holy cow kim, stop posting!

I thought it was only fair to include a couple recipes since I am asking for a bunch. AND you've never eaten these ones, cause I made them up! So bonus!

matrix chicken
Chicken Breasts
1 can Creamy Chicken Soup
3/4 c. milk
a little flour
a little butter
Italian seasoning(oregano, thyme)
2 small cloves garlic minced, or garlic powder
1/4 an onion, minced
2 cups bread crumbs
tomatoes, sliced

Pound out the chicken breasts so you get a better yumminess to chicken ratio. Combine the onion, soup, milk, and garlic. In separate bowl combine bread crumbs, flour, melted butter, and italian seasoning. Dip the chicken in the soup mixture, then bread one side. Place on a greased cookie sheet, then place tomatoes on top of the chicken. Spoon Crumbs onto the top. Cook at 350 for 20 minutes or so. Or, cook it however you cook chicken so it doesn't dry out, I don't know how very well. Serve with rice, pilaf, couscous, or a luscious bed of pasta.

Note: I was watching the matrix while inventing this chicken, that's how it got it's name. However, it's probably a copyright infringment to use that title, so don't publish and make money off this recipe.

Nat, I wish you could see the illustration william did in my cookbook

Savory Harvest Delicious
Pork chops or Lamb
Potatoes (new potatoes from the garden are my fave)
carrots
heck, throw some pumpkin chunks in there, or other squash if you like it
Garlic
parsley
rosemary(if you like it)
pumpkin sauce(exactly what you would use for a pumpkin pie)
roasted pumpkin seeds(you can buy em! Or make em, if you want to. But whichever way you do it, take off the shells before you eat them, cause they are not as good with them on :) OR if you hate em, don't use em! "This is your world, anything can happen" Ooh, maybe try candied pecans...)

Thaw and sear the meat. Scrub and cut the potatoes and carrots and dump them in a pan with the meat. Season with savory goodness. Baste with pumpkin sauce(I had left-over pumpkin pie mix, but not enough for a pie. That is what prompted this experiment). Bake at 350, covered, for an hour, or until potatoes and meat are done. Baste again half way through cooking, and add water if need be. Serve hot. Sprinkle with salted roasted pumpkin seeds and drizzle with more warm sauce. Eat with biscuits, rice, or something else that is delicious.

KungFu Panda Noodle Chicken
again with the name. Don't be tricked into thinking this is chinese food, it's more like Chicken Cordon Bleu.
SO, there aren't very many of us so I only use 2 chicken breasts and make this in a bread pan, but make however much you need for your family!

2Chicken Breasts, boiled and cubed
1 1/2 - 2 cups cooked Penne Pasta
2 Cups Alfredo sauce(if you home-make it, you can add garlic and onions)
sliced ham
grated cheese

Layer pasta, sauce, chicken, ham. Do a couple layers and top with cheese. Cram it in the oven
long enough to heat it through.

meal ideas!

Hey everyone(the what, 5 people who read my blog :)
I need some meal ideas. Our usuals are getting kind of old. Let me know what some of your family's favorite meals are, or your favorite meals to make. Thanks!

since everyone was home for conference, it was decided that a family pictures were in order. Unfortunately, it was just after my little guy got his shots.

Seasonal Twist on a Festive Favorite

HOT Chocolate + Pumpkin Ice cream. Delicious

MISS YOU!

way back in the day, I met a great gal in China. I haven't seen her since, but I follow her blog. JODI, ITS YOU! I can't comment on your blog, but I know you follow mine. I read your "85 and sunny" post today and I miss you! Oh why do you live so far away? When I read the part about your laugh attack I felt like I was right there with you; how many of those did we have in China? I can just see you saying that like I was in the room when it happened. Man, I miss you!

Here's the halloween decorations I've been working on. So much fun, and I only spent 10 bucks, plus some candy!

I LOVE Halloween! I love the leaves, the dressing up, the candy. I am so STOKED! I went shopping with my creative cousin yesterday for some halloween crafts and it just really got me in the spirit. It may be my most favorite holiday.

Pretty lucky...

So the other day a friend of mine was asking about how I knew I wanted to marry Robert. He has met the girl he is probably going to marry and is a little anxious about that big step. It was fun to relive that summer I met Robert and remember our life together so far. I told my friend how we met, and about that night on the water tower watching the stars:

We had planned to spend the evening together, but I was late. I took longer on the river that day because one of the people I was taking was an old man with Parkinson's. I'm pretty sure my hair was still wet when Robert picked me up. We went to a semi-lame rodeo, and it wasn't that late when we were done so we decided to go stargazing on the water tower. We were talking, but then Robert got quiet. He asked how I felt about him. When I told him I loved him(I still say he tricked me into saying it first) I felt his whole body sigh. It was like a big weight had lifted off his shoulders. He loved me too. I told him I would be his as long as he wanted me, and he said he wanted me forever. After making sure he was serious I, of course, consented.



I also told my friend how Robert totaled my car while we were ring shopping and about how life has been since we got married that day in a blizzard. I told him it was hard: worrying about bills, buying your own groceries, not having insurance, living in less-than-great housing cause that's what you can afford, wondering if you are going to make it financially to that ever-out-of-reach next paycheck, using the bench seat from an old van as a couch, trying to make a nice home on DI furniture and hand-me-downs. But I also assured him that it was worth it. Every mold problem, every cockroach. Every burned dinner and made-up recipe gone horribly wrong. Every late fee on the light bill and every failed garden. Every cold afternoon or food storage dinner cause we couldn't afford the heat bill or grocery shopping. Every elbow to the face when you were sleeping and every stolen cover. And you know WHY all that is worth it? Because you grow so much closer together just being you two against the world. And now and then, mixed in with all the worry, there is an amazing moment. Crunching leaves together, paying off the car, shaving the dog together, nerf attacks, hearing your baby's heartbeat for the first time, finding out you won't lose your job at the end of the summer, long drives and long walks, hobo birthday parties and exploding candles, mullet march haircuts, surprise chickens. Sure we have had hard times, and for sure we have more ahead of us. But every memory I have with my Robert, and now my Edgar boy, makes it all worth it. You can't put off life just cause it's scary or you can't afford it. You have to find joy in the journey! That's how Heavenly Father wants it. And if you keep him in your life things will work out even against all odds.

Honestly, getting married was the best thing I have ever done. I have the best husband. He is so smart and wise and sees things so much more clearly than I do. He works so hard so I can stay home with our sweet son. He loves me even though I am lazy and some days down-right mentally challenged. Oh yes, marriage is worth all the hard times. I am the luckiest girl in all the world. Robert, I love you!