The Mann Family

Salmon in parchment with couscous and asparagus

2010-01-10T00:37:00.000-06:00

Okay--tried my own variation of the fabulous Salmon we had out the other night, it was really good!

You need: Salmon (5oz/person), 2 lemons, shrimp-tails on (2-3/person), salt/pepper, tablespoon roasted red bell peppers-from jar (or other fresh flavor of choice--including but not limited to fresh parsley or dill), couscous, chicken broth, butter (about 1/2 stick) AND parchment paper.

Take out enough parchment to wrap up salmon (either in individual servings or one big one) and place on cookie sheet. Put Salmon on paper. Sprinkle zest of 1 lemon on salmon, salt and pepper as well. Top with peppers and shrimp. Place slivers of butter on top of everything making sure that when it melts it will be well distributed. Squeeze 1/2 of lemon on top. Fold parchment into packet then place cookie sheet in oven for 15-25 minutes or until fragrant and shrimp seems cooked...but keep parchment closed as much as possible for ultimate steaming.

Boil water for asparagus. A few minutes before the salmon will be ready put in trimmed asparagus and top with lid. About 5 minutes or until it is bright green.

Follow package directions for couscous except replace water with chicken broth and be sure to add butter. Then zest the second lemon into the pot with couscous and squeeze that entire lemon into it as well.

Finally, remove asparagus from pot, drain and top with a little butter, place the parchment on serving plate and slice up the last 1/2 of lemon and serve with everything. Enjoy!!!

Baby J's Cake

2010-01-08T17:59:00.005-06:00

So I made Jake a cupcake-cake and decorated it...it is a really cool LION named Leon who tastes like carrot cake. Here it is!

Date Night

2010-01-04T15:02:00.003-06:00

Chris and I went to Max and Julie's Brasserie the other night. We had a great time making fun of the stuffy people around us and enjoying the top notch cusine. It was really fun to be on a real date! I always say that we date all the time because we don't have kids, but really, that was more fun.
We ordered Salmon en Papillote...it was by far the best I have ever had, it is difficult to explain but it was very good. I will try to make it then put that recipe up to share very soon!

We also dressed up cute, but due to the fact that we went on a date--there wasn't anyone to take our picture so here is the one we took of ourselves.

Happy New Year!

Squash Goodness (complements of CLEAN EATING)

2009-12-08T20:39:00.000-06:00

Last night it was Squash Goodness or so they say...

2 large or 4 small yellow squash cut into quarter inch half moons
1 medium sized yellow onion thinly sliced
5-6 slices of whole grain bread cubed
2 chicken breasts diced
1 cup mozzerella cheese shredded
italian seasoning, garlic
salt & pepper
2 tbls olive oil

*add any greens you have on hand like spinach or green beans that need to be cooked!

Preheat oven to 350, spray a large casserole dish with non-stick stuff.
In a large skillet preheated slosh around EVOO and add onion. Cook for 4-5 minutes until it begins to soften. Add squash and seasoning and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Pour into large bowl. Add a bit more EVOO into skillet then chicken. Brown chicken on both sides---don't cook through though! Mix squash, onion, chicken, cheese and cubed bread then dump into casserole.

Bake for 15 minutes covered, then 10-15 uncovered or until cheese is melted and light brown on top.

I can't seem to think of anything to say

2009-12-01T15:15:00.002-06:00

So I enjoy reading some of your blogs which are truly inspiring works of art or are a great snapshot into your daily life but I just can't think of what to say! I nanny, so if I write about my day I would be stealing from Jake's sweet parents who enjoy blogging about the little guy...if I write about last weekend, then I would be only writing a boring snip-it compared to A LITTLE MISHAP and her tale of wine, cards and friends...so, I guess I will continue to write about food, and hopefully someday soon, I will begin to remember my camera so that I can capture the food and the day. Once I remember my camera, I hope to download the pics so that the world (or the few faithful followers) can see.

Until then, the FOOD!

Today I made Enchalada Soup. It took all of 10 minutes to prepare so go for it!!!

2 cans chicken broth
1 can rotel
some salsa (i.e.cover the chicken in pot)
1-2 chicken breasts diced (uncooked)
2-3 handfuls of shredded cheddar
5 tortillas (sliced or shredded into thin strips)
1/4 cup sour cream (in soup) + some for topping optional
TOPPINGS: tortilla chips, avacado, sour cream, cheese

Heat oven to 350, put tortillas spread on cookie sheet and toast 5-10 minutes.
Dump ALL ingredients into large pot or crock pot, cover and cook until chicken is cooked if on stovetop or for crockpot all day starting on high then switching to low after a few hours.

Serve with sour cream, cheese, chips and sliced avacado.

Because you asked...

2009-11-09T10:00:00.003-06:00

Here is my meal plan for the week...

NUMBER 1:
Pork Chops w/ greenbean casserole and spinach salad
-marinate chops in brine (sugar, salt and water) for the day or overnight.
-season and grill chops

GB Casserole (good 'ole staple)
-cream mush soup (I'm making it from scratch to aviod trip to store)
-green beans
-cheese
-Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes
-fried onions (after all bubbly add to top until golden)

Salad
-spinach w/ feta, strawberries, apples, walnuts
-homemade dressing: red wine vinegar wisked with salt, then add garlic, pepper and sugar to taste. Then wisk in oil (I like Canola or Grapeseed, but you can use olive oil as well.

NUMBER 2:
Pita Pizzas
-spread hummus and feta on pita, bake until warm
-add bell pepper (any color), olive, sliced tomatoes, and spinach
-Bake more or eat at room temp.

NUMBER 3:
Beef Fajitas
-season and grill beef and peppers or onions
-Make guacamole: avacado, lime juice, fresh garlic, salt, pepper all smashed together
-sour cream
-diced tomatoes or salsa

NUMBER 4:
Ahi Tuna with mashed potatoes and sauteed zuchinni and squash

Tuna
-marinate in 2T soy sauce, 1 tsp ginger, 2 cloves garlic (smashed)
-Grill 3 min on each side, eat medium rare.

Potatoes
-boil diced potatoes in water until falling apart
-pour off most of the water
-mash with 2T butter, 3T cream cheese, salt and pepper

Zuchinni
-sautee thin sliced zuchinni and squash in butter and pepper until color is bright

NUMBER 5:
Thai Chicken with coconut rice

Chicken:
-in wok or skillet, heat to med-high, add olive oil
-add chopped onion, fresh garlic (2-3 cloves) and sautee for 2-3 minutes
-add chicken, squeeze 1/2 a lime
-cook until chickin is white all over (but not cooked through)
-add bell pepper (chopped)
-add yogurt sauce (1 cup plain yogurt, 1T curry paste, I use red curry paste usually)
-simmer for 2-4 minutes or until chicken is cooked through
-squeeze rest of lime
*variation, I am adding kale this week to get in a leafy green. Put it in at the last minute, cover and steam on the top of everything for 1-2 minutes until bright green and wilted.

Rice
-make Jasmine rice using package direction, but substitute coconut milk(canned) for most of the water and add a little sugar

Serve with tortillas and sour cream.

NUMBER 6:
At our house we are out almost all week, so we are having chicken pot pie and eating the leftovers the only other night we are home, so here that recipe is:

Pot Pie:
-diced raw chicken (2 breasts)
-cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup (2 cans)
-frozen peas,brocolli, zuchinni, tomato, mushroom, spinach, onion---really whatever you have in the fridge or freezer that need to go!
-cubed cheddar or shredded cheese
-mix all together
-Bake covered at 400 until bubbly, about 30-35 minutes, then lower temp to 350
-Add canned biscuits (like Pilsbury buttermilk biscuits) to the top and bake for time on package.
-Let cool for 10-15 minutes so its not too soupy
-Enjoy!

The New Normal

2009-10-13T12:10:00.003-05:00

Well it has been a very long time since our last post and we have been busy! We moved into the city in May. Our building is a new "mid-rise" in The Heights part of Houston. It is a fun area, there are quite a few restaurants that we can walk to and tons of people to watch. We are 8 miles from my job (quite unusual for Houston) and Chris works from home so we get to see each during the day quite often.

Chris is working for Hole in the Roof Marketing (a Waco company) as a sales rep. He loves it and is getting better every day. He is also leading worship at our church, which is such a blessing to us because he still gets to play guitar regularly.

I am working for a family that lives downtown as their full time nanny and cook. It is a great job becuase I can be flexible enough to meet up with Chris during the day or see friends for play dates and still get paid. I stay really busy taking care of one child and running the household.

We both miss Waco and love being here. We feel like we have found a niche here that suits us well and are glad for the change while we miss our dear friends and wish we could see them more often. I thought we would go back more often, but life here has not stopped and I like that.

MOVE

2009-02-06T16:12:00.003-06:00

Well, I am happy to say that Chris and I have completed the first phase of our move to H-town. We live in Spring, TX now--one of the plethera suburbs outside of Houston proper. It is very different. Everything takes so long to get to...Barnes and Noble is now a 10 minute drive (if I'm lucky) as opposed to a 2 minute straight shot from doorstep to doorstep...well everything except the grocery store. I have so many grocery stores to choose from that are outside of our subdivision that I am now comparing their member rewards, gas prices, and organic selection and pricing. I think I am going with which ever one has the cheapest organic milk though. I was shocked to find out that a half gallon of organic, off-brand milk was $1 more!!! ARGH. That is not only my favorite grocery item, but often purchased. The second criteria for my grocer of choice is congestion. For those of you from Waco, imagine for an instant that you have arrived at HEB at 2 a.m., the store is empty, there are no lines, but there ARE stockers blocking the aisles...then take a moment to imagine you typical trip around 4 p.m. I literally had to take a deep breath and compose myself before I went in search for a "baby-cart" so that I could maneuver around the cabillion people that make up the entire population of Waco just for a few "basics": milk, eggs, tomatoes, apples and tortillas...Now when I enter a grocery store, it is to the smiling face of the door guy (or lady) and calming classical music over the speaker. No one is in my way, mind you, I MISSED people being in my way, but I carried on. At my first run, I found the aisles to be wider, the carts smaller and little dotted lines on the ground to indicate which side you were to stay on so that others could PASS!!! Amazing. Really. And they want to give me 10 cents off of my gas for shopping there...so we will see who wins, I have only been to one of the 4 different companies less that .5 miles from my house.

Next, we are living in a 1 bedroom apartment, which the owners apologized profusley for its small size and promised that we could come into the big side whenever we wanted...let me just say that it is anything but small for a 1 bedroom apartment. It is not large, but I can do everything (mostly) that I did before in our little house and the ceilings are at least 15 ft, so it is beautiful, bright and fresh feeling. We are truly blessed to stay there. We have a b-ball court upstairs if we want to get our game on and a giant screen to watch movies on...the list goes on...I basically feel like if I can't be home, that this is a great in between, couldn't really be better. Total privacy, yet I don't HAVE to be alone if I don't want to.

SO, that is the end of my ramblings for today.

The Details

2008-12-29T21:37:00.001-06:00

This year has been the most unique yet for us. Many changes have happened some by us, some affecting us. So here is the QUICK review of our year as we can best remember.

At the beginning of the year Becca left Talitha Koum for a job with a local business called Sticker Universe. A few months later Chris left Talitha Koum also so that he could focus more on his music. He began teaching guitar lessons, writing music and also went on a brief set of tours with his band Ethan Durelle.

In September, Ethan Durelle which had been together for over 8 years, played their last show together. As with so many things in life, the sad end of Ethan has seen the birth of new ideas and projects for us to share together.

Early in 2009 we will begin our exodus from Waco (like so MANY before us) and head to Houston. We are in process now of figuring out exactly what we will be doing when we get there so please pray for us as we make LOTS of important decisions.

Most importantly...our little guy Tucker turned 2 this year! We love him and he loves us even better as only a dog can do. And so, he has become as we always swore we would NEVER say, our pet who we treat like our child...but only rarely do we dress him...

So, this is it for now, check back later, let us know how to keep up with you and have a great year in 2009!

with love
C & B

New Technology which is actually old but we are behind.

2008-11-22T00:47:00.000-06:00

Chris and I are excited about this new experience in technology...blogging. I guess we will begin to update you on what we are doing with our lives, but until then, FAREWELL!