Pages

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Homemade Cashew Chicken

So after having an excruiting week of recovery because I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth yanked in one day... and my mouth is small... and the roots were developed...
so really I am STILL recovering.. it's awful.
I still can't open my mouth much, eat ANYTHING that I can't drink/slurp/melt into my mouth, and have to ice and medicate regular..
My husband and I are actually pretty sure they fractured my jaw... haha
sooo I may be in for an even longer recovery..

anyways..
I figured... why not torture myself more right?
All I've had is bland soup, mashed potatoes, and ice cream for 5 days..
but let's day dream about the most delicious meal I've made in ages
that I made last week.
I figure if it brings some happiness to my friends/readers... why not?

So I originally got this little recipe idea off of pinterest which led me to this blog .
I changed it up a bit and made it my own
here it is..

Ingredients:
For stir fry sauce:
  • 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon peanut oil
  • For Cashew Chicken:
  • 3 chicken breasts, diced
  • 3 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 small onion, diced... almost minced
  • 1 cup (5-6 caps) mushrooms, diced super tiny
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup cashews (I just dumped them out of the can into the pan.. you can chop if you'd like)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
    For stir fry sauce:
  1. Mix all ingredients making sure to dissolve brown sugar. Set aside.
  2. For Cashew Chicken:
  3. Heat canola oil in pan over medium to medium high heat. Add diced chicken and brown. Remove chicken from oil. Add onions, garlic. mushrooms and 2 teaspoons soy sauce to pan; brown. When onions and garlic are brown and tender, add stir fry sauce, browned chicken, and cashews. Saute mixture for a few minutes and remove from heat. 

This is after it was almost gone

 I served this delicious little beauty with rice and lettuce for lettuce wraps. If you have a rice maker put the rice on before you start chopping and cooking the chicken so that it's done by the time you finish.

We were almost finished eating here haha.

We ate it "family" style so to speak with the meat in a big bowl, the rice in a big bowl, and a pile of lettuce leaves. I really liked it and even better hubby loved it! And even sweet Kaylee, my 2 year old, liked the meat A LOT. I felt like it needed just an extra little kick so I put a tiny bit of sweet red chili sauce on it and it was PERFECT.


 Like I said, we really liked them.. they were delicious as lettuce wraps with the rice and chicken together. You could use any rice or grain really and it would still be tasty.. or even just serve it up over veggies or something. My only complaint is that I didn't make more. I will probably double this recipe next time so we have leftovers for lunches!







xo, amanda

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Using the Tools

If there is one thing I'm learning as a mommy,
it's that I not only desire to be the best mommy possible
but I also desire to teach my children, 
to help my girls know the beautiful God I serve,
to help them know about the ultimate sacrifice Jesus paid
for them, and for me, and for all of us. 

image source: google

On a sweet Sunday morning, just days after my precious baby girl was born,
with a bunch of friends and family present,
we dedicated our sweet Kaylee Jewel to the Lord.
On that day, 
Mike and I both made a promise
to our daughter
and to our God
with the support, encouragement, and accountability of our friends and family
to raise our daughter in the way of the Lord.
To  teach her about God,
to teach her the biblical definition of right and wrong.
but more importantly to teach her to LOVE.


Now we have not only one precious angel, but two, 
we have two beautiful, vibrant little girls full of so much life and love.
Two little girls, that when I look in their eyes, 
I feel the kind of complete the kind of happiness
the kind of undying love
that words can virtually never define.
Except for the way that I feel inside 
because of the love of my Savior. 

image source: google
So, I here I am
honoring my commitment
and it's been surprisingly easy and yet surprisingly scary
I have read several amazing book
that have truly shaped the way that I mother my children
image source: google
image source: google
A lot of things stuck with me,
but something that really hit me
that I knew I could do right now to help
came from The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson
She talks about the fact that we can't help our kids learn
if we don't have the tools
and this is also true of teaching our children about the Gospel
we cannot teach our little ones if don't invest in the tools to do so.
Sally Clarkson says that in the early years of her marriage and her children's lives
she and her husband made a decision to put money aside every paycheck
so that they could buy materials to help them teach their kids.
She said they would buy all sorts of Christian resources
music, movies, games, books, toys
all sorts of materials to help teach her children in a way they understand

Which brings me to
image source: google
VeggieTales!
I can remember watching VeggieTales with my wonderful adopted/2nd family
from the first days I met them (5th grade/10 years old)
and so naturally,
I am thrilled to be sharing them with my little girls.
The funny part is...
I still remember a lot of the words
but I especially remember the songs.
When Kaylee watches them,
(which is all the time)
she gets so excited
but she also tells me "shhhh no shing ma-ee"
in the cutest little voice

image source: google

We have all sorts of movies
and also watch them on Netflix
we also bought a VeggieTales Bible Songs CD on iTunes
which Kaylee loves
so I am planning to burn it to a CD and put it in the car
We have some other great Christian books as well.

And little buy little I will build up our VeggieTales collection
and our Christian Resources as well.
I want to get some games to play with my girls
and other fun stuff
and not just for the girls, but for the whole family.

I am so excited to share my life with my girls
to be the best mommy possible
and to raise my girls up.

Do you guys have any tips on teaching your kids?
What are your favorite Christian resources?

Amanda

Monday, August 6, 2012

What We've Been Up To...

Hey Friends!

It was really nice to take a long break from blogger. To focus on myself, my family, school, and some fun other projects going on.

So here's some of our fun stuff...

Sierra Joy was born April 25th 2012 at at 8:02pm after 5mins of pushing.
She weighed 7lbs flat and was 19 inches long. 
She had a beautiful head of dark hair and stole her mommy, daddy, and sister's hearts instantly.

Her big sister, Kaylee, is so very in love with her "Her" and spends lots of time doting over her. 
She also likes to pick on her and steal her blankets, but hey what are sisters for? 

We've done some fun things this summer, 
pool time, trips to Richmond, parks and play dates, 
auntie jenny visiting, grandma deb visiting, and exploring DC,
but mostly we are just loving getting adjusted as a family of 4
and spending time loving each other 



We also celebrated my sweet Kaylee's 2nd Birthday -- Princess Style


We have finally come to the end (fingers crossed) of our house troubles
and are finally doing projects around the house that we want to do
like redoing the pavers in the front walk way

and we redid the garage... 
fixed all the dry wall, painted the walls, and did a special epoxy floor



We started leading a young marrieds small group in our home through our awesome church,
and we have been making some really great friends,
both for us
and for our kiddos!

My hubs is in his last class for his degree and in a few weeks
he will his Bachelor's Degree!
He is already set up and will be starting his master's program in December
and I am so proud of him!
I am starting my last year, and will finally have my degree, woohoo

Now, mommy and daddy aren't the only ones learning and moving forward
Kaylee is getting so big and growing up every single day
She's learning, and talking, and blows my mind all the time.
And.
We're potty training... with her leading!
 You can read all about our valiant potty training attempts in my guest post here


Also, I now how a twitter and facebook page for my blog.
Check them out, and follow me.

Amanda

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...