Babies, Relaxing and Other Weekend Plans

I am happy to report that the General Tso's Chicken was a success, as were the reversed-engineered Larabars.  If you are looking for a recipe for the Larabars, I got mine from the Healthy Snacks To Go e-book, however, she says that she used this post as her jumping off point.  At any rate, I made the Chocolate Peanut Butter Delight variation and they are to die for.  Needless to say, I'm making more this weekend.  I wonder if they freeze well?

On Sunday I'll get to spend time with my nephew.  He is four months, and he is the most adorable little guy I've ever seen.  Though little guy might not be the best description.  He is already in size 6 month clothes.

Other than that, I plan on spending time relaxing this weekend.  Yes, I'll have the usual Saturday chores, but nothing too strenuous.

What are your weekend plans?  Whatever they are, I hope that your weekend is relaxing and blessed.

This post is part of the Company Girl Coffee Blog Hop

 

 over at Home Sanctuary

Memorizing Scripture - Product Review

I have long been convicted about the need of memorizing Scripture, but it was not something that I grew up doing.  And anytime that I thought about it, I got overwhelmed just trying to figure out how to start.

Then I stumbled across Memverse, though I don't remember where.  It's an online Bible memorizing system.  Not only is it free, but they even have the King James Bible for use.

You can add which verses you want to memorize and how many you want to work on at a time.  And you rate yourself on how well you recall the verse.  Which is great since sometime I don't get a verse correct on the first try because of typos and not because I don't know it.  A verse is considered memorized when you go 30 days between reviews of that verse.  Right now I only have 1 verse that is considered memorized, though I know that I know more.

The other nice thing is that if you are doing sequential verses it groups them during your sessions.  And if you are doing a whole chapter (right now I'm doing Romans 8), it gives it to you a bit at a time.

General Tso's Chicken

Two weekend's ago I finally made the General Tso's chicken.  It only took three attempts (see my posts here and here).  I think that it turned out quite well.  So without further ado, here is my recipe for General Tso's chicken - minus the frying



3 chicken thighs, cubed
Seasoned flour for dredging
Coconut oil for cooking
1/4 cup chicken stock, or substitute water
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon good quality soy sauce, coconut aminos, or tamari
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon hoisin sauce
1 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon sugar

2 dried chilies crushed

Dredge the chicken in the seasoned flour and cook in oil until almost cooked through.  Meanwhile combine the other ingredients in a bowl, mixing to combine.  When chicken is almost cooked through, pour sauce over and cook until chicken is done and sauce has thickened.

This post is part of Traditional Tuesdays at Cooking Traditional Food, Healthy 2day Wednesdays at day2day joys, Real Food Wednesdays at Kelly the Kitchen Kop, Homemaking Link-up at Raising Homemakers and Pennywise Platter Thursdays at The Nourishing Gourmet.

Menu Plan Monday - March 26

We got our new grill last week and got it set up - and now the weather has turned cooler.  Oh well, we'll use it at least once, maybe twice this week.  We ended up getting stuff to grill on Friday, so hillbilly goulash got bumped to this week.

We did make biscuits on Sunday.  I think that we've finally gotten them figured out.  We just used Alton Brown's recipe, subbing lard for the shortening.

Saturday we went to my sister's house to celebrate birthdays.  We had a blast and I got to play with my nephew.  I'm also meeting a friend from high school after work tomorrow, so we're going to eat out.

My menu plan starts on Saturday.  For the most part, sides are figured out during the week.  I always have plenty of starchy side dishes and frozen veggies to choose from.


Saturday - Sister's house

Sunday - beef patties in gravy

Monday - pasta

Tuesday - out

Wednesday - hillbilly goulash

Thursday - cheeseburgers

Friday - pork chops

 

Spring and Summer Cooking

We've been really warm around here lately, which has given me the itch to start spring and summer time eating.  Soups are off of the menu and grilling will begin to make it's way on to it.  Our new grill is expected to arrive today and I can't wait to get it assembled and ready to use.

 Photo Credit

Pastas will also slowly come off of the menu.  With an open floor plan like we have, making it heats up the house way to much.  Lighter fare will also be the name of the game for side dishes.  Rice and salads begin to replace mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese.  Even my lunch will begin to change.  Salads will become the main choice with grilled chicken or mushrooms as the protein.

I am looking forward to the change in the menu.

Southwest Chicken

One nice thing about spending time tweaking recipes is that I've learned to pay attention to the technique and  to carry it over into other dishes.  One example is Chinese food.  I love Chinese food but my husband doesn't.  But what we both like are the more traditional southwest flavors.  So I combined the two.  The end result was a fun new dish that we both liked.


We only used a green pepper and an onion in it, but you could add any veggies that you wanted to it.

2 chicken breasts cut into bite size cubes
Flour seasoned with salt and pepper for dredging
Oil for browning the chicken and veggies
1 green pepper cut into bite sized pieces
1 onion diced
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cilantro
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

In a skillet heat oil.  Dredge the chicken in the seasoned flour and shake of any excess.  Brown in oil.  When chicken is almost completely browned, add in pepper and onion.  Continue cooking until the vegetables soften.  Add chicken stock and spices, reduce heat and cook until sauce is thickened and chicken is cooked through.

Serve over rice.

This post is part of Traditional Tuesdays at Cooking Traditional Foods, Healthy 2day Wednesdays at Quick and Easy, Cheap and Healthy, Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop, and the Homemaking Link-up at Raising Homemakers

Menu Plan Monday - March 19

We finally had the southwest chicken last week.  I'm really happy with how it turned out and will blog about it tomorrow.  I also finally made the General Tso's.  I still haven't decided if I'm happy with it or not.

This week Monday and Tuesday's dinners are interchangeable depending on the weather.  Possibly Wednesday too.  We need to seal the deck, but need the weather to cooperate.  Whatever day we do it, we'll have pizza.

We did drag the grill into the driveway on Saturday to do cheeseburgers.  I can't wait until the deck is done and we can start grilling again.  I do have to say that this week's menu is very heavy on the tomatoes.

My menu plan starts on Saturday.  For the most part, sides are figured out during the week.  I always have plenty of starchy side dishes and frozen veggies to choose from.


Saturday - cheeseburgers, pasta salad, pickles

Sunday - roast in the crockpot, mashed potatoes, carrots

Monday - pasta

Tuesday - pizza

Wednesday - hillbilly goulash

Thursday - pork chops

Friday - chicken parm - well provolone

 

Clothes, Chicken and Other Weekend Plans

So I'm still trying to get to the General Tso's Chicken experiment.  This will be week three (you can read about the first two attempts here and here).  I am bound and determined that I will make this tomorrow.  I hope :)

I'm also planning on making the reverse engineered Larabars from the Healthy Snacks to Go e-book.  I love Larabars, but cannot see spending $1 a bar for one.  Wish me luck with this endeavor too.

Finally, I have a good deal of whey on hand from when I made yogurt cheese veggie dip this week (I'll post the recipe in the near future).  I think that I'm going to pick up some carrots and ginger and make some lacto-fermented carrots.  Especially since it finally occurred to me that I can use my food processor to shred the carrots instead of doing it by hand.

We're also on Week 2 of Spring Cleaning with major emphasis being placed on closets and drawers.  So that means clothes and shoes.  I need to get my shoes and socks organized.  Desperately.

If the weather is nice we'll also work on the deck.  It needs a good cleaning and we'll seal it this year.

On the craft front, I'm still working on the same projects and will hopefully get to spend some time on them this weekend.

What are your weekend plans?  Whatever they are, I hope that your weekend is relaxing and blessed.

This post is part of the Company Girl Coffee Blog Hop

 

 over at Home Sanctuary

Spring Cleaning - Week 2

Amazingly enough we were able to get through the entire to-do list from week 1.  This week's list isn't quite so challenging.  We're concentrating on the master bedroom, office and craft room.

Master Bedroom

• Sort through clothes as needed.  For my husband, this means short sleeve shirts.  For me, I'll be sorting through socks and tops.
• Organize closets
• Do a thorough and deep dusting
• Clean the windows, blinds and curtains.

Office

• Sort through bins and bookshelves
• Shred anything that needs shredding
• Do a thorough and deep dusting
• Clean the windows, blinds and curtains

Craft Room

• Organize the closet
• Organize current projects
• Clean the windows, blinds and curtains
• Do a thorough and deep dusting

And just so no one thinks that I never dust.  I'm talking about things like the baseboards and vents.

This post is part of the Homemaking Linkup at A Wise Woman Builds Her Home.

Hoisin Sauce - I think

My adventures trying to replicate General Tso's chicken continued last week.  This time I got so far as to make Hoisin sauce, but didn't have all of the ingredients to finish.  So I just used it on my chicken.  And I did make sure to save enough to do the General Tso's next week.

At least I'm assuming that's what I made.  I found a recipe for it somewhere online (don't remember where), but my own spin on it and made it.  Then I realized that I have no clue what store-bought, bottled Hoisin sauce tastes like.  Oh well.  I do know that mine tastes pretty yummy, but very peanut-y.


I used most of what I made, saving just enough to snap a picture and have on hand for next week.

4 Tablespoons tamari, coconut aminos or good quality soy sauce
2 Tablespoons peanut butter
1 Tablespoon sorghum molasses
2 teaspoons regular white vinegar
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder (I eyeballed this)
2 teaspoons sesame seed oil
1/8 teaspoon chili powder (I eyeballed this)
1/8 teaspoon black pepper (I eyeballed this)

Mix all ingredients until combined.

This post is part of Traditional Tuesdays at Cooking Traditional Foods, Healthy 2day Wednesdays at day2day joys, Real Food Wednesdays at Kelly the Kitchen Kop, and Homemaking Link-up at Raising Homemakers

Menu Plan Monday - March 12

We're still finding great deals on meat shopping early and this weekend I found the best deal ever on meat.  They had pork chops (2 butterfly chops per pack) marked at $6.27 per package, but they were buy one get one free, and we found two packages with $2 coupons on them.  The checkout deducted the full $6.27 off, and then we added in our coupons, so the total came to $2.27 for 4 pork chops.  I was so happy.

My lunch for this week was again supposed to be  General Tso's chicken, but this time I forgot the tomato paste.  So I just used the hoisin sauce that I made.  I did make sure to save enough for next week's attempt.  One of these week's I'll get it right :)

The southwest chicken is starting to seem like a cursed meal.  We were supposed to have it last Wednesday, and Jim ended up working really late so we picked up pizza.  So it's on the menu for this week again.

My menu plan starts on Saturday.  For the most part, sides are figured out during the week.  I always have plenty of starchy side dishes and frozen veggies to choose from.


Saturday - pulled pork

Sunday - country ham and potato salad

Monday - pasta

Tuesday - pork chops

Wednesday - steak

Thursday - upside down shepherd's pie

Friday - southwest chicken

 

Furniture, Cleaning and Other Weekend Plans

To make up for the loss of an hour of sleep tomorrow we decided to add another day to our weekend.   Okay, not really for that reason, but we do have a three day weekend.  We both work for a university and they give us the Friday of spring break off.  This year it coincides with the start of Daylight Savings Time.

So far we have spent our free day getting tires, wandering some stores I've been wanting to check out, finding great deals on meat at the local grocery store and shopping for dining room furniture.  We have it narrowed down to two tables and two buffet/china hutch pieces.  Now we just need to measure and figure  out which finish we like better.  The nice thing is that they let us bring home samples of the different finishes.

My attempt at a knockoff of General Tso's chicken didn't quite work out last weekend so I'll try that again.  Most of my kitchen time though will be spent doing some spring cleaning.  My goals are lofty and I hope attainable.

I have three different craft projects going right now.  Thankfully, none really have time deadlines.  I'm working on my scrapbook (well two of them actually), granny squares for a blanket, and I'm doing some hand piecing for a quilted baby blanket and pillow.

What are your weekend plans?  Whatever they are, I hope that your weekend is relaxing and blessed.

This post is part of the Company Girl Coffee Blog Hop

 

 over at Home Sanctuary

Spring Cleaning - Week 1

It is that time of year again, time to begin spring cleaning.  I'll be starting mine tomorrow afternoon.  Since I mainly work on it on Saturdays, it does take a couple of weeks to get through the house.

This weeks agenda is the kitchen, dining room and living room.  Two items that won't get done this week are to run the oven through the clean cycle and cleaning the carpet.  The weather needs to be a bit warmer for both of those.

Here's the breakdown of each room.

• Sort through and reorganize the two cupboards that have deep space on the side (I'll hopefully take a picture so you understand what I'm talking about)
• Sort through and reorganize the upstairs pantry
• Clean the stove top including taking apart the burners
• Clean the outside of the cupboards
• Put new liners in the dish cupboard
• Clean the window, blinds and curtain

Dining Room

• Clean the windows, blinds and curtains
• Sort through and reorganize the hutch
• Clean top of hutch
• Clean fan blades

Living Room

• Clean the windows, blinds and curtains
• Sort through and reorganize the storage part of the TV stand
• Do a thorough and deep dusting
• Redecorate for spring

Jim will help me with the cleaning and I'm hoping to get it all done this weekend.

This post is part of the Welcome Home Link-up over at Raising Arrows

Spicy Chicken

So I was planning on making a version of General Tso's chicken last week.  I had the best of intentions and then I started cooking.  And well, one thing led to another and I ended up with Spicy Chicken.  Still pretty good, but not quite what I was planning.

It started with my deciding that I didn't feel like making Hoisin Sauce, that I would just use the Tonkatsu Sauce that I had in the refrigerator.  Which, while quicker, it meant that instead of using a sweeter sauce, I was using a spicy sauce. Next I decided instead of making or buying chili paste, that I would just break up a dried chili - or three.  What can I say, I love to cook on the fly and make it up as I go along.  At least this time I remember what I did.

Spicy Chicken
3 chicken legs, cubed
Seasoned flour for dredging
Oil of choice for cooking the chicken
1/4 chicken stock
1 1/2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 Tablespoon tamari, coconut aminos or soy sauce
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon Tonkatsu sauce
1 - 3 dried chilies broken or chopped into small pieces
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 Tablespoon rapadura

Dredge the chicken in seasoned flour and cook in the oil until cooked through.

Meanwhile, combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl and pour over the chicken cooking until thickened and heated through.

This post is part of Traditional Tuesdays at Cooking Traditional Foods, Healthy 2day Wednesdays at day2day joys, Real Food Wednesdays at Kelly the Kitchen Kop, and Homemaking Linkup at Raising Homemakers

Menu Plan Monday - March 5th

I can't believe that it is March already.  Not that I'm complaining, I much prefer spring to winter.  Last week we never did have the southwest chicken, so that's on the agenda for this week.  We're also planning on a quick pasta sauce on Tuesday.

We changed our meat shopping from Friday evening to Saturday morning and are finding some great markdowns on it.

My lunch for this week was supposed to be  General Tso's chicken, but, well adventures happened. I ended up with Chili Chicken - or Spicy Chicken - or whatever you want to call it.  I'll post about it tomorrow so make sure to come back.

My menu plan starts on Saturday.  For the most part, sides are figured out during the week.  I always have plenty of starchy side dishes and frozen veggies to choose from.


Saturday - lentil soup

Sunday -fried chicken and baked beans

Monday - beef and rice tacos

Tuesday - pasta with a quick sauce

Wednesday - southwest chicken

Thursday - steak

Friday - pork chops



 

Cooking, Computer Games and Other Weekend Plans

This has been a crazy week.  Mainly because we stayed up until 1 in the morning on Monday night to watch the delayed Daytona 500.  It threw our whole week off, but was well worth it.

I'm excited about my cooking plans for the weekend.  I'm planning on making a version of General Tso's chicken.  Not sure how authentic it will be - or even if it is an authentic dish, I'm just shooting for yummy and close :)  Depending on how it turns out,

Tomorrow I'm getting together with two of the young people from our home church and we're going to play Nancy Drew games on the computer.  I'm very much looking forward to it.

I'm hoping to do some work on the kitchen cabinets this weekend.  I really need to do some organizing and possibly some purging.

On the craft front, I'll continue with the quilt kit and work on my white granny square blocks.  I will hopefully also have time to scrapbook.

What are your weekend plans?  Whatever they are, I hope that your weekend is relaxing and blessed.

This post is part of the Company Girl Coffee Blog Hop

 

 over at Home Sanctuary

Why I Don't Boycott Any Gas Station

It's become popular in recent years to call for boycotts of various gas stations.  Whether it is CITGO because of Hugo Chavez or BP because of the Gulf oil spill, you hear for calls to boycott.  Whenever I hear of one I just shake my head and continue buying my gas wherever. 

Here's why.  There is not a surplus of oil on the market.  That means, if America doesn't buy it's oil from Venezuela or wherever, it is still getting bought.  But we may end up paying a higher price for the oil that we do buy.  So either we buy it, or the Chinese buy it, or India buys it, or South Africa buys it, etc.  You get the idea.  They aren't going to loose money because we want to boycott them.  It's simple supply and demand.

Most, if not all, gas stations are actually franchises.  Which means that they are not owned by CITGO or BP, but rather are owned by people in your community.  When you decide to boycott their business, they are the ones that you are hurting, along with the people in your community that they employ.  Why would you want to take out your dislike for the gas company by hurting your neighbors?  It just doesn't make sense to me.

Just my 2 cents.