Red wine fudgesicles

Alright guys...... I'm back on the poptails train!  If you've been following since, well, the very beginning, you might remember my obsession with poptails (or as Jerdy likes to call them, cocksicles.  teehee).  Here's a newbie recipe attempt for ya.



These COULD be your awesome attempt at a Valentine's day dessert for your beau, or your lady, or (at least one better be for) yourself.  Chocolate + red wine + dessert = all you need for a rad Vday date.  Yep.
I went the very milky chocolate route, but you could easily use dark chocolate.  I prefer the creamy pops.

Just to butt in here, everything I'm typing is really making me want to say "that's what she said" really loudly.  I have seriously deleted and rewritten these paragraphs like 3 times.  It's a little hard (that's what she said!) to write a Valentine's day popsicle post without being REALLY immature.  Just sayin.

Alright.....moving on.




RED WINE FUDGESICLES
Makes 6 large fudgesicles
Hands on time: 40 minutes
Total time: 12 hours

1 cup bold red wine
1-1/2 cups milk chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)
1 cup half and half
1/2 cup water

Heat the wine in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat for about half an hour, or until the wine has reduced to 1/2 cup.  Stir in chocolate chips and continue to stir until the chocolate has melted.  Stir really well, making sure that the chocolate has dissolved into the liquid.  Stir in the half and half and water and pour into your popsicle molds.  Place in the freezer for 1 hour.  Take out of freezer and place popsicle sticks into your partially frozen pops.  Place back in the freezer for about 12 hours or overnight.  You can see from the photos that I put my sticks in too early.  Oops. :)



These are the popsicles after taking photos for about 5 minutes.  Seriously these are some creamy delicious pops!  I'm in love.  As it should be for Vday.

Enjoy!

Trish

Grapefruit and avocado salad with seared scallops

It's grapefruit season my friends!  That time of year when citrus rules my world, and I am totally under it's thumb.  Oranges, satsumas, mandarins, tangelos, ruby grapefruit, yellow grapefruit, lemons..... blah blah blah blah.  It's definitely January in Seattle.

I'm trying my damnedest to stay away from the January doldrums, but the last week or so it's getting to me.  It's just so freakin gray.  Dark when I go to work, dark when I leave work.  You know the drill.  Bright refreshing citrus to the rescue!

This salad is super simple, but really really delicious.  It would be wonderful with just about any seafood, but scallops are da bomb, so scallops we had.



GRAPEFRUIT AND AVOCADO SALAD WITH SEARED SCALLOPS:
Hands on time: 20 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients for large servings:
1 ruby grapefruit, segmented and 2 Tbsp of juice reserved
1 yellow grapefruit, segmented
1 Tbsp white vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp finely minced shallot
1 Tbsp minced green onion
3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
Dash of red pepper flakes, depending on how much heat you want
Salt and Pepper
12 large fresh sea scallops
6 cups chopped green leaf lettuce
2 ripe avocados, sliced

Wash your scallops and pat dry with a paper towel.  Season with salt and pepper.  Heat a nonstick pan on medium high.

While that heats, whisk together the ruby grapefruit juice, vinegar, shallot, green onion, and a generous dash of red pepper and salt and pepper.  Whisk in 2 Tbsp olive oil.

Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in your heated nonstick pan on medium high.  Place scallops in pan, but don't overcrowd.  If you have a small pan, cook in batches of 6.  Cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until each side has has a golden sear but still translucent in the center.

Place 1 1/2 cups lettuce on each of 4 plates.  Top with 1/2 an avocado, and 1/4 of both grapefruits.  Place 3 scallops on each salad, and drizzle dressing over the top.



Enjoy friends!

Any advice on shaking away the January blues?  I'd love to hear it!

Trish

Ad swap with JBones?

JellyBones is growing leaps and bounds, thank you friends!  Id love to keep expanding, and I'd love to swap with you!  If you are interested in sponsoring or swapping buttons, pop on over to my sponsor page.  Or, if you would like to chat guest posts, or just say hello, shoot me an email.  jellybonesblog(at)gmail(dot)com.

Now go make yourself a comforting cocktail and enjoy your Sunday evening!

Trish

Korean honey lemon tea base

Well friends, it's official.  I have become a nutcase over probiotics.  You know, that "good" bacteria that our bodies are composed of.  Our millions of secret weapons against so many illnesses and digestion issues, not to mention pains and allergies.  Abut a year ago (Christmas day 2012, actually), I ate shellfish after having been on antibiotics for a sinus infection.  After getting severely ill with food poisoning, I found out that it could have killed me.  Not only did the infection bacteria get killed, but so did all of my good bacteria that fights off bad bacteria.  They had me on that shit for a month, so long that probiotic supplements didn't help, and I could't digest food well for months afterward.  I actually stopped taking probiotic supplements, and began eating and drinking straight bacteria.  Each morning I drink a Tbsp of unfiltered apple cider vinegar diluted in water.  Now that it's winter, I've been drinking Korean honey lemon tea.  In Korea, this tea is called Yujacha, and is traditionally made with Yuja fruit.  It is taken to keep the body well and healthy, and prevent sickness.  Apparently this can cure a sore throat like nobody's business!  As the honey dissolves the lemon, it gets better and better, becoming a probiotic and vitamin C filled goody bag that you keep adding to all season long.  Awesome.



This photo was taken the day I started this tea base, about a month ago.  Now, it's a foggy jelly like substance that I use to make a probiotic, vitamin filled tea.  Unfiltered, raw, organic honey acts as a natural preservative, and the lemons slowly dissolve into the tea, making a dense, and incredibly healthy tea base.

Here's how:



Fill a sterilized container halfway with clean, scrubbed lemon slices, seeds removed.  Fill with raw, organic, unfiltered honey.  Let sit in a cool, dark place for about a week.  You could make this with filtered honey as well, but you won't get the probiotics, which is kind of the point.

Make your tea:

Put 2 Tbsp honey lemon tea base in an 8oz mug.  Fill the mug with boiling water.  Stir well and enjoy.

Refill your base with raw, organic, unfiltered honey.  Add lemon slices each time you use a lemon, or squeeze the juice out of one.  Just be sure that the lemons are completely submerged in the honey to avoid spoilage.

I gotta say, this is some of the best tea I've ever had.  What's even more awesome is that it gets better and better the longer it sits.  The lemons are still dissolving, and it just keeps getting better.  This is really something that I wish I had known about years ago.  Becoming a probiotic junky has helped not only my digestion, but I've noticed differences in my immune system and even my allergies.

Give this a try!  Let me know if you do!  You'll be hooked.... I promise.

Trish

Herby braised chicken thighs with carrots and potatoes

Hey friends!

I made a new(ish) BFF this January so far........ braising!  If any of you out there have read Michael Pollan before, you know how you become a changed person after each and every book.  He is one of my fave writers because he seriously makes you want to be a more ethical eater and healthier individual.  Very inspiring, but I usually fall off the bandwagon about 6 months later.  Keep those books comin!  After reading his most recent book, Cooked, I discovered a need for exploring ways of cooking food I don't normally do.  Braising was one of them.  I gave it a whirl, and let me tell you, I'm hooked.  I've never been a meat cooker.  That's Jerdy's department (I know, I know, what are we, from 1950?).  Braising allows even the worst cooks to create something totally spectacular.  Spices blend together, stock becomes sauce, meat becomes tender, just from putting the right ingredients into the same pot and slowly cooking them together.  Awesome.



This recipe is slightly adapted from this one, but with some extra herbs and such added.

Herby braised chicken thighs with carrots and potatoes:
Serves 4
Total time: 50 minutes
Hands on time: 25 minutes

1 1/2 lb. skinless, boneless chicken thighs, about 4
Salt and pepper
Sweet paprika
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 lb. red potatoes cut into 1 inch cubes
8 carrots, halved lengthwise and then cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. flour, or gluten free flour mix
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup dry vermouth or dry white wine
1 Tbs. minced fresh thyme
1 Tbs. minced fresh rosemary
1 Tbs. minced fresh sage leaves



Season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper and then generously with paprika. In a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat, warm the oil. Add the chicken and cook until brown, about 2 minutes on each side. Transfer the chicken to a plate. Add the onion to the frying pan and stir. Add the potatoes and carrots. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and saute until the vegetables are beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the flour mix and stir to coat. Gradually mix in the garlic, broth and vermouth. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, loosening browned bits. Return the chicken to the pan and bring to a boil.  Stir in herbs.

Cover the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the chicken and vegetables are cooked through, stirring and turning the chicken over occasionally, about 25 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Divide the chicken and vegetables among 4 warmed plates or bowls.  Serve.



This recipe is pretty dynamite.  This is definitely my new go-to way to make chicken.  Huzzah!

Well, also since reading Cooked, I've become obsessed with probiotics.  I ingest them constantly (I've even jumped on the drinking unfiltered apple cider vinegar train), and am super psyched to start my own sour culture soon to make my own bread. 

Cheers to cooking like it's the 1800s!  Before all this scary food modification mumbo jumbo came about, but that's another topic I won't go into here....... yet..... maybe.

Happy weekend!

Trish

Resolutions and the gift of thrift

Want to hear my 2014 resolutions?



Screw resolutions this year!  I have a gazillion goals and things I want to do with my life, but they are things I need to do regularly, not just resolve to do them in 2014 and feel bad about myself if they are not within the year.  Yeah, there's the usual get healthy, be happy mumbo jumbo going on in my head, but it definitely isn't going to help to add pressure on myself.  Taking baby steps one day at a time is more my style!  So, I don't have any resolutions.  I do, however, have goals for my 5 year plan that I will continue to work toward.  Maybe I have 2014-2019 resolutions!  What about you guys?  Any resolutions out there?  I think it's really awesome when people make them and stick to it.  Whoever you are, you have me beat in the motivated category.  For sure.

Alright, onto the fun stuff.  The last little bit of holiday cheer left for the season!  Any of my friends participate in the Gift of Thrift?



This was a blast!  Amanda and Hannah put this magical little thrifty gift exchange together.  The idea was to buy a thrifted or second hand item and send it to someone you don't know, as chosen at random.  I got Amanda, and found the cutest little vintage star tree topper for her.  Check it out:



I received the most thoughtful gift from Dus.  Dudes........ vintage holiday barware!  Holy cow, does this girl know me or what?



There were also madlibs, a cute little dress, and an adorable flask.  You can score all this for $15.00 bucks where she's from!  I think I'm living in the wrong city.......

Cheers (with my new barware, that I will def use even though Christmas is over) to 2014 with no pressure!  Just a relaxing, but productive at my own pace kind of year. 

Trish

Classic chicken teriyaki

Okay dudettes!  It's 2014!  I am soooooooo ready.  Seriously, the holiday season just got away from me!  I'm ready for the "out with the old, in with the new" vibe that January's got going on.   I've got a gazillion resolutions too, maybe I'll stick to at least one eh? 



I actually made this a few months back, but never got around to posting it.  The pictures kind of blow, but the recipe will BLOW YOU AWAY!  See what I did there?

It's classic, it's chicken, it's teriyaki, it's totally loveable, and I love it.  SO hard to beat a great chicken teriyaki recipe.  One of my fave foods for sure.  We are not really a "make a recipe again" kind of household, but this teriyaki sauce is my go to now.  Super quick and the best I've made at home.  That's saying a lot.  I've attempted buckets and buckets of Asian sauces.  It's that good.



Classic Chicken Teriyaki, recipe found here.
Takes only 30 minutes and makes 4 servings. 

Ingredients:

1 cup chicken stock or low-sodium broth 

1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1/3 cup sugar

2 Tbsp mirin

4 6oz skinless, boneless chicken breasts, lightly pounded

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

2 Tbsp canola oil

2 large italian frying peppers, cut into 1/2in strips

Steamed rice   

 

Make:

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the chicken stock with the soy sauce, sugar, mirin and sake and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat to moderate and simmer until the teriyaki sauce is reduced to 1/2 cup and syrupy, about 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, season the chicken with salt and pepper. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the chicken and cook over moderately high heat, turning once, until browned all over and cooked through, 8 to 9 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and let stand for 5 minutes.
3. Wipe out the skillet. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and heat until shimmering. Add the pepper strips and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender and lightly charred, about 3 minutes. Transfer the peppers to plates. Slice the chicken breasts crosswise and transfer to the plates. Drizzle the teriyaki sauce over the chicken and serve with rice.

 I know you are probably like, "but I just ate like crap for 2 months, I want a salad!"  I'm totally like that too right now, but give it a week and give this at try.  I dare ya.

Happy 2014 friends!

Trish