Good Eats: Sesame Chicken with Stir-fry Veggies

 

Sesame chicken is a staple dinner in our house.  This is originally a Weight Watcher recipe, so you know it's got to be a great, healthy choice for the whole family.  I've added on a stir-fry veggie that's super simple and tasty.  I also normally cook white rice to make a good square meal.

 

 

 



 Chinese Sesame Chicken
2-3 lbs. skinless, boneless chicken thighs
6 oz. apple juice (or one juice box)
1 c. water
2 Tbs. packed brown sugar
4 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tbs. ketchup
2 cloves minced garlic
Dash ground red pepper
2 Tbs. cornstarch dissolved in a little water
4 tsp. toasted sesame seeds

Brown chicken in med-hot pan sprayed with pam.  Combine juice, water, brown sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic, and red pepper.  Add sauce to chicken and bring up temp to a low boil, then reduce to low for a simmer.  Cook for 20-25 minutes, flipping the chicken over half way through.  Remove chicken and whisk in dissolved corn starch.  Cook till thickened. Add back chicken and add sesame seeds.  Enjoy!

Stir-Fry Veggies
1/2 small head of cabbage
1 onion (I like red)
2-3 peeled carrots
soy sauce
salt
pepper

Dice up cabbage, onion, and carrots.  Add a little oil to a pan or pot on medium heat.  Sprinkle on soy sauce and add a few dashes of salt and pepper.  Cook till carrots are tender and cabbage nice a wilted.  Add more soy sauce to taste.  Approximately 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Travel Maze Tutorial

 

I found my maze on a google image search, or you can get creative and think of your own design.  The only important factor is that your path is wide enough for your bead or marble to push around.

 

I choose a crazy checkered fabric in hopes to make it more complicated for my 4 year old. 

 Don't forget to add your bead before you close the gap up, or you'll end up with a weird hanky.



 



 

 This takes a little patience, but it will all be worth it!

 

Now you have a start and a finish!

 

When your kiddo gets good at getting the bead from the start to the end and the end to start, then you can create variations.  I like to steal the maze, put the bead in a weird secluded part of the maze, and then ask Clare to get it to one of the buttons. 

 

It's a super simple sew, that can give lots of car time/waiting room entertainment.

Tear Stains on the Attic Floor

Up in my attic, you will find the general clutter of normal houses; red and green tubs filled with Christmas décor, dust coating every surface, and years worth of Clare's clothing that she has slowly outgrown.

I remember packing these tubs.  Smiling at the little outfits that were just too adorable.  Carefully folding each onesie, even those that were so stained that I would never use them again.  All the while, wondering how soon it would be before I was dragging them all down again to sort and clean for the next baby.

Life moved on.  More tubs were added.  We lost our son, William, before I even thought to start sorting clothes.  Months changed to years.  Now Clare is 4 years old.  Not a shred of her baby gear can be seen.  No soft soled shoes, no changing covers, no umbrella strollers.  All locked away in clear little plastic tubs in the attic waiting to be opened again.

I am doing a sewing project for my new niece and had to crawl up in the attic today.  I cracked open those bins and saw all the tiny clothes.  Clothes that were saved, because they were thought to be worn again soon.  And these past 4 years drew out before me like a long scroll.  Years filled with joy and sorrow, doctors and drugs, tests and negative results, religious prophesies and unfulfilled hope. 

I cried bitter tears on that attic floor.  I find it ironic that I feel more sorrow and loss for a child that I've never had, than for my own son that I held in my arms and buried in the ground.  At least he was alive. At lease he existed.  That's more than can be said for these tubs left to gather dust. 

I'm not writing this post looking for solutions or advise.  I've done everything I'm willing to do.  I've prayed the novenas, I've seen the doctors, I have looked into other options, and I have heard prophesies.  I know I am young, and my life will change.  I just desperately want to feel peace.  I hope laying this pain out for others to see will bring me closer to that.   

"Oh Lord, you will establish peace for us, since you have done everything else for us." Isaiah 26:12