Buttermilk Chicken Caesar Salad

I eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. But, salad no. I hardly ever get the 'man I need a great big salad feeling' Tonight Jim got that feeling. I tried to persuade him with other delicious options, but his mind was made up. Salad it is.

Here is a Martha Stewart recipe for Buttermilk Chicken Caesar Salad

***Disclaimer***
This is not a typical caesar salad. No oil. No little salty fishies.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermik
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, grated or pressed
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Couple slices of whatever bread you have
Olive oil
1/4 cup mayo
2 medium heads of romaine lettuce, cut into pieces

CHICKEN
1.Put the chicken in a ziploc bag and pound it so it's a bit flatter.
2.In a medium bowl combine the buttermilk, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, and parmesan.
3.Add all BUT 3/4 cup of the mixture to the chicken.
4. Refrigerate the chicken for at least 15 minutes up to 1 day.

SALAD DRESSING
1. Put the reserved 3/4 cup buttermilk mixture in a small bowl.
2. Whisk in 1/4 cup mayo and add a bit more salt and pepper.
3. Refrigerate until you need it.

CROUTONS -of course you could buy croutons, but where is the fun in that???
1. Heat up your broiler.
2. Lay the bread out on a baking pan
3. Brush the bread on both sides with olive oil
4. Broil for 3-4 minutes on both sides...keep a close eye on it
5. Cut the bread up into crouton sized pieces

FINISH THE CHICKEN
1. Heat the broiler.
2. Transfer the chicken to a baking pan and discard the marinade.
3. Broil for about 15 minutes
4. Let the chicken set for about 5 minutes
5. Slice thin

When your ready to eat toss it all together and enjoy.

Homestudy #2

Michelle stopped by for visit #2, yesterday evening. It was a much shorter more business like meeting. I was happy to give her back all the paperwork that she gave us, all completed. However, she still managed to give us more homework. We need to rack up ten hours each of adoption education. This confuses me a bit and I need to check with our adoption agency to see what qualifies. We have ordered a few books from amazon and are familiar with some online resources.
Good news is by the time we finish the education piece our fingerprints, background checks, and references should be completed and then we can be done with the homestudy and move on to filing an I-600a (Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition) It's actually a fairly simple form and we have already collected the supporting documents! Just need a completed homestudy. Maybe 2 weeks.
In other news. Jim took on the project of finding a psychologist who would do these necessary tests we need. We finally found someone in Lincoln and I had an appointment for today and Jim had one for next week. Jim talked with the insurance people to make sure it would all be covered. They said yes!!! Well the doctor called yesterday and said he will not submit our claim to the insurance company because this is not a medically necessary visit or medically necessary tests. Jim is frustrated. Back to the beginning. Lucky for us we have a bit of time to get that all figured out.

The song stuck in my head

Our adoption process is projected to last 18-24 months. We have requested an "under two year old" meaning a child between 6-24 months. So it makes me think...what's our kid up to now? Dividing into a bigger and bigger bundle of cells, doing flips in its biological mom's belly, being rocked by someone somewhere, taking a nap. In any case I keep hearing this song on the radio. It's the kind of song that keeps me in the car even when I am somewhere. The chorus is my favorite part and it's what I want to share with our child as they grow.

Be strong in the Lord and,
Never give up hope,
You're going to do great things,
I already know,
God's got His hand on you so,
Don't live life in fear,
Forgive and forget,
But don't forget why you're here,
Take your time and pray,
These are the words I would say

Productivity

As part of the homestudy we are required to sign a bunch of release forms, get checked by the doctor, have background checks done, get fingerprinted, have reference forms filled out, write down a bunch of financial information, get copies of our birth certificates and marriage license, and answer some self study questions.

Let me just share today's productivity
-got my fingerprinting done and am sending Jim to do his tomorrow
-set up a doctor's appointment for Jim & I tomorrow
-filled out reference forms
-had Jim make the necessary copies
-did an online background check for both of us. I am so uncriminal they couldn't even find my name!! They found Jim, he has been pulled over, but has no criminal information on his record.
-filled out most of the self study questions

Our girl Michelle is coming back on Saturday. I am going to be excited to give her back all the paperwork she gave us and tell her it's her turn now!!

Visit #1

Michelle is our homestudy agent. Her job is to write a review about us, our home, our families, our marriage, and anything else she notices. She seems nice. But her questions make me nervous. I'll admit it I don't care to talk much about my family. Sure, they are loving. My mom has a big heart, but we are really different people. As a child I was really close to my siblings, close like a second mother not close like fun. I didn't want to admit that my brother, sister and I all have different fathers and I have never seen mine. I didn't care to say that my brother (18) is in jail and my sister(21) has yet to graduate from anything. I am selfish. I don't want the negative aspects of the people I am related to, to reflect upon myself. But Michelle is kind and just continues to ask questions and scribble down my answers. Then we get to talk about Jim's family. I pine after Jim's family. He grew up in one home. He lived with a mom and dad who were both teachers. He even got to say his dad was his best friend. I worked real hard to not cry. When I don't want to cry I start thinking about baseball, that's my trick. But then I was thinking about the Red Sox and that kinda made me want to cry more. (not our best season)
Finally, we moved on. Got to talk about the things I am proud of...college, friends, our marriage, jobs, boston, and even lincoln. Showed her around the house. Then she left us with a large stack of papers that are in need of filling out.
I'm on vacation these next two weeks. Vacation from school = full time adoption work. Getting finger printed, visiting the doctor, and too many other details to remember.
Michelle is coming back next Saturday to talk more and collect some of the stack of papers she left with us. Excellent.

Chicken Corn Chowder

Found this recipe in Cooking Light's Holiday Cookbook. It's a bit spicier than the corn soup I usually make and I thought it was delicious. Amy was forced to eat it for lunch today and she had a second bowl, so my guess is she thought it was tasty as well.

Ingredients
-2 tablespoons butter
-1/2 an onion, chopped
-1 rib of celery, chopped
-1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
-2 tablespoons of flour
-3 cups of milk (well I don't care for super milky soup so I used 1 cup chicken stock and 2 cups of milk)
-2 cups of roasted chicken
-1 1/2 cups of fresh or frozen corn
-1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
-1/4 teaspoon red pepper
-salt and pepper as needed

Directions
-Coat your chicken breasts with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Back for 20 minutes at 375.
-While the chicken is cooking, melt the butter in your soup pot. Add the onion, celery, jalapeno and cook for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with four and cook for a minute.
-Stir in the milk and spices. Bring to a boil and cook until thick. Cut up the chicken and add it to the soup.

*Next time I make it I'll add bacon...why not!

Tell me what you see?

The past week we have been searching for a psychologist who can make sure we are not too crazy to adopt a child. Besides talking to this psychologist we have to take some standardized tests. Jim has been calling all over Lincoln to find one that is qualified to give us these tests.

Typical phone conversation

Jim "hey do you do TAT test"

Receptionist "umm no"

times ten

Well we finally found a guy who is familiar with the test. He does not give it often but he is qualified. It gets us wondering what is the test all about that no one gives it and what have a I gotten myself into??? Of course I turn to google to see what this test is all about. Turns out it is a simple test.
1. Look at a picture of some people
2. Tell what led up to the event
3. Tell what the people in the picture a feeling and thinking
4. The outcome of the event

Okay, sounds a lot like kindergarten story time. It also seems like something I would struggle to stay serious through, but I'll give it a good try. What does that say about me?

In not so funny news our coordinator e-mail us to tell us our check didn't go through. Well that money isn't in our account any more so where did it go.....