me cooking? ~ yup, well kind of...

Okay, I think our kitchen is still in shock!!!  I spent almost two hours making supper tonight... yeah, I really did!  Now that I look back at what I did, I'm really not sure what took that long... oh well.

I found a recipe on Pinterest, for baked sweet and sour chicken with fried rice, that I thought looked pretty good and I knew Mike would love it!  It had many more ingredients than I'm used to, but I felt up for the challenge.

http://life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com/2010/09/baked-sweet-and-sour-chicken-with-fried.html

[picture off website]

Got all the ingredients late in the week and the plan was to make it tonight.  I'll be honest (and a bit embarrassed) that there were some ingredients that I had never bought before and wasn't even sure where they were at the grocery store!  I know, pretty sad!  Just being honest...

I was out shopping with Eli and Nate this afternoon while Rachel was gone and Kate was napping.  We were gone until about 5pm, so when I got home I fed the kids and fed Nate.  I knew they wouldn't be able to wait to eat what I was going to make and figured they'd frown at it anyways... so, I just made them something else.

By the time they had showers, were done eating and Nate was fed, it was almost 7pm I think... what better time to start making supper... ugh.  The kids were pretty wild tonight and I really needed to concentrate on the recipe... remember, I don't cook!! ; )  I told them to stay out of the kitchen because I needed to concentrate.  Haha!  I did dip the first pieces of chicken in the egg before the corn starch... oh boy, I thought, what am I getting myself into!  Kate also came in the kitchen one time with an open marker and marker all over her hands... at that point I wondered why I was spending all this time in the kitchen.  Thought I'd much rather pick something up from a restaurant or mix something quick from a box or the freezer and just call it a meal.  But, the recipe did say this was baked, so much more healthy than the deep-fried alternatives at most restaurants.  So, that's all that kept me going... and the fact that I had too much money invested in all the ingredients. ; )

Took a break at 8pm to put the older three kids to bed.  Then finished the meal by about 8:45pm... just in time for Nate to eat again!  You know you've been cooking too long when you can't finish it and eat it in the window between feedings! ; )  So, I fed Nate and then ate.  Mike really liked it and so did I... so it was worth it!  And, I think the second time around (yes, I plan to make again) will be much quicker.  I still look at what I did and don't understand how it took me so long.  Oh well!  Again, I don't cook!  I can make very simple things and the crockpot has been my good friend lately!

Here are pictures of the finished product... I just had to take a few pictures since it consumed so much of my evening. : )

We also had a visit today from the Rundles.  It was very nice to see them!  I didn't think to take pictures when they first got here, which I'm bummed about.  Annie mentioned something about getting a picture of the boys, but Nate was sleeping.  I decided it was worth waking him up to get their picture together.  Well, Nate wasn't too thrilled about the idea.  Oh well - we tried.  Hopefully we see them again soon and we can get a better picture of the big boys together.

Rachel also went over to her friend Ella's house this afternoon.  She had a GREAT time!  Ella's mom took some pictures that I thought I'd share.  [thanks Michelle!]

 

Keep smiling! : )