long time no see mamatouille

I'm sure you know how it is when you move--you're not really up to your usual prowess in the kitchen. That's how it was with me anyway when we moved here to Seattle a couple of weeks ago, and I'm still not all there (or anywhere, for that matter).

So this actually was my first real meal that I made, and it was just thrown together with what I had available (foodwise and utensil/pot-wise), but we loved it so much I've already made it a second time in two weeks.

I added three cups uncooked rice to the rice cooker, about 6 boneless chicken tenders cut into bite-sized pieces, about 2 t. curry powder, 1/2 c. raisins, 2 carrots chopped in tiny cubes, a dash or two of cinnamon, a drizzle of honey, a dab of veggie oil, about 1 t. salt, and 4 c. water and cooked it as you would any white rice. Love, love, love it. And the kiddiewinks enjoyed it, too.

Our first green smoothie after we moved here: orange-tangerine juice, apple juice, carrots, cilantro, minced ginger, spinach, pineapple, baby romaine, bananas, mikan (clementines--sorry, I can't stop using Japanese!), frozen mixed berries, plain yogurt, and honey.

And I've been making them almost every day to make up for the frozen pizzas and lasagna we've been consuming!

For healthy on-the-go snackage, I've been whipping up fresh guacamole a lot lately. We do "dip-dip" (as our toddler calls it) with raw sugar snap peas, baby carrots, sliced red peppers, and crunchy salty tortilla chips. For my guac, I just mash avocados with plain yogurt, lemon or lime juice, fresh chopped cilantro, salt, salsa, and plenty of minced garlic.

"The Fresh guy" (as our preschooler calls him) is my hero--Seattle is the only city in the world Amazon Fresh delivers to, and boy am I happy about that!