This weekend was a perfect combination of lazy and productive. Saturday Tony and I went out to eat near where he grew up. The Village Tavern is known for their chicken fingers. I wasn’t planning on getting them, until I saw that they offered BUFFALO fingers on their appetizer menu.
Silly me thought it would be a smaller portions since it was an appetizer portion. Wrong! I hate two and a half chicken fingers, and this is that I came home with!
I weighed the leftovers when I got home, and it was 13 ounces of chicken – there was probably a pound in the whole order! We went grocery shopping and after I put all the groceries away when I got home, I decided to catch up on American Idol instead of doing laundry. 
I have to say that this season the women are amazeballs, but I like this “guy” Jda.
Not sure how to describe him. He wears make-up and glitter yet has a mustache and beard. He wears dresses and high heels, but I really liked his performance. Tony keeps telling me that the ratings on that show are tanking this year, but I still like watching it.
I still had dough leftover from last week, so I made another deep dish pizza for dinner Saturday night – one piece was plenty for both of us.
Yesterday morning I got up and starting making coffee, getting the paper, etc. I had no idea what time it was, but it felt like I slept in late because I was really rested. When I looked at the clock it was only 8:15! I finished putting my SIL’s food together for the week, and yesterday I made up for my lazy day on Saturday. I was a cleaning fool, we went to Sam’s Club – if you make as much bread as I do, the cheapest bread by far is at Sam’s Club – a 25 pound bag of bread flour is only $8! I have a giant bin in my pantry with a sealed top to store it.
I always make bread for my SIL each week. When I got ready to form the dough to bake it, I realized I was out of parchment paper. I wasn’t sure foil would work, but I gave it a try. I decided to sprinkle corn meal on the bottom of the foil, and lay the dough on that to transfer the bread in and out of the Dutch oven. It worked! It didn’t stick at all.
My SIL was going to be picking up her food right around dinner time, so I invited her to stay for dinner. I’ve always liked the idea of Sunday dinner. We always ate dinner at the dining room table. We never sat in front of the t.v. These days, the only time we do use the dining room table is when we have company over.
I may reinstate the Sunday dinner just so I can eat at my dining room table once a week! Last week I bought giant bone in chicken breasts to make chicken vesuvio, which is one of Tony’s favorite dishes. I was happy when I found this straight forward recipe for the dish. I, of course, left out the onions. I also reduced the amount of olive oil substantially – down to 2 tablespoons – 1 tablespoon to brown the chicken, and 1 tablespoon to brown the potatoes. I also thought I had frozen peas, but I didn’t, so canned peas were added in the last five minutes of baking.
The chicken was heavily seasoned with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.
Since the breasts were so big, I cut them in half. While this picture doesn’t do the dish much justice, this was a winner. The chicken was tender and perfectly cooked, the potatoes melted in your mouth – once I took the chicken and potatoes out, I mixed 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with water and thickened the broth/wine sauce, and then added a squeeze of lemon and lemon zest to finish it off.
I’ll definitely make this one again! Question of the Day: How often do you use your dining room table?
Tony and I have always had U.S. Cellular as our cell phone carrier. Living out in the “sticks” it was the only phone that gave us great reception in the house. Tony’s phone is up for renewal so we went to get him a new phone, only to find out that U.S. Cellular is getting bought out by Sprint, and Sprint service sucks ass in our area.
When we were at Sam’s Club yesterday, we checked out Verizon, and guess what I got?
Yep, I got an iPhone 4! It was only .96 cents with a 2 year contract – and the plan is nearly identical to what we had at U.S. Cell. The only problem is that since we switched carriers, I need to add in my contacts, but other than that, I really like it so far. So tell me, what are you favorite apps? So far I just have my beloved Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, WordPress and Nike.
And you can see that I do actually write my posts before work – it is now 7:34 a.m. and I leave my house at 8:05 – plenty of time to get my workout bag and food together for the day. Come back tomorrow, I made a broccoli cheddar soup using unsweetened almond milk – I’ll be posting the recipe tomorrow.
Make it a great day!
Try shopshop app for your iPhone. It’s an awesome free shopping list app. I’ve used it every week for four years. Loooove it!
Wow!!! I love that app!!!! Thank you!
biz319 is your instagram 🙂 I love instagram, twitter, facebook, just started words with friends and my fitness pal!
Oops – thanks for the heads up Suzi! 😀
Oh Biz I’m so excited about your new iPhone because I’m love mine entirely too much. Some of my favorite apps are Spark Recipes, Words with Friends, iHeart Radio, Shazam for those moments when you just have to know what song is playing, Amazon Instant Video for watching Downton Abbey and Netflix, Pandora, Podcasts, Find iPhone (if you don’t have it, get it and set it up, also password protect your phone if you haven’t already. If I had done these two things when my phone was stolen it wouldn’t have been so troublesome.), ATT Scanner (or any other scanner to scan those codes that seem to be everywhere now), iBooks, Amazon, Groupon and Flashlight (this is one of my son’s favorites because it literally turns your phone into a flashlight which was awesome in the port-a-potty at the crack of dawn before the Philly marathon!). I hope you’ll share any other fun finds.
The family dinner is challenging in my house because I work 4 nights a week sometimes 5. When I’m off we try to eat at the dining room table. I know it’s an important family time so knowing our limitations we try to incorporate time to reconnect in other ways.
Cool phone! I had to choose between the Iphone and Samsung Galaxy last year and I choose the Galaxy, no regrets so far.
My favorite apps are Facebook, Pocket informant (for my diary), Endomondo (track my walks with Bella), an app from my grocery store where I can add my groceries and organize it on walking route in the shop.
I love Sunday dinners! As you know, I wrote about them today as well. We usually do eat at the table – we had family dinner together every night as our kids grew up. We only use the dining room table for holidays but only if it’s a small group. My dining room table only seats 6 but my kitchen table will seat 12! Everyone feels comfortable in the kitchen – isn’t that funny?
I love my iPhone – for apps I like Grocery IQ for my grocery list, My Fitness Pal to track my eats, Yelp to look up reviews on restaurants and other things, Chipotle to locate the nearest one, Around Me – to find different things. Stitcher to listen to radio programs, Fitbit to track my steps, Fooducate to look up foods and see how they score on the health meter.
Your bread always looks so good!
Enjoy your new phone!
Your restaurant walk with your family looked like so much fun! I have no doubt that the pizza was your sons favorite! 😀
Thanks so much for the link. I really appreciate it. Just remember- no onions in the real recipe. Just if you want leftovers for the hash. And even then you could leave them out! It looks like you have a great site. Can’t wait to explore!
It’s funny, I just ASSUME everyone has onions in every dish, I just automatically say “I left the onions out!” Thanks again for a winning recipe. 😀
When our kids were home we ate at the table every day, but now it’s just the two of us so we sit at the kitchen counter most often! Occasionally, we eat in the living room. I think we used the dining room table twice last year! Haha! PS I made your chobani banana pancakes this weekend and they were fabulous! My husband loved them! We had them with venison sausage. Thanks for the recipe!
So glad you liked the pancakes, I was thinking of making them again tomorrow!
I must be carb depleted since my mouth started watering with the pizza and that delicious looking loaf of bread.
Your chicken looks absolutely delicious. We had leftover Amish chicken and roasted vegies (cabbage, spinich, carrots, red potatoes and ONIONS) on Sunday. JP informed me that he really liked the vegies cooked that way and to make them again like that.
There is just the two of us, but we use our dinning room table 24/7. Our house is over 100 years old, so when the ceiling started leaking in the kitchen where the table was……we decided to start eating in the dinning room. The roof leaks sporatically now, but we still eat in the dinning room….it’s a habit now.
No favorite apps here….we use a TracFone which is all JP can handle for the moment, because he is technology challenged. I am not a phone carrier and would rather the phone did not even invade my privacy.
Nope……I was not a Jda fan. Glad they voted him off! I am thinking I know who will win and it is one of the girls, but can’t remember her name. My favorite boy is the one who stutters and cries alot.
I also like the boy Charlie – he’s is so quirky, I love it!
Woohoo for iphones! I finally gave in once I left my job and of course, I am addicted.
As far as the dining room table goes, if we have company, we eat there. The kids are always in the family room. On a normal night, we eat at our kitchen bar. I do love my dining room though!
Um, and that guy/girl from American Idol was hilarious. I am in love with one of the girls – can’t recall her name, something different….Kree perhaps? She was very understated and so talented.
Glad you chicken vesuvio turned out well!
I agree, Kree is the most natural singer on the whole show – she doesn’t try too hard!
Just FYI on you new phone. Congrats by the way. Love my iphone. Verizon should be able to transfer your contacts,etc.
What?? Thanks for letting me know about that!
Yay for the iPhone! I got mine in October and I adore it! Add me on Instagram (getfitwithjen12). I have water lite that helps me keep track of my water intake and it gives me a grade every day, perfect for my inner good girl lol.
I’ll have to check out that water app! I need that on the weekend to drink more water than wine! 😀
LOL!
We have kids at home, so we eat dinner at the table every night. My husband is usually not here for those meals, and once in a while I will set the kids up at the table and I will sneak into the living room to eat. I was raised by a single dad and we ate 99% of our meals in front of the TV. I miss it sometimes 🙂
I love Words with Friends and Matching with Friends on my iPhone. And can I find you on Instagram? I would love to see all your pictures!
I don’t have very many Morgan, but my bizzy kitchen is my name there. 😀
I’d say Dennis and I are dining room eaters about half the time. My newest favorite apps are Songza, All Recipes “dinner spinner”, spark recipes and words with friends. If you get on words with friends, let me know what your username is and we’ll play.
just wondered if you wrap your bread in the paper/foiil? If not why not try using a silpat mat? I love using it for cookies and biscuits
Nope, I do not wrap it – I do bake the bread with my Dutch oven lid on for the first 30 minutes – that cooks it, then 15 minutes off and that’s when it develops its awesome crust. I don’t have a silpat, but that’s a great idea!
Mmmm, that chicken dinner looks fantastic!
I live in a tiny apartment, so we don’t have a dining room or a dining room table. 🙂 We do have a desk/table that can be pulled out if we really want to eat at a table instead of on the couch, but it’s usually covered in stuff and enough of a pain to move that we just eat on the couch/coffee table. 🙂 Slightly crazy, but it works!
Chicken Vesuvio is one of my faves!
What is your instagram name?? mine is wiliger. Those chicken fingers look so freaking good. We went out for drinks Saturday and even though I had just ate pizza I started salivating when the folks next to us ordered wings. There is just something about that smell!
mybizzykitchen, I think is my Instagram name!
I got my first iPhone a few months ago and LOVELOVELOVE it. Glad you got yours! My newest favorite app is “Around Me” – that’s what I used to find The Omelettry in Austin.
Thanks for the suggestion – and congrats again to Jeff on his half!!
We used to use our dining table every night until my son started taking evening tae kwon do classes 3 times a week. Now it’s my craft table. 🙂
Congrats on the new phone! I loved the iPhone 4!
my daughter just asked for Broccoli Cheddar Soup! I’ll be making your recipe!
I love buffalo fingers. I will do an appetizer and add a side as my entree a lot of times.
We have a dining room table that we eat most meals at. We don’t have a kitchen table (too small). Our TV is visible from the dining room, so that is often on when we eat LOL!
Wow–8 bucks for a 25lb. bag of bread flour? What a deal!
I live in a house that’s nearing 100 years old, so in the winter, I move my office to the dining room table which is just inches from the floor furnace. DH does the same, so during the day, we sit across from each other and work on our laptops. We move the computers for breakfast and lunch and dinner. Since we both work from home. we usually spend a good 10 hours at the dining room table each day.
That sounds like the perfect set up! 😀
Woot! Congrats on the fancy new iPhone – my favorite apps are Instagram, Facebook, myfitnesspal, Pandora, and Twitter.
We don’t have a formal dining room, but always eat at the kitchen table!
At least you eat at a table – I eat on the arm of our couch! 🙁
Whenever I see a blogger make bread, I’m always thinking “gosh, I have to get on that already!” Funny – I was just talking with my husband last night about Sunday dinners. I was telling him how a girl I know always makes a huge Sunday dinner, but they eat at 3:00 – that way they have the rest of the evening to relax!
I wouldn’t mind doing that time slot for Sunday dinner either – kind of like a mini Thanksgiving!
iPhones are way too much fun!! My favorite apps are Soundhound, Pandora and Keyring. 🙂
Huh, I’ve never heard of Keyring – I’ll check that out Michelle!
That chicken looks divine! We *rarely* use our dining room table just because it’s the two of us. However, I want to get in the habit of it because it’s more intimate to do so and we all tend to enjoy our food more and be more present in our meals when there are less distractions.
We don’t sit at our dining room table as much as I’d like. Like you, we basically use it when we have company!
One of my favorite apps is Mealboard – I can keep track of my shopping list with it. Whenever we’re out of something I just add it to my list for the next time I’m at the store!
Thanks Heather – I’ll check that out!
Pandora. You’ll find an artist you love and then you get all sorts of new songs and old songs, it’s great. Also words with friends. You can always start up a game with me! 🙂
Your bread always looks so friggin awesome!!!! I NEED to make some!!
Ah, thanks for the reminder about Pandora – I had that on my old phone – I’ll find you on Words with Friends! 😀
Buffalo fingers. Deep dish pizza. Bread. These are a few of my favorite things. Seriously.
We eat at the dining room table when guests are here, for holidays or if I’ve cooked an especially elaborate dinner. We’llput on some music and sit around the table and take our time with dinner. Makes it feel special.
Look away from all the carbs Kelly! 😀
INSTAGRAM! I’m Itzyskitchen 🙂 That buffalo chicken looks awesome. Josh would for sure have ordered the same. And your breads! I haven’t made bread in ages- its time!
Okay, I know people follow me on instagram, now I need to figure out how to follow other people – I’ll find you! 😀
I’ve used foil sprayed with cooking spray making bread and that works too….or I’ll spray the cookie sheet if I am using that. Did you tell me about that flour before? I have to get that. Now that we have moved and our dining room is nice, we eat there 4 nights a week. But Fri. Sat. and Sunday we eat watching tv.
You could probably find the same thing at Costco – maybe go with Mom on her next visit! It lasted me about six weeks!
We use our dining room table ALL the time. We are a family of 5 so if I have my sis and her 3 plus my parents (which I do often) we use the dining room for the adults and the kitchen table for the kiddos. Also we play games a lot at our dining table.
As far as apps I love instagram. I don’t post but I love keeping up with my friends that way. I am still learning my way around my phone, I don’t have any other apps other than google maps and maybe 3 other normal ones.
I love how cozy your dining table is, especially with your new thrift store finds! Loved seeing your kids skipping in the water – how lucky to live in SoCal!