Lovin' From the Oven

Chia Pudding

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chiapudding

Have you ever had chia seeds? I must admit, I was a bit wary of them when I first saw them. They reminded me of the little “fish eye” Asian drink that comes in a can. They weren’t really fish eyes.. they just looked like them. I actually don’t even know what was in it. Does anyone know what I’m talking about?

Anyways, I had one of those Mama Chia squeeze pouches and it wasn’t terrible. You just have to brace yourself for those little seeds coming your way. Once you get over that, then it’s kind of good.

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I saw a bag of chia seeds at Trader Joe’s so I threw them in my shopping cart to experiment with later. I found out that people at my work eat it all the time! They throw it into their water bottles, let it sit for a while, and then drink away! Apparently chia seeds can absorb up to 12 times their weight in liquid when soaked. Thanks, Wikipedia.

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They’re also great for you because one serving of chia seeds has 11 grams of dietary fiber, 4 grams of protein, and 18% of your recommended daily intake of calcium. That’s one powerful punch for such a little seed!

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To make chia pudding, I simply soaked the seeds in my choice of milk overnight. After that, they become thick and slimy, perfect for eating with a spoon.

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I think that using vanilla soy milk was key for this recipe because of the added depth of flavor. Regular milk probably wouldn’t be as good. Although, you could try it and let me know otherwise.

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Chia Pudding

Ingredients

  • 1 cup vanilla soy milk (I used Silk)
  • 1/4 cup chia seeds
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

  1. Mix all of the ingredients together and then let sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.
https://lovintheoven.com/chia-pudding/

Lemon Pasta with Chicken, Spinach, and Tomatoes

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You know it’s been a while when you log onto WordPress and you have not one, but seven, updates to be installed. Now how did that happen?

The good news? I can officially call Southern California my home again. I’ve successfully moved back over the past week and am slowly trying to turn a house into a home. I even had to do my first “grown up” purchases this past week. Shopping for a refrigerator is a lot easier than buying a couch.

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Our refrigerator shopping was pretty painless since we had a very small space in the kitchen for it and there were only three refrigerators that could fit into the space. Obviously, we went with the cheapest one (helloooo wedding payments and student debt!).

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Our couch shopping experience was exactly the opposite of that. We went into a furniture store and saw an ad for a mix and match furniture set for only $1099. We found one that we liked and went to make the purchase. Long story short: the couch that we chose wasn’t supposed to be on the ad and the manager refused to sell it to us as advertised.

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Fast forward a couple of days later and numerous emails/phone calls to corporate, their twitter, facebook, and the BBB, we finally got a phone call today that they would honor their ad. I don’t understand why they couldn’t just do that in the first place.

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I mean, they even left the ad up after several days and didn’t change it after the whole fiasco with us. You’d think that a company would fix their mistake after a problem with a customer so that it’s not repeated again in the future. Nope, they decided to take their chances. That’s ballsy.

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So that’s that. We finally purchased a couch and a refrigerator. Now we’re just waiting for all of the pieces to be delivered so that we don’t have to sleep on the floor anymore (we’re also waiting on our mattress). I love sleeping on the floor, but my DF can’t stand it for the life of him.

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I have yet to try making a meal in the kitchen yet since we didn’t have a refrigerator the first three days we lived in this apartment. Now that we have a fridge, I still have to go to the grocery store to stock it. Oh, the joys of moving.

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It was also 104 degrees the day we moved in. Goodness gracious, LA!

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I’m actually craving a home cooked meal right now. We had to eat out the past couple of days (again, no refrigerator) for every single meal. As luxurious as that sounds, it actually kind of sucks.

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Even a simple pasta dish like this sounds great right about now, just as long as it’s made in my kitchen!

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This pasta was very simple and had tons of lemon flavor. I liked how the spinach and roma tomatoes added a little bit of color to the plain looking dish.

from the recipe crayon box

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Lemon Pasta with Chicken, Spinach, and Tomatoes

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb angel hair pasta
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 2 t. crushed red pepper
  • Perfect Chicken, cut into chunks
  • 2 lemons, zested and juiced
  • 3/4 c. heavy cream
  • 1 c. Parmesan, grated (or shredded)
  • 1 c. baby spinach, stems removed
  • 1/2 c. roma plum tomatoes, halved
  • 3 T. extra virgin olive oil

Directions

  1. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box. Drain and reserve 2-3 tablespoons of the pasta water.
  2. In a large skillet over low heat, cook the oil, garlic, and crushed pepper. Cook until the oil sizzles (about 7-10 minutes).
  3. Add in lemon juice, heavy cream, and the reserved pasta water to the garlic oil mixture. Cook over medium low heat until it just starts to bubble.
  4. Add the pasta, zest, and 3/4 c. Parmesan to the cream sauce. Toss for a minute or two.
  5. Add chicken, spinach, and tomatoes and mix evenly. Top with remaining cheese.
https://lovintheoven.com/lemon-pasta-with-chicken-spinach-and-tomatoes/

Baked Chicken Bites

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bakedchickennuggets-6 GE_kitchen_noprops The kitchen is by far my favorite room in the house. After all, my DF and I spend the most time in there creating our meals for the day. Since he’s a law student and I’m always on the go for work, time is very valuable to the both of us. I like having appliances that can cook my meals in thirty minutes or less so that my DF and I have more time to spend together. I mean, who wants to spend two hours a day waiting for an oven to preheat or your chicken to be done so that you can bake cookies? Or waiting for your flan to set in a refrigerator that doesn’t get cold enough? No one. Appliances play a vital role in your kitchen, whether you realize it or not. The quality of your oven, refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave, and stove affect your quality of food. bakedchickennuggets Dinner is the most important meal of the day, especially on hectic weeknights, because it lets you reflect and share your daily events. I’ve always remembered it as opportunity to chat with my parents when I was little, and now, I get to pass on the tradition by chatting with my DF about his day at school or my day at work. There are always stories to tell and people to share it with. bakedchickennuggets-3 ge_10-range_0263 GE_kitchen_ALL_0019_20_RANGE COOKIE TRAY Dinner is a time where you can vent about things, set work issues aside, and just relax with your loved ones. It’s so important to make time on weeknights to reconnect and recharge, and dinner is that time for us. GE Appliances have helped made this possible for the past and current generations in my family with their innovative appliances. Their Double Range Oven, for example, allows me to bake multiple items at once. That saves me time in waiting since I can make these baked chicken bites and dessert at the same time. bakedchickennuggets-4 ge_08-dishwasher_0186 GE_kitchen_ALL_0010_11_DISHWASHER TIGHT GE Appliances’ Dishwasher (which is a semi-recent discovery for me… I never used a dishwasher until I moved in with my DF and let me tell you, it’s one glorious invention. I don’t know how I ever lived without one before!) saves a ton of time cleaning up with its 102 spray jets. With that many jets, you can save time and not do any pre-washing or rewashing. Since you’re saving so much time, you can be spending more time with your family over dinner! bakedchickennuggets-2 Bottom line, GE Appliances has always listened to the consumer (me!) and upgraded each product according to our needs. They are constantly working and upgrading to make the best available product in the market with design, efficiency, and people in mind. By the way, GE Applainces is also offering rebates and promotions (GE Artistry begins 5/15/2014 – 5/28/2014). 
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How do you make your weeknight dinners special? Answer in the comments below for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card!

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Baked Chicken Bites

Ingredients

  • 3 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 3/4 cup bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup panko
  • 1 tbsp italian seasonings
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 2 eggs
  • cooking spray

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
  2. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl. Set aside.
  3. In another bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, panko, italian seasonings, cheese, salt, and pepper.
  4. Dip the chicken pieces into the eggs and then into the bread crumb mix until evenly coated.
  5. Place on prepared baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes, turning the chicken pieces halfway through the baking.
https://lovintheoven.com/baked-chicken-bites/

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