This and That

Well... I planted some basil and cilantro a couple of weeks ago. From seeds. Here's a peek at the pathetic progress my little seeds have made.

Look close. Yes, that's cilantro.

And some equally sad looking basil... At this rate, I should have something useful by next spring. Maybe. I made some baked chicken parmesan last night. Yummy, and easy! The picture doesn't look very attractive, but it's good, I promise. Chicken Parmesan

· 4 boneless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2 inch thickness · 1 egg · 1/2 cup milk · seasoned bread crumbs · 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil · 8 slices mozzarella cheese, or more · 1 jar (16 oz) spaghetti sauce · Parmesan cheese · 8 oz. thin spaghetti Whisk together the egg and milk. Dip the chicken breasts in milk and egg mixture and then in bread crumbs. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken in the hot oil on both sides until golden, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Set chicken in a baking dish. Slice 8 pieces of mozzarella cheese and put two on each chicken breast. Pour 1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce over all. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and a little more mozzarella and bake at 350° for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until bubbly. Serve with spaghetti, garlic bread and a nice green salad.

I'm embarrased at the number of shoes sitting in our entryway, but I had to share this picture of Kitty... nestled in the mess of shoes. You just never know where you're going to find her! And one more recipe for you... Chicken Chili

1 1/2 pound boneless, skinlesschicken breasts, washed and patted dry.2 cans (14 oz. ea.) chicken broth1 jar (48 oz.) great northern beans, with liquid1 large onion, chopped2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic1 can (3 oz.) chopped green chilies, with liquid2 teaspoons ground cumin1 teaspoon ground oreganoGarnish with green chopped onion tops, shredded cheese or tortillachips (optional) Bake chicken breasts at 350 for 30 minutes. Cut in pieces. In a large pot, pour small amount of broth. Add onion and garlic and simmer until onion is wilted and hot. Add the chilies, stir, then add broth and beans with liquid. Mix in the cumin and oregano. Bring to a boil and add chicken pieces. Cover and simmer for at least 30 minutes.

A new favorite spot...

I recently planted some Basil and Cilantro seeds in pots. It's hard to find a sunny spot in our apartment, but I noticed some coming through one of our kitchen windows. Kitty decided it was her new favorite spot...

I think I'm going to have to find a different window...

Fish Tacos!

We had fish tacos for dinner last night.

The thought of eating fish tacos used to turn my stomach, but after trying this recipe, I've changed my mind! It's a good one to make after having Chicken Tortilla Soup... that way you only have to pluck cilantro leaves once! This also uses the same 6 inch corn tortillas.

Fish Tacos with Chipotle Cream Sauce

1lb. mild white fish (thawed)

(I use a one pound bag of prepackaged frozen flounder fillets from Aldi... $3.99 and DELICIOUS!)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp. lime juice

1/4 tsp. salt

fresh black pepper

1/2 cup plain, non-fat yogurt

2 tbsp. mayo

2 tsp. chipotle pepper in adobo sauce

(You can buy this in a little can at Wal-mart or Kroger in the mexican foods section. I just spoon out 2 tsp. of the adobo sauce. The peppers themselves are big, and spicy enough to peel paint! The sauce mixes in nicely and adds great flavor.)

8- 6 inch corn tortilla

1 1/2 cups shredded green cabbage

1 can whole kernel corn

cilantro leaves

1. In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Pour over fish fillets and marinate at least 20 minutes (I marinated for a couple of hours).

2. Put yogurt in a strainer lined with paper towel and place over a bowl to drain for 20 minutes. (I was skeptical, and didn't know that yogurt could "drain," but it does!) 3. Remove fish from marinade and grill for 3 minutes per side or until cooked through. Remove and set aside on plate to cool for 5 minutes. (I use a grill pan for the fish.) 4. In a small bowl, combine the thickened yogurt, mayo, and chipotle pepper (or adobo sauce). It will be a nice peach color, very tasty.

5. Heat tortillas for 30 seconds on each side. (I just placed the stack in the oven on a tray for a couple of minutes at 350.) Flake fish.

6. Top each tortilla with 1 spoon of chipotle cream sauce, fish, cabbage, corn, and cilantro.

Here's all the "stuff"... please overlook the tupperware serving dishes... I was wanting to clean up fast after dinner. :)

And the final product!

Azaleas and back things...

I saw a doctor about my back today... we were hoping I could have another rhizotomy done before the wedding, honeymoon, etc. He did x-rays, examined me, and said, "Well, history likes to repeat itself. Since a rhizotomy worked well in the past, it's likely to work well now."

I thought, Great! Let's go! He then said, "But we don't do those. Not on the thoracic spine. So we'll do this..."

Hmmmm. He also had zero personality.

Did you watch the Master's? Coworkers told me that they either pack the Azaleas in ice, or put heat lamps on them to delay or hasten their blooming so that they are in full bloom for the tournament. For the rest of the world, the azaleas are just now starting to bloom, and they are beautiful! There are a few bushes in our apartment complex, so Susie and I took a walk today to take some pictures. Well, Susie had other things on her mind. I took the pictures.

I also saw some ducks... two males and a female. And a giant crow, who flew away before I could take his picture.

A very special little girl turned 2 yesterday... Happy Birthday, I-Ry! We love you!

Georgia Aquarium...

Bryan's Mom and Dad came down over Easter weekend, and we visited the Georgia Aquarium. It was Bryan's and my second time going, and it was just as spectacular as the first!

We walked through "Ocean Voyager" first... it was complete with sharks of all kinds, two Manta Rays, and four giant whale sharks!

We were just in time to see the whale shark feeding. It's hard to see in these pictures, but in the tops of the pictures, there is a raft with a person dumping krill into the whale sharks' mouths. The person announcing the feeding said that the whale sharks throat is only the diameter of a quarter!!

You can see the raft and the whale shark with it's mouth open in the following two pictures...

There was a penguin exhibit, but they had extreme difficulties holding still for a picture, so I had about 6 or 7 shots of black and white blur!

Some pretty tropical fish...

The American Alligators were especially photogenic. I think they might have thought we looked delicious.

"Come on in, the water's perfect!"

A few electric eels...

Pirhana!

Unfortunately, even after checking back a few times, the otter girls lay sleeping all afternoon. If I remember correctly from our last visit, the otters in this exhibit are all sisters.

And as terrible and wrong as it seems... looking at this Japanese Crab made us all crave crab legs...

The Beluga exhibit suffered the loss of their male whale, Nico, this past winter. They have a new male, Beethoven, along with the female, Maris.

I just noticed the sheepish-looking fish above the starfish in the picture below... he looks like he got caught doing something naughty!

Seahorses! The males incubate and give birth to the babies! I wonder if that means the females run to the store to buy pickles and ice cream for them?

Another creepy eel with the starfish...

I liked this view of all the little suction things on the underside of the starfish.

The giant octopus was hiding. They only live 3-5 years. Poor little thing.

I can't remember what these spiny fish were called, but I think they were poisonous.

We watched the little garden eels for several minutes... they "grow" like weeds, and then pull back into their little holes when fish swim by.

Sea anemones...

The Cuttlefish... we couldn't tell which end was the head, and which end was the tail!

Tangled-looking sea nettles. They sting like jellyfish.

They sort of resemble my hair in the morning...

This was the simulated tropical reef. We saw all of the cast of "Finding Nemo"!

Bryan's Mom and Dad in front of the reef...

If you look closely, you'll see the clownfish (Nemo) in the anemone.

Apparently all of their ridiculous splashing and diving and picture-avoiding earlier that day wore them out... I finally got a picture of the penguins resting before we left!

There were several "touch pools" to touch sharks, rays, and other creatures. I passed on the horseshoe crabs.

I only got blurry shots of the ever-moving loggerhead turtles.

Even though it looks like the shell is just perched on top of the purple-pink spiny blob, that blob lives inside of the white shell halves. You could also touch the blob, but I passed on it as well.

This Georgian Suckerfish was thought to be extinct... then they found some. Whew.

There were also real shrimp to touch. They don't look nearly as tasty when they are alive...

We made one more trip through Ocean Voyager before leaving... here's another shot of the whale sharks.

Have you ever eaten Grouper? Well, you're not going to want to after you see the look of sad disbelief on the giant grouper's face. He can't believe you'd actually eat him...

Don't you feel terrible?

We had a great time visiting with Bryan's parents... we can't wait until we're back in Indiana!