Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween Everyone! 

Get ready for picture overload - today I'm reminiscing about past Halloweens and when my son was younger.  The quality of some of the pictures isn't the best - they are pictures of pictures (life before digital), but he is cute just the same!

First Halloween - 1996 - our little Pumpkin
Next year - 1997 - Holy Costume Batman!
From here on out, I might get the years mixed up...
1998 - he chose Tiger
1999 - Dad won again - this year Superman!
2000 - another superhero - Spiderman
2001 - SpongeBob SquarePants
2002 - Dracula (with his friend Annika - also a vampire)
Not sure what year this is - but Ninja!

Here's a cute young Drew with his carved pumpkins
And another one years later, carving away (and finished results)

Had to get the puppy in the action too - Sampson (2012)
Not to be outdone - we dressed up at work a few times:
2013 - Minions
2014 - Social Media
2015 - Heroes in Disguise
And I will leave you with an adult Drew in 2016:








Monday, October 30, 2017

Rocky Horror Picture Show


This weekend we went and saw The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  It was a "first" of many things for us.  

First time seeing the show in a theather.

First time we got to participate in throwing confetti, having a "toast", and being rained on.

First time I've been up past midnight in forever!

If you have never seen the show - go - it is a at least once in a lifetime experience!  
 

Friday, October 27, 2017

Friday Favorites

This Friday I am going to focus just one favorite - Hawkeye Football. 

I was raised a Hawkeye fan - we went to Kinnick Stadium every home game, tailgated with a bunch of other families, and then sat inside the stadium on the grass areas (the real cheap seats).  It was true family fun. 

Of course my only college choice would be The University of Iowa so I could become a true Hawkeye.  As a student I went to every home game, stood in the student section (we never sat!) and cheered on the Hawks! 

As I got older, my trips to Kinnick Stadium became less and less as life got in the way.  I try to make it to at least one game a year, and catch all the rest on TV. 

Last winter The University of Iowa opened the new Stead Family Children's Hospital.  The 12 story hospital overlooks Kinnick Stadium and on the top floor of the hospital they created an area for patients and their families to be able to watch the game. 

Well one very smart lady, Krista Young, had an idea to have all the fans in Kinnick Stadium turn towards the hospital at the end of the first quarter and wave to the children.  She put the post on Facebook and it went viral.  Now it is known as "the best tradition in college football". 
So now every Saturday those precious children in the hospital get 70,000 friends to wave to them and make them smile.  So many national stories on this phenomenon.  Just try to not cry when reading these

Also, if you are interested in supporting this tradition and the Children's Hospital, they can purchase a T shirt here: 100% of the profits go to the Hospital.



Thursday, October 26, 2017

Caribbean Jerk Chicken Sandwiches


Caribbean Jerk Chicken Sandwiches


As I mentioned in my What's up Wednesday post I was given this recipe from my friend Kim’s son who runs the Street Hawk Food Truck. I had to be creative since the recipe was written out of a professional kitchen and measurements were a bit wonky.  Here's what I did (full recipe is at the bottom of the page)

I started with four boneless skinless chicken breasts.  I threw them in the crock-pot with some jerk seasoning, put on the lid, set it on high, and let it cook for about 4 hours.



 When the chicken was cooked, I shredded it and then put in back in the crock-pot on warm until I was ready to eat. 
Meanwhile I prepared the Roasted Pineapple Mayonnaise.  You start by putting pineapple, oil, red pepper flakes, brown sugar, and cinnamon on aluminum foil on a roasting pan and cook it the oven at 350 for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, removed from oven, toss around, and then put back in the oven for another 15 minutes.  Once done, remove from oven and set aside to let cool.

When the pineapple is cooled, place in food processor with mayonnaise, sour cream and sriracha.
Blend until smooth and then put in refrigerator until ready to eat.

 Next you will need to prep the Pineapple Mango Salsa.
Chop the pineapple, red bell pepper and mango chunks in the food processor.  Then add to mixing bowl and add rest of the ingredients. 
The Chutney Major Grey was a new product to me - I found it in the Asian food aisle of my Walmart store - here is a closer look at the jar:
If anyone has ideas of other recipes to use this product in, let me know!

Okay, all the pieces are prepped and ready to go.  Place mayo on both sides of a bun, add the chicken and top with the salsa.  Yummy!




Recipes:




Caribbean Jerk Chicken

Ingredients:
4
Boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp
Jerk Chicken seasoning

Directions:
1.  Rub seasoning on chicken breasts.
2.  Place chicken in crock-pot.
3.  Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours.
4.  When cooked, removed from crock-pot and shred using two forks.
5.  Return to crock-pot on warm until ready to eat. 

Tip:  If you don’t want to cook chicken in a crock-pot, roast breasts in oven for 45 minutes and then shred.  Or skip cooking a chicken altogether and buy a rotisserie chicken form the store, shred it up and add seasoning. 





Roasted Pineapple Mayonnaise

Ingredients:
2 cups
3 tbsp
Pineapple
Canola oil
1 tsp
1 tsp
¼ cup
1 cup
½ cup
3 tbsp
Red Pepper Flakes
Ground Cinnamon
Brown Sugar
Mayonnaise
Sour Cream
Sriracha Sauce

Directions:
1.     On a piece of aluminum foil, place pineapple, oil, red pepper, brown sugar and cinnamon.
2.     Fold foil around the ingredients and roast in a 350 oven for 20 minutes.
3.     Remove and open package, turn over the pineapple and continue roasting for an additional 15 minutes.
4.     Let pineapple cool and place in a food processor with mayonnaise, sour cream and sriracha.
5.     Puree until smooth, taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary with salt and sriracha.




Pineapple Mango Salsa

Ingredients:
1 med
3 cups
Red Bell Pepper
Pineapple
2 cups
2 tbsp
1 tbsp
1/4 cup
2 tbsp
1 tsp
Mango bits
Cilantro
Caribbean Jerk Seasoning
Chutney Major Grey
Rice Wine Vinegar
Cayenne Pepper

Directions:
1.     Coarse chop the pepper, pineapple and mango into 1" pieces, pulse in food processor until salsa sized.
2.     Place the chopped pepper/pineapple mixture into a mixing bowl with remaining ingredients.
3.     Mix well, taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.