Taty Thursday: Tangy Chicken Breasts

In light of the Barbecue theme, I thought I'd share these. They are great whether on the grill or under the broiler. I'd back off the lemon juice just a bit though, if you don't like that strong flavor. We found it to be just a touch overpowering. Don't forget to visit The Pumkin Patch for more Tasty Thursday recipes.

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Place chicken in a single layer in a bowl or pan. Mix together Worcestershire sauce, oil, lemon juice, and garlic; pour over chicken. Cover. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

Take chicken out of marinade, and place on broiler pan or grill. Broil until done, approximately 7 minutes on each side.

There Are Few Nice Words To Describe My Feelings About This Man

Michael McGee/Jackson Jr. This man has got to have 9 lives or something. He just keeps getting into trouble and right out of it. Hopefully not this time though. Here is a list of what this man has done in recent years.

• McGee is arrested after making a pretty nasty scene at a Blockbuster store after hours.
• Had a restraining order against him by the mother of his illegitimate child. He violated that order by threatening to go to her house and kill her. While he was still in court mind you.
• Told his radio listeners that Leon Todd (the campaign manager of an opponent) should be hung for betraying the community.
• Committed perjury in the case of the restraining order, lying in court several times, only to be outed by his own wife and staff.
• His father made some absolutely sickening comments about Charlie Sykes' mother on air, which suggested that Sykes was responsible for his mother's accidental death. (The apple doesn't fall far from the tree here).
• Has two identification cards in two names, with McGee on one and Jackson on the other, as well as two social security numbers.
• Was involved in a recall election to oust him from his seat, and yet managed to keep it with quite a few more votes than he deserved.

In almost all of these cases, he was not pressed for further charges, other charges were dropped, and just about a hundred other things that no other person would have gotten away with, he has managed to slide right through.

Now, he is hopefully in a much different position. His most recent charges include conspiracy to commit substantial battery (allegedly it was originally murder, but he must have had a change of heart or something) which had something to do with settling a score of petty theft. He also has some public corruption charges being filed as far as I can tell, but I'm not sure what those are in relation to. There have been some rumors of him extorting money from local business owners, and I wouldn't be surprised if he had bullied a few people into voting him back into office during the recall election. It just amazes me that there are still people who support him though. The guy and his father are corrupt beyond imagination, he has gotten himself out of trouble more times than I probably even know about, and should have been in jail years ago. I just hope these new charges are enough to bring him down.

Why Pants Aren't Necessary in a Shirtless Society

As I sat down to feed our youngest, this is the conversation I had with my two-year old son.

Sam: Mommy?
Mommy: Yes Sam?
Sam: Lookit!
Mommy: Sam, where are your pants?
Sam: Over there.
Mommy: Why are your pants over there? Go get them please.
....
Sam: Mommy? Lookit! Belly!
Mommy: Sam, where is your shirt?
Sam: Over there.
Mommy, Samuel, go get your shirt and pants and bring them here please.
Sam: Over there?
Mommy: Yes, over there Sam.
Sam: Okee!
......
Sam: Mommy?
Mommy: Yes, Sam?
Sam: Belly!
Mommy: Sam, you need to get your shirt and pants and bring them here so that I can put them back on you! Go get them now.
Sam: Okee!
......

Half an hour later, while still trying to feed the baby, Sam is still not dressed. I still don't know where his clothing is except that it is "over there" in the direction that he has pointed, which has changed several times during the course of the conversation.

Thank God for two-year olds with good verbal skills and poor listening skills. How similar we can be without even realizing it most days. May God help us to listen more day by day.

WFMW - Fruity Cubes

Ever get tired of your juice getting watered down from all that melting ice? You can take your juice (or Kool-Aid or Iced Tea, or just about any liquid) and freeze it into ice cube trays. That way when it melts, it melts right into your drink without any watering down! You can mix and match flavors if you're brave enough, too. Don't forget to visit Rocks In My Dryer for more great WFMW tips! And next week is a themed WFMW, the Mom I'm Bored edition. So check back for more great ideas!

A Tutu For You (Well, Your Daughter Anyway)

5 Minutes For Mom has yet another contest, this time for an adorable Tutu. Go over to Tutu Fantasy to browse around, and leave a comment on 5 Minutes For Mom to enter for a chance to win.

WFMW-Challah

Challah is one of my favorite egg breads. It's a really good, soft, sweet Jewish bread that is such a simple bread both in taste and in making it.

Challah

1 pkg. active dry yeast

½ cup warm water

½ cup all-purpose flour

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 egg yolks, lightly beaten

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons sugar

1 ¼ teaspoons salt

2 ½ cups bread flour

Cornmeal

1 egg

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon sesame or poppy seeds

In the mixing bowl of a heavy duty mixer, combine the water and the yeast, and let stand about 5 minutes, or until the yeast is completely dissolved. Add the flour, eggs, egg yolks, oil, sugar and salt, and mix on low speed until thoroughly blended. Gradually stir in the bread flour. Knead for about 8 minutes with the dough hook on low to medium speed until the dough is smooth and elastic and no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and turn it over once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 1 to 1 ½ hours. Punch down dough, knead briefly, and refrigerate covered, until it has again nearly doubled in volume (a three quarter rise is sufficient), 4 to 12 hours. The dough is now ready to be shaped.

Three-Strand Braided Challah:

Weigh and divide the dough equally into three pieces. On an unfloured work surface, roll into balls and let rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for 10 minutes. Grease a baking sheet and sprinkle it with cornmeal. Roll each ball into a 13 to 14 inch long rope, about 1 ½ inches thick and slightly tapered at the ends. Dust the 3 ropes with rye flour so they will be more distinctly separated. Place the 3 dough ropes side by side and pinch the top ends together. Braid. Tuck both ends of the braid underneath the loaf and set it on the baking sheet. Whisk together the remaining egg and salt and brush over the top of the loaf. Loosely cover the braid with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until not quite doubled, about 45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375°. Brush the loaf again with the egg wash. If desired, sprinkle with 1 tablespoon poppy of sesame seeds. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.

Don't forget to visit Rocks In My Dryer for more great WFMW tips.

Bandaids! Bandaids! Bandaids!

Yes, you could be the lucky winner of a YEAR'S SUPPLY OF BANDAIDS! Go visit 5 Minutes For Mom and sign up for this contest. Winners will be chosen soon, so hurry up! The bandaids you could win are Nexcare's new diamond shaped bandaids that look really great for covering up big and little scrapes. So go sign up! Now!

Re: Why We Home School

When I read this article about religious indoctrination, I felt I really had to do a full post to clarify my point. There are a few key phrases in this article that really stood out to me.

But the public schools are no place for religious indoctrination that promotes certain beliefs that not all the kids in the school share," Doug Hildebrand, a Presbyterian deacon who is among the plaintiffs, said in a written statement released by the ACLU.

Now, on the one hand, you have what is an elective Bible study, in a public school. On the other hand, you have people crying that you can't have religious indoctrination in a public school. And yet, this is what we see on a regular basis. The teaching of evolution, of sex ed to very young students, teachers showing Brokeback Mountain to underage students (another good reason to home school) and then telling them not to tell their parents, and yet an elective course in a book that has been around longer than anything; is respected and revered; taught in the home; and so on, and yet it cannot be allowed to be taught? What is going on here? When did the separation of church and state become about getting Christianity (and only Christianity) out of the public schools?

You can teach any religion BUT Christianity in a public school, and get away with it. And no one can say a thing against it.

THAT is just one more reason why we home school

Why We Home School 6

6. Why subject your children to religious indoctrination?

5. Would you want your child indoctrinated without your knowledge?

4. Who wouldn't want their child courted by a college because they were homeschooled?

3. Our children are less likely to have this happen.

2. Our children won't have to witness terrible crimes like this.

1. Our children are less likely to be sexually assaulted.

WMFW

This week's WFMW is another recipe, since I do love to cook. A lot. I also like to feed other people until they are stuffed, especially my husband. I try to keep it simple, and easy, 'cuz it's not like I have a ton of time, and I really hate cleaning. Don't forget to check out Rocks In My Dryer for more great WFMW tips.

So, here is my recipe today. These are great with mashed potatoes, and my Black Pepper Biscuits from last week's Tasty Thursday, or biscuits made with cheddar cheese. A side of French Cut green beans (my kid's favorite) with a little butter salt and pepper, and you're good to go.

Barbequed Meatballs

1 egg, lightly beaten
1 can (5 oz.) evaporated milk
1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
½ cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 ½ lbs. ground beef, uncooked
Sauce:
1 cup catsup
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup chopped onion
½ teaspoon liquid smoke, optional
¼ teaspoon garlic powder

In a bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 1 inch balls and place in a greased 13x9 inch baking pan or dish. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 25 minutes, or until meat is no longer pink. In the meantime, combine the sauce ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Pour over meatballs. Bake 15 minutes longer.

Ten Years

Ten years ago, I graduated high school. A semester early, and ready to take on the world. Since then, I have become a wife, a mother to 5 beautiful children, and have learned and taught myself skills I would have never thought possible ten years ago. I wasn't a popular kid in high school, and looking back, I am glad. I miss the friends I made, and look forward to seeing some of them again at our reunion. Whether I will be able to recognize anyone, we shall see. But I still look forward to it, and hope that they feel the same.

Tasty Thursday: Black Pepper Biscuits

Today's Tasty Thursday entry is Black Pepper Biscuits. I found this recipe a while ago, but recently when I was reorganizing my recipes and entering them into the computer, I found this one again and tried it. It was an immediate hit.

Black Pepper Biscuits

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cracked black pepper*
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, cut up, divided
1 cup whole cold milk


Preheat the oven to 425° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, pepper and salt. With a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in 1/2 cup of the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces. Stir in milk just until soft dough forms.

On a lightly floured surface, pat or gently roll out dough to 3/4-inch thickness. With a floured biscuit cutter, cut into 2-inch rounds, pushing straight down and pulling up without twisting cutter. Place on baking sheets. Press scraps together to use all the dough.

Melt remaining 2 tablespoons of butter; brush over tops of biscuits. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown on tops and golden brown on bottoms. Cool briefly on a wire rack.

*Tip: Cracked black pepper can be purchased in the spice aisle of the grocery store. To crack your own, place whole peppercorns in a heavy resealable plastic bag; seal bag. Pout with flat side of meat mallet until coarsely chopped. OR you can also use a pepper mill, and use a more fine grind for a more even flavor.

Works-For-Me-Wednesday: Product Review

Today's WFMW is a product review. I recently purchased my first sewing machine. I got a Kenmore 16221, and it has been great so far. I haven't had any problems with it yet, and for what I paid, it was well worth it.

My favorite function of course, is the automatic buttonhole function. I was getting very frustrated with having to make buttonholes by hand, so this has really been great. Every so often I run into a few issues with one thing or another, but it's usually my own fault. I am still learning some of the perks, so it's taking some time. But well worth it. And that's my WFMW. Visit Rocks In My Dryer for more great WFMW tips.

Mother's Day Giveaway!

To start off with something as cool as an iPOD Nano, makes you wonder what else is in store! Go over and check this great Mother's Day Giveaway at 5 Minutes For Mom. There will be all sorts of goodies, so check in often for all the contests.