Garden Plants

I've finally planted a little garden out back! It's taken long enough....with the weather still being cold and just recently have it frost at night still.

I looked at it today, and saw the lettuce and peas are sprouting!

Before I planted, I did some research on what would grow best in a partial shaded garden. Here is an interesting article I found helpful.

Here is a surprise growing for me too!

Orange Chicken

I tried this recipe for Applebees Orange Chicken.....it was delicious! A little bit of work, but on a family night, it's perfect!

(Recipe from RecipePazaar)
Orange Chicken
Ingredients
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup cornstarch, plus
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
oil (for frying)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange rind
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1 dash cayenne pepper
1/4 cup granulated sugar
salt and pepper

Directions

1. Cut chicken into 2-inch pieces and place in a large bowl. Stir in egg, salt, pepper and oil. Mix well and set aside.
   
2. Stir cornstarch and flour together in another large bowl and mix well. Add chicken mixture to the flour mixture, stirring to coat each piece well.
   
3. Pour enough oil to be at least 1/2-inch deep in a wok or heavy skillet and set over high heat. When it reaches 375 degrees F (hot!) carefully add chicken pieces in small batches and fry 3 to 4 minutes or until golden and crisp. Do not overcook or chicken will be tough. Remove chicken from oil with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Continue frying chicken in small batches until all are nicely browned and crisp.
4. Set aside while you make the glaze:.
   * 1 teaspoon minced garlic.
   * 1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange rind.
   * 1 cup orange juice.
   * 1/2 cup hoisin sauce.
   * Dash cayenne pepper.
   * 1/4 cup granulated sugar.
   * Salt and pepper to taste.
   * Cool the oil in the skillet slightly, then remove all but 2 tablespoons of oil and set over medium heat. Sauté garlic in oil for 1 minute (if the oil is too hot the garlic will turn bitter). Add remaining ingredients and bring to boil. Allow to boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens to your liking, stirring frequently.
   
5. Pour glaze over chicken. Serve chicken over a bed of cooked white rice. Garnish with slivered almonds and crispy noodles. Applebee's tosses the chicken and orange glaze with an array of stir-fry vegetables like broccoli, snow peas and red peppers.
   

Note: I did not have Hoisin Sauce, so I made my own from this recipe: Hoisin Sauce

Softball

This summer we are hoping to get some softball games going. Every 2nd and 4th Friday, we will get a group together and go whack some balls around. Then maybe we will eat some snacks afterward :)

Here is our first game! (About 6 people palyed ha ha) It was fun, but a little chilly.

Fun Weekend

So, a couple weeks ago it was graduation time here in town! "Our" students were graduating, so we went to see. It was a very crowded place, so M. and I ended up sitting outside in the grass/sunshine until the end (or when they started getting their degrees).

It was a pretty windy day! All their hats blew off.

That Friday, our family came up to visit too. That was a lot of fun. We had a picnic, movie, board games and croquet!

Remember Lester?

Remember Lester....that big grey striped tabby cat we had come around in the winter? Well, he's back! Actually, we have 3 cats around now! The newest one is a young siamese. He is very friendly....and curious too! He was busy "helping" us as we changed the headlights in our car last night.

This morning, I saw "Lester" and "Theodore" (the siamese) "chatting" out back....we came out to go to work, and they were both laying under our tree just staring at each other. They didn't look mad, just sitting there. I said, "Look! Two cats now!" and Mathew replied, "No, three."

Sure enough, another long-haired orange and white tabby was just coming up from behind the fence. Ha!

When they saw us, Lester and the orange one both skittered away. Lester first. He's pretty shy. I think the orange one just followed him cause it was startled by the opening car door.

Theo lazily got up, crawled under the fence and looked at us like "Oh! Hi there." He started coming over to me, and then changed his mind and wandered out to the alley, looking down the way where Lester and the orange one went. He just stood there for a moment like, "Now what? Where did they go I wonder?" He must be the youngest, because he acts like a kid and is still pretty small. :)

My deals this week...

Well, I don't have pictures to share, but I thought I'd still tell you about the good deals I found this week.

My first deal, was at Walgreens. I went looking for potting soil and shaving cream (not to be used together) and was very happy to see them both on sale. Each thing had a coupon to make them $0.99. The soil normally was $3.00 and the shaving cream $1.99. The bonus deal was that when I found the shaving cream, I found two cans bundled together saying "Buy one get one free!" Sure enough, it rang up at the $0.99 price, but I got two instead of one!

The next deal I found was at a floral shop that is going out of business. (Netzers)Everything (except the flowers) was 75% off. I found a garden trowel (which I needed since I had been using a juice can lid to dig up my garden), a 6 inch glass pitcher , and a really nice wind chime, all for $9.62! The wind chime itself was normally $27.00, so that really was a deal since we can use it and the pitcher as gifts!

It's so much fun finding deals!

Just Thoughts...

Today is lovely. I love summer mornings when the sun is out early and the birds sing too. It makes me smile and reminds me to be thankful that God made them.

This morning I was reading Proverbs chapter 22...which talks alot about wisdom. One neat verse told about how God "watches over knowledge." Isn't that neat? That He keeps track of wisdom and truth and makes sure it is kept safe. That no matter how twisted our thinking gets in modern day times, God still holds the truth. That if we ask, He will teach us, and if we seek, He will lead us.

I don't do a very good job of seeking.

So many times I bemone the fact that I don't retain what I read as well as I should, or apply what I'm learning as I should. Most the times I remember things after I do them, like I should've been "gentle and quiet" after I've been "bold and brash" or it was the time to just "listen" but I've "given advice" or that I should've been "humble" but I "blabbered too much."

One verse that I often find myself thinking about is Titus 2:7,8 "In your teaching show integrity, seriousness, and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned."

Integrity: Genuine, honorable, good, suitable, pure teaching
Seriousness: the characteristic of a thing or person which entitles to reverence and respect
Soundness : truthful, does not deviate from the truth

These three things I want to strive to be as a teacher and as a person! Thank goodness that God holds them in His hand....that even though I struggle or fall short, I can look up and be re-assured that all things are in His control.

Ephesians 1:11, 12 It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

Ephesians 1:17-22 I [Paul] ask - ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory - to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for Christians, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him - endless energy, boundless strength! All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church.