E... Excuses!

Ugh! I can't believe I forgot to post yesterday! I have a few excuses, but they're kinda lame like, I fell asleep. But anyway, today was so fun! I got to take a nice road trip with my best friend Whitney to St. George to attend our friend Matt's wedding reception. Congrats Matt and Brittney! Their reception was lovely. And what a beautiful couple! Of course we didn't get a single picture so you'll have to use your imagination. Ok I better hurry if this is going to count for today! Goodnight!

Dinner and Dishes

I thought about posting yesterday about the Delicious Dinner that we had the on Monday night, but Decided on something else. So tonight, I shall give to you the wondrous orange chicken recipe that blew our socks off! Seriously way better than takeout. We live about 200 yards from a panda express so it would have been much easier to just go grab some chicken and call it dinner. But I Decided to be brave and try my hand at Chinese food. Did I ever mention that I hate Chinese food? I don't get it. I guess there isn't an ounce of Asian blood in me. Well to be fair, I'm not really sure that Orange Chicken is really Chinese. So... behold... the recipe. 

Chinese Orange Chicken

INGREDIENTS

  Chicken

• 1 and 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced into 1-inch cubes

• 1 egg, lightly beaten

• 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or AP flour)

• 1/2 cup corn starch

• 1/4 tsp sea salt

• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

• 1/4 tsp ground ginger

• vegetable oil for fying (I used sunflower oil + 1 tbsp of butternut squash seed oil for flavor; peanut oil is excellent for Chinese dishes)

• 1 and 1/2 cups water

• 1/4 cup lemon juice

• 1/3 cup rice vinegar

• 3 tbsp soy sauce

• 2 tbsp orange juice

• 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

• zest of 1 large orange (about 1 packed tbsp)

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• about 2 tsp fresh ginger, minced

• 3 tbsp cornstarch

• 3 scallions, sliced

• 1 tsp red chile flakes

• orange slices

• cooked rice

1. Sauce.
 Measure water, lemon juice, vinegar, soy sauce, and orange juice into a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Remove 1 tbsp of brown sugar from the 1 cup measure; add to a small bowl with the 3 tbsp cornstarch.  Mix well with a fork and set aside.

1. Chicken
. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt, peppers, and ginger. Dip chicken pieces first in egg, then toss in cornstarch mixture. Shake off excess and spread pieces on a clean plate.

1. Add oil to a large frying pan or wok (I used a 12-inch frying pan and about 2 cups of oil) to about 1 inch deep. Heat over medium flame until the oil is hot & shimmering (375 degrees F) but not smoking. Add chicken in batches (it took me three), stir lightly to cover all chicken in oil, and fry until cooked through, about 3 – 5 minutes (edges should just begin to brown, no hint of pink should remain and/or the middle of the biggest chicken piece should read at least 170 degrees F on an instant thermometer). Remove to a clean plate layered with paper towels to drain. Once drained, transfer chicken to a large bowl.

1. Sauce
. Add remaining brown sugar, orange zest, garlic and ginger to the sauce mixture. Raise heat and bring to a boil. Add about 2 tbsp of water to the small bowl of cornstarch + sugar: mix well until the cornstarch is well incorporated with no lumps.  Add to the sauce and stir until sauce thickens (should happen almost instantly). Once sauce is thickened and bubbling, add to chicken and toss to coat.

1. Serve
. Add red chile flakes to chicken and toss. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Serve over hot rice and garnish with a generous sprinkle of sliced scallion and orange slices.

Yummy!!!

C is for playing "catch-up"

You ever find yourself trying to catch up to the guy in front of you in the race of life? He's always just out of reach and no matter how fast you run or what kind of tennis shoes you buy, you can never seem to catch up with him. What's the deal with that? Doesn't it just drive you nuts? That's what these silly social network sights do to us. Actually just the Internet in general. We keep looking at everyone else and thinking about how much further ahead they are. Don't you get sick of trying to be as good as you think you're supposed to be? It seems like almost every day I find myself reminding my own self that it's ok to just be me. It's ok to be happy with everything I have and to just CHILL. So that is my advise to you today. Stop trying to catch up with Mr. or Mrs. Jones and start just doing simple things that make you happy. Write a letter to your grandma, clean out your closet, make your baby giggle with a silly face. Live your life and stop worrying. It's all going to be ok.

B is for....

I was sitting here thinking, ok what starts with B and is exciting about our family? I mulled over Breakfast (we eat an incredibly healthy breakfast in our house), maybe Books? (Jason and I love to read books together!) And then it just hit me in the face! BABY!!! We have a baby!!! That is the most important "B" word in our home! So... I thought I would tell you a bit about our baby. Levi Jacob Horlacher was born on December 28th 2011 after 27 long hours of labor. I may or may not have been accused of being a hippie, but in spite of what people said or thought, I chose to give birth to our baby in the place where I feel most comfortable and safe- our home. It was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced and I will never do it any other way! Levi was an average weight of 6 lbs. 9 oz. and 20.5 inches. But he didn't stay average for long. Now he's almost 4 months old and weighs about 18 pounds! What a chunk! He is just precious. He has started laughing and smiling all the time and loves to talk to us when we try to have conversations. Levi can roll over from his belly to his back and is doing great at bouncing in his jumperoo. A few days ago we were playing with him and got a video of the cutest laugh we have ever heard from him! Sigh... he makes my whole life worth living. I would do anything for our little bundle of joy!

A is for Attitude- 26 days of the Horlacher family... alphabetized

This is my attempt to blog for 26 days in a row. Every day is a new letter. Today, being the first day, I'll tell you something about our family starting with the letter A.
Sometimes when I'm in a rotten self-pitying mood my wonderful husband cheers me up me repeating this quote to me. It's a quote he memorized on his mission to help him stay positive and motivated. Charles Swindoll said, "Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more mportant than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company ... a church ... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change the
inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude ... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it." In essence, your attitude is what changes things. It can change your circumstances, your appearance, your success and happiness in this life. And the great thing about attitude is that you are 100% responsible for it. You can choose every day and every hour what your attitude will be. The world IS how we see it. None of us see the world for what it really is. We all have a world view or a paradigm that we look through when we see the world. It can be a beautiful place or a miserable place. It all depends on how we choose to see it. So today, I choose to be successful, I choose to be happy, I choose to love myself for who I am, I choose to be productive, I choose to be beautiful.
A is for attitude.

Baby is asleep and waiting for a phone call

It's not every day you find yourself posing the question, "Hmmm.... what should I do now?" Well there's actually plenty to do, but when I'm overwhelmed I procrastinate. Tomorrow our family is headed to Idaho for a nice Easter vacation with my family. (Hooray!!!) Did I mention that I'm in dire need of a vacation? The only thing I'm not in need of is 8 hours of a fussy baby in his carseat. Why can't he just tell me why he hates his carseat so much so that I can try to fix it? In any case, by this time tomorrow it will all be over and we will be taking it easy for a few days.

Yesterday I was looking through the (586) pictures and videos of Levi that I have on my phone, starting with day one and just watching him grow right in front of my eyes. It makes me remember how fascinated we were (and still are) with this little guy who has come into our life. He is such a cutie. This video is taken from my favorite angle. He loves looking at us at eye level and he's getting so good at holding up his head! I usually mention "grandma and grandpa" in the videos because I am always sending them off to Idaho to that my family can feel a little closer.

Yes, he is a little gassy! But who could disagree with the fact that this kid is beyond adorable!?

On a side note, I must say something about blogs that I want all of my readers to realize. This also goes for facebook, pinterest, and other such internet sensations. This morning I was reading a few blogs, still in my pajamas, yesterday's makeup still on my face, nursing my baby. I caught myself thinking that all these people have such perfect storybook lives. They play games with their cute kids, they sew incredible dresses for their adorable little girls, and their houses are palaces full of perfectly polished picture DIY decor. It made me think, why can't I be so organized and crafty and super mom? Then I had to reprimand myself. Silly me- of course nobody is going to put anything about how many diapers they've changed that day or the tantrum their 3 year old threw. I recall the words of President Uchtdorf, "God is well aware that you are not perfect. He is also well aware that the people who you think are perfect are not perfect." It's nice to have a reality check once in a while. So to get to my point, no, my life is not perfect. I'm terribly flawed and doing the best I can. So don't forget when you read my blog or anyone else's that we are not goddesses, just human beings. My life is normal and I love to revel in the things that are wonderful.