I was such a waste of space last night. And it ruled.
Mal insisted on cooking dinner by himself last night. When he has the time, he loves putting on his iPod and zoning out while he cooks. We didn’t go to CrossFit last night, so Mal had some extra time to prepare dinner. I was comfy on the couch, so I let him do his thing in the kitchen. Thanks, Mal!
Of course, we all know who kept him company while he cooked.
Murphy didn’t let Mal out of his sight while he prepared the chicken for dinner.
After a small taste of chicken a few weeks ago, Murphy is now obsessed with it. He learned the word “chicken” real fast!
Once the chicken was in the oven (and there was no chance of it falling on the floor), Murphy came into the living room to keep me company on the couch. He’s not one of the dogs that just lays down to cuddle, Murphy needs to find the best possible position (on you) before he decides that he is sufficiently comfortable. Typically, this involves multiple “pug circles” and some annoyed/frustrated grunting.
It’s Murphy’s world, we’re just living in it.
Dinner
About 40 minutes later, dinner was served. Mal made Chicken with Tomatoes, Onions, and Black Olives. He didn’t use a recipe, but here’s the gist of the ingredients and what he did to make it.
Chicken with Tomatoes, Onions, and Black Olives
Ingredients:
- 2 large chicken breasts
- 1 15-oz can black pitted olives, drained
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped
- 1 15-oz can stewed tomatoes
- 1 huge spoonful of minced garlic
- Lemon juice
- Olive oil
- Salt + pepper to taste
Method:
- Preheat oven to 375*F.
- Marinate chicken breasts in a mixture of lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. (Mal wasn’t sure how much marinade he made, but enough to cover the chicken.)
- Meanwhile, sauté onion with the garlic in olive oil until soft and lightly browned.
- Combine onions with the olives and tomatoes in a large bowl.
- Remove chicken breasts from marinade and place in an 8 x 8 baking dish, and then cover with onions, olives, and tomatoes.
- Bake for 40 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
Mal served the chicken with leftover spaghetti squash.
Delish!
After dinner, I enjoyed a couple of pieces of dark chocolate. This time, I managed not to eat half of the bar.
It was a nice night.
Sounds yummy (minus the olives)….so nice to have someone to cook for you!
Oh I love black olives, but never think to cook with them. I need to change that! I have seriously been loving on spaghetti squash lately too. I had mine with roasted broccoli, mushrooms and sauce with socca crackers on the side. Your dinner looks delicious and I’m glad you had some relaxation time last night.
Nice work on dinner, Mal!! 🙂 Looks like you two had a nice relaxing night. I’m craving a bit of that right now!
Every now and then you need a night of vegging about. So nice to have the guy cook too. It’s cute that he listens to music when he cooks as well. 🙂
It is Murphy’s world. We all knew that. 😉
It looks like you really had a nice evening. 🙂
My cat does the same thing with finding the most comfortable position for her on me (minus the grunting). I always crack up when she turns in her sleep without realizing that the space on my lap is limited and falls off (usually just on the couch).
Mal did a good job! Dinner looks delicious! Definitely going to have to try the recipe. Murphy is too cute 🙂
Awwww…sleeping Murphy is so adorable! Looks like a great dinner. I love olives!
Love Murphy! Reminds me so much of my dog. I always tell my husband that Tebow runs the house and we are just there to serve him.. 😉
@Jana @ Newly Wife Healthy Life: Yep! Exactly!
That looks amazing (well, sans olives but still! HA!) and how nice to have a man cook for you. The Mr, bless his heart, is so not confident in his cooking ability but our goal is to have him overcome that this year. That pup is too cute. It’s funny, even though our girl has been gone 4 1/2 years, you still expect them to come Hoover crumbs off the floor when you drop them! 🙂
murphy sounds so similar to our yellow lab… he’ll go around in circles, huffing and puffing, and grunting until he finds his “perfect spot” to lie down. it’s really funny. glad you guys had a nice relaxing evening! dinner looks delish!
Haha my dogs were always under my mom’s feet in the kitchen! And I sure would like a man to make me dinner while I layed on the couch! I’ll have to find one who likes to cook…
That sounds delicious- the only thing missing is feta!
How sweet! It looks delish too 🙂
My husband and I constantly joke that our pug rules the house. Not only does he see it as his right to just lay all over me like I’m a dog bed, but the other day when our mastiff-pitt mix was stretched out on a dog bed the pug just walked over to him, climbed on top of him, curled up in a ball on his stomach and went to sleep!
@Katherine: LOL!
I love spaghetti squash! The chicken recipe looks super easy. Sometimes it just feels good to be a waste of space 🙂
Yum! Love the dinner you guys had…:) Murphy just cracks me up! My parents have a dog that will scratch and scratch and scratch his bed until it’s just perfect.
I’ve made big batches of chicken with olives and dates twice in the last 2 weeks- olives are such a good addition to chicken bakes. Your a lucky girl to have a good cook in the house!
Any ideas on how to turn a Jason into a Mal so I can be a waste of space and have dinner? That would be sweet.
@Emily: Ha!
My dog does the same thing! Takes a super long time to get comfortable and will actually give you a paw slap when she wants attention! O to be a dog!
The chicken looks great (go Mal!) and G&B’s 85% dark chocolate is one of my favorite supermarket brands – a nice buttery melt and a mild flavor.
Love relaxin nights. Mine consisted of dinner and cuddling with the pup on the couch as I watched a marathon of “Felicity” episodes on Netflix.
yummm the dish Mal made looks amazing. I love chicken and olives! Anything salty 😛
sometimes i wish someone would just cook for me.
that looks like a great meal, i don’t cook with chicken often, actually barely ever, i need to start. i love your comment – it’s murphy’s world, we are just living in it. you guys would make excellent parents, but your kid may be jealous of Murphy. 🙂
Your pug is such like my kitty! So cute. And for some reason I lol’d at pic #2. That Murphy is quite the character!
Haha, my dog likes to cuddle in everyone’s lap, too. But she’s about 13 pounds. Murphy looks like a very sturdy boy 🙂
Don’t you just love when dinner gets made for you? It feels like such a treat! 🙂
I sent you an email today with this awesome pug pic! Thought I would share it as a comment to for anyone else that loves pugs. http://pinterest.com/pin/115334440427053944/
@Ashley @ The North Carolina Cowgirl: LOL! So cute!