Heidi’s Sweet and Sour Chicken

First start your rice….just make as much as your family wants.

Getting the Chicken Ready:

In a plastic baggie, put 1 cup flour, dash of salt and pepper, and 1 teaspoon of paprika.
Once you dice your chicken into cubes place in baggie, shake to coat each piece of chicken. Again dice up as much chicken as your family will eat. We usually use 3 large chicken breasts cut up into small cubes.

Once your chicken is done, heat up 3 Tablespoons of oil in a large skillet. Place chicken in hot oil and fry until it is all cooked.
Remove chicken from pan once done and place on a plate.

Cooking the Veggies:
Then in the remaining oil fry 1 onion finely chopped, 1/2 green bell pepper, 4 carrots finely chopped, 1/2 red bell pepper finely chopped. Fry until tender, and then place on top of your chicken, that is on the plate. If you need to add more oil for the frying, just add as much as you think you need.

Cooking the Sauce:
In the same pan, add 1- 10 ounce can of pineapple tidbits (including the juice), 3/4 cup brown sugar, 4 tablespoons of corn starch, 1 cup of water, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar. Once you see that it is beginning to thicken add the plate of chicken and fried veggies. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Now it is all done.
Serve over cooked rice.

NOTE: if it is to sour due to the vinegar, add more brown sugar. I usually end up adding about 1 tablespoon extra. My kids like it more sweet then sour! This is a very easy recipe to make and the kids love it.

SECOND NOTE: If you don’t like chicken, you can just add meatballs to the sauce and veggies. My kids love that too. We go to Sam’s Club and get a bag of the precooked meatballs, and I just add as many as I want frozen. The rest of the recipe remains the same.

So on the way to the movie last night with the boys we found a baby blue jay in our drive way…the boys wanted to keep it and raise it.

As far as Wall-E goes….that was the dumbest movie ever. My little kids laughed a few times, but me and my oldest were so bored. And actually the little kids had a hard time focusing. It was not as good as I thought it would be. So it is not one that I am going to recommend to friends. There was no talking in the movie. This is just my opinion. I am sure someone else will say it is the best ever!

Be sure to stay on the look out for my oldest. He will be cooking dinner tonight with me and we are going to film it and put it up on my website! He is so excited. He says this is his break through to being famous!

Okay, we are off to the pool.

Dragon Cake…

We had lots of fun at Chandler’s birthday party. It was soooo loud in McDonalds though. I could hardly hear myself think at times. All his friends came, and he was so excited. He got lots of cool things, so I think he was pretty happy. The main attraction though was the cake I made:

Not much going on here, tomorrow we are going to swim at a friends. We have meet the teacher night tomorrow night. So that will be fun to see there new teachers. And they start school in just a few days. I know I will cry when I drop off Chandler. Who knows maybe I will be okay. But I am bringing tissue just in case.

Side note. I watched High School Musical ONE and TWO with the kids…. LOVE that show. So well done. I am hooked, I hope they come out with one more.

Pasta Dish to Die For:

This recipe is actually called: Shells with Crispy Pancetta and Spinach. I watched Giada make this the other night and was salivating because it made me sooo hungry. Anyways, this was another one of those recipes that was just sooo good. It cost me about 20 dollars to buy all the ingrediants. Not too bad, a little more than what I would like to spend on a meal for at home but well worth it. Even Kaitlyn ate her whole shell, spinach and everything. Here is the recipe:

Shells:
1 (12-ounce) package jumbo shells pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 pound thick-cut pancetta, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
2 pounds frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta
1 cup grated asiago cheese
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Sauce:
1 tablespoon butter
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup cream
2 cups grated asiago cheese, plus 1/4 cup
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

For the shells:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta.

Warm the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook until lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Remove the pancetta from the pan with a slotted spoon and transfer to a large bowl. Add the spinach, ricotta cheese, asiago cheese, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir to combine. Stuff the shells with about 2 tablespoons of the spinach mixture each and place the stuffed shells in a large, buttered baking dish.

For the sauce:
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the cream and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to very low and add the 2 cups asiago cheese, parsley, and pepper. Stir until the cheese is dissolved. Pour the sauce over the shells. Top with the remaining 1/4 cup asiago cheese. Bake until golden on top, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

NOTE: I think it would be really good to add some tomato to the filling. But was very good also just the way it was!!! This dish was just as good as any Macaroni Grill dinner….seriousely!!!

Today me and the kids went to IKEA for lunch and then I checked the kids in to the play area while I shopped. Got to love that place. We bought crickets for the lizard. Went to Tom Thumb….can you tell I just had a way exciting day!!! Tomorrow I am going to waxahachie to visit my sister with the kids. Fun stuff…

A dessert that is quite Heavenly…

I love desserts and I love finding new recipes. Sometimes though when you pull a recipe out of a magazine they don’t always turn out like the picture or what you thought it would be like. So when I tried making the White Texas Sheet Cake from Paula Dean’s cooking magazine, I just figured it would be the usual cake! But oh NO…this is quite divine. It is moist. The taste is amazing and once you have your first bite…you will keep wanting more with a big glass of milk!!!

White Texas Sheet Cake:
2 cups of flour
2 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 cup butter
1 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon almond extract
Butter Frosting
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 15 by 10 inch jellyroll pan.
In a large bowl, combine flour,sugar,salt,and baking powder; set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine butter and water; bring to a boil, stirring occaionally.
Add to flour mixture, stirring to combine. Stir in sour cream, eggs, and almond extract. Pour into prepared pan, and bake 22-25 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Spread warm cake with Butter Frosting. Sprinkle with chopped pecans. Cut into squares to serve.

Butter Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups confectioners’ sugar

In a medium saucepan, combine butter and milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Whisk in almond extract. Gradually whisk in confectioners’ sugar until smooth.

For the past few days this butterfly has been coming out to sit on my purple zinnias. It is so pretty. I am happy I finally got a picture of it. God has got such an imagination.

Yesterday when we were getting ready for our garage sale this weekend. My 4 year old caught this lizard…he has found his new home on my kitchen counter… until I can convince my son that he needs to be let go off to go home with his mommy.

Husband’s Casserole

If you are looking for a really simple meal, that is fast, yummy, and your kids and husband like…then you have to try this out:

1 pound ground beef
2 garlic cloves chopped
1 t sugar
1 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
2 cups tomato sauce
5 scallions
—————————
1 package of egg noodles
—————————
4 ounces of cream cheese
8 ounces of sour cream
1/2 cup shredded cheese
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Start by cooking your beef. Once it is almost done add the next 6 ingredients. Cook till meat is cooked all the way through.
As your meat is cooking bring your water to a boil and cook your egg noodles. Drain. Dump them in a 13 by 9 inch pan.
Once the meat is done spread evenly on top of egg noodles.
Then mix the sour cream and cream cheese and spread evenly over meat mixture.
Then top with the 1/2 cup shredded cheese.
Cook this at 350 for 30 minutes. Let sit for a few minutes when you take it out of the oven. Then serve with your favorite vegetable.

That’s it, I found the recipe at a friends and my family loved it, especially Tony and Benjamin.

The kids are still in VBS this week. I am getting so much done while they are there. I might be looking for another one for them to go to next week!

Tomorrow is Kaitlyn’s birthday. I bought her the cutest birthday outfit, that I will post some pictures of later this week. I can not believe she will be ONE. She is so joyful, and has so much love in her. I just love that girl to pieces. We are going to have her party Friday night with just family, and then Sunday we will go out with friends. We bought her a cabbage patch kid. She like babies. She holds a little one that she has and pats its back and coos. It is so sweet. Of course everything she does I think is so sweet.

“You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
Trust in the LORD forever,
for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.”
Isaiah 26:3-4

My garden and House

Here is what my garden is looking like right now. Everything is growing so nicely. I can not wait to eat some of what I am growing. I think I am addicted to planting stuff!!!!

And here is my retreat. I love my house. I love being at home in it. I love just relaxing in the yard. I am so blessed. I am so thankful for my husband. He is a great provider. And I am thankful to Jesus for blessing us.

Finally, I tried this new recipe. It was so good. I was watching a rerun of Giada’s show on Food Network. I was so hungry at midnight after watching it. Anyways, the recipe is below the picture.

Fusilli with Spinach and Asiago Cheese
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

1 pound fusilli pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (9-ounce) bag fresh spinach, roughly chopped
8 ounces (1/2 pint) cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup (about 3 1/2-ounces) grated Asiago
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, warm olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the spinach and tomatoes and cook until the spinach wilts, about 2 more minutes. Add the cooked pasta and toss. Add the cheeses, salt, pepper, and the pasta cooking liquid and stir to combine.

Transfer the pasta to a serving plate and serve.

Bubble Bath

The boys were begging me to have a bubble bath and then we thought it would be fun to add Kaitlyn and see if she liked it!

I just want to pinch his cheeks!!!

Look at my tomato plant. I am SOOOOO excited about it. In about 2 weeks I will have my first tomato…

Comfort Food…I love crepes. I love them with brown sugar and syrup and if we have cool whip and strawberries. Oh Yummy. I make these from scratch and they are so good.

Crepe Recipe

1 cup flour
1 and 1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon of oil

*Mix all the ingredients together until well blended.
*Set aside.
*Turn the stove top to Medium and allow the 8 inch pan to heat up.
*Once heated (about 3 minutes) place about 1/2 cup of the mixture in the pan. Let the mixture roll around to coat the whole bottom of it. It should only be a thin layer. It will start to bubble; once you see this, flip it over for about 45 seconds. Take off heat and put what you want inside and roll it up and enjoy!

Stuffed French Toast

This is made at the Bradford House for breakfast by my uncle. The guests love this breakfast and so do my kids.

What you need:

1 loaf of French bread

1 package of Cream Cheese

Fresh Fruit or Jelly

Light Corn Sryrup

Milk

Eggs

Powdered Sugar

Start out by pouring about 1 cup of the corn syrup in a sauce pan. You then add your fresh fruit (this can be whatever you choose) to the syrup. If you do not have fresh fruit on hand just use your favorite jelly. Let this simmer till it boils and then lower temp to just low.

Take your French bread and slice it up. Make the slices as thin or as thick as you like.

Take your cream cheese and smash with fork and add either fresh fruit chopped up finely or about 3 tablespoons of jelly. Mix well. Spread a nice size amount on one side of the bread and then top with another piece of bread.

NOTE: You want to use the same fruit that you used for the syrup.

Now make the normal batter that you would normally soak French toast in (milk and eggs). While you are making your batter I would go ahead and turn the stove top on to high and let your pan heat up. Take your 2 pieces of toast that are stuck together and dip into the batter and then place on the stove to cook. Cook as you would normally cook french toast. Once done place on plate. Take your syrup mixture and spoon over french toast. To top it off I sprinkle powdered sugar on it.

NOTE: Once you place a few slices on your pan to cook I like to turn my temperature down to med-high. I think the French toast cooks better like that. And it helps it to cook all the way through the bread. You don’t want the outside done and the inside tasting like egg batter!

Apple Strudel

Here is another wonderful recipe from Tony’s mom, she really is a great cook:

Pastry:

Mix these 3 ingredients and set aside.
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup lard ( I use crisco)

Mix these 3 ingredients in a separate bowl
1 egg
5 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon vinegar

Mix egg mixture with flour mixture. Separate the dough into 2 balls. Each ball should roll out to a 13 by 9 inch pan size. Use plenty of flour for the rolling part.

Apple Filling:

Peel and slice 6 apples ( I perfer Pink Ladies)
Add:
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter

Stir the apples and the above ingredients until well mixed.

Assembly:
Place one of your rolled out pastry squares in the bottom of your 13 by 9 inch pan. Press it is in. Then add the apple mixture making sure to spread evenly. Then place the other rolled out pastry square on top of the apples. Make sure to seal the edges around your pan. Make small slits on the pastry shell. Baste top of pastry with milk and then sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes- should be light brown on top.

Note: Since you are having to roll out such a large pastry and then try to move it to the pan…it can be tricky. I have found that it is easier to move it if I roll it out, then dust it with flour, and then roll it onto my rolling pin. I then place the rolling pin over my pan and unroll it. It stays together much better. If you have left over dough you can make a design on the top of your crust. You will see in my pictures what I did with my extra dough.
Also, if you don’t want to baste it with milk and sugar. You can mix confection sugar, with milk, and a few drops of vanilla. You need to eye ball this. Your consistency should not be runny. The more milk you add the runnier it will be so start out by adding very little milk. Once mixed drizzle all over top of the apple strudel.

Nana Joan’s Curried Chicken

My Mother In Law taught me how to make this, and it is one of my kids FAVORITE recipes.

1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup honey

2 Tablespoons Curry Powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons Spicy Mustard

Mix all the above ingredients.

Place 4-5 thawed chicken breasts in a glass dish.

Drizzle the sauce all over the chicken.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

I serve this over rice. I prefer jasmine or basmati. As far as a vegetable with this meal, I usually serve it with beets or green beans. This is so easy to make and it is guaranteed to fill lots of hungry tummies!