Friday Favorites:Divorcing My Plastic

I recently made the decision to throw out all of the plastic food storage containers. I have started replacing them with glass containers. It's so much neater and prettier in my fridge and cabinets and I'm less likely to try to save every little last morsel of food like I've made this terrible habit of doing.
The result: less to clean out on grocery day. It just keeps giving. It makes for a much prettier presentation too making everyone more likely to reach and grab for a better snack choice.

side note on my groceries I used our Kroger ClickList this past week and oh be still my heart. I do not know why I have not used this sooner. Yes, I have to drive a bit further to the nearest store seeing how our local store does not offer it yet, but the time I saved made it VERY worth it. I simply logged into my Kroger account, selected my store and my pickup time, then loaded my cart. It stores all of your recent purchases so it makes it easy to add items that you purchase regularly. It was just a breeze.

Washing your produce is important. Buy organic if you can. Washing it in water doesn't always get all the gunk off. A favorite product of mine for making sure all of my produce is clean is the Rebel Green Fruit and Veggie Clean. I found mine at my grocery store. You can purchase it online as well.  Not only will it get the gunk off of your food, you will not be putting that gunk into your body AND you will be extend the life of your produce.

From glass water bottles, to glass containers, to organic produce.....minimalism, money saving and time management, and health. If it betters me or my family I am all for it. 

Do you have any products or goods you are switching out for 2017? 

Eggs So Good They're Evil (National Deviled Egg Day)

It's National Deviled Egg Day. I'm going to knock out 2 birds with one stone this morning. (See what I did there?)  I have quail eggs and chicken eggs on my stove cooling. 

Background on the quail eggs. We have a Texas-sized gas station here in our lone star state called Buc-ees. If you are familiar, you know it's a must  when you are traveling. If you are passing through Texas, it's a must. From free samples of fudge to beaver nuggets to the cleanest restrooms you'll find on any interstate, this iconic stop has become a tourist destination. Our local Buc-ees is where I discovered jalapeno pickled quail eggs. Now, I have never had a pickled egg of any sorts before in my life until eating one of these. I still have not had any other type of pickled egg. I just do not want to ruin what I have experienced. The quail egg is so delectable. It is the perfect sized accompaniment on-top of a burger.  This tiny morsel makes it the perfect portion of protein. I was so excited when I finally located them fresh in Houston at the Asian market. I bought 2 dozen and will attempt today to pickle the quail eggs. The chicken eggs are getting deviled.

Although the first recipes for deviled eggs first dates back to the late 1700's there have never been any real rules to what all you can use. Bacon, guacamole, tobiko, jalapeno, paprika, mayo, siracha, mustard, pickles, anything goes. Making it one of the perfect brunch to hor d'oeuvres foods.

How do you take yours? Are you adventurous or traditional?

10 Best Pickled Quail Egg Recipes
10 Super Creative and Incredibly Delicious Deviled Egg Recipes

Chicken Pomodoro

It's National Pasta Day and I'm pretty excited about it.

THIS is the dish the husband often gets mixed up with the picatta. I think by now he just doesn't even ask. He just eats what is put in front of him. This never makes leftovers either. No matter how much I fix. So, in true big family fashion, I make a lot.



What's more annoying than sitting at the table waiting for mom to finally sit so everyone can eat?
I know!
Everyone sitting at the table waiting for mom to finish taking her blog pictures. I had 10 eyeballs staring me down as I completed the last of my photos for this entry. Please enjoy.

INGREDIENTS
3 large chicken breast sliced long ways
1 package of linguine
seasoning (salt n pepper, garlic salt, watevs you like to season yo poultry with!)
olive oil
5-6 crushed garlic cloves
3 large roma tomatoes
1 bunch of FRESH basil
fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Get your water boiling for your linguine noodles and prepare your pasta while you are doing the following:

Get your pan going with 2-3 tbsp of olive oil. Heat it up on medium heat.
While that's heating, wash and slice longways your chicken breast.
Put into the pan once it's ready and sprinkle your seasoning on them. Cook them all the way.

While the chicken is cooking, chop up your tomatoes, mince the garlic (a press helps for this or you can use minced garlic from a jar, just make sure it's fresh. None of the dried stuff and no canned tomatoes.)

Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the pan and place on a plate to rest. Add your garlic, tomatoes and about 2 more tbsp of olive oil. Cook this down.

Slice the chicken breast up and cut your basil into ribbons.

Once your noodles are cooked and strained return them to the pot. Do not let them get cold. Add your sliced chicken, the tomato-garlic mixture and the fresh basil and toss.

Garnish with the Parmesan cheese!