Tropical Chicken with Grilled Pineapple

Up until the last year or two, my grilling experience consisted solely of hamburgers and hot dogs and the occasional corn on the cob. Not that I didn't want to do anything different, I just never really thought about it. Then I started to get serious about cutting utility costs, and running the oven in the summer while AC was going didn't make much sense. I mean, purposely raising the temperature in one part of the house to 350 degrees while simultaneously cooling the rest of the house to 78 degrees? :-) Anyhoo, I think I can count on 1 hand the number of times I have used the oven so far this summer when it was hot enough for the AC, and we have definitely moved past just hot dogs and hamburgers. This recipe comes from Ladies Home Journal (June 2010) and was immediately pronounced "a keeper" by DS. To make it into a freezer meal, combine the marinade, add chicken and freeze. The chicken will marinate as it thaws. Enjoy!

Tropical Chicken with Grilled Pineapple

In a zip-top bag or a nonreactive bowl, combine 1/2 cup soy sauce, 3 cloves minced garlic, 1 T grated ginger, 2 T lemon juice, 2 T brown sugar, 2 t red pepper flakes and 2 T oil. Marinate 8 pieces bone-in chicken (breasts, legs and thighs) in the mixture in the fridge for 3-8 hours. Heat grill to medium and discard marinade; grill chicken skin side down over direct heat for 5-6 minutes. Turn and cook 6-8 minutes more.

Slice 1 peeled pineapple (I cheated and used canned sliced pineapple) into 1/2-inch rings and sprinkle each with 1/2 t sugar. Grill, turning once, until marked and just soft, about 3 minutes; serve alongside chicken. Serves 6-8, unless you have a teenage boy, in which case you might only be lucky enough to snitch a piece for yourself. :-)

Christmas Already?

Yes, we're thinking about Christmas already. It's either plan ahead or lose my sanity in December....Anyhoo, both kids are seriously thinking about asking for an iPod iTouch for Christmas. Not like it's an expensive gift or anything. ;-) DS had the use of one during the school year for the tech program he was in, and he's hooked, and of course, if he gets something that cool, his twin thinks she needs the same. They both know that if they were to get one, it would basically be their entire Christmas from me. And they know that if they want one, they need to let me know now, so I can start looking for deals and no changing their minds 3 months from now. (Not that they ever do that or anything....lol) I have checked Amazon, and an 8 gb version is, gulp, $178. New at Apple, it would be $199 new, $149 refurbished. Not sure about refurbished. That's a lot of money to throw at something that is *pre-owned.* But on the other hand, if I could save $30-50, why not? It was so much easier when they were little! Fisher Price toys and clothes, and we were set to go.... $150 *toys* are just another sign they are growing up too fast!

Catching Up

After 15 years, you would think I would know that the week of Vacation Bible School at church means fun for a lot of kids but complete chaos here at home! And I didn't even do much for VBS this year, just registration! So today is a day to play catch up....the kitchen is a mess, laundry needs done, meals need planned, that bathroom needs cleaned, the checkbook needs caught up, and I've already put in a few hours at my paying job to catch up at that. Add to that the fact that DD may be needing a trip to Urgent Care when she gets up, and I'm tired just thinking about it! (Why yes, I AM exclamation-point happy today!! ;-) )

But it is all worth it? Most definitely! To see 70+ kids fired up for Christ, that's worth a little chaos at home! :-)

914/1140

914 out of 1140 requests - that's my position on Paperback Swap for "Artesian Bread in 5 Minutes a Day!" I love Paperback Swap. It's a free book trading site where you start by listing 10 books you want to trade, and in return you get 10 credits to pick from books other members are offering. Right now I have about 30 books listed for trade and 50 or so that I'm looking for, but I've received and traded many more than that. (The only cost involves is shipping, usually around $2.50 for media mail, which is a great bargain.) Some books I will probably receive over the next six months, and others, such as the Artesian Bread book, I should probably add to my Christmas list! It's kind of fun to go over my wish list every so often and see what progress, if any, I've made. Some books I want have never been listed (for example, books on temari, a type of needlework, some Christian reference books), a few last listed more than a year ago (again, Christian reference and some cookbooks) and some are listed multiple times a week (books my kids want and Glenn Beck! haha). Anyhow, each time I see my position in the waiting list for the the Artesian bread book, I just have to smile. Hopefully I will receive it while I'm still able to bake! :-)

Two Months, Really?

Has it been that long? Golly! Every day I think I'll take a few minutes to post something, but I guess that never happened.

Well, the good news is, I got the Mastercard paid off! It took a little longer than planned, but it is at a 0 balance, and I intend for it to stay that way! I haven't rewarded myself yet. DD got took me purse-shopping for Mother's Day, and between church camp fees last month and the house insurance due this month, I haven't felt like it was appropriate.

The bad news is, I'm addicted to McDonald's frappes. :-) I love their carmel drinks and have been having waaaay too many of them. I'm trying to limit myself to one a week. Sometimes that works; other times, not so much! It's definitely not helping my budgeting or my waistline, I can tell you that. So that is something to work on in the coming weeks.

I do have a prayer request, if anyone is reading this and feels so inclined. I received some disturbing information about some people that have been staying with the next-door neighbors (the ones who are in trouble with the law and arrested nearly every other week, it seems). Anyhow, prayers for our safety and wisdom on what to do this information would be deeply appreciated. Also, peace for the kids. They overheard the first part of the conversation before I could stop it, and one is a huge worrier when it comes to safety. Is is bad of me to pray for these people to put their house on the market and move immediately?

It's hard to believe it's July already. Maybe I'll get into some sort of posting routine again before the summer is out. I hope so.