General Tso's Chicken, a Recipe for Chinese New Year

*Updated January 20, 2012, with a recipe for Fried Rice (below)*

Monday, January 23, 2012, is Chinese New Year, otherwise known as the Spring Festival in China.  It is a major holiday in China, and so in honor of that celebration, I thought I would share with you a Chinese recipe.  We don't always have Chinese food on this holiday, but I do always remember it because my family lived in China for a few years, when I was in college, and I always loved hearing their stories of how they celebrated! {Read this post, by my sister, if you want to hear one such story}.

Our favorite Chinese dish {I guess I should say, American Chinese dish, because most Chinese food we eat here in America is nothing like the food you eat in China} is General Tso's Chicken.  You find it on just about every menu, usually with a hot pepper icon next to it.  There's just enough of a spicy kick to add some interest, and the sauce and crunchy chicken make it oh, so delicious!

This recipe turned out a bit different from what I'm accustomed to in a restaurant, but it was good just the same, and apparently more healthy.

General Tso's Chicken
Printable Version


1/4 cup cornstarch
1 pound snow peas
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 eggs
salt and pepper
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

In a mixing bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1/2 cup cold water until smooth. Add garlic, ginger, soy sauce, snow peas, red pepper flakes, and brown sugar, and stir until combined.  Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk eggs, remaining cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Add chicken and toss to coat.

Heat oil in a large skillet.  Add the chicken pieces, shaking off excess egg mixture before placing in skillet.  Cook, turning occasionally, until golden, about 6-8 minutes.  Set aside.

Add snow pea mixture to same skillet, cover and cook until sauce has thickened, about 5-10 minutes.  Return chicken to skillet; toss to coat.  Serve with rice {or fried rice, if you're brave!}

 source: slightly adapted from Martha Stewart


Fried Rice

4 tablespoons oil (I use vegetable oil)

4 cups cooked rice

1/4 cup chopped scallions (optional, or sometimes I use diced onion)

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

2 eggs, slightly beaten

Heat the oil in a large skillet (it does not need to be a wok), add rice, scallions, soy sauce, and pepper.  Cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, for 6 minutes.  Add the eggs and stir briskly so they cook and break into small bits throughout the rice.  As soon as the egg is set, remove and serve. 

(I sometimes also add about 1/2 cup cooked peas, 1/2 cup cooked diced carrots at the beginning with the rice mixture.  You can also add cooked chicken, shrimp, or pork to make the fried rice a meal all on its own).

source: The Fannie Farmer Cookbook

Reading List for 2012 & A Book Recommendation

The beginning of a new year is one of my favorite times.  I feel invigorated, driven, motivated, and excited for all that is in store.  This year has been a bit different, as we've been sick, my husband has been on a new schedule, and I'm already feeling VERY pregnant {still have 14 weeks to go!}.  However, even in the midst of all of that I've tried to carve out some time to think about this coming year and be more purposeful in how I spend my time.  It's so easy to get on the computer and get lost on Facebook, my blog list, Pinterest, or even just sit and do things that don't really achieve any real purpose in my day, or in the greater scheme of my life.  This year, I've decided to try and work against this struggle of wasting time and energy; instead, I'd like to set goals in various areas of my life that I hope will enable me to be more organized, more productive, and more importantly, more fruitful for the Lord.

One of the ways I've decided to work on this is to make a reading list for my year.  I always loved the beginning of a new semester in college when I could place my syllabi next to each other and make a list of all the reading required for each class that semester.  It was fun to map out how I would finish it all and make it to the end!  Now, I get to make my own reading list, based upon the things that I feel I need to change in my life, truth on which I need to reflect, or subjects in which I need to educate myself.

So, here's my stack thus far:
 

 They're not stacked in any particular order, and I haven't really decided which ones I'm going to delve into first.  One of my goals in reading this year is to keep a Book Journal.  I always underline, highlight and mark up my books, which I'm sure I will continue to do, but this year, I'm going to add a separate journal that will be for specific lessons, thoughts, or ideas that I take away from the books I read.  Hopefully, this will help me as I go back through the year to remind myself of what I've learned.  {I don't have said journal yet, but it's on my list to buy tomorrow when we run errands!}.

Now, for my recommendation.  The wee little book at the top of this stack is a gem, for all of you moms who might be reading this that have little children.  It's called Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches.

Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches

My sister-in-law gave this to me for Christmas and I picked it up to read the other night after the kids were in bed.  An hour later, I had finished it--it was THAT good!  I'm sure it helped that I had a pretty exhausting day parenting my toddlers {correction, dealing with whining, sitting at the table for an hour to finish dinner, pooping in the panties, etc., etc., etc.} but even without that, her insights and real-life examples, combined with truth from God's Word were an excellent encouragement and gentle rebuke to me as a mom.  I plan to read back through it once I have my book journal so I can make some notes of specific things I learned. {Perhaps I'll post some more on this book later...}  If you're mothering children in the little years right now, this would be a great book to read!  

{You can simply click on the link of the book title above and it will take you right to Amazon to order}.

I realize this is a big list right now, but it's my goal and I'm hoping to finish these {some I've started several times, just not finished, so I hope to read them all the way through this time!}.

In case you can't read the titles, here they are:

Don't Make Me Count to Three
Calm My Anxious Heart: A Woman's Guide to Finding Contentment
The Marriage Builder
War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles (Resources for Changing Lives)
Gospel-Powered Parenting: How the Gospel Shapes and Transforms Parenting
Shepherding a Child's Heart
The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home
Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ (A Study Guide to the DVD Featuring John Piper) (John Piper Small Group)
Large Family Logistics

I'm looking forward to all that I will learn from these books this year.

What's on your list?

2012 Word of the Year

Today Layla, over at The Lettered Cottage, is hosting a Word of the Year Link Party.  I've never chosen a word of the year, but I've read that it's the new way of making a New Year's Resolution.  Perhaps keeping to one word will be easier for me.  Here's the word I've chosen:

It may seem a strange word to some of you.  Why didn't I just choose love, passion, or something like that?  Well, let me explain, for there are several ways in which I want to improve the condition of my heart this year.  

1. Examine my heart.  Recently, I've found that there are many areas of my heart that are left 'untouched' each day; mostly areas that have to do with sin.  It's so easy to shove the wrong intentions, selfishness, anger, and impatience under the rug and just brush it off.  At least this is what I have discovered I've been doing lately.  So, I'm going to purpose this year to daily, even moment-by-moment, examine my heart.  I long for my heart to reflect the heart of Christ, and the first step for me in doing this is to keep my heart in check, examining it for all elements that don't reflect Christ. 

Psalm 139:23-24 says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart!  Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

2. Pour out my heart.  No, I'm not talking about gabbing on the phone with girlfriends about all my troubles or updating my facebook status with daily woes.  Pouring out my heart is a practice I want to keep as I communicate with the Lord.  After examining my heart, I long to pour out confessions to the Lord, seeking His forgiveness, asking Him to purify me to make me more like Him.  In the Psalms, King David sets such an awesome example of this practice of 'pouring' before the Lord.  He constantly brought his failures, his requests, his praises, and his questions before the Lord.  I long for that intimacy that David had with his Savior, and I know this can only happen as I pour my heart out before the Lord.  

I was reading back through my journal over the past few months and noticed that my prayers are often guarded.  Rarely do I truly share the true feelings of my heart, even with the Lord.  But, that is what He wants from me!  He already knows every thought that I have, but He does long for me to come to Him and pour it before Him. 

Psalm 62:8 says, "Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us."

3. Purify my heart.  This isn't something that can be done on my own, but thankfully through the power of the Holy Spirit, I can be cleansed!  I long to have a pure heart before the Lord, one that is constantly driven by truth, controlled by the Spirit, and reflecting the character of Christ.

Psalm 24:3-4 says, "Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?  And who shall stand in His holy place?  He who has clean hands and a pure heart..."

In summary, the following verses are really my prayer for this year:

Psalm 73: 25-26 "Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.  My flesh and my HEART may fail, but God is the strength of my HEART and my portion forever."

Daily my heart needs strengthening, and the only place that this can truly happen is if God is doing it.  Oh, that I might have a daily renewing of heart-strength in my Savior!

How about you?  Have you chosen a word for 2012?  If so, link it up to the link below, or at least go over and read some of the other great words that were chosen. 

First Mood Board Attempt

The past two weeks have meant colds, coughs, and sleepless nights at our house.  Which, during the day, translates to me not tackling the large to-do list that I made.  And, you know what, it's okay!  Life is not going to stop because I haven't finished organizing the closets, cleaning out the pantry, and decorating the girls' room.  My family comes before all of that and they have needed me.  Plus, I've not been feeling great either, so I haven't had much motivation to get things done.

Yesterday, during the girls' nap, I decided to do some research online for fabric and other accessories for some of the projects I have spinning around in my head.  I wasn't planning to buy anything, just looking for some inspiration.  While doing that, I decided to try making a mood board.  I'm sure you've seen these all over blogland, and they're really great!  I've always been intimidated, though, because I'm no design guru, and usually can't make up my mind about what I want in a space.  However, I thought it might be a fun exercise.  It was!

My mood board is definitely not the greatest, by any stretch of the imagination, but it has helped me to visualize what I've been thinking for the Nursery.  I used a program called Olioboard, which is a free site with lots of images already added into it that you can pull from.  You can also upload your own images {I'm still trying to figure that out} which would be really helpful if you've already started collecting ideas for a space.  Here's my first mood board attempt:

Source: olioboard.com via Lauren on Pinterest

Oh, the other thing I haven't quite figured out is how to save my mood board as a file, rather than pinning, so you have a pin :)

This is not final, by any means, but I did have fun pulling fabrics, furniture, and other things onto a palette to sort of wrap my mind around what I'm thinking.

Has anybody else ever created a mood board?  If so, what did you use and how did you do it?  I NEED HELP!

Birth Story of Daughter #2

11 days ago I shared with you Birth Story of Daughter #1, and I would recommend that you read that post first, if you haven't already, so that you can have a greater appreciation for this one.  


Today is my second child's 2nd birthday!  It's so hard to believe that my girls are growing up so fast.  People always tell me that it goes by quickly, and they are right.  Some days it doesn't seem so fast, but when I look back life feels like a whirlwind since I had children.

Since I shared with you Isabella's birth story, I thought it would only be appropriate to share with you about the next birth.  So, here's a little recap, timeline of the pregnancy and all, so you can join with us as we celebrate and remember our precious little Mallory.

May 1, 2009:
Isabella was just over 3 months old and I noticed that she was hungrier than normal, and nursing just wasn't cutting it for her.  After reading a few articles on why this might be happening, I thought, "Well, maybe I should just take a pregnancy test to see."  So, that afternoon, I decided to give it a go and sure enough, positive results!  Ah!  I really couldn't believe it.  I hung onto that pregnancy test for awhile, just to convince myself that it was real.  Although, the nausea kicked in pretty soon afterward, so I didn't need convincing for too long.  My due date was January 8, 2010, a year and two days after my due date for Baby #1!

I guess I should really back up a little bit further here, as some of you might be saying, "WHAT?  You can't get pregnant while nursing!"  Backing up just a bit...

February (first part of the month) 2009:
After my post-partum check up I picked up my prescription for birth control pills {the mini-pill, safe to take while nursing}, and went ahead and started taking it.  The next day, my husband declared that I was way too moody and he didn't like the effects of birth control on me.  He was somehow convinced that nursing would be a sure contraceptive, so we decided for me not to take the pill.

His job shifted slightly right after this and we had a lot of time on our hands {remember, we had previously been separated for 6 months, read this post}, so naturally, you can guess what happened....I got pregnant and we discovered that breastfeeding is most definitely NOT a sure type of contraception!

May {end of the month}, 2009:
I started having some complications with my pregnancy and ended up for a day in the emergency room, sure that I had miscarried.  Thankfully, after seeing the DR, we able to hear a heartbeat and everything looked like it would be okay.

I never imagined that I would get pregnant so quickly after having my first baby, so being pregnant with an infant was a challenge.  But, it was also wonderful!  The distraction of a new baby was great in keeping my mind off of being sick and the temptation to just lie around the house had to be overcome.  We were thrilled with the thought of another one!

Family photo July, 2009

June, 2009:
While I was back on the East Coast visiting family, my husband received orders to move to another base in California, several hours north of San Diego, and by the time I returned home July 6, our apartment was totally packed up!  The next day, Isabella and I drove north to join my husband and we settled into life in gorgeous Monterey, CA!

Monterey Bay, Monterey, CA

August, 2009:
This time around we decided to find out the gender of the baby. It was a GIRL!  We thought it would be so fun to have two little girls so close in age and couldn't wait to meet her.

December 2009:
We had to stay home for the holidays, since I was extremely pregnant, which really was fine with us.  Isabella started walking right before Christmas, which was really wonderful in my opinion, because I didn't know what I would do if I had to carry two children all the time to run errands.  All month long I had contractions, pretty much every day and was pretty uncomfortable.  At my 36 week check-up, I had dilated to 3 centimeters, and stayed there through check-up at 39 weeks.

January 2, 2010:
Bradley's mom came to stay with us and wait for the baby to be born.  She had planned to stay for 2 weeks, and we were SO thankful!  I was sure the baby would come early, as her sister had, but after one week of my mother-in-law there, still no baby!

VERY pregnant and ready to have a baby!

January 7, 2010:
For about 5 hours one day I had steady contractions about every 10 minutes.  We went to a friend's house for dinner, and around 7PM I told Bradley I felt like we needed to head for the hospital.  Of course we didn't have anything ready, so we headed home to pack our bags and go to the hospital.  By the time we got home and started getting ready, my contractions had stopped completely!  Ugh!

January 9, 2010:
Since there was still no baby, we decided to take a great walk to a nearby beach where we would be required to walk a lot, through hilly sand dunes, and I was sure that would put me into labor.  Nothing.

The dunes we climbed through.

January 10, 2010:
7AM, I woke up and started feeling some light contractions.  I was pretty sure this would be the day, so I took my time getting out of bed, showered and dressed.  This time around I was bound and determined that I would look good in the first pictures with my little girl.  By the time I was putting on my eyeliner, I was doubled over the sink with each contraction.  I told Bradley it was time to go and we headed to the hospital.  Being the loving husband that he is, we parked the car, and WALKED into the hospital.  He refused to drop me off at the door because he wasn't thrilled about a false alarm.  Walking, he assured me, would keep the contractions coming, if this was the real deal.

We got into the maternity ward and they put me in a room right away.  I was dressed and in the bed within minutes, and a DR came in to check my progress.  When he told me I was dilated to 9 centimeters I said to him, "Are you serious?  Because if you're joking, that's really not funny."  He was totally serious, broke my water, and immediately the pain intensified.

Less than an hour later, and after only 4 pushes, out came our little Mallory Daire.  She was a beautiful, healthy, big baby, at 8lbs 15 oz.  I was so relieved and couldn't believe how easy it was compared to my first delivery!  I was recovering, holding my clean baby by the time lunch came around at the hospital.  Visitors showed up soon after and it was great to have a baby in the morning, after having a full night's rest, to then have the rest of the day to enjoy her, relax, recover, and visit with friends and family.

Arrived at the hospital and ready to go!

First glimpse of my new little girl.

Looking much more like myself this time around :)

Bradley wears the same shirt for the births of our children; love it!

So glad Mom could be there!

Grateful for my mother-in-law and love her dearly!

Chubby cheeked little girl.

Ready to go home.

Because it was winter, and flu season, Isabella couldn't come visit us in the hospital, which was too bad, but it honestly was really nice to be in the hospital by myself with Mallory for one night.  They sent me home the next day and Isabella immediately fell in love with her new little 'baby doll' of a sister.

Peeking in on her little sister.

My two girls and me.

Mallory has brought such joy to our family.  She definitely likes to make us laugh and is quite successful!  She has a terrific love of life and a strong personality, which we pray will be channeled in the right direction to serve the Lord with passion and tenacity.

Happy 2nd Birthday, sweet girl!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

One of my favorite things about eating during the winter is soup.  You can never have enough soup recipes and it really is simple to be creative making soup to be whatever you want!  Starting with a few basic ingredients {water, vegetables, meat}, and throwing in your own ideas, a simple meal is made that is warm and delicious.  I just came up with this formula:

SOUP = ART IN A POT

What do you think?  Corny?  Oh well, I thought it was pretty creative :)

Anyway, onto my soup recipe...

This is one of our favorites {at least my husband and my}.  It's also great with cauliflower instead of broccoli. You could add more cheese, puree it in a blender, like Pioneer Woman does, or just make it the way I suggest here.  Either way it's yummy.  We ate it with some cornbread and sliced strawberries on the side.  Delicious.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Printable Version

Take a head of broccoli or 3 cups broccoli florets, either fresh or frozen is fine {if frozen cook according to package directions} and cook it until almost done.  I prefer fresh, and am loving what I can get at COSTCO:

My favorite method for cooking broccoli is steaming it, for two reasons: the taste is better and it doesn't make the house smell as bad.  Just put a little water in the bottom of your steamer pot, bring it to a boil, then place the broccoli in the basket over the water, cover, and cook for about 6 minutes.

You want it to still hold its bright green color and it will cook slightly once added to the soup, so don't overcook.   Allow to cool for a few minutes and then chop into small pieces.

Using the same pot, melt some butter, then add some onion and cook until tender.

Next, dump in some flour and stir it until it's well combined.

I made my own chicken broth using this boullion, but you could certainly use canned, boxed, or the real homemade kind.

One teaspoon of granules + one cup of boiling water = 1 cup chicken broth.  This is what the granules look like.   I started boiling my water for the broth before cooking the broccoli and it was ready by the time I needed it for this part of the recipe.

Slowly add the broth to the pot and stir it well.

Heat this mixture, stirring occasionally, until it thickens up pretty well.

Dump in the milk and heat it until the mixture is just barely boiling.

Add the broccoli; I did it by hand a bit at a time so as not to cause soup to plop all over my stove top.

Then, add some cheese.  I prefer to have freshly grated cheese {did you know that pre-shredded cheese sometimes contains extra ingredients that are not cheese? When my husband read an article about this to me, I switched to buying chunks of cheese and just shredding it myself.  Plus, it tastes better this way}, but when I'm pregnant I get carpel tunnel in my wrists, and grating cheese is one of the most difficult things for me to do!  So, I used 1/2 pre-grated and 1/2 freshly grated for this recipe.

If you look carefully, you can even see the difference.  The freshly grated is on the right hand side--looks better!

Add the cheese and stir until melted.

Add salt and pepper to taste.  And, of course, taste it.

It's wonderful.  And, still tastes fantastic heated up the next day.  {It also freezes well.  My mom made a batch for us last winter and froze it and it was great.  Maybe just freeze for 2 months, though}.

source: my mom