I am proud and thankful to have one of smartest and most beautiful daughters any father could hope for.

I am amazed but glad that God has put me in charge of one of the goofiest boys the world has ever known.

For this and so much more, I am happy.

I hope you are happy with yours too.

I'm the author of DAD: As Easy As A, B, C! - 26 Dos & Don'ts for Fathers. Click here for my story and the origin of Makes Me Wanna Holler. Do you Tweet? Follow EPayneTheDad on Twitter. Live on Facebook? Like Makes Me Wanna Holler on Facebook.

Happy Monday folks! I hope you all had a marvelous weekend.

I had to laugh when I saw E.Payne’s post last week, A Family of Four & Forty Pounds of Chicken. Mrs. E.Payne, (and the Mr. on the grill) created some really yummy looking dishes with their first 10 pounds of chicken. It got me thinking, how many times do people look in their freezer, see chicken (come on, chicken is always in the freezer) and then turn up their nose and say, “I’m so sick of chicken, what can I make with it now!?”

This post is for those days. 10 Chicken recipes, 10 different ways.

1. Coconut Curry Chicken recipe by Chef Michelle


2. Chicken Roulade (Stuffed with Spinach and Goat Cheese) recipe by Chef Michelle


3. Chicken and Broccoli Curry Casserole recipe by Y. Harper


4. Chicken Cacciatore recipe by Rachael Ray


5. Pecan Chicken recipe by Paula Dean


6. Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Rosemary-Orange Dressing (for the Grill) recipe by Bon Appetit


7. Mustard Chicken Salad recipe by Ina Garten


8. Crispy Chicken Cutlets recipe by Jennifer Hess from Last Night’s Dinner


9. Chicken Quesadilla recipe by Guy Fieri


10. Chicken , Sausage and Red Pepper Paella recipe by Thirschfeld

Chicken may not be so bad after all. Enjoy your adventures with these recipes!

Before you leave, please visit:

This morning during a lighthearted conversation with my teen about kitchen cleanliness my teen told me he didn't have to heed what I had to say.

"I'm not going to be a waiter," he told me.

I urged him to be careful of his words, telling him that once you begin to speak on what you won't do, life will sometimes humble you (slap you) to a place where you wind up doing exactly what you proclaimed you wouldn't.

The boy shot me a casual glance and told me I was old.


I'm the author of DAD: As Easy As A, B, C! - 26 Dos & Don'ts for Fathers. Click here for my story and the origin of Makes Me Wanna Holler. Do you Tweet? Follow EPayneTheDad on Twitter. Live on Facebook? Like Makes Me Wanna Holler on Facebook.

Last week I picked up the largest order of chicken I've ever laid eyes on --- forty pounds of free range chicken breasts courtesy of Zaycon Foods. After excitedly getting all this chicken thanks to a connection from a fellow blogger, after dragging this big box of juicy poultry into my freezer in the garage the question that begged to be answered suddenly popped into my head:

What on Earth am I going to do with forty pounds of chicken?

Watch below to see what my wife and I have done so far with just the first ten pounds. Stay tuned for more.



I'm the author of DAD: As Easy As A, B, C! - 26 Dos & Don'ts for Fathers. Click here for my story and the origin of Makes Me Wanna Holler. Do you Tweet? Follow EPayneTheDad on Twitter. Live on Facebook? Like Makes Me Wanna Holler on Facebook.

Yesterday, my daughter began Kindergarten. It was her first day of real school. If there is anything that requires some getting used to it's starting school on a single digit date in August before the summer is even close to being over.

She was very excited. On the flip side her brother, ten years her senior, lamented with the drama of a Shakespearean actor over the horror that has been set upon him. The only sign that suggested a human soul inhabits his teenage body was seeing him happily impressed by the show being put on out in front of his sister's school: a speaker was set up blasting music and the principal along with a handful of teachers were cheering on each student (complete with pompoms) as they walked inside.

As my daughter and I neared the hallway where her class is located I observed a rather large subset of overwhelmed and teary parents, most of whom were mothers. I smiled, nodded at folks, shook hands with my baby's teacher, took some pics with my camera phone (yes, I left my hardware at home), made sure she was comfortable, gave her a hug and kiss and left her to experience her first day. I went down the hall to the new parents' reception, passed on the doughnuts, scooped a bowl of fruit for myself, made a couple of brief acquaintances and made my way out the door.

And then I circled back to my daughter's class one more time. I stood back in the hallway and watched for a second before her teacher closed the classroom door. My little one was fine so I was fine.

Later on that morning I posted a first day of school picture of her on Facebook. Of course the obvious question came up: Was I able to keep it together when I dropped her off? On Facebook my answer was a quick yes, but as I thought about it the reason for that yes is the sum of the following parts:

• I'm used to it - I've been dropping my daughter off to day-care or pre-school since she was seven months old (the first day of day care I was ready to kick down the doors I was so scared to leave her).


• My daughter is supposed to be growing. I'm filled with a sense of joy not sadness that she is advancing. Despite that natural urge to hold onto the past she can't stay little forever. If that were even possible I'd be doing her and the world a great disservice.


• I live for these moments because I missed them with my son. For those of you who are new to my story...when I met the woman who would be my wife she came with a big-eared boy who was already five years old. This boy would become my son. Although there was no way it could have happened because I didn't know my wife at the time, it sometimes pains me that I wasn't there for him during years 0 to 5.125. I often find myself making up for those initial years I never had with him by doubly investing in the early years I have with his sister.

I am losing nothing. If anything she gains every opportunity she deserves and is destined to have.

I know some women reading this might say, "Pish tah, stop being a robot! I cried when my baby went to school." But this is my answer and I'm sticking to it because I have no reason not to.

I'm the author of DAD: As Easy As A, B, C! - 26 Dos & Don'ts for Fathers. Click here for my story and the origin of Makes Me Wanna Holler. Do you Tweet? Follow EPayneTheDad on Twitter. Live on Facebook? Like Makes Me Wanna Holler on Facebook.

I'm happy to introduce a new weekly feature to the blog: Monday's With Michelle! Michelle is an Atlanta-based chef and foodie behind Citrus Catering & Events and The Foodie Blog. She's been cooking and catering for over 10 years and provides various services from Personal Chef to Event Catering. She's going to be dropping in every Monday to share her passion, food and all things related to food, with us.

I'm happy to present Michelle!

I want to give a big thank you to E. Payne for allowing me to guest post on his very fun and charming blog. His adventures in marriage and parenthood make me realize that I am terrified can’t wait to be a Wife and Mother.

Now on to the good stuff...food!

As much as I love to spend hours experimenting in the kitchen, sometimes life happens and I just don’t have the time. I know so many of us face this same dilemma, between work, school, kids, spouses, the gym (ha!) and every other miscellaneous thing that enters our stratosphere. That being said, I thought I would share one of my “Too-late-to-cook-but-we’re-starving” go-to meals, Shrimp in a White Wine Butter Sauce over Jasmine rice.

First, I should mention that I always keep frozen shrimp on hand. It thaws out quickly and it’s super versatile. I typically get the medium, large or jumbo frozen-raw-deveined 1 pound bag (either tail-on or off whichever is available) out of the freezer section in the grocery store. That way all you have to do is defrost under cold running water and not worry about shelling or deveining (a huge time saver) and it’s totally budget friendly, about $8 for a 1lb bag at Wal-Mart.

For those of you (Moms, Dads and child-free people alike) that aren’t confident in the kitchen, relax, I promise this isn’t hard at all. All you need is the ingredients below, a sauté pan, a one button rice cooker (or a stove top), a few utensils and 20 minutes.

Here’s the recipe:

Shrimp in a White Wine Butter Sauce Over Jasmine Rice

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Large Shrimp (frozen/raw/deveined)
• ½ cup Dry White Wine
• ¼ Stock or broth (Chicken/Vegetable/Seafood)
• 4-6 Tbs Butter (unsalted)
• 1 Tbs minced garlic
• 1 Tbs chopped Parsley
• Salt/pepper
• Cayenne
• 1 cup Jasmine rice
• 1 ½ cups Water

Cooking instructions:

• Set the frozen shrimp in a bowl in the sink and run cold water over to defrost.
• Put the rice on while you wait for your shrimp to defrost- I personally love my rice cooker, but the stove top works just as well. 1 cup of rice to 1 ½ cups of water.
• Once the shrimp is defrosted, dry well and season to taste (a few pinches will do)—salt, pepper and a touch of cayenne for an extra kick. Set to the side.
• Place your sauté pan on medium heat; Add 2 tablespoons of butter, once melted add your minced garlic.
• Once the garlic is fragrant, add 2 more tablespoons of butter and drop the shrimp in and let cook for a few minutes.
• Add the wine to your pan (I used some Pinot Grigio that I already had open in the fridge… don’t forget to pour a glass for the cook!)
• Add stock (I use chicken stock because I like the flavor, but veggie or seafood stock works too.)
• Let the shrimp finish cooking and let the sauce cook down just a tad (about 5-6 minutes depending on the size of your shrimp).
• Once the shrimp is done add 1-2 more tablespoon of unsalted butter and your fresh chopped parsley. Remember to taste—adjust seasonings as needed.
• Serve the Shrimp and white wine butter sauce over the rice.

To print out the above recipe, Click Here.



Please visit:
Michelle on Twitter
Michelle on Facebook
Michelle's Blog

There are quite a few of us out here in this amorphous space called the Internet who are doing battle in the war against father-absent households - the condition of growing up without a father. If you need cold facts on the impact of this epidemic please visit and soak up the information provided by the National Fatherhood Initiative. Off the top of my head I know a documentary filmmaker currently making a powerful film entitled Dear Daddy and I work on a weekly basis with a man who is a social media phenom and the co-founder of what can best be described as a movement - a mission to promote positive images of marriage and parenthood as it relates to the African American community. And then there's me...

"With great power comes great responsibility," as told to a young Peter Parker by who was soon to be his soon to be deceased Uncle Ben. Well I don't have great power but I can't deny the responsibility I've taken on being at the helm of this blog. Several years back I made the decision to be a DAD and have it all. It happened and I began to blog about it. My desire to write DAD: As Easy As A, B, C! was born the moment I wrote my very first fatherhood post on this blog. And this Father's Day 2011 it came to life. It is the 2nd in my four-step effort to inspire dads to do more and do better for their families and themselves.™

But like most things in this life, short of dying, I can't wage my offensive of this war against fatherless-absence alone. I need your help:

• Please visit the DAD: As Easy As A, B, C! website and help me Spread The Word. There are pre-made Tweets there and other ways for you to share the news about this book via social media.
• Please join the DAD: As Easy As A, B, C on Facebook
• Please purchase a copy of DAD: As Easy As A, B, C!
• Post a review of the book on Amazon.com.
  
• And of course, if you would, please share all of the above with everyone you know.

Thanks!

I'm the author of DAD: As Easy As A, B, C! - 26 Dos & Don'ts for Fathers. Click here for my story and the origin of Makes Me Wanna Holler. Do you Tweet? Follow EPayneTheDad on Twitter. Live on Facebook? Like Makes Me Wanna Holler on Facebook.