Simple And Quiet Words

My Mom's Baked Chicken

09:50 Unknown 0 Comments

Growing up in Jamaica Sunday dinner was the one thing I looked forward to every week. I literally only had one request and that was "chicken leg and macaroni & cheese". Naturally, as I got older and was introduced to cooking by an ex-boyfriend I just had to learn how to make the bake chicken mummy made. After a while I began to add and take away certain ingredients and made it my own.

INGREDIENTS

Chicken (I always use leg quarters but that's a personal choice)

Scallions

Thyme

Onion

Scotch Bonnet Pepper (optional)

Sweet/Bell Pepper (for garnish-optional)

Black Pepper

Paprika

All Purpose Seasoning

Fish and Meat Sauce

Barbecue Sauce

METHOD

CLEAN YOUR CHICKEN!

Season with scallions, thyme, onion, scotch bonnet pepper, black pepper, paprika, all purpose seasoning and fish & meat sauce. Rub it all together and let it marinade for a couple hours or at least 30 mins.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large baking dish line the bottom with aluminum foil and lightly grease with butter.

Place the chicken in the pan about an inch apart.

(DO NOT THROW AWAY THE JUICE AND SEASONING LEFT OVER)

Bake for 30 mins uncovered.

Turn your chicken pieces after the 30 mins and add the seasoing and juices you had saved from earlier.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for another 30 mins.

After the 30 mins brush on your favorite barbecue sauce on both sides of the chicken and put it back in the the over covered for an additional 10 minutes.

Garnish with bell peppers and serve your chicken with whatever sides you want. Rice, mac & cheese, mash potatoes, Hawaiian rolls, baked beans, or a combination of all!

Home Made Coleslaw and Stove Top Burgers

06:43 Unknown 0 Comments

For dinner we decided to keep it low key. I used pre-formed burger meat but if you have ground beef go ahead and use that and form them yourself. Everything was homemade except for the fries.

METHOD FOR BURGERS

Rinse the meat (unless its ground beef).

Season with salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder.

Heat your skillet and a little bit of oil over medium heat. (I used a cast iron skillet)

Place your burgers on the pan and cook 5 min on each side for medium rare

Cook an additional 5 min on each side for medium well (how we like it)

Build your burger (lettuce, red onions, tomatoes, cheese, mayo, etc.), and DONE!

INGREDIENTS FOR COLESLAW

1 Cup of mayonnaise

1/2 Cup of sugar

1/4 Cup of vinegar

METHOD FOR COLESLAW

This is literally going to be the easiest thing you'll ever make in your life! You can always purchase pre-made slaw mix from your grocery store or do like I did and shred carrots and purple cabbage.

Whisk all your ingredients together.

Refrigerate.

DONE!

ONLY USE WHAT YOU NEED for the amount of cabbage and carrots you have.

Feel free to alter your coleslaw however you like, for example, adding bell peppers or onions, substituting the vinegar for balsamic or apple cider vinegar.

credit for slaw recipe : cooks.com

Jamaican Chicken Soup

06:40 Unknown 0 Comments

This is literally the easiest thing you'll ever make. And I'll probably say this about everything I post here. Today we're going to Fred's little sister's graduation and I'm doing makeup on two faces on top of everything else so I figured I'll do the one thing I don't have to hover over constantly. And why not write a post about it in the mean time right?

INGREDIENTS

3-4 Chicken Leg Quarters

Dumpling (I'll have that recipe below)

2 Packs of Soup Mix (Because I'm not adding any pumpkin to this which you can do, along with cho-cho, corn on the cob & yam, I'm using the pumpkin flavor)

2 Medium Potatoes

2 Medium Carrots

2 stalks of Scallion

1 Scotch Bonnet Pepper (red,yellow,green,orange - the color doesn't matter once it's uncut)

METHOD FOR SOUP

Wash, clean and cut up your chicken (see video below for reference).

Put the cleaned chicken in a large stock pot and fill with enough water to cover the chicken. (The more water, the more soup, less water, less soup).

Put it on the stove and set your burner to high. Let that boil for 30 mins.

While your chicken is boiling start making your dumplings. Add them to the pot. Stir your pot to prevent the dumplings from sticking.

After 30 mins go ahead and add your potatoes, carrots, (pumpkin,yam,cho-cho), scallions(beat a little with the back of a big spoon), pepper and soup mix.

Stir your pot to make sure the soup mix is properly distributed.

Cover half of your pot with its lid.

Check on it after 30 minutes stirring and testing the potatoes & carrots.

If they're done, your soup is ready! I like to leave mine for an extra 15 to 20 mins but once your potatoes are cooked you can eat!

INGREDIENTS FOR DUMPLINGS

4 cups of flour

1 1/4 teaspoons of salt

(some people like to add cornmeal to their dumplings, that is a personal choice and completely optional)

1 cup of warm water

METHOD FOR DUMPLINGS

I'll probably need to do a video for this but for now, here we go. Your hands will get messy so PLEASE make sure they are clean before you start.

In a large bowl add your dry ingredients and blend them together with your hands.

Slowly begin to add your water as you roll and knead the flour mixture into a dough.

If it gets too sticky add some more flour a little at a time. (just dip your hand into the flour)

As it begins to form, roll it out length wise and then break of palm sized balls. (pics below)

Form your balls into dumplings as best as you can and then add them to your pot of boiling water.

Stir immediately to help prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

When your dumplings start to float they're done. (about 30 minutes)

The Easiest Teriyaki Chicken

06:38 Unknown 0 Comments

For dinner I wanted to try something different. I was tired of fish and Jamaican food so I decided to look up an EASY recipe (because believe it or not, I really hate to cook) for chicken breasts using ingredients I already had here at home. The entire meal took me literally 30 mins to complete. The only thing I did different was

while still frozen, cut the breasts in half because they were very thick.
let the chicken cook in the sauce a little bit longer than the suggested time.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did and if you do, leave me a comment or tag me on Instagram and let me know!

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
1 1/4 teaspoons peeled, grated fresh ginger (from about a 1-1/2-inch piece), grated on the small holes of a box grater
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
Freshly ground black pepper
4 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 medium scallions, thinly sliced

METHOD

Bring the soy sauce and honey to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring often until the honey has completely dissolved, about 5 minutes. Add the ginger, stir to combine, remove from the heat, and set aside.
If using chicken breasts, place them on a cutting board and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap. Use a meat mallet or a frying pan to gently pound them to a 1/2-inch thickness. Cut each in half so you have 4 pieces roughly the same size. (If using chicken thighs, no need to pound or cut.) Season both sides of the chicken with pepper.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat until shimmering. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook without disturbing until browned, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook the second side until browned, about 3 minutes more.
Reduce the heat to medium, slowly pour in the reserved sauce, and cook, flipping the chicken occasionally to coat in the sauce, until cooked through, about 3 minutes.
Transfer the chicken from the pan, letting the excess sauce drip off, to a clean cutting board. Reduce the sauce in the pan over medium heat until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes more. Slice the chicken crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces. Place on a serving dish, top with the sauce, and sprinkle with the scallions.

Daily Musings Of My Life - Janiyah's 6th Birthday Party

08:18 Unknown 0 Comments

Janiyah is the daughter of our mutual friend Jerome. Fun fact, Jerome and his now girlfriend Penny (seen in the pics) reconnected at my 25th birthday party after first meeting in kindergarten! They started dating about a month after that.
Janiyah's party was held at the place where "a kid can be a kid", Chukee Cheese! So that meant pizza, soda, cake, candy, games, prizes and of course, pics with Chuckee!

Daily Musings Of My Life - Liam's 1st Birthday Party

07:25 Unknown 0 Comments

Liam is the youngest son of our mutual friends Ann & Dominick!
The party was held at a gorgeous park and was circus monkey theme. Fun right?
The boys had an amazing time of course since they were surrounded by other kids in their age group and could feast on snacks, soda and cupcakes all afternoon.

WE'RE ENGAGED!

08:08 Unknown 0 Comments

If you aren't friends with either Fred nor me then this will be your first time hearing it.

WE'RE ENGAGED!

It happened on February 4th. He came home from work and was holding Kyle when he turned to me and said, "Hey, lets get married, right now. Lets just go down to the courthouse and do it". My response, "ok".

So it wasn't the most romantic proposal in the world, and I didn't get my ring until 13 days after but we were both at a place where we knew we were going to be together forever and honestly we aren't the most traditional of couples out there.

We met online in 2010 on twitter. Neither of us were looking for love and we had both just come out of long relationships. We started dating on February 18th 2011, (so I got my ring almost 4 years to the date!) and started living together in May of that same year. We had a short break up by October and got pregnant with Kyle when were supposed to be on a break. We got back together and recreated our home.

I get more in detail in the videos below so to not be redundant, watch them.

We are currently in the planning stages and I'll try to do a wedding series for you girls.
Being engaged feels pretty much the same lol but just knowing that we are one step closer to legally being united as one feels amazing.

Be An Awesome Party Host

07:02 Unknown 0 Comments

Hey mommies, and single wives a like! With birthday parties, holiday events, and family bar-b-ques coming up I thought it would be great to give you guys a couple ideas to help you out with that.

1.Set up your guest list.
The first thing you need to do is have a head count of the amount of people to expect. This will help you determine the amount of food, drinks, cutlery and tableware you will need.

2.Set A Budget.
The worst thing (ok maybe not) that happens is over spending on things that you didn't need to. Figure out how much you WANT to spend and try to stick within that margin as much as possible. Try to catch sales whenever you can. Look at your guest list, determine the type of crowd you are expecting. Are they drinkers? Are they foodies? Is it a toddlers themed birthday? Is it your niece's sweet 16?

3.Get your guests to RSVP!
This is going to be especially hard. This will determine your final head count. You can set up a Facebook event page and track your RSVP there, you can send out emails or even a text or phone call can work. In most cases you will have to do a follow up on your RSVP to people who have not responded, to the people who say they will come but really won't and only said yes because they want to be nice (I'm guessing) which is really no help at all.

4.Location, Location, Location.
If you can avoid having the party at your house that would be awesome! Less worry about your friend bringing a plus one who you swear you saw on "First 48". But lets say that you can't afford to rent a space, let's say you actually enjoy having people over to your home to celebrate (like I do). You want to make sure you have enough parking space for your guests, nothing bothers a neighbor more than two things, 1. Noise in the middle of the night and 2. Some random car in their parking space. If you know you're going to be hosting guests way into the night, try to be respectful of the noise level. Talk to your neighbors in advance and let them know you're hosting a small get together. And hey, invite them too out of good measure.

5.Mingle!
There is nothing worst (again, maybe not) than going to a party and not knowing who's house or party it is. If your friend brings their new girl/boyfriend with them or maybe their cousin from out of town that you haven't met, be sure to be pleasant, smile, and try your hardest to not look the up and down in front of them. If your friends don't know each other, introduce them, you're all friends for a reason. Don't let anyone feel left out of the party. No one should be thirsty, hungry or bored.

6.Don't forget to say thank you!
After the dancing is done and your guests are ready to go, be sure to thank them for coming. It's really not a requirement but it makes your guests feel like their presence was warranted and will likely come again to your next event. Send a thank you message the day after to let them know how how much fun you had and that you are happy they could make it. Not only is it a nice thing to do its proper manners. The same principles we learnt and are teaching our children should still be instilled in our everyday lives.

And that's it. Have fun at your next event. If you have any additional tips feel free to leave them in the comment section below.

Mommy xo.

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