Spaghetti Squash Chicken Pad Thai

As an artist, I would say the worst and most frustrating thing is hitting a creative block. I’ve had my fair share, as any artist will agree they have as well. But the other day, I had the worst one I’ve had yet. I blanked on everything. Lots of people say just to stop what you’re doing and move onto something else- but that didn’t help because I was stuck on everything.

So I pulled out all my art books, my design magazines, my random inspiration collections I had with me in my office and just spend some time flipping through them to jog some inspiration. That still didn’t help much. So I went online and ordered this book- I don’t even know how I stumbled upon it. They say its good for creative blocks, so I’ll let you know how it is and if it helps when I get it in. Since then though, I’ve been slowly dragging myself out of this damn creative block.

Something I didn’t have a creative block on was the dinner I made last week…

I’m the kind of person that when I go out to eat, if the place has Pad Thai, I get it. I love Pad Thai. Of course some places just don’t do it right but it’s one of my favorite things so I give it a try almost anywhere. So when I came across a recipe for it, well I jumped right on it. I actually tried to make this a few weeks ago but I had a little misunderstanding with a certain squash (more on that in a little bit) so I didn’t get to make it until this week.

So I made this dish the other night and really, words just can’t describe. It was awesome! Like I said, I attempted to make this a few weeks ago so I already knew the Chicken Pad Thai part of it was awesome but the whole thing put together with the squash was seriously good. And yes, I mean seriously good. If you like Pad Thai at all you have to try this. I almost think my version of it was better than any Pad Thai I’ve had out anywhere and this didn’t have pasta noodles, which is much better for you =)

What you need:

• 1 large Spaghetti Squash (it’s literally called a Spaghetti Squash so make sure you get the right one)
• 2-4 chicken breasts
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter
• 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp soy sause
• Red pepper flakes
• S & P

Garnishes (optional)

• Dry roasted peanuts, chopped (I highly recommend)
• Scallions, chopped (I highly recommend)
• Cilantro

1. Preheat oven 350 and line a baking sheet with foil. Cut your SPAGHETTI SQUASH in half lengthwise and scrape away the seeds. Sprinkle with S & P and roast for about 40-60 minutes depending on how big your SPAGHETTI SQAUSH is.

Okay, so here’s my SPAGHETTI SQUASH story. I may blog about a lot of different recipes and talk about food like I know what I’m saying but really, I don’t. I found that out the other week when I attempted this recipe for the first time. Now, I’d heard of spaghetti squash but I thought it was only “known” by that because of how it looks like spaghetti when its forked out, and it is but I didn’t know it was literally called spaghetti squash, like that’s what the sign reads in the store. Well, long story short, I ended up with Chicken Pad Thai, no noodles and a cooked squash I had no intention of consuming as a side dish. Second time around I was more successful…

2. Give yourself about 15-20 minutes before the squash is done then start to cook your chicken breasts however you’d like. You can bake or saute. I chose to saute with a little bit of S & P and garlic (if you use garlic in this step refrain from the garlic in the sauce). Set chicken aside.

3. In another pan while the chicken is cooking, saute some garlic (if you haven’t used it already) for 1 minute. Add the chicken broth, peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar and red pepper flakes. Heat until it becomes a smooth sauce, stirring occasionally.

4. Wait 5 minutes after the squash comes out of the oven, then you can use a fork to scoop out the guts. It should be tender and very easy and come out in little spaghetti-like strands. Once all the guts are out add the squash to your sauce. Add your chicken to the sauce and mix together until its all coated.

5. Plate your portions and sprinkle with garnishes. And enjoy a freaking awesome meal.

The Artist’s “Selfie”

Artist Kevin McShane’s self portrait in the style of the most famous animators of our time. Very cool. Check it out.

The PHL Project

Thanks to “Streets Dept,” a blog about art in the streets of Philadelphia, I found this wonderful project by designer Monica O. It’s some pretty awesome stuff and I just love Philly! Check her out.

Monica O

Monica O

Monica O

Monica O

Advertising gone wrong

There are some ads you look at and go “Damn, that’s brilliant. I wish I’d come up with that.” Then there are ads you look at and go “Seriously?! What was that person/people/company thinking?! I bet someone got fired after that..” I’m talking about the ads that are offensive, that might not necessarily be offensive to you particularly but will obviously offend a good portion of the people on this planet. Like this spot for Hyundai’s water emissions car where the man is trying to commit suicide. I’m sorry, who put that through past the brainstorm, let alone the drawing board.

I also found this one for WWF where it appears we’re competing over what US tragedies have devastated us more.

Good luck trying to disown them.

“Lessons Learned” Report

“Four Career Lessons From a Former Design Intern” I read this article this morning and found it to be an interesting read as well as an interesting exercise for recent grads and the “newly” employed.

Maple Bacon Monkey Bread Minis

Do I have your mouth watering already? I think I started one of my last post by saying “Who doesn’t love cheese?”. Well, who doesn’t love bacon?! Seriously. Just imagine a nice stack of pancakes drizzled with maple syrup and a few pieces of bacon laying next to it soaking up all that extra syrup. I’m sure your mouth is watering now..

When I was younger I used to go camping every year with my family, it was always a big group of people and every year my mommom would make monkey bread. Now, if you’ve never heard of monkey bread you’re crazy and if you’ve never had monkey bread, well you’re even crazier. And once those were out they sure didn’t last. I never really thought it was a big thing though. I think, as a kid I thought it was my mommom’s secret recipe that she invented and that nobody else knew about. It’s not. I see recipes for monkey bread all the time now, different versions from the traditional cinnamon sugar ones to ones stuffed with mozzarella, top with garlic and dipped in marinara. Well, I made something different as well.  I sort of combined 2 different recipes to make my own version of them and I’m calling it “Maple Bacon Monkey Bread” because well who doesn’t like bacon drenched in maple syrup?! I wanted to make a breakfast dessert for Easter morning so what could be better? It was a hit.

What you’ll need:

For the bread

• 3 tubes pilsbury buttermilk biscuits
• 1/4 c melted butter
• 1 1/4 c brown sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon

( I ended up using more sugar and cinnamon but its easy to add once you run out and thats better than wasting extra you don’t use)

For the toppings

• 2Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp cream
• 4 to however-much-you-want cooked bacon, crumbled

1. Preheated oven to 350 and GENEROUSLY grease a 12-cup muffin tin. In a bowl, toss together the cinnamon and sugar.

2. Cut each roll into 6 pieces and dip each in butter (for bread), then dip in the cinnamon/sugar mix. Place all 6 pieces into one muffin cup. Repeat with remaining. (My minis weren’t quite mini though. In the future I may cut the biscuits into 6 pieces but only use 4 pieces for each mini. This would cut the tubes down- instead of 3 tubes making 24 minis, you could have 3 tubes make 36 or you could use 2 tubes to make 24)

3. In a saucepan melt butter (for toppings) over medium heat. Add maple syrup and cook for 3 minutes. Add the cream and cook another minute or so. Remove from heat and carefully spoon mixture over dough balls making sure they get coated well. Sprinkle crumbed bacon on top.

4. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool before you remove from pan.

5. Enjoy!

Lets be clear, this was my first time making monkey bread. The cinnamon sugar on mine sort of melted and dripped to the bottom so the bottoms were really sticky and sugary, while the top wasn’t so much. I’ll have to figure out the solution to that (maybe packed the individual dough balls tighter into the cups..?) but other then that they turned out pretty good and were delicious.

Roasted Veggie and Chicken Mac & Cheese

Who doesn’t love cheese?! For the longest time when I first started my ‘healthier lifestyle’ adventure I tried to avoid cheese, among other things, yes- but cheese was my kryptonite. I did pretty well, avoiding cheese and butter and salt and all those yummy things that just make everything taste better. Well I’ve given up avoiding those things and now I’m choosing to consume them in moderation.

And along with cheese comes America’s all time favorite-  the “Mac and Cheese”. Everyone is a kid at heart when it comes to macaroni and gooey, cheesy goodness- well I am at least. So I set our to find the ultimate healthy mac and cheese and I think I rather succeeded.

For you cheesy taste palette- the “Roasted Mac & Cheese”.

Ingredients:

• Broccoli (cut into small florets)
• Yellow Squash (diced)
• Red Pepper (diced)
• Baby Carrots (diced)
• Whole Wheat Pasta
• Chicken Breasts cubed
• 1/4 c Olive Oil
• Minced Garlic
• 3 Tbsp Flour
• 1 1/2 c Milk
• 2 c Shredded Chedder
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Cayenne Pepper
• Salt and Papper
• Bread Crumbs

You’ll notice I didn’t give measurements for the veggies. Hey, I’m trying to be healthy here. Throw as much or as little veggies in there as you want. I went with about 2 c broccoli florets, 1 yellow squash, 1 red pepper and a half of those little bags of baby carrots, but do whatever you want. I also added chicken to the mix, I put in 3 breasts but add whatever you like. If you’re not sure how much sauce to make for the amount you’re adding it really just depends on how cheesy you want it to be. I was going for a less cheesy Mac & Cheese because I’m trying to be healthier. I used a box and a half of pasta with all those veggies and the chicken and it made a pretty decent sauce with the measurements in the ingredients.

Step 1: Preheat oven to 400. Set up a pot of water for the pasta and a large baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and coated with a little olive oil.

Step 2: Toss broccoli, red pepper, squash and carrots onto the baking sheet and coat with the olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes and remove from oven and set aside.

Step 3: Once water is boiling add pasta, cooking according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.

Step 4: Sautee Chicken and set aside.

Step 5: Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and cook 30 seconds. Whisk in flour and cook 1 minute. Whisk in milk gradually, stirring until mixture is slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in cheese until well distributed and melted. Add red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper.

Step 6: Mix the pasta, veggies and chicken in a big pot and add the cheese mixture a little at a time making sure you coat all of it. Add to a casserole dish and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake at 500 for 5-10 minutes until the bread crumbs are crispy and brown.

Step 7: Grab a spoon and dig in.

Free Font Friday

I’m on a mission.. (did you think of that cereal commercial? I did). So since I’ve started my “healthier lifestyle adventure”- which is what I’m now referring to all this as.. I’ve been pretty simple with my breakfasts and lunches, dinners I vary all the time, but for the past 8-9 months 5 days out of the week I pretty much have the same thing for breakfast.

Now, coming from someone who didn’t really eat breakfast to begin with, it wasn’t that big of a deal for me. But I’m starting to realize how bored I’m becoming with my weekday morning smoothie. It just doesn’t do it for me anymore. So my mission: To throw in some variety. I’ve found a few recipes- we’ll I’m not sure if they are all considered ‘recipes’ necessarily but I’ve got some things I’m going to try out. I’ll let you know how that works out. In the mean time- enjoy some free fonts..

Dezen Pro

Josefin Slab

Tipografía Gratis: Spatha Serif

Saf Free

I love downloading new fonts to my computer. It makes life so much better.

Free paint for the DIYer

Had to get this out because its a one day thing.. Free quart of paint at ace hardware, today only! I’m working on a project that I’ll add pictures for when I’m finished but a quarts all I need and maybe it’s all you need too..?

Free Font Friday

I’m a little disappointed in myself, I apologize- I was doing so well. It’s been a few crazy weeks with work, with the new apartment and with helping my sister with her new house, I just haven’t gotten around to posting in awhile. I know this is a lazy post but hey you get free things from it..

Mountain Retreat by Andrew Clark

Hangin Type Face by Miroslav Bekyarov

Just a few fonts I found interesting. I like the thin and tall style of these typefaces. Hope you do too!