Delicious Bourbon Chicken Recipe!

I made dinner on Sunday night for us and some friends, and it turned out soooo yummy! I think that anyone who likes Chinese food should try it! It was super easy, and it didn't take long at all to make. I would have taken pictures, but I'm not a super talented chef so it didn't look fancy enough for pictures. Maybe someday I'll try to do that. Anyway, here is the recipe. Note- this served 4 adults, one serving each. If you think anyone will want seconds or you like having leftovers, I'd definitely double the recipe.

Bourbon Chicken
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 4 good size chicken breasts), cut into bite sized pieces.
1-2 TB olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 tsp ginger
3/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 C apple juice
1/3 light brown sugar
2 TB ketchup
1 TB apple cider vinegar
1/2 C water
1/3 C soy sauce
1 TB corn starch
1 tsp Siracha sauce (optional, but I recommend it!)

1. Heat oil in a large skillet.
2. Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned.
3. Remove chicken, add remaining ingredients, heating over medium heat until well blended and dissolved.
4. Add chicken and bring to a hard boil.
5. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes uncovered.
6. Mix in about 1 teaspoon of Sriracha sauce with the mix if you want to add a bit of extra spice. (This sauce is usually found by the Asian food in the grocery store, by the soy sauce.)
7. Serve over hot rice.

We had garlic cauliflower with it and it was delicious, but something like hot broccoli would be yummy too. Let me know if you try it!

Super yummy and easy dessert: Banana Cream Pudding Poke Cake

This dessert it is in fact as delicious as it sounds. I made this for a bday party thing at work last week, and it was gone by the end of the day. It was light and fluffy and moist and just delicious! It's perfect for spring and summer. For anytime of the year really, but especially those seasons. You do need to plan ahead a bit for this since it does need to sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but if you make most of it the night before, it works out perfectly!

Banana Cream Pudding Poke Cake

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• eggs, oil & water according to cake mix directions
• 2 pkgs (3.4oz boxes) instant banana cream pudding
• 4 C cold milk
• 1 tub (8oz) cool whip, thawed
• about 20 vanilla wafers, coarsely crushed

1. Prepare cake mix according to directions for a 9x13 cake.

2. Once the cake comes out, allow it to cool for about 10 minutes.

3. Take a wooden spoon handle and poke holes all over the cake, making sure to poke it all the way through to the bottom of the pan. Make sure the holes are a good size to allow the pudding in. 

4. In a bowl, whisk the pudding together with the milk. Allow to set for about 3-4 minutes to thicken, but not completely set. 

5.Pour slowly over cake, taking care to pour directly into the holes. Spread it across the cake and lightly push excess into the holes when possible. 

6. Put the cake in the fridge for at least two hours. (I did overnight and it worked great)

7. Remove cake and "frost" with cool whip. (I only used about 1/2-2/3 of the cool whip tub and it was plenty)

8. Coarsely crush the vanilla wafers. If you don't want a crunch at all, crush them very well. I personally like the crunch with the moist cake, so I didn't crush mine too much.

9. Sprinkle the crushed wafers over the top of the cake as light or thick as you want. Do this immediately before you serve the cake to ensure that they stay crunchy. 

10. Slice 2-3 bananas and place slices on top for garnish.

If this sounds like a lot of work, don't worry. It really isn't. It's way easy and it was SO YUMMY! This would be great for a pot luck or a summer picnic. People will love you for it. Really. So, you're welcome in advance for all the new friends this cake will bring you. 

Hiking Hobble Creek Canyon

So Ryan and I have decided that we need to be more active.   We both enjoy hiking (even though I feel like I'm going to die about 20 minutes into it, and Ryan never even gets winded) and have gone up Hobble Creek  Canyon before.  We really enjoyed it last time, but since that was last fall we thought it would be fun to see the differences between then and late spring/early summer.  I didn't feel like I was dying quite as fast this time (it wasn't as hot, and I'm in just a tiny bit better shape), so that was an exciting change.  The weather was perfect that day, and the scenery was beautiful.

My mini wildflower bouquet

We did about 6 1/2 miles total, in about 3 hours. On the way up, Ryan saw a snake and I ran to catch up with him to attempt to catch it (cause that's what I do) but it was already gone. I suppose it's possible that he said there was one just to get me to speed up, but he wouldn't do that....or would he?! Haha. Even if he did make it up, he made it up to me by finding me another critter to catch instead. It was the cutest horny toad right next to his foot, and it barely even tried to run when I caught it. I think it had already decided that it loved me, so he didn't want to run. He sat in my hand, not trying to run, and then sat on my shirt ready to go on an adventure. I walked with him there for awhile, but then I didn't want to take him too far from his home (what if he had a wife and babies?? I couldn't break up a family) so I set him down. I wanted to keep him as my pocket friend forever, so parting brought a bit of pain to my heart. But all I could do was move on. Tragic really. And going along with one of my quirks, I did in fact name him. His name is Simon.

(I apologize for the awkward placement of Simon. I didn't realize how the picture would come out with him sitting in that particular location. I'm sure he wasn't complaining though...haha)

It was a beautiful day, and I loved having that time with my sweet husband. He's very patient with my slow hiking and that means so much to me. It was great to get out and enjoy the sun too. It reminded me how much I love being outside (especially when there are critters involved!)