Food on Friday: Lazy ass edition

This has been a really tough week for me. I'm still not over the trip to Philly (in terms of body clock resetting and catching up on sleep) and I've had a very stressful few days of planning my fall trainings, conducting four-hour meetings, and hearing bad news (my counterpart at the other agency who runs the program with me is leaving her job immediately after we finish our trainings in early November - which is just about the worst time she could possibly do that. I'm happy for her, but at the same time - argh!). I left work early yesterday in order to take a nap, and just as I was falling asleep the landlord called asking if I would be home so he could retrieve his forgotten keys. Needless to say the nap never happened. Thankfully, we have seen the last of our rotten upstairs neighbors (a long story) and new ones moved in last night. Let's hope they're a bit better than the last ones.

Also, Adina posted what may be the most awesome photo of me in existence. My only excuse is the 3 drinks and sushi I had in her company.

So: food.

Monday, I reheated a delicious salmon chowder Dan made Sunday night in honor of our six monthaversary.

Tuesday, I made burritos. Granted, I did a little twist and cooked up some summer squash with the onions and peppers and ground turkey, and seasoned it with taco seasoning (and kept the beans separate). But still: burritos.

Wednesday, Dan made split pea soup in the crock pot so I didn't have to do anything except fish out the bay leaves and puree it a bit with the hand blender. I did make corn muffins to go with, though.

Thursday I had thought ahead and pulled a chicken boob out of the freezer in the morning. When I got home, I defrosted it in some cold water, and eventually I sat in front of the refrigerator trying to figure out what to do with it. We had some green beans that needed et, and I was really craving mashed potatoes. And mushrooms.

This is what I came up with:

Balsamic chicken and mushrooms over mashed potatoes with steamed green beans

1/2 chicken boob, chopped into bite-size pieces
6 or 7 mushrooms, roughly chopped
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 medium sized yukon gold potatoes, diced into 1/2 inch pieces (skins left on)
4 cloves garlic, peeled
splashes nonfat milk
1 tbsp butter
3/4 pound green beans
balsamic vinegar
garlic powder
lemon pepper

Chop up chicken, mushrooms, and onion. In a large nonstick skillet, heat a dollop of olive oil and add onions over low-medium heat, stirring occasionally (letting the onions carmelize a little). Chop potatoes and peel garlic; add both to pot of hot water and cover to boil. When onions have are soft and starting to carmelize, add chicken and a splash or two of balsamic vinegar. Season with some garlic powder. Stir/toss to coat chicken and cook over medium heat. When chicken is nearly done, add mushrooms. Trim ends from green beans, chop into 1 1/2 inch pieces, and steam, adding a little lemon pepper if you like. Poke potatoes with a fork. If they are softish, drain water and add milk and butter; mash. When chicken and mushrooms are cooked and green beens are crisp-tender, turn everything off. Spoon some mashed potatoes onto a plate; top with chicken/mushroom mixture. Serve green beans on the side.

I don't know what to call this thing but it turned out SO GOOD. I only used a few ingredients but everything turned out delicious. Next time I might let the onions carmelize a little more but I was in a hurry.