Random Recipes-Polynesian Chicken

This is for you Cheri:)...and anyone else who's looking for a new recipe idea!  One of our all time favorites.  Enjoy!

Polynesian Chicken

CHICKEN

¾ cup flour

2 tsp. Paprika

1 tsp. Salt

6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, diced

¼ cup butter

SAUCE

¾ cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp. Cornstarch

1 tsp. Ground ginger (I usually do double this at least)

¾ cup pineapple juice (juice from one can)

¼ cup vinegar

2 Tbsp. Soy sauce

1 can (14 oz) pineapple tidbits

1 small green pepper, julienned

CHICKEN

Ø  Combine 1^st 3 ingredients in a bag

Ø  NOTE: I usually double the flour mixture...just makes it a lot easier to get all the chicken coated.

Ø  Add chicken & shake until coated

Ø  Melt butter in pan

Ø  Remove chicken from flour mixture & put in pan

Ø  Cook chicken until cooked through & golden brown

Ø  NOTE: Don’t stir the chicken unless absolutely necessary.  The flour coating will become goopy & come off the chicken.  When I add the chicken to the pan I make sure to spread it out over the entire pan...then leave it there till that side is browned.  At that point you can stir it gently to get the rest of it browned.

SAUCE

Ø  Mix brown sugar & cornstarch in a small pot

Ø  Add the ginger, pineapple juice, vinegar & soy sauce

Ø  Stir well

Ø  Heat until thickened

Put it all togetherJ

Ø  Pour the thickened sauce over the cooked chicken

Ø  Gently stir in pineapple & green pepper

Ø  Allow to simmer until heated through & green pepper is desired firmness (not sure if that’s the right wordJ??)

Ø  Serve over rice (I prefer brown)

Family Funnies

Kirby comes into our room this morning, chipper as ever.  He is a BIG morning person.  I’m NOT. 

Me: Kirby, I wish you could share some of your energy with me!

Kirby (completely matter of fact): It’s easy.  All you have to do is drink lots & lots of water...and some juice!

New blog ideas

Here are some new blog ideas I have that may or may not (depending on how much I decide I like themJ) pop on here:

Random Recipes...recipe ideas that have already been test drivenJ.  (I have a few friends who do this & I really enjoy getting them so I thought I’d try too.)

Werdal Wanderings...probably a similar format to what I was doing last year.

Family Funnies...pretty self explanatory.

Heidi’s Highlights...random thoughts & facts that stand out in my mind.

Picture of the month...again...I think you can figure it outJ.

Feel free to give me your thoughts...

Family Funnies

Kirby: Mommy, if you have any marshmallows don’t give them to us.

Mommy: Oh?

Kirby: Yup, cause we had oodles of marshmallows at Grandma W’s house!

A thought about pictures...

I was reading an article about Mother’s Day where the author talked about taking pictures.  Like me, she loves to take pictures of her kids & her family.  Although I love taking family pictures, my favorite by far is capturing the “moments”.  A laugh.  A hug.  A cuddle.  A conversation.  A look.  There is one person in our family though, who we don’t have that kind of pictures of...at least not many.  Can you guess whoJ?  Yes, that would be me.  Once in a while I’ll hand the camera to Ben or someone else we’re with.  The problem is, those moments are usually “planned”.  I’m sitting down to open this gift with my kids...I know the camera is on me. 

In the last few months my dad has been scanning old slides.  I have loved looking at all the pictures that bring back so many memories.  When I read this article today I was thinking about the pictures my dad scanned that are of me & my mom.  I love being able to look at those.  I want our kids to have pictures of me with them to bring back memories too!  The issue for me is one of control.  I want the pictures to be the way I envision them.  Problem is...if I’m not behind the camera, I have no control of that.  So I tend to hand over the camera for 5 or 10 minutes while we’re doing a particular activity & then take it back again so I can get the pictures I want of what’s going on.  Wow, writing that down sure makes the selfishness show.  Never thought of it that way before.  Now I’m even more determinedJ.  This Mother’s Day (& beyond) I’m going to make an effort to give someone else the camera...and let them hold it for more than 10 minutes while we’re doing a particular activity.  I want our kids (& grandkids) to be able to look back & see me for who I am...the way I am.  I want them to be able to look at pictures of me & know that I really was living life right here with them...beside them...so that they can look back on these memories when they grow up.