Wednesday, January 19

 

Thank you for the encouraging comments about my last post. I still feel like somewhat of a drop out, but thanks to you, those feelings are beginning to fade. :-) One of the positive things about not being in school is having more time to spend with the boys, read, knit and blog.

Right now I am reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, otherwise known as book 5. I am about halfway through and am really enjoying it. Although I have to say that I am looking forward to choosing a book just for fun and without the pressure from my husband, to hurry up and finish so we can talk about it. Perhaps I will choose a book from Susan or Nicole's book lists.

I am knitting a scarf for my neighbor Maria who, just this morning, gave birth to a new baby boy. Congratulations Maria!!!! I am hoping to finish it by tomorrow so that when I go for a visit tomorrow evening I can give it to her. After that, I am knitting something fun for myself... at the moment, I am primarily a scarf knitter but am interested in branching out into some other projects in the near future. I am even considering taking a couple of knitting classes at Noble Knits in the next month or so to enhance my skills. The chicks at Stitch-n-Bitch can knit circles around me, so I'd like to be able to broaden my horizons in an attempt to keep up with them! (Plus, I'm getting sick of making scarves!)

In other news, Steve and I got some very exciting news last week. Because of the great job he did last year (2004) at work, he got a special invitation into a club that is mostly just for sales people who reach their quotas. His company is sending us on an all expenses paid vacation to Cancun, Mexico. We will be staying at a 5 star hotel, all of our meals are paid for, any tours or activities are paid for, and anything we buy, clothing, souveneirs, furniture, etc. is also taken care of. It is an amazing opportunity and I look forward to going. Unfortunately, (or maybe not so unfortunately, LOL) because this is a company thing and other people from the company will be there, there are formal dinners and things we need to attend that wouldn't be child friendly. So, at the moment we are trying to secure child care.

I have been using the crockpot a lot lately and because I have been enjoying Susan's recipes so much, I thought I'd post one of my own. This is my own recipe, so I haven't named it yet. I'll just call it Sesame Chicken. Any more creative suggestions would be welcomed. :-)

Sesame Chicken (Crockpot)
1 1/2- 2 lbs of boneless chicken breasts
1 cup of Sesame Ginger Marinade (I used the one by Lowry's)
1 orange
1 dash of ground ginger
1/4 tsp of garlic powder

Place the chicken breasts at the bottom of the crock pot. Slice the orange into 4- 5 wedges and place around the chicken. Combine the marinade, ginger and garlic and pour over the chicken and orange wedges. Cover and cook on low for 6- 8 hours or on high for 4- 6 hours.

My suggestions: Tastes great with white rice or twice baked potatoes.

If anyone tries it, please let me know what you think.

Time for American Idol! (My name is Lauren and I'm addicted to Reality TV)

~Lauren




 

7:56 PM