Last night I thought that was it. Labor I mean. I have been contracting every ten minutes since 8 PM, and throughout most of the night. Not being able to get any shut eye, I lovingly suffered the increasingly intense labor pains and waited for the desired 5 minutes mark. Which of course never came.

By 6 AM I was a puffy eyed, irritated, disappointed, VERY pregnant dragon. To make things worse, I have barely had one measly contraction for the rest of the day and it is now nearly 11 PM. Nature has a cruel sense of humor. My husband, now crisp around the edges, tries his best to stay positive, which immediately annoys me even further. The poor guy reassures me constantly that he is not anxious at the least. He then coherently proceeds to wonder about at night with insomnia, thus leaving both of us in a serious need of daily siestas, just to keep afloat.

Speaking about siestas, the following recipe has a wonderfully Spanish flare to it. It is light and tasty, perfect for a summer’s meal. The slow cooker will not heat up your kitchen like the oven would and you will enjoy the benefit of not messing up your hairdo sweating over a grill or a stove-top. Just measure everything, plop in your trusty cooker, and redo your hair waiting for the round of applause.

Slow-cooker Spanish Style Chicken breast

Ingredients:

1 to 1.5 kg (2-3 lbs) boneless , skinless chicken breast, cut into large cubes
1/2 cup pitted green olives
1/2 cup pitted black olives
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup sweet red wine, port wine, Marsala wine or just any old red wine with a Tbsp of brown sugar
1/2 cup capers with their liquid
5 bay leafs
1/4 cup oregano (measure a bit less if you aren’t a fan)
1/4 cup olive oil (you can cheat and put a little less, I won’t tell a soul)
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp minced garlic
black pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Mix everything inside the slow cooker’s insert.
2. Cover the pot and cook on LOW for 3 hours. I like to lift the lid once in the middle of the cooking time to make sure the chicken cubes do not fuse together.
3. Serve over white rice with a fresh salad on the side.

Wonderful!