Piano Lessons

I've started teaching piano lessons. I always had it in the back of my mind that I would teach lessons someday to earn a little extra money. I figured it would be years from now though because my kids are still very young. But a few months ago, my friend asked me if I would teach her son. And I realized that I could! I have a piano and space in my house for lessons. People teach piano lessons with young kids all the time, and mine are fairly well behaved. So I said yes. And now I'm a piano teacher.

I'm taking it easy and starting out kind of slow. I have 3 students and it seems like a good amount for now. I'm pretty busy with the rest of my life, so I don't want to get too booked up with lessons. But I'm really enjoying it. It's fun to get back to the basics of music. It reminds me of how much I loved taking lessons as a kid. And it's nice to have something that I do for myself, with out my kids being involved. (Although, I'm often holding one of them on my lap while teaching.)

Dallin likes that people are coming over to our house, even if they're not coming to see him. He likes to watch during lessons, and after the students leave, he hops up on the bench and starts playing.

He has pretty good form and he's very gentle on the keys. He plays very deliberately, one note at a time, all ten fingers on the keys. I think he watches how the students act and hold their hands during lessons and then mimics that. It's pretty cute.

Since I teach all my students on Tuesday afternoon/evening, it doesn't leave me much time to make dinner, and by the time the last lesson is over, we're pretty hungry. So I've made Tuesday night my Crockpot/freezer meal day. Last night we had Crockpot Chicken Tikka Masala.

I've haven't made a lot of Indian food before or thought to make it in the crockpot, but this stuff was delicious! The spices were amazing, the chicken was so tender, and it's a pretty economical meal. I'd recommend it. The naan was purchased pre-made from a store. The perks of living in a college town with lots of international students: international food stores!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken Tikka:
1 cup plain yogurt
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp cumin
1/4-1 tsp cayenne (depending on how spicy you like it)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt

6-8 chicken thighs (skin on, bone-in)

Stir all ingredients except chicken into the bottom of a large plastic container. Add the chicken and coat the chicken completely with the marinade, cover and place in the fridge for at least an hour or overnight.

Masala:
1 can 28 oz. diced tomatoes
1 can 5.5 oz tomato paste
2 inches fresh ginger, grated (store your ginger in the freezer and it will be super easy to grate)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp tikka paste (could use mild curry paste instead, but then also add about a tbsp of lemon juice)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried coriander


1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
Salt
1 cup cream
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped


Turn your oven to broil. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a rack over top. Take the chicken out of the marinade (discard the marinade) and place on the baking rack. Place under the broiler about 6-10 inches from the heating element and broil on each side about 10 minutes. You could also do this on the BBQ.  You don't have to worry about cooking the meat all the way through, you are just looking for a nice browned color.

While the chicken is broiling, in a pan over medium high heat, add about a tsp or two of oil. Add the onion and saute for a few minutes to soften. Add the garlic and ginger and saute for a few more minutes until the mixture is nice and fragrant. Place the mixture into your crockpot. To that, add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, garam masala, tikka paste, cumin, chili powder and coriander. Stir together. When the chicken is done broiling, add them straight to the slow cooker and stir into the masala (sauce). I have cooked and experimented with this dish quite a few times, and it by far tastes the best when the chicken is first broiled and then slow cooks in the masala sauce. It gives the sauce a real richness of flavor. Slow cook on high for 4-6 hours or on low 6-8 hours.

Before serving stir in 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp garam masala and salt if it needs it. I find this just brightens up the spice flavors a bit. Then stir in the cream and fresh cilantro. Serve a chicken thigh and lots of sauce over basmati rice or Yellow Basmati Rice: 2 cups basmati, 4 cups water, salt, and 1/2 tbsp of turmeric. Stir together and prepare as you normally would. When the rice is done, stir in 1/2 cup frozen peas.