January Resolutions

1) Go outside every day. Nailed it. I made it outside  at least once a day, even if it was only to the car to drive somewhere, every day except one. And on that day we went down to the second floor to run around for a while, so we got out of the apartment for a bit. I think that counts.

Last week I had my 6 week post-partum check-up with the midwife and I've been given a clean bill of health and the official go ahead to start exercising again. Therefore, this resolution is now to exercise at least 5 times a week. This sounds ambitious, but my definition of exercise is very loose. It can be anything from walking to and from the grocery store (one mile total) to Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred to dancing with the kids for half an hour. The goal for this month is mostly just get used to moving again everyday and keeping track of it.  

2) Keep up with the housework. This has gone okay. We revamped the play area and toy storage boxes so that there is more open floor space and things are easier for Lily to get to on her own. There have been a few days where Joe has come home to total chaos and has taken over childcare so I can clean up and have some relative alone time. (For the record, he would  have been willing to do the cleaning himself, but I wanted to do it.)

3) Cook dinner once a week. Once I started doing this, it was hard to stop. And it seemed to get easier each time I did it. Lily is now old/well-coordinated enough to help out a bit, as well. She is a great mushroom brusher and onion peeler. Every couple of weeks we roast a whole chicken (inspired by the 'A Feast of Ice and Fire' cookbook we got last year, I have half a post written about how glorious it is), and we can't eat the whole thing in one sitting so we've been looking for interesting and/or easy ways to use up the leftovers. A couple of our favorites so far are a chicken and broccoli braid and chicken pot pie. 

Chicken and Broccoli Braid (from AllRecipes.com)
This was actually really delicious. Joe's not really a big mayo fan, but he liked this. We ended up making two braids and saving one for a couple of days later. If I do it again I'll probably halve the recipe because while it reheated fine, it wasn't spectacular. I'm excited to try this idea with different kinds of fillings.

Ingredients:
2 cups diced, cooked chicken meat
1 cup fresh broccoli, chopped (we used frozen)
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1 clove crushed garlic
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons dried dill weed
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons slivered almonds (we skipped this)
1/4 cup diced onion
2 - 8 oz packages refrigerated crescent rolls
1 egg white, beaten

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375*F.

In a large bowl, toss together chicken, broccoli, red bell pepper, garlic, Cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, dill weed, salt, almonds and onion.

Unroll crescent roll dough, and arrange flat on a medium baking sheet. Pinch together perforations to form a single sheet of dough. Using a knife or scissors, cut 1 inch wide strips in towards the center, starting on the long sides. There should be a solid strip about 3 inches wide down the center, with the cut strips forming a fringe down each side. Spread the chicken mixture along the center strip. Fold the side strips over chicken mixture, alternating strips from each side. Pinch or twist to seal.

Brush braided dough with the egg white. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 28 minutes, or until golden brown. 



Golden Chicken Potpie (from Family Meals, another of my new favorite cookbooks for simple, GOOD food)
This is a really good, pretty simple recipe. It's really pretty light, not super heavy like I expect potpie to be. I would throw in some peas next time, maybe just use a bag of frozen mixed vegetables. This is a nice recipe because I can do all the prep work in the morning while Thomas naps in a carrier and Lily is in a helpful mood, then Joe can assemble it and throw it in the oven during the witching hour.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 stalk celery, finely sliced
2 small carrots, sliced
1 cup mushroom caps, quartered
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme (we used a pinch of dried)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
2 cups diced cooked chicken
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 large egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Directions:
Heat a saucepan over medium-high heat and warm the butter. Add the onion and celery and saute until golden, 2-3 minutes. Add the carrots and mushrooms and saute 3 minutes. Pour in the wine, bring it to a simmer, and reduce for 3 minutes. Add the stock and thyme and simmer until the vegetables are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and 1/4 cup cold water until smooth. Whisk about 1/4 cup of the hot stock from the pan into the flour mixture, and then pour through a fine-mesh sieve back into the pan, stir well, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes. Add the diced chicken, return to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes to heat the chicken through. Remove from the heat and pour into a bowl, let cool, cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours. The filling can be made up to 2 days in advance.

Preheat the oven to 400*F. Butter a 9-inch pie dish. Pour the filling into the dish. On a floured work surface, roll the pastry into a 12-inch circle. Brush the top and bottom of the edge of the dish with the egg. Lay the dough over the filling and trim so it hangs 1 1/2 inches over the edge. Wrap the dough around the edge and press firmly. Crimp the dough against the lip of the dish with the tines of a fork. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to relax the dough. Brush the top of the pie with the egg. Cut a few vents in the center. Bake until the crust is golden and the filling is hot and bubbling, about 45 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

(We baked it in a 9x9 square dish and did not need to trim the dough at all, we just dropped it right on top. So then we didn't need to let the dough relax either, so everything went faster.)