Lemon Chicken...a Daniel family staple!

I looked back through some of the recipes I've posted and didn't see one of our favorites...lemon chicken! It won't hurt to post it again, though, if I just happened to miss it. This recipe is easy and very tasty. It's kind of got a tangy, lemony, mustardy flavor--but not too strong. It goes great on rice, with mashed potatoes and english peas, or, like we did last night, just some steamed veggies. If you have your chicken good and thawed, it comes out tender and moist. Hope you enjoy this as much as we do!

Lemon Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I've even done this with bone-in chicken)

1 3 oz package of lemon jello (not the pudding)

1/4 cup oil (I use canola..I don't think olive oil would taste too good with this)

1/4 cup yellow mustard (I used the cheap kind in the bottle)

1 1/2 tsp garlic salt

*that's it!*

Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Place chicken in an oven safe dish (I used my big pyrex). Mix all ingredients together. Pour over chicken. Put in oven and cook for about 1 hour. You don't have to cover it. Check after an hour, and if it's got a nice golden color, it's done. (I usually cut my chicken open just to be sure..but it doesn't look as pretty all chopped up! )

Isn't that easy?! When jello is on sale, I usually buy about 3 or 4 boxes of the lemon just to have it on hand, because the other ingredients are things I typically have in stock. A definite go-to dish! God bless!

So long sugar...

My mantra for the week is...well, mantras...sugar is poison, sugar will make me gain weight, sugar will drain me, sugar is not good for me, don't eat it, don't eat it...and the mantra list goes on. It's no secret that I love sugar. I mean, just look at my posts. There are a lot about sugary goodness (wait, no, sugary badness) that I've enjoyed. I've got to say goodbye to Hello There Cupcake. At least for now. Maybe I can revisit when I've gotten control over my cravings.

So why am I doing this to myself? Denying myself something I obviously love? Well, sometimes denying yourself is the best thing you can do. I have indulged in sugar for a long time, and I've had times of victory, but there have been a lot of times of overindulgence. Some of you out there can sample a little sugar and it doesn't bother you, you can move on. With me, if I have one bite, it's like the flood gates come open. I only want more. Then I gradually get to the point where I have a little more each day until it's just expected that I'm going to have something sweet to cap off my meal. That is leading to weight gain...and I'm sure other health issues. The numbers are rising, and my discipline is getting out of control. I needed to regroup and refocus and go back to being more healthy.

Me at Hello There Cupcake (isn't it cute?!)

I've been on this current weight loss journey for over a year now and I've lost almost 35 lbs. I want to keep going. I want to lose more, but I also want to be healthy. Letting go of sugar and fighting my cravings with the truth is only going to move me forward. I've been reading a 21-day devotion called Craving God that I got for free on Amazon (Kindle for PC). God knew what I was going to be going through when I picked this freebie up. I had passed it by a few times and finally decided to get it. It's been so good. I would definitely recommend it if you're struggling with this issue.

I have to say a huge thank you to my dear friends who are helping me on this journey. Three of these amazing women have wrote me challenging and encouraging emails or talked with me on the phone about needing to get back on track and refocus on my commitment to be healthy and lose weight. I can't lie...it's tough to get words like that. But I will say that I could not do this as well as I have without their love, encouragement, and support. I am so blessed to have friends that care enough to help me like that! I love you gals!

Pray for me, friends! I'll need it. New mantra...Lord, help me!

Singing Day

Bethany came up with the idea to have "Singing Day" at school this week since we were studying the letter S. I said, "sure!" So the girls dressed up, we got out the keyboard with the microphone and they took turns singing. In the first video they are both singing the "Bible Book Bop" that we play at school a good bit to learn the books of the Bible and we sang at VBS last year. The second one was so cute...I hate that it's sideways! I can't figure out how to flip it around. Anyway, I had to share it! I love the parts where Sophie says, "Hit it!" and Bethany says, "my finger chips". : ) I have so much fun with these girls! Hope you have a great day!

Weekend wrap-up

I must say, this weekend was balm to the weary momma's soul. As before mentioned, I've never had a Mommy-only getaway, and now this may be what I ask for at every birthday and Christmas! It was great! It didn't hurt that my Mom (and Dad) treated me like a queen! My hubby also kept the house straight while I was gone! That really ministered to me, too!

So after the fabulous nail/massage night, the next day was equally as wonderful. We began by walking two miles with my grandfather, ate at Panera Bread, went to a movie (in which we got a free ticket, free popcorn, and free drinks....what?! That has NEVER happened to me before!), went looking around/shopping at the mall, and then ate with family. We also picked up some cupcakes at Hello There Cupcake! Mmmmm. Don't hate me.

The next day we slept in and I got to stop by a consignment sale. How I love consignment sales! I did not even realize that the sale I usually go to was happening this weekend. We only had a chance to stop by the last day. My thoughts were that we wouldn't find as much. Well, I found exactly what I was looking for! And the great thing is that at most consignment sales, the last day marked items are 50% off. I got Sophie several short sleeved shirts for this summer for only $1 a piece. I even got Isaac a shirt for 50 cents! You can't beat it!

Little man loves his new crocs! He was thoroughly upset when I had to take them off to give him a bath. He wanted to wear them in the tub!

I thought these were cute for little man.

Consignment sale total: for Sophie: 1 pair shorts, 2 skirts, 1 jumper, 1 UGA cheerleader outfit, 6 short sleeved shirts; for Isaac: 2 pairs shoes, 2 short sleeved onesies, 1 short sleeved shirt, 1 shorts outfit=$25 and some change

Yippee! We're set for the summer!

Now I'm back to normal life again, but I am refreshed, encouraged, and ready to start a new week! God bless!

Nail Salon

This weekend is my first no kids, no husband, girl weekend. I've been away from the hubby before, but I still had the kids with me. I've been away from the kids before, but still had the hubby with me. I miss them, but I'm also enjoying myself! Tonight my dear mother arranged for a couple of us to go get our nails done, our toes done, a facial, and a neck and back massage!! One word: awesome! My back was sore from lifting kids and doing stuff around the house, and I was wishing that I could have a massage. It was divine! Exactly what I needed. My nails turned out cute, too! I got a "design" on them that makes me feel all young and cool. :D While we were there, we were talking to the technicians (?) at the place, asking them where they were from, their families, etc. There was a bit of a language barrier. I was definitely wishing that I could speak Vietnamese. But we did gather a few things from "Tina", our wonderful massage therapist. She had left Vietnam and from the little bit I could understand, I think she said that her husband and daughter were still there. My heart went out to her. She was so sweet. Even when we informed them that we were getting the "luxury" package and not the "deluxe", and they looked at each other in a concerned way and started speaking Vietnamese to each other, she was still really nice. Our experience did bring something to mind, though. If you've never seen this, it reminded me a lot of our experience at the nail salon tonight! Too funny! I think I've actually posted it before....but this one has a little extra before the nail shop bit. Hope you all have a great weekend...I already am! Girls weekend is awesome!

An Ikea find

This is our bed. This is about the closest I get to making it up. I think it looks pretty good, considering most of the time it looks like I did battle with the covers the night before. Anyway, notice the pillow covers. I love these pillow covers. Not only do we have pillow covers, but we have a duvet cover to match...all for the low price of $14.99 at Ikea. Yes, only $14.99, people! At first I wasn't sure how it was going to look in our room. Before the red and white came along, I had a duvet cover and matching pillow shams made in Thailand from Thai silk. It was awesome. It was dark chocolate brown and a pretty gold color, and the big pillow shams were the same colors with additional bright color blocks on the front that matched an embroidered picture I had bought in Thailand. Honestly, when I got all of this stuff before I came back to the states, my plan was to set myself up as a hip single girl. At least that's what I was trying to do. I had no idea that less than 10 mos. after stepping off the plane I would be married. I had never even met my husband until a month after I got home. Anyway, back to the story, I loved my silk stuff, but the fabric wasn't very strong, apparently, and it kept getting rips in it. I was taking it to the seamstress for repairs and I felt like the best thing to do was just pack it away and keep it from getting messed up. So began the long search for something new. I was too cheap to buy something equal to what I had. I waited until finally I found this! I already had a red dust ruffle and I thought the color and accessories in our room would go well with the red/white, so I got it. I have been very happy with it! Here's a close up of the pattern. My camera doesn't really do it justice. It kind of has a linen look to the fabric, too. I love linen : ).
So, if you're ever in need of a nice, not too expensive duvet cover, check out Ikea! They have a lot of variety!

Q is for quilt

Here are some of our family quilts. I've mentioned before about how much I treasure quilts. I really think it's awesome what some people can do with fabric. I wish I could do it. Here are our three quilts...the two at the bottom were made by two different friends of mine. Both of them were made to celebrate Sophie's birth, but the bold colored one can be used by Isaac, too. The one in the background is my Thailand quilt.

This week we're studying Q and R together. Today we focused on Q and talked about quilts. We looked at the different quilts, the patterns, and colors. Then I gave them a piece of paper with a rectangle drawn on it with some fabric squares I had cut out.

Then the girls glued the squares onto their paper to make their own "quilt".

Here are our finished products!

Tomorrow we're planning to talk with a friend about her experience on the mission field...R is for Russia : ).