Recipe of the Week #2

Last week, I didn't try a new recipe. The Avocado chicken one was sooo good, I made it for Rachel's family. This week, while I was at home, I tried this one out. It tastes much better than the picture looks, I promise!

Artichoke Chicken

Ingredients:

4-5 Boneless chicken breasts

1 package of sliced mushrooms

2-14.5 oz cans of tomatoes

1-2 cloves of garlic

2-3 small cans of artichoke hearts

1 cup of flour

1 tbsp of pepper

2 tbsp of paprika

1 tsp of oregano

butter

olive oil

Linguine noodles

1) Cut chicken breasts in half and place in a ziplock bag with the flour, paprika and pepper. Shake to coat chicken.

2) Brown chicken in a pan with olive oil.

3)Saute mushrooms in butter (while the chicken is cooking).

4) Mix in a seperate bowl: tomatoes, oregano and garlic.

5) Once all of the chicken has browned, place in a 13 x 0 pan and cover chicken with tomato mixture, mushrooms and drained artichoke hearts.
6)Bake at 350 degrees for 1.5 hours or until tender.

7) Serve with linguine and parmesan cheese.

Thankful

This past month for one of our Life Group Igniters, I chose to make a list of things I am thankful for and why. It has been fun to see how God has blessed me lately! Sorry if it's kinda corny. Here's some of my list:

I am thankful for:

• A powerful God who loves me no matter what
• My family
• My job, even if it's not always my favorite
• My car, even when it's not working lol
• My friends, I have some of the best in the world...They love me, they challenge me and they encourage me.
• Reunions with college friends or other old friends
• My electric Blanket, soo cold in the mountains
• Facebook and texting, you might laugh at this one, but I have my reasons.
• My mac...it's pretty
• Santa Cruz weather
• The chance to change lives through teaching
• youth group kids
• My life group
• Second, third, fourth families...who all love me as if I was their own.
• triathalons...ok I'm not really thankful for those, but I'm thankful for exercise with Rachel!
• An awesome house
• The best roommates
• Scrapbooking
• Sports
• And many many other things.

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

Cooking!

I've decided that I need to do more cooking and way less eating out, if I am going to be ready for this crazy triathalon. (Did I mention I'm training with a friend for this?!?!) So I figured I'd post some recipes that were a hit! Enjoy. :)

Avocado Chicken Stir Fry

Ingredients

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite size pieces

2 cups snow peas

2 cups cremini mushrooms, stems discarded, caps thinly sliced

4 bunches green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 large ripe but firm avocados - peeled, pitted, and cut into large chunks

Directions

In a bowl, stir together the chicken broth, soy sauce, cornstarch, and garlic until the cornstarch is smooth, and set aside.

Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering, and cook and stir thechicken until cooked through and no longer pink in the center, about 5 minutes. Remove from the wok and set aside. Place the snow peas into the hot wok, and cook and stir until bright green and still crisp, about 3 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and green onions, and toss with the snow peas in the hot oil until the mushrooms are tender and have given up their juice, about 5 minutes. Pour off excess juices, if any.

Return the chicken to the wok, and stir briefly over medium heat to combine with the cooked vegetables. Stir the reserved sauce ingredients to recombine, if needed, and add to the wok. Gently stir in the avocado, and let the mixture bubble until the sauce thickens, about 3 minutes. Stir gently to coat everything in sauce, and serve.

Life without a car

2 weeks without a car. This reminds me of when I broke my right foot in college. I had to rely on everyone. I couldn't make it up the stairs in my apartment, and I got to live with the Nugents for 2 weeks. (which were some amazing weeks lol) Anyways, when you have to rely on other people, you learn some things. Here are the random things I learned:

- I need to be prepared at all times to talk about Jesus, even if I think 7 am is too early to talk about that stuff. The person who picks me up for work, wants to talk about it every morning. It's been good for me. :)

- I take so many things for granted, like going to the laundromat or to the store.

-I need to walk around Mt. Hermon more. It's so awesome and I have been enjoying it.

-I have amazing friends who drive me around or come to me, since I can't come to them.

-Not seeing people for 2 weeks feels like an eternity...I have been sad, on more than one occasion that I can't see the people I normally see during the week.

-My roommates are the best. They have driven me around a lot, and I have LOVED spending time with them, since I've been home more.

God usually gives me these kinds of things (broken feet, broken cars) at a time in my life when I need to slow down and get my priorities back in order. It's working, but can I please have my car back now?? :)

Life.

Again, pretty sure I say this everytime I update...wow it's been forever. I can barely keep up on work and life this year, let alone my blog. :(

Life has been busy, in a good way! At the end of September, I moved to a super cute cabin on Mt. Hermon, with 4 awesome girls. It is a little far from work, about 30 minutes, but it is SO worth it. The house is amazing, and the 4 of us have a lot of fun!

Other than that, I have been SO busy with work. I feel really overworked this year. We never get a break, until about 4 pm. It has really been affecting my whole life. I'm working on trying to leave work things at work, but it's hard for a teacher!

I can't believe it is already November!! Where did the time go? This past weekend, I went to youth convention in Sactown with our youth group. We had a great time, and it was fun to spend time with the kids. Next month brings birthdays, Disneyland and INDIA! So crazy.

So there's the short update on life. Most importantly, God is good and has blessed me in ways I can never comprehend. I'm looking forward to everything He is going to do in the next few months!

And for grandma....some pictures from the last few months (AND the Chargers/Raiders game where I almost lost my life) :)