25 Random Things, a Mac & Cheese Review & tonight's recipe!

From my facebook friends,

25 Random Things

1. I'm much quieter then most people realize
2. I love white wine
3. Telephone calls annoy me
4. I tend to over-commit
5. I try to live by the philosophy that it's okay to regret the things that I have done, but it's better to do them and regret them then to regret never doing them at all. Most of my biggest regrets in life are things that I didn't have the courage to try to do in the first place.
6. I miss my Reenie
7. I am a whiz at all sorts of puzzles
8. I can wiggle my ears
9. I love grape soda but hate grape jelly or grape flavored candy
10. I hate anything remotely resembling maple syrup
11. I've been to Walt Disney World 14 times
12. I got married on the beach in the Caribbean
13. I spend a large portion of my waking existence worrying about my 3 sons
14. My 85 year old grandmother is my best friend
15. I can read upside down
16. I love twizzlers
17. My eyes are a weird green/grey/gold color
18. I have almost maxed out my plurk karma
19. If I could, I would go get a degree in Fine Art or Art History
20. My vision is 20/200 without glasses
21. My family probably wants to strangle me every time I say, "Everything happens for a reason."
22. One time I traded my roommate for a Harley
23. I didn't meet my brother until I was 24 but he has become one of the most important people in my life
24. God blessed me with a pseudo-daughter, Randi in addition to my three sons, Orin, Alex & Jay. You should all be so lucky to have your kids grow up to be the amazing people that mine have turned into.
25. I can't think about life more then about six months in the future or I get too scared. Except for that beach house that I'm going to retire to on the Yucatan. That I can think about.



Now, for the Mac & Cheese review. It was good, but given my new milk allergy, I could only eat a few bites. I still managed to get sick, but whatever. In retrospect, we would split the sharp cheddar evenly with some velveeta. The flavor was great, but the consistency left something to be desired. Yay to O for doing the cooking on this one. He did a great job.

Tonight, we present...

Chicken Piccata with Artichoke


Ingredients:

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (4 ounces each)

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 teaspoon butter (or margarine, in my case)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup white wine
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

2 tablespoon drained capers

6-8 marinated artichoke hearts
2 roma tomatoes

Preparation:

1. Combine flour, salt and pepper in shallow pie plate. Reserve 1 tablespoon of flour mixture.

2. Place chicken between sheets of plastic wrap. Using flat side of meat mallet or rolling pin, pound chicken to 1/2-inch thickness. Coat chicken in flour mixture, shaking off excess.

3. Heat oil and butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until butter is melted. Cook chicken 4 to 5 minutes per side or until no longer pink in center. Transfer to serving platter and cover loosely with foil.

4. Add garlic & artichoke to same skillet; cook and stir over medium heat 1 minute. Add reserved flour mixture; cook and stir 1 minute. Add broth, wine and lemon juice; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens. Stir in parsley, tomatoes and capers; spoon sauce over chicken.

Serve over rice.

Sorry the pic's not the best, I still can't find my camera charger, so you are still suffering cell phone pics. But the food was DIVINE. Try this recipe, trust me, you won't regret it!