Crispy Potato Wedges -- Share a Meal Monday

It looks like I need to update my blog more often. These meals on Monday might just take over.

I got this recipe from my friend Katie, and we've changed it a little over the years. It's a really great side-dish, like with hamburgers. But I usually just make them by themselves, for an easy dinner night.
There are different seasonings you can use. If you want more mild ones, just use salt, pepper and garlic. My husband invented the seasoning below. My favorite is KC Mastepiece BBQ seasoning (find it in the spice section). I just add a generous amount to the oil (maybe a tablespoon or so).

Crispy Potato Wedges
4 medium potatoes cut into large wedges
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Seasoning:
2 teaspoons paprika
1 ½ teaspoons ground black pepper
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon dark brown sugar
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
Place potatoes in a large bowl; add cold
water to cover. Let stand 15 min.
Preheat oven to 425. Spray baking sheet
with cooking spray. Set aside. Drain
potatoes, then spread on paper towels.
Cover with more paper towels and press to
dry potatoes. Place potatoes in bowl with oil
and seasoning to taste. Bake in oven for 25
min. then flip fries over with spatula and
bake for another 25 min.

Share a Meal Monday

My friend Michelle came up with this awesome idea for a linky party to share recipes we've made during the week. Here's one of my favorites that we recently discovered and that we make all the time. You really should try it.



Lime Chicken Tacos

1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into small pieces)
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
½ lime (juiced, or 1/8 c. lime juice)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (I never use this much. Doesn't it seem like a lot of pepper?)
2 green onions (chopped)
2 garlic cloves (minced)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
10 (6 inch) flour tortillas
1 tomato (diced)
¼ cup shredded lettuce
¼ cup Monterey jack cheese
¼ cup salsa
Sour cream (optional)

Add a little oil to the pan and sauté chicken pieces in the pan for a few minutes over medium-high heat. Add vinegar, lime juice, sugar, salt, pepper, green onions, garlic and oregano. Simmer for another 10 minutes (just until the chicken is cooked and the sauce is not quite so thin)

Warm tortillas and add chicken mixture to each one evenly. Top with cheese, tomato, lettuce and salsa. (Makes 4 servings). I actually like to take the chicken out of the pan, leaving a little of the sauce, and warm the tortillas in it on the stove. It makes them so yummy! But the sauce burns quickly, and I've only ever been able to do 3 tortillas before the pan is a burnt mess.


They are seriously yummy, and an easy, quick meal. Love them! And aren't I a great photographer? Don't you love my black dishes?
I really got the picture off the internet.

Porn Hog

They get a big kick out of nonsense words. This time we got a kick out of it, too:

Jason: Dad, you're a CORN DOG! (Ha ha ha, so funny, they can't stop laughing)
Jared (AKA Dad): Well you're a Corn HOG! (Hysterical laughing, rolling on the floor)
Tyler: Oh yeah? You're a PORN HOG! (Having no idea what it means they still think it's hilarious, but we're now the ones that can't stop laughing)

Geez, Jared, quit hogging all the porn! Share the love, will ya!

"Sometimes we should get a chicken"

Conversation between Tyler and me:

Tyler: Sometimes we should get a chicken.
Me: A chicken? Why on earth should we get a chicken?
Tyler: Because you can give them pieces of bread to eat. Chickens are better than cats or dogs.
Me: They are? Why?
Tyler: Because you can give them pieces of bread! (with an un-said "Duh")
Me: Oh. That's why they're better?
Tyler: Yes. Cheeto has a chicken (Cheeto is a neighbor boy, and he does indeed have a chicken). It goes across the street sometimes.
Me: Hmmm. Why did the chicken cross the street?
Tyler: I don't know. But it looked both ways.

11 Years

It's our anniversary today. 11 years, I can hardly believe it. I feel like the luckiest woman on earth because my life turned out pretty much exactly as I wanted it to. I'm married to the love of my life, and we are the best of friends. I have three boys who are, in my opinion, the three best little boys in the whole entire world, and how was I lucky enough to get the best three?
The only thing missing is a house of our own and some extra cash. And a cruise to the Bahamas. But those will be here soon enough.
Here's to 11 fabulous years!!

Handymen

Lowe's does these free Build and Grow Clinics a couple times a month. They give the kids little kits with all the pieces they need for a little project, with pre-drilled holes where the nails are supposed to go and everything. The boys have loved them, and I for one have loved seeing them in the awesome safety goggles and little red aprons that they give them.



This is a little planter they made for Earth Day. By far their favorite was the catapult. It was pretty awesome, it launched plastic balls. And when their cousin Riley came to visit he loved it just as much as them, if not more.
There is usually some crying over a smashed finger, and frustration over unclear instructions, and me telling them to "knock it off or we're never coming here again!" (A hollow threat, since I like it almost as much as they do). But we have a blast. If you have a Lowe's near you, take your kids to it, they'll love it.

New, but sadder news

Alas, that there have to be such blog posts as this.

Life throws you curveballs sometimes. Pulls the rug out from under you.

All I wanted to know was is it pink or blue??? I have three healthy boys, have had three picture-perfect pregnancies, so the thought crossed my mind that of course, I just want a healthy baby, but why shouldn't I have one? I have such a great track record.

I knew immediately that it was all wrong. The baby was too small. And it was just laying there. Usually they start doing backflips when the ultrasound starts. It should have been moving. Its heart should have been moving. It wasn't. The ultrasound technition was saying things like “Let me just check some things,” and then “This isn’t what you expect at your 20 week ultrasound,” and finally “I’m sorry.” And I had to ask what I really already knew but didn’t want to face. “Are you saying that this is a miscarriage?” And she confirmed it and I clung to Jared’s hand and cried, and my heart ached over what we had lost.

That night was a very long and sleepless one. I was so sad, so confused. I spent many hours crying, thinking and pleading with the Lord for understanding.

Before the night was up, though, I had found some peace.
I thought the plan was for us to have a baby in December. I was wrong. That's all. I wasn't cheated, something didn't go terribly wrong. The Lord had a plan, and this was it. I don't have any idea why, I just know this is the way it was always supposed to be.

Don't get me wrong, I still sometimes have a terrible ache in my heart when I see baby things and pregnant women, I still feel a sense of loss and cry sometimes. And it has taken time to work out all my feelings. That's why it has also taken me two and a half weeks to get this blog post up.

The rug gets pulled out from under us, but we can still get back on our feet again. I have my three boys, and I have definitely gained a greater appreciation for them. I have my awesome husband, who is the love of my life. The world is beautiful and we are all part of a plan so much bigger than us all.

Really it kind of feels like a miracle, that my heart can heal, after being so broken. Like that song from Charlotte's Web: "It seems so exceptional that things just work out after all. It's just another ordinary miracle today."