nonfiction – Page 3 – The Pajama Chef

Chicken, Main Dishes, Recipes, Reviews, Rice, Sides

Cheesy Molasses Chicken with Mushrooms and Homemade Rice a Roni Mix

January 28, 2015January 25, 2015 Sarah

This cheesy chicken and mushroom dinner is perfect for company, but also for a nice weeknight dinner for your family. It’s also nice to have some of this Rice a Roni mix in the pantry for an easy side dish too!

Two recipes in one day! Whoa there, this is crazy! So last fall I read Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist and that book just makes me want to COOK! And eat, but that’s no surprise. It’s a collection of essays knit together thematically around the idea of food, community, friendship, and growth. Though it’s written from a Christian perspective it’s really not in your face Christianity, if you get my drift, and it’s just a lovely book. Being a librarian I pretty much ALWAYS check books out to read from the library prior to purchasing them, and I think this one is good enough to go on my to-purchase [read: Christmas/birthday present] list. Though I made this dinner just for Ben and myself, it’s truly a company-worthy meal. Though it’s weeknight-doable, the flavors are rich, intoxicating, and delicious. It feels like a fancy escape from the week, even if only at the dinner table.

As I sit here thinking about what I just wrote, I wonder… why do we consider things to be “company-worthy meals” or not? At the root of it definitely is our innately human desire to put on our best face for everyone and to receive compliments/praise/glory/affirmation of how great we are. Somewhere in there is a desire to treat others well. And why shouldn’t we do that for our families on a regular Tuesday? I know people are busier than ever but I still think regular family dinners–even if it’s just you and your husband–are so important. They don’t have to be fancy. In the same vein, “company meals” don’t need to be fancy either–they just need to be made with love, like this meal. This chicken dish only took about 40 minutes to put together, and much of that is baking time. Using a few pantry ingredients, some mushrooms, and cheese, it looks so special! And the homemade Rice a Roni mix is awesome too! Hope you give it a try–and check out this book. 🙂 Enjoy!

one year ago: Flourless Peanut-Chocolate Cookies
two years ago: Buffalo Pretzels
three years ago: Camp Tecumseh Baked Oatmeal
four years ago: Crispy Honey Ginger Chicken

Cheesy Molasses Chicken with Mushrooms

Servings: 4
Time: 40 minutes
Print

Ingredients:

extra virgin olive oil
4 thin boneless skinless chicken breasts [I cut one large 16 ounce chicken breast into 4 smaller cutlets]
freshly ground black pepper
dried tarragon
4 ounces mushrooms, sliced [I used shiitake but regular white mushrooms would be fine too]
1/2 cup diced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup water
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1-2 tablespoons molasses
1/2 cup thinly sliced or shredded swiss cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat with a bit of olive oil. Season one side of each chicken breast with pepper and tarragon, then sear chicken for a minute on the seasoned side. Flip to the other side, season, and cook for a minute. Remove chicken to an oven safe baking dish.

In the same skillet, add more olive oil if necessary and reduce heat to medium. Cook mushrooms and onion for about 5 minutes, until soft, then add garlic. Cook another 30 seconds until fragrant. Season with more pepper and tarragon. Add water, vinegar, and molasses and bring to a boil, letting most of the excess liquid cook off, about 3-4 minutes. Spoon mushrooms, onions, and sauce overtop chicken.

Cook for 10-20 minutes or until fully cooked. When chicken is almost done, top with cheese and return to oven until cheese melts.

Serve with homemade Rice a Roni [below].

Homemade Rice a Roni Mix

Servings: 12
Time: 25 minutes
Print

from Fabulously Frugal

Ingredients:

for mix

2 cups uncooked white rice
1 cup small pieces of angel hair, vermicelli, or thin spaghetti, broken into 1/2 inch pieces
4 tablespoons dried parsley
6 tablespoons chicken bouillon powder OR 3 tablespoons poultry seasoning [original recipe called for the former but I didn’t have any so I improvised]
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

for preparation

2 tablespoons butter or oil
1 cup of rice a roni mix [above]
2 1/4 cups water or chicken broth

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a large airtight jar or plastic storage container. Breaking apart the noodles was probably the most difficult part. I found it easiest to break just a few at a time, while the measuring cup was in a taller bowl. I used maybe 1/3 of a 16 ounce box of pasta. Orzo or another small pasta would be a good substitute I think.

To make the rice, heat 2 tablespoons of butter or oil in a saucepan over medium heat. When hot, add 1 cup rice a roni mix and stir. Cook, constantly stirring, for about a minute until pasta begins to turn golden brown. Add water and bring to a boil, then prepare as you would rice–reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes until water is absorbed.

Reviews

Book Review: Longing for More: Daily Reflections on Finding God in the Rhythms of Life

January 19, 2015January 19, 2015 Sarah

Another book review today! Normally I review fiction or cookbooks on my blog, but I recently requested a different sort of book for review: a daily devotional. When I saw it available at the end of last year, I thought it would be a great book to start the new year off with. And I was right! Timothy Willard’s Longing for More: Daily Reflections on Finding God in the Rhythms of Life is a great book that I highly recommend. Thanks to the blogger review program for Bethany House Publishers for the chance to read and review it!

Here is a description of the book from the publisher:

Catch your breath and sit for a moment. Now listen . . .

What do you hear–questions of trust, longing, disappointment, courage, and love? In Longing for More, Timothy Willard invites us to think and pray through our deepest needs, and explores how the ebb and flow of life can be used for God’s glory. Creatively organized in 52 chapters that follow the four seasons of the year, the daily readings point the way to a richer spiritual life.

As usual, my five point review:

I’m a librarian, so I know you shouldn’t judge a book by the cover. But you know what? I do. All the time. Sometimes this is good, other times it might not be. This cover is just phenomenal. It’s welcoming, inviting, relaxing… and I just want to sit with this book and read it all day thanks to the fabulous cover art. The print book itself also feels good in my hands. The cover is substantial and the pages don’t feel brittle. I know that’s just a minor thing, but if this is supposed to be a daily devotional, to turn to day after day, it’s gotta stand up to that. And this book does. Bravo!
Enough about the aesthetics. The content of the book is just as fabulous as its appearance. [Spoiler alert: I didn’t read the entire book… a year hasn’t gone by, silly!] That being said, the book is set up to be read 5 days a week for a year. The book was originally written as emails to a group of fellows within a social justice program, presumably the author’s friends or at least acquaintances. So it has a feeling of warmth and familiarity which I loved. It’s meant to “reflect the rhythms of daily life, but also point to the heavens, to God.” This is demonstrated in many ways, not least of which is the fact that the third daily reading is just a prayer–because by this point in the week that is what the author needs most. Good call. You can begin this book at any time of the year, but it is structured to align loosely with the church calendar, so a January start is good but not essential. This book isn’t meant to be your one and only devotional either, it is meant to supplement deeper Bible reading so I could see it being good to use at a different time of day than your normal devotions.
Willard does a great job blending Biblical truth with his own life experience, as well as quotes from Christian thinkers throughout history [mainly C.S. Lewis and Søren Kierkegaard]. I appreciate that there wasn’t tons of fluff in the entries I read, and though the entries are deep, they aren’t so theologically heavy that they require a dictionary and reference books to understand. It’s a great balance.
Willard is also a very poetic writer. These devotions should be savored and pondered throughout the day, each accompanies a daily passage of scripture and they blend well together. The scripture is definitely prioritized but the devotion isn’t an outright Bible study either.
The general tone of these devotions is encouraging. Though Willard challenges his readers to more closely follow the Lord and acknowledges the challenges of life and realities of suffering, the tone of encouragement is awesome. He does a great job focusing on heaven while on earth. I highly recommend this devotion and would read more of his work!

What are you reading lately?

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers. However, I was not required to write a positive review. The thoughts expressed above are entirely my own. Thanks to Bethany House for the chance to read this great book!

Reviews

Book Review: Out of the Depths

July 31, 2014July 29, 2014 Sarah

Usually when I review books I choose ridiculous rom-coms [yes, that’s a book genre too]. This time, the subject is a bit more serious: World War II, the sinking of a ship, and survival at sea, in the spirit of Unbroken and Louie Zamperini’s story. I was sent a complimentary copy of Out of the Depths: An Unforgettable WWII Story of Survival, Courage, and the Sinking of the USS Indianapolis by Edgar Harrell USMC with David Harrell as part of Bethany House Publishers‘ book review program.

Here is a description of the book from the publisher:

July 30, 1945—The USS Indianapolis and its 1,196-man crew is making its way toward a small island in the South Pacific. The ship is sailing unescorted, assured by headquarters the waters are safe. It is midnight, and Marine Edgar Harrell and several others have sacked out on deck rather than spend the night in their hot and muggy quarters below. Fresh off a top-secret mission to deliver uranium for the atomic bombs that would ultimately end World War II, they are unaware their ship is being watched. Minutes later, six torpedoes are slicing toward the Indy . . .

For five horrifying days and nights after their ship went down, Harrell and his shipmates had to fend for themselves in the open seas. Plagued by dehydration, exposure, saltwater poisoning, and shark attacks, their numbers were cruelly depleted before they were miraculously rescued. This is one man’s story of courage, ingenuity, and faith in God’s providence in the midst of the worst naval disaster in U.S. history.

As usual, my five point review:

I read Unbroken a few years ago and loved it. If you loved it too, Out of the Depths is for you. It’s equally inspiring and moving. The author credits his survival on the open seas to God and his story of faithfulness is apparant in the pages of this book.
Throughout the book I was just amazed at all the author and his fellow shipmates endured. It’s a hard to story to read–both in terms of war details [about the atomic bombs in Japan] and the horrific conditions the sailors endured on the water. But it’s an important one that I enjoyed learning about.
Being from Indiana, I was surprised that the story of the USS Indianapolis isn’t taught in schools. But I did learn that there’s a memorial in Indianapolis that I’d love to visit next time I’m there. I shouldn’t be surprised though, because many of the circumstances surrounding the sinking of the ship was kept hidden until the late 1990s.
For the most part, I enjoyed the way this book was written: focusing in detail about each day. The story was told in enough detail to be compelling but not too much to be boring. But parts of it felt forced and too much like a history book and too little like a personal account. That’s just a minor complaint though.
Overall, the book was excellent. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in World War II history. It was neat reading the epilogue and learning the author lives in the Nashville area! 🙂

What are you reading lately?

Reviews

Book Review: Wooden and Me

May 25, 2014May 21, 2014 Sarah

I don’t quite recall how I found Dallas’ blog, Day-by-Day Masterpiece. Maybe she found mine. All I know is that Dallas and I started emailing back and forth and realized we had a lot in common–a love of food, books, friends, etc. But more than that, she was in grad school at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, which happens to be my hometown. AND her grandparents [all four of them] graduated from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio… my alma mater. What a small world. 🙂 We got to meet up once for a lovely coffee date at Panera before she moved back to California, and that was great fun. We’ve kept in touch over blogs and the occasional email.

Sometime in the winter, I received an email from Dallas telling me about a new book written by her dad, Woody Woodburn, called Wooden & Me: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach & Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece.” Woody is a writer, family man, and runner [with a nearly 11 year long daily running streak], and had the privilege of a lasting friendship with longtime UCLA basketball coach John Wooden. Long story short, Dallas asked me to review her dad’s book on my blog and I happily said yes. I read this book during March Madness and wish I was organized enough to post my review around the time of the NCAA Basketball Championship, but I wasn’t. No matter though–this book is inspiring and meaningful no matter the time of year, because it is not all about basketball. [So don’t click away if you aren’t a sports person.]

Here’s a description of the book:

As a longtime newspaper columnist Woody Woodburn is often asked to speak to civic groups – and the person audiences invariably want to hear more about during the Q&A afterward is Coach John Wooden. Listeners at these talks, as well as readers of Woodburn’s national award-winning columns, over the years have encouraged him to write a book about his experiences with Coach. Now he has with the memoir Wooden & Me: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece.” It was in 1987 as a young sports writer and near-newlywed that Woody met Coach, who soon became a friend and mentor through the births of Woodburn’s two children and their growth into young adulthood; the death of Woody’s mother; career decisions; and more. … Just as Coach John Wooden was beloved and revered by people of all ages and all backgrounds, readers from teens to parents to grandparents, basketball fans and non-fans alike, will find Wooden & Me enlightening and inspiring.

And as usual, my five point review:

I loved how well written and well researched this book was. As a librarian, quality is SO important to me, and sometimes with memoirs the research aspect can take a backseat because the author knows the person/subject so well. Not so with Woody Woodburn. You can tell he’s a good author from the beginning, and it shows.
I loved how passionate the author was about not only writing about his and his family’s friendship with Coach Wooden but also about teaching his readers about Coach Wooden’s philosophies. This makes the book very encouraging and motivating.
For me, probably the most challenging thing about reading memoirs [and even blogs too] is that it can feel somewhat intrusive to get that much into someone’s life–especially someone you don’t even know! I feel like the author has found a good balance between being open about his life and family, without being too revealing.
On the flip side of that, part of what makes memoirs and blogs so enjoyable is the opportunity to connect with the author. Though I’ve never been a UCLA basketball fan or even truthfully a fan of John Wooden, I did feel a certain attachment to him because he’s a Purdue grad. I loved learning more about him and his commitment to education and teamwork, things that are missing on some college sports teams these days. It’s so inspiring to consider his legacy too!
This is a quick read, but it’s also a book to savor over and enjoy bit by bit because of the wisdom imparted here. Dallas has been celebrating her father’s book and Coach Wooden on her blog this year so you can follow along here and get a taste of the book all year long! Thank you so much to Dallas and Woody for thinking of me and allowing me to review such a great book.

What are you reading lately?

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. However, I was not required to write a positive review. The thoughts expressed above are entirely my own. Thanks for the chance to read this great book!

Reviews

Book Review: Spoken For

March 12, 2014March 11, 2014 Sarah

Hello! Today I have a new book to share with you: Spoken For by Robin Jones Gunn and Alyssa Joy Bethke. I received a free advance reading copy of this book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group as part of their Blogging for Books Program. This book will be released on April 15, 2014 and is available for preorder now.

P.S. Be sure to check out my giveaway for a free canvas from Printcopia, now through 3/15/14!!

Here is a description of the book from the publisher:

Say Yes to the Love Story of Your Life

A great romance was set in motion before you were born. A relentless Lover is pursuing you, and He has made His intentions clear. He wants you to be His forever. How will you respond to the One who longs for you to be His with your whole heart?

In Spoken For, Robin Jones Gunn and Alyssa Joy Bethke speak to your heart about what it means for you to belong to Christ, who you are because of His love, and how that affects the way you live. Drawing on biblical promises and their personal experiences, these two friends share what it’s like to live out God’s unfolding love story.

You are not up for grabs. You are spoken for.

And as usual, my five point review:

First of all, I will fully admit that despite knowing this book was written for young women [even teen girls], I wanted to read it because Robin Jones Gunn wrote it. She’s the author of of my favorite preteen/teen reads of all time: the Christy Miller series. So, I was just curious what she had to say in this setting… and I was just a bit curious if the ‘love lessons’ I learned from Christy would translate to this book. And let me tell you… they DO! Yay! So, even though I’m a little beyond the intended age range for this book, it spoke so much truth to me. So good. Robin Jones Gunn knows her stuff, as does Alyssa Joy Bethke.
The authors’ love stories with their husbands–and with God–are interspersed throughout their reflections on truths related to our lives, truths about how God sees us. Unlike Altared, this alternating love story with Biblically based truth is not annoying and is done very tastefully. Each chapter is devoted to one truth and covers the following topics: You are… wanted, pursued, loved, called, of great value, a peculiar treasure, set free, covered, promised, and spoken for. Out of that list, I related to the first few chapters the most, but truly found life, hope, and encouragement on every page of the book, from reading scripture to reading these women’s personal love stories with the Lord and their husbands.
I think Spoken For would be a great book for a high school or college girls’ small group to read and discuss together. Each chapter includes questions that can be discussed in a group or considered individually. The emphasis of the discussion questions isn’t just on relationships so it really is applicable to a wide range of life experiences–a plus in my book.
My favorite thing about this book was that it is written in such a conversational style that I walked away from every page feeling known and loved. The authors did a great job with this. I know this style of writing is popular now because of blogs, but to me, it came across as genuine and not cheesy… and I didn’t think that the authors had everything “figured out” either, which as a young person I know can be quite annoying! Life and faith, for all of us, is a constant path of learning and growth and I felt this book emphasized that so well.
Though this book is written for young women [maybe ages 13 and up, approximately?] I think any woman, no matter her age, can relate to the need to feel loved, or wanted, or called. The easy-to-read, more simplistic format of this book is a welcome change to some books in the Christian living genre, without downgrading the Biblical validity of the book. I highly suggest you check it out when it is released on April 15th! I highly recommend this book to youth leaders and parents of teens as well. Good stuff!

What are you reading lately?

Disclosure: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. However, I was not required to write a positive review. The thoughts expressed above are entirely my own. Thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for the chance to read this great book!