Coconut Crusted Chicken Recipe

I absolutely love trying new recipes. I love the look on Ryan's face when he comes home and smells that I cooked something new. I find it extremely rewarding when he loves it. One of our all time favorite places to go out to eat is Thai Cafe. We went there on one of our first dates, the night we got engaged, and every time we can, because it is just that good. I have attempted to make coconut crusted chicken before, but it has never really turned out that well, but I was determined to find a new recipe so after searching pinterest I found this recipe and was sold. Try it for yoruself, it is definitely a winner, as is the blog. It is a frequent read for me now. Now, I did not make the chili sauce just becuase that does not sound that applealing to me, but next time I'm going to make a sauce like the one they serve at Thai cafe. My mouth is watering.

Coconut Crusted Chicken (adapted original recipe for two)
Ingredients: 
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 large egg
2 TB milk (or coconut milk if you have it)
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

• Cut off any extra fat globules from your chicken breasts. Gross. Necessary, though. Cut each breast into 3-4 strips, diagonally to prevent the end strips from being really short.
• Prepare your breading station by gathering three bowls. In the first bowl combine the flour and salt. In the second bowl, combine the eggs and milk. Whisk together until well combined. In the third bowl, stir together the panko bread crumbs and shredded coconut. You'll definitely need to wash your hands after this. Yuck. 

• Place half of the vegetable oil in a large skillet and heat over medium/high heat until very warm.
• While the oil is heating, dredge the chicken strips. First, coat each strip in the flour and salt mixture. Then dip each into the eggs/milk and finally coat each in panko and shredded coconut.

• Place about 3-4 strips in the pan at once. There should only be one layer in the pan and there should be about an inch between each strip. If you over crowd the pan it will get too cold and the strips will soak up a lot of oil instead of frying. Fry the strips for 3-4 minutes on each side or until they are golden brown and crispy. Place them on a plate with paper towel to drain and move on to the next batch.  Because the strips are thin, they should be cooked through by the time both sides are browned. You can tell by the texture of the chicken; it should be stiff when pressed. Use a digital thermometer to be sure.  If you cut your strips thicker, you will need to bake off the chicken after frying to make sure the insides are cooked through.I definitely had to bake them because I cannot seem to get chicken in a skillet cooked all the way through without burning.

• Enjoy!

We loved it. I paired it with rice and green beans but meant to grab broccoli at the store but just forgot, so whatever you want with it will work!

The other new recipe this week is cheesy chicken and rice bake. I'm excited to see how it turns out!

To trying new recipes and loving them,
Tera

This week

This week has been so emotionally draining. I have barely slept thinking about Darrell's trial. I will never in my life forget the sounds, emotions, and visual that I saw after the verdict was read. It is forever imprinted in my memory. I won't say a lot about my thoughts about it only that I know there was not enough evidence.

Other than being emotionally drained, I've been sewing my tooshie off getting orders completed. I've really enjoyed it though! It's a fun rush to get off work and jump on a sewing machine and make something. I feel successful when I send an order. I feel like I've really accomplished something big. I still wonder and hope that people like them and that they are satisfied with the end result. I spend way too much time being a perfectionist but I'm resting in the fact that the people that buy them know they are handmade and it is impossible to be perfect. It was a wonderful feeling when I sold my tenth order. I love that this was never planned but this is purely for fun.

To distract my thoughts, I've become absorbed in recipes this week. I've made two new recipes that we've come to love. I made muffin tin chicken pot pies on Wednesday and Quinoa burgers with sweet potato fries on Thursday. I was actually planning on making a tutorial for one of the two but got frustrated with how long they took to make that I was in a hurry to finish by the time Ryan was off work.

Divine goodness- Muffin Tin Chicken Pot Pies

Quinoa Burgers with sweet potato fries

My precious sweet puppy that loves to cuddle

My "second job" but really my hobby.

I would make the chicken pot pies every week if it didn't take nearly 2 hours to finish, but man were they good! Click on the links if you want recipes to try yourself. I think next week I want to try coconut crusted chicken with broccoli or cheesy chicken and rice bake. I just love trying new recipes and Ryan approving. It's a big win for me.

This weekend we plan to not plan, to rest, to sleep in, at finish orders, to go on a double date and to just be. Mmhm. Amen.

To trying new things,
Tera

My Adventure with Spaghetti Squash

I love trying new recipes. I like the adventure in it, the unknown, and the challenge. While I was at the grocery store on Sunday, I saw this:

I thought to myself, this could be fun. I brought it home and hubs enjoyed pretending it was a football and I kindly told him to stop because this was going to be dinner one day this week. My mom has made spaghetti squash before, but I have never made it myself and I thought it would be a fun way to spice up our weekly menu.

I found this recipe and was so excited to get off work to start cooking. First, the recipe says to pierce the squash all over with a pairing knife to let the baby breathe while baking:

Done. Then cook in the oven on 375 degrees for one hour. That's a lonng time, but hey, why not. After it gets out of the oven, let cool for 10 minutes. Seriously, do wait. Ask me why I know.

Next, slice the squash in half:

Okay, I got this! Wait, I don't see the "spaghetti"! Patience. Rake out all of the seeds (there are a lot in there, so make sure you get them all).

Don't judge my much loved baking sheet.

Now is the fun part! In a skillet, saute butter and garlic. Oh, I can still smell it now. So good.Take a fork and rake out the spaghetti and prepare to be amazed.

There's a ton in there! Mix around with the butter and garlic and let cook while salting to taste.

I added parsley, green onion, and Parmesan cheese as well as some garlic salt in lieu of plain salt. I grilled some lovely chicken and sliced it and served the chicken over the spaghetti squash like it was "real spaghetti".

Dinner served! Hubs approved and I could eat this meal every day. So much flavor and so healthy!I'm pretty sure I will now be referring spaghetti squash as "real spaghetti" for now on. Who needs noodles when you have a veggie that tastes like it but better?

To trying to recipes,
Tera

Weekend Review- Am I crazy?

Where did the weekend go? I have no idea how it is already Monday. Like, really. We had a great weekend though, and probably one of the most productive ones yet. It started on Friday with a friendly game of Monopoly- Planet Earth Edition- that ended up with me being frustrated because I was bankrupt. I need to grow up.

Pre-sadness/bankruptness.

When I finally got over being frustrated about not winning, we had a good rest of our evening. Saturday I woke up to this:

My sweet husband made me breakfast in bed! He made me toasted bread with fried egg and Turkey bacon with orange juice. Such a keeper.

Then I got a sweet tooth and went and picked up these little joys:

My kryptonite

On my sugar-high, I decided it was a good idea to go craft-crazy. That was fun. Then we went along with our planned hang out which was tennis. We laughed a lot. Let's just say tennis is not our strong point. We won't be competing in the Wimbledon anytime in the near future. But we did enjoy time together and a break from crafting and whatnot.

My hot husband

sugar-induced crafting

Kai looked cute all weekend, as usual.

Finally, I created an etsy shop. Yep, you heard me. OPENED.  I'm completely nervous and scared about this. Is this product really worthy of selling? Am I really good enough to have people pay me to make things? Is this real life?

To not knowing if I'm crazy or not,
Tera

Homemade Chicken Fried Rice

I find it rewarding to try new recipes. I think this is probably why I love Pinterest so much. Although, it's super disappointing because I don't have all the time in the world to make all of those wonderful yummy dinners and deserts and do all the crafts I'd like to do, but nevertheless it is helpful when I am searching for a new recipe.

As much as I love to try new recipes, I get stuck in weekly ruts. I plan meals on Sunday and when I'm in a rush I just choose meals that I know are good, quick, and healthy. Because that's how we roll. 

This week I made chicken fried rice. I made it with brown rice to make it healthier and it was delicious!

Chicken Fried Rice                                                                                             

Ingredients

3 cups cooked brown rice

3 tbs sesame oil

1 cup frozen peas and carrots (thawed)

1 small onion, chopped

2 tsp minced garlic

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 chicken breasts

1/4 cup chicken broth

Directions

On medium high heat, heat the oil in a large skillet.  Add the peas/carrots mix, onion and garlic. Stir fry until tender.Lower the heat to medium low and push the mixture off to one side, then pour your eggs on the other side of skillet and stir fry until scrambled. 

Mixing the egg and veggies, letting cook all the way through

In another skillet, heat oil. Add chicken, sprinkling with chicken broth and soy sauce. Flip often until cooked through. 

Cooking chicken with soy sauce, garlic salt, and chicken broth until cooked through

Mixing together thoroughly

Now add the rice, chicken, and soy sauce and blend all together well. Stir fry until thoroughly heated!   

Voila! Dinner served!

 We loved it! I especially love one-dish meals. We have tons left over too, which is awesome for Ryan because he eats left overs. One day I'll learn how to be better at that.

Kai was sad he couldn't eat any. We're so mean and feed him dog food.

To trying new recipes,

Tera

Mini-Vacay

We went to Kansas City this weekend. It was awesome. So refreshing, encouraging, and just plain fun. We got there Friday night just in time for dinner. We brought our sweet Kai with us and he got to meet his cousin Tucker for the first time.

Our sweet pooches, Kai and Tucker

They had a fabulous time playing, chasing each other, stealing each others toys, etc. We stayed up late talking and Saturday morning we had a lovely breakfast outside on the backporch. We let the dogs play then we took them on a walk around the neighborhood.

After our walk, we made a plan. Can I just say that I love plans? Kyle insists on always having a plan before we do anything, and it just made me laugh. We tossed around several ideas until we decided we would go to Lifetime, guys would work out, girls would swim, and then meet up and rock climb. That's precisely what we did. The girls swam- which really meant going down the water slides 5 billion times and then jumping in the pool every billionth time we slid. I love my nieces.

Then we went rock climbing.

Lifetime in Kansas City has this amazing rock wall with several areas you can climb, and even provides shoes if you don't own your own!

I must be a big wus because I am still  throbbing with pain. We had a blast though, scaling the walls, attempting to be as good as the little ones. It is quite surprising what good climbers little kids can be!

After rock climbing we went to their "neighborhood pool." It technically is across the street from their neighborhood and a city pool, but this is not the type of city pool I grew up going to! Sure there were diving boards, and swimming laps and slides, but not your average slides. One slide was about 10 feet long and you can go down with tubes that they provide! Then there is another slide that is windy and up on a grassy hill. So cool! Then there's the beachy area for kids to play in the sand and the zero depth entrance. My sister and her husband and I were talking about how much pools have changed since when we were kids.

After spending hours swimming, climbing, working out, eating, etc, we decided it was probably time to check on our furry babies. They played some more and then we went to out to dinner for bbq. Kansas City is known for their incredible bbq so naturally we made a plan that that was where we would go. The ironic thing was they wanted to go to a place called Oklahoma Joes.

My heavenly meal. Carolina- pulled pork with cole slaw sandwich with a side of smoked chicken gumbo. Be still my heart.

Dinner was to die for. We found out that Oklahoma Joes originated in Stillwater, OK which was just an unexpected coincidence. After dinner, we were stuffed but wanted ice cream. That doesn't even make sense but we figured we would drive there and want it so to kill some time we went to Trader Joes and stocked up on wine. I mean STOCKED UP. Ryan let me pick out lots of chocolate too because he knows I'm not much of a beverage drinker, but I can down my chocolate. Love that man.

Okay, may sound weird but don't knock it until you try it!

Gelato was next... so amazing. I just love Kansas City, there's so much to do and it's such a nice city.

How can you not love those precious faces!?

We enjoyed our gelato outside and took turns racing each other to the other side of the turf and back. We're awesome.

Sunday we went to church which was one of the most emotional spiritual experiences I've had in a while, and truly felt close to the Lord (more on that later). Then we went to brunch and sadly had to hit the road back to Stillwater, America. We loved our mini vacation and were sad to leave but had an amazing time with people we love.

Looking forward to celebrating the 4th in just two days! It's going to be a quick week.

Until next time Kansas City,
Tera

Almost Vegan Cupcakes

Every Wednesday Ryan and I get together with three other couples. In the Spring we did a marriage study, but this summer we're just hanging out. One of the couples just recently became vegans and I wanted to make something that they could eat. I (naturally) started searching pinterest for some ideas. I found a great recipe using yellow cake mix and applesauce and was sold. I figured there were no eggs so it was vegan, right? Wrong.  Apparently there is milk product in cake mix. What the heck!? Unfortunately I found this out after the cupcakes were already out of the oven. Milk is the last ingredient on the cake mix. Anyways, here's the recipe for the almost vegan cupcakes I made. 

Yellow cake mix, applesauce, and frosting for the top!

I put the frosting in a ziplock, closed the bag and tied a rubber band around. Then, I snipped a hole at the point to make the frosting look purdy.

 

 Recipe:

Ingredients:

 I 18.25 oz package of Yellow Cake Mix 

1 cup of applesauce (I used original flavor, but you can try cinnamon or unsweetened)
1 cup of water

 Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the cake mix and the applesauce. Whisk thoroughly and line a cupcake pan with liners. Bake for 20-25 minutes, checking the texture of the cupcakes. 

MAKES 12 SERVINGS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vegan  or not, they were delicious! Do yourself a favor and make them! They are only a little over 170 calories each, too! Our vegan friends ended up bringing a non-vegan treat to share. Oh how accommodating we are! The cupcakes were fluffy and if I didn't tell you there was applesauce in them you would have never known!