Food, Glorious Food

So, I never have much exciting to write on my blog! I take my kids to thepark and the library - nowhere monumental for the most part. They say sooo many adorable things and we laugh all the time but it always seems to get lost in traslation when I put them on the blog... So, what do I love? My favorite things are cookbooks, cooking shows, and cooking! I love it, and it is one of the few things am good at! I have perfected cutting hard to cut things with the one hand and tend to be sort of proud of myself for doing these crazy difficult recipes! Recently I made Chili Rellenos , which are not tough, but putting them together with one hand is.... MAN, they were good though!
So, what I am trying to say is, I am going to share a few recipes that we really love at our house! Every once in a while, I don't want this to become all about food, but I would love to have some of the food we loved enjoyed in houses of people we love!

Outback Steakhouse Alice Springs Chicken
Honey Mustard Marinade
½ Grey Poupon Dijon mustard
½ C honey
1 ½ tsp veggie oil
½ tsp lemon juice

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 TBSP veggie oil
2 c sliced mushrooms
2 TBSP Butter
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
8 slices bacon, cooked
1 C shredded monterey jack cheese
1 C shredded Cheddar cheese
2 tsp finely chopped fresh parsley
Use an electric mixer to combine marinade ingredients. Whip for apxt. 30 seconds.
Pour about 2/3 of marinade over chicken breasts and marinate them, covered, in the fridge for about 2 hours. Chill the remaining marinade till later
Take marinated chicken out and preheat oven to 375.
In an ovenproof frying pan (large enough to fit all the chicken breasts) add 1 TBSP oil over med heat. (if you don’t have an ovenproof skillet, transfer the chicken to a baking dish for baking.) Sear the chicken in the pan for 3-4 min per side or till golden brown. Remove the pan from the heat but keep the chicken in the pan.
As the chicken is cooking in a small pan saute the sliced mushrooms in the butter.
Brush each seared chicken breast w/ a little of the honey mustard marinade (not the portion that the chicken soaked in), being sure to save extra to serve on the side later.
Season the chicken with Salt pepper and a dash of paprika
Stack the two pieces of bacon crosswise on each chicken breast
Spoon the sautéed mushrooms onto the bacon, coat each breat evenly.
Spread ¼ c of Monterey Jack cheese on each breast, followed by ¼ cup of the cheddar.
Bake the pan of prepped chicken breasts for 7-10 min or till the cheese is thoroughly melted and starting to bubble.
Sprinkle each breast w/ ½ tsp parsley before serving. Put extra honey mustard marinade in a small bowl to serve on the side.
THIS IS SO SO SO SO SOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!! You are gonna love it!


Caramel Apple Cheesecake pie
One Graham pie crust
1 can apple pie filling, divided
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
½ c sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
½ tsp vanilla
3 eggs
½ c caramel ice cream topping
1/3 cup pecans, toasted

Place crust on baking sheet, spread half of filling in crust, set aside
In large mixing bowl beat cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla on med speed till fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time mixing until just combined after each addition. Gently spread filling in crust.
Bake on baking sheet at 350 for 30-35 min or till center is almost done. Cool for 1 hour.
Refrigerate at least 3 hours, spread with remaining pie filling, drizzle with ice cream topping. Garnish with pecans.
Store leftovers in fridge!
Soooo fast and yummy, a favorite for sure!

We hope you enjoy these and we will share more soon! WE LOVE FOOD!!!!!

Fourth of July!

Ok, so I know it is a bit after the fact but the kids made these adorable hats for the 4th and I wanted to share! Cousin Aubrey came over for FHE and made one too and the kids had a blast wearing them to a BBQ at a friends house! I am a bit prejudice but man aren't those kids adorable!!!

Reading?

Recently I spent an entire day reading, I am sure none of you can guess what book it was! I love to read anyway, but to have my husband agree to watch after the kids so that I could do nothing else from dawn till dusk was like a vacation! So, no one was allowed to answer the phone and Mom was "off limits". I had no idea how much this day would affect my kids until almost a week later!
I tried to call a friend to check in on how she is doing at the end of a rough pregnancy. No one answered at home or on the cell so I told Emma, " I bet she is having the baby right now!" Emma gave me a dramatic look and said, "Or maybe she got the new Harry Potter book and no one is allowed to answer the phone"!
Poor kids!

And the baby is.....

It is a GIRL!!!!! We are so excited and everything looks great! Now we just have to wait a few more months!
Emma asked this morning, before we left for the Dr, "Mom, if it is not a girl, can the doctor fix it"?
Russell says he is happy it is a girl but mostly he is just excited to get to share a room with Emma.
Jonathan was holding out hope for a boy, since he never had a brother. At the same time, I wanted a girl - I never had a sister. I guess I win this time:) Maybe next time will be a boy for you Jonathan!
Also, before we even told the kids we were pregnant, Emma walked up to me and said, "Mom, I think there is a baby in your tummy. It is a girl and her name in Hannah." Way to go Emma!