Sweet & Sour Chicken

Here's a new favorite recipe! My and husband and I aren't big Chinese food eaters, but this one was a win at our house! It took about an hour and a half to make - but it was definitely worth the time! My sweet husband helped out and it made the prep work go faster. I made this chicken with a big batch of rice and some steamed stir fry veggies. Yummy!

Chicken:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix sauce ingredients (below) together and pour over chicken.

Sauce:
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes. If you like extra sauce, make another batch of sauce and bring it to a boil on the stovetop. Stir constantly and let cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced - about 6-8 minutes.

You are my Sunshine!

"For the LORD God is a SUN and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless." Psalm 84:11

Well...we haven't seen the sun for a few days now. It's getting to be depressing. Even when it's not raining, there's still no sun. When you wake up in the morning, it feels like it's 6 o'clock at night! So when I read this verse today, it spoke to me in a whole new way. How great is our God that He is a SUN for us! No matter what our circumstances are around us, we have hope that our God will always be what we need, when we need it! He is our SUN. We can wake up each morning, regardless of what's going on around us and claim His promises. Another thought I had, even though the sun seems to be hiding somewhere deep beyond the clouds...I know it's there. We still have enough light to see. Just like our God. He is always there, even when it's hard to know or see. There are some circumstances in my life right now that are making it very hard for me to remember that God is still with me, that He hasn't gone away. Thank you God for this promise, you are my SUN! Even when we can't see God, He is always shining! He is always taking care of us!

God is also our shield! When we're too weak to fight and defend ourselves, He is a shield around us. He protects us from the enemy! God is for us! At the end of this verse the Psalmist writes"...no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless." God knows what we need and longs to "bestow favor and honor" on us. Sometimes it doesn't feel like it, but we have to look through the eyes of faith. As I taught my small group girls a few weeks back, F.A.I.T.H stands for "Fully Anticipating It Totally Happening!" "Without faith, it is impossible to please God." Hebrews 11:6. I have learned that recently, as I have taken off my FAITH glasses and put on my LOGIC glasses. I have been trying to make things make sense and be better for me, because I had convinced myself that God didn't care about my circumstances. FAITH.

God is for me.....Fully Anticipate It Totally Happening

God loves me.....Fully Anticipate It Totally Happening

God has a plan....Fully Anticipate It Totally Happening

I heard a song on the radio this morning while driving to work. It was by Brandon Heath called "Wait and See." "Still wondering why I’m here, Still wrestling with my fear but oh,He’s up to something and the farther on I go I’ve seen enough to know that I’m, not here for nothing He’s up to something...He's not finished with me yet!"

Crockpot Apples

Here's a new recipe a friend of mine gave me last week! There's something about the taste of baked apples on a cool, fall afternoon. This weekend we had a taste of fall weather and it put me in the mood to try out the recipe! Because I work full-time, this recipe worked for me. You mix all ingredients in a bowl and throw it in a crockpot! Once it's done, you can slip into your pjs and uggs, and enjoy!

Crockpot Apples

Ingredients:
8-10 cooking apples (not Red Delicious)
1/2 cup water
1/2 - 1 cup sugar or splenda (I did half of each!)
2 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:
Cut and peel the apples and put into a bowl. Add water, sugar, and cinnamon. Toss it around making sure the apples are evenly coated. Throw into the crockpot and cook on low 8-10 hours or on high 2-4 hours. (I used 8 apples and they were done in 2 1/2 hours on high).

Going to the Fair!

Aahh! There's nothing quite like going to the fair on a beautiful day in October! Except for today wasn't quite what I would call a beautiful day because of the rain, but it was my day off and I wanted to go to the fair! I had mentioned it to my husband several days leading up to today because he doesn't really enjoy the fair at all, so I wanted to be sure he had plenty of time to prepare himself mentally. For him, I think it's something about the $5 parking, plus $5 to get in the gate, the $7 for 4 small pieces of chicken and 5 fries, the $2 for a small coke, the carnies that shout horrible things at you as you walk by, the crowds, the waiting in line for food, the heat, the rain...I could go on and on. For me, it's a reminder of my childhood. It's the taste of the chicken on a stick, the caramel apple, and the chocolate covered strawberries. It's the smell of the funnel cakes and other fried goodies in the pot. The thrill of the rides even though you have a good idea of the intelligence that assembled the parts and pieces you are trusting your life with. For me, it's a good time!

We decided to go today during lunch so we wouldn't have to pay for parking and we could get in free! Great idea, so we thought. It was SO incredibly hot as we walked through the fair. And the moment I decided to order my chicken-on-a-stick was the exact moment that they ran out and everyone else at the fair decided they wanted a chicken-on-a-stick too! We were so hot we just wanted to go inside somewhere to get some air conditioning! Which led us to the antique car display! We have never been so interested in old cars or air conditioning! We cooled off in enough time to walk outside for the thunderstorm! Thankfully we had an umbrella...but it fought with the wind and lost. We were soaking wet, but I still hadn't gotten my strawberries on a stick! Needless to say, we got those strawberries and ended our day at the fair after only 2 hours. Thus we returned to our car surrounded by mud, and soaking wet. You can imagine how excited my husband was about our trip to the fair this year...I better start working on him now if I want to go again next year! And I certaintly do!

Chaotic Transformation

Let's face it...life is chaotic! I know that God has promised that the things we go through all work together to bring Him glory, but sometimes I wonder does life really need to be this chaotic? I think it's worse for us females...yep, ten times more chaotic because God blessed us with the ability to be so emotional! "Thanks God, for that gift...the one that causes much of the stress in my life! Do you think I could trade that gift in for...oh, I don't know, some more logic?! This would really help me when communicating with my husband!" For whatever reason, we women mix emotions into everything else we've got going on and it can be pretty chaotic! For example, this morning I decided to be a good wife and make my husband some breakfast. His breakfast of choice = muffins. Not too hard, I thought, pour the Betty Crocker muffin mix, add some milk, stir, and wahlah! The only problem...no milk. And so the thoughts begin to surface in my head..."he just asked for muffins, a good wife would have made sure we had milk in the fridge!" Isn't it crazy how the enemy puts these thoughts in our head, and we really believe them at the time! I have about 10 minutes to whip up something that he can eat on the way to work (because that's the way we roll...sleep late because we stayed up too late the night before!). How about bacon and a bagel? We only have a few pieces of bacon left, but this I thought, would be a quick, easy alternative. A chance for me to redeem myself! Somehow at the end of the bacon cooking process, the bacon came out burned and extra crispy. How does this happen to me?! How can I make something so simple so difficult! So my sweet husband had a bagel and burned bacon for breakfast...bless him Lord! And so my attention turned toward dinner tonight. We have a full night and we ate out last night because we had a busy night, but we really need to eat at home if we can. So I decide, "I'll make a roast in the crockpot...it can cook all day and be an easy way to eat a late supper tonight! Surely this can make up for the burned bacon!" Everything is going well until I realize...I just used the last of my 2nd main ingredient for the roast! There's no choice, I've already begun the roast-making process and I will have to run to Kroger and get what I need! Again I ask how can I make something so simple so difficult?! So...unshowered and with no makeup, I treck through the pouring rain to Kroger to get what I need, but I need to get back and finish the roast, and quickly get ready to make it to work on time! I get the ingredient I needed, but then remember that I need milk (remember the muffins?!), and walking to get the milk I see the cheese and realize that I will probably need cheese soon enough so I should get some of that too! So I return home sopping wet to quickly make dinner, get ready, and get to work. It isn't until I get to work that I finally breathe and I think..."what is it about Wednesdays?"...life is chaotic but I'm mindful in the midst of the chaos of Colossians 3:17 "Whatever you do, do it all in the name of Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father!" Thank you God that my life gets to be chaotic...I know that through the chaos you are transforming me to be more like You!