Chicken – it’s what’s for dinner!

Last night’s chicken dinner was awesome. In fact, my 15 year old son said to me, “no offense Ima, but this tastes better than anything you ever made”. Ouch. But that was after he said “Mmmm, this chicken tastes………DEAD” so you can’t necessarily trust his opinion.

I did technically cook the chicken – but it came from Empire Kosher. And I cooked it in the microwave. It’s great – it’s a whole 3 lb chicken, pre-seasoned (garlic and hhhhherb*), you take it out of the packaging, pierce two small holes in the special microwave wrap that’s around the chicken, put it on a plate, in the microwave, press 20 minutes and DONE. No muss, no fuss. Easy Shmeasy. The way I like it! For busy parents, this is an easy dinner on a school night – just throw together some sides, and you have a great nutritious meal in TWENTY MINUTES.

Very soon after I put the chicken in the microwave, the delicious aroma of the cooking chicken wafted through the house, bringing boys running from all quarters. By the time that chicken came out of the oven the boys were salivating.

It really does look like that. Except no grapes and greenery!

I carved up the chicken – juices were leaking everywhere, which is a good thing! I served dinner – the chicken along with starch and a veggie, and we dug in.

The chicken was moist (“Wet” as one as the kids said…oy) and tender, flavorful and just plain perfect. Seriously. The only problem was that there wasn’t enough of it. It’s a 3 lb chicken. I have a husband, THREE teenage boys with hollow legs, and a nine year old. Plus myself – and we all know I love to eat. Luckily the oldest teen wasn’t here, or there would not have been enough.

The verdict was unanimous. Delicious and please can we have it again tomorrow.

So here’s what I have to say to the folks at EMPIRE. Awesome product – thanks for sending it to me. My kids had a blast telling their friends that we received a chicken in the mail. I am so thrilled to hear you have a BBQ version coming out soon – we plan to try that one as well. I hate carving chickens and turkeys and ducks – could you perhaps use the same awesome microwave technology and sell these fine fowl in pieces? Also – for those bigger families – can you sell bigger chickens – like 5 lb-ers – so that there is enough to go around?

Folks – this “microwaveable” chicken retails at around $10.99 in my area – which is good value seeing as it is pre-cleaned, pre-seasoned, pre-prepared and all you have to do is press a button or two on the microwave.

So from us here at the Hearts / Diamonds Palace – five thumbs up! (or should that be ten?)

*there is an H at the start of HERB – it needs to be pronounced.

Note: I was given this product free of charge. My review expresses my honest opinion and I was not paid in anyway for it.

AWESOMENESS – was just informed that this fall / winter season there will be microwaveable cutlets available – cook for 2 minutes 15 seconds each.  Those will be perfect for my son that eats lunch and supper in school!!

Advertisement

Wednesday’s Wacky Sign

In honour of back to school – Anti Calculus Toothpaste:

They might be a bit excited!

So the first delivery of the school supplies arrived today. Two nice sized boxes from Staples. It could all have fit in one box, but hey…

The boxes sat by the front door all day long. I was working and resting and didn’t really relish the thought of unpacking it all, divvying it up according to lists, and dealing with the mess.

It was driving the kids crazy. They wanted to see what I had bought. Binders and pencils are exciting? Finally, I caved. Squiggy shlepped the boxes upstairs (there was no way he was letting me do it) and we unpacked, took a look, put it all in one box and he carted it down to my office. Not divvying up until it has ALL been delivered. But they were inventorying (is that even a word) every single item. A comment was made, a disclaimer really, that though it is NOT cool to be going back to school, they love the fresh new notebooks – ripe for doodling…. sigh.

The safety scissors I ordered – well, um, they actually sent a pink pair. There was no colour option. Oops. ChatterBox doesn’t mind too much. I think Staples knows me well.

Thanks FedEx for messing up! Really!

On Sunday during the hurricane I received a phone call from someone I didn’t know. She asked for me by name and told me she had a package for me. FedEx had delivered it to the wrong address. We both have the same house number but live about six blocks from each other. Street names are so totally different, it’s weird how that got mixed up.

So she took the time to find my number, to call me and let me know she had it, and that I can come pick it up at any time. Very decent and honest.

I went over there tonight to pick up my package. We got to talking, as one does. Turns out that her son goes to the same high school as my oldest AND she taught one of KoD’s kids a year or two back! In fact, standing there in her house chit chatting we became firm friends.

So, even though FedEx messed up, I gained a friend.

(What was in the package? Kim Kardashian Perfume – my prize that I won recently from Married My Sugar Daddy‘s blog!)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

So we all know the Staples commercial with Dad flying down the store’s aisles collecting up all the school supplies his kids need for back to school, and the jingle “it’s the most wonderful time of the year” is playing. I love Back to School. The smell of new notebooks, freshly sharpened #2 pencils, undoodled upon binders…… Every year – though I always gripe about cost – I enjoy getting the boys ready to go back to school.

As they get older it seems they need less in the way of specific  stuff, and more in the way of – “make sure they have normal supplies”.

This year, well, I am laid up with this stupid neck thing which precludes me from driving and shopping and zipping down the aisles singing the jingle. I will not be shlepping four very grumpy boys / men around from store to store to get all the things on their lists.

I clicked and bought. Yep. I ordered clothes and supplies for them online – if you follow people like the Kosher Shopaholic and Kosher on a Budget you can really find some great deals. I found that I didn’t spend more than I would have had actually visiting the store – coupon codes saved me a buck or two as well. Perhaps I spent less because there were no impulse buys. AND I didn’t have to hear the whining about going back to school.

I won’t buy them shoes online, so that will be done when they need them – I don’t believe in them having EVERYTHING new for school. In fact, it’s only the two youngest that really need new clothes because they grew like absolute weeds this summer.

We still have the seforim / Jewish texts to deal with – the boys have to go through the bookcases and the boxes in the attic to find what they need. No way I am shlepping up that rickety staircase to see what’s what.

But we are pretty much set otherwise. Squiggy – who had this entry on his supply list “a phillip’s head screwdriver” – has his orientation at his new high school Wednesday night and his first full day on Thursday. Lenny starts on Thursday too, and HockeyFan and ChatterBox start on September 7th.

So looking forward to having structure in our days. Summer time and the easy living leave me a little frazzled – I am such a scheduler.

Now to schedule some time for my neck to feel better.

Don’t Touch My Cake!

I have been resting up, and generally not overdoing things (too much) but at some point this afternoon I had a hankering for a piece of the Devils Food Chocolate Cake I had made for Shabbat.

I went down to the kitchen to find that SOMEONE had eaten it all. There was nothing left for me. Just a few little crumbs and a shmear of frosting left on the cake stand.

I WANTED CAKE.

I found out who the culprit was and I ordered him into the kitchen. I told him that seeing as he finished the cake that I wanted a piece of, it was now incumbent on him to bake me a new cake. He cracked up laughing, this son of mine. However, I made it easy for him. He didn’t have to make it from scratch – we had a cake mix in the pantry.

The house smells divine – cake’s almost ready to come out. I will have him frost it too when it has cooled down.

So, do you think he will ever eat the last piece of cake again, or will he have learned his lesson??

Bracing for the storm of the century

The rain has started pounding at our windows. The kids did not want to go to sleep – they’ve never experienced a hurricane before. Hurricane Irene is on her way and she’s angry!

We’ve brought up almost everything we could from our basement, and made as many preparations and took as many precautions as we can. Orange and Rockland (our electric company) has said that we may be without power for a couple of weeks.

So far we still have power. KoD isn’t too concerned, so I am trying to take a leaf out of his book.

Stay safe everyone!

A Pain in the Neck

Those of you on my FB and Twitter feeds were treated to this pic yesterday.

For over a week now I have been struggling with severe neck pain. I have had two MRIs this week and I await a phone call with my GP about where we go from here.

It’s affecting my left arm and leg too, which scares me a bit (a lot) but me being me, I am trying to just carry on life as normal – cooking today, working this week, errands etc. But I know I need to take it easy. I need to learn how. I do however have lots of chocolate to get me through.

I guess I have turned into a real pain in the neck…. but my menfolk are taking very good care of me. Spare a good thought or two? Thanks.

OMG Blood! ***faint***

So it appears that I have a second fainter on my hands. We’ve know for years about the oldest. He’s been a fainter since he was a toddler. He saw blood, and down he went. It got to the point that I could catch him as he fainted while not missing a beat in my phone conversation or supper prep. He tries not to do it anymore because he’s gotten way too big for me to catch him. So he won’t be a doctor.

Today the little one came running to me. “I’m bleeeeeeeeeding”. I was more concerned about the clamminess of his palms and his rapid breathing, than the tiny weeny little wound on his knee. I know all the signs for “hold me, I’m going to pass out” and he had all of them. I had him look me in the eye and breathe with me. One of his brothers brought the child some orange juice at my request, and once he had some colour back in his face I dressed his knee. He was so shaky. But he did not faint. He almost did – those eyes almost rolled.

He’s 9. He has never been like that before, with all his bumps and scrapes. What is it with these so called tough guys that the minute they see blood they wimp out?

When Squiggy broke his leg it hurt like heck but no fainting, even when he broke the same arm twice…, when he sliced his thumbs open (on different occasions…..this kid…..gotta love him) he was more curious than panicked. When I sliced my finger open my eldest brought me paper towels but was extremely careful not to look at anything that might have been red. He recently sliced his own finger open – and promptly fainted.

The 13 year old is so chill about it all that he wouldn’t panic, would just fix the problem, clean up the blood and go back to his iPod. When he came home years ago after being bashed in the head with a light saber (!) there was no panic.

They are going to have to get over this fear of blood. Seriously. Having kids = lots of blood. The amount of stitches this family has had cumulatively is a little scary, and some of those head wounds, wow do they bleed.

How do I toughen up these not-so-tough tough guys?

Surgery went well

Thank you all for your prayers for my friend Leah Miriam bat Shoshana. We just got word that the surgery went well, the kidney is in place and functioning.

Continue prayers are needed that there is no rejection, and that Leah heals well and swiftly.

Please include her on your misheberach lists at shul this Shabbat.