ranch style chicken...

OK, before you start salivating
(or cursing the day I was born),
just hear me out... I'll make it quick.

I begged for a new pan...
and finally got it.

And there's only one way to properly break in a pan like this.


Yes, that would be thick-cut peppered style, umm. bacon.


And this here would be what Pioneer Woman calls,
"Ranch Style Chicken".
And my taste-buds will never be the same... not to mention my thighs.


Oh, and let me say just one more thing... if you make this
for your man and he cleans his plate, then burps really loudly, slaps you on the bottom,
and exclaims, "that was damn good!", you know he'll love you forever.
*smile* *wink-wink*
Sorry Babe... but I HAD too.

Ranch Style Chicken

1. Mix together in a bowl...
1/2 c. Dijon Mustard
1/2 c. honey
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. salt
A sprinkle of cayenne pepper

2. After pounding your six pieces of boneless, skinless chicken breast
with a mallet until it's of a uniform thickness, marinate it in the sauce for at least an hour.

3. Fry up your, umm, bacon. (Hey, don't hate me, hate P Dub!)

4. Reserve 1/4 c. of that "stuff mentioned in number 3" grease...
and then go ahead and clean your skillet.

5. Grab your chicken and pour off the excess marinade; heat half of the reserved
you know what grease with equal quantity of Canola Oil over medium-high to high heat.

6. When the grease is heated, add your chicken and sear it on both sides...
each side should cook about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.

7. After each chicken breast is brown/blackish on each side,
remove and set on a baking sheet.

8. Put in a 400 degree preheated oven for about 10 minutes.

9. Remove from oven.

10. Place a couple of slices of bacon on top of each breast.

11. Sprinkle them with grated sharp cheddar cheese
(go ahead and take a few minutes to grate your own cheese... it's worth it).

12. Return to the oven until cheese is melted... about 3 minutes!

13. Devour immediately!

**Oh, one last thing... if you happen to be on a diet (and are still reading this, but hating
the day I first discovered PW), there's still hope. I mean, if I, myself were behaving (like I should be) and watching what passes through my kisser, this is what I would do...
Marinate the chicken in the sauce, grill it (omitting the "you know what" and cheese)
and enjoy it with a big green salad. The flavor of the chicken itself is just sooo good.
You must try it!

Peace,

Ralonda

molassas cookies...

I made these last week.

They were so good (and simple to make)
that I made them two days in a row...
never mind the fact that the first batch
was gone quicker than it took me to make them!

Go ahead and make 'em... you'll be glad you did.

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup Crisco (vegetable shortening)

1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

~Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
~Mix sugar, shortening, molasses, and egg together until well combined.
~Dump in dry ingredients, stirring dry ingredients together lightly.
~Mix together until dough is combined.
~Roll dough into walnut-sized balls, then generously coat each ball with sugar.
~Place balls on a baking sheet and bake for 9 to 11 minutes, allowing to bake for about a minute after cookies begin to crack.
~Remove cookies from baking sheet and allow to cool…
though these are delicious while still warm.

Enjoy!

Ralonda

two months...

Our little guy is two months old today.

Pardon me while I interrupt your Sunday, as you know it,
to pause for a moment to reminisce...

It seems like yesterday that we were in the hospital
and he was under the Bili Blankets to treat his jaundice.
I hated that.

The day after we came home from the hospital I
lucked out with this shot... we used it for our announcements.
Our peaceful little angel.

Four days old and the jaundice was still hanging around.

He's one week here, all better and ready to see the world!

Two weeks.
He outgrew this outfit so fast... it's going in the "save" box.

Here he was with big brother and sister all dressed
and ready for an outing at Build A Bear... they made
him his first bear for Christmas! I'll post a pic later.

Christmas Day... one month.

Six weeks and a bad case of baby acne.
It reared it's ugly head around five weeks
and is just now clearing up...

it was bad.
Poor lil' guy.

Seven weeks... he discovered his fist
and gave us his first smiles.

The other night at the eight week mark
hanging with dad.

And today at exactly two months.

Look at that sweet face!
He's even sick here... he caught the head cold
that JB and I had last week.
He is getting so chunky.

He's cooing at us now too... I'll post a video soon!

Please bare with me...

this phase should only last for the next eighteen years!
Until then, you can go about enjoying the rest of your weekend!

xo
Ralonda

fish tacos...

Earlier this week I made Tilapia fish tacos.

You know those dishes that you just throw together without following
some sort of guidelines and they almost always turn out delicious?
Well, this is one of them.
Tilapia is very versatile.

Now I realize that it's January... it's the time of year
when you're either covered in snow, craving chicken pot pies,
mashed potatoes and homemade soups or, you're on some sort of diet trying
to shed the extra weight you put on during the holidays.
Which in this case, if you're the latter of the two, then this dish may be for you.

Ok remember, I just made this up as I went along...
so, I'll just give it to you step-by-step here.

First, If you happen to be hurrying through Wal Mart,
chewing on the inside of your cheek,
trying to figure out something easy and light for dinner,
just grab a bag of frozen Tilapia and toss in your cart.

Take your fish home and soak them in a cold water bath
for about 30 minutes to let them thaw.

Prep your frying pan over med-high heat with drizzled extra virgin olive oil,
about 2 tablespoons of butter and a splash or two of soy sauce.

Put your fish in.

Oh... and if you happen to be drinking a Shiner Bock give the fishes a nice drink or two.

Salt and Pepper.

And toss a little chopped cilantro on top.


Cook until fish breaks apart and looks fluffy.

Place fish inside a corn (or flour) tortilla with lettuce,
tomato, cheese, avocado, salsa, sour cream... whatever floats your boat.

Serve with Spanish rice and black beans... yum!

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

xo
Ralonda

put 'em up...

Watching each developmental phase is fun and exciting.



Last week baby Jude discovered he has a fist.

He also started smiling at us.

Hmmm... I detect a hint of his Daddy's orneriness in there.

He's still a little jerky with his movements.

And he favors his right side.


But with a little determination he can hold it steady
for a little bit.

He will look at it morning,

noon

and night.

What a smart boy he is!

xo

Ralonda

a lush moment...

First, let me apologize for seemingly abandoning my blog.
I haven't. I'm still here.
I've just been trapped under something heavy called "reality"...
My life slapped me in the face last week when JB went back to work
and the kids went back to school and I was left alone with a six-week old.
Now, I know you're sitting there with a perplexed look on your face thinking,
hasn't she done this before. Well, yes, as a matter of fact, I've done this four
times before. But this time it's different... I'm twelve years older.
And the reality of it is, certain things are much easier when you're YOUNGER.

Anyway, enough of that... my goal here is to get this blog out
in the next five minutes while little guy is sleeping.

A LUSH moment...

Yep, I had one last weekend.
And let me tell you, it was just what I needed.

It was heavenly.

I really had no idea how maxed out my body was
until I immersed myself in the hot, soothing comforts of "Frothy".

Meet "Frothy"... he's a LUSH bubble bar.
No, he's not a cookie... but he does look like one huh.

Nope, not edible (although I think his nose might be).
You break him apart under running water
and he will give you an over abundance of bubbles
and fill your senses with tranquility.

I love LUSH products.
That's why Haley gave me (and JB) several
new bath bombs and bubble bars for Christmas.
That was sweet of my youngest daughter, don't ya think?
She even used one of her own gift cards!
Thanks Haley!

I like to keep them in a little basket on the bathroom counter.
It makes the bathroom smell real good.

This one is a bath bomb.
I forget what it's called, but it gives you "snowflakes" in your bath.

Here's another bubble bar.
I'm sure this one will give me a ton of
red sparkly bubbles and make me feel fancy.

This one is a bath bomb called, "Big Blue".
It's packed with detoxifying sea salt, vitamin-rich seaweed
and relaxing lavender and lemon.

See, you can actually see the seaweed.
I just may have to use this one this weekend...
especially since I'm feeling a bit under the weather.

Ok... time's up for me. Little guy is up and it's dinner time.

So, if you haven't already, go check out your nearest LUSH store
and immerse yourself this weekend.

Peace and Love,

Ralonda

a delicious mud mess...

When I was little I loved to play in the mud and make mud pies.
And I admit, I did have a taste or two.


This past weekend I made... well, attempted to make, Triple Layer Mud Pie,
to take to East Texas for a family gathering.

But mine didn't turn out quite like the picture!

Or even close.
And I wouldn't even be showing y'all my big mud mess,
except for the fact that it tasted so good.

Just try to imagine there's three layers there.

You see what happened was, I pretty much made it the night before
(except for the Cool Whip topping layer) we were to make a two hour drive.
And because of my extreme sleep deprivation, my good judgement failed to kick in
and warn me that assembling a chocolate pudding pie with Cool Whip after making a two hour drive in 75 degree weather probably wasn't the best idea in the world.

But it did taste good... and it WAS easy so, I thought I'd go ahead and share.


Triple Layer Mud Pie

~3 squares Bakers semi-sweet chocolate, melted
~1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
~1 Oreo pie crust
~1/2 cup chopped pecans
~2 cups cold milk
~2 pkgs. Jell-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
~1 tub Cool Whip

1. Mix chocolate and condensed milk. Pour into pie crust. Sprinkle with nuts.
2. Beat milk and pudding with whisk 2 minutes. Spoon 1 1/2 cups over nuts.
Stir 1/2 the whipped topping into remaining pudding; spread over pudding layer in crust.
3. Top with remaining Cool Whip. Refrigerate 3 hours.

Enjoy!
xo
Ralonda

unopened bubbly and no kisses...

First let me say,
Happy New Year
to my dear friends and family
and everyone else who takes
the time to visit my blog.
I hope 2009 is filled with good
health and lots of happiness!

Next, let me apologize to my patient and loving husband
for falling asleep just before midnight.

You see, this is our fifth New Years together and the only one
that we didn't "ring in" together. He said he even tried to wake me.
And later, when I was up for, I think the 2 AM feeding,
he made an effort to wake up enough to tell me
Happy New Year, give me a kiss and tell me he loved me.

We opened the champagne this morning.


As for the hours leading up to me falling asleep "early"...

Our newlywed friends stopped by

with their new margarita machine!

And JB broke out the Patron.

And yes, they were good!

And the partying got a little out of hand WooHoo!...


Not really. lol

After our adorable friends shared their wealth, they quickly realized that
ringing in the new year with a five week old and his sleep deprived parents
wasn't their best option... So they packed up and moved on down the road.

No really, it was nice of them to stop by... Thanks Guys!
We look forward to cranking up the margarita machine
(and watching the little sharks light up) at another date...
or maybe even meeting up for some Matts!

After they hit the road, JB and I went for some
take home sushi from our favorite sushi dive.
We were so hungry we didn't even take the time
to put it on a plate.

Tempura roll... heavenly.

Afterwards, I helped myself to a little Haagen-Dazs.

Hey, I felt like I deserved it... after all, I did give birth to an
8 pound 11 ounce bouncing baby boy in 2008!
I'll worry about those extra calories next week (after my six week check up).

So, combine me having a margarita and a little rocky road

with my sleep deprivation, it's no wonder I zonked out right before midnight.

I usually don't make new years resolutions but,
this year I resolve to stay up to bring in 2010!

Enjoy your day... be sure to eat some black eyed peas!

xo

Ralonda