Orange Glazed Chicken and Cooked Carrots

Who knew . . . how easy it is to cook carrots?

It's no secret that I lack talent in the cooking department. Don't judge my mother, she is a fabulous cook and I was always an obedient child. I am an expert when it comes to setting the table, unloading the dish washer and washing the dishes. And thus because of time, money, and lack of dependent stomachs asking their wife/mother what's for dinner the kitchen and I are merely acquaintances. My menu includes turkey sandwiches, pbj sandwiches, cereal, toast, hot chocolate, and the stack of take out menus we have collected over time. Even microwave popcorn poses too much of a challenge and let's not forget about the spaghetti pie incident.

The rest of this post and possibly future posts similar to this are written in dedication to my sister in-law Monica for her wonderful and thoughtful Christmas gift of Betty Crocker's Cooking Basics cookbook. My sister suggested I copy the Julie and Julia movie and blog about every recipe. Unfortunately I don't think Betty Crocker's Cooking Basics can hold a candle to Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. And frankly, Amy Adams' haircut in that movie made me nauseous so I decided against this suggestion. Lastly, before I get on to telling you what I had for dinner and my discovery of cooking carrots this meal and all other future Sunday cooking projects are made possible by 9am church. It's been a LONG time since I started church before noon. I guess cooking will occupy my Sunday evenings now.

(not the actual food I made but looks just as good)

PART 1

Orange Glazed Chicken - yummy glaze, chicken was dry because I left it cooking too long waiting for the rice cooker to work it's magic but all in all I can now cook chicken and make a great glaze. Thanks to this recipe I now own a LARGE container of corn starch. Oh well. It was the last container and it was freezing cold outside so going to another store was not worth it. Gravy and glazes will be my new friends now that I have tons of cornstarch.

Rice - no brainer with the rice cooker, the hardest part is remembering 1part water, 2 part rice or 2 part water, 1 part rice but with a second to think it makes sense. Dry crunchy rice is more disgusting than wet soggy rice so always add more water and go with the lesser of two evils. I knew and I now know better to start the rice then cook dinner. I'm blaming this small and easily fixable mishap on roommate miscommunication. Next time I am trying a long grain rice like in the picture in the cookbook. It will look fancier and I am quickly learning that presentation and butter are two important aspects to serving delicious food.

Dilled Carrots and Pea Pods - the pea pods at the grocery store were pricy and looked liked they had left the farm far too long ago so I went rouge and bought green beans similar to what we had for Thanksgiving dinner. I thought about ditching the carrots too because baby carrots make me choke but I stuck with it only because I like cooked carrots and wanted to know how to make them. Boy was I surprised to find out how simple that is. Duhhhhhhhh, you just boil them for a few minutes. I boiled the carrots and then added the green been adjusting the times a little, drained, added a little pat of butter and wala colorful veggies for the side of my plate. I was pretty impressed with myself as they came out perfectly cooked. As for the Dilled part of this recipe like the pea pods I couldn't bring myself to spending the money on dried green flakes especially when the jar said Dill Weed. It just seemed wrong for many reasons.

Coming soon . . . Part 2 - Parmesan couscous with asparagus and tomato. I might go crazy and pick up some pine nuts if I walk by a grocery store (it's too cold outside for frivolous shopping trips to the store for nuts so I make no promises).

A few other bonus notes if you are still reading:

My mother is a fabulous cook but may argue against the statement referring to my angelic and obedient behavior as a child. Please don't believe her if she comments on this post.

Shout Out: Our Best Bites is awesome. While I just claimed I never cook that is not entirely true. I on occasion have made dinner for friends and 90% of the time I have used a recipe from Our Best Bites. I like their simple recipes, clear directions and pictures. I recommend the Puffed French Toast, Buttermilk Syrup (which might be illegal it is soo good), Brazilian Lemonade, Chipotle Chicken Salad and well pretty much everything else. Even though I have never met Kate, she seems nice and I would like to think we would be friends if we ever met. Sarah on the other hand . . . I am still waiting for my dinner in a pumpkin. I know it can be done. I read it somewhere in some magazine once upon a time so it has to be true.

Thank you to the countless number of friend and family that have offered and tried to help me improve my cooking skills. You have planted seeds and inspired me to not measure ingredients over the bowl or pot, purchase tongs that don't melt when they come near a heat source, and to remove the safety stickers from new toasters. Okay the last one isn't true but it sure was a really funny prank I played on Cindi which I still laugh at today.

Thank you to the random person on the internet that posted this picture above. It is the closest representation to what I made for dinner tonight.

Okay I am done rambling on.

PS - yes Mom, the dishes have all been washed, dried, put away, and counters are wiped off.