6 years and loving it!

Today is my 6 year anniversary! I am so lucky and blessed to be in love with my best friend. John has been my comfort, my love, my everything. I love him with all that I have and can't image my life without him. I love this gospel so much to know that I have him and my family forever. Happy Anniversary John!

Every year we take a picture of us to document what we did and how we look like, so in 10, 20 + years we can look back and see us age, but also remember what we did. I have an Anniversary Photo Album/Book to keep all this in.

Year 6: Picture to come!

This is year 5 - Activity: Dinner and Temple.

This is year 4 - Activity: Dinner and Movie and hugely pregnant with Izzie.

This is year 3 - Activity: Dinner and a Las Vegas Show (we almost forgot to take 'the' picture so this is right before bedtime.)

Year 2 - Activity: Having a baby -Matthew

Year 1 - Activity: Dinner and a Las Vegas Show.
This isn't the picture on that day - We took that picture on film and not digital, but here is a picture of us that year.

Marriage date March 12, 2004 - Portland Oregon Temple for time and all eternity.

One of our Engagment Photos:

Matthew is now 4!

March 11th is my boys birthday. I can't believe he is 4. It seems like yesterday I was huge and pregnant and heading to the hospital to have this almost 10 lb baby. He has been my sunshine and loving boy. And he is still my big boy always bigger than normal - 44 lbs and the same size as most 5 year olds. He is so happy all the time and so willing to forgive and tell you he loves you. Since he is my first born, I dare say he gets all the experimental ways to raise a child, sorry Matthew! However, I am grateful to be his mommy.

For this 4th Birthday we had an at home party with family and my BFF family. Spider Man was the theme and Matthew couldn't have been happier. Pizza, three cakes and ice cream later, he told me he was glad it was his birthday. Happy Birthday my boy!

Recipes

I have some new recipes that I have tried and loved! I am going to post each one separately. With the chicken, my sister loved it so much she wanted me to make it again the next night. I told her, maybe the end of the week! I hope you enjoy them!

Cinnamon Bun Popcorn

Cinnamon Caramel Corn with Pecans & White Chocolate
{AKA Cinnamon Bun Popcorn!} (from Best Bites)

12 C popped popcorn (about 1/2 C kernels)*
1 C roughly chopped pecans (I left this out for the kids)
1 C brown sugar
3/4 t cinnamon
1/4 C Karo syrup (or honey makes a good substitution)
1 stick real butter (1/2 C)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
3 squares almond bark

*You can use air popped or microwave popcorn. If using microwave, anything works, but I prefer a "natural" flavor that's low in butter and salt.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees

Place popcorn and chopped pecans in a large bowl and set aside. And by large bowl, I mean like, twice as big as you think you really need.

Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a big, microwave-safe bowl. Like a 2-quart bowl or Pyrex measuring bowl. Again, use a bowl larger than you think you need to avoid scorching hot caramel. It's really important to incorporate the cinnamon into the brown sugar at this point. For some reason, if you don't it does crazy things. I don't know why.

Chop butter into chunks and place on top of sugar mixture. Pour corn syrup (or honey) over the top of everything.

Microwave on high for 30 seconds (just to soften the butter a bit) and then stir to combine.

Return to microwave and heat for 2 minutes. Remove and stir and then microwave for 2 minutes more.

By this point it should be nice and bubbly.

If it doesn't quite look like that you can microwave it a little longer, but just beware that if you over cook it, it will reach the hard candy stage and you'll end up with a giant clump of tasty concrete-like substance with little popcorn pieces stuck to it.

Remove from the microwave and add in vanilla and baking soda.

The vanilla makes it bubble and pop and the baking soda makes it foam up. SO COOL!

Now take that foamy science project and pour it right over the popcorn and pecans-if using. Stir right away, and stir lots. Take too long and the caramel will harden on you. Keep stirring until everything is well coated.

Spread popcorn mixture onto a foil-lined jelly roll pan.

And yeah, go ahead and pop some in your mouth, you know you want to. It will be kinda chewy and stick-to-your-teeth-like. But we're gonna change that. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

After 30 minutes, take a piece out and let it cool. "Sample." If it's not crunchy enough, bake for another 5 minutes. "Sample" again. This will not be the end of "sampling."

When it's done, give it a final stir and let it cool off for a bit while you melt your almond bark (just nuke it in the microwave according to the package directions) If you want, you can spread out your caramel corn on a clean piece of parchment, waxed paper, or foil. I always do this because sometimes it sticks to the hot foil if I leave it on the original pan. I'm kind of a clean control freak and I like to have it on a nice, fresh surface.

Now, just use a fork and drizzle the melted almond bark over the popcorn mixture.

When it's hardened (pop it in the fridge to speed that process along) break into chunks and enjoy!

Sticky Coconut Chicken

This is the one my sister loved:

Sticky Coconut Chicken
(by: My kitchen café)

6-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I used chicken tenders and they worked well)
1 cup canned coconut milk
1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
Marinade chicken in coconut milk, ginger, pepper and red pepper flakes at least one hour (I let mine marinade four about four to five hours). Grill on barbecue. (Tenders only a few minutes on each side- they cook fast!)

Glaze:
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
(this sauce is VERY strong and you might think it stinks - but do not worry it is a glaze and yummy on the chicken)

While the chicken is grilling, bring above ingredients to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until mixture is reduced and thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Be patient because it takes a little while. But once it starts getting really thick, immediately take it off the heat! Glaze both sides of chicken the last few minutes of grilling and serve chicken over rice.

Sidenote: I used the extra coconut milk left in the can as part of the liquid in my rice and it was unbelievable! It was very mildly sweet and paired so well with the chicken. Yum! The RICE WAS AWESOME with the coconut milk in it!!

Simple Asian Noodles

Simple Asian Noodles
And I mean simple. It was so fast to make we had to wait on the side dishes to cook!
*Serves 4-6

12 ounces thin spaghetti, fresh Chinese noodles or rice noodles (I used angel hair pasta)
1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
1 pound ground turkey
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 ½ teaspoons Thai red curry paste
8 ounces white button mushrooms, finely chopped (I used more and I thought it went better)
Sesame seed oil (I forgot this ingredient)

Sauce:
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar

In a small bowl, whisk all of the sauce ingredients together to combine. Set aside.

In a large pot, bring lightly salted water to a boil (I use about 1 tablespoon kosher/coarse salt for 4 quarts of water). Add the thin spaghetti (or whatever kind of noodle you are using) and cook until desired tenderness. Drain and set aside.

While the noodles are boiling, in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, heat the oil until rippling. Add the mushrooms and Thai curry paste and cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are nicely browned but not all the way cooked through, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the ground turkey, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, and cook it with the garlic, mushrooms and curry paste until the turkey is cooked through.

Add the cooked noodles and with a pair of tongs, lift and separate the noodles and incorporate them with the other ingredients. Pour the sauce over the noodle mixture and again, lift the ingredients up and over with a pair of tongs to coat all the ingredients with the sauce. Cook, stirring frequently, until the noodles have absorbed all the flavors and all the ingredients are heated through. If desired, drizzle lightly with Asian sesame seed oil to finish. Serve immediately.

Baked Asparagus with Balsamic Butter Sauce

Baked Asparagus OR Broccoli with Balsamic Butter Sauce

1 bunch fresh asparagus
cooking spray
salt and pepper to taste
2 T. butter
1 T. soy sauce
1 tsp. Balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Snap ends off of washed asparagus (why haven't I done this before so easy!!!!) and place on baking sheet. Coat with cooking spray and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 12 minutes or until tender. Melt the butter in a sauce pan or in the microwave. Stir in soy sauce and Balsamic vinegar. Pour over baked asparagus and serve.

OR use broccoli and steam it and add the last 4 ingredients - YUMMY for any Asian dinner! And I mean YUMMY!

This is now my favorite way to eat asparagus!!