Indian Chicken, Greek Salad, and Rosemary Flat Bread

 I have been thinking about this challenge to make new food with every meal I have made. And I have so many favorites too! So I am going to try and meld some of my favorite recipes into some new ones to create awesome meals.

Laura posted her favorites on her blog to start off her 52 new meals!

You can read then here and they look awesome!

I am so excited to do this with her!

My new recipe this week is a Greek salad that I found at How Sweet Eats, but changed it a little. We don't do a whole lot of dairy in our house and I also already have a fantastic flat bread recipe, so I just used the one we love. Combine this all with my favorite Indian chicken, and although it sounds funny, it came together beautifully!

Alright! Here we go.

In the morning make your Indian Chicken in your crock-pot.

Creamy Crock-pot Indian Chicken

Ingredients:

2 lbs chicken

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons garlic

1 tablespoon jalapeno

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon cumin

3/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon mace

8 oz yogurt or sour cream

Place everything in your crock-pot.
Cook on high 2 hrs and low 2 hrs or on low for 8 hrs.
**You can also freeze this meal uncooked! Add everything you need to a zip lock bag minus the yogurt or sour cream and freeze it. Then dump it all in your crock-pot when you need it adding the yogurt or sour cream**

Next up about 1.5 hours before dinner time, make your dough so it can rise.

Rosemary Flat Bread

Ingredients:

1 package active yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 tablespoon fresh or dried rosemary
3/4 cup water (might need more)
1 teaspoon oil

In the bowl of a mixer combine the yeast, sugar, flour, salt and rosemary. Mix to combine. Add the water in a steady stream until the dough begins to form a ball, turn it on to a board and knead with the heel of your hand until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Coat a bowl with oil. Place dough in bowl, and cover with a damp cloth. Put in a warm spot to rise until double in size, about 1 hour.

When the dough has doubled in size, punch the dough, scrape it onto the counter and knead it lightly into a smooth ball. Cut into 20 pieces and with a rolling pin roll out to form very flat 5 to 6-inch pieces.

Preheat a stove top grill pan over medium high. Do not oil. Place bread on hot grill and cook without touching it until you see bubbles on the surface, about 1 to 2 minutes. Turn and continue to cook 1 to 2 minutes more or until bread has puffed up. Serve immediately.

While you are waiting for your bread to rise, go make your Greek Salad!

Greek Salad

Ingredients:

dressing
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
2 garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
salad
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 cups grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
1 seedless cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 cup pitted kalamata olives, some sliced if desired
**To make it a traditional Greek salad add 8 ounces feta. Although it was amazing with out it. This is definitely going to become a new staple in our house.

Combine all ingredients for dressing and allow to sit.
Cut up all ingredients for the salad and then toss together in a bowl.
Drizzle dressing over the salad until evenly coated. There will be left over dressing.

Finish up your bread and serve the chicken and the salad over a bit of lettuce on your flat bread! 

Seriously?! And awesome dinner.

Thomas and I stumbled upon this flat bread recipe ages ago and with a few changes have been using it ever since. And my sweet friend Suzy taught me how to do prep for freezer cooking years ago and this is one of the favorite recipes that she gave to me.

The Not So New Years Resolution

Wow, I just looked back and realized that I only had 8 posts in 2015 here on this blog.
Lets look at the number of posts I have written each year.
Long Sleeves in a Short Person World
2015 - 8
2014 - 55
2013 - 59
2012 - 52
2011 - 7
But then I look over at The Invention of Tiny Toes and realize, ah! I was over there A LOT.
The Invention of Tiny Toes
2015 - 49
2014 - 54

I see 2 things here.
1) When I look at the number of posts I have written, to me it is a direct reflection of how much I had to say. Oh my. I had quite a bit to say in 2014. 109 posts worth of things to say. Twice as much as any other year.
2) My last 2 years, especially the last year, my complete focus has been on bringing those little toes into the world. Yep. Sums it up.

But welcome back to Long Sleeves in a Short Person World!
And here is what this post was supposed to be all about. Not so New Years Resolutions.

New Years Resolution Thoughts

Around the New Year as I read everyone else's New Year's resolutions, naturally I started to think of if I had any. I thought of a few things, but never wrote them down or even talked to anyone else about them. But as I printed out the calender for 2016, I did create check boxes on it for things like drinking more water, intentional time with God, exercise, and flossing my teeth (cause I just struggle). These are the 4 things that I cannot force myself to do all in 1 day. Don't ask me why, but I can't.

But during a conversation with my sweet friend Laura the other day, who I have walked side by side as we work our separate businesses and talked about our goals and dreams together, she asked me if I had any New Years resolutions. I said no, but then as I talked, I told her how I was being intentional about being calm. That not only was I cleaning each room in our house from top to bottom and going through all of our items and getting rid of anything that we didn't use in the last year to simplify our lives, I was also being intentional about approaching life with a peace and a calm. To me that equals a non stressed life. And I can honestly say I have yet to be stressed about anything this year. A whole 13 days in and going strong. Don't get me wrong, those check marks for exercise and water consumption? They certainly have not all been checked off, but I have been living with an intentionally simplified spirit for sure.

And then after I told her I was "spring cleaning" my pinterest boards, we started talking about my pinterest resolution from 2 years ago. After a little while, since she blogs too and blogs about food, we agreed that we were each going to cook something new once a week and blog about it. Whether it is from cookbooks or pinterest, we are going to do it together! And now she is committed because I just put it out there. Hehe. Nothing like forcing your friends hand. So! Here we go!

And lastly, we talked about a word for the year. I have some friends that are very intentional about this. I mainly came by it because I felt the word Abide so strongly last year. Well, this year, or maybe it is just this next Frozen Embryo Transfer round, but I strongly feel my word is Joy. So there you go. My word for the year is joy. To live it, to feel it, to give it. Joy.

Resolutions

1. Living an intentionally simplified life. 
2. Being better at drinking water, exercising, spending time with God, and flossing.
3. Blog about a recipe I tried from pinterest or one of my cook books. (Although lets be real, it will most likely all come from pinterest.)
4. Come to know the true meaning of JOY in all things.

Actions

Do it! 

And do it with JOY!

And blog about it for all of you. 

Or maybe just for her, but all of you can join in the fun as well. 

I will include the link to what she made each week too.
Because I think it will be grand fun to do it together!
So, here is to 50 new recipes, since we are starting 2 weeks late.

I really want to move tons of the pins from these bottom 12 boards into the top 3 boards! Maybe I will even enlist Thomas's help! Although not for the challenge. I will do the weekly recipes all by myself, thank you!