Smooth As A Babies…

So I live in a desert. Yep. A dry, hot, boring desert.

And I have realized recently that I am not exactly the spring chicken I once was.

Shut up.

My mother, and no offense to her, aged horribly. Her wrinkles and gray hair came at an early age. Smoking probably helped speed that along.

Anyways, at my age I think I look pretty alright. People often mistake me for a lot younger and are usually surprised when they find out my real age. I don’t have grays. It’s because I am a soulless ginger. Red heads generally gray later. I don’t have wrinkles too much either. I was never a make-up wearer and I have always tried to take care of my skin.

But the dry…

My elbows and my knees…

So I bought lotion. Do you have any idea how many bottles of lotion I have in my bathroom?

16.

I counted them. Little ones, big ones, some with all natural ingredients, some with fabulous fragrances…

And you know how many of them I use?

None.

I hate being all greased up. I hate greasy hands. And mostly, I just forget it is there. I am a busy person. Who has time to lotion? Not me.

Then I started seeing these commercials for this in shower lotion. These commercials are the creepiest thing ever. LIKE EVER....

And while I don’t want some creepy lady anywhere near me or any one I like, I thought maybe this in the shower lotion would be good. I could avoid the dragon scale elbows and knees and not be a greased up pig. And if it is there in the shower, I might actually use it.

So I bought some. But not this brand, I went with Nivea In Shower Body Lotion

AND IT WAS GLORIOUS!

I no longer have dragon elbows and knees. It was awesome. I am not all greasy.

I loved it so much I bought if for Mary on her birthday. Yeah. I know I am weird.

I use the cocoa butter version. It smells good. No one paid me to say that either. I just wanted to share it with you. Because it was that awesome.

#Thankskoda

Carolynn got a dog. It is a husky and german shepherd mix. I am not a fan. Carolynn told me she was going to take care of this dog. But she works and goes to school. And Koda does crazy stuff. So we created a hash tag just for her.

#thankskoda

Koda ate one of my plants. Thanks Koda.

Koda pees everywhere. Thanks Koda.

Koda eats all the plastic ware. Thanks Koda.

I tried to let Koda in but she peed all over the threshold and on my foot. I needed clean socks. Thanks Koda.

Koda some how managed to get on the table but can't seem to figure out how to get off. Now I have to go outside in the freezing cold to rescue her. Thanks Koda.

I forgot what this herb is, because the sign is missing/eaten. Thanks Koda.

Koda just licked me up the nose. Thanks Koda.

We found Koda's collar... She ate it. Thanks Koda.

(FYI... She also ate Drizella's collar some how.)

I was trying to take a picture. Thanks Koda.

Thanks Koda. Thanks Carolynn.

Dogs...

The Gift Of Magic

Last year, as my Aunt Sherri is a grown woman who is free to buy her own stuff, I decided not to give her anything for Christmas. Instead, I gave her a day. Well, two days actually.

Harry Potter Days!

We started right with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s stone at 9:00 AM. And the same way that book starts, we started…

With breakfast.

We did not burn the bacon. There were eggs and toast too.

We moved ahead movie after movie. We had delicious snacks. (I have a Harry Potter Cookbook. I know. I am an odd one.) I made bouillabaisse for dinner with warm bread. The next day we made Caldron cakes for breakfast. (Yes, they are the same as pancakes.) Then still more snacks and a yummy stew for dinner.

We watched all 8 movies. We had presents; a fabulous Time-Turner Necklace, a beautiful leather journal, a real quill pen, Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans and Jelly Slugs.

It was a great weekend.

Way better than just new socks and underwear…

So There Is This Boy...

And I love him so much.

And he is the most handsome boy in the whole world.

He is my son.

His name is Charlie. He was born in October 2015. And since I haven’t updated this blog since I had the boy, I figured I would write about him.

My baby boy is a rambunctious little daredevil. He does have the devil’s red hair. He is my little ginger, the only one of my four children to have red hair like his mommy.

But he is clearly daddy’s boy.

And he is not a cuddly boy either, unless he is sick or just so tired he can’t do anything else. Then we can sneak some cuddles in.

As he is the first boy, I was unprepared for the daring escapades of a little boy. Where all of my daughters were slow to crawl or walk, Charlie was up on his feet and running before he was one. He will climb anything. He is going to give me a heart attack. My daughters were verbal early on and he is just figuring out words. He communicates with direction.

Charlie is a big fan of Zootopia. As a matter of fact, no matter how big the temper tantrum, if you play Try Everything, he will stop and dance. He will also dance to Boogie Wonderland and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Hot Dog Dance.



He is the best boy in the world. I love my Charlie.

Home

In 2015, David and I did something we never did before.

We bought a house.

This is our house. OURS. No one else's.

It comes with some challenges.

It is an older house and some stuff requires a bit of repair. But it is big and wonderful and ours.

The kitchen is a little smaller than I would love. We need a new stove and a new dishwasher. Actually, we need new counters, new cupboards and a new sink too, but they work for now.

But the yard is fabulous.

We are still working on it. The only room we have painted so far is the baby's room.

It is green with orange accents. I was a little worried about how it would come out, but it looks great. I even found curtains and a changing table cover in that shade of orange. Michelle seems to like it. She is a messy housekeeper.

This month my goal is to finish Carolynn's room. We just need to paint and put up curtains and she needs a new sheet and blanket set. We can do this.

I will try and post pictures when we do. I make no promises though.

My Little Chef

My little Carolynn has been quite the chef lately.

One night, while I was at work she made some kind of carrot curry soup. I didn't try it. I was at work.

On another night, while David and I were at Disneyland with Michelle, she made, for her and Catherine, some kind of barbecued portabello quessadillas. They looked yummy. She was going to save me one, but she missed.

Then she made this fabulous Orecchiette Pasta with Chicken in a Creamy Rosemary Lemon Sauce.

She used twice as much chicken as it called for and she put in all the rosemary at once.

It was delicious. There were no leftovers. We are making it again.

Hopefully we can get some more of her fabulous cooking around here.

Hint, hint...

A New Year

6 years ago I started a new job that would forever change the ideas I had of what I was going to do with my life. I was excited to begin and learn. Excited about the opportunities it was bringing to my family.

6 years can really change things.

I still have the same job. I no longer am excited. I am usually frustrated by the whole thing. I used to care about my coworkers and now I find a lot of them are no better than inmates themselves. I don’t see good in people. I see inmates.

Not too long ago, I decided to go ahead and try and remove that awful negative part of my existence. Nope, I am not going to get a new job. This one does still provide for my family and provides a lot of great benefits. I just am choosing to not focus on my work.

It made me laugh, because it made me think of it like a call girl and “you are just a paycheck to me”.

It’s just a paycheck.

This is not my life; this is how I pay for my life.

And truthfully, I have a pretty awesome life.

My Perfect Life

My life is perfect.

I work at a job I hate with a bunch of coworkers who really shouldn't be allowed to work there. It really sucks getting up in the morning and going there. But I keep going. Because that is how I pay the bills.

Right now, my house looks awesome. The couches really need to be professionally cleaned. There are used tissues on one end table and a variety of dirty dishes all over the others. There is trash on the floor from a package the baby got in the mail. I can't remember the last time I dusted. The trash hasn't been taken out in two days. The sink is full of dishes. I am positive there are dirty clothes on the bathroom floor and the cat box needs cleaning.

My children are of course, perfect. My two year old didn't get dressed at all yesterday. She can correctly use the phrase “What the Fuck”. She enjoys watching Disney Jr. and when she is driving me nuts I put on a DVD of Disneyland Fun for her. We have seen it like 6 billion times. My middle child has to be constantly reminded to do everything. Shower, get dressed, do your homework... She has no sense of appropriate boundaries and is banned from most forms of internet because of it. My oldest thinks she is better than everyone because she has a little money and gets dressed up to go check the mail.

My husband is also perfect. He didn't take out the trash. He forgot to return the baby's DVD to the library and nearly forgot to pay the phone bill. He spends a lot of time in his underpants and doesn't even notice the messes around him. He plays some stupid thing online with his friends and it makes him sound like a giant ass.

I too am perfect. I have severe anxiety and riding in the car with me is a treat. I am pretty sure I yelled at everyone last week. Mostly my husband and probably half of it for stuff he had no control over or didn't even do. I haven't been dressed in two days and I cant remember the last time I really shaved my legs. Tonight I am making dinner in which parts of it come frozen from a bag. There is probably little nutritional value in some of it.

Yes.

My life is perfect.

Because my adorable baby just announced, it smells good in here. Then she said she loved me.

Because my oldest wrote an essay about how she is proud of her mom for working so hard.

Because my middle daughter says she likes doing stuff with me.

Because my husband is at school getting an education and will come home and watch stupid TV shows and play video games with me. Then he will make sure I have clean uniforms for work tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will go to work and be happy that I am getting paid and have made a few good friends.

Maybe my house will get cleaned. Maybe I will actually try to make some of those healthy recipes I pinned on Pintrest.

But probably not.

My life is already perfect.

No Sense Crying Over

So I was in the middle of writing about our trip to Las Vegas. (See this and this.) Then I stopped.

Why?

Because someone, namely David, spilled water all over my laptop. It has been lost forever. Almost five years of use and it is gone. Luckily, David recovered all my pictures and stuff, so he is sort of forgiven. I also got a nice new tablet to play with. (My iPad still works too, but it is so old and outdated.)

So I am back in business. For the most part. There are some things you just can not do on a tablet. So David will have to share.

So...

We left off with this....

Holiday Spirit

Yesterday's post had a bunch of people asking me....

Why not just invite everyone? The more the merrier. Right?

Maybe.

But let me tell you a fun story about an experience I had....

Every year at Christmas, we have an ornament exchange party. Christmas rolled around almost a year after I started at my job. So I decided to invite a few of my new coworkers. Five or six of them I had gotten to know. People who had kids like me, or who I had things in common with... 

Not only did none of them come, but 3 of them told me, in various words... 

We won't bring our families near gays. 

Really? 

You think I am going to boot my family for your sorry asses? Hell no. You can't catch gay, stupid. If you could, I would be soooooo gay. 

I couldn't believe it. They are no longer my friends. Only one of them still works there, and I don't see them often. 

On top of that, another one of them told me that they couldn't come because the age difference between David and I is just sick and they refused to be a part of it. 

OMG? Are you serious? Ten years isn't that bad. Look at some celebrity couples. 

Since then, I have been avoiding most social situations involving my coworkers. No Correctional Worker's Week events. No ball games, no holiday parties. I don't need to know all of my coworkers are jerks.

It kind of sucks though. I don't meet people anywhere else. And I really think I could be friends with some of them. 

But I am to wary. 

Like I said yesterday, yes, I do over think everything. 

Is this a problem? 

Probably. 

Alien Nation

David and I are finally getting married. I know, about time already. But anyway, we are not having a big fancy wedding. Actually no wedding at all. But we are having a barbecue party to celebrate with friends and family.

And there lies the conundrum......

Who do we invite? 

Family? Obviously. 

But so many of them live far away, especially David's family. I don't want anyone to feel obligated to come. But I don't want anyone to feel left out either. 

Friends? Sure. But which ones? 

How well do I know you? Who will have hurt feelings if I forget them? Who could care less? 

Do I just invite everyone and let it sort itself out? 

Do I over think everything?

Yes. Yes, I do. 

Scary

Last Tuesday a man came to my home looking for the home owners. We rent. He informed us that they had not paid property taxes in 6 years and if they didn't pay up by May 31, they were going to auction off my house. They owe just over $30,000. Then he proceeded to post a scary red notice on the front of the house and take a picture of it.

I called the rental company right away. They had no clue.

I was freaking out.

I don't want to move. I love my house.

I was looking at other houses. I was hoarding money. (Hamburger Helper and Top Ramen anyone?)

Finally, today, I got some answers.

Turns out, as a renter, I have way more rights than I thought I did. In the event that the county seizes my house for nonpayment of taxes, they are still required to give me 60 days notice. Generally, in situations like this, those 60 days come rent free. Also, if the county becomes owners of this house, the property management company has no choice but to refund the $1695 deposit I gave them. (Within 21 days.) And finally, there is a government program (through the fair housing act) that will help us with a grant for deposit and first month's rent in a comparable house if we are forced to move due to owner neglect. And not paying property taxes and getting the house sold at auction is in fact owner neglect. So we are covered.

Plus, we were told today that the owners are taking out a loan against this house to pay the taxes. (They currently own it free and clear.)

So it looks like we don't have to move. YAY! And if we end up being forced to, which is unlikely, we are covered. I mean really, who lets a $148,000 home go to auction over $30,000. And half that is in fees and interest and penalties. I bet they could get it lowered a lot.

And now I can relax.

Lovie

When Carolynn was a baby, she had this stuffed Lambchop doll that went everywhere with her. As a matter of fact, one of her first words was "Chop". Then there was her blankie, she called it her "Key". It has Bugs Bunny on it and she got it for her first birthday. She still sleeps with it. She is almost 17.

Catherine had Cow. A raggedy old stuffed cow she got when she was five. I think she still sleeps with it. Then came Cow Jr., Cowalina.... You get the idea. There are quite a few.

Michelle is 6 months old now. She has always been fascinated with red things. She has a giant Clifford doll she loves. But being a big red dog... It is the same size as her. My friends Adrienne and Serenity gave her a Minnie Mouse doll at her baby shower. It is wearing a red dress with a red bow. And it is just the right size. She carries it about. She chews on it. She snuggles it. I buy her new stuff and she still reaches for Minnie. Crunchy, crusty old Minnie.


Today we went down to the Disney store to find her a new dress to wear for pictures. I bought her some new dolls. I picked up a second Minnie and packed it away, just in case.

Parents Are Supposed To Be Here Forever

Just like everyone else, I was born with a mom and a dad. My parents got divorced when I was six. I lived with my grandparents for awhile. Eventually, when I was 11, my mom married my step dad and we settled down. By then, my dad was pretty much cut out, so I didn't see him again for a long time. As a matter of fact, I didn't have any kind of relationship with him until the last few years. My mom and I may have lived in the same house, but we never really got along. She would go years without speaking to me for some reason or another.

When I was 17, I got this boyfriend. And he had these Aunts...

He asked me to come with him to help his Aunts paint a room for their new baby.

Sure.

It was quite the event. I was covered in paint. There were all of these crazy people. It was fun.

A few weeks later, he took me there for a baby shower. Again... Crazy people.

That was in the fall of 1994. In the Spring of 1995, just before I graduated high school, my mom decided it would be better if I lived elsewhere. I had just turned 18. I moved in with the boyfriend and his mom. But it was the Aunts who helped the most. I didn't have anyone else and I trusted them. Chris and Sherri.

That summer I found out I had an allergy to latex. And it was Sherri I told. (Don't ask how I found out, but it was one interesting conversation.) Shortly after that, I found out I was pregnant with Carolynn. And it was Chris and Sherri we went to.

When Carolynn was 6 weeks old, we moved in to their house. We had no where else to go. They found me a job. They taught me all the important stuff about being a mom. Plus things like how to grocery shop and budget. How to cook and sew and garden. Basically, I am the adult I am now because of them.

Since we moved back to the high desert 5 years ago, they have been our closest family. Even though I long divorced their nephew, they still treated me like a daughter. They love David too. And Michelle. We spent holidays and summers together. It's nice knowing that you have family right there. Their baby, Taylor, who is now 18, is like a little brother. Or a big brother to Carolynn and Catherine.

So what we aren't really related? Sure, they are Carolynn and Catherine's great-aunts. But we are way closer than that.

They are my moms. My parents. The ones I have always gone too. The ones I would do anything for. Family.

Around the beginning of January, Chris was diagnosed with cancer. She has battled it once before. This time, there was nothing they could do.

On Sunday afternoon, I lost one of my moms.

She told me not to be sad.

Impossible.

But I am trying. I still have Sherri and Taylor.

It will get easier. I know it will.

Tastes Like Meatloaf?

One of Catherine's favorite things to eat is Swedish Meatballs. I never made them. She loves to get them in frozen dinners or out to eat. So I decided to try making them. I like Swedish Meatballs too.

Once again, on Pintrest, I found a recipe that sounded good. So I made it.

Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 celery stalk, minced
1/4 cup minced parsley
1 lb 93% lean beef
1 egg
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp allspice
2 cups reduced sodium beef stock
2 oz light cream cheese

Directions:

In a large deep saute pan, heat oil on medium heat, add onions and garlic; sauté until onions are translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add celery and parsley and cook until soft, about 3-4 more minutes. Let cool a few minutes.

In a large bowl combine beef, egg, onion mixture, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and allspice. Mix well and form meatballs with your hands 1/8 cup each (fill 1/4 cup then divide the meat in half).

Add beef stock to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and slowly drop meatballs into the broth. Cover and cook about 20 minutes. Remove the meatballs with a slotted spoon and set aside in a serving dish. Strain the stock, add to blender with cream cheese and pulse until smooth. Return to pan and simmer a few minutes to thicken, then pour over meatballs. Garnish with parsley and serve over noodles or with toothpicks if you want to set these out as an appetizer.

First of all, I doubled the recipe because Robby and Gena were here. Second, I was out of fresh parsley having used it earlier in the week on a Moroccan stew. So I used dried. My meat was 80/20. I didn't use reduced sodium beef stock. And my cream cheese wasn't light.

But it was a huge hit with Catherine. I should have used a different pan, and I made the meatballs in batches. Catherine ate the first batch before I finished the second. I could have made them all at once in a different pan. The sauce didn't come out very thick. I will have to figure out a way to make it thicker. We ate it with egg noodles and the sauce just kind of fell through. I didn't chop the veggies small enough. Probably I could have pureed them.

Carolynn liked it. But she agreed the sauce needed to be thicker. Michelle got to taste the sauce, and she liked it. Had it been thicker, it would have stuck to the binky better and she would have tasted more. I liked it. I assume Robby liked it. He ate it. Gena picked at it and then gave her meatballs to Robby. David said it tasted like meatloaf. And he would have liked the veggies pureed too. He doesn't like to see the onions. He also said he needed to invent a "Noodle Magnet" so he wouldn't have to chase his noodles all over the plate.

Noodle Magnet.... Coming to an infomercial near you.

Casablanca

I have been trying lots of new recipes lately. David is helping. Mostly by not objecting. He has a friend who tries new recipes and posts them on Facebook. This one looked good so he read it to me and we decided to try it. I never made anything from the Middle East before. But I will try anything. (Except lima beans or beets. Eww.)

Harira (Moroccan Lentil and Tomato Soup)

Ingredients

1 lb of Lamb or Beef, Cubed
6 Large Tomatoes, Peeled, Seeded and Pureed
2 Cups of Dried Chickpeas, Soaked Overnight or 4 1/2 Cups of Canned
2 Cups of Dried Lentils
2 Celery Stalks with Leaves, Finely Chopped
1 Large Onion, Grated
4 tbls of Fresh Cilantro
4 tbls of Fresh Parsley
3 tbls of Tomato Paste
3 tbls of Rice or Broken Vermicelli
1 tbls of Butter
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp Ground Ginger
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp Tumeric
3 tbls Vegetable Oil
2 Eggs, Beaten

Directons

Heat oil in a pan and cook meat for 5 minutes.

Add everything except the tomato paste, lentils and rice. Also, only add the chickpeas if you were using dried. If canned wait until later. Add eight cups of water. Stir well.

Mix tomato paste with 1/2 cup of water. Add it and the lentils to the pot. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 2 hours.

Add in the rice or noodles and the chickpeas if you are using canned. Simmer another 10 minutes.

Slowly pour the beaten eggs into the simmering soup, stirring constantly. Simmer 1 more minute.

Now I adapted this from the original recipe and my conversions may be off. I used canned tomato puree. My soup was really more of a super thick stew. And I really needed to add the rice earlier. 10 minutes was not long enough to cook the rice. Maybe I should have added precooked rice. It didn't say.

It smelled like nothing I ever smelled before while it was cooking. Sort of like a cinnamon beefy smell, but better. It smelled good.

And it tastes good too. A little spicy kick in the end. David tried it. He doesn't eat beans and this is a very bean soup. So he just tasted the meat. And we ate it with naan bread. He tried that too. Carolynn and Catherine gobbled it right up. It was super cheap to make. Dried beans are cheap. A cheap cut of beef and some herbs and you are all set.

We might have to do this one again.

New Mexican Flair

Sometimes I like a vegetarian dish. Mostly because sometimes I forget to take meat out of the freezer for dinner. I found a recipe for these southwestern egg rolls on Pintrest (of course). So we tried it.

Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls

INGREDIENTS
2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles, drained
4 green onions, chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 package egg roll wrappers (about 24 total)

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, combine everything but the egg roll wrappers. Mix well to blend. Lay an egg roll wrapper out on a work surface so that one of the corners is pointing toward you and place ¼ cup of the filling in the center. Fold the tip closest to you up over the filling, roll a bit, then take the points pointing outward and fold them in toward the center. Continue rolling into an egg roll shape until a small part of the remaining point is still free. Dip a finger in water or beaten egg and lightly brush on the edges of the free corner. Finish rolling and press to seal closed. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.

Preheat the oven to 425˚ F. Lightly oil a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place the sealed egg rolls on the baking sheet seam side down and spray the tops of the egg rolls with cooking spray. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly brown, turning halfway through baking. Serve warm with salsa.

Talk about spicy.... WOO! But good. I think they would have been a bit better had I fried them. Also, my egg roll wrappers only came in a pack of 20, so my egg rolls were a little stuffed and some of them oozed a bit. And I think we needed a dipping sauce. Salsa was not the answer. Spicy on spicy. But sour cream or guacamole would have been awesome. Since they had beans in them David didn't try them and they would have been too spicy for him anyway. And way too spicy for Michelle. Carolynn and Catherine liked them a lot. I liked them. They would be a good party food.

If At First You Don't Succeed....

In our quest to try new foods, I was trying to find something that David would like. He is such a picky. He is trying not to be as picky though because he doesn't want Michelle to be like him in that way. (Though don't give her the peas.... OMG!)

I found a recipe on Pintrest for Salisbury Steak. It led me to this blog and this recipe.

Salisbury Steak with Caramelized Onion Gravy

Ingredients:

Onion Gravy
2 large red onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups low-sodium beef broth
1/2 cup dry red wine (optional)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
Salt and pepper

Meat Patties
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup cooked white rice
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 clove minced garlic
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:
1) To make gravy: Heat butter in a large sauté pan. Add onions and cook over medium-high heat, until onions start to brown, stirring occasionally. When onions are slightly softened and turning a deep honey brown, add 1/4 cup broth. Reduce heat, cover and continue cooking, adding more broth as needed to prevent caramelized bits at the bottom of the pan from burning. It should take at least 25 to 30 minutes to properly caramelize onions. Stir in flour and cook for about 2 minutes. Add wine and reduce by half. Stir in remaining beef broth and tomato paste. Stir in cider vinegar. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat to low and keep warm.
2) To make patties: Mix ground beef, rice, egg yolk, salt, pepper, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, parsley and thyme in a bowl. Shape into 4 oval patties about 3/4-inch thick. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat. Sear patties about 3 minutes per side, or until a brown crust forms. Pour gravy over patties and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Serve warm with mashed potatoes or noodles. Yield: 4 Servings.

Well, it sounded delicious. But I don't think we will make this one again. First of all, I think we made the patties a little off. Catherine made them more like hamburger size when I really think they should have been flatter. And they were not as moist as I would have liked. And I don't know what was up with the rice in them. David thought they were onions and almost refused to try it. Finally, that made a ton of onion. A TON! Way more than was needed for 4 little patties. It was a good sauce though. We also added mushrooms to it. They were good. And we served it with mashed potatoes and purple cauliflower. Michelle enjoyed the mashed potatoes.

Salisbury Steak is a good idea. Even David thought so. But we just need to try another recipe.

Wordless Wednesday

See more Wordless Wednesday here.

Sweet Potato Time
January 2013
Apple Valley, California

Trip To Asia

We like Asian food. And by we, I don't usually mean David. If we go to Panda Express, we drive through the burger joint next door for him. He will eat some orange chicken if we make him.

But eating out is expensive. Especially at Panda Express or other Chinese take out. And since we are trying to stay on budget and still eat fun stuff, we decided to try and make some Chinese take out at home.

I found this recipe on Pintrest and it led me to this blog and this recipe for Cashew Chicken.

Cashew Chicken (with a kick)
2 chicken breasts cubed
1 tbsp cooking sherry
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
¼ cup oil
1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you want it, a little goes a long way)
3 green onions, sliced diagonally
2 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tsp of jarred minced garlic)
1/2 cup cashews, unsalted
toasted sesame seeds
lightly or unsalted cashews.

Sauce:
4 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
4 tsp sugar
2 tsp white vinegar

Combine 1 tablespoon soy sauce with the cooking sherry in medium sized bowl. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces, put chicken pieces in soy/sherry mixture. Let sit while you prepare the other ingredients.

In a small bowl, whisk 4 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 1/2 tbsp corn starch, 4 tsp sugar, and 2 tsp vinegar. Set aside. Slice the green onions, and measure out the red pepper flakes and minced garlic.

Drain chicken in strainer to get the marinade off as much a possible. Heat oil in a wok over high heat. Add red pepper flakes to oil,stir a couple times. Add chicken all at once, let sit for a minute or two till golden,then turn chicken. Add garlic to chicken. Cook chicken till golden on all sides and cooked through. drain oil if there is still an excessive amount. Add cashews. Move wok off hot stove and immediately pour in sauce while constantly turning chicken over to cover everything in sauce. Sauce should thicken quite a bit, if you want it thicker put it back on medium heat for about 5-10 seconds, and stir, stir, stir. Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds and add sliced green onions. Serve over Rice. ENJOY!

I didn't use a wok. I just used a big non-stick skillet. I didn't use low sodium soy sauce. I didn't slice my onions diagonally. And my cashews were lightly salted. I only used a 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. It had a little kick to it.

David said it was edible. Carolynn and I liked it, but we both felt that there were too many cashews. Catherine said it was too spicy. Also, it didn't make a whole lot. But enough for 1 serving each. We might try this one again. We ate it with white rice. But I think fried rice would have been good too.