Almost Alice Springs Chicken

Contrary to popular belief, I do still possess some domestic skills... I am just a bit more hesitant to exercise these skills than I used to be.  ANYWAY, I got the crazy idea (based on a craving I think) to try and find a recipe for something close to Outback's Alice Springs Chicken.  OH MY GOODNESS... I found (and slightly altered) this recipe... It's not exactly like The Alice, but it's pretty close AND surprisingly easy (I can make it start to finish in less than 30 minutes... now that's saying something!)  There is one drawback... it's not even close to healthy (I must admit I am typing this while watching the Biggest Loser, which is some kind of irony) But who cares!  It is G-O-O-D!  Give it a try... you'll be glad you did.

Not the prettiest, but umm umm tasty! 

Almost Alice Springs Chicken...

Honey Mustard marinade/dipping sauce

Whisk together the following ingredients

• 1 cup Mayonnaise

• 4 tablespoons Sugar

• 4 tablespoons Cider Vinegar

• 6 tablespoons Honey

• 2 tablespoons French Mustard (don’t use the spicy kind… at least I didn’t think it tastes as good)

• 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce


Ingredients

• 4 skinless, boneless Chicken Breast halves

• 1 tablespoon Olive or Veg. Oil

• 2 cups sliced Mushrooms

• 2 tablespoons Butter

• Salt & Pepper to taste

• 8 slices Bacon – cooked

• Shredded Cheeses of your choice (original recipe calls for a cheddar-jack blend, but I once added a slice of swiss to the top of shredded cheddar and it was even better)


Directions:

1. Whisk together honey mustard ingredients

2. Put chicken in baking dish or Ziploc bag to marinate, then pour half of the honey mustard marinade over the chicken… cover or seal bag & let marinate for at least two hours or as long as overnight. (Save remaining honey mustard in a sealed container in 'fridge.)

3. Preheat oven to 375 F

4. Heat up the oil in a frying pan (or large dutch oven… I prefer using a deeper pan to keep down on spattering) on the stove and sear each chicken breast 4 minutes per side until golden brown.

5. Transfer chicken to baking dish and brush with honey mustard (or just pour a little more honey mustard over each piece of chicken

6. Salt and pepper the breasts. (OPTIONAL)

7. Add butter to frying pan and saute mushrooms.

8. Stack bacon across each breast, spoon mushrooms on each breast and then top each piece with cheese

9. Cover pan with foil or lid and bake 10 minutes. serve with remaining honey mustard for dipping (OPTIONAL).

First Trip to the Zoo...

So... I am a month behind... what's new!  Instead of one rediculously long flashback, just pretend that the next few posts were spread out over the course of several weeks.  And if you are feeling particularly imaginative, pretend it's still April.

We started off the month of April with a fun-filled trip to the zoo!  We met some of our dear-old-college-friends and their adorable girls for an afternoon-o-zoo-fun, which clearly involved a trip to Chick-fil-a too... what toddler outing would be complete without that?!? 

The girls had a great time together and were fast friends, just like their moms :)  They enjoyed many-a-game of monkey-see-monkey-do, which is appropriate considering we were at the zoo... only the game involved no monkeys... just a goose who did her best to teach L some new tricks.  Though the monkeys were #1 on the goose's "to see" list, they weren't very exciting... nothing at all like Curious George, so the elephants and giraffes took the top spot as her favorite animals.  Despite their pretty color, the flamingos came in as her least favorite... they STINK!   Here are some highlights of our day with our sweet friends...

You are now entering heaven… no walkers needed!

Ever since Grandan’s death prompted our discussion of heaven, the Goose has on several very random occasions returned to the topic. Here’s this week’s latest revelation about our heavenly home…

While playing at Granny’s house the goose made a new discovery in the guest room… Grandan’s walker. Now mind you, she has been in the guest room multiple times a week, as this is where the toys are kept, for the last 4 months, but somehow she has never noticed the walker or wheelchair located directly beside her toy basket! Until Thursday…

“Mommy, why did Grandan leave his walker in the guest room.”

“Because he doesn’t need it in heaven.”

(At this point, I simply want to avoid the tears, so am trying desperately to keep the theological discussion to a minimum.)
“He didn’t take it with him?”
“No dear, he doesn’t need a walker in heaven because now he can walk just fine without one… I bet he can even run!”
“But why?”
“Remember how we said Grandan went to heaven because he was old and sick and his body was just too tired to work anymore? Well in heaven God makes us all new again, so Grandan’s not tired or old or sick anymore… and that means he can walk without a walker! And he can probably even run now too!”
The Goose, smiling (praise God!)… “And you don’t need a walker when you run!”

That’s right! No walkers needed in heaven… Praise God for that! AND for a toddler heaven discussion with no crying!

Where have all the parents gone???

Why do they write children’s books where there are kids living alone? Seriously. Doesn’t someone recognize the potential fear this might cause in children that they too might someday be left to live alone? Evidently not.

Tonight, while reading a new book to the goose, which is supposed to be a simple counting story, we encountered this very problem, for Johnny lived alone… and though the story clearly states that Johnny liked living alone, the goose was quite troubled by this fact.

Goose… “Where are his mommy and daddy?”
Me…“He must be all grown-up so he doesn’t live with his mommy and daddy anymore.”
oh no… here come the tears…
Me…“what’s wrong?”
Goose…“I want to live with you and daddy.”
Me… “You will, until you’re a grown-up, which is a very long time from now.”
uh oh… more tears… that didn’t help…
Me again… “I lived with Gamma & Beba until I was WAY grown-up and married Daddy, then Daddy and I got our own house.”
Goose… “But I want to stay with you.”
Me… “You don’t have to go anywhere, I promise. You can live with Mommy and Daddy as long as you want, even when you’re a grown-up.”
(Note… this is NOT a lie, for I feel it is safe to say that she will NOT want to live with us when she’s 30)
Oh but Daddy, he had to chime in…
Wes… “You might have to start paying rent, though”
“Can you do that?” I asked the Goose.
Goose… (shaking her head no) “I don’t know anything about that kind of stuff”

And the moral of the story… ALWAYS include the whereabouts of the parents in children’s books (and movies)… always!

Seriously Funny...

While you anxiously await the monthly review (coming soon to a blog near you!) Here are a few funny quotes from the goose to tide you over....

"When the baby is born and you still have to write a paper, I will take care of her."
(can you tell what I do too much of lately???)


After crying, stomping, and throwing herself on the floor for no apparent reason...
Me: “what was that outburst about?”
Goose: (with most serious and sad look ever) “sin.”
Me: “well, I can’t argue with that.”


Goose to Wes…
“Daddy, get your bike out so we both can ride.”
Wes… “Well, I can’t right now…”
Goose… “Yeah, you don’t have your bike riding clothes on… Go put on your tennis shoes, socks, leggings and dress… THEN we can BOTH ride bikes!”
(I would like to see that!)


Clearly, there are some words I say too much, for instance… clearly. Actually ranks right up there with clearly, as does seriously. (Can you clearly tell that I seriously like adverbs a bit too much?) ANYWAY, evidently I need to add "rather," "quite," and "attractive" to the list. As usual, the goose provides me with such a funny mirror… here’s the conversation over the playdoh table…
Goose: “This is rather quite purple. Actually, it is quite a tractor.”
Me (looking up to see if she had miraculously created a purple tractor): “What’s that?”
Goose: “This purple is quite a tractor!”
translation… “the purple playdoh is quite attractive”… Guess I need to work on annunciating… at least she is increasing her vocabulary!

A baby…

Sister! … Just what the goose wanted! I guess she got her way, again… but we don’t mind at all. I asked Wes if he had a preference, and he promised that he didn’t… he returned the same question, to which I replied, “Two legs, two arms, 4-chambered-heart, 2 sides-of-brain…” and he chimed in, “that’s what we’re looking for!” … we got all we were hoping for and more. Baby Sister measures exactly how she should, already likes doing yoga (just like the goose), and appears to look just like her big sister (at least as much as one can tell from an ultrasound profile).

As promised, our first stop after “getting the baby’s picture taken” was none other than Target, where the goose picked out the first gift for her baby sister… pink pajamas-with-the-feet-in-them, tiny pink baby shoes, and (of course) a pink baby toy. Clearly, we are all set for baby’s arrival… Now the waiting begins.

...waiting... waiting... waiting...

To top off our nearly perfect morning, we headed to Starbucks for a morning treat… and when we pulled up to the window, the car in front of us had already paid for our beverages… the drive-thru-difference certainly added an extra-bright spot to our already fantastic day… best iced caramel macchiato ever!

Month-in-review…

As you can see, I fell off the blog wagon yet again. The last month of winter was a busy one, filled with endless paper writing, birthday celebrating, superman swinging, and a few trips to the doctor. Unfortunately, I was generally without my camera, so you will have to imagine our smiling faces.

Birthday Bashes…
Wes bid a fond farewell to his 20s with lots of golf. We took a fun, last-minute trip to Pinehurst, minus the goose, who stayed with Gamma & BeBa (you would have thought the kid was going to Disney though… she was SO excited… guess we should go away more often). On his actual birthday, I valiantly attempted to make an ice cream cake… being married to an accountant, I thought he would appreciate the thriftiness of homemade. Next time, I won’t be so crazy… here is my first and last ice cream cake creation.

With spring’s arrival on Sunday, we also celebrated an even bigger birthday milestone as Granny turned 96!!! Again, I regretfully did not have my camera handy. It was a small family gathering, with lots of good food, a great cake, and a few presents. We thought the goose could help the 96-year-old speed up the opening process, but we were wrong… I’m not sure who opens slower… Granny or the goose. After a clearly tragic paper cut, closely followed by an “I thought that present was for me” meltdown, the goose gracefully bowed out of the gift opening and let Granny unwrap for herself.


Baby Preparations…
Since the day we told the goose that she is going to be a big sister, she has been quite preoccupied with baby preparations. She woke me early one morning with a very serious question… “Mommy, do we have pacis, a crib, and baby shoes for the baby?” Clearly, she has only the necessities in mind. Later, she informed Gamma that we need to get the baby some toys, followed by her newest concern… “pajamas with the feet in them”. Finally, we reached a deal… as soon as we find out whether the baby is a brother or a sister, we will go to Target (goose’s request) and get the baby some clothes, including pajamas with the feet in them, and of course, “I get to pick them out,” says the Goose. My favorite big-sister line though has to be “Mommy, when you and Daddy have the baby, I am going to be the Mommy.” To which I replied, “I thought you were going to be the big sister?” “Nope,” the goose corrected, “I am going to be the Mommy-Big-Sister.” I am glad to know I will have lots of help with those mid-night feedings!


Almost Four Attitude…
We’re long past the terrible twos and are nearing the end of the thrilling threes, but in the process, we have encountered the almost-four-attitude. When someone asks the goose how old she is, if she refuses to reply (which is most of the time) & I answer for her, “She’s three,” suddenly, the shyness is gone and the goose quickly interjects with lots of attitude “I’m almost four!” In addition to age three being insufficient, anything that we tell her she cannot do immediately receives the reply, “When I’m four I can…” Oh to be four… clearly it solves all life’s little problems and removes those pesky three-year-old-prohibitions.


Strange Thunder & Lost Socks…
At least a few times a week, the goose wakes up around 3am & appears at our bedside with one of two requests… “My tummy hurts, will you hold me?” or “Can I sleep in the middle?” The way this generally works is that I reply “I’m sorry, go back to bed.” Or “You can sleep in the middle of your bed.” Lately though, the goose has changed-up her 3am routine. Here are my two favorites…

“Mommy, I just heard some strange thunder. Did you hear that strange thunder?”… by the way, there was NO thunder, strange or regular. Since then, any time it looks like rain she asks, “Will there be more strange thunder?”

The second-runner-up was not so amusing initially, though in retrospect it is rather humorous. Instead of showing up 3 inches from my face, the goose let out a deafening, minute-long scream. I was sure she had thrown up or had some major issue as she is not a screamer, especially not at night… she much prefers whining & stomping to screaming. I ran back to her room and could find nothing visibly wrong with her. After a series of unanswered questions, she finally screamed/cried “MY SOCK!!!!” … that’s right, she was missing one sock and could not find it in her bed… clearly this was tragic. “Are you kidding me!?! You screamed because you can’t find your sock?!?!” “Uh-huh,” she cried. Two seconds later, the blessed sock was recovered from underneath the sheet and order was restored. I returned to bed expecting Wes to inquire as to what had happened, but he hadn’t even noticed. I grumbled, at both of them, & tried to go back to sleep. The next morning I asked him if he even heard her scream, to which he replied, “I heard something but just figured it was in my dream.” Are you kidding me?!?


Passive Voice…
As I said, my month has been consumed with reading, reading, & more reading, followed by paper-writing & some more paper-writing. The goose likes to inquire frequently (try about every 30 seconds) as to how many pages I have left on either task. She has also recently learned to “click” (ie. Use the mouse to play computer games… she feels this takes precedence over my papers as laptop priorities go). So one night in an effort to speed up my progress she said, with great confidence, “Mommy, I can type the keys.” “Oh really,” I replied. “Can you write without using passive voice?” “Uh-huh, I can write without passing boys!” And that, my friends, is my favorite quote of the month.


Super-goose…
To end our monthly review with the few photos I did manage to take, here are a few shots of the goose’s new favorite activities… “superman swinging” and “monkey bar flips”… the latter took several days to perfect, but now she is a pro, and quite proud of herself as you can tell. (You may also be able to tell that she dressed herself… don’t worry, this is only permissible when we are not going in public.)