I had the Olive Oil cake with salted caramel.
We will have to go only every once and a while, but this will be a go-to place for now on. Amazing food, service, and prices were very reasonable.
Cheers.
mommajerryanns.com 