Bite Sized Chicken

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

I am trying my best to get away from serving my family processed foods. It is hard when you need something quick and easy. It is simple to pull out a bag of frozen nuggets and pop them in the oven and have dinner in 15-20 minutes.

I think I have perfected my chicken nuggets and Corbin even told me they were better than Wendy's nuggets and McDonalds so I take it as high praise from the 4 yr old expert on chicken nuggets.

By making them yourself you control the amount of sodium, fat, and quality of chicken.

Ingredients

2-3 Chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
1 egg
1/2 cup flour (can use whole wheat or soy flour to boost nutrition)
1/4 cup milk
bread crumbs or crushed crackers
oil

beat the egg and add flour and milk to make your batter. You want the batter to cling to the chicken so if it is a bit runny add more flour. Put oil in a deep pan (I use my stock pot to avoid splatters). Put the crackers or bread crumbs in a gallon sized ziplock bag (you can crush them in here). put the chicken bites in the batter at once and stir around until all coated. Take them out a few at a time and put them in the ziplock bag w/ the crumbs. Shake them up and take them out. continue until all the nuggets have crumbs on them. I often will put them all in the bag at once and shake then pour them out in a colander. Once your oil is hot put the nuggets in one at a time until the pan is full. I use a slotted spoon or strainer spoon to turn the nuggets over and around. Once they turn a little darker than golden remove them and place on a napkin to drain the grease off. Then enjoy!!

This has become a family fav and really doesn't take that long to make. I hope you try it and if you do let me know how it turned out.

A Bitter Bite of Life

Over the past week I have encountered 2 women who have shared with me their recent loss of a baby before it was born. My heart breaks for these ladies because I too, know the heartache and questions which come with such a loss.

In 2002 David and I were blessed with the birth of our first child, Sarah. During my pregnancy I was always concerned that something would go wrong. Everytime I went for a check up each midwife I saw at the practice used the same words "everything looks perfect". My pregnancy with Sarah was great. No complications, no issues at all. She even came the day before her due date!! After 21 hours of labor they decided a c-section was necessary for the health and well being of us both. Other than the c-section everything went according to "plan".

In the Fall of 2003 we found out we were going to have another baby. We were very excited and had no cause for concern because the first pregnancy was so good. Since it was my second pregnancy I did not have to go to the doctor as early once the pregnancy test was complete. Around my 16th week I went in for a normal check up. I took Sarah with me. David did not come due to his job and this was a "normal" check up. We would be scheduling the ultrasound at this appointment to find out the sex of the baby in the next few weeks.

As the midwife began trying to find the heartbeat I could read concern on her face. She promptly said she needed to do an ultrasound because she could not find a heartbeat. The ultrasound confirmed my fears...the baby had died. Just a few weeks prior I had heard a strong heartbeat and today, nothing. The ultrasound confirmed the baby had died about 2 weeks prior to my visit.

I sat on the midwife's couch waiting for David to come to the office as I watched Sarah sit on the floor eating goldfish and marshmallows. I don't think I had ever felt so alone. I wondered why God would allow this to happen. The scripture "all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came into being" kept running through my head. Well if that was so, why in the world did he allow me to come to this appointment alone w/ my 1 1/2 yr old to find out my baby had died? And why did He allow my baby to die? Why now? Why me? Did I do something to cause this? Should I have done something different?

Five years and 2 additional children later I still do not have the answers to those questions and I have stopped asking. The Bible tells me that all things work for the good of those who love Him. This is not always a concept to easily accept or understand. I guess that is where faith comes in. Yes, the pain fades but has not yet gone away and I don't know that it will, I hope it doesn't. I never want to forget that I am a mother of 4, even if one of my children skipped forward to heaven and I will meet them on the other side. Sometimes I find myself begging for God to just show me a glipse of their face so I will recognize them. But I really don't think that will be a problem.

Tears are running down my cheeks as I type now. Partly due to saddness and grief for my loss and partly due to the promised hope of the future. I guess that is where faith comes in. Sorrow may endure for the night but joy comes in the morning.

Aaaahhhh, the Sweet Life.....

There is an old hymn that has been running through my head today. I remember singing this in the small church we attended overseas when I was little. Waves of memory flooded over me and I couldn't help but smile. You see, yesterday I was telling my husband how very sad I was. I couldn't put my finger on it but just sadness seemed to invade my soul. I would sit and hold Ziva and rock her and night and cry. I'm not sure why but I think it has something to do with her turning one. I would think about things at work and just be sad. Sarah and Corbin would argue and it would sadden me. I walked through Home Depot yesterday and became heartbroken smelling the smells of a new house and remembering the excitement we had building our house 8 years ago and then moving last year. It seemed to be everywhere, just this veil of saddness.

I told my husband I did not want to be sad. Of course, his first question is "have you taken your medicine" :0) Yes, I did. I began to pray yesterday and today that I wanted to find contentment where I was. Well, God showed up today and reminded me of the sweet life.

I work for a company that works with people who have Intellectual Disabilities and Developmental Disabilities. Today I got the chance to give a presentation to a group of CNAs and Respite Care Workers which will be working at a school. The presentation was a brief overview of Developmental Disabilities. As I gave the presentation I felt a poke from God and realized how blessed I am to have 3 beautiful typically developing children. They may argue, refuse to take naps, resist the dinner I fix but, they can speak, they can move, they can sleep, they can eat, and on and on.

My day starts at 5:15am every morning. I get up and get to work by 6:30 so I can leave by noon and be home so my husband can go to work. When the alarm goes off I often do not feel blessed. When I get home at noon and have to fix lunch for the whole family, I often do not feel blessed. But, today as I was rocking Ziva Jane to sleep, I got another poke. I am so blessed to have a job that allows me to get up early, go to work, come home to be w/ my kids at lunch, rock my baby, see my husband, be a housewife, finish my work at home and on and on. One of my favorite parts of the day is rocking Ziva Jane, reading books to Corbin, and talking with Sarah. I got to do all of those today, and I get to do that everyday!

David and I don't see a lot of one another during the week. He is asleep when I leave for work then he takes care of the kids while I am at work. When I get home he leaves for work and often does not get home until dinner or after. He is in grad school so his time is very limited. This afternoon while I was checking Facebook another poke came. David posted a video on my page for me. It was one telling me he loves me, misses me, and wants to see me. I smiled very large at that!!

"Count your blessings name them one by one. Count your blessings see what God has done. Count your blessings name them one by one. Count your many blessings see what God has done."

Yes, saddness will come again, it always does. But when it does I hope, I pray, I get another poke and begin to count my blessings and take a bite of the sweet life.

A Nutritional Chocolate Bite

The one thing in my garden that has done well is zuchinni! There is only so much you can do with zuchinni before you get sick of it: stir fry, batter and fry (my fav), grill, make baby food, put it in a bread.

I was searching for a way to make nutritional zuchinni muffins and found this recipe. Who doesn't love chocolate. Okay, I know there are some people but it must be a defect. I like the idea of muffins better than bread because it is an easy way for my kids to have a portioned out treat. The base for the muffins came from Allrecipes.com but I made alterations to boost nutrition and decrease fat.

Chocolate Zuchinni Muffins

Ingredients
3 eggs
2 cups white sugar / you can use less
1 cup vegetable oil / I substitued homemade applesauce to decrease fat and calories (replace 1 for 1)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour/ here I did 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup Soy Flour (adds protein), and 1 1/4 cups white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Spices: I didn't use any of these except a little cinnamon. I am not a spice cake kind of a person so I didn't think I would like these
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line two 12 cup muffin tins with paper liners.
In a large bowl beat the eggs. Beat in the sugar and oil. Add the cocoa, vanilla, zucchini and stir well.
Stir in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom. Mix until just moist.
Pour batter to fill cups 2/3 of the way full and bake for 20 minutes.

Enjoy

A Good Bite...

Last night my hubby made a request for dinner. This is something we have not had in a long time so I was excited to make it. What is even more exciting is that it takes less than 30 minutes to make!! This recipe is from Pampered Chef's 29 minutes to dinner recipe book.

Skillet Lasagna
1 lb of ground beef (the recipe calls for italian sausage but I usually use what I have;I also use less than a lb so it doesn't make as much)
8 oz. of lasagna noodles (I buy a big box so I guess how much I want to put in)
2-3 cloves of garlic (using fresh really makes a difference)
1 jar (24 oz.) of marinara sauce (use whatever is on sale in the spaghetti aisle)
3 cups water
2 oz. Parm cheese
1/2 cup Moz. cheese
8 oz. Ricotta cheese
Parsley (fresh or dried or none at all)

In a skillet put your sauce and your water in cover and bring to a boil. While this is beginning to heat up take your lasagna noodles and begin to break them up. You can put them in between a clean dish towel to brake them into "strips". Once the sauce boils put your noodles in and cover and let them simmer for 16-18 minutes until they are done.

While that is going on you need to cook your meat. I use the micro cooker from Pampered Chef and just stick it in the microwave and chop it up w/ my mix and chop so I don't have to use another pan. Press your garlic cloves in there when the meat is no longer pink. Drain all the fat off and set aside.

Grate your Parm and Moz. cheeses and mix w/ the ricotta cheese and parsley in a bowl.

Once your noodles are done, put your meat in the skillet, stir around and take the cheese mixture and scoop on top of the lasagna. Remove it from heat and keep the lid on and let the cheeses melt.

That's all there is to it!!! Try it tonight, you'll love it!!

First

Take a Bite...

This weekend was one of celebrating my youngest's birthday! I cannot believe that tomorrow will make one year since Ziva Jane made her way into our world 4 weeks before we were ready for her!

Before we discovered the blessing of the expectation of Ziva we believed our family was complete with Sarah, then 6, Corbin, then 2, and 2 dogs. I am thankful every day that God is so much more aware of what I need than I am. If you had asked me I would have told you we were finished with having babies, in fact, I believe I said that. Sometimes I think I can hear God's chuckle as I read the pregnancy test in the bathroom at Walmart at 6 am when I saw the + sign.

Since the morning I woke up at 4:15 and knew we needed to head to the hospital I cannot imagine my life, our life as a family, without Ziva Jane. I would never have imagined I could be a mother of 3. I didn't think I would be able to handle it. But, to my amazement, I do it every day. I am not saying I do it with grace or beauty or even that I do it all that well. However, sometimes at the end of the day you have to measure success in very different ways: did you survive, have the kids been fed (cereal for dinner does count!!), are they dressed (this may be optional at times), did your kids survive the day with you? Can you look back on the day and find something to smile about (other than it is over)? If you can answer yes to most of these then count it a success, go to bed, and prepare to get up tomorrow and take another bite of life....