Thai Coconut Soup

Long time no post.  I've been posting, but just not here.  I've been on A Year in the Life for these past 4 years.  Sorry y'all.  :)  I'm going to make it up to you by posting a new delicious recipe for Thai Coconut Soup.

It's so easy.  I've tripled it so you can feed a family of 6, and maybe have a little left for the next day.  My crew are hearty eaters, so I have to make enough to feed the peeps.

I hope you enjoy it!
~ashley

Thai Coconut Soup
3 cans (14 oz) coconut milk
3 cans (14 oz) or 6 cups chicken broth (I use bouillon cubes & water)
18 quarter-size slices fresh ginger
3 stalks fresh lemongrass, cut in 1-inch pieces (I used lemongrass paste & it was fine)
3 pounds chicken cut into 1-inch pieces (optional)
3 cup sliced mushrooms (I forgot these, so if you don't like them, leave them out.)
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce (nuoc mam or nam pla)
3 teaspoons sugar
3 teaspoons Thai chili paste (I made mine heaping, but I like spicy things.)
fresh basil & cilantro to garnish

• In a saucepan, combine coconut milk, broth, ginger, and lemongrass.  Bring to a boil over high heat.
• Add chicken, mushrooms, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar & chili paste.  Reduce heat a cook slowly until chicken is firm and opaque.  DO NOT BOIL chicken.  

New Recipe!!!

Hey everyone, I've posted a new recipe on my 'Year in the Life' blog.  I have six months left where I'll be blogging on it everyday.  So, if you haven't been over there to check it out, I hope you'll take the time to scoot on over.  :)

The great thing about this recipe is that it can be served as an appetizer, as a salad topper, or as part of a larger meal.  Very summery, very light, very yummy! 

I hope you are all having a wonderful summer!

Blessed beyond measure!
~ashley

Things are a Little Crazy Around Here...

...but in reality, when are they not?  It's the best kind of craziness though.  I love a house full of kids.  Not just my children, but having their friends here as well.  Last night was fun.  Henry had his awesome buddy, Josh, over to spend the night.  (I think Hop & Harry would trade Henry for Josh if given the chance.)  Harry had his friend, Joe, to spend the night, and a group of Hoppy's friends came over to hang out.  We had a house full...it was awesome.  Poor Elizabeth was the only one who was a loner.  :(  Oh well, she'll see all her buddies this morning when she goes to dance. 

I don't have any new recipes I've tried, but I wanted to send you over to 'A Year in the Life' for the time being.  If I cook something new, I'll post it, but it's been kinda crazy around here: trying to work, take care of kiddos, and keep up two blogs.  I post on AYITL everyday, so you'll see a variety of things.

The other day I did make Friday Special with 3 pounds of chicken, and at the end of the night there was only a small bowl full left...my I have some little piglets.  (it's now one of their favorite meals)

I hope you join me as I celebrate A Year in the Life.

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

A Splitter A Splatter

...I made a mess all over my platter...  Well not really a mess on the platter, but all over my cook top for sure.  I was in a good mood yesterday, and I'm not sure why but I told the fam I would be happy to make them homemade sweet & sour chicken.  They were in great favor of having that for dinner.  I had to shake my head & I thought to myself  'Um, did I really just offer to fry chicken and serve it with a delicious, sticky, orange sauce.'  Yes, yes I did.

I botched the first round of the sauce.  I don't follow recipes well & just started dumping things into the saucepan.  That is bad, very bad.  It didn't thicken up & I had to throw it out & start over.  The second time I actually did what it said.  Success!  2 of the 4 tasted it & gave it two thumbs up.

OK, onto the chicken.  As the chicken was sitting in the batter Henry looked at & said with a grimace on his face:  "mom, what is that?'.  I told him it was the chicken.  He informed me it didn't look like chicken.  Yes, thank you Hen, I still have to cook it.  As I was frying the chicken little fingers (40 in total) kept walking by & popping chicken into their mouths.  I finally had to get mad & shoo them out of the room, because at the rate the chicken was disappearing we weren't going to have any left for dinner.

Making Sweet & Sour Chicken is not hard, it's just messy.  Needless to say they loved it and gobbled it up.  It may have to start making a rotation once a quarter.  Maybe I'll make the sauce blue just to keep the fam guessing.  :)

Y'all be blessed beyond measure!
~ashley

Where I Spend My Time

I think I need to paint my car.  No, it's not that the paint is chipping or faded, it's that I'm always in my car driving little people hither and yon.  Yellow, that's the color my car should be, and it needs a 'Children's Taxi' sign gracing the top.  Don't laugh, you know it can or will apply to you in the future.  We even have one child who can drive himself and it is still crazy around here.

We're in the car so much Henry knows how to get most of his homework completed in the car.  The life of being the baby of the family.  Bless that sweet child, he can roll with the punches better than anyone, and doesn't wig out when things suddenly change.  (he did not get that from his mommy)  He could also nap in the car like a champion when he was a baby.  People would see him asleep in his car seat & whisper and say 'oh look, the baby is asleep, y'all be quiet and don't wake him up.'  I would laugh and say, don't worry, you can't wake him up, because you couldn't.  We are not the quietest family...

Last night was one of the coldest nights of the year for us so far.  I really wanted to eat chili, but knew the fam would balk.  Chili is a go to for me in a tight.  And then, it was like I heard a chior singing as I remembered I have a recipe for White Chicken Chili.  I needed somthing I could leave cooking on low on the stove as I hauled my little chicks around.  You know I don't follow directions very well.  If I don't have or like something in a recipe, I'll change it, no biggie.  The original recipe calls for ground chicken.  What, ground chicken, who keeps ground chicken in their freezer?  So, I decided to poach some and dice it up.  I did want some heavy cream to add to it, but didn't have any so it was a healthy chili.

We're coming up on the busiest time of the year.  Every mom I talk to has said that December is crazier than May, and I totally agree.  Hopefully this chicken chili will help make your Christmas season a little easier.

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

The 5 P's of Life

Prior   Planning   Prevents   Poor   Performance

My 5 P's of life.  I would love to take credit for them, but I heard them first on the Rick and Bubba Show.  I am a task driven person by nature.  If I have a list going & do things that aren't on my list, I'll add them on there just to be able to mark them off.  Yes, it is a little twisted & sick, but it gives me a great amount of happiness.  You know, that little 'woohoo, one more thing off the list' moment.  I put everything on my calendar which is on my computer & on my crackberry.  Both pop up reminders 24 hours in advance of something that has to be done, attended, purchased, etc.  (I'd staple it to my shirt if it wouldn't make me look silly just so I would have one more way to remember stuff.)

If you are a mom with multiple children, you have to live by the 5 P's at least part of the time.  If you don't, I want to know your secret, because I'm going to market it and make a mint!  :)  Just kidding, but I would love to know if you have to have lists to get through your days too.  Yesterday was pretty busy, and I knew I would not have time to cook dinner tomorrow night.  I actually thought about dinner yesterday morning when I woke up at 4:45 am.   I was thinking something like a jambalaya, but there was no time to cook it the normal way, so here's what I did. It's a busy momma's jambalaya.

poached chicken & sausage

I poached the chicken in the crock pot with some Cajun Injector marinade, tons of garlic, 1/2 a small onion, and some chicken broth.  (I used the creole butter.)   What a beautiful creation my crock pot is.  It's almost 20 years old & still going strong.  I can put the meat in there frozen & it comes out fully cooked.  (which is what I did yesterday.)  I also included a pound of turkey sausage.  To the right is a picture of the finished product.

the roux

I had 30 minutes to complete everything else for the dinner.  I needed a roux with this.  The great thing about a roux is a little oil & flour can make a lot.  The way to make it go farther is chicken broth.  :)  A wonderful ingredient, it will add flavor to anything.  Here is my roux while it was cooking.  I added a little kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper, a little ground red pepper & ground pepper flakes, and the secret (my favorite) ingredient is Chef Paul Prudhomme's Poultry Magic.  Yum!  When it was finished I wanted to just eat it out of the pan by itself.  I cooked it to a light brown.  After it was cooked I added 1 onion & 1 green pepper.  (actually you know how lazy I am when I'm in a hurry, so I used frozen onions & green peppers.)

I cooked 2 cups of rice, and shredded the chicken and cut up the sausage and added them to the roux.  Here is the finished product.  It's  hard to see the chicken because it literally fell apart in my hands as I was trying to cut it up.  Henry had 2 or 3 helpings, I couldn't get a firm confirmation, but it was a lot.  The picky one said it was good but not amazing.  He liked the sausage the best.  (I would have used 2 pounds, but I only had one in the freezer.)  Harry said he didn't like it already mixed in with the rice.  He would have liked it all separated.  Picky eaters...

the finished product

Do I use the 5 P's everyday?  No, and  you know what, on the days I don't I'm not nearly as streamlined and productive in what I have to get done.  The day's I use the 5 P's, I can totally rock this mom thing out!  Well, now I can go mark a few things off my list.  :)  And so it begins...

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

What to do?

I'm asking myself the same question I ask almost 3 times a week.  What in the world are we going to have for dinner?  Monday's are crazy; everyone has something going on, so I decided to make Chicken Pie.  The fam loves chicken pie, I love chicken pie, it's a win win for everyone.  I like wins, they make me feel good.

As I was putting the casserole together I noticed I was out of a lot of staples in my pantry and freezer.  A few weeks ago was a canned food drive at the high school, and Harry needed said cans and wiped me out.  (with permission of course)  I've been dedicated to having dinner prepared at least 4-5 nights a week, and at one point I had enough food in my pantry and freezer to tie us over, but now the stores are depleted. 

I guess that means I need to start a MAJOR grocery list and get my happy self to the grocery store.  Maybe I'll take the fam so we can have speed grocery!  My favorite, no really, it is.  When my children were all little I needed one of those mack-daddy buggies to pack them all in safely and still have room for groceries.  I would usually arrive to find none available.  Do you know why?  It was because a mom with 1, let me repeat 1 child would have it.  Hey thanks for that, I was looking forward to my preschoolers jumping on and off my buggy since I couldn't strap them in.  Once they started getting older though it was a whole new ball game!  They pair up & I give them a list of things to get; find me to put what you have in the buggy & then get their next items on the list.  Oh, it's great fun!!!  (I can also send Hop to the grocery by himself with my list since he can drive.  Ask me the happiness that brings me!)

8 times out of 10 they will get exactly what I told them to get.  You have to be VERY specific, or you might end up with the most expensive of what you're looking for (and something special they decided to pick-up for themselves).  Brand, size, weight, color of the box/carton, where it might be located on the isle, and how many of each you need are always important.  With the children I have noticed they ask questions about why I get this brand over that one, why do we need the bigger box of rice, etc; and because of those questions I can share with them how to save money; how a special ingredient in a recipe can make that recipe great; the difference between oils, vinegars, and cooking wines.  The list is endless, and they learn how to follow specific directions.  Who knew so much could be learned in Publix?

They always ask for something that I wasn't going to get:  Cookies, Pop Tarts, Ice Cream, anything with tons of sugar;  they're kids, what can I say?  As long as they don't try to sneak anything into my buggy, sure I'll give in on the one thing they vote on they really want.  It's usually decided by a few games of paper, rock, scissors, and that is for sure another story for another day!

Chicken Pie's ready & I need to go get Harry...

Y'all have a wonderful Monday & be blessed beyond measure!
~ashley

Goose bumps

It is cold here in our state today.  Now, I know people in Denver or Maine or Alaska will laugh right in my face, but I'm from a very warm, humid, southern state & I don't react well when it gets below 60.  My husband calls me a cold prickle because if I get cold I physically can not warm myself back up.  Now, I will say I am glad that it's not 100 degrees outside anymore. 

It was so cold for us last night we built our first fire of the fall season.  It was so wonderful.  I love everything about it.  The look, the smell, the feel...it makes me so relaxed and happy.

I made Friday Special last night for dinner again.  When Hoppy asked what we were having and I told him & did a fist pump & said "yes!".  Can I tell you how happy that made me?  That reaction is so much better then 'oh mom, do we have to have that, I don't like it'.  Yes, my children do utter that horrible phrase to my face...

I went back and looked at the recipe to see how I could make it less greasy and thin & I think I fixed it.  Everyone said it was more flavorful and it coated the chicken and pasta better.  I did marinate the chicken & it made a HUGE difference.  I also grilled it very slowly and it was super juicy.  WooHoo for mom!

Here's what I changed...

• Chicken marinade:  balsamic vinegar, olive oil, fresh cracked pepper, and Chef Paul Prudhomme's poultry seasoning.
• Of course I didn't measure anything, but I put a good bit of vinegar and just a little olive oil.  I put the chicken in a ziploc bag and made sure all the pieces were coated well, and then added the pepper and a lot of poultry seasoning and turned it in the bag again. 
• I let it marinate 24 hours...and grilled it on low 15-20 minutes on each side.  You could mush the juice out of it. 

Before I could get everything tossed the children were swiping chicken from the bowl, it was that good.

For the vinaigrette I reduced the olive oil to 3/4 of a cup, added a lot more Dijon mustard probably more than the 3 tbsp that I have mentioned on the recipe, and a little more sugar.  Whisk it very well, because the oil wants to settle on the top.  Your vinaigrette should be a brownish yellow color.  (you want it pretty dark)  The children liked it better, and everyone went back for seconds.

Tonight Henry has a football game & the low is supposed to be 37.  I'm going to be bundled up big time!    Go Cards!  (I like it when they break the pre/post game huddle with 'Angry Birds!')  Maybe we can get home and still have time to build a fire because I have a feeling I'm going to need to thaw out.

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

Ta Da!!!

I'm standing in front of my freezer door just waiting for a full cooked meal to jump out at me & say "Ta Da...Bon appetite".  Yeah, that's gonna happen, in my dreams.  Wouldn't that be wonderful?  You can't fault a girl for dreaming.

I'm on the phone with my friend, Amy, and we're chatting, she's feeding her daughter some bread, we're talking about what to cook for dinner & of course I haven't even thought about it at all. 

So back to the freezer.  I see chicken...it's always good & good for you.  I'll poach it, because you can put frozen chicken in a boiler (covered with water, that's for those people who need directions to boil water) & let it sit for hours if you need it to on low or med-low.  Ok, so poached chicken is not to tasty by itself....  I bought fire-roasted tomatoes from the grocery store the other day, check for ingredient #2.  My mind starts whirring & it's all coming together, and then I remember, YIKES, I have to go pick-up Elizabeth from dance.  Leave the chicken on the stove on low, Henry reading for school, Hop doing what ever he does to wind down after he gets home from school & football & I go get Elizabeth. 

The good thing is, by the time I get home, the chicken is about finished, so I can start on the main part of the dish.  3 of the 4 kiddos are hungry, the picky one has gone to BBQ the Bucs at the high school & is texting me literally every other minute.  Henry is done with his homework & wants to watch the School House Rock videos we have on iTunes...I love School House Rock.  I loved it as a kid & love it even more as an adult.  We're singing, I'm cooking, Elizabeth is doing her homework, and all is right with the world.  Both Hopsons, big & little, even came in & started singing.  I love it when peace reigns in the house.  It makes the nights so pleasant & me a very happy mommy.  You know what they say about momma being happy...

Dinner was gobbled up, and some went back for seconds!  I had a blast cooking dinner; singing with my children; all the homework is finished; football is on & I'm going to try to stop my mind. (it's been whirring since 4am)  I love those ordinary days.  May we be blessed with many of them.  :)

I don't have a name for this recipe.  It's a tweak of a recipe I  think I saw on Rachel Ray, I don't remember.  I'm going to call it Ta Da...Bon Appetite!

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

Rainy Days and Sunshine

It really feels like fall outside today, and I really like the feel of fall.  Cool days with no humidity; God revealing His joy through the leaves changing on the trees; the smell of football in the air; pulling out all my fall clothes that I haven't seen since last year; yes, fall is a beautiful season.

It's been a little drizzly; a little chilly; it's getting dark early; and my fam. has asked for soup for dinner!   It may be rainy outside but in my soup bowl tonight there will be sunshine.

While at lunch today we all discussed which soup they would like for me to make.  One thing I hoped would that it wouldn't be anything that would take hours to cook.  Harry, El Jefe, the picky one, named the soup ~ Santa Fe Chicken Stew & and it was a resounding YES from the other three!  (this is different from the Santa Fe soup that is in the Food for Thought cookbook by the Birmingham Jr. League.  Also a very wonderful soup.)

This soup is so easy I think Henry could make it by himself.  Even if you can't cook, I promise you can cook this.  Like so many of the recipes I have, it was given to me.  A friend of my sister-in-law, Sandy, printed a cookbook over 10 years ago, and Sandy made it while we were visiting on night & everyone raved about it.  I of course tweaked it a little & you know I don't measure anything so I'll be giving you guestimations on the recipe site. Know I've given you the minimum, but I never use the minimum.  ;)  For my crew I actually doubled the recipe.

This is a really pretty soup & is so yummy!  So the next time your family wants sunshine in a bowl, you should serve them this with a smile to match.

y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

Just Call me Nuts

Hey MOJ, I haven't posted in a while... 'tis the season.  I've been hauling children hither & yon since I last posted.  It's funny how I thought things would get easier when they all started big school.  Um, yeah, that's not true at all, I just don't have any down time with them any more.  Well, that's not totally true, I have a precious few hours each week. 

Of course, I'm going to use those hours to try & stuff some healthy food down their tummies, and have a little quality time before the MASSIVE amounts of studying must resume.  We're up to our ears in homework.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, my children are getting a wonderful education, I just don't know if I could graduate from my alma mater now.  They are learning stuff I learned in college...yikes.

Just now Hop left to go to Saturday morning workouts for football...it's 6:48 am on a Saturday.  It makes me sleepy.  Or sleepier anyway, especially during carpool...have you ever fallen asleep during carpool, I have, it's another story for another time, funny though.

I am always on the lookout for easy, healthy, and good things to cook.  I had a friend from church tell me the next time I go to Taziki's (it's a yummy Greek restaurant here) to get the Friday Special.  It's so popular it's served Friday-Sunday.  Well, I happened to be there on a Friday a few weeks ago & decide to take her advice & order it...I am sooo glad I did!  Can I tell you how wonderfully delicious it was?  Oh my, I could have eaten it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I dreamed about it & could taste it in my dream.

Last Wednesday rolls around, which is a down day for the fam.  (I say that very loosely, it's the closest thing we have to a down day...I know  lot of you can relate.)  I know what I'm making for dinner...you got it, the Friday special.  It's too good to have to wait until Friday to eat it.  While I was cooking the children kept coming in & asking what we were having, I told them it was happiness on a plate.  Of course they looked at me like I had lost my mind.  If I have, it's their fault.  :)

Can I tell you the Friday special looks pretty on a plate.  My mom always said presentation is important, and not only does this dish taste divine, it presents well.  My mom would be proud.  I received RAVE reviews from the FS.  I had it done in 30 minutes, it is a healthy meal, and all the children cleaned their plates (some went back for seconds), and they all asked me to cook it again.  We'll put the Friday Special in the W column, and I will do the Victory dance, which my children promptly tell me I look stupid doing & to please quit embarrassing them.  (that last part didn't happen, but it could have.)

I have made mental notes on how to make the Friday Special taste better, and it calls for planning ahead, but it will be worth it, but if I don't no biggie, it will still taste wonderful.  I am going to give you my tweaked version, but know it makes a lot.  Make sure you do your own victory dance when you're done too.  It's always fun to embarrass your children.  :)

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

So Proud of my Girl

This summer has been fun, fast, and is now coming to a close.  For me it's been especially fun because I have watched my sweet Elizabeth begin her journey in cooking. 

This has been the summer of homemade pizzas, and Elizabeth is the best at making one.  Her brothers, with their mouths full, will mumble that her pizzas are good.  From a boy that's a pretty high compliment.

Last night she made a full cake by herself.  I didn't even supervise...a little scary now that I think about it, but she did it beautifully!  (I can't bake so I'm pretty proud! and a little jealous.)

Tonight I'm letting her make dinner.  She learned how to poach chicken & why it's better to poach it than boil it.  I'm letting her choose the menu & she decided to make PoppySeed Chicken.  Hoppy will be excited, it's one of his favorite meals.  She is shredding, mixing, spreading & crumbling.  She has decided that broccoli will go great with our chicken.  I agree, so the picky one will be most upset that he will have green trees on his plate to eat.  (If he wants cake...he'll eat broccoli.)  The only part of cooking I don't think she's going to like very much is the clean-up.  Then again, I don't like the clean-up either.  (I think I'll be nice & help her with this part.  Misery loves company.)

I'm so proud of her.  I wish my mom & MeMaw were here so I could share this memory with them.  I know they would praise her accomplishments.  For those of us who cook a lot, PS Chicken and broccoli is a simple meal to prepare, but for someone who doesn't know how to cook, it's huge.  We've shared E's cooking ability with GiGi & Pop because they spent the night last night & were able to let Elizabeth know how much they loved her cake.  It's nice when people notice your hard work and let you know they appreciate you.

So today's post is for my girl...I'm so proud of her!  She makes my job as a mom easy.  :)

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~Elizabeth's very proud mommy ~ ashley

Summer Colds & Cooking

I almost never get sick.  There's official memo in the mommy handbook that says Mommy's don't get sick, we have too much to do and not enough time to get it completed.  When I'm sick I can't get much done at all.  The heat has not helped my cold at all, as a matter of fact, it's helped it to drop into my chest...I sound like I've been smoking my whole life.  Yuck.  The older I get the more I have found I'm like my MeMaw.  I don't like to take medicines.  Advil is my cure-all.  My MeMaw only took aspirin & milk of magnesia.  (she lived to be 93, so she may have been onto something...) 
When I'm trying to keep from hacking a lung up I don't like spending a lot of time in the kitchen.  The heat make my coughing worse & don't think any of the fam likes me coughing in their dinner.  I wonder what the temperature is to kill for germs. I'll have to look that up in a bit. 

I made this CBT casserole a few weeks ago.  I was craving a BLT, but I had some chicken I needed to cook, so I decided to combine the two together.  The fam loved it and inhaled it.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I wish I had thought to serve it with a wedge of lettuce.  I may have to make this in the very near future.  It will be easy since I won't have to stay in the kitchen while it's cooking. 

Well, I'm going to get some water to sooth my throat, I've been coughing a bit while I'm typing this and my throat is a little scratchy.  Stay well & bon a petit!

Be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

Hold Me Now!

Oh I am so tired of crying.  I have turned into the biggest watering pot you have ever seen.  I look at pictures, videos, read first hand accounts of Wednesday, and I'm just heart sick and heart broken.  I used to not cry so easily, but the older I get the worse it gets. 

I know without a shadow of a doubt God speaks His words into my life.  I have a new play list with some of my new favorite songs and I'm just sitting here writing and crying. I will give you the list at the bottom of this posting if you're interested in listening to some songs that proclaim how awesome He is!

I have said several times that all I know is I serve a great God.  He is everything.  He has shown me that His body, when we decide to move, is strong and unstoppable.  Praise be to God who gives us all gifts to serve others!   

Right now I'm thinking of all the first responders.  I can't fathom what destruction looks like when they get there.  I've been hearing stories that I can't repeat, because the mental image is too much for me to handle, but these first responders are not like that.  They will charge ahead, no matter what, and do what they were trained to do: help people.  How thankful I am that they are willing to do that.  I feel about 2 inches tall when I think about what I have done compared to what they are doing.  God be with them all & sustain them through this.  God be with everyone who has offered their hands to help our neighbors.  God bless all the power company guys from different states!  God bless all the other states who want to help us by sending necessities.  We truly are The United States of America.

I don't feel like cooking, but I am.  Tonight we are having just plain jane poppyseed chicken.  If you don't have the recipe for this send me a message & I'll send it to you.

God bless our friends and neighbors beyond measure who are suffering right now!  May they be surrounded by His love and eternal mercy!
~ashley

My new play list:
Forever Reign (Live)          Hillsong Live
Stronger                            Mandisa
No Matter What                Kerrie Roberts
Get Up                              Planetshakers
You Hold Me Now           Robert Pierre
Starry Night                      Chris August
I Am                                 Nicole C. Mullen
For Those Who Wait         Fireflight
Rain It Down                     Carlos Whittaker
God of Second Chances    Carlos Whittaker
When the Saints                 Sara Groves
Revelation Song                 Kari Jobe
Hosanna                            Hillsong United
Salvation is Here                Hillsong United
I Will Rise                         Chris Tomlin
Awakening                        Chris Tomlin
We the Redeemed             Hillsong

Trying to squeeze it all in

Before I start my newest posting, I want to give a shout out to all the people outside the US who are reading my blog.  It's so fun to see all the different countries represented.  Even if you stumble here by accident, I'm glad you're reading my page & I hope you come back often!  Leave me a message because I'd love to hear from you.  And just so all you hometown folks don't feel left out, you know I love you!  As Clarie says in Steel Magnolias:  "You know I love you more than my luggage."  Make sure you use your best suthen voice.  (and voice has 2 syllables and the i makes the eh sound.  Just a little clarification there.)

Having one child that can drive is huge! It is easier knowing that I only have 3 children to ferry around our town and get from place to place. Hoppy helps when he can, but most of the time he has a practice or game of his own.  Because this is a crazy time of year, we usually eat in shifts.  This can be so crazy, but at the same time great.  Last night I was bad & 3 of my children used the same plate.  I know some of you may be cringing, but hey, I had less dishes to wash.  :)

Before you think this is a rant, please know it's not, it's just me observing...

There never seems to be enough hours in the day to get things done. My momma would pull all-nighters just to get chores done, but I choose not to be that way. I have to have my sleep. Now, I wake-up way before the sun, but I need at least 6 hours.  If I don't get my sleep, Mr. Hyde likes to make an appearance, and the Mr. Hyde part of me is not very nice.  (He will show up around 4pm, and that's when I'm usually driving in the car, so y'all be careful out there...)

Because I'm such an early bird, I can get more done by 11am than I can get done in the rest of the day, but for some reason the hours of the day still get away from me.  It seems my house stays a little to messy for my liking; the laundry is never completed;  I'm trying to remember & juggle schedules;  the fam gets hungry; and I'm trying to be a work (the kind that earns money) from home mom.  Can anyone out there relate?  Ok, y'all hold on a second, I'm going to step away from my computer & either have a tension breaker or cry, I can't decide which.  Just kidding, I'm really ok. 

Thinking about crazy times reminds me of one day in the car about 7 years ago when Henry was a baby, Elizabeth a toddler, Harry about 6 & Hoppy 8.  Hop & Harry were arguing in the back seat, Henry was crying, and Elizabeth was informing me about the baby crying.  I thought to myself:  "...and this is what I wanted to be when I grew up".  I thought I signed up to have a few children who loved and adored me, and who were perfect.  Not the chaos that was following.  I know my friends have days like that too.  You'll be glad to know I did survive that day & many others eerily similar.  Looking back I can laugh, at the time, not so much.

I can only deal with one day at a time.  Hopson & I usually will try to discuss our weekly schedule and what's coming up early in the week.  I decided this week I was going to really try to have great dinners prepared for the fam even if we had to eat in shifts.  It has been a little crazy, but not too bad.  The other night I made a homemade Chicken Pie & everyone gobbled it up.  There was a little leftover, and Henry liked it so much he ate it for breakfast.  Today, you get a bonus recipe!  Yea!!!  I have a ton of venison in my freezer, and some of it is in the form of cubed venison steaks.  There are only so many ways you can cook cubed steak.  Last night I found a yummy & quick way to prepare it.  Everyone loved it.  Harry, the picky one, who even had his braces tightened yesterday, ate it, so it must have been pretty good.  I hope these two recipes help you during this getting busier time of year, and that you can find little blessings in every day!

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

Getting to Know You

Getting to know you...getting to know all about you.  Are you singing the song yet?  We are never too old to learn things about ourselves, and, well, I learned some things about myself this past weekend.

Hopson turned 40 in December.  I remember when my parents turned 40...I thought they were older than dirt.  Well, now Hopson is as old as dirt & I'm not far behind.  Well, my accountant husband did not want a party.  He was actually hunting the entire week of his birthday so he could make it as difficult as possible.  Instead of a party he and I decided to take a trip.  We decided to go snow skiing.

I learned to ski 6 years ago, and needless to say I'm not a super skier by any stretch of the imagination, but I can hold my own, or so I thought.  We usually ski in the spring.  There are a few things I am used to when I ski:  average temperature is usually around 35-40 degrees, all the green and blue slopes (except 3 or 4) are groomed as well as a few black runs, and we are lucky if we get a few inches of fresh powder to ski on.

What I learned about myself is I'm a spoiled rotten skier.  I learned this very hard lesson in Colorado this past weekend.  While skiing in Vail we had 10-12 inches of fresh powder over one night.  Um, yeah, I don't like that much powder, or I should say my knees didn't like that much powder.  I thought they were going to explode.  At one point I fell, and just wanted to lay in the snow.  I wasn't cold, but actually really comfortable.  LOL!  Poor Hopson.  He showed extreme patients with me, and really took care of me.  Towards the end of each day on my last runs I had to stop a ton, and he never complained or left me, but followed me down the slopes in case I hurt myself & needed the ski patrol.  Yes, I was in that much pain.

There was no one to carry my skies for me, no one was excited that I had come to ski on their slopes, and there wasn't a HUGE buffet for me to make a gigantic salad to eat for lunch.  Like I said, spoiled rotten skier.  On the complete opposite side of the spectrum, Colorado is beautiful!  I don't know how the early settlers handled the savage beauty of this state.  Early February is COLD, and very snowy.  It is so beautiful it looks fake.  As you drive on your way to the Vail/Beaver Creek area each town has trees lit with Christmas lights, and it looks like the town is in a perpetual state of Christmas.  It is breath-taking.

Hopson and I had planned to go out to dinner at least once, but after all the hard work we did on the slopes each day we decided it was more relaxing to eat in just the 2 of us.  We ate fried chicken salad. I'm going to include the recipe below because it's so easy.

We are going skiing again over spring break with the children.  I desperately hope we don't have as much snow as we had a week ago.  I'm being a little selfish, but if I'm going to last all day I am going to need a little help from the Ultimate Weatherman.  I'm keeping a close eye on the snowfall totals, but no matter what, I know I'll have tons of fun spending time with my family.

Y'all stay warm & be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

Fried Chicken Salad for 2:
1/2 pound friend chicken fingers
1 bag baby greens or spring mix lettuce
Feta cheese
1 can Mandarin orange segments
1 small bottle Wish Bone Italian dressing

Cut chicken into bite size pieces.  Toss in with all other ingredients and serve immediately

Breckenridge. Co

Hello again my friend...

Well hello blogspot, my name is Ashley.  I know it's been a few weeks since we've talked, but I just wanted to check in & say hey, and let you know that I'm doing fine. 

HaHa!  Just kidding y'all.  It has been a few weeks.  Sorry about that.  I've started working again & have been trying to break myself back into the working habit.  It's harder for me this time because I'm working from home.  There are things that call to me...laundry, cleaning, facebook, finding out that Cam Newton has stolen my day and deposited it into his growing bank account.  Just kidding about the last one.  I am part of the AU Family & stand behind Cam.  Innocent until proven guilty right? 

Sorry, I digress.

Working from home for me is like the dog in the movie 'UP' who will be talking & then all of a sudden in the middle of his sentence says, "Squirrel!"  It is easy for me to get engrossed in whatever I am doing & before I know it, the day is gone & it's time for me to drive carpool.  I'm getting better, I guess there's a learning curve.

I have 2 new recipes for you.  One I will post here because it's so easy it's shameful, and the other I will post to my we gotta eat site & send you the link.  Both have received high marks from the fam. except the picky one.  I don't know how that child doesn't float away on a stiff breeze. 

Last night I was in a tight for dinner because the closer we get to Christmas, the busier my days & nights get.  I know that's true for everyone.  I think Christmas is busier than May!  But it is the most wonderful time of the year!  See, I told you, squirrel! 

I had some poached chicken & didn't want to fix poppy seed chicken, again.  (one of the go to dinners)  I found some Pillsbury biscuits in the freezer, ok that's good.  I was trying to figure what would taste good with both of those...

...Squirrel!  I get on food kicks.  I will crave foods and will want to eat nothing else.  I'm back on my taboule (tabbouleh)/hummus kick right now.  I could eat those two things for breakfast, lunch & dinner.  (and I do)  I guess this is better than being addicted to drugs & alcohol, but wow.  Another thing I've found myself craving lately is...

...Gravy!  Not the gravy you get out of a can, but homemade.  Ok, yum!  Chicken, biscuits & gravy.  You're going to hate me, I didn't measure anything, just  poured until I think I had it to the right consistency.  My mother-in-law loves it when I do that, not.  She will tell you she has to have a recipe to boil water.  (BTW, have a great new cookbook I'll tell you about later.)  Anyhoo, the gang loved it.  So, here's the recipe.

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ash 


Sop it up Gravy with Chicken & Biscuits
1-1 1/2 pounds of chicken poached; shredded or cut up
6 Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits cooked
2 cups Chicken Broth
1/4 cups vegetable oil
1/2 cup flour
1 onion chopped or 1/2 bag frozen onions
salt
cracked pepper
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a skillet stir together oil & flour until mixed well.  Since I didn't measure it you may have to add more flour.  You will want it to be a little pasty.  Add onion, salt & pepper & cook on medium heat until flour mixture begins to turn light brown.  Add chicken broth & stir continuously until thickened & hot.  Taste to see if you need to add more salt & pepper.  I like mine to have a little pepper kick to it.

Spray baking dish with cooking spray.  In the dish, place biscuits either cut in half or cut into small pieces in the bottom.  Place chicken on top of biscuits & gravy on top of chicken.  Bake for 20 minutes & serve hot.

Sometimes it's the simple things

I should be embarrassed about posting this new recipe, but I'm not.  If you can turn on the oven you can make this chicken.

My hair dresser, Monika, who has been cutting my hair since I was 8, gave me the recipe.  She is a wonderful person and has seen my family through a lot of ups and downs.  We laugh about my mom & the things she would do or say.  My mom would go get her hair colored, and then decided she wanted it a different shade or color altogether.  Well, it would end up green, purple, orange, you get the picture, and Monkia would get a call the next day to see if she could squeeze mom in to fix the color.  Of course she would, and mom would be good for about 6-8 weeks and then do it again.  Too funny. 

Monkia has been telling me about this chicken for about a year, but I never had french fried onions when I thought about making it.  I made it tonight & every child has given it a thumbs up, including the picky one.

Click here to see the recipe.  I promise you will not be disappointed if you make this!

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

Giving credit where credit is due

I submit myself to the Grill Masters....  For a mom who wants to cook something different for the fam, my ribs are not to shabby.  (Click here to see the entry.)  But, Mr. Steve & Mr. Robert are the Grill Masters.

Last Saturday Mr. Steve brought over some very yummy ribs that he made, the traditional way, and told me to 'blog this'.  Hopson thought it would be funny to tell Steve we fed them to the dogs, but in reality we scarfed them down.  They were very good.  The next time I make my crockpot ribs I'm going to tweak the recipe using one of Steve's ingredients & I'll let you know how they turn out.  I can't cook ribs again yet because it's still to soon after the last batch.  I'm trying not to have rib burnout.

Last night, Mr. Robert brought over grilled hot wings.  I have permission to give his recipe, and let me tell you, I could have eaten all of them.  (click the word recipe to see it.)  I loved them grilled and not fried for several reasons:  1.  less fat because not fried; 2.  different flavor yet very tasty; and 3.  I don't have as much clean-up.  He also served them without the sauce for the children & they were great plain too.

Thank you Steve & Robert for allowing me to taste & partake in excellence.  I bow to you 'Oh Masters of the Grill'!  :) 

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

Because Football Season is HERE!!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!  FOOTBALL!  I like watching all kinds of football, but of course having a high school football player has placed Rebel football at the top of my list.  It's hard to believe that I have a child old enough to play, I keep looking for my little brother, Cotton, instead of my son.  (Cotton is not so little anymore, he turned 31 in May.)  For your viewing pleasure I've included pictures of Hop as he was leaving for his game tonight. Check out the happenin' black socks he's sporting. Nice aren't they?! (he looks like Hopson does when comes home from work & decides to workout in his dark work socks.)  Running a very close second with watching the Rebels play is Auburn football!!! War Eagle, Hey!    

Friends, fellowship, food & football, some wonderful words that start with f.  We love to have parties and watch football, literally all day long. If you're in the area, just call & find out what we're doing, our policy is:  the more the merrier.  Is there anything better than the food?  Oh, it makes you want to stand up and slap your momma. (not recommended of course)  I think I like the grazing aspect of it.  You eat a little, take a break, eat a little, take a break; and on top of all that you get to have wonderful fellowship and make memories with friends.  (I'm always sneaking around with my camera taking pictures, because everything must be documented.)  The joy that football brings to our household.

One of my favorite dishes for football season is actually made by Hopson.  You may have had this, but on the off chance you haven't, happy eating to you my friends!  I asked Hopson who showed him how to make them, and he thinks it was his former boss, Norman Gayle.  Norman is a great hunter, and throws a pretty good party himself.  The first time I had these, they were made with quail and dove, but if you're fresh out of those you can use chicken.  Hopson wanted me to remind you to pound the chicken as thin as possible.  On the recipe I put 1/4 to 1/8 of an inch thick, but you can do it thinner.

I'm trying out a website to list all my recipes, so if you can't get to it, please let me know & I'll post it here.  :)   Well, it's time to go get pumped up for some football!  Go Rebels & War Eagle!!!

For the recipe go to the following link. 
http://wegottaeat.com/ashnance/recipes/chicken-poppers

Be blessed beyond measure!
~ashley

Hop in his great lookin' black game socks.