Indian Dinner plus exploding glass pans

Well last night made for an interesting dinner that is for sure.  We invited the Heal's our neighbors over for dinner last night and had a great meal plus exciting events.  One thing I definitely did learn is to not leave a burner on and put a 9X13 glass pan on top of it.  As I pulled the 9X13 glass pan out of the warm oven, I placed it on the stovetop not knowing I left the burner on.  Within 10 minutes of being there, it literally exploded into millions of pieces.  Shards of glass went everywhere.  I would have to say that the largest piece wasn't much bigger than a couple of quarters side-by-side.  It was amazing!  I never knew a glass pan could do that, let alone shoot everywhere.  I even found glass in my toaster.   Luckily no one was close to it.  I will be cleaning up glass for a lifetime now.

Anyway, the dinner turned out FANTASTIC.  I decided to try a new Indian food recipe.  The one that we tried was from All Recipes and it had a 5 star rating with over 1,000 reviews.  Because of the great reviews I thought it would be a good one to try, and I'm glad we did.  Definitely a favorite from the Indian cuisine. We also served this with our version of this Naan.  You can check out the recipes online for the original versions, but here are my versions.  ENJOY!!!

Chicken Tikka Masala

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients

Marinade:

1 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon ground ginger powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 - 2 pounds chicken (4-5 chicken breasts or 11-12 chicken tenderloins)
6 long skewers

 Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 jalapeno pepper (more or less depending on desired heat)
4 teaspoons ground cumin
4 teaspoons ground paprika
2 teaspoons Garam Masala (optional, but a great addition)
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
2 cups heavy cream (1 small carton)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

In a large bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and salt.  Stir in chicken, cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat a grill on high heat. Lightly oil the grill grate.  Thread chicken onto skewers and discard marinade.  Grill until juices run clear, about 5 minutes on each side.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Saute garlic and jalapeno for 1 minute.  Season with cumin, paprika, Garam Masala and salt.  Stir in tomato sauce and cream.  Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. It is very important for it to simmer for this long in order to let the flavor develop appropriately.  Trust me, you will love it more the longer it simmers. Add grilled chicken, and simmer for 10 minutes. Garnish with fresh cilantro.  

Whole-Wheat Garlic Naan

Ingredients:

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

1 teaspoon white sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 egg, beaten

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups whole-wheat flour

2 1/2 cups bread flour

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and 1 teaspoon sugar. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in 1/4 cup sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.

 Punch down dough. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

Mix melted butter and garlic together and let sit for 5 minutes. 

Preheat George Foreman grill.  Roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle.  Place dough on grill, brush uncooked side with garlic butter.  Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until puffy and lightly browned with top of George Foreman grill up.  Turn over.  Brush cooked side with butter.  Close top of the George foreman grill and cook until browned another 1-2 minutes.  Continue until all dough balls are cooked. 

Cooking Fool...

Since coming here and having so much time on my hands, I've really had a great time trying to cook and experimenting with new things.  I've really enjoyed it.  Everyone once and while I decided I will put a post up of what we have had to eat that day or what my menu is for the week.  Because I always love getting new recipes and I hope other people do too.

So, to start it off...

Tonight we had Beef Stew and Homemade Fluffy Dinner Rolls

Now it was the first time that I had made these dinner rolls and they were AMAZING!! That is a complete understatement too.  In the recipe it says that you need to have a Kitchen Aid mixer, but I don't have one and they worked out great.  Once everything was blended together I just kneaded it for about 5 minutes.  If you are scared to make stuff with yeast thinking that it will take awhile, this is one recipe that doesn't.  From start to finish I did these in 1 hour and 15 minutes including cook time.

I got the recipe off of this website.  She is absolutely amazing.  Browse through her stuff some time.  It's where a lot of my recipes come from.  I don't know her personally, but she has some great recipes.  Plus, if you ever have any questions or anything at all, email her and she'll happily respond.


So the Beef Stew was nothing fancy just a Beef Stew Seasoning packet, vegetables, and meat.  But really it's oh so good.   Here is the recipe that I would do:

1 packet Beef Stew Seasoning
9 cups water
5-6 beef buillion cubes (depending on how much flavor you want
1 1/2 lbs of stew meat (I buy the pre-cut stuff from the store)
3 medium potatoes (chopped)
3 stalks of celery (chopped)
1 small onion (chopped)
15-20 baby carrots (chopped)
1/4 cup flour

Cover the meat with flour.  Put everything into crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 5 hours.

Fall, Family and Picture updates

So it seems like we have been extremely busy lately.  That or sick and so it's been a little difficult to sit down and write an update on life.

I recently went down to Utah for my brother's wedding.  I had a great time seeing family and Josh traveled very well.  He was either asleep or eating while on the plane which was SO nice.  People around me on the flights kept telling me what a great kid I had.  I know, we are super blessed.  I hope that all the rest come out this way.  Unfortunately Jake wasn't able to join me on the trip because of school.  We had fun, but it was nice to get back home and see him.

Speaking of Jake, he is busier than he has ever been.  He is gone so much more often which is more sad for me.  I'm getting somewhat of a taste it's like to be a single mother (and I wouldn't wish it upon anyone).  But we are making it work.  I hear that the first year is the worst and so hopefully that is true.  We are about 1/2 way through the 1st semester, which means a quarter of the way through the first year.  Hooray!!!

Josh has been growing so fast and recently has made a lot of milestones. He's now 5 months and I can hardly believe it.  The day after getting back from Utah, Jake noticed that he is getting his first tooth.  Which you can kind of see here.  Sorry, it's hard to get a good pick of a baby's mouth at this age.  The other day I also noticed that he is getting his other bottom tooth too.  He has been a little ornery, but luckily ibuprofen and teething tablets have saved me.

Josh also has been growing in the fact that he is getting closer to sitting up.  We have a bumbo seat (off-brand of bumbo) that I got at a consignment sale in town.  And he does really well in it.  He is getting better at tummy-time and also has started reaching for things.  It's so fun to see him want something and make an effort to reach for and grab it.  Soon enough he will be rolling over.  He's such a low-key kind of kid that he doesn't seem in much of rush to get there and I can't force him to do anything.

We have also recently started giving him cereal.  It's not very often because he doesn't really like it, but I'm just starting to expose him a little to it.  Here are a few pictures. 

I also got some great shots of Josh lounging around.  I love these:

As far as my life goes, with Jake gone so much I'm trying to keep myself busy.  I do a lot of sewing and crafting.  As well as meeting up with a lot of my friends here.  We have a bi-weekly recipe potluck exchange that I started up and has been really fun to have.  I'm also on the board for the Student Advocate Association here and I'm in charge of the Service and Fundraising.  I've organized one fundraiser and am working on another one right now.  I also have been choreographing and getting lesson plans done for work.  Most of my time though is spent with my little Joshie!!  I absolutely love seeing him grow up and learn new things.  It's also kind of sad to see though because he's not the little Joshie he was 5 months ago.

Sewing Projects

In my spare time I have been sewing.  I really enjoy sewing.  It keeps my hands busy and gives me something to do that isn't watching TV. Plus I get good things out of sewing.  What was awesome about these is that the fabric was super cheap.  They were 5-yard bolts from Wal-mart for $5.00 each.  These are the 2 projects that I recently did.

Skirt.  I got the instructions here

This is a shopping cart cover. I got the pattern from here.

Just gonna finish this...

Day 24- A letter to your parents - I will write this.  I feel it's a personal thing that I should just write to them instead of on blog.  There are many thank you's that they deserve.  
 
Day 25 - What I would find in your bag - diapers, wipes, burp cloths, a bottle, and my wallet.  That's about all I carry with me nowadays
 
Day 26- What you think about your friends - I have such amazing friends and many of them have influenced my life for good.  It really is true about being careful who your friends are because they are huge influences on you.  Luckily I have been blessed with great friends.  
 
Day 27 - Why are you doing this 30 day challenge - Thought it would give me something to do and make the blog a little more interesting. 
 
Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?

 About a year ago this time we had just found out that I was pregnant.  WOW has our life changed so much since then.  I couldn't imagine it being any better now that Joshua is here. 
 
Day 29 - In this past month, what have you learned
That I'm a busy person.  It takes quite some time to blog while taking care of a baby, supporting my husband through med school and working. 
 
Day 30- Who are you?
Chelsee Jensen. I am the wife of an amazing husband Jake Jensen.  I have a beautiful son Joshua Dan.  We are LDS and I'm so lucky to have that knowledge that I will be with my family for eternity. I love my family.  They are my life!!!

VIDEO - Joshie in bumbo

VIDEO - Daddy's kisses to Joshie

Something you crave for a lot

Chocolate!

I have a huge sweet tooth and weakness for chocolate, and I'm sure I'm not the only one out there.  If I could, I would eat it every day.  But unfortunately I can't.  If I did that, I would be having even more issues with my bathroom scale.  I love anything from a candy car, to M&M's, to chocolate pudding.  It's funny that I have such a craving for it all the time because Jake doesn't really even like it.  He has never eaten an entire normal size candy bar in his life.

What makes you different from everyone else

SKIP - can't think of anything

6 Days in One

 So I went on a trip to Salt Lake City for my brother's wedding and I was pretty busy so I didn't get a chance to get on the computer much while there.  Yesterday was recovery day and so now I can finally get to it today.  Here is the quick recap of the past 6 day thing

Day 16 - Another picture of yourself

 
Day 17 - Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
I love my life and wouldn't want to switch it with anyone
 
Day 18- Plans/dreams/goals you have
Get in shape.  Be a good wife/mother.  Have an amazing summer with my husband traveling, camping, hiking, etc.  
 
Day 19- Nicknames you have; why do you have them
Chultzgib - A lot of friends from high school would call me this (My maiden name is Gibson) 
Chels - I love when people feel comfortable enough to call me Chels. For some reason it makes me feel like they trust me, we have a good friendship, etc. I don't know, I just like to when my friends call me this.
 
Day 20 - Someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future
Jacob Darrell Jensen, ha! Husband! I plan on being with him for eternity!
 
Day 21 - A picture of something that makes you happy: my sweet baby boy when he was only a couple weeks old.  I have always loved this picture because it makes me happy. And he always makes me happy!