Tree Branches – North Park Lake – March 2018 – Pittsburgh, PA
Branching Out.
You will
never know
how far
you can reach…
how many things
you can do…
how many lives
you can touch…
until you allow yourself
to branch out.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Fuzzy Cattails ( Typha) – March 2018 – Mars PA
Fuzzy.
When life gets fuzzy,
don’t try to squint it clear….
Embrace the beauty
of the fuzziness.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Apple Cider Roasted Chicken with Butternut Squash.
The calendar says it’s Spring in our little corner of the world, but Mother Nature insists it’s Winter. I guess since our Winter this year was often more like Spring, we have to deal with a bit of Winter in Spring.
The day I made this recipe last week (the second official day of Spring), we had more snow fall in one day than we have had in one day in the past eight years (approximately 8 inches).
So this super easy, healthy, delicious one pan oven-roasted meal I found at TheLemonBowl.com and tweaked slightly was a welcomed delight.
Using cinnamon as a spice for a savory meal is a surprising delight! Don’t be afraid to use it liberally. When combined with salt and coarse black pepper and lots of garlic, it just sings with flavor.
The original recipe called for apple cider, which I did not have, so I found a lonely bottle of Angry Orchard Hard Cider in the back of the fridge that kicked butt in this recipe! I’m sure you could also substitute apple juice.
I was really tempted to throw in a handful of cashews or pecans (and might next time). What do you think?
I served this with a simple salad of fresh greens, and here is how I made it. Hope you will give it a try.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place butternut squash cubes and whole peeled garlic cloves on bottom of large cast iron skillet or roasting pan. Pour cider over all.
Place chicken breasts on top. Drizzle with olive oil. Season all with cinnamon, salt, and pepper.
Cover loosely with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 5 minutes or until chicken is done and butternut squash is soft.
Enjoy!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Not everything that is faced
can be changed,
but nothing can be changed
until it is faced.
James Baldwin
I started a new book yesterday on Audible to listen to while I walk with Charlie – Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult.
The weather is getting a bit nicer, the daylight longer, and we need to get moving!
Nothing makes the time go faster than when I have a good book to listen to.
I was hooked from the first paragraph.
And when I heard this quote as I was listening on my walk, I almost stopped in my tracks. I backed it up a bit, and I listened again as the brief quote spoke to my soul.
I am facing a time of change in my life.
I’m guessing many of us are.
The changes we are going through are vastly different I’m sure.
Mine is career-centered.
Yours might be a relationship change or news about your health.
It could be the death of someone close to you.
It could be a change in the place you live.
Your change might have to do with your children leaving home or returning home, getting married, or perhaps the end of their marriage.
It could be a pregnancy or the ability not to be pregnant.
The changes each of us are going through can be as vastly numerous as the number of us reading this.
If you are going through something that is causing change in your life, I hope this quote resonates with you. I hope it helps you face it.
And when you face it, may you feel empowered, and may this change bring joy and enlightenment and peace to your life.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Buttermilk Pound Cake.
I am a total sucker for pound cake!
So Friday – after a long, difficult week – I decided to do some baking therapy and teach my 16-month old granddaughter how to bake her first cake. It was so fun to put her sweet little apron on for the first time that was a baby gift from a kind friend who knew it would surely get a lot of use.
We made this AMAZING pound cake from a recipe recently shared with me by a dear blog-following friend, Dena, who originally found it from Taste of Home.
The original recipe called for using 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Dena changed it up by using almond and lemon extract. I tweaked it a smidge further by using fresh lemon zest and lemon juice. Dena makes hers in two loaf pans (which you surely can too – and adjust the baking time to 40-50 mins), but we made ours in a fluted Bundt pan and enjoyed with some fresh strawberries.
This recipe is so wonderful. It is not super heavy like many pound cakes. In fact, it is almost a bit light and airy. But it is also dense enough to be super moist. I love the way the edges turned out a bit crispy and the center moist and tender.
My granddaughter loved it too, so she got to take half of it home to share with Mommy and Daddy.
It snow flurried most of the day and was so cold, so it was the perfect day for us to hang out, have the oven on for an hour, and enjoy the aroma and taste of this delicious, comforting cake.
Thanks so much for sharing Dena! This recipe is a real winner!
Ingredients:
Directions:
Cream butter and sugar in electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Beat in almond extract, zest of 1 fresh lemon, and juice of half of a fresh lemon (approx. 1 Tbsp). Add baking soda and 1 1/2 cups flour. Mix just until incorporated. Pour in half of milk, and beat just until combined. Gently beat in remaining 1 1/2 cups flour followed by second half of milk.
Pour batter into greased and floured 10″ fluted tube (Bundt) pan. Bake for approximately one hour or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 15 mins, then remove to wire rack to cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar.
Enjoy!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
But…
Give
but don’t allow yourself to be used.
Love
but don’t allow your heart to be abused.
Trust
but don’t be naive.
Listen
but don’t lose your own voice.
-Author Unknown
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Rain Puddle – Mars, PA – March, 2018
Puddles.
When the rain fell,
the sky was dark,
and the mood was somber.
But the droplets
gathered together
and created a beautiful puddle
that remained
for days after
the rain fell.
And though each raindrop
seemed clear and transparent
in and of itself,
when gathered together
in the puddle that remained,
they took on a new life.
When combined with the sunlight
and nature’s surroundings,
the clear water became a reflection.
A reflection
of the beauty
of it’s surroundings.
A reflection
almost more beautiful
than reality.
All
because
the rain fell.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Quick and Easy Steak Fajita Flatbread.
We all have those days….
Those days when we want something delicious, but don’t feel like fussing…
Well… what a great discovery I made a few days ago when I decided to throw some fajita toppings on a piece of Naan flatbread.
Well – maybe Hubby thought of this first…. but I gave it a name – so let’s call it a collaboration.
The plan was to have steak salads, but when Hubby discovered the Naan, well….. the plan changed.
And oh YAY!
This Steak Fajita Flatbread creation is like a sandwich/pizza/wrap/salad all in one!
It’s a great, quick and easy, delicious meal that would be great with chicken too.
Here is how we made it.
Ingredients:
1 Naan Flatbread (I found these at Aldi’s)
1 thin Sirloin steak, sliced into strips
1/4 sweet onion, sliced
1/4 sweet red pepper, sliced
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/4 cup Lettuce (I used butter lettuce)
Italian or Balsamic Dressing
1/4 cup Shredded Cheddar, Mozzarella, or Monterrey Jack cheese
Directions:
Sprinkle all but 1 Tbsp shredded cheese on Naan Flatbread and place in toaster oven or oven for 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted and flatbread is warm.
Meanwhile, saute onions and peppers in a hot skillet with 1 Tbsp olive oil until wilted and browned. Salt and pepper to your liking. Remove from skillet. Add sirloin beef strips seasoned with salt and pepper, and saute until doneness you desire.
Place onions and beef on top of toasted flatbread. Top with lettuce. Drizzle with dressing. Top with remaining shredded cheese.
Enjoy!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Cranberry Township, PA – March 2018
Broken Road.
It can be easy
to breeze through life
when you are cruising along
on the wide open, straight path of the highway.
But often times
it is the bumps and dips and obstacles
on the broken roads
that lead to the best and most beautiful things in life.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Snowy Bluebird – March 2018 – Mars, PA
Bluebird of Happiness.
The beggar man and the mighty king are only different in name,
For they are treated just the same by fate.
Today a smile and tomorrow a tear, we never know what’s in store.So learn your lesson before it is too late.
So be like I, hold your head up high
’til you find the bluebird of happiness.You will find greater peace of mind,
knowing there’s a bluebird of happiness.And when he sings to you,
though you’re deep in blue,
You will see a ray of light creep through.And so remember this,
life is no abyss.
Somewhere there’s a bluebird of happiness.The poet with his pen, the peasant with his plow,
It makes no different who you are,
it’s all the same somehow.The king upon his throne, the jester at his feet,
the artist, the actress,
the man on the street.It’s a life of smiles and a life of tears.
It’s a life of hopes and a life of fears.A blinding torrent of rain and a brilliant burst of sun,
A biting tearing pain and bubbling sparkling fun.And no matter what you have, don’t envy those you meet.
It’s all the same, it’s in the game, the bitter and the sweet.And if things don’t look so cheerful, just show a little fight.
Fore every bit of darkness, there’s a little bit of light.For every bit of hatred, there’s a little bit of love.
Fore every cloudy morning, there’s a midnight moon above.So don’t you forget,
you must search ’til you find
the bluebird.You will find peace and contentment forever, if you will be like I.
Hold your head up high, ’til you see a ray of light appear.And so remember this,
life is no abyss.
Somewhere there’s a bluebird of happiness*.
What a sight to find this beautiful blue bird on the back railing the other day. A bright, beautiful spot amidst the blustery snow storm. It made me think of the phrase, “The Bluebird of Happiness.” A little googling led me to the song and the beautiful lyrics. A lot of truth about life in this.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
the creative life in between 