Pinterest Recipe Review: Easy Mediterranean Chicken

• Save time ( always great recipes)!
• Save money (no wasted ingredients)!  

I found the recipe for Easy Mediterranean Chicken at Juggling Food, Family and Chaos with Jodie Fitz. I pinned it. The recipe has been repinned 22 times with 3 likes. You should pin it too (hover over the picture below for easy pinning)! I made Easy Mediterranean Chicken for dinner this week. The recipe deserves a "Pinterest Recipe Review".

Find the full recipe on Pinterest or here. These are my modifications which makes it even easier and probably less than 20 minutes. I halved the recipe and had enough for two nights dinner for hubby and me. And, my daughter took it to work for her lunch one day. LARGE recipe.

• Used a precooked Rotisserie Chicken from my local grocery store. Saves times by not having to cook chicken.
• Used cheese on-hand instead of investing in more cheese, mozzarella pearls and pecorino romano cheese. In the photo, the whitest cheese is the mozzarella. I grated the romano. The romano is a good substitute for parmesan with the same sharp flavor.
• Sliced the black olives to distribute the flavor around. I'm not a big fan of black olives and didn't want that big burst of dirt in one bite! 

The rest of the recipe I followed to the letter. It is F.A.B.U.L.O.U.S.! Every cook in America should try this recipe. The presentation of the dish was beautiful in and out of the pan it was cooked in.

Tammy's Taste Stats for Flavor = 

1 =save your time, 2 =try if you got the goods, 3 =just so-so, 4 =close to Mom's and 5 =grab a recipe card

Preparation Difficulty =

 1=kid proof, 2=easy, 3=worth the time, 4=difficult and 5=enroll in culinary school

Easy Mediterranean Chicken is a FIVE for flavor

and

1 (ONE) for Kid Proof.

this dish is so easy your kid could make it from the recipe!

Helping you by cooking for my family,

Tammy

The Happy Handicap

recipe review

That Awful Feeling...

 

I heard an eye-opening statistic Sunday. A poll taken in a city with a 13+ million populace revealed Christians never explained how to follow Jesus to 80% of the people polled.   I've been instructed my entire life to 'live good"; be an example. I've wrestled with that ideology all my life too. I fail to see how I can live "good enough" to bring anyone to Christ. Who does it help to attend church? The sinners on the outside of the church or the sinners on the inside? I love church but to say I attend church to help others seems like a selfish endeavor. I attend church to worship God and make myself feel good.



Most of us are results-driven people. Washing a car is instant gratification. Seeing our reflection in the hood of a shiny waxed car makes us feel good and driving around in a clean car makes us feel better. Losing weight is another story. Too much time invested for slow results.  Exercising to accelerate results is strenuous to say the least. Those are things we do for ourselves. What do we do for others? Washing their car is a nice gesture but it will soon get dirty again. Telling them about Jesus and how to follow him are results that will last for an eternity.

God's Word is like seeds that must be planted. Planting is not a one step process. Any gardeners out there? Grounds have to be prepared, seeds have to be planted, then comes water, sunshine and air. If the seeds come up, weeds have to be tended, fertilizer added and much patience is required to wait for the harvest. The same process happens when planting seeds for Jesus. People need to be befriended, words have to be spoken, then the Holy Spirit waters, shines on and breathes life into your efforts. Patience is required because not all seeds come up. The seeds that take roots need tended and fertilized until they are harvested. Matthew 9:37 paraphrased "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few." This is not an easy job but the reward is excellent.

We must tell people how to follow Jesus; admit your sins, ask forgiveness from Jesus and believe with your whole heart unto salvation. I wish the Holy Spirit were like E.F. Hutton, "When he speaks, people listen", but they don't. I'm guilty of brushing off the Holy Spirit. Are you? Do you ever get to June or July when people are gathering fresh vegetables from their gardens and wish you'd planted one? You had the seeds but they're still in the cabinet. It's a bummer of a feeling but there's hope for a chance to do better next year. The most awful feeling I know is to hear people are dying without Jesus because we don't have another chance to tell them about him. Don't wait for spring. The time is now. Break open the seed packets of your hearts and start sowing!

Opening my heart,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap

encouragement

Easy Gluten-free Chicken Noodle Soup

My favorite Gluten-free Chicken Noodle Soup is now yours to pin and enjoy! Easy to make and delicious to eat with only 8 easy-to-find ingredients. The soup is gluten and egg-free. Here's a quick visual of what you will need:

Here's a recipe card for you. Save and print or pin to your best recipes board complete with step-by-step instructions.

Savings tip: Use a broth base powder to create your 6 cups of broth for less than half the cost of ready-to-use.

Make it for dinner tonight and have it for lunch later in the week. The flavor increases the longer it is stored in the fridge. Leave me a comment and let me know if you think you'll be making it soon.

Cooking it up,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap

recipe tips

Saturday Southern Slang - The Sensitive "M" Words

WARNING: This post contains sensitive information and will self-destruct after you read it to protect the integrity of it's author.

Do you have daughters? I do, two of them who are now ages 25 and 22. The secret language we created to talk about sensitive things like lady parts and poop are still used today. Why do we take things that already have a scientific name and rename them to sound, well..., sweet? Scientific names are not dirty words. They simply sound too grown up to use with children. Oh, and southern slang keeps us ladies proper.



I can't remember how my mom talked to me about female anatomy or if she did. It may have been "one of those things we don't talk about." I have been open with my girls about everything. And I mean everything. So we, maybe I, created cute little words to replace vagina *gasp* and feces. I'm sure you do the same thing even for boys. Remember "pee-pee" and "wee-wee"?

Today's Saturday Southern Slang is brought to you by the letter M

The 'M' Words for today are:

1. Moo Moo - precious name for lady parts

2. Monk Monk - cutesy name for poop       

  

I have no recollection how these words originated. I just know they work for us. I love it when we are shopping and my 25-year-old daughter looks at me and says "I've got to monk monk." I know we need to look for the restroom. I'm passing on the words to my granddaughter. During bathtime (she's 2 months), I say in the sweetest voice eevvvveerrrr "Grandmom's gotta wash that little moo moo." I swear she coos "moo moo" and smiles. Don't judge.

Feel good about your slang. It shows you have a bonded relationship with your kids. Help us other moms/grandmoms out by sharing some of your sweet words for sensitive subjects with your kids. We just might adopt them for our households. Leave some of your cute, sweet words in a comment.

Defining life,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap

1st grandchild creative writing Saturday southern slang

3 Things I Know will be in Heaven

Are you a detective? Do you search for clues to see what heaven will be like? I'm curious what heaven is like and I bet you are too. I certainly don't wonder how hot hell is or if the devil has a pitchfork tail. The 3 things I know will be in heaven are:



1. The Holy Trinity - God, Jesus, Holy Spirit 
2. Saved Souls - me and you
3. Relationships - people we know

What is a soul? I believe it is who we are. When a person passes, the physical body imprint remains but the intellectual personal imprint is gone. A personal imprint lives on in the hearts and minds of people. You can have great influence even after you're gone because people "knew" you.

It's all relative my dear Watson.  Matthew 4:19 paraphrased "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men."  Ever gone fishing? You have to know how to fish before you are successful. You must know about the fish you're trying to catch. Bass and Catfish don't like the same bait. The right rod is important.  The time of day, the time of year, even the way the sun hits the water is crucial for good fishing. And certainly the fight of fish are varied. Catching fish is relative to the fish.

People are like fish. You have to know something about them. You have to build a relationship with an individual before you can introduce them to Jesus. For example, you try to convince a girl to date your brother. The girl needs to know and trust you before she goes out with your brother.  I can hear here now "I don't know you or your brother."  Trying to push her to a relationship leaves a bad taste in her mouth.  If you're acquainted and she likes you, she'll possibly want to know your brother.  Sharing Jesus is all about the relationship; people's likes/dislikes, circumstances, seasons of life, the fight in them and much more to lead them to him. I don't want Jesus to look in my basket and not find any fish. Do you? Don't be clueless. Relationships we've built for a lifetime will be in heaven.  Our relationship with Christ and others won't be forgotten, they will be fulfilled.

Building...,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap

devotional

DIY - Vintage Crib Makeover

My sentimental side came out just lately...wwaaayyy out! The vintage love started oozing about 11 months ago when my daughter showed me a blue plus sign on a dip stick. Fast forward to November 20, 2013 and my first grandchild skyrocketed my sentiments to explosive levels. Have you ever visited Disney World and watched the fireworks over Cinderella's castle, felt for yourself and saw the wonder in children's eyes? YAY? Well...You don't even know!Having a grandbaby is better than fireworks at Disney! Try to imagineer that.



My first DIY mushy project was a vintage crib makeover that both my daughters slept in as youngsters. The bed was stored in the barn for 20 years. I wish I had wrapped it in plastic but no, I didn't. Cleaning the dust from the spindles took the absolute most time of the entire project. Here's a picture journey of bringing a vintage crib circa 1988 back to life.

rescuing from the barn

cleaned and ready to paint with my fav, Krylon

putting it back together

amazed we had all the parts and they work

bought a new crib set from ebay $15

finished project about $50 including paint & bed set

Lisette, 2 weeks old enjoying Grandmom's treasure

 

Leave me a comment and tell me about your sentimental projects. Do you think the crib look outdated?

Simply gushing,

Tammy

The Happy Handicap

1st grandchild DIY project

5 Ways to Get Rid of a Migraine Quickly

My head hurts! While I slept last night a 14,325 pound African Elephant crawled through my ear. This morning he's being chased by a lion with his enormous feet pounding as he runs. Oh wait, Horton just stopped at a river. What's he doing? Spraying water from his trunk right behind my pupils making my eyes run like a faucet. My teeth feel like they were a stage for his Riverdance audition! Is it a migraine? If it's not, it's real close.

According to WebMD, migraine symptoms include a pounding headache, nausea, vomiting, and light sensitivity. They can also include visual disturbances referred to as auras. It is estimated some 45 million people suffer from this type of headache. I have been diagnosed with a migraine including all the symptoms and visual problems. A migraine headache is quite disturbing. How to get rid of a migraine quickly is a hot topic for good reason.

Here's 5 Ways to Get Rid of a Migraine Quickly:

1. Tap away a migraine with EFT. My daughter uses this. I've seen it work very effectively and quickly.

2. Take Feverfew at the first sign of headache. Feverfew can also be taken every day to help prevent migraine attacks. I've personally used this and it works! Please use my referral code 2926490 if you decide to purchase from Nature's Sunshine via the link. Stock up and keep them on-hand.

3. From my daughter's facebook page. She's not put this remedy to the test but I'm impressed she shared it.

4.  Do reflexology on your feet to relieve a migraine. I L.O.V.E reflexology because it works wonders for many illnesses/disorders. Easy to do on yourself and FREE!

5.  Nutritionists and doctors are taking note of our diets more these days and so should we! I get House Calls from Dr. Hyman (not real ones). I subscribe. You can too! 5 Steps to Solve Your Migraines was especially interesting. There's many more suggestions other than just diet changes in this article. However, I know diet changes reverse or stop many ill health effects.  5 Tips for Problem Eyes is my personal journey of how diet changes can improve your appearance.

I am not a health professional. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. They have been evaluated by people like me and you who have migraines and found them to be effective. No prescription required. Minimal out of pocket expense! I hope you find something in this post that works for you.

If you have a quick-fix migraine remedy that you use, please leave me a comment. Sharing your experience may help someone else.

Health to your noggin,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap

health tips