My Version of Easy Chicken Fried Rice {and a little rant about naps}

Well, I had every attention of blogging some kind of real post about things I have been learning lately but alas my 3 year thinks it's her duty to get out a bed 100 times before finally calling it a night at about 10pm. I think we have officially hit the point where she no longer needs to take an afternoon nap and that makes me a little sad but not really in the "oh my baby girl is growing up sad" more like "when in the world am I going to have time to get things done without those precious 2 hours of quiet, sad."  Looks like I need to start figuring out some quiet activities that will keep her attention for more than 2 minutes....


Don't worry, I am not going to leave you with just this little rant about my loss...  I have a recipe, and it's even easy and kid approved in my house so that's a plus!


My Version of Easy Chicken Fried Rice
I usually just throw this together without measuring it but since that wouldn't be too helpful but I attempted to measure and take pictures so I could share.... it's not exact and you don't have to follow it perfectly to get good results....

You will need:

3 1/2 Cups Cooked Rice (I used brown rice)

1 Cup Frozen Peas

1 Cup Cooked Carrots (you could probably use frozen, I'm just not a fan)

1 1/2 Cups Diced Cooked Chicken

1 Egg

Soy Sauce (start with about 3 TBS, add more depending on taste)

Chinese Style Mustard (start with about 2 TBS)(FYI, mine said extra spicy but it really wasn't that spicy at all)

Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Cooking Oil (I used Canola)

*You could probably add onions too if you like that, I never feel like cutting them up*

*Tip- I cooked my carrots in my little steamer basket of my rice cooker to save a little time*

Start with a large skillet or wok on medium high heat. Put a few TBS of oil in the pan and heat. Add egg and scramble up in oil. 

Add rice, frozen peas, cooked carrots, and chicken and then soy sauce and mustard. Heat through adding more sauce if desired. Salt and Pepper to taste. 

That's it, pretty good and easy. My girls like it and using the brown rice it's healthy so that's a plus. BUT a little disclaimer, if you have toddlers this WILL make a mess (Isn't rice the hardest to clean up!?!) So my suggestion, after dinner go for a walk, then put the kids to bed and clean it up later when it's gotten yucky and hard, MUCH easier to sweep up....

Dinner This Week

Almost weekly when I sit down to make a meal/grocery list I get a deer in the headlights feeling and suddenly I have no idea what my family eats... so as I figure this out I thought I would post it and maybe help another mom this week. 

Monday- Ground Beef Tacos

                   Refried Beans 

                   Corn

Tuesday- Sour Cream Chicken {Made this before and it's amazing!}

                     Steamed broccoli and carrots

Wednesday- Spaghetti Squash  {Try it, not as scary as it seems & good!} 

                           with Meat Sauce

                           Zucchini Chips

Thursday- Hawaiian BBQ Chicken {new to me}

                       Rice

                       Salad

Friday-   Chili {my recipe}

                   Brown Rice

                   Frozen Peas

 (1 can kidney beans; rinsed, 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can tomato sauce, 1 can S&W chili beans w/sauce, 1 can full of milk, 1 lb ground beef/turkey seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, onion, and chili powder. 

Directions: Cook meat in large pot and season, then add other ingredients and bring to boil  and turn down and simmer until ready to eat. We like serve over brown rice and top with cheese to make it stretch and more filling, good either way)

Saturday- Leftovers

Amazing Apple Dip

Across the country it is starting to feel like FALL. 

If you live in the lovely state of Arizona it is still in the 100's....yeah.... weather wise we may start feeling like it's fall by mid November. bleh. However, I will not let this discourage me! I've got my pumpkin spice candle from Walmart and have already been busting out the fall-ish recipes. 

This recipe is perfect for fall! It's like a Caramel Apple but 10x better! Perfect for when hubby is at a baseball game and you have the whole thing to yourself a fun fall party or get together. 

Here's what you need!
2 (8oz) cream cheese squares, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 T vanilla extract
1 jar caramel topping (for ice cream)
1 large Symphony Toffee and Almond candy bar, crumbled
Sliced Granny Smith apples 

Did you know taking pictures of food is harder than it looks. 

 Cream together, cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla extract until smooth. 

Spread mixture in a pie plate. Next pour the caramel topping over and top with crumbled candy bar. Cover and refridgerator until cold for best results. Eat with a spoon. Serve with sliced Granny Smith apples. .

Over The Rainbow {1st Birthday Party}

For my little girls 1st birthday I wanted to do something bright and fun. The rainbow made from streamers turned out great and looking at it just made me smile. I made her tutu and the cupcakes too.

Doesn't it just make you feel happy!

Tickle time

Gotta love the rainbow tutu

Mostly pre-made food blamed on jet lag, but I did make the pasta salad!

I thought the cupcakes turned out so cute, I got the decorating idea from here and the recipes for the cupcakes here and the cream cheese frosting here. 

Messy Face, she loved it!

Buffalo Chicken Dip (this will rock your world)

*WARNING* This dip is very addicting and without very strong self control you and your spouse may just end up eating  the entire thing by yourselves for dinner...twice...in two days....

source

Yep....  just keeping it real around here... 
but seriously people.... this stuff is amazing.... just try it for yourself and you will understand....it's buffalo wings without the mess.

Buffalo Chicken Dip
Adapted from Franks RedhotINGREDIENTS:
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup blue cheese dressing (we used Marie's in the refrigerator/salad section)
1/2 cup regular FRANK'S® REDHOT® Sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 Cups Shredded Chicken
tortilla chips, celery, carrots, crackers, etc. (we used tortilla chips)


DIRECTIONS:
HEAT oven to 350°F. Place cream cheese into deep baking dish inside oven while heating up.
ADD in salad dressing, Frank's RedHot Sauce and cheese and chicken.
STIR after about 10 minutes and return to oven
BAKE about 10 more min. or until mixture is heated through; stir.

Toddler Tuesday- fun breakfasts

So I decided I would start making up themes to some of the days of the week to help with blog post inspiration. Feel free to laugh at the silly titles. Since I am the mother of a toddler I thought I could share ideas and thoughts I have on this season I am in (and will hopefully be in for a while).

So first here's an easy idea I had to help make Evelyn's breakfast fun and special. She loved it. 

Since I know I like to hear what others make for meals to give me ideas....Here's a quick list of ideas (and recipes) for easy (and healthy) breakfasts that this toddler has approved. 

• Scrambled Eggs and whole wheat toast (with ketchup of coarse)
• Blueberry whole wheat pancakes and 100% maple syrup (freeze well)
• Yogurt, whole wheat toast and fresh fruit
• Fruit and yogurt smoothie (add a handful of fresh spinach, doesn't change the taste!)
• Omelet with spinach, tomato, and cheese (she picks out the tomatoes sometimes)
• Whole wheat french toast with 100% maple syrup
• Whole wheat crepes stuffed with berries and vanilla yogurt
• Plain oatmeal with frozen blueberries, sweetened with honey or syrup 

We usually have some kind of fresh fruit every morning and a glass of Orange Juice too.

Any ideas your toddlers love to eat, please share!

Dinner Dilema

"Ugghh, I SO do not feel like making dinner, AGAIN." 

(This was what I was very close to making my Facebook status yesterday afternoon.)

WAIT a second, let's back up for just a minute... 


Here I am complaining about "having" to prepare dinner for my family when every day, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes. 


That's one child every five seconds. 


Mothers across the world are literally unable to feed their children and I am complaining over the monotony of it. 

Come on Christen... wake up. 

Did you know half the world struggles to live on less than $2.00 a day? I can't even count how much our family throws away in a week. Children, beautiful little Evelyn and Zoë's across the globe are digging through landfills for scraps everyday.

I have been given much, SO much, and not only was it not mean't to be spent all on myself but it definitely was not given to me so that I may complain and feel some kind of burden by it. What a blessing I have been given to have a fridge, pantry, and freezer stocked full of good food. I have such a privilege to be able to care for and feed my household. 


God has been doing a work on my heart and as He teaches me these truths I want to share them. I do not boast in my own ability to have these thoughts or be moved to action. It's Him; all Him. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


So instead of complaining, by Gods grace I was able to lay down my own selfish and lazy attitude and happily whip up a yummy dinner with ingredients that were already in my fridge (many reaching their prime). So what did I end up cooking you ask? ... well I have pics and recipes ;) 

Ricotta, Parmesan, and spinach stuffed chicken breasts
-Chicken Breast
-Spinach
Ricotta Cheese
-Parmesan Cheese
-Garlic and onion powder
I looked at a couple recipes but kinda just winged it with what I had in the fridge. I cut a slit in the chicken breast making a pocket and then took a couple of handfuls of fresh spinach and put them in a bowl and microwaved for 10 seconds to start to wilt. Next I added a few spoonfuls of ricotta, a handful of Parmesan, and some garlic and onion powder. Mixed it all together and then put it inside the cut chicken breast. Baked in a lightly greased glass baking dish at 350 for approx 30-40 minutes. Easy, peasy. 


Twice Baked Potatoes 
-Potatoes
-Milk 
-Butter
-Sour Cream
-Cheese 
-Bacon
Pretty much used this recipe but I added cheddar, parmesan, mozzarella, and ricotta cheese and bacon.


Grilled zucchini Parmesan and yellow squash
-3 zucchini or yellow squash, sliced (or how ever many you want)
-melted butter
-salt
-Trader Joe's 21 Season Salute
-Tin Foil
-Parmesan cheese
Shape tinfoil into squares with sides. Slice veggies diagonal and lay in single layer in tinfoil pocket and brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with spices and salt. Place pocket on med-hot grill for about 10 minutes or they are tender and cheese is melted.