Our Best Bites: Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers

Our Best Bites: Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers

Just another Monday night....

The Twins

Tutus and pie

It all started with with my first apple pie ever, Friday (and a bottle of wine). Everyone seemed quite pleased with the apple pie. It was pretty and yummy! Saturday we headed to Joann's fabrics to buy fabric for a tutu making lesson at Aunties house. While I was standing in line to get my tulle cut, a woman asked me, " Are those ALL your kids?" Hahahaha. Then the lady behind her said, "I was afraid to ask." I love it. I totally forget what a show we must be when we go out in public. Im laughing again as I type. So funny.
We headed to Aunties for some girl time, and Jenna made the prettiest tutu for her birthday party next weekend. Chico got to hang out with Uncle for a couple hours, as we took over the house with girli-ness.
Today was pie making marathon. We made 3 pies. Jenna made a lemon creme pie. Jayda made chocolate cream pie and Julia made a lemon meringue pie. We have lots of lemons, thanks to Papa Gary!! We had Grandma and Papa over as our judges!
We laughed pretty hard as we tried to cut through Jenna's graham cracker crust! It tasted really good, but it definitely lacked presentation. Jayda's chocolate cream pie was yummy too!

Lessons I learned in Pie Making this weekend..

1. A pie crust is really easy to make
2. Meringue takes FOREVER to form stiff peaks!
3. It requires more wine to be happy on your feet all day. :))


The picture of Jillian in her red dress... She's been asking to wear that dress for 3 days but we haven't let her because its too fancy. Then I thought this morning, " Why not??" So she wore it outside to ride her bike in and lick bowls of the pie fillings! Might as well wear it instead of let it hang in the closet!!!

Western Bonanza

Jenna entering the ring

Valentines Dinner Date

Jayson and I celebrated Valentines early. Julia took our picture!

Kids

Chico looks like he's really tall in this pic. He is really tall but not quite as tall as Jayda. Jayda's slouching a bit, but it does show how much taller he is than his twin sister!

Julia riding the Mechanical Bull at Bubbas in Paso Robles

Jenna Bull Riding at Bubbas

Tutu much

Check Out Sissy's New Tutu!! Thank You Auntie!!

Matt Bradshaw

I think this kid is pretty cool. Matt is extra special at Clovis East where I sub. We see him every weekend at jackpots. His dad, Jeff works his booty off running around at pig shows getting Matt to the ring. Jeff wears a giant Camera around his neck and is boasting with pride as he watches his son show his hogs.
Today I saw Matt at school and said, "Hey Matt, Good Job this weekend!" He told me, "I don't really care about the ribbons and the prizes, I just care about my animals." :))) Isn't that awesome?! Made my heart so happy. He's such a great kid!

High Honors for Jenna (GPA 3.5 - 3.99)

Honor roll Assembly

Annie, Jordyn and Jenna at the Awards Assembly

Jenna called me at 2:05pm yesterday to tell me there was an assembly for High Honor Roll(3.5- 3.99 GPA) at 2:30. I was still in my gym clothes, babies had been asleep for a half hour. Ahhhh freak out!!! I showered got dressed, woke up the babies and put them in the car, put Jayda and her friend, Kali, who comes over twice a week in the car and made it to the school by 2:28pm!!! We all sat on the floor behind the 6th graders because there was no room left. The floor ended up being the perfect place for me and 4 kids to sit! Of course I had no camera and had to take a picture with my picture phone, but I have proof that I was THERE!!!! Yay!!!

Jayda's riding her bike!!!

Jayda starting riding a 2 wheeler yesterday. After about 10 minutes of me running beside her she was a pro, making turns and self starting. Of course I didnt have a camera near by at the moment because I had to keep my eye on her.. I will post pictures soon!

Wednesdays are awesome!!!

I have the most awesome neighbors in the world.. Every Wednesday, rain or shine, Carol,my neighbor makes my family dinner. She's been doing it for over a year now, for no good reason, just because she wants to. It is such a blessing to not have to worry about dinner once a week. Actually, 2 nights, because because she makes so much food, its enough for two nights.
In addition to that, the babies spend every Wednesday with their Auntie Valarie and Uncle Mark, which they've been doing since they were around 6 months old. I think this alone has kept us all sane. 2 less kids to bathe and feed and change for a day and a half, is such a relief. It gives us a break and time to do stuff that is just too difficult with 2 two year-olds around, plus they get special attention and extra love from two people that love them a lot!
Im a lucky girl, what can I say!!! :)))

Jayda playing with the waterers at Western Bonanza

Valentines Day withAunt Nicole at Western Bonanza

Happy Valentines from Jillian

Mike Rowe takes on the HSUS

Thank You Mike Rowe!!

These are Mike Rowe's words, not mine, but I couldnt have said it better. I heart Mike Rowe!


I live in California and I’m one of those people who adopt abandoned dogs. I’ve sent my $25 checks to the Humane Society after watching particularly awful commercials on TV showing little pets horribly mistreated and suffering. I completely support spaying and neutering of animals in most instances and would adopt an abandoned pet before I’d ever get one from a breeder or pet store. I don’t eat veal but I’m not a vegetarian. I’m not the only one who doesn’t get a vegetarian who still wears leather belts, jackets or shoes or carry leather purses but that, too, is another story. Those are my choices and I’m not telling anyone else what to do – it’s a free country. I didn’t vote for the proposition they’re talking about because it didn’t make sense to me. I couldn’t buy into the emotion of seeing animals in cages and using the worst examples of some unethical people as the end-all be-all for every farmer in the state – passing that measure would negatively affect our food sources and our farmers.

I happen to believe that using emotion to manipulate voters is just plain unethical and wrong. Who wouldn’t get choked up to see a mistreated animal? And look, I’m sure that some farmers use methods that are not humane. I’m equally sure that there are many who don’t. Just like all blonds aren’t dumb and all polish people aren’t stupid, the few bad eggs shouldn’t represent the many good ones (sorry – I just couldn’t resist saying that). Should we put every good citizen in prison and let the prisoners run free? Just like you can’t say that every person who owns a puppy is going to treat it like the bozo down the street that runs a puppy mill, you can’t say that all farm animals are abused and all farmers are to blame. I don’t believe that keeping a chicken in a cage, free from bad weather or predators and feeding them well and making sure they stay healthy is a bad thing. My grandparents had chickens. I know what the chickens did all day and what they were happy doing and it didn’t include much else besides eating, “talking” to all their pals and laying eggs. Seriously (no disrespect to all the chickens out there).

I gotta think that the meat that arrives at my local meat counter had to come from healthy animals otherwise the USDA isn’t going put their “approved for consumption” stamp on it. I’ve never known the USDA to be tentative about avoiding salmonella (or other) poisoning. I don’t think animals who are miserable and unhealthy magically get converted into excellent USDA Grade AAA+++ meat. I love animals. I also love to eat and my favourites include a good steak for dinner and bacon and eggs for breakfast and I’d prefer not to spend a fortune on those things or get my beef and eggs exported from some other country. Nothing wrong with all that, right?

What is in America’s Future? « mikeroweWORKS

Bull riders

Zac Brown Band Urged to Go 'Tofu-Fried' - The Boot

Zac Brown Band Urged to Go 'Tofu-Fried' - The Boot

How can you not love these guys?!

Letter to Peta from Zac Brown Band..

"Dear PETA -- Plants are living creatures too ... Bacon had a mother, but so did Pickle. It takes life to support life -- welcome to the planet," writes the Grammy-winning group, in response to PETA's letter asking for menu replacements such as tofu.

Local shelters distancing themselves from HSUS, Katie Couric

I think when most people think of the Humane Society, they think of their local animal shelter. The truth is your local shelter recieves very little or no money from the HSUS. The HSUS has a political agenda to end all animal agriculture in the United States. Recently agriculture has been it hard, expecially in California with the passing of proposition 2. Agriculturists are the number animal welfare representives. Without proper care of our animals, success would be inevitable. The idea that our animals are "pumped with antibiotics" is just simply untrue. Not only would that be a financially negative to do so, but antibiotics are only used with "at risk" animals, which is far more humane than waiting for them to get sick.


Katie Couric's one sided recent report this week failed to illustrate that all antibiotics used in animal agriculture are approved by the Food and Drug Administration and that the potential for residues and bacterial resistance are monitored and measured repeatedly throughout the food production and processing chain.


http://advocatesforag.blogspot.com/2010/02/local-shelters-distancing-themselves.html

http://www.codyenterprise.com/articles/2010/02/10/news/doc4b732cddb3809311320555.txt

A lil time to blog

Made the yellow cake this week from Smitten Kitchen. Did not turn out so great, but it looked pretty. Next week Im going to take on Martha Stewart's recipe. If that doesnt turn out, we might have to rely on the good ole box. Still need to take on the Root Beer Float cake. I think it was the chocolate sour cream frosting with espresso that we didnt like. I could see how it could be right for someone, but it was not a hit at our house, but we ate it anyway. :)

Today we go to Paso Robles for Western Bonanza Jackpot, 2 days of Pig Shows. Hope we have a better weekend in the ring, if not at least we're all together with friends to boot. Ill post pictures when I get back!!

Pig Show weekend

This weekend was all bout the pigs! It started Friday with Rehab the Boar at Pork Spectactular. An awesome boar that won the cross-bred boar title at Pork Spectacular. That night, we had our annual CPPA (California Pork Producers Association)meeting that included lots of good friends, a great dinner and a guest bartender, ME!
Its kind of my MO that I dont know who people are in the ag industry. I was making drinks for the Judge all night, and calling him Joe. Come to find out he was the Jim McCoy, the weekend judge for Pork Spectacular and owns the largest boar stud operation in the country. He's kind of a big deal! He didn't mind that I called him Joe though, he just like the way I dressed his Corona!
We sold Rehab the next morning then headed home to pick up the girls at Grandma's and move pigs into the fairgrounds for Red Wave. We had 6 head, and didnt have that great of a day in the ring, but enjoyed watching the girls show(or not show). We have a pretty efficient system going. Next year we need to make sure that we get pens closer to the show ring. Because we got there so early Saturday, there were still sheep in the pens closest to the show ring. Next time, we'll just claim the pens we want and wait for the sheep to get out before we unload. ( Im writing this so I can look it up next year!)
After the show, I went to pick up the babies at Aunties and Uncles, they stayed there all weekend. Boy, did I get there just in time. Auntie had just finished making food for the Superbowl. It was soooo amazing! I think she needs her own foodie blog. Everything she cooks is always the most delicious stuff Ive ever had. 2 yummy margaritas, good food, good company, and the most relaxing house in Fresno.
When I got home, I was absolutely pooped! The girls asked what was for dinner, and of course I had just ate, I told them to make their own dinner. You wouldnt believe what they made, Chicken with yellow and red peppers ( the chicken was leftovers). Jayda came in the family room and said she couldnt find the green stuff. (asparagus) Are you kidding me, of all the choices, my kids made a healthy one! Yes! I probably would have made an ice cream cone or something like that!
We all slept in this morning, and I went to the gym to visit Tanner, my trainer at 9:30, went grocery shopping, ate lunch, froze a bunch of lemon juice that we juiced today to save the 100+ lemons that Papa Gary brought for Julia, for her lemonade stand, cleaned up the kitchen, and now i just finished paying some bills.
This weekend we head to Western Bonanza in Paso Robles to Show on Saturday and Sunday. Just need to stay on top of the laundry, so i better get going!

Best Birthday Cake

Jenna's birthday is coming up. Jayson wants a yellow cake(I know, NOT his birthday) and Jenna wants this rootbeer float cake.. Im going to have to do a bake off for the deciding vote!



Heres the root beer float cake....




http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2009/05/root-beer-float-cake/

Heres the yellow cake

http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/07/best-birthday-cake/

Buttermilk Pancakes

I made these this morning, YUMMMMYY!!!! Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. Again not on the diet, I have enough batter left over, I could make 50 more pancakes. Makes a big mess, still cleaning up. This would have been a better idea for a Sunday morning, but my buttermilk was going to expire, and we're super busy this weekend with the pigs. The 3 big girls are showing at Red Wave. Should be a fun day!

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2010/01/buttermilk-pancakes.html
Buttermilk Pancakes
Somewhere, at some point early in the days of the blog, I mentioned that I had a killer buttermilk pancake recipe. And I am dead serious when I say that we get more requests for that recipe than just about anything else and I can't figure out where people are reading this!

I've been hesitant to post this recipe, not because these aren't mouth-wateringly awesome pancakes, but because there is no way of getting around using at least three large or inconveniently shaped containers, plus a skillet or griddle, PLUS an electric mixer of some sort (unless you're way more motivated than I am and have interest in whipping egg whites), plus, if you make Buttermilk Syrup (and you really, really, really need to), that's another large pot. These are not your Bisquik pancakes, but you're paying for them with one cupboard-ful of dishes. And there is nothing in the world I hate more than doing dishes.

But alas, my children love them. And the older they get, the pancake requests become more frequent. What was once a few-times-a-year treat has become a staple for breakfast AND dinner at least two days a month. I've experimented and tried to streamline, but there are no two ways around it--these pancakes are going to make a mess. However...your family might just be so excited that you're making something so amazing for breakfast that they'll do the dishes for you when all is said and done!

Buttermilk Pancakes
Recipe from Allrecipes, via Our Best Bites

3 c. all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
3 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. milk
3 eggs, separated
1/3 c. (5 1/3 Tbsp.) butter, melted


In a large pitcher,
combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another container, whisk together buttermilk, milk, and the egg yolks. With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Whisking constantly, add melted butter to the milk mixture. Pour this mixture into the pitcher and stir until just combined. This is kind of a pain, but it DOES have a purpose--you don't want to over mix your pancake batter, and when you do it in the pitcher, it becomes very difficult to over mix it. Plus, you can pour the batter straight onto the skillet without dirtying any MORE dishes.

When the flour has been combined but the batter is still a little lumpy, heat a non-stick skillet or griddle to medium-low heat. While the skillet is heating, gently (but completely) fold beaten egg whites into the batter. When the skillet is hot, spray it with a little non-stick cooking spray and then just pour the batter from the pitcher straight onto the hot skillet.

It takes a little adjusting to figure out where the temperature setting should be. If it's too hot, the bottoms will cook too fast and the insides will be raw, but if it's not hot enough, the outsides will get hard and dry and you'll be spending all Saturday morning in front of your stove instead of buying bras in bulk at Costco. So the first round or two of pancakes might not be perfect, but just keep adjusting the temperature until you find the setting on your stove that works best for you.

Now...after you've poured the batter onto the skillet, keep an eye on the pancakes. When you start seeing bubbles, you're almost there. When the bubbles pop and leave a hole, it's time to flip. Gently slide a spatula/pancake turner/flipper (whatever you call it) under the pancake and quickly flip it to the other side. The other side won't take quite as long as the first side--just check here and there and when the pancakes are golden brown on both sides, you're good to go.


If you have a bunch of eaters ready to go, you can just serve them straight from the skillet. But it really irks me to be flipping pancakes and have my family/friends/pets eating while I'm cooking and then by the time I'm done making pancakes, everyone ELSE is done eating and I have to eat MY pancakes in the dirty kitchen all by myself. Okay, who am I kidding, I'd probably take them into the living room and watch the inevitable Saturday morning Teen Mom marathon, but still...So what I usually do is turn my oven as low as it can go, put an oven-safe plate in there, and pop the cooked pancakes onto the plate so they're still warm when everyone's ready to eat.

Wanna know my favorite thing to do with these? Add some banana slices and drizzle with Buttermilk Syrup. You could throw some chopped pecans on there, too, and I'm sure it would be de-lish.


Feel free to toss in some blueberries or chocolate chips right before you fold in the egg whites. For some reason, though, I just like mine plain


and then I can top 'em off however I want. Mmmm...light...delicately crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. Perfect kitchen-trashing pancakes...

The Park on a Sunday Afternoon

The end of a long weekend of Fun! Movie night, snow day, church, taking care of pigs, bmx-ing and the park. The time at the park only lasted about 20 minutes till the sun started to go down and it got really cold. They were bummed the weekend had to come to end!