Scotch Egg

You all know how much I love the state fair. Every year we try at least one new thing. Fifteen years ago that thing was the scotch egg. It was Craig's pick and he LOVED it. Sausage rolled around a hard boiled egg, deep fried. Had his name written ALL over it. You also have the option of sauces to dunk, Craig picked maple syrup.

For those of you who don't know me well, I am a "can I have just a bite girl" AND I truly mean it. Craig would give me a bite of his egg every year and that was plenty for me. Max has developed a liking for them much like his Dad. It has become a yearly tradition for him and now Max.

Since I had the ingredients, I gave it a whirl.

Max said that they were PERFECT.

What you'll need:

1 lb of Pork Sausage
3 hard boiled Eggs
3/4 C Bread Crumbs
Crisco for frying
Maple Syrup for dunking

Pat out a patty of Pork...say that 5 times fast;)

Put your egg in the middle

Wrap the egg with the sausage, essentially making a big meatball.

Happy Easter

As I walked into the mall with my almost 6 foot son, I thought maybe I should rethink our yearly tradition. But when I looked at both kids walking towards the Easter Bunny and neither missed a step or hung back, I smiled.

I smiled not because we were about to take a silly photo. I smiled because they know that it's what we do and they weren't complaining or bargaining, they were just doing something that makes their Mom happy. They know it's as much a part of Easter as dying eggs or our annual egg hunt we host. They know that they'll be doing this until they leave for college and I thank them for being such good sports. I thank them for being wonderful kids that I am truly lucky to have.

Happy Easter from our house to yours!

Lunchbox trick

I figured this out back in my waitressing days and we had leftover carrot cake. I LOVED the carrot cake but by the time it made it home, I had lost half the frosting which I thought was the best part. I started cutting the cake through the middle and flipping the top to the middle so I didn't lose one little bit of frosting. Worked like a charm.

Now I use this trick for my kids lunch boxes when we have left over cake or bars.

Here's your bar

Slice through the middle

Flip the top so it's now the middle

Claire

Do you ever look up from something you are doing and your child did something that makes you smile? Here she is, my silly girl.

Chicken Asian Soup

I really like the Asian Beef soup that I make but wanted to see how it tasted with chicken. I had made a crockpot chicken and had leftovers so I thought I'd give it a go. The results were YUMMY!

1 lb of cooked chicken cut into bite size pieces or shredded
2 48 oz cartons chicken broth
2 T Olive Oil
2 t crushed Red Pepper flakes
4 cloves garlic minced
2 inches of ginger root, peeled and minced
1 med head (1 1/2 lbs?) of bok choy lettuce, cut into bite size pieces
1 t Sea salt and Pepper or to taste
1/2 lb thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta broken into thirds
1 bunch Scallions chopped
5 oz Fresh Spinach chopped

Wash bok choy, cut off end and discard. Chop the rest. Peel and mince garlic cloves. Peel and mince ginger. Chop off the hairy end of the scallion and discard. Chop scallions into small pieces. Rough chop spinach. Put 2 T Olive Oil into soup pot. Add garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes. Saute for a minute. Add bok choy , sprinkle with salt and pepper. Saute another minute. Add chicken (I use meat from roasted chicken) and chicken broth, give a stir. Bring to a boil. Add spinach, scallions and pasta. Give a stir and cook for 6-8 minutes until pasta is cooked. Serve.

If you have questions about the step by step, check out the beef version here.

If you want to crockpot a chicken, check here. You don't need to prep this the night before as the directions read. It tastes very similar if you season and cook:)

Crockpot Chicken

I first made the sticky chicken recipe awhile back. I liked the flavor but let's be honest, I'm not a prep the night before kind of girl. I'm also not a huge fan of touching raw chicken so I now "sprinkle" the seasoning instead of rubbing the seasoning in. I also went crazy a few times and just grabbed some spices that go together and/or that I like, sprinkled them on top and turned on the crockpot. However, make sure you use at least 4 t Salt or equivalent because the chicken needs the salt. It's been wonderful every time. Other than the crunchy skin, it's very similar to Beer Can chicken that is done on the grill.

Here's what you'll need if you want to follow the recipe:

4 t Salt
2 t Paprika
1 t Cayenne
1 t Onion Powder
1 t Thyme
1 t White Pepper
1/2 t Garlic Powder
1/2 t Black Pepper
1 Whole Chicken
1 medium Onion chopped
2 cloves Garlic

In a small bowl, combine the spices. If you bought a chicken with giblets and/or neck..remove those. Wash the chicken well, taking extra care with the cavity. Sprinkle the spice mixture into the chicken, inside and out. Try to make sure it's evenly distributed.

Place garlic and chopped onion into cavity of chicken and put in the crockpot. You don't need any liquid because the chicken will make it's own juice. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, I cooked 10 because that's how my day worked out, it was falling off the bone. Slice it up and you can spoon some of the juices on top if you desire. I threw the onions/garlic out.

Here's your spice mix.

Just a whole chicken, wash it
Sprinkle with seasoning, throw the onion in the middle and a couple cloves of garlic

Doesn't this look yummy!
I cut it up, poured a bit of pan juices on top and put in the oven on warm while I made the sides. Forgot to take a "pretty" photo, sorry.

Happy Birthday Chantel

As I've told you, our family celebrates every birthday. Kids typically on the weekend, adults on the actual day so I had to laugh when I got a text with HER birthday plan.

This is filed under the "You know you're a Mom when"..."Let's meet at Chuck E Cheese at 6".

Although she isn't the first adult to plan their party there. We like it because the kids can run around playing, the adults get to talk and maybe if they're lucky, beat their kid at skee ball or hoops:)

Hope your day is fabulous!!