Maid for Mondays: Little House on the Prairie Syndrome

 One of my favorite shows growing up was Little House on the Prairie. I absolutely loved watching it. In fact, I still love watching it! A friend of mine gave me season 1 on DVD a few years back, because I love it so much!! I’m not sure if it’s the simplicity of it all or the fact that everything seemed to workout in the end, but I always looked forward to watching it.

As a young girl, I often dreamed of being Laura Ingalls and having that beautiful brown hair with the cute braided pigtails. As I got older (and still watched the show), I envisioned my life as a wife and mother, just like Caroline Ingalls. Wasn’t she just perfect?

What I remember most about the show is how Charles and Caroline never really raised their voices at the kids. Sure they got frustrated, but they never yelled at them. That’s the life I envisioned; great kids, helpful kids, obedient kids and a loving, caring, hard-working husband.

Don’t get me wrong, I have great kids and sometimes they’re obedient and helpful and The Hubster is definitely loving, caring and a very hard-worker. I wouldn’t trade any part of my life for anything. Even with the heartache and trials we’re facing right now. I wouldn’t trade.

But, sometimes I find myself wishing I could live that more simple life. When times were slower and life seemed to almost stand still. Or at least it did on the show, right?! I often imagine how much time they had with each other, working the farm, cooking, cleaning and just spending time together as a family.

Then, I realize…their washing machine was their own hands, their transportation had to be fed daily and hooked up before leaving, their dishes washed and dried by hand and their homes took years to build.

And then I’m so thankful for how far we’ve come with our modern conveniences. I can wash clothes, run the dishwasher and take a shower all at the same time! Even though their life seemed much simpler, I’m sure they thought the same about the “olden” days too. Each generation has its own struggles, but they also have their own positives too. I’ll think I’ll stick with 2012 and all it has to offer.

Although…it might be nice to visit the simple life once in a while!

Blessings,

Annette


Linking up here:
The Better Mom
The Prairie Homestead
Raising Arrows
The Straightened Path
Growing Home
Far Above Rubies
Raising Homemakers
A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Deep Roots At Home
The Imperfect Housewife

Baking Bits: What?! You Cook?

When the Hubster and I got married almost 9 years ago, I did not cook. At least not much!! In fact, here are the 5 things I could make:

1. Chicken & Rice (all from cans & boxes)

2. Mexican Casserole (all from cans)

3. Ramen Noodle soup (anyone who went to college knows this recipe!)

4. Scrambled Eggs (sometimes I didn't even burn them!)

5. Hamburger Helpers (yep, you guessed it...another box)

So there ya have it! Proof that the Hubster did not marry me for my cooking skills! HA! In fact, early on in our marriage, he was most often the cook. I hardly boiled water!! TRUTH!!

It wasn't so much that I couldn't cook, but that I was scared to death - literally -  about cooking. Now, I could follow a recipe quite easily and more often than not it turned out edible. However, when it came to tossing spices and things in to punch up the recipe - I was done! I couldn't do it!!

Maybe you're the same way. Maybe you just think you don't have the time. Or maybe you've just never tried. I'd like to give you some tips on How You Too Can Cook! Because, seriously...if I can do it, you can too! Trust me!

True Story: I called my best friend 2 years ago (around the time I actually started to cook at home) and was talking to her after I had put dinner in the oven. I mentioned something about making dinner and she kinda' giggled. NO really...she did!  I said, "What?! I can cook!" She said something like, I'm sure you can I've just never seen you do it! Oh...she knows me so well. Then, she asked what we were having. I told her BBQ Chicken, mashed potatoes from scratch and green beans. I seriously thought the phone went DEAD!! "Did you touch the chicken?" Oh man does she know me or what?! "YES!!!! Can you believe it?" I can NOT stand the texture of raw meat. It literally makes me cringe. Thus the reason my bestie was in shock!

Now, I still don't like to touch raw meat - ICK! - but now I just use gloves. Sereiously, I do! I've tried and tried to get over it, but I just can't. So for now the gloves help. LOL

So, here ya go...my own tips on what help me learn to cook.

How You Too Can Cook...From Scratch!

1. First, do a LOT of reading! I've done so much reading on cooking and cooking substitutions, etc. it would probably drive a person insane! Don't be afraid to use the internet!

2. Start by stocking up on kitchen essentials. You can't cook from scratch if you don't have common ingredients on hand. Flour, sugar, baking goods and a variety of spices are a great place to start.

3. Gather your recipes. You can family, friends, search the internet, Pinterest (love getting recipes on there), online groups and so much more!!!

4. Make your first recipe as directed. Don't change a thing. Sometimes the recipes I found were great the way they were. They had already been tweaked. Don't get ahead of yourself.

5. Once you've tried the original recipe, then you can begin to play around with the spices, ratios, etc. 

The first recipe I really made my own was this Homemade Pizza Sauce. The first few times I made it I followed the recipe exactly. Then, I realized that I could add a little more basil & oregano or some Italian Seasonings and even some parsley to punch it up just a bit. The Hubster was impressed. So much so that now he won't make the sauce if I'm home!! Yes, he helps out on Homemade Pizza night - aren't I lucky?! Seriously, I am!! The Hubster is willing to step in and help in the kitchen when needed!

Right now I'm going through this process again as we're transitioning to Whole Foods eating and going off Soy and gluten (mostly). I have various reasons for doing this, which I'll discuss in a series coming in May!!

Hope that helps some of you or gives you the confidence to get started!! Trust me...if this no touchy raw meat, egg burning, Ramen noodle soup makin' girl can do it - SO CAN YOU!!!

Blessings,

Annette

What's coming: Next week I'll be sharing our favorite Homemade Bread recipe. 

In May I'll be doing a series on Wednesdays about going to Whole Food & Paleo eating!!

Hope you'll join me!

Monday Meals: Weekly Meal Plan

 Last week was pretty normal around here. The rain and other weather issues, kept us inside most days, so the kiddos are getting a little antsy. And truth be told…so is momma! Hopefully we’ll have better playing-outside weather this week!

Here is this week’s YUMMY meal plan!

Monday 4/16

Breakfast: Pop-Tarts

            Lunch: Hot Dogs & Grilled Cheese

            Dinner: Homemade Bacon Pizza

Tuesday 4/17

            Breakfast: Cereal

            Lunch: Cheese Quesadillas

            Dinner: Ham Tettrizini, green beans, bread

Wednesday 4/18

            Breakfast: Cereal

            Lunch: Chicken Nuggets

            Dinner: Leftovers

Thursday 4/19

            Breakfast: Pancakes & Bacon

Lunch: Birthday Lunch with Miss Priss!!!

Dinner: Corn Dogs (kids); Pink Lemonade Cupcakes (Small group)

Friday 4/20

            Breakfast: Poptarts

            Lunch: Fishsticks

            Dinner: BBQ Chicken, mashed potatoes, baked squash/zucchini, homemade bread

Saturday 4/21 – Miss Priss’ Party Day!

            Breakfast: Dry Cereal

            Lunch: Cheese Quesadillas

            Dinner: Cheeseburger Mac & Cheese & PARTY!!!!

Sunday 4/122

            Breakfast: Eggs w/ bacon & cheese

            Lunch: Turkey Stroganoff, green beans, homemade bread

Dinner: Homemade Pizza Pockets

NOTE: The lunch menu items usually pertains to my kiddos. I tend to eat leftovers to help purge and clean out the fridge.

Feel free to share your meal ideas here or link up to your own meal plan post!

Blessings,

Annette

Monday Meals: Weekly Meal Plan

We had a GREAT weekend celebrating our Risen Savior!!! I am indeed a blessed woman, wife, mother, daughter, sister, granddaughter and niece! It was so fun watching my kids, niece and nephew hunt eggs. Their faces just lit up when they found them. Then, they had math lessons by counting them out! So much fun!! Hope you all had a blessed weekend too!

But, it’s back to normal today.

So, here is this week’s YUMMY meal plan!

Monday 4/9

 Breakfast: Pop-Tarts

        Lunch: Fishsticks

        Dinner: Leftovers

Tuesday 4/10

        Breakfast: Cereal

        Lunch: Cheese Quesadillas

        Dinner: Cheeseburger Macaroni

Wednesday 4/11

        Breakfast: Cereal

        Lunch: Chicken Nuggets

        Dinner: Ground Turkey Stroganoff, green beans, homemade bread

Thursday 4/12

        Breakfast: Pancakes & Bacon

 Lunch: FIY lunch (Find It Yourself)

 Dinner: Out for Birthday Dinner

Friday 4/13

        Breakfast: Poptarts

        Lunch: Grilled Ham & Cheese

        Dinner:  Chicken & Rice, green beans

Saturday 4/14

        Breakfast: Dry Cereal

        Lunch: Cheese Quesadillas

        Dinner: Homemade Pizza (Family Movie Night!!!)

Sunday 4/15

        Breakfast: Eggs w/ bacon & cheese

        Lunch: Bacon-RanchChicken, green beans

 Dinner: Mac & Cheese

NOTE: The lunch menu items usually pertains to my kiddos. I tend to eat leftovers to help purge and clean out the fridge.

Feel free to share your meal ideas here or link up to your own meal plan post!

Blessings,

Annette


Sharing my Meal Plan and looking for more recipes and real food options! Click on the button below to look with me!

Baking Bits: Ham Tettrizini

It’s a nice fall Saturday afternoon. Football season is in full swing. My fiancé and I sneak into his dorm parent’s apartment (whom our kids affectionately call Oma and Opa) to watch the OU football game. They are huge fans as are we, so we get front row seats on the cushy couch and FREE food to boot!

WOW was that was a looong time ago! Ahem…moving on. Oma made this recipe quite often for us and it quickly became one of our favorites! We still visit Oma and Opa often, usually every 6-8 weeks or so, and she still makes this when we visit. Our kids have grown to love it just as much as we have, so a couple years ago my husband finally wrote down the recipe and how she made it. This is my oldest child’s most requested meal. He absolutely loves this stuff!!

Ham Tettrizini w/ Angel Hair pasta

You’ll need (not all pictured) :

Ham – cubed

Butter

Cornstarch or Flour

Milk (preferably whole)

Cheddar cheese

Angel Hair pasta (or whatever kind you like)

Seasonings of your choice (we prefer a little garlic powder & onion powder) 

We dice a turkey-ham ourselves

Now this recipe is easily halved, doubled or even tripled to feed any size family or gathering! So here are the ratios you will need to follow:

Flour 1:1 Butter

Cornstarch 1:2 Butter

Milk 1c per 2 TBSP Butter mixture

½ cup cheese:1 cup Milk

1. First, measure out all your ingredients and have them ready. Otherwise, you’ll burn the sauce.

2. Begin heating the water to cook your pasta.

3. Basically you’re going to make a Rue. So, first melt butter over low heat.

4. Add flour/cornstarch and stir constantly until it makes a paste. Flour will make a much thicker paste than cornstarch. (I prefer the cornstarch because I can taste the flour.)

5. Add the milk. We prefer whole milk, but you can use whatever you like. But, I don’t recommend anything less than 2% because it might not thicken as well.

6. Reduce heat to medium, med-high. Stir constantly with a whisk until it thickens and expands. Okay, so I don’t know how exactly to explain it, but it will almost double in height in your saucepan.

**NOTE: It helps if you have a super cute Sous Chef to help you out!

7. When it’s almost to a boil (you know those few bubbles start popping up), add the cheese. Reduce heat to med-low and stir until cheese is all melted and it’s creamy.

Now at this point you can stop here and take it several different directions. Or do like I did and make the sauce ahead of time and "allow" your 3yr old to use the camera to take self-portraits. Aren't they GREAT?!

If you don't have a 3yr old...here are some options you can do:

a)      Split up the sauce into several equal portions and store them for future meals.

b)      You can pour it over steamed broccoli.

c)      You can pour it over elbow noodles for some nice and creamy Mac & Cheese.

d)      Add browned hamburger/turkey meat with taco seasoning and some yummy Cheeseburger Macaroni.

e)      Get creative and make an entirely new dish!!!

But, let’s pretend I have perfectly lovely 3yr old and he didn't take the camera and continue on with our meal.

8. At this point you need make sure your pasta is cooking if you haven’t already dropped it in your boiling water.

9. Before you add the meat, make sure to add any additional seasonings you might want. We like a little Italian flair, so we add a dash of garlic powder and onion powder. Make sure they are stirred in completely before you add the meat. (I added mine after the meat, because I forgot. But normally we add it before.)

Don't forget to change from the whisk to a spoon. Otherwise, you'll get the little ham pieces stuck in it like this and it's simply annoying! For one, because it's stuck in there and for another because I now have to get my hands dirty to really separate the whisk to get them out. And, it really just drives me nuts when I have to stop cooking to wash my hands for things that could have been avoided. Whew...glad that's out! Okay...moving on...

10. Add the diced ham (We buy a turkey-ham and dice it ourselves.) and stir to incorporate it completely. You will want to continue stirring until the meat is warmed up. (Approx. 5 min or less) Sometimes we even turn the heat off all together because the sauce is hot enough to warm the meat. There’s no real measurement on the ham, so use what you want. We use a little more than a pound because we like some in each bite!

Don’t you wish you had a cutie like this one to help you in the kitchen?

 **WARNING: Consuming large quantities of this will get you messy!!**

Happy Cooking!!

Blessings,

Annette

Linking up with these great parties:

Monday Meals: Weekly Meal Plan

So, hopefully in the next few weeks you’ll start to see some changes in our meals. We have decided to go Soy-Free and Gluten-Free. Yes, I know that limits some things and cuts out a lot. But, I’ve recently read some good research that leads me to believe this is a healthier and better option for our family. You can read more about the soy issue here. And as for the gluten-free issue…I’ve read how it can help with hyper-active children and those with Asperger’s. Even though we don’t have that diagnosis, I think it’s worth exploring in our diet to see if it helps. I’m all for “natural” remedies rather than medication!!

So, with that being said…Here is this week’s (somewhat unhealthy, but YUMMY) meal plan!

Monday 3/5

 Breakfast: Oatmeal, cold cereal

        Lunch: cheese quesadillas

        Dinner: Queso Chicken Pasta

Tuesday 3/6

        Breakfast: poptarts

        Lunch: chicken nuggets, fruit, chips

        Dinner: Ground Turkey Stroganoff, green beans

Wednesday 3/7

        Breakfast: cereal

        Lunch: fishsticks, fruit, pretzels

        Dinner: Bacon-Chicken Crescent Ring, salad

Thursday 3/8 (Dad’s day off!!!)

        Breakfast: homemade sausage biscuits & sausage gravy

 Lunch: Grilled Cheese w/ Ham or Turkey

 Dinner: Leftovers, Small Group: dessert

Friday 3/9

        Breakfast: Dry cereal

        Lunch: Grilled Ham and Cheese

        Dinner: Sweet Chicky Nuggets, Cheddar-Bacon Ranch potatoes

Saturday 3/10

        Breakfast: Dry cereal or Oatmeal

        Lunch: fishsticks or Ham n’ Cheese, fruit, chips

        Dinner: Beef and Noodles, green beans, bread

Sunday 3/4

        Breakfast: Baked French Toast Casserole

        Lunch: Family lunch

 Dinner: Mac & Cheese

So, what’s on your Meal Plan for the week? Link up here and share your favorite recipes!!

Blessings,

Annette

Linking up:

Monday Meals: Weekly Meal Plan

Here is this week’s meal plan!

If you don’t understand what I’ve described – ASK!!! Let me know if you try anything from my meal plan and how you liked it or changed it! I’m always open to new ideas!! Happy Planning and Happy Cooking!

Monday 2/13

Breakfast: Oatmeal, cold cereal

        Lunch: cheese quesadillas

        Dinner: Beef & Noodles, green beans

Tuesday 2/14

        Breakfast: poptarts

        Lunch: chicken nuggets, fruit, chips

        Dinner: BBQ Chicken, Cheddar-Bacon taters

Wednesday 2/15

        Breakfast: cereal

        Lunch: fishsticks, fruit, pretzels

        Dinner: Leftovers

Thursday 2/16 (Dad’s day off!!!)

        Breakfast: pancakes, bacon

Lunch: Mac and Cheese, fruit

Dinner: Homemade Bacon/Cheese pizza (Movie Night!!!)

Friday 2/17

        Breakfast: Dry cereal

        Lunch: Chicken nuggets, fruit, chips/pretzels

        Dinner: Bacon-Ranch Chicken (slow cooker meal)

Saturday 2/18

        Breakfast: Dry cereal or Oatmeal

        Lunch: fishsticks or Ham n’ Cheese, fruit, chips

        Dinner: Tuna Helper (slow cooker meal)

Sunday 2/19

        Breakfast: Breakfast Casserole (made Saturday)

        Lunch: Garlic-Lime Chicken, brown rice

Dinner: Mac & Cheese (again, our regular Sun night meal)

Well, there ya have it!! As you can probably tell, my kids are VERY PICKY eaters! I’m slowly working on them, but as I quickly figured out…I can’t change their entire menu in one week. So, we’re trying new dinner dishes and seeing how those go for a while and then we’ll try changing up the lunches. My middles don’t like sandwiches (really the cold meats & sliced cheese is what they don’t like, but they’ll eat shredded cheese – WEIRD!) and they don’t like certain kinds of pastas either. So, I try to sneak in new pastas when I can!

We’re getting there…slowly, but moving forward nonetheless. Meanwhile, I’m learning to enjoy the journey!!!

So, what’s on your Meal Plan for the week? Link up here and share your favorite recipes!!

Blessings,

Annette

Linking up

Baking Bits: Slow Cooker Stroganoff with cream cheese

This is one of our family’s favorite recipes!! We’ve probably had it a half-dozen times and it’s still just as yummy as it was the first time we tried it. I originally saw a posting about it on the Crockin’ girls facebook page. But, you can find it here on their website (along with a TON of other great recipes to try!). We’ve adapted it (just like I do everything else) and so I’ve posted our version below.

Stroganoff with Cream Cheese

1 pound ground turkey (frozen)

Cream of Something substitute**

3 Tbsp Minced Onion

Dash of Onion Powder

2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1/4 c. water (Can use beef broth or red wine or a mixture of both, although I never have. But it’s on my list to try!)

dash of garlic salt

8 oz cream cheese (cut up)

Egg noodles or Amish noodles (we use Egg Noodles)

In slow cooker, combine uncooked frozen meat and all ingredients EXCEPT cream cheese and noodles. Cook on low setting for 8 hrs or high for about 5 hrs. Approx. 30 min before serving, you will want to “chop” up the ground turkey in the slow cooker. I try to get it as broken up as possible, so it will go farther and you a little bit in every bite, rather than larger chunks. Approx. 15-20 min before serving, add the cream cheese; stir occasionally until melted. Approx. 10 minutes before serving, add uncooked noodles, push down in sauce to get lightly coated; replace lid, but stir occasionally until noodles are soft & ready to eat.

Alternative (this is how we make ours): Leave your cream cheese out on the counter all day to soften. It will melt almost instantly when you put it in the slow cooker. Stir once and then wait about 5 minutes, stir again until melted. Add the noodles and about 1 cup milk so the noodles are barely submerged. Wait another 10 minutes until noodles are softened and serve.

(A small can of mushrooms or fresh mushrooms is a good addition.)

**Cream of Something substitute (adapted from this recipe)

¾ cup cornstarch

¼ cup ground bouillon cubes (I usually do a mixture of chicken and beef)

4 Tbsp minced onions

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp pepper

For the equivalent of one can of condensed soup, mix 1/3 cup dry mix with 1 ¼ cup water. I have not ever thickened the mixture like the original recipe says to, but I’ve only used it in slow cooker meals and it does it for me! I do recommend thickening it before using it in a baked casserole though.

Hope you all enjoy this dish as much as we do. If you try it, let me know what you think! Happy cooking!!

Blessings,

Annette


Linking up to this party:

Lemon-Crumb Chicken

Doesn't this look absolutely DELICIOUS?!

Okay, I know…THREE posts in one day! It’s crazy!! But, I just had to share this recipe with you! I was looking through some old recipe files I had stored away on my computer and came across this delight. And what a delight it was tonight! YUM-O!!!! I must confess, however, that we did not have wheat bread, so I used white or reduced calorie Mayo, so I used regular. We also didn’t have minced parsley so I just added a little more than a Tbs of the flakes. But, TRUST ME…you’re going to want to try this recipe!! After we baked it and cut it up, I squeezed a little extra fresh lemon juice on my chicken. Ooohhh!!!! What a scrumptious taste it was!  We paired our meal with corn-on-the-cob tonight. It was a HUGE hit with the entire family too! The oldest came back several times for more (we had to cut him off!) and the middles both ate well too! This will definitely go in the FAVORITES section of my recipe binder!

 Lemon Crumb Chicken

2 slices whole wheat bread made into crumbs (1 cup)

1 Tbs Parmesan cheese grated

1 Tbs Minced parsley

1 Tbs grated lemon zest

4 (1/4#) boneless chicken breast

½ t salt

½ t pepper

2 Tbs. reduced calorie Mayo

Combine bread crumbs, cheese, parsley and lemon zest in medium bowl.  Transfer to a sheet of waxed paper.

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.  Spread mayonnaise on both sides of chicken.  Coat chicken with bread crumb mixture.  Arrange on sprayed baking sheet.  Bake until crust is golden 20 – 25 minutes @ 425 degrees.

Annette’s tip: To make bread crumbs, toast both slices of bread on a mid setting. Then, crumble them onto a baking sheet. Set your oven to broil and put them in for about 7-10 minutes. WATCH THEM CLOSELY so they don’t burn! After you take them out, just start tapping on them to make the crumbs even more fine crumbs.

Blessings,

Annette




UPDATED TIP: When talking with my husband about this recipe last night, we discussed how you could change up the ingredients a little and have several VERY tasty meals!!! Here's a few suggestions:
* Garlic-Lime chicken (just nix the parsley & lemon and sub garlic and lime)
* Parmesan Crusted Italian Chicken (sub Italian seasonings for parsley)
* Change up the meat and use FISH! (Parmesan crusted Tilapia, Cod or whatever!)

Pinterest Food Reviews - Week 2

Since I have become OBSESSED (more or less) with Pinterest, I decided I could do some good with my new obsession!! So, I plan to do weekly reviews of main dishes, desserts, snacks, candy, etc. on Pinterest. I will always link back to my own Pinterest page so you too can find the recipes and enjoy them along with my family. So, here’s my week 2 reviews:

Bacon-Chicken Crescent Ring

This recipe was SUPER easy to make and absolutely scrumptious!!! My kids loved it (again, except for the 2-yr old who has decided that his diet should only include pretzels and BBQ chips!). I did make a few changes to the recipe though, so here are my changes & thoughts & some pictures to help explain the directions a little better. Hope this helps!

 *You want to make sure & overlap the crescent rolls like this – so it looks like a nice, pretty sun.

*You will spoon the “stuff” into the middle of the crescent like this.

(TIP: Place the crescent rolls further out on the pan/stone so you have a larger sun than we did. It will make for less “stuff” in each bite, plus it will go further!)

 *It should look something like this when you’re done scooping. YUM!!!!!

*Now you’re going to fold the outside tips towards the middle & press them into the flat-side of the crescent rolls in the center.

*And, when you’re done – VOILA!!!! A nice, pretty, symmetrical crescent ring!

Now just bake & enjoy!!!! Mmmm...my mouth is watering just thinking about these!

Here are the changes we made:

**We used cheddar instead of swiss (our kids don’t like swiss cheese).

**We omitted the red peppers (again – for the kids!)

**We used minced onions instead of chopped (yep, you guessed it – for the kids! If I use minced onions, they don’t know they’re in there and the hubster and I get to enjoy the flavor of onions without the drama!!! Hehe)

**We were in a pinch for time, so we used real bacon bits instead of bacon and it was just fine. (Not as healthy I know, but the taste was there.)

**I also used this homemade Italian Dressing dry mix. (Yet another mix to add to my obsession collection!!) I have the dry mix stored in a glass jar in our pantry to use on various recipes. But, then I also have it available if I want it for a salad I whip up or a dip for some veggies! YUM!!!

Again, this was a HUGE hit with the Hubster and my kiddos. We will definitely be adding this to our menu rotation!! Yes, I said menu rotation. I’m still working on it, so when that comes to fruition I will write about it and fill you all in on the glorious-ness that makes my menu planning life so much simpler!

Another recipe we had this past week are these wonderfully delectable Sweet Chicky Nuggets. Oh my are they YUMMY!!!! I’m not the professional on these, the hubster is, but I do know they are WONDERFUL!!!! My kids eat these like they’re going out of style! Seriously, we cook nearly double what the recipe calls for and they are STILL gone in a matter of minutes!

Here are the hubster’s tips:

*cook 4 pounds of chicken tenders (they are easier to dice up & have

LOTS of meat for what you get)

*follow the rest of the directions exactly

*use peanut-oil to fry them in if possible (it doesn’t get mucky & gunky

when you’ve fried as many chunks as you’ll have. In fact, we’ve

used the same oil at least twice in our little fryer and it still looks

good! Regular canola oil gets murky very quickly & just feels heavy.

Peanut oil feels lighter when you’re eating it.)

*Plan ahead so you can really give the chicken a good soak. It really will

make the difference!

The last recipe we tried this week were these Chicken Roll-ups. They were good, but I think we’re going to make some changes next time to see if they can be even better! The hubster and I felt the filling was a little too rich for us. So, next time we plan to actually use 2 cans of 8ct crescent rolls (we only used 1 can (8ct) this time) to help spread out the filling. I also left out the salt and it wasn’t even missed. We also left off the bread crumbs, because I didn’t think my kids would like that part; however, since the 2 yr old isn’t eating anything but pretzels anyway I think I’ll add them back in next time! Overall, this recipe is one I think we’ll keep and tweak until it suits us.

Let me know if you give any of these recipes a try. And as always…your insight, tweaks and tips are welcomed!!

Happy Cooking!!!!

Annette

P.S. If you’re not on Pinterest and you’d like an invitation, shoot me an email or leave me a comment and let me know! I’ll be glad to send you an invite so you can join in my obsession too!!!