Food For Thought

Originally I was going to use my blog to post recipes as well as other things, but I have noticed that I haven't posted very many. I find that odd since I just LOVE food. (You may be able to tell...ha ha ha).
Most of my really good recipes come from other people who have made them and I have been able to sample. I just love those kind of recipes, because they are the "tried and true" ones. I decided that I am going to try and post a recipe that I have made once a week. Try them out if you like and if you have any good recipes, pass them on...I am always looking for something new to cook and make a family favorite.

Here is one that I got from my friend Regina (thanks Reg). It is one of Rylan's favorite dinner foods and he asks for it by name. Enjoy!


POPPY SEED CHICKEN

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
container of sour cream
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1 pack of ritz crackers
1-2 TBS poppy seeds
1 stick butter (you can use less to make it healthier)
1 pkg frozen peas (optional)
casserole dish (sprayed with Pam)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil chicken breasts until fully done. Cut up into chunks. Mix sour cream and cream of chicken soup together into mixture. Stir in cooked chicken chunks. Stir in poppy seeds. I also stir in frozen peas.
Spread in greased casserole dish.
Crumble package of crackers into small pieces. Sprinkle over the top of chicken mixture in casserole dish. Melt half a stick of butter in the microwave. Pour over top of casserole.
Bake 30 minutes, until crackers are golden brown.


Serve and Enjoy!!! Bonn Appetite!

Second First

Today was Rylan's second first day of school. Since his birthday is later in the year, he gets to go to pre-school one more year. Nevertheless was excited to go! He is a bright child and I love how he gets so thrilled to learn new things. I hope that he keeps his zest for life! He amazes me with the things he comes up with.

Rylan I love you and I am so proud of all that you have learned at such a young age. You are one cool little boy! I hope you have a great year at school!

Dedication

I have never had the opportunity to be at an actual Temple Dedication. We were able to go to our Stake Center and watch as the prophet dedicated the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. It was so neat to listen to the dedication, because we have watched the process of it being built. Rylan and Alana have shown a special interest in it. They have also watched as the temple has been erected, talked about temples in primary and as a family we were able to tour the temple at the open house before the dedication. Rylan was disappointed that he would not be able to go through it again for a few years. What I got out of the dedication meeting was that we need to be more diligent in going to the temple, because we have so many temples in such a short radius. There were stories told of the dedication that people had to the temple. Some would save their whole life to go and be sealed to their families, or take days and days just to go and spend the day there. Hearing these stories has made me realize that I need to be more dedicated to going to the temple and partake of the blessings that come from going. It's not always easy to go to the temple (in fact sometimes it can just be difficult) but here is to DEDICATION on temple attendance!!!

Here is a link you might be interested in checking out. It has some realy cool facts about the temple. Hope you enjoy! http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/oquirrhmountain/

The Fruits of My Labors

We have this apricot tree on our back yard that I just love. I have watched over the years as it has grown and become one of the prettiest trees. I love the way that the branches twist and stretch. It truly is a work of art and it is beautiful. Every spring we watch as the blossoms start to appear. We literally look out the window of the house and can see the dainty white blossoms. It is so pretty! This year we had some crazy weather and it would get warm and then really cold, so we thought that there might not be any apricots this year. My dad (who also loves this tree) would go out at about 2:00 in the morning and light this little chimney to keep the tree warm. To our surprise the apricots were plentiful. We ended up having a lot of apricots.

We picked and picked. Rylan would go out and just find one he liked and would pluck it off the tree, just to eat it. He loved having it for a snack. After a while we could not pick them fast enough, and they started falling to the ground and rotting. I hate to see things go to waste, and so I decided I wanted to try a few new things out. Here is what I was able to do with all the apricots. The Fruits of my labors:
1. Fruit Leather

2. Dried Fruit (Didn't take a picture)
3. Apricot Jam
4. Apricot Popsicles

5. Baby food (I am freezing it)
The jam ended up being the best of the three and with a little help (thanks Jan) I was able to make and can apricot jam. We now have an ample supply of it. It was a lot of work, a lot of fun and now I know how to do it. I also have to thank my mother-in-law for the canner I got for my birthday! I am so excited to have yummy jam from a tree that has been a part of my life. (so funny that I am so attached to a tree huh?) We've all been able to enjoy!

Overdue

This post is long overdue. I just keep thinking to myself that I will post the last few things and then get "caught up" on blogging. So much has happened since my last post (yes I know it was Spring time). Here's what I am going to do. I am just going to start fresh and then I will fill in all the missing pieces in my upcoming posts. The truth is I really miss blogging. Something about it is therapeutic, it helps me relax, and I feel like I am at least doing a little family history. None of which will get done if I just keep putting off posting something.
SO here is what is on my mind....
I have a wonderful new baby boy (that I should have been blogging about already, and I wanted to put pics and updates from the moment he was born on here.) Kelton. Kelton is starting to laugh now. He is such a good baby. Sooo BIG. He is 3 months old and weighs 17 lbs. He is wearing 6-9 month clothes. He loves to be around people and is so curious about the world around him. His older brother (Rylan) and his older sister (Alana) adore him and are always loving on him. It is adorable!!!!
We are getting ready to start building our house. I am soooo excited for that. However, a part of me is a little nervous to move. I always thought when we moved in with my parents that when we moved out we would have a new house and we would still be able to come home and visit. Now that my mom is gone, things have changed and I admit that I am a little afraid of the unknown. I suppose that it is easy to feel that way. Mostly I am excited. It will be fun to see our dream become a reality. I am excited to be able to start working on my food storage again and actually have a place to put it. Can anyone say playroom??? I'm sure I will still be tripping over toys, but at least they will have a designated place or room.
I have an amazing husband. So thankful for him. I am starting to realize how important supporting each other is. So many people we know have been getting divorced. Things aren't perfect, but who's is. What I do know is that we are happy, we have 3 beautiful, healthy kids, a place to live and so many things to be thankful for. Saying all this is long overdue. So glad to be back.