Well, I'm dusting off the cobwebs of this ol' blog o' mine and attempting to once again post every once in a while! Looking back I can't tell you exactly what I've been up to since taking a hiatus from this blog since May, especially since I have more free time now than ever. But apparently I was doing something that kept me too busy to post new anything. Let's pretend it was something spectacular and outrageous and daring. Actually, while I may not have been doing anything of the sort, the Lord has done something pretty spectacular and blessed with what I fondly call Baby Barnacle. Or just Barnacle. Or Bar Nicole, if the barnacle turns out to be a girl, of course. Background on barnacle...the doctor was telling me to lay off running until everything really got attached and the first thing that popped in my mind was a barnacle and *bam* it stuck....no pun intended :)
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:13-16
So far God has blessed me way beyond I deserve and has spared me the awful morning sickness I have heard in horrific tales spoken in hushed voices...in dark corners and behind closed doors. (I apologize for this dramatic streak, apparently I shouldn't take such a long break from writing for my weirdness is coming out in full force). The only thing that has been a little difficult is dinnertime. Barnacle has caused me to have little appetite other than string cheese, strawberries, and fruit-spinach smoothies. I. CAN'T. GET. ENOUGH. I find myself with a grocery cart that I'm sure screams "toddler" as I pile loads of string cheese. No toddler. Just me. Don't judge. Therefore, dinners have been a little pathetic at our place recently, as for some reason my husband doesn't think that string cheese and strawberries are a complete meal. Fine, pour yourself a bowl of cereal and there we have a gourmet dinner right in front of us. Poor James. Actually, I will only think "poor James" for a couple more months then I will bring on the full wrath of "you did this to me!!!!"
Anyways, last night was one night that real food actually sounded good and the food pics on Pinterest didn't make me gag. I found this recipe for baked sweet and sour chicken from Six Sisters' Stuff and was hoping it would taste exactly like Pei Wei. I added the stir-fried red peppers, onions, and pineapple because that's what my friend Pei Wei does. I even tried to chop them into big pieces like he does because I want to be just like him. I have to say this was absolutely delish! Just crispy enough and the sauce was pretty darn close. Who knew sweet and sour sauce was easy to make yourself? I was slightly nervous about what would constitute the 'sour' part. Don't be alarmed, dear friends, it's just a little vinegar, not sad little sour patch kids. No children were harmed in the making of this dish.
Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken
For the chicken:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cup cornstarch
(I only used 1/2 cup of cornstarch because I'm really good at checking to make sure I have all the ingredients before I already have the chicken diced and oven preheated and noticed I only had about half a small container. Turns out I had cornstarch left over after I coated 3 chicken breasts in my meager 1/2 cup)
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil
For the sweet and sour sauce:
1 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and season with salt and pepper. Place cornstarch and beaten eggs in separate bowls. Dip chicken into cornstarch then coat in egg mixture. Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook chicken until browned. Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish. In a mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, ketchup, vinegars, soy sauce, and garlic salt. Pour over chicken and bake for one hour. **I checked mine at 30 minutes and it was cooked all the way through. I had a hungry man on my hands so we didn't wait out the whole hour.**
And now I leave you with one last thought, a sight I see all too often around here. An action he knows is so wrong but if it's wrong, he doesn't want to be right.
Enjoy.
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