On The Menu: Wingers Sticky Fingers Knock-Off

My sister-in-law Erika made these for us a couple of weeks ago and I had to make them again. So good!

Recipe:

For the sauce:
1/3 c. Franks Hot Sauce
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. water

Heat up hot sauce, brown sugar and water in a saucepot until all the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temp before adding to wings OR prepare ahead of time and refrigerate.

For the Sticky Fingers:
1 c. oil
1 pkg. frozen breaded chicken tenders (I bought the Tyson brand at Costco)

*If you want to go a little lighter you can also bake the chicken tenders instead of frying, they still taste really good. (And it's way cleaner and easier. I like them this way.)

In a frying pan, heat oil and cook chicken tenders until crispy and warm. Dip each piece of chicken in the sauce so it is completely covered and move to serving plate, pour any remaining sauce over the chicken.

You can dip the chicken in Ranch or make a wrap, which is what we like. I use the raw tortillas from Costco. Add a little ranch to the tortilla with some cheese and lettuce. Delicious! And the kids loved them, which is a definite bonus. Enjoy!

Made My Day

We got our Valentine from Wyatt early...

Dear Mom and Dad,

I think you

are

sweeter

than marshmallows.

On The Menu: Chicken Farfalle Pesto Pasta

Made this for the family the other day and it was a hit! Which is saying a lot if you know how picky Wyatt can be. :) Plus, it's super easy. I did make a couple of changes. Since I loathe mushrooms, I left those out and because the recipe said that it would only make 8 servings I double the amount of chicken. Only I think the recipe was a little off because there was way more than 8 servings. 6 adults and 3 kids ate it for dinner and then we had it as leftovers a couple of times. And for the pesto I found the Knorr makes a powder packet that is the perfect amount. I found mine by the gravy/seasoning packets and have used it for a couple of different recipes.

Chicken Bowtie Pasta

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 large chicken breasts lightly seasoned with salt and pepper

1 pound mini bowtie pasta (I found mine at Maceys and I love them!)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

3/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

2 cups sliced mushrooms

2 tablespoons minced garlic

4 cups broccoli florets

15 ounce can large butter beans or other white bean

15 ounce can reduced sodium chicken broth

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup prepared basil pesto

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 cup cooked, crumbled bacon pieces

1. Heat oil in a medium cast iron skillet over medium heat. Place lightly seasoned chicken breast into hot skillet and cook for about 4 minutes per side, until lightly golden brown. Transfer skillet to a preheated 350 degree oven and continue baking for 20-25 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Let chicken rest for a good 15 minutes.

2. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain, run under cold water and set aside.

3. Place oil into a large dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Saute onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, garlic and broccoli for 10 minutes. Stir in beans, chicken broth, cream, pesto and Parmesan cheese. Stir until well combined and reduce heat to low. Stir in pasta, bacon crumbles and chicken. Simmer until ready to serve. Note: Stir pasta every 5 minutes if not serving right away. It thickens quick and needs stirred. Add additional broth, cream or milk to loosen sauce.

Makes 8 servings

Snow and Sick

We finally got some snow! Well, sort of. It was mostly ice by the time we woke up Sunday morning, but that didn't deter Eva from wanting to play in it. Danny had to head over to the church early to shovel the sidewalks there and Eva got dressed and was waiting for him to play in the snow with her when he got home.

Danny tried to help her make a snow angel but the snow was so frozen that she was barely able to imprint and you can't really see it.

It's been torture for my kids to not have snow. They had both grown out of their snow clothes last year so we bought them all new this last fall, only they haven't used them yet because we have had no snow. Not that I'm complaining. As long as the mountains are getting some I'm okay with the valley's not getting any. I'm just hoping that this doesn't mean it's going to snow into June. I guess we'll see.

As you may have noticed, Wyatt wasn't outside with Eva, even though he wanted to be. He started getting what I thought was a cold a couple of days ago and then woke up Sunday morning with this lovely rash all over his face.

I sent a picture to my mom and she guessed Impetigo, which was correct. He also has a severe sinus infection to go along with it. So sad to see him so sick. :( And he's so embarrassed about how he looks. He knew I took a picture of him and kept telling me not to send it to anyone. Even though he won't be contagious on Wednesday and can go to school then, I'm thinking I might keep him home until the rash has cleared up. I'm just hoping that we are done getting sick before the baby comes.

Speaking of baby, things are going well. Better than expected actually. Because my blood pressure was borderline high at my first appointment at 16 weeks, the doctor was predicting that I would go even earlier with this baby then the last 2. But at my last appointment my blood pressure had gone down just a little instead of getting higher, which means no bed rest for me! At least not yet. I'm still having lots of contractions and measured just a little bit small, so I go back in 2 weeks for an ultrasound to check the baby and to measure my cervix. There is a chance that I could be on modified bed rest (like I was with Eva) if I'm dilated too much, but I'm just grateful it hasn't happened yet. And I shouldn't have any problem lasting until 36 or 37 weeks.

Eva's First Haircut

Thanks to my wonderful sister-in-law, Rivka, we are finally rid of Eva's mullet. We ended up trimming like 3 inches off the back to even out her hair. I've been avoiding cutting it for awhile because I kept hoping that it would just even itself out. Plus, Eva wasn't too excited about the whole idea and so I was nervous to take her somewhere to have it done. We showed up at my mom's on New Year's and Rivka was cutting her sons hair and so I asked Eva if she wanted hers cut (thinking for sure she'd say no) and surprisingly she said yes. She did great and is still talking about how only her aunt Rivka can cut her hair now. Which could add up to some expensive haircuts since Rivka lives a couple of states away.

Middle of Winter...Or Not

The sun was shining and we definitely needed to take advantage of that. We spent at least 2 hours out yesterday in just hoodies. I'm so grateful that this winter has been so warm. With me being so sick it's been a blessing to be able to spend so much unexpected time outside. Although, my kids are dying to be able to actually use their snowsuits. :)

Biscuit Topped Chicken Pot Pie

Made this for dinner last night and it was so good! Both kids loved it (which is saying a lot when if you know Wyatt). And I don't really like anything with bread that could possibly be soggy and I loved it. Perfect winter meal. And as a bonus I made a 9X13 for us to eat and an 8X8 to freeze from these amounts.

Biscuit Topped Chicken Pot Pie

4 large chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (either bake, crockpot or pressure cook chicken for easy shredding)

1 packet dry Ranch Dressing Mix, reserve 1/2 teaspoon for topping

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 fresh cracked black pepper

2 10 oz cans cream of chicken soup

10 oz can cheddar cheese soup

1 Cup chicken broth

1 Cup milk

2 15 oz cans Mixed Veggis, drained

3/4 Cup crumbled bacon pieces, already cooked

1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 6 count can Pillsbury Biscuits

1/2 teaspoon Garlic Salt

1/2 teaspoon reserved dry Ranch Dressing Mix

1/2 Cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place shredded chicken into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle in ranch mix (reserve 1/2 teaspoon for later), salt and pepper. Toss to combine seasonings.

2. In a large rimmed skillet or dutch oven, place soups, broth and milk over medium heat; whisk until combined. Stir in mixed veggis then shredded chicken. Transfer to a large 9×13 inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle bacon and cheese over top.

3. Open biscuits and place onto wax paper. Cut each biscuit into 10 little triangle pieces (cut biscuit in half then cut each half into fifths). Place little pieces of biscuit over top of chicken mixture until it’s all covered. Sprinkle biscuits with remaining ranch dressing mix, garlic salt and 1/2 Cup cheese. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until golden brown and biscuits are cooked through underneath. Cover with foil the last 25 minutes of baking to prevent too much browning. Let cool for 10 minutes then serve.

Enjoy!

Homemade Bread

I wish I could claim that this recipe is mine, but the credit all goes to my mom. She makes it even better than I do. I don't make it as often as I'd like because when I do make it, that's all that I eat. So good!

Recipe:

2 Eggs

1/3 C. white sugar

1 tsp. Salt

1/2 C. Oil

2 C. HOT water

5 1/2 -6 C. Bread Flour (I prefer Lehi Roller Mills)

2 Tbsp. Yeast (I use instant)

Place all the ingredients in order in your mixer. I usually make a little dent in the flour and put the yeast in that. Mix it for 5 minutes (with a bread hook attachment). I then usually take it out of my mixer and add a little more flour if needed, and knead by hand for a minute or two. Then place it in a greased bowl and let it raise for about an hour or until it's twice it's size. Since we have a swamp cooler in our house it usually doesn't take me an hour. Then place in your greased bread pans and let it raise for another half hour. Then bake at 350 for 23-26 minutes or until golden on top. Remove from the oven and let cool in pans for about 5 minutes. Remove from pans and cover. Or eat...that's what we do. I think we ate an entire right out of the oven last time. With some homemade strawberry jam, it's delicious. Enjoy!

School Firsts

Both the kids started school this year. Eva in preschool and Wyatt in Kindergarten. I know some people are so excited for school to start and have some down time, but I'm so lost without the kids! Wyatt was really excited, but also pretty nervous. He couldn't even eat his lunch on the first day. :)

(Can you tell that he like Phineas and Ferb?)

His friend across the street, Parker, is in the same class, which I think helped with some of his nervousness. Thankfully the teacher didn't seat them together or she might have had some trouble.

I know most people don't do 2 years of preschool with their kids, but Eva needs it. Not for the academics ( I think she's pretty smart, but I might be a little biased) but because she has a little problem with separation. She still has a hard time going to nursery every Sunday and tries to get me to stay with her. She's pretty comfortable with preschool because she would go on the field trips with me and Wyatt last year and she loves her teacher. And her best friend Ashlyn goes too so she has someone to be with. The first couple of days she wanted me to stay but now they get out of the car and tell me to leave. She won't even let me walk her to the door. I'm really hoping this means I won't be leaving a crying child when it's her turn for kindergarten.

I am adjusting to have them gone, thankfully not both at the same time. It's nice to have one on one time with each kid, especially since I still spend most of each day being sick with this new baby, but I also enjoy the mornings they are both home. I think the hardest part has been having Wyatt gone everyday. I sometimes forget that he has to go to school every afternoon and I'll plan things and then remember that he has school. Oops...I'm blaming that on the pregnancy as well. :)

Moonlight Beach

Other than Sea World our only plan was to chill at the beach, which we did. We spent all of Tuesday at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. Danny spent most of the time boogie boarding while the kids built sand castles and played in this huge pit. I lounged on the towels under our umbrella with Julie and Dusty.

Notice how Wyatt's legs look a little bit too dark? I'm guessing his sunscreen didn't quite have time to dry before he started playing.

Wyatt was totally game to try the boogie board until he wrecked and got a mouth full of sea water. He wouldn't even get back in the water after that. And great parent that I am, I thought it was quite funny. You can catch a little bit of him freaking out at the end of the video.

Sea World

We started out our day at Sea World with a the rides. I'm sure Eva would have stayed on them all day. I, on the other hand, volunteered to stay off and take pictures. I do not like rides that spin at all.

Especially since this is how that ride went:

Our next stop was to feed the Sea Lions. I think this was every one's favorite part. We were the first people of the day to feed them and as soon as we got the glass they started barking and yelling.

Right after got we feeding the out little fish the trainers came out with a bucket of fish and the sea lions went crazy.

The line for feeding the dolphins was already getting, so that was our next stop. Danny took the kids while I watched from the other side with Julie and Dusty. I didn't think Eva would get near them since she's afraid of pretty much all animals, but she fed them and even touched one. If you notice in the video she only uses one finger though. Wyatt was so excited to feed them he couldn't stand still while waiting in line.

Then it was off to the Shamu show. I didn't take any pictures or video though because we were sitting in the splash zone and I didn't want the camera to get wet. Which didn't turn out being a problem after all because our section didn't cheer loud enough to so we never got wet. It was still an awesome show.

We stopped for a snack break before heading to the dolphin show. Which was mostly acrobatics and no dolphins so skipped out after about 10 minutes and headed to the car for some lunch.

We rode the gondola's across the bay. The kids wanted to go again but the line was too long. I think Eva just wanted to sit so she could fall asleep. She's not used to going so long with no nap.

We walked to the Shark exhibit after the gondola ride and Eva fell asleep on the way.
This picture is kind of dark but this part was awesome. We rode an escalator through the pool of sharks. I wish it would have gone slower. Wyatt was a little nervous at first before he realized the sharks couldn't get us. :)

All in all, a great day at Sea World. We all went home and took naps before heading out to Old Town San Diego for some dinner.

Mission Beach

Our first beach stop was Mission Beach. Mostly because it was close to the hotel and we didn't want to drive far. We brought a picnic for lunch and ate at the bay while the kids looked for shells.

Later that evening we dressed in warmer clothes (the weather was pretty chilly compared to Utah) and headed out to the actual beach to see the waves. The kids loved it! We weren't planning on getting wet, but we should have been. Eva was washing her hands in the surf when she got blindsided by a big wave and ended up completely soaked. Didn't slow her down though.

Vegas

Since we haven't ever done a long drive with the kids we decided to split up the trip and stay one night in Vegas. We got there about 1 pm, dropped off our stuff at the hotel and then walked the strip with the kids.

We started with the lions at MGM, went onto the M&M Factory, Coca Cola Factory and ended with the fountains and gardens at Bellagio. It was sooo hot outside that we didn't last very long. The kids thought it was pretty cool, but I'm grateful they weren't old enough to really notice most of what was around them. Yikes! Pretty sure we won't be taking the kids there again anytime soon. :)

We finished the night off by eating at the Hash House a Go Go (below) and were going to head out to Fremont street after that but we were all so tired we just went back to the hotel to swim and went to bed. Because of all the traffic heading back to LA on Sunday we were up at 4:30 to head out.