Buttermilk Pan Fried Chicken, Jalapeno Corn Bread and Chocolate Banana Eggrolls

Today I made lots of new recipes. 

The buttermilk chicken was good...nothing special but sometimes it's nice to have just plain chicken. The cornbread was AMAZING.

The recipe called for 1 diced jalapeno...I used 3!

Adam always gives me a hard time because I never follow a recipe.  I use a recipe as a suggestion and so far (2 weeks) I have basically followed the recipes...I only substituted frying the chicken in EVOO instead of canola...and added cayenne pepper.
Our dinner was awesome...

Dessert however didn't quite work out as I planned.  Rachael Ray usually writes recipes that anyone can make...I however failed with my chocolate banana eggrolls.

The recipe said to thaw out 4 sheets fillo dough (which isn't found in the two grocery stores near my house).  I have never used fillo dough but each sheet is as thin as one ply of tissue and the package has 20 sheets rolled up.  It basically fell apart when I tried unrolling it and also when it was thawed.  Maybe I was supposed to use the whole roll (20 sheets according to the box)? 

I still tried...the banana and the chocolate were going to be a no fail wonderful dessert.  I served it with the dipping sauce on top.

It tasted good...I could call it chocolate banana bird nest.

Not so sure about this...

Over Thanksgiving weekend I made my mom and Grandma come with me to IKEA because there was a couple things from their toy section that I wanted to get Zack for Christmas.  One of the things I saw online and was super excited about was a tunnel.

Not only are the colors fun but this is something he can crawl through but it's something that we can attach to the tent I wanted to get him.  Well my mom stole the tent and grandma stole the tunnel (they paid for it...they just stole my great idea).  I didn't really care who it came from I was just really excited to see how much fun he would have crawling back and forth through it...

"What...you want me to go in there?"

yes...he made it to the other side...by crawling around (smart move kid)

"I am not so sure about this big thing in my living room"

"I'd much rather play with the camera"

10:23 PM

This is the time Zachary went to sleep last night.  We have had a couple weeks of late naps, which leads to a late bedtime which means he sleeps in...causing his naps to be late.  What has made this really hard for me is Adam had to work late last week.  Typically Z goes to bed around 7:30-8:00, when Adam works late I don't eat dinner until he is in bed (I can deal with an 8:00 peaceful dinner...no problem).  After he goes to bed I eat, clean dishes, pick up toys, and straighten up.  When I finish the "chores" I have some quiet Lindsay time.  I basically turn into a pumpkin around 8:30 weather or not Z is ready.  I have felt so conflicted...
Should I not let him nap late? If I do that he will be miserable making me miserable.  Should I force him to nap early?  That may work for other kids but my kid moves a mile a minute and doesn't slow down until the second he falls asleep.  He is past the infant stage where you are supposed to let him do whatever he wants, but he is happy and healthy do I really want to take a chance and put him on a schedule...until now the schedule he puts himself on has worked really well.
For now I am letting him sleep in...by habit I still get up...and I enjoy breakfast on my own.  Today we stayed home, giving him a chance to nap when he wants to and not just because we are in the car.  Even with his early, short naps he was up until 9:15. 
Good thing he is so darn cute...

I wish I was this perky after 10!

Week 1: Kung Po Chicken

It's totally fitting that my first recipe of the year is Chinese food...well AMERICAN Chinese food.  I received this cookbook from one of Adam's coworkers in China:

The ironic thing was I couldn't make these recipes in China because I couldn't find the ingredients.  Chinese food in China is VERY different then the Chinese food we know and love...in fact when we returned to the US one of the first foods we ate was Pei Wei...I am almost embarrassed to say we eat there (well take out) almost every week on our weekly "date night in".  When I call to place the order they ask if we want "the usual" (Changs Spicy Chicken with brown rice - ADAM and Orange Peal Chicken with white rice - ME...with a side order of chili paste and spicy mustard).
Anyway...I was super excited to try my hand in some Chinese cooking after being so anti Chinese food for 18 months.
Kung Po Chicken was a favorite of ours before going to China and there was only one place that offered Kung Po in Huizhou...I knew Adam would be very excited to come home to some homemade Chinese food.

I was worried that I may not find all the ingredients I needed, I mean where do you find Chutney in a grocery store?  Rather than spend time looking for chutney for homemade plum sauce I bought a jar of already made sauce. 

This was a great recipe...I followed it almost exactly, I added more chili oil and extra chicken and garlic and of course I served it over rice.

Good ol' Chinese rice

When I make it again I will add some fresh chili's for more of a kick (it wasn't much of a "kung PO" with this chicken) and some carrots and green beans so it ends up being a full meal.  I would also make extra sauce to pour over the rice.

1/2 graham cracker + 1 cup of juice + a ball in a paper bag = just enough time to do the prep for this meal.

1 week down!

A Few of My Favorites!

I just finished adding all the posts from my Shutterfly share site to this blog.  New Year always means de-cluttering...I LOVE having all my posts in one place, but not as much fun as I LOVED reading about my life over the past couple years.  It's amazing how much you forget.
Several people kept up with my other blog but just in case you didn't these are a few of my favorite posts about life in China:
"She did a pretty good job for only having a bottle of tea and an onion."  (the entry on our experience moving into our new apartment...the first one)
My 1 Year Anniversary (of being "retired")
Something Easy To Cook Without a Proper Kitchen (Thai Green Curry...my version)
Da Fen (the art village in Shenzhen...a couple hours from where we lived)

And a few of my favorites from my pregnancy:
Just Out Of Curiosity...Old Wives Tales (turns out my baby could have been a boy or a girl)
Like Most Things In America - Our Baby Was Made In China (our blog announcement)
Record Breaking Weight Gain (It only took 6 months of pregnancy to gain weight but I did it gosh darn!)
Pregnancy Perk That Deserves It's Own Entry (The time that made me feel more special than ever)

And a few new posts with Video:
Sydney (This includes Adam as a street preformer)
Bali (monkey village)
Hanoi (traffic in Hanoi)

My NEW/REALISTIC New Years Resolution

A couple weeks ago I posted that my resolution would be to organize our storage unit...after some thought it is totally unrealistic.  It would require lots of leaving Z while I sort boxes and piles of stuff in our living room...both don't work with a baby on the move.  Rather than giving up a week into organization and having a broken resolution, I went ahead and came up with something much better to try this year!
I have several cookbooks...most have tons of post'its marking recipes I want to try.

 Plus I got some new ones for Christmas!

I LOVE cookbooks...I know you can get recipes online but I like using books.  If I find a recipe online I usually end up writing it on post'its because I hate how they look printed out. 
This year I want to try at least one new recipe each week. 

I feel like it's reasonable considering I cook three times a week, the other days I make some easy pasta, heat up leftovers or a can of soup and a sandwich.  This will be a great thing to do for my family, Adam LOVES new things and Zachary is going to start eating more table foods (cue my new book: "The Sneaky Chef").  There are plenty of recipes to choose from...where should I start????

HERE GOES NOTHING!

Baby Proofed

Z man has been upset with me lately...

doesn't he look like a kid on TV that needs a sponsor?  I guess he isn't so "Bannanas over Mommy" at this moment

 We started off by blocking the entertainment table...Adam suggested buying a new flat screen and hanging it on the wall out of reach...I figured this $25 Craig's List find was a smarter choice:

 These are really starting to annoy me...they are hard to get out when I need to vacuum!

 I took the rummer tips off the door stops but my boy showed me that wasn't enough.  I used to let him sit here while I was in the kitchen and if I stopped hearing the spring I would pay more attention...one day the noise ended and I found Z-man with the door stop off the wall and in his mouth.

 Little did he know that this fun new box would turn into this...

 I didn't take into account when buying the "tall" gate that the lip of the counter top would make it so I couldn't use the extender...I did order a new short gate and will move this one to the office area.  Until then we won't be playing Dominoes.  So far it works!

I just have to remember not to put things so close to the gate.  He opened this Mountain Dew box  and tried to pick up a can from outside the gate.  It is really nice not to wonder what bit of food fell on the floor that Z is going to eat or getting on my hands and knees cleaning every time I cook.  I still clean...it's just not on my knees.  Hopefully he won't figure out how to get past the gate...

Frustrated it didn't work, but that won't stop him from trying again!