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Over at my new blog! This one will become for friends/family here in a few weeks....

Hung fu Chicken.....Recipe Swap

Gayle is hosting a frugal recipe swap here on her blog each Friday and I thought it would be fun, and also great to hopefully breathe some new life into our family cuisine. I have been running a little too close to empty on ideas lately. Now the ingredients for this recipe are very simple, and for this post I am calling it Hung Fu Chicken! (and hoping I haven't said something bad in another language! LOL) Our usual name is er...."Honey/Soy Chicken".....but Hung Fu just sounds so much more authentic!

Hung Fu Chicken

3-4 lb of chicken thighs/drumsticks
2/3 cup honey
2/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 tsp ginger (optional)
1 tsp garlic powder (optional)
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Throw chicken in a large casserole dish, mix together rest of ingredients (slightly warm honey if needed), and pour over the chicken. Bake for about 45 - 60 mins at 375*F turning once (this is just for an even colour). Add a little cornstarch/water to the sauce to thicken, and serve over brown rice with a side of vegetables. (usually broccoli for us!)

And there you have it! Now head over to Gayle's and leave your frugal recipe so that I can steal it too! Help me! I need new recipes!

Homemade Bread!

I love homemade bread baking in my oven! That's what I did yesterday afternoon. Now that I have my Bosch I can make about 5 loaves in just a short while. I only knead it once in the Bosch so it saves a lot of time. It is so soft, and melts in your mouth! I have never cared for the tough and chewy wheat bread myself. Yesterday I made 4 loaves of wheat and then instead of making a 5th loaf, I rolled it out real thin (1/4"?), spread homemade apple pie filling on it and then braided it over the top, sprinkled raw sugar on top....and it was absolutely wonderful. The kids love "apple bread".......OK, OK, so do I. ;)

Wednesday

Today I thought that I would just get on here and say hi! I know it has been forever since I have been on here! We have been staying busy all summer, although doing what, I am not sure. We have been swimming, canning (just a little), baking, and just general stuff. You know how it goes. I thought I would tack on a few pictures while I was here as well. There is a story behind the first one! I told the kids that it was time to go inside....seeing as they had been riding bikes, they jumped off, and left their bikes lying on their sides. I turned around to see Jazz in deep thought....and as I watched this is what he did.....(talk about an example about being a good example!) Yep, he made sure that each trike/bike was lying just the way his big siblings had done it. LOLHere's Iddy Biddy getting baptised!Here's Jorge at the Lake
Here's Jekkie.....Here's Jazz early in the morning...And here they are with friends at the zoo...

Our Life in Pictures....

We have made lots and lots of jam......(blackberry, peach n' pecan, and peach)

We have picked fruit and veggies out of our garden....(those peaches are amazing!)

We have been to visit Mema....We have gone kayaking....

We've gone to Dallas...

We have growing children....

We have also made gingerbread people, but I didn't get pictures of those.
More coming......

Countdown to Summer....

We are hoping to finish the school year by this weekend!!! Hooray! I am soooo ready for a break from school....and I can only imagine that the kids are too. Okay, I do plan on doing some with Jekkie throughout the summer....but just the same... I used to think that the USA was pretty dumb in the way that their school year worked....starting in SEPTEMBER??? (Australia starts in Feb.) tiny little 'breaks' every so often (Australia - work for 10 weeks then 2 weeks off), US, taking off 3months for the summer? Too long... (Australia - approx 8 weeks over Christmas time).......Now, I am quite happy with the way it is here....We do most of our book/school work through the months that are cooler, and can have a blast while the weather is nice... (OK, stinkin' hot) I have also found that it is a big plus with having a big garden! During the summer is when we start drowning in veggies, and so I need to learn how to can it all..... If we were having to mess with school as well? So, in a way I feel like the "real-life" schooling starts now....all the book-work, you have to have legally, but I look forward to relaxing and getting to teach cooking, and preserving, and growing, and harvesting, and weeding, and doing craft stuff, and just having fun.....and I get to learn too!

So the kids are working like crazy to get their stuff done so that they can quit.

Belated HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!!

Happy Mother's day Mum! (Ours was very eventful, which I won't go into, but hence it wasn't foremost on our mind.) But I love and am very thankful for my Mum and I just wanted her to know that!