My Blossoming Birthday Celebration!

Today is my actual birthday that I share with my beloved twin sister.

Life lately has been beautiful. Celebrations with friends and family have been abundant, and I am so grateful for a life rich with a close family and strong friendships.

Life has also been blessedly hectic lately between my new niece, a promotion at work, and so many great outings with friends and family. Hence, I decided to take this day off from work and spend it relaxing and enjoying rare quiet time alone. The gift to myself today is downtime and a chance to text and talk with friends and family instead of being at my desk at work on the trading floor. I woke up and went out for coffee and a bagel with a good schmear, pampered myself today at the nail salon with a manicure and pedicure, cracked open a bottle of pink prosecco, and also enjoyed this dish that was prepared in my Crockpot (no way was I making anything today that would ruin the nails!). I served this on top of white rice. I would have done brown rice if it were not my special day to make it healthier, but I wanted to indulge! Oh, and of course I read food blogs ALL day. Fellow foodie bloggers, you make my day and being able to read them leisurely today was a great gift!

I highly recommend this dish any time of year in the Crockpot. It was delicious and full of wonderful flavors and so easy to make. The next time I make this I may do half pineapple juie and half orange juice for even more great flavors, but it is truly perfect the way it is!

Orange Blossom Chicken Teriyaki (a recipe for a slow cooker)

Ingredients:

8 chicken drumsticks (you can also do half thighs if you want, but use dark meat; I also used skinless since skin slow cooker recipes make little sense to me - it gets too soggy)

1 large onion, thinly sliced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup grated fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon cardamom (I was fortunate to have this particular spice given to me recently by a friend who was in Ethiopia, so I cracked the outer shell and ground the pods in my mortar and pestle!)

1 thinly sliced, unpeeled orange

1 tbsp cornstarch

2 tbsp water

Directions:

1) Mix onion, garlic, and olive oil and place at bottom of slow cooker.

2) Place the chicken on top (sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste).

3) Whisk together orange juice, soy, honey, brown sugar, ginger, and cardamom in a mixing bowl. Pour over chicken.

4) Cover chicken with sliced oranges

5) Cook on high setting for 4 hours or low setting for 8 hours (I did low).

6) Remove chicken and oranges with slotted spoon.

7) Add cornstarch to the water and mix - then stir into the juices and whisk to thicken.

8) Place chicken and oranges back in the pot and keep on warm setting until ready to serve.

The Cheese to my Macaroni

I think one of my favorite restaurant items is the spinach and artichoke dip at Houston's, served hot and oozing with cheese as you dip a hot chip into the middle of the souffle cup its in. What is even better is it makes a hot mess of your napkin as you wipe your mouth each time you take a bite into its creamy goodness.

Another one of my favorite restaurant items is the macaroni and cheese at Artisinal. It is creamy and rich with stinky cheeses laced with ham bits as its served in a silver platter right out of the oven. I could like that platter clean if it were not for the very stuffy French staff that accompanies the macaroni and cheese (zut alors!) whose eyes gaze down on those lowly Americans devouring their precious cheeses.

What I am not in favor of anymore is any kind of weight gain. So, I found a recipe that combined two favorite foods - spinach dip and mac and cheese - that was actually healthy. Yep, you better believe it! There was no lack of flavor here, but lack of fat and calories that could make your hips a real hot mess!

Creamy Baked Spinach Macaroni and Cheese (courtesy of Dreamfields Pasta back of box)

Makes 8 1-cup Servings

8 ounces (2 cups) Dreamfields pasta, uncooked

2 Cups of 1% Milk

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

salt to taste

8 ounces of lowfat swiss cheese, shredded (I used 6 ounces, it was more than enough)

10 ounce package of frozen spinach, thawed and drained

1/4 cup grated Romano cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9x11 inch casserole dish

1) Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta two minutes less than time indicated in directions. Combine pasta with spinach and set aside.

2) In a saucepan, heat milk over medium heat and simmer (do not boil)

3) Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook until bubbly (do not let the roux burn). Slowly whisk in the hot milk and whisk continuously until the mixture is bubbly and thick, about 5 minutes (do not boil).

4) Remove from heat and add pepper, salt, nutmeg, and cheese. Stir until cheese is completely melted and smooth. (Note: I made this a day ahead and it was thick, so I added some more milk to make sure it would not become to thick when I placed it in the oven - eyeball it)

5) Pour pasta and spinach into the pot and mix well.

6) Pour mixture into the casserole dish and top with the grated Romano cheese.

7) Bake for 35 minutes and serve immediately. I served it with a white wine from Sicily called Grecianico Sicilia.