Week #30 and 31

I had to try out some spicy chicken recipes for ladies retreat because Pam and I were in charge of the food.  This was the first one that I tried and Jay and I LOVED it!  I highly recommend it.  The ladies at retreat seemed to love it as well.  It is always harder to make a recipe turn out right when you have to times it by like 8 to feed 42 women.  So it wasn't perfect but still really good.  :)

 

8 ounces, weight Chicken Breast

2 cups Vegetable Oil

1 cup Flour

½ teaspoons Salt

¾ teaspoons Baking Soda

1 whole Egg

½ cups Milk

½ cups Water

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FOR THE SPICY SAUCE:

2 teaspoons Vegetable Oil

2 Tablespoons Garlic, Chopped Finely

3 Tablespoons Green Onion (chopped)

1 cup Pineapple Juice

2 teaspoons Chili Sauce (Sriracha)

2 Tablespoons White Vinegar

4 teaspoons Sugar

1-½ teaspoon Soy Sauce

¾ teaspoons Salt

2 Tablespoons Water

3 teaspoons Cornstarch

Prepare the spicy sauce: heat oil, garlic and green onions over medium heat until soft. Add pineapple juice, chili sauce, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and salt. Combine the water and cornstarch in a separate container. Mix the cornstarch/water mixture into the sauce and stir over medium-low heat until thickened. You can add more chili sauce if you want spicier spicy chicken sauce. Be sure to taste it as you go so you don’t overdo it. Reduce heat to low.
Prepare the chicken: cut the chicken breast into 1-inch cubes and season with salt. Begin heating the 2 cups vegetable oil over medium-high heat.
Prepare the batter: combine remaining ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk together. Batter should be fairly thin. Place chicken cubes in the batter to coat. Batter should be very thin on the chicken.
Once the oil is heated, reduce heat to medium and add chicken cubes a few at a time, letting the batter drip off before placing in the oil. Let them cook for 3-4 minutes and turn halfway through cooking. Cook until golden brown. Remove and drain on a paper-towel-covered plate. Repeat until all chicken is cooked.
Serve chicken over white or brown rice and cover with plenty of spicy sauce.



 

Meal #31 was just the oriental chicken salad that I was also testing out for retreat.  It was good but we ended up not making this type of salad at retreat.  I really did like it though.

 

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup sesame seeds

1/3 cup sliced almonds

1 package ramon noodles, broken – minus the spice packet

1 small head of cabbage, chopped or sliced fine

1 bunch green onions, sliced – green parts only

4 tablespoons Splenda

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons canola oil or olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt – or to taste

7 tablespoons rice wine vinegar – original

In a frying pan, over medium heat, melt the butter; saute the sesame seeds, almonds, and broken ramen noodles until golden brown. Set aside to cool completely.

In a large bowl combine the cabbage and green onions. In a blender or food processor emulsify the Splenda, pepper, oil, salt, and rice wine vinegar until creamy. Pour over the cabbage and toss. Add the sesame mixture and toss. Add more salt to taste, if necessary. Serve immediately. Makes a TON! (Okay, okay…I actually did the stats for 10 servings.)

A 60th Birthday Celebration

My mom turned 60 in September and we threw her a little surprise party.  It went off without a hitch and she was surprised.  She did wonder if we were up to something because of a few little comments and a couple questions that I had to ask her in order to plan it but she was surprised that it was what it was.  A lot of people came and I really enjoyed planning and hosting it.  I always love to decorate my house for a party and plan the food and stuff.  And lots of people came!

 

We did a little photo shoot for her for her birthday of her and her grandbabies. 

 

Noodles, The Greats, Leaves, and a Sitting Girl

Carter was clearly very bored one day...you know, the classic signs of bordom...naughty, throwing things around the house, making messes, whining, asking me a hundred questions, yada, yada, yada.  So I was trying to think of something fun he could do without a huge mess and would help keep him happy while I continued cleaning the kitchen that I was wanting to get done.  So I put some noodles in a bowl, gave him some measuring cups and spoons, and a second bowl.  He loved it.  He literally spent an hour just transferring the noodles from one bowl to the other and then back again.  It was great.  I need to come up with more fun stuff like this to pull out on long days at home. 

 

Wouldn't this be the life?  I mean seriously...

My cute Grandparents...They were here for my mom's birthday and asked me to snap a few pictures of them.  Love these two and so does Carter!  My kids are so blessed to have so many grandparents, and great grandparents who love them so much.  

 

Carter had fun playing with leaves while we snapped some pictures.

 



And Madelynn started working on her sitting skills.  She isn't great at it but she can do it!  She just gets too excited and flings her arms and falls over.