Adventures of Being a Student/Housewife - Part 1

This week, I received an invitation in the mail for a friend's bridal shower. Included was a request for a favorite recipe to pass along to the new bride. As I was filling it out I thought, I should have done this for my bridal shower... But, thanks to Facebook, I was still able to get a few new recipes just merely by putting a request in my status update. One of the first responders, Becca, gave me a recipe for Arroz con Pollo which I decided to try first.

But before starting to cook, I had to do a few things first...

First, I decided to make a cookbook of all the recipes I'd received. I actually started this book over a year ago, but hadn't really done much to it. But here is the ongoing project ...

Paul laughed at me because I am not a very crafty person and I stapled the labels on the inside separating the different types of recipes:)

Tuesday evening, I found out many of my classes were cancelled Wednesday and looked forward to a day of grocery shopping and cleaning for a break from the daily grind of homework. After making my cookbook, I created a dinner list for the next week and a half (since I started on a Wednesday, I figured I should go all the way through the next week.)

I realized later that I got a little too ambitious with my meal planning. I made the first meal and realized it would be enough for at least two evening meals and a lunch, too :) That said, I made my shopping list (which took a lot longer than I thought it would!) and called my mom to see if she'd like to go shopping with me.

Now I know some of my family (*coughJessicacough*) will be annoyed that I went shopping at Walmart ... but what can I say? They have a lot of good deals. I do try to avoid shopping at Walmart when I can, but when your budget is as limited as ours, 35 cents or more off a can of garbanzo beans, and 2.50 for a bag of 4 fish filets ... well, it's a necessary evil. 

After 3 hours of shopping, the trunk of my car was packed!

When I arrived home, I put away all the groceries and cleaned the house even though I was pooped just from the shopping! But I had to take my opportunity to get everything done while I had some free time. By the time I got ready to roll around to cooking, I was ready to give it all up and just go out to eat instead:) But I was already pretty committed to trying out my new recipe, I went ahead and started going for it.

This recipe, Arroz con Pollo, is from my friend Becca.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups rice
2 cups water + 1 extra cup, set aside
2 bunches cilantro, well rinsed and chopped
1 small potato, peeled and cubed
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 cubes chicken bouillon

First, chop up your potato into small cubes, and a liberal amount of cilantro. The cilantro does not need to be too well chopped because it will be put into the blender soon :) 

To cook:

Spray a medium sized saucepan (with tight fitting lid) and set to medium heat. Once pan is hot, add rice and stir so rice toasts a bit. Add the potato. At the same time, put cilantro and 2 cups of water in a blender and mix well.

Pour over rice/potato and let sit. Place extra cup of water in microwave with 3 cubes of bouillon for 1 minute. Mix well and pour over rice/potato mixture. To cook mixture, let it slowly come to a boil and once little craters appear and most of liquid is gone, cover and turn to low. Boiling should take about 10 minutes. Continue covered for 5 minutes, adding peas and carrots, and then continuing for an additional 5 (10 minutes total.)

Yum;)

As rice cooks, you'll have time to make the chicken. Cut each breast into two or 3 pieces. Salt and pepper to your liking. I sautee breasts in olive oil, but any cooking oil will work. Usually only takes about 5 minutes per side, turning once.

The finished product:

And the best part? A happy husband, eating a good meal in a clean home!