The recipe thing

I just wanted to let you know that I think I am going to stop posting the new recipes that I try on this blog...I wanted this one to be about my family, not cooking.  So, I think I am going to start a cooking blog where I can put up not only new recipes that I find and Love, but tried and true ones that I got back to all of the time.  I will let you know when I actually get it up and running!  

When Shelley came to town

Okay, so I am way overdue for this post, but I have been really busy with work ever since Shelley left because I had a lot of time to make up for....

Shelley came to visit us the first half of February since Derek was doing a dental internship thingy in Grand Junction for a month.  I always love to see my sister and we had a total blast while she was around!

We went to the circus...

The kids got cotton candy...

Here is baby Stewart- he is so FAT!  I LOVE it!!!

Melissa and Aunt Deb came one night to hang with us...

Okay, this is a horrible picture of me, but Melissa and Shelley look great!  I am not wearing any makeup and this sweater makes me look pregnant!

Shawn has such a way with babies!

We were playing "London Bridges"-the kids LOVED it!

Here is Edison and Abby playing in the snow- he looks like he is having a lot of fun, huh?

Abby LOVED the baby!!!

Lucas just took a picture with him...I think babies tend to kind of flabbergast him....

All in all, we had a fantastic time!  I was sad to see her go, but I knew that she was missing her husband and I don't blame her for that!  I do miss her- hopefully she will come and visit again in April!

Chicken with Peanut Curry Sauce

Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons canola oil
* 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast, cut in 1-inch pieces
* Salt and pepper
* 8 ounces frozen cut green beans, thawed (recommended: C&W)
* 8 ounces frozen pepper strips, thawed (recommended: C&W)

For sauce:

* 1 1/2 cups light coconut milk
* 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth,
* 1 tablespoon red curry paste
* 1/3 cup chunky peanut butter
* 2 tablespoons brown sugar
* 2 tablespoons lime juice, plus wedges for garnishing
* Coconut Rice, recipe follows
* Cilantro sprigs for garnishing

Directions

Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add cut up chicken, season and saute until cooked through stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add green beans and pepper strips and continue cooking for 3 minutes.

While chicken cooks, start the peanut curry sauce. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together all ingredients for the sauce. Pour sauce into a frying pan over the chicken and vegetables, stir to combine. Turn heat up to high and bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 6 to 8 minutes. Serve over Coconut Rice or plain steamed rice.

Coconut Rice:

3/4 cup light coconut milk (recommended: A Taste of Thai)

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 lime, juiced

2 cups instant rice

1/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut, toasted

In a medium saucepan, combine coconut milk, chicken broth, lime juice, and instant rice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from heat and cover for 7 to 9 minutes. Fluff rice with fork and stir in toasted coconut. Serve.

Note: To toast coconut, place in dry frying pan over medium-low heat stirring occasionally until golden brown.

The result:
Oh, my gosh!!! This was so good that I broke my weight-loss rule and took seconds! The thing is, I still want even more! I loved this so much Shawn and Lucas are still eating it for dinner and I had to blog about it! The only thing I *might* do differently would be to make it more like 1/2 c to 3/4 c peanut butter, to make it peanutbutterier! This was so good- by the end, it was almost like eating candy! Good times!!!

HOW TO FIGHT

HOW TO WORK OUT FROM HOME

I thought this was hilarious!!!

Lucas's Crush part 2

Okay, so today Lucas and I were in the car again and I wanted to know more what his crush on Lilian was like, so I asked him, "Lucas what is it that you do for Lilian when you are helping her?"
"Um, I just give her kisses."
I have to admit, this rather shocked me (and made me laugh), "Does she like it when you kiss her?"
"Usually."
"Does she want you to kiss her?"
"Yeah, sometimes...sometimes she asks me to kiss her and I always give her a kiss when she asks me, but sometimes she doesn't ask and I give her a kiss anyways."
This REALLY shocked me, I was expecting it to be something along the lines of he likes her and she thinks he is a stupid boy or something. So, I went on:
"Where do you give her a kiss?" I HAD to know....
"On the cheek." Well, that was a relief. Then I asked,
"Does she let any other boys kiss her?"
"Nope, just me. She especially doesn't let Landon kiss her, Landon isn't a good boy. But she is always good, she is so nice!"

Think what you will, I know I should maybe discourage this kind of behavior so young, but at the same time, they are in kindergarten and I am proud of the fact that my son is the one that this girl likes! I think it is sweet- maybe in a few years we will have a discussion about dating and kissing girls and age...but I am sure he will soon see them as dirty and having cooties, so I am not worried. I think it is ADORABLE!!!

Last Week's and This week's new recipies...

For last week:
We found this recipe on the back of a Junior Mints Minis box that Shawn got for christmas (of all places):
Junior Mints Mini's No Bake cheese cake:
1 oreo pie crust
1 pkg cream cheese
1/3 c sugar
1/2 pkg whipped topping (4 0z)
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 pkg Junior Mints Mini's (divided)

On High speed whip cheam cheese, sugar and vanilla until creamy. Blend in whipped topping until fully incorporated. Fold in 3 oz of Junior Mints Mini's. Spread mixture over pie crust. cover and chill if refrigerator 4 hours. sprinkle top with rest of Jr Mint's mini's just before serving.

The result: actually this is halved from what it called for. It called to make your own crust, but I just don't have time for that, and it is actually cheaper to buy the crust than it is to make it when you consider what you pay for the ingredients! So, my sister made this for me (shelley and her kids have been visiting over the past week, it has been TONS of fun!) while I was working on other things- I think it turned out pretty darn good, I love mint, chocolate and cheese cake, which this satisfied all of these cravings!!!

This weeks recipie: Adventures in TURKEY!
Yes, yestereday I made my first turkey (finally!!!) I thought it turned out pretty good, although the texture wasn't what I had hoped for, just not as juicy and tender as I like, but I didn't have a meat thermometer, so the only way I had to make sure it was done was to kinda overcook it, so there you go! It wasn't hard, actually, although I followed the direcitons from the box for the stuffing and I didn't love it, I think I need to get Grandma Fullmer's recipie, I love her stuffing. Anyhow, I did What Sherri does that makes the juciest turkey ever, that is to cook it in a Turkey sized oven bag and cook it breast- down. This allows the juices fromt he dark meat of the back to seep down into the breast and make that meat nice and juicy. Sherri makes the best turkey I have had, so this worked pretty well, but as I said, I think I kind of over cooked it, but better that than we all get sick! At any rate, I am glad that I finally did make my own turkey- I have always wanted to, but we always end up eating turkey somewhere else, so finally this was my turn! I am proud of myself!

PS- an extra recipe:
Last week we also made these cookies that I thought were pretty good:
Double Chocolate Mint Cookies:

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 4 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream together, butter, sugar and eggs. Mix in remaining ingredients. Blend well.
3. Drop by teaspoonful onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 8-9 minutes. Cookies will be soft. Cool about 1 minute on cookie sheet then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. Recipe Variation: For a different flavor, omit peppermint extract and use a total of 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Also substitute peanut butter flavored chips for the chocolate
   

What we did: We saw some reviews of these cookies that said they lessened the butter, and it turned out better, so we halved the recipe and did 1 Cup of butter instead of 1 and 1/4. It did turn out well. Also, instead of just choc chips, we did mostly Andes Mint thingys and just a few choc chips for more chocolate-yness! Also, I only did a small dash of peppermint extract instead of the full amount because of the mint chip thingys. (I hope that makes sense.) At any rate- they turned out really well!

Lucas's First Crush!!!

So, today when I was taking Lucas home from school he was talking about his teacher. Then he said, "Mom, do you know who I help out in school?" I thought he was going to say something about helping his teacher. No, he said, "Lillian, because she is so beautiful"!!!! He went on to say, "But I don't ever help Landon, he says fart all of the time and that isn't nice."