In light of the current holiday weekend, I wanted to share with you my favorite grilled chicken recipe. I found this in one of those impulse buy recipe books in the checkout lane of the grocery store. I’m glad I bought it because this is a staple in our house during the summer. I’ll bet we have it at least once a week, sometimes twice. It is a bit on the seasoned side, which the kids don’t like, so for them, I just sprinkle some Mrs. Dash on a chicken breast and I’m done with theirs. But this is better:

Southwest chicken
Makes 4 servings

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, pressed (of course, I use extra)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
½ teaspoon salt
1 pound skinless boneless chicken breasts (pounded)

Combine oil, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano and salt; spread over both sides of chicken to coat. Grill chicken over medium heat, turning once, until done.

I’ve tried to do the recipe without measuring….just throw in the spices until they “look right.” But I’ve gotten much better success if I measure somewhat accurately. It produces the best blend of spices.

If you have extra, consider slicing it up and throwing it on a salad the next day. Yum! I actually keep some of this sliced up and frozen for a quick salad on those days when we don’t have any leftovers.

Enjoy!

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This weeks topic is colorful. Here’s a picture of my daughter feeding the Lorikeets at the Columbus Zoo. Two of them are actually perched on her arm! I’ll admit, I do have better pictures of my daughter, but none of them showcased these beautiful birds as well.

Don’t forget to check out the Pediascribe contest which is going on right now!

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So here it is guys….the first official Pediascribe contest. And it’s easy-peasy for you to enter!

All you have to do is comment. Comment on current posts. Go back to the archives and comment on those. Each comment you make will enter you ONE time in the contest.

For extra-credit, post about Pediascribe on your own blog. Write a little review. Encourage your readers to come over and check me out. Let them know about the contest so they can be involved too. A post on your blog about Pediascribe gets you an extra TWO entries in the contest.

For super-extra-credit, post about Pediacast on your blog (the podcast arm of Pediascribe) Explain to your blog readers the concept behind podcasting and then give a review of Pediacast. A post on your blog about Pediacast gets you an extra THREE entries in the contest.

You must send me a link to the posts with the reviews so I can verify them. Send them to ohiominnie at gmail dot com.

If you choose to do BOTH of the extra-credit and super-extra-credit options, they need to be separate posts, please.

All entries for comments received and entries for blog postings about Pediascribe and/or Pediacast will be thrown into the proverbial hat up to 11:59p.m. on Friday, June 15. A winner will be chosen AT RANDOM during the Sunday, June 17th taping of Pediacast and will be announced on the show that day and also on the blog on Monday, June 18th.

So do you want to know what you’re playing for?

The winner will receive a $20 Amazon.com gift certificate!! Use it on yourself. Buy something for your kids. Give it away. The choice is yours.

Now get out there and get busy!

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What is the problem in today’s day and age? Is it impossible to find good help? We headed out last evening for a trek into town. KT had a youth group meeting at church and the rest of us decided to get a pizza at Donatos.

This was our order:
One Large Fresh Mozzarella Trio pizza (pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, fresh mozzarella, and basil)
One Small Cheese Pizza (for Nick)
One Diet Coke
One Sprite
One Water

We were charged $18 and change and told it would be about 15 minutes. We waited. And waited. And waited some more. People who came in well after us were served their pizzas. Finally at the 30 minute mark, I asked the teen who had taken our order about the pizzas. She went to check. When she returned, she brought us a Fresh Mozzarella Trio pizza and explained to us the printer had broken, and our order hadn’t gone through. This pizza was someone else’s, but we could have it, and they were sticking in a small cheese pizza as she spoke. She said they would refund our money for the small pizza. Ok, good enough.

But as we started to eat, Mike said, “This is a LARGE pizza?” Well now that you mention it, it didn’t look very big. So back to the counter I went to ask what size pizza we had. Mike was right. It was a medium. I wanted to tell him “size doesn’t matter” but, honestly, in pizza– it does. So I explained to them we had ordered a large pizza. The manager was there and told me to keep this one and they’d make us a large. Ugh. Do my hips LOOK like I need that much pizza? I convinced her instead to give us a coupon for a free pizza the next time we came. She was good with that. I was good with that.

Five minutes later, the piping hot cheese pizza came out. The teen also gave us a “Your Choice of Pizza” free card AND $18. Originally she had said they’d refund the cost of the small, which is why I asked for the coupon for the mix up on the large pizza. I was NOT expecting the full cost of the meal refunded plus an additional coupon for a free pizza.

I’ll take it, because the Fresh Mozzarella Trio pizza was delicious! The whole incident made me wonder about today’s employment pool and how terribly shallow it must be.

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Well, it’s official. My dad has outlived Nick’s prediction. If you’ll glance back at a previously posted Nick-ism, you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Yesterday was my dad’s 73rd birthday. He is now 73 years and 1 day old. By outliving Nick’s prediction of dying before he turns 73, he has saved my child a ton of guilt and grief.

Thanks, Dad. And Happy Birthday!
Now, because that Nick-ism is outdated, here is a new one for you.

The other night Mike was describing how one of his colleagues is building a new house. The construction has taken a lot longer than initially anticipated. The conversation went like this:

Mike: They don’t expect to move in until October. They are building on a heavily wooded lot and they’ve experienced a lot of problems.

Nick: Like beavers?

Why do I always hear two drums and a cymbal in my head when Nick says these sort of things? It’s as if I’m sitting in a cheesy comedy club listening to one liners. “Like beavers?” Ba-dum-ch.

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