Cheddar Chicken recipe

The other day I made some chicken that is one of my favorites.  I thought I would post it on here and share it with you all.  It's super easy and equally as tasty.  So, try it out and ENJOY!!! This is from the REAL SIMPLE website.

Ditte Isager

Cheddar Chicken
Serves 4

Hands-on Time: 15m

Total Time: 40m

Ingredients

• 16 buttery crackers (such as Ritz), crushed (about 3⁄4 cup)
• 6 ounces sharp Cheddar, grated
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 4 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• wild rice pilaf and steamed green beans (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350° F. In a bowl, combine the crackers, cheese, garlic, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper.

2. Dip the chicken in the butter, then in the cracker mixture, pressing gently to help the crackers adhere. Place the chicken on a foil-lined baking sheet.

3. Sprinkle any remaining cracker mixture on the chicken and drizzle with any remaining butter. Bake until the chicken is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.

4. Serve with the pilaf and green beans, if desired.

Tip

Amp up this cheese-crusted chicken by adding some spicy Pepper Jack. 

Nutritional Information

Calories 514; Fat 32g; Sat Fat 16g; Cholesterol 170mg; Sodium 591mg; Protein 46g; Carbohydrate 10g; Sugar 1g; Fiber 0g; Iron 2mg; Calcium 344mg

Fun at the dinner table...

Last night as we were finishing dinner the kids started dancing around and having a good time. Then Megan started laughing..she's got this silly laugh nowadays so I thought it would be fun to catch it on video. Of course after I got my phone to video them, they stopped..but Jeremy knows what to do to get a response..so here it is!! Enjoy!! 

Isn't her laugh just hilarious?? It's her latest thing..and I'm so happy I caught it on video...and Caleb...loves to make her laugh and as you can see, loves to be on video!! =) He kept looking at it, knowing I was getting him in action!! Love my family, and the fun, simple times we have together!!

the latest happenings...

So much has happened since I last updated this blog. Our normal busyness has also included me painting my entire house and Caleb losing his first tooth.  We just signed another 2 year lease on our apartment here in Singapore, so with that I decided it was FINALLY time to paint!!!!  I've been wanting to do it for a long time, but wanted to be sure we were gonna be staying here before I got around to doing that.  So, within a few days I painted my entry area, living room, dining room, office, hallway and balcony.  The kids rooms were already painted previously so that didn't need to be done.  I still have my room to do, and will be doing that in a couple weeks I think.  There's nothing better than fresh paint.  As I was rolling over scuffs and marks on the walls, I was having a little party...it felt so good going over those marks!!! =) (still need to take pics of the new paint job!!)

Hanging on by a thread

Caleb also lost his tooth a few weeks ago, March 16th to be exact.  He wiggled that thing and pushed it with his tongue so much that it was just hanging there...only attached by a 'string'...I told him he better pull it out before he went to bed, or else he would swallow it, but he was convinced it was gonna hurt.  Finally, after a lot of talking and persuading, I got him to let me pull it.  It didn't take much at all and when I got it out, he was so excited!!!!  He agreed that it didn't hurt and then went to take a look at his new smile in the mirror...He laughed and thought it was so funny.  His other tooth was growing in behind it and it's now about half way up already.  He's getting so big and acting so old the last few months.  He's gonna be 6 in a couple months...it's such a crazy thought to think he's that old already.

Toothless, kinda...

Megan is talking non stop and trying to do everything her brother does.  She's got a little mind of her own and has some attitude at times that needs to be corrected, but she's such a sweetie.  She loves giving hugs and the way she does this is by holding her arms all the way out on either side and say, "HUG??" It's adorable.  She gives me hugs all day and kisses...she'll tell me, "Mommy, you're cute...You're cute, Mommy..."  She's also learning how to pray at night when we put her to bed and it's the most adorable thing.  I just wanna squeeze her and kiss her all night!!!  She prays for daddy, mommy, caleb and adds in the grandparents and whoever else we've talked to that day.  She'll thank Jesus for her dog (stuffed dog) and other toys as well.  I love the innocence and I know Jesus does too. =)

Jeremy and I are headed to Melbourne next week to go to the PlanetShakers conference.  We're really excited about it.  I've never been to Australia, so that will be fun and it will be nice to get away as well.  The kids are staying here with grandparents.  It's the first time they've stayed with them for so long...it's only been a night here and there other times, so a week will be interesting.  Not sure what I'm gonna do...from being with the kids 24/7 to nothing for a week.  I know i'll miss them like crazy, but it will be nice to have some time just with Jeremy as well.  I'm really looking forward to that part!!!

That's the update for now...I'm in the midst of starting another blog and I'll be posting all my diy, decorating projects on that one...I'll put an update on here when I have it up and ready.

Here's a few more pics...cause I have to show you my cute kids... =)

Decorating frenzy

Yes, you read that right, I've been on a decorating/organizing/redoing/getting rid of frenzy lately. We were up in the air as far as if we were gonna be staying in this flat or moving to another, and thankfully, we are able to stay here for another couple years...so...this has gotten me going on all that I've been thinking of doing to our place.  We are about to paint, which I'm super excited about...then the owner bought new blinds for the windows, so we gotta put those up, and my whole kitchen is getting a redo...new cabinets, sink, stove, etc.  It's been needing a fix, the counter top by the sink is actually sinking in (tried to think of another word, but there isn't...haha) and it's been leaking underneath...so instead of just replacing the counter top, the owner has decided to redo the whole kitchen...So, I'm SUPER excited about that!!!!! That was very unexpected, but something I had hoped for!!!!  So, that should be happening in the next couple weeks.  I'll post before and after pics when it's done...

So, since I've been in this frenzy, i've gone through stuff like crazy and am trying to redecorate a bit and do some fun easy stuff.  When we were in the states the last time, in July, I found some awesome clearanced greens at my favorite store...TARGET!!!!!!! Oh how I wish they would come to Singapore!!!  I think they were like 28 cents per stalk...so i stocked up... (do you like my puns?? haha) I figured I could do something with them...and something I did...

They started out like this...

and I bent 2 of them around to look like this...

And this is where it landed...

Then with some others I cut the sprigs apart...spray painted these IKEA plant pots white...

and made my own little planted pot...

 I'm enjoying the extra greenery around my house, that doesn't even require watering!!!  Have a great day!!!

Aren't they gorgeous?

I was at the grocery store a couple days ago and couldn't help but take a pic of these beauties!!



I love bell peppers, raw, on pizza, cooked up in olive oil, and one of my favs is when I put them in my scrambled eggs for breakfast.







So that's exactly what I did this morning!! Green peppers button mushrooms are a great combo along with the eggs and cheddar cheese!!




Only problem is that Megan keeps stealing them!! But when she's as cute as she is, how can I say no? :)





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Nail polish

Ok, so recently I've been really into nail polish. I watched some YouTube videos and saw other people's nails and I got inspired. So the other day when I was out, I stopped by the drugstore and picked up one of the colors that was talked about on the video.




It's very modern, but I LOVE it!! I think it's so pretty and I just feel good having a fun color on my nails!! I put it on Megan too and her first comment was, 'ooh, it's sparkly...it's pretty!!' so adorable, but she's exactly right..it is sparkly and it is pretty!!






- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Caleb making a Guava Slushy

After seeing my tostada video, Caleb was inspired.  He loves making videos...but this one was different.  He wanted to do an instructional one like I had.  So, we set out to do one.  We went to the zoo this week and they sell these guava slushies that are amazing.  Pretty much it's just ice blended up with guava juice in it...so i figured it wouldn't be too hard to make...so that's what we did...Here he is...

Tostada Night!!!

For those of you who are my friend on Facebook or who follow me on Twitter, you will know that I post about having "Tostada Night".  Many of you probably wonder why in the world we would give it a night unto itself, but let me tell you, they are just so amazing, they deserve their own night... So, I put together a video at how to make them so that you can see how amazingly easy and amazingly good they are...and to spread around the "Tostada Night" cheer!!! =)  So, enjoy...oh, and this is my first instructional video...so it's not perfect, and I hate hearing my own voice...please don't laugh...haha...I've already laughed at myself.  Just try them out yourself...you'll be pleased!!!

From one holiday to the next..

I finally got around to taking my Christmas decorations and tree down yesterday.  I love Christmas and usually put it up early, this year it was before Thanksgiving, and then leave it up awhile after as well.  I was ready to take it down and get the house back to normal again.  So yesterday in the morning our house looked like this:

And by afternoon it was all put away and it looked like this:

Ok, so it's not back to normal, but we've moved on to the next holiday...Chinese New Year/Valentine's Day.  Chinese New Year is the first few days of February this year and Valentines is soon after...so I combined the 2 in my decor...We don't celebrate Chinese New Year...except have 2 days off of work for Jeremy...and Valentine's Day isn't huge here...but I want my kids to have memories of different holidays.  Since the more american holidays aren't really celebrated all that much here, I'm trying to do whatever I can to give my kids a feeling of what the holiday is supposed to be like.  So...I try to do different crafts and activities that lend themselves to the holidays...

So, soon we'll be getting out the red and pink paper soon and the heart cookie cutters and getting down to having fun...I'll keep you posted with what we do...In the meantime, here's some shots of some simple decor from around the house...it's mostly for Valentine's Day, just the cherry blossoms are for Chinese New Year, but I thought they went well with the heart decor...and they have a springy feel!! (We don't have seasons here either..so I gotta make it feel whatever season it is..it gets tricky sometimes!!)

Hope you're having fun thinking about the ones you love, and how you're going to celebrate Valentine's Day!!

Fun time with Grandpa & Grandma Hook!!!

My parents came to visit us for 2 weeks, arriving the week before Christmas, and just New Years Day morning.  We had a great time together making memories and having fun!!!

We did a variety of things, one of the favorites was going to see the 'snow' here in Singapore.  No, it doesn't get cold enough to snow here...not anything even close to it...but we do have 'snow'...in the form of bubbles.  =) There's a mall downtown that has snow machines set up outside every year and it's quite an affair.  Every evening at 7:30 the snow machines blow bubbles into the sky making it then fall down looking almost exactly like snow.  It's actually quite amazing...and all the kids, and adults, love it!!! =)

We also took went to the zoo, the botanical gardens, went 'fishing' and went to one of the reservoirs here...We played games at home, ate, talked, and generally just had a good time together.  I am so thankful for family...both the one I grew up in, and the one I am now raising.  What a blessing it is!!!

Merry Christmas...a little late...oh well...

Well, Christmas has come and gone and it's now 12:08 am on New Years Day over here in Singapore.  It's a weird thought that we are in 2011 now but all my friends in the states are still in 2010...that just messes with my mind!!!

We had a great Christmas here with many exciting things taking place.  A week before Christmas, my parents arrived here in Singapore to celebrate their first Christmas with us here in Singapore since we moved here 9 1/2 years ago.  We had a great time before Christmas, on Christmas, and after Christmas.  They leave early in the morning to fly back to Seattle.  The kids have had a great time having Grandma and Grandpa here with us and Jeremy and I have as well.  It was nice to have them here with us during Christmas. =)

Christmas Day we were up at our church in JB having our first outreach.  It was a huge success and so fun.  We had over 130 adults and over 40 kids there...we usually run about 50 adults and 4 kids...so it was much bigger than normal and everyone had a lot of fun.  Everyone hung around for awhile after the service and talked together.  We are expecting great things to come from it, even this coming Sunday.  Will keep you updated!!

We came back late afternoon Christmas day, to Singapore and we opened our presents then.  We were all so tired, but had a good time and Megan appointed herself the present opener...of everyone's presents!!!  She would just grab one and open, grab and open...haha...we all didn't mind and we just enjoyed the time together....

We had a great Christmas...hoping you all did too...