Great Recipe - Rosemary Ranch Chicken

When I first started out blogging, I was going to try to post a recipe each week.  I guess I'm a little behind on that goal - I think maybe I'll just try for a favorite recipe of the month.  :)  I love to try out new recipes, especially ones that I can use at family parties or when we go to Lake Powell.  Desserts are my favorite recipes to try, but I also love finding a good main course dish.  Here's one that all my family loved - the chicken was so moist and flavorful.  Yumm!!!  I found this on my favorite recipe site - Allrecipes.com.  Here's the link.  Give it a try this weekend - it's great both in the oven or on the grill - you'll be glad you did. 

Rosemary Ranch Chicken Kabobs

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup ranch dressing
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
1 tablespoon white sugar, or to taste (optional)
5 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes

Directions:
In a medium bowl, stir together the olive oil, ranch dressing, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, salt, lemon juice, white vinegar, pepper, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes. Place chicken in the bowl, and stir to coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the grill for medium-high heat. Thread chicken onto skewers and discard marinade.  Lightly oil the grill grate (I spray with the Pam Grill high heat spray). Grill skewers for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear.  (Can also be baked - just spray a pan and pour the marinade over the skewers.  Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.)

Thought for the Day

“There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, "All right, then, have it your way” ~C.S. Lewis

Bedtime Antics

Winston likes us to sit by him for a little while when we put him to bed and is always trying to find new ways to get us to stay longer.  Brad put Winston to bed last night and when Brad was getting ready to leave after staying with him for a while, Winston said, "Dad, I'll give you $10.00 if you will stay with me."  Where does he comes up with these things? Funny kid! :)

Books - Oldies but Goodies

The other day while putting some stuff away in our storage room I noticed a box of Zack and Bo's old children books mostly hidden by other storage boxes.  I pulled it out and thumbed through the contents to see if Winston might be interested in any of the boys old favorites.  I found a couple of  Bo's books - old classics - I thought he'd like.  Bo simply loved these books when he was little.  I brought them upstairs and we read them for bedtime that night.  Of course Winston loved them too and he really loved the fact that they were old favorites of his beloved brothers. 

The first book - "There's an Alligator Under My Bed" we had to read 5 or 6 times (I finally had to say enough).  This short story fascinates him and we've had to read it several times each night ever since.  I can't help but smile as we get to the end of the story and he's already saying, "Again Mom, again!"  Zack and Bo used to do the same thing.  I've always enjoyed reading time with my boys and I'm so glad that they all love to read as much as I do.

I love the illustrations too.

Here's the other new favorite:

We only read a few pages at a time from this book because it's quite long - 76 pages full of fun pictures and lots and lots of words.  Winston's captivated by all the details.  He'll sit still for several minutes studying the pages and then ask all kinds of questions about the pictures. 

A precious find for me - Bo signed his name in these books.  He was just learning to write at the time and looking at his name scrawled by his child's hand brings back all kinds of fond memories from when he and Zack were little boys.  At the same time, I can't help but think of all I have to look forward to with Winston.  I just love books (and my boys) - both old and new!

My First 5K

Whew!  I did it!!  I'm so pleased and glad that I finally tried.  I've run off and on for over 10 years but I've always kept to 2 miles or less.  I enjoy running but honestly I prefer weight training to running and would rather spend an hour at the gym lifting weights than 30 minutes pounding out three miles.  Earlier this summer I felt like I had stalled and wasn't making as much progress as I would have liked in my efforts to get back in shape.  So, I decided to switch things up and it's worked!  I've increased the time and distance that I run and feel more fit than I have in years.  As I began to see improvements, I decided to set a goal to run in a 5K and running in our annual city celebration 5K seemed like the perfect time to try since it gave me just over a month to train. 

The weeks seemed to fly by while I slowly made progress and by the weekend before the big event, I was able to run about 3.5 miles with only a couple of walk breaks.  It's been interesting trying to make time to run and still go to the gym in between everything else.  Brad's been great to help out and encourage me along the way.  The morning of the race, we all headed over - Brad ran with me too while pushing Winston in my jogger.  The race started bright and early at 7:00 am so we had to wake up Winston which he wasn't too happy about.  Once he realized we were going to a race though he brightened right up. 

We started out running at a steady, easy pace that felt great.  Brad told me to just run as fast as I wanted and he would follow (he can run lots faster than I can).  My two goals were to see if I could run the whole way without stopping and to do the race in under 30 minutes.  Brad stayed with me for the first 2 miles but then Winston started making a big fuss -  he wanted to run too - so Brad stopped, let him get out and run next to him.  I didn't notice that they'd stopped and just kept going.  Brad said Winston ran for quite a ways but they had an incident - he tripped and scuffed up his hands a little.  There were tears and hugs and Brad got him back in the jogger to finish out their run.  (I was glad the incident didn't include Winston needing to pee somewhere on the side of the road!)

There must be something about running in a race like that because even though I got tired, at the same time I still felt really good - like I could have run farther and maybe faster if I'd pushed myself a little harder.  I'm happy to say that I accomplished both of my goals!  I ran my first 5K in just over 29 minutes and didn't have to stop for a breather once.  I had to wait at the finish line for Brad and Winston but it was so cool to see them come around the corner and head my way with smiles when they saw me.  All in all it was a rewarding experience and I'm so happy and proud to have accomplished this.  I'm already looking forward to doing another one.

Thought for the day

We function most powerfully when we are giving love. The world has led us to believe that our well-being is dependent on other people loving us. But this is the kind of upside-down thinking that has caused so many of our problems. The truth is that our well-being is dependent on our giving love. It is not about what comes back; it is about what goes out.  Alan Cohen

Words to live by

I came across the following verses in my reading during the last few weeks and even though I've read and heard them before, these words really struck a cord with me this time.  I love the promised blessing of peace if we keep the Lord's commandments - not just in our actions but in our hearts (I could really use some peace in my life right now). 

PROVERBS 3:1-6 “…Forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments, for length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart; so shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Sometimes in this rush and hurried world it's easy to lose sight of what's truly important. This scripture reminded me that no matter what's going on in and around my life, I need to trust Heavenly Father. He will bless and guide me through all my struggles. These words are so comforting to me, especially since I know how flawed my own thinking can be at times (I blame it on hormones - sometimes it's hard to be a girl - emotions, pressure from others and the typical distractions in life - besides, nobody's perfect.  Right?).  I'm recommiting to try and do all I can to Trust in my Lord.  I hope some of that peace finds me along the way.  :)

Winston's First Fish

On our recent trip to Lake Powell, Winston caught his first fish. Last year I'd bought him a little practice fishing pole with a weighted disk on the end and he's loved casting it off the back of the boat. Back in June he tripped when he was casting out and let go of the pole - it sank right away. He was so sad to lose his fishing pole and he couldn't stop thinking about it and talking about how he had wanted to catch a fish.  He started telling everyone about how his fishing poled had "drowned."

Brad and I decided to go ahead and get him a real fishing pole - hooks and all (Yikes!) and the first chance he had to use it was at Lake Powell during our July trip.  After a rainy afternoon, we were spending a quiet evening on the houseboat and Brad decided it was the perfect time to teach Winston how to fish.  Brad got his new gear all set up and explained to him the danger of the hooks and how to cast.  Winston quickly caught on and sat at the end of the dock next to our houseboat casting out and reeling it back in for about 45 minutes. 

He was just starting to lose interest and was messing around with his pole while the hook sank down in the water when all of the sudden he turned to Brad and said, "Dad, I think I caught a fish."  Sure enough, he had hooked something (Brad and I were pretty surprised too because we didn't think he would catch anything there with all the boats going by).  Brad helped him reel it in and all I could say was, "Wow, what a big fish!"  He had caught a striped bass about 16 inches long.  Winston couldn't wait to hold his first catch and was so proud of his fish.  (I'm glad I had the camera there to catch the moment)  He did get pretty upset with us when we let it go.  He wanted to keep it as a pet and then take it home so Brad could cook it on the smoker.  (I love the things he comes up with!)

He did catch another one the very next day off the back of our boat but while Brad was helping him reel it in, the fish dove back under our boat, broke the line on our prop and got away. Winston was so mad at the fish for steeling his hook - his favorite one because it was green. There's never a dull moment with Winston around. We had a great time and what an adventure for our little fisherman!