Slap my wrist and

call me bad!

Yes, I know I haven't blogged enough this week. I've been doing other things.

I started taking yoga again. My doctor told me at my last visit to check my thyroid levels that it would be great if I went to yoga 2-3 times a week.

Then, last week, Keith asked me if I was ever going to go back to the gym. I said, yeah, when I had my van back! (His car is getting to that age/mileage where things slowly start to go. When that happens, he takes my car. I end up stranded at home or at work. I'm soooo glad to have my own wheels again!)

So, I started yoga, actually did some housework and got to observe the futility of mopping when Sassy came racing in with muddy paws all over the freshly mopped floor.

But I haven't been very crafty this week. I've done no sewing, very little knitting and just tons of thinking. See why I've not blogged? No wonderful pictures or amusing tales to share. What I will share is my very very easy crockpot curried chicken.

First a quick word. We all have those recipes that we turn to when we don't know what we're having for dinner. There are so many times I'll grab my Vindaloo paste and a packet of chicken to pop into the oven. It's been too hot to run the oven, so I decided to give it a go in the crock pot and see if I could make a dent in the giant jar of grated ginger that I bought. (What was I thinking?)

It's super easy. Take your crock pot and add all the following ingredients:

1 chopped onion

4 chopped potatoes

1 packet of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or breasts, whatever you have on hand)

1 heaping soupspoon full of grated ginger

2 sort of heaping soupspoons full of whatever curry paste you have on hand. I happened to have Kashmiri Masala open.

Add water to cover. The times I've had vindaloo in restaurants, I was surprised at how soupy it was. I kept that in mind when I tossed all this together. You can probably use less water if you'd like. You can also add some more cayenne if your curry paste isn't hot enough. Put the crockpot on high and cook for about 4 hours.

When it was closer to dinner, I made some rice similar to some I've had in a local restaurant. Once again, no recipe, just working from memory. Before I brought the water to a boil, I added some whole cumin (that's what the restaurant used) and whole cardamom seeds since I just really like cardamom. I usually add a little extra water because I won't leave my rice alone. I like to look at it and check it, so I've found a little extra water helps. As the rice neared doneness, I added some frozen petite peas. The rice was bland since I've been trying to avoid extra salt, so remember to add a pinch to yours.

And remember, a quiche is also a surprisingly fast dinner when you don't what to make. It does require you to have a deep dish pie shell in the freezer, but most of us have all the other ingredients on hand. The Enchanted Broccoli Forest has a quiche formula which is what I use, so I'll recommend the book. And yes, I've learned to keep frozen pie shells on hand for those nights I'm too lazy to really cook.