Grilled Lemon Thyme Chicken

We bought a new grill, it was a bit of an ordeal, but it all worked out last night. I'll fill you in another day. We can't wait to break in the new one. We'll fire it up tomorrow because tonight we have plans; I have a work dinner at Maggiano's fortunately Frank will be able to join me.

Back to the chicken, I tried this recipe on Tuesday, it was a weak last hurrah for the old grill. We liked the lemon-thyme flavor, but it was way too salty. I even cut the garlic salt back to 1 1/2 tsp. If I make it again, I'll cut it back to one teaspoon tops.

4 teaspoons chopped fresh or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/4 lb)

1. Heat gas or charcoal grill. In small bowl, mix all ingredients except chicken. Sprinkle mixture over chicken.
2. Place chicken on grill over medium heat. Cover grill; cook 15 to 20 minutes, turning once, until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut (170°F).

Nutritional Information

1 Serving: Calories 170 (Calories from Fat 40); Total Fat 4 1/2g (Saturated Fat 1 1/2g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 85mg; Sodium 560mg; Total Carbohydrate 1g (Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugars 0g); Protein 31g

White Sox and Fun in the Sun

We're going on vacation! Next month, we will catch a couple White Sox games in Anaheim and then we're going to drive down to San Diego and spend a few nights there. We are looking forward to good times, yummy Mexican food and plenty of Cadillac Margaritas.

I was able to secure great rates for both hotels on Expedia and Orbitz. The Orbitz reservation even included a $50 restaurant.com voucher. We'll happily put that to good use.

Now I just need to research new things to do and restaurants to try. We've been to SeaWorld and the Zoo, we've done a Harbor Cruise and toured USS Midway, we've gone to Ocean Beach, Sunset Cliffs, Point Loma, Fort Rosecrans Cemetery, Seaport Village, Old Town, the Gaslamp Quarter and last trip we found a couple great breakfast spots. We've covered a lot of ground, but I have no doubt we'll find plenty to keep us busy. I want to see the Botanical Gardens, visit Coronado, La Jolla and maybe Mission Beach. If you happen to have a recommendation please share.

Spring Babies

My mom has her hands full with all of her animals, and newest additions.

Chicks

From Spring - Babies

Geese

From Spring - Babies

My mom has three adult goats, Mindy, Clarise and Billy. The girls both had babies recently, their kids were born a week apart. Mindy went first, she had three kids: two girls and a boy. Clarise is a first-time mom, she also delivered three kids, but only one survived, she is a girl.

From Spring - Babies

From Spring - Babies

From Spring - Babies

From Spring - Babies

From Spring - Babies

From Spring - Babies

They liked to nibble on my jeans

From Spring - Babies

We brought one of Mindy's girls to Clarise's pen for a playdate, it's fun to watch them play.


play date from kellee on Vimeo

The geese go outside to play for the first time.


Baby geese from kellee on Vimeo.

Wheeler's Pass

After a great breakfast at Siena Bistro, we set off for Wheeler's Pass, we took the 95 to the Indian Springs exit, after the prison you come upon the town of Cold Creek, after you wind down unpaved roads you finally see the marker for trail 601 - Wheeler's Pass. It was beautiful scenic drive as you'll see below (as always, click for fullsize images).

On the way, just past the Indian Springs Prison

From Wheeler's Pass

Wildhorses in Cold Creek at 6000 ft

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

Seeing the horses, totally made my mom's day

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

Actual start of the trail 601

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

More Wildhorses

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

Climbing elevation, around 7000 ft

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

Approaching the peak

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

Jeep climbing to the peak

From Wheeler's Pass

And coming back down

From Wheeler's Pass

Heading down toward Pahrump

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

Mt Charleston in the distance

From Wheeler's Pass

Remnants after a forest fire

From Wheeler's Pass

Camp grounds

From Wheeler's Pass

Wheeler's Well

From Wheeler's Pass

Frank was determined to see where the hose ran. We drove through the forest along the wash to find it. It ended at a pile of rocks and went underground. No clue how far.

From Wheeler's Pass

After we left the forest area we came across hundreds of rock formations.

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

We'll have to bring the Jimmy sometime to climb these mounds, they were too steep for the Suburban.

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

Joshua Trees, desert wildflowers and views of Pahrump

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

From Wheeler's Pass

The trail ended not long after that. We dropped elevation quickly and found ourselves at Hwy 160 at Basin in no time. Next we went to mom's to see the babies! It's springtime at the zoo. Two of her goats had babies - a total of four kids, she had two baby geese and a slew of chicks.