Alert: The Fiddleheads at Integral Yoga are beautiful!

It’s Friday in NYC (and probably everywhere else, too!) and I was just at Integral Yoga.  You bitches know how much I love that place! Check out these fiddleheads!  And, they have the BEST LOOKING GINGER EVER!  And, as usual, everything is organic.  I love you so much, Integral Yoga!  And your produce dudes are THE BEST!

Look at how tender these are! They were so beautiful!

Local. Organic. Expensive. But man, they look good!

Look at this ginger! Oh man.

 

 

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts?

I’m not sure what you’re asking exactly, but in general, I disagree with boneless, skinless anything. If you cook meat, then you should cook pastured, organic meat with bones and fat. I think the minerals from the bones are important for balancing acidity and nutrition, and the fat helps protect the lining of your small intestine, and helps you to absorb fat-soluble vitamins. But keep in mind these are mere opinions and I am not presenting them as fact..

However, every so often, boneless, skinless chicken breast is on sale, so I buy it and make something with it. In the past, my usual dish was chicken fingers, but now that I no longer eat grains and have adopted a paleo / specific carbohydrate diet, I needed a new way to make chicken fingers, but I was bored out of my mind with boneless, skinless chicken breast in general.

Enter Chicken Ennui.

I created this recipe out of sheer boredom (thus the name) and it’s easy and quick, and can probably be made with stuff you already have in your kitchen. As usual, I didn’t measure anything, so here are some pictures.

Preheat oven to 350 and put your baking pan in there to get hot. Gather dried herbs that go together, such as these:

Rosemary, basil, fennel seed, thyme and black peppercorn.

Other herbs that would work well with all or some of these are: oregano, sage, parsley, and corriander. You can use any kind of peppercorn, but you can’t skip it. Add some salt, and grind all of these in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder to a fairly fine powder. Don’t use pre-ground pepper, because it’s gross. Always grind your peppercorn fresh. Trust me. I’d use about a tsp of each for each pound of chicken breasts, because I like a ton of herbs, and chicken breast needs flavor. Oh god, it’s just so dull.

Slice up chicken breasts so they’re evenly sized for even cooking. I usually make them between 1/4 and 1/8 inch thick. Slather mayonnaise on every slice (you’ll only need about a tablespoon per pound), then press them into the herb/salt/pepper mixture.

Place the coated chicken strips on the hot baking pan (I used a slotted pan) and bake for about 10 -15 minutes.

I put the chicken strips on a pre-heated slotted roasting pan. You can bake them on any kind of baking pan. Pre-heating it will help them to not stick.

I like it to be a little browned, so I leave it in for a while.

See, I didn’t cut all of the chicken breast the same size. Uneven cooking! Learn from my mistakes, people!

I served my Chicken Ennui with spaghetti squash with a dollop of Artisana coconut butter, and arugula with Kerry Wood Lemon Tarragon dressing. If you’d like to see pretty much everything I eat, you can follow my meals on Tumblr.

Dinner! Yum!

Alert: Free show and book signing at Books of Wonder Tues 4/30/13 – 4 p.m.

The Story Pirates will be at Books of Wonder this Tuesday to act out the story of Septimus Heap! My middle schooler LOVED this series and got me to read it, and I love it, too.  Do not miss this!  SUPPORT INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLERS!  

Free Theatre Storytime at Books of Wonder with Author Angie Sage and The Story Pirates!

Books of Wonder, the oldest and largest independent children’s bookstore in NYC, will hold a free theatre performance and book signing with author Angie Sage on Tuesday, April 30th beginning at 4 PM (18 West 18th Street, between 5th and 6th Aves in Manhattan).

Fyre, the seventh and final book in the Septimus Heap series, was published last week to enthusiastic fan reception. Often compared with Harry Potter and other works of fantasy for middle grade readers, the series follows the adventures of Septimus Heap, who as a seventh son of a seventh son has extraordinary magical powers. An original fantasy about lost and rediscovered identities, magyk and intrigue, and one family’s warmth and strength, the series has appeared on national bestseller lists and garnered worldwide acclaim; Warner Bros. has acquired the rights to make a movie of the first book.

To celebrate the book’s release, local literary-based acting troupe The Story Pirates (www.storypirates.org) will introduce new readers to the series by performing scenes from the first book, Magyk!

Also in attendance will be the series’ author, Angie Sage. Following the performance Ms. Sage will meet with fans and sign copies of all of her books.

The event will begin at 4PM and is open to the public.

Alert: Mattress Sale!

I apologize for the conceptual bankruptcy I am demonstrating this month by only posting alerts instead of the fascinating and incisively witty (humor me) blog posts to which you have been accustomed.  But Lifekind is having a 40% off sale on some of their mattresses, and as you can see, I absolutely love their stuff, and highly recommend their mattresses.  They are NOT CHEAP, but they are the REAL DEAL in organic mattresses.  No artificial flame retardant (which is carcinogenic, BTW) – they achieve compliance with flame retardant standards through natural materials like wool, cotton and natural latex.  Read up on this, and school yourself, fool.  Their customer service is incredible, their products are high quality, and they do the right thing for the environment.  And, I have never received anything from them (no discount, no perk, no anything) in return for reviewing them or saying anything about them.  I just love them.  I’ve been a customer for probably 10 years now and I cannot say enough good things.  If you are in the market for a mattress, now is the time.  Sale goes until Friday, 4/26/13.

Alert: NYC Shredfest 2013!

The 2013 NYC Shredfest is on Sunday, May 19 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.  I dare anyone to try and find me a better NYC Department of Sanitation event!  People, don’t even try, because you can’t.  Already I am walking lighter, with a song in my heart, now that this year’s date, time and location are in my google calendar.  If you’re going paperless like I am (yes, it’s taking me longer than I thought!), Shredfest is a godsend!  So is fermented cod liver oil, but for different reasons.

Alert: gorgeous, organic turmeric at Integral Yoga right now!

I am blogging from IY right now. The turmeric is expensive, but this is the best looking turmeric I’ve ever seen, and it’s organic, people!

Holy crap! They even have organic papaya ( but not much!). If your papaya’s not organic, there’s a good probability it’s GM. Look it up… Papaya is one of the worst for GM.

Alert: Discount on Septimus Heap books in month of April! Support local business!

CORRECTION (4/15) – THE DISCOUNT CODE IS “OVERSTRAND” (which makes more sense), not “OVERSTREET” as I originally reported.  Sorry.  I got misinformation.  I’ll definitely be at Books of Wonder on 4/16 for my copy!  

New Yorkers: If your child is as excited as mine is about the new Septimus Heap book Fyre coming out this April 16, you might be interested in this discount at local, independent bookseller Books of Wonder on 18th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues.  It’s good for the whole month of April and on all Septimus Heap books.  In store only…

The last volume of the Septimus Heap series is almost here – come to Books of Wonder and celebrate with us!

 Fyre, the seventh and final book in the series, will be released on April 16^th. To celebrate, Books of Wonder is offering a special 10% discount on ALL Septimus Heap titles in the month of April! To claim the discount, simply mention the code word, “OVERSTREET, OVERSTRAND” to the cashier at checkout! It’s like Magyk! **Offer valid in-store only.**

Web: BooksofWonder.com
BOW Blog: BooksofWonder.com/Blog
Email: Store@Booksofwonder.com
Phone: (212)989-3270