happy halloween

relaxing weekend

we had a relaxing weekend chilling at my parent's house with my sister and her two kids. here is aidan and i enjoying the sun. nicole came up to get out of the smoke that is accumulating over san diego. we're sad about the fires roaring all over southern california, but boy was is fun to play with my sister and my neice and nephew. she has more pictures over at her blog.

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when we don't know what to do we go out shopping (which can be bad for my bank account) but on the bright side i got the outfit i'm wearing in the picture for less than $10. you can't beat that. aeropostal (spelling?) was having a massive 75% sale. love love love clearance sales. and now you're all jealous. i hope everyone else had a relaxing weekend as well!

recipe wednesday - ranch chicken

ranch chicken
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ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
1/4 C Ranch Dressing (prepared)
1 sleeve ritz crackers - crushed
1 packet of ranch dressing mix
1 Tbsp dried parsely flakes
1/4 C butter, cut into pieces
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directions:

1. preheat over to 400 degrees.

2. marinate the chicken in the ranch dressing, at least for a half hour.

3. in a shallow bowl combine the crushed crackers, parsley and the ranch dressing mix.

4. dip the marinated chicken into the cracker mixture to coat.

5. arrange chicken in a 9x13 baking dish, and place the pieces of butter on top of each piece of chicken.

6. bake in preheated over for 25 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and the juice run clear.

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the chicken is so tender and flavorful, it is my husbands absolute favorite chicken recipe.

clean out your closets

go head on over to the jocole blog today for some tips on cleaning out your closets. stay tuned for more tips on getting rid of specific categories.

recipe wednesday - chicken adobo

chicken adobo
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ingredients:
2 chicken breasts - cubed
1/2 C vinegar (or 1/4 C vinegar and 1/4 C lemon juice)
1/2 C soy sauce
1 C water
4 garlic cloves - minced (or 4 tsp minced garlic - you know the kind in the jar)
1/2 onion - chopped
1/2 tsp ginger
2 bay leaves
pepper
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directions:
combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium-high heat. cover and bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes. uncover and allow to simmer for 15 minutes. serve over white rice.
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i served it with steamed peas, and then mixed it all up. it was absolutly delicious! yum, enjoy! absolutely one of my favorite recipes.

WFMW - Closet Cleanout

it's wednesday, and every wednesday shannon at rocks in my dryer hosts a carnival called "works for me wednesday" where people blog about tips that work for them.

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i'm slowly trying to weed out all of my clothing (i'm a clothes horse). i have entirely way too much. in order to help me see what i actually wear and what i can bear to get rid of i turned my hangers backwards. after i wear it and want to put it back into my closet then i hang it properly. after give amount of time (i'm gonna do 3 months) i'm giving away everything that is still hung backwards!! see for yourself what you're really wearing. it works for me!

pearly whites

here they are ... aidan's teeth! huzzah! i've been trying to get a decent picture for 2 weeks now. and they all are blurry, dang kid never stops moving. he wasn't very happy about this picture, but his momma was. finally i have digital proof that when he bites me it sure hurts a heck of a lot more!

sleep training, part 2

well, i tried the crying it out method, and he cried for an hour. i started at 8:38 and went in every 5 minutes, his last whimper was around 9:32. from everything i've heard it takes 3 days and it gets easier after the first day, but you have to be consistent.

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there in lies my problem. i was ready to be consistent. i talked about it with my hubby and i thought we were on the same page. he said he was going to support me. unfortunately for me, he lied. as soon as aidan woke up this morning at 1:17 and hubby realized that i wasn't going in there (i needed to give him 5 minutes, right?) he went in there and picked him up. i asked him to lay aidan back down, and to let him cry for 5 minutes. after 3 minutes hubby couldn't take it and went back in. then we had a "discussion".

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i wont go into the details, but he says he cannot support me in this sleep training method because he thinks it will permanently "hurt" aidan. (of course he didn't phrase it like that). i told him that this was what i had decided to do after a lot of reseach (i wonder how much research he's done) and that if he didn't want to do it my way, HE could do it his way. which means everytime aidan wakes up hubby has to get up with him and rock him. (it's now 1:55 and aidan is crying in hubby's arms, what's the difference? arg!!!)

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i'm at my wits end. i can no longer function well when i'm not getting a decent night's sleep. how i train aidan to sleep when my hubby doesn't support me? what in the world can i do now? am i doomed to have to rock aidan asleep forever? arg, i guess i should be sleeping now that hubby thinks he can do it better than me, goodnight!

recipe wednesday - chicken pockets & egg rolls

i haven't done a recipe wednesday in a while, so here are some for you.

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i use poached chicken in both of these recipes, but you could use any cooked chicken you like.

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poached chicken

put chicken in a pan, cover with water (at least an inch) and season to taste (salt and pepper, etc.) Cover pan and boil. When it comes to a boil, turn off the flame, leave lid on and don't touch it for 45 mins.

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this makes the most moist and juicy chicken. i do it in large batches and freeze it, or use it that day. i generally freeze it by cubing it, and put the equivalent of 2 cooked chicken breasts in 1 ziplock freezer bag. when i'm ready to cook with it i defrost it in the microwave and add it to whatever i'm cooking.

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chicken pockets

makes: 8 pockets

ready in: 30 mins (if you pre-cook the chicken)

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ingredients:

2 chicken breasts - cooked and cubed

1 tsp lemon pepper

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup mushrooms (optional)

2 package crescent rolls

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directions:

combine cream cheese and butter (you can soften in the microwave, although i find that if i add the chicken thats been defrosted and is still warm it softens it). stir in chicken and muchrooms. roll out cresent rolls and cut into 4ths. (i generally pull off one square - 2 triangles, and pinch the triangle seams together, roll it just a little - you don't want to work the dough too much, just enough to widen it a little) Put 1/4 cup chicken mix on and seal edges (i put the mix on one side and fold the other side over to make a rectangle and pinch the edges - like a hot pocket). place on ungreased cooking sheet. brush with melted butter to make golden brown (i generally just spray with some butter cooking spray). bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes. can be frozen and reheated at 375 degrees for 5-7 mins - the toaster oven is perfect for this.

this is a fun recipe to play around with, change the seasonings, add some shredded cheddar, chopped green onion, or some spinach. have fun and play around. the pockets pictured above were made with 16oz frozen spinach -- i would not recommend that much spinach to only 1 8oz package of cream cheese -- YUCK! just thought you should know that

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egg rolls

makes: 20 rolls

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ingredients:

3 carrots - shredded

1/3 head of cabbage - shredded

or you could do the shortcut way and use a 1 pound (16 oz) bag of cole slaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots)

2 chicken breasts - cooked and cubed

1 1/2 tsp micnced garlic

1 tbsp seasame oil

once around the bowl with soy sauce

season to your taste: ginger, salt and pepper, red pepper flakes (if you like them spicy)

1 package pasta wrappers/egg roll wrappers (not wonton wrappers, they are too small)

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directions:

in a medium bowl mix together the carrots, cabbage, chicken, and seasonings. taste and add more seasonings if needed. place 1 heaping tablespoon of mixture in the center of the wrapper, roll wrapper and seal edges by brushing with water or beaten egg whites.

shallow fry in oil over medium-high heat on each side. drain on paper towels to absorb excess oil. or for a healthier alternative, arrange rolls on a baking sheet and brush with oil (or spray with cooking spray) and bake for 20 minutes at 425 degrees. turn after 10 minutes and brush or spray again. eat and enjoy! these can be frozen and reheated in the toaster oven - but we never have any that stick around for long.

tooth #2

aidan got his second tooth today!!!