Magic chicken

Per my previous post I mentioned my magic pampered chef covered pan and decided to share 2 photos with you to PROVE it really works.

This one is with all my vegies cut up and seasoning on top. Right after this, I put on a few boneless thighs and a few breast strips with some more spices.

This is how it turned out after 17 minutes. IN THE MICROWAVE!

Alright, I do impress easily but it was very good.

I had finally found something on Craigslist that I have been searching for. A simple anvil. Just a big lump of really hard metal.  I have been using one of those small metal blocks to hammer metal on to but  Sometimes I need something a little more sturdy so my hammer does not bounce so much. I found this small 35lb anvil which is not very big (compared to the hammer next to it) and it was pretty rusty. I took a grinder to the top and horn and finally some different sandpapers to it to try and polish the top up a little.

This works great. I hope to have some new stuff up shortly.

Starting off the year right

I guess diets really do work after all. I have lost 6 pounds in a little over a week. I have the perfect snack food that you can eat as much as you want and keep losing weight. My personal favorite is peanuts. Just a little bit of salt does wonders.

You can buy them in bulk and they come in different colors but I like blue the best. I ordered something off of Ebay and received a bunch for FREE.

I did learn that my scale LIES. It told me that I had gained some of it back the other day. I think I will need to buy a new one now.

Now for something a little more serious. Have any of you ever fallen for purchased one of those amazing magical cooking solutions from the TV or the internet and then tried it and not been as impressed???  I did own a Ronco Dehydrator at one time.

Well, I was invited to a Pampered Chef party and I do like some of their products. During the presentation, the Pampered chef hostess was using of their stoneware cookwear line, the Deep Covered Baker pan. We watched this woman put in different vegetables and then raw chicken breasts on top, added some spices and then put the top on and in the microwave it went for 15 minutes. MICROWAVE??

We all know what happens when you put in any kind of meat into a microwave. It gets dry, rubbery and very tough.

Her chicken turned out very tender and flavorful-so good that I ended up buying one.  SO I bring it home, wash it and then try one of the many recipes that came with it (White Chicken Chili) and it had white and dark chicken in it. Wanna guess what happened???

IT WAS INCREDIBLE and only took about 15-20 minutes total.

It works both in the microwave and in the oven. I have made a total of 3 dinners and all in the microwave. I am going to try beef next.

Let me know if you have found anything that works much better or worse than advertised.

RESET button

Hello everyone.

I know most of you probably thought you would not hear from me again but here I am. This past year had some really great times and a few setbacks but didn't we all. I have done pretty good with my jewelry shows and the last one was the best.

Starting in 2011, I am hitting the RESET button and I am going to shake things up. My plan this year is to take a jewelry class at a local community college (starting in 2 weeks at night), come up with some really different and fun designs, loose weight, keep up with my garden and design a new business card & logo.

This is all a little ambitious but whatever is worth doing is worth overdoing :)  I will try and keep this updated once a week or so.

Happy new year.

P.S. Please share any new years resolutions you are planning to try this year.