Simple Company Chicken
Saturday, September 18th, 2010 | Chris, Food, Friends | No Comments
Chris and I had company this past week, and I adapted a recipe to our preferences and this is what I ended up making and it was honestly amazing. Unfortunately again I didn’t take a picture thinking that I would blog about it, hopefully I will add some next time I make it. I made the chicken and sauce the night before then just had to bake it, put rice in the rice cooker, and make the veggies that evening.. Perfect.
Spray baking dish with cooking spray, place 2- 4 chicken breasts in dish.
{This sauce is good for 4 breasts, Halve for only 2.}
finely chop, 2-3 stalks celery, ½ med onion,
Mince 2 cloves garlic.
Melt ¼ C butter preferably in nonstick frying pan
Add celery, onion and garlic, saute for about 2 minutes.
Add ¼ or so of flour, as well as 3 TBS of chicken bouillion powder
Let cook brieftly
Add 1 ½ – 2 Cups of Milk
Aftersauce thinkens slightely pour over chicken. Will thicken further while baking.
Top with chopped mushrooms.
Bake for 45 mins-1 hr depending on chicken size.
Top with Cheese if desired. (We didn’t but the original recipe called for it.)
Serve with Rice, and a vegetable… 
And enjoy.
By the way, I will post some wedding pictures when I get them.
Christmas is coming..
Saturday, November 28th, 2009 | Chris | No Comments
Really it is, from the music and displays at Save on, to the beginning of work and friend parties, Christmas is coming. On Friday the Christmas party for Accenture at Best Buy took place at the Sheraton Wall Centre.
Wow. It was a nice evening. As you can see Chris and I were quite nicely dressed. We had a nice dinner, I got to meet some of the guy’s that Chris works with which was nice. Sadly we didn’t win any of the prizes But it was a great evening out with Chris.
Next Saturday we are having some friends over to my place for dinner, which should be super fun..
I’m excited to show off my place some more. Randomly one Wednesday nice Chris decided to move the furnature around and it’s quite fun, feels more spacious and is just different which is nice.
I hope everyone is having a good start to their Christmas season.
Being Beautifully Broken
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
In a world that repeatedly breaks our hearts, our deepest pain can also be our greatest source of joy and purpose. Brokenness draws us to God like no other condition can. He is the only One who can give us true hope and use our pain for His glory and for His good purpose. The deepest hurts of our fallen world may be inescapable, but God also promises us that He is “our refuge and strength” (Psalm 46:1-2), the deliverer of all our fears (Psalm 34:4) and the One who wants to use for good the pain of those who belong to Him (Romans 8:28).
So often we want to skip our seasons of brokenness. We don’t want to feel the pain or the sorrow or the fear or the shame. We long for the time when we will be OK again. But the truth is that until Heaven, we won’t ever be OK. Until then, we have a choice. Will we choose to allow ourselves to truly experience our broken state? Will we ask God to use our deepest hurts beyond ourselves? Will we dive into turbulent waters and tread upon cracked earth? It’s a frightening challenge. But what blessings are on the other side of brokeness? God promises to trade the ashes of our failures, losses and suffering for His true beauty. He longs to make us beautiful in our brokenness. Beautifully broken.
Written by Christina Holder at http://beautifullybroken.typepad.com/myweblog/2007/09/brokenness.html
I found this so simply beautiful when I stumbled accross this blog post this morning. Yes, life is crazy and stressful and often there are burdens and hurt that break us. But that does not mean we are not beautiful in this season of brokenness. We can choose to let our brokenness be used for the Lords Glory..
Last night I went to Rev at CLA Langley. I enjoyed the evening, it was fun, seeing other girls. But there was something important that the Lord pressed upon my heart again. Each one of our lives are a testimony, a story others see. And I want my life to be a testimony of God’s Glory. Though I am broken I want the Lord to be lifted high. Though life is hard financially I know that God provides. Though I am tired He gives me strength. Though I am fearful, His perfect love, and the love of other’s causes the fear to leave. Jesus truly cares about the seemingly small things. Wow.
I hope those of us going through seasons of struggle and brokenness, that we choose to let the Lord make us beautiful in it, and that He be exalted..
A meal I’ve enjoyed..
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 | Food, Uncategorized | No Comments
Last week I found an intersting YouTube video for Sweet Potato and black bean burritos. I picked up a couple sweet Potatoes and a can of Black beans. Saturday Chris had dinner with Greg. So I looked up some other thingthings do this combination. And I found a great one at All Recipies (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Addictive-Sweet-Potato-Burritos/Detail.aspx), that I adapted to what I had on hand.
I started with 1 teaspoon oil heating in the frying pan, sauteed 1 very small onion which was chopped and 1-2 cloves minced garlic. Then added in 1 19 oz can, about 2 cups canned black beans, drained and rinsed, a ½ cup water, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoons prepared mustard, 1 tablespoon soy sauce. Stir and mash with the back of the spatula over low heat. the mixture thickens perfectly.
Serve over, Sweet Baked Potato, top with cheese
OR Combine with mashed sweet potato and wrap with cheese in a tortilla.
OR with Good toast..
makes 3-4 servings
Sorry, no picture, as I ate it and forgot to think about blogging it until after it was all it my tummy..
Great Mexican Date..
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 | Chris, Food, Uncategorized | No Comments
On Sunday Chris and I went out for dinner to the greatest little Mexican Restaurant. Luna Loca. I loved that we got fresh chips and salsa as soon as we sat down. The menu was mouth watering. I chose the Empanadas. Oh wow, they were so big, and, with chorizo sausage, and potato stuffed into a fresh tortilla then deep fried. My meal also had black beans, rice, and salad. it was a huge meal that was great with my Lime Margarita. Chris had the Enchilada’s. Which were tasty. But I would go for the Empanadas again. The price points were great. Also the service was fantastic! Quick, friendly and efficient. We plan to go back again. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it again.
I invite you to try it.
Luna Loca,
106 – 15153 Hwy. 10
Surrey, BC
Beer Bottling Fun.
Thursday, June 18th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Seriously, Beer bottling was so fun. Chris, Greg and I had a blast.
First we cleaned all the bottles the guys had collected. Then the beer the guys had prepared weeks before had a sugar packet added to it. then using a pump each bottle was filled.
This picture is of Greg filling the bottles, and Chris putting the caps on.
The second image is of the dish I made: The recipe from two post’s below; Chicken, bacon potato layers.
It tasted good. though not quite the way I expected. It was also really good the next day with bbq sauce.
Just monday when Chris was over we tried the two beers brewed and bottled two weeks ago. I actually quite enjoyed the Red we brewed, not so much with the Stout. But Chris liked them both, and I’m sure Greg likes the Stout. I’m just really picky with beer.
MOVED… Out on her own. :)
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 | Uncategorized, Updates | No Comments
As some of you may have heard, I have moved to my very own basement Suite. I incredibly love it.
I love it because:
1. it’s all mine. It’s got LAURA written all over it. It’s prefect.
2. all the fridge and pantry space has stuff I bought. And I know no housemates are going to eat through my budget.
3. i can play whatever music I want, or watch whatever tv show I want whenever I want.
4. dishes can be left in the sink, {and are daily} when I don’t have time or the desire to wash them.
5. all the bathroom stuff is mine, and it’s pretty. yay for pretty towels.
There is a much more I’m sure.
6 – Also, on a slightly less selfish note, I am wanting to have friends over, especially for dinner parties.
I may add more to this list when I read it and see it’s missing something.
Another Exciting Day w/ a recipe to boot.
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 | Chris, Food, Friends | No Comments
Tomorrow is a very exciting day in the relationship of Chris and Laura. Tomorrow evening I will be participating in my first beer bottling evening. Chris and Greg brewed beer together a few weeks ago. And now we are going to get it into bottles for storage and consumption. First we must clean and sanitize the bottles collected, then we fill them and cap them. I’m so excited.
To be incredibly girly, and as all of us are not wanting to spend much money, I made supper so we don’t have to order in dinner while we work.
I got some help adapting a recipe from my friends at Y! Answers to suit the ingredients I had on hand and to make a full meal. Here is the Recipe, fully adapted to how I made this. Pictures will be posted after the event.
Potato, Bacon & Chicken Layers.
Serves: 6 (ish)
Ingredients:
½ onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Teaspoons Seasoning: Salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash. – To taste.
I Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
8 medium potatoes
1 ½ – 2 Cups cheddar cheese, grated
8-10 slices bacon
4-5 Chicken Breasts, partally cooked, and chopped.
Directions:
Bake bacon in oven, at 400 for 15 minutes, until crispy, pat with paper towel.
Wash Potatoes, slice thinly, toss lightly with oil, and seasonings, {Pepper, Mrs. Dash, or Montreal Steak – whatever you choose}.
Partially cook chicken breasts, in oven, stove top, grill.
In small bowl, combine onion, garlic, spices, can of soup, as well as half a can of water. Toss with fork.
Cut cooked and cooled chicken into bite-sized pieces.
Break cooled bacon into bite-sized pieces.
Lightly grease crock-pot.
Layer one-third of sliced potatoes in bottom of crock-pot.
Dollop with one-third of cream sauce mixture, then a third of the grated cheese, next add a third of each bacon and chicken.
Do another layer of each.
For last third, layer Potatoes, sauce, chicken and bacon, then top with cheese.
Cover and cook on high 3 to 4 hours.
Yum.
Along side I’ve also got veggies to be heated with some cream cheese and spices.
And for dessert, Rice Krispie squares with skor bits and chocolate chip, oh they are so good.
Should be a great evening all round.
Wonderful amazingly simple Pasta.
Friday, March 6th, 2009 | Food | No Comments
So I have a new love. It’s my simple 4 ingredient pasta sauce. Start with 1 can italian stewed tomatoes. Open the can, use scissors to break them up a bit. then put in a medium sauce pan with a little bit of oil, and let them warm, add a half a bunch of broken spinach, let spinach cook down. Add a bit of water if water from tomatoes is not enough to cook the spinach down. add 2 oz of cream cheese, a forth of a brick. let that melt and form a cream sauce. Add cooked protein, and cooked noodles and you have a wonderfully simple, fresh tasting meal.
The first time I made this I had chopped boiled egg on top, today I pan fryed a chopped chicken breast then added the tomatoes to that.
YUMMY.
Strength Hope Joy
Sunday, February 8th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
“Are you okay?” I seem to be getting that a lot these days. To plainly answer, “No, I’m not.” Life is uncertain and full of changes but I know that this season is just that- only a season, and season’s change as God wills, as we walk though life.
The passage that was peached on at Church this Sunday:
Matthew 14:23-33 NASB
23After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!”
And so, I was reminded… If we look at the wind and waves it will surely overtake us, yet if we focus on Jesus, we will stand in the midst of the waves though they have not changed in strength and size. Jesus alone gives us what we need to withstand the waves for His glory and for His name sake.
Voice Of Truth.
Oh,what I would do to have
the kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I’m in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown
Where Jesus is,
And he’s holding out his hand
But the waves are calling out my name
and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I’ve tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
time and time again
“Boy, you’ll never win,
you’ll never win.”
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
the voice of truth says “do not be afraid!”
and the voice of truth says “this is for my glory”
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth
… – Casting Crowns.