Pineapple Chicken

Pineapple Chicken

This has become one of our house favorites lately!  No, I did not create this recipe, but have adjusted it a tad the way we like it here in our home.  For the original recipe that I adjusted, please click here.  

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup pineapple juice

• 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce

• 1/3 cup low sodium chicken stock

• 1/3 cup hoisin sauce

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 2 Tablespoon minced fresh garlic

• 2 Tablespoons cornstarch

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil

• 5 boneless, skinless chicken cutlets seasoned with salt, pepper & garlic powder

• 1 cup crushed pineapple

• 1/2 cup roasted, salted cashews (optional)

• White Rice

Preparation Instructions:

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the pineapple juice, soy sauce, chicken stock, hoisin sauce, brown sugar, garlic and cornstarch. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until the is the consistency of thick syrup. Set the sauce aside.

Add the olive oil to a large nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the pan and season it with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken, stirring, until it is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Drain off any liquids then add the sauce to the pan and stir until combined. Add the pineapple and cashews and cook, stirring, for an additional 1 minute.

Serve the chicken over white rice.

For added presentation, serve the chicken and rice inside a hollowed out pineapple!

Taco Bell Nacho Fries

Taco Bell Nacho Fries

This is just another one of my two cent reviews of a consumer product:   

I'm sure you've seen the commercials for the Taco Bell Nacho Fries like I have and may be a tad bit curious as I have been.  While passing through a nearby town that has a Taco Bell, I decided to stop in and get my favorite Crunch Wrap and try these Nacho Fries with cheese.  No, I didn't splurge for the Supreme version, but did get the regular $1 order.  One of my favorite splurges on junk food is the fries and cheese sauce at Wingstop, so I figured this would probably fall short and be a disappointment.  

I will say that I was pleasantly surprised!  The fries themselves remind me of the seasoned fries we had back in High School.  They were always heavily covered in season salt and we looked forward to days where they were served.  This is a huge leap up from that because you get to dip it in the gooey cheese sauce that I love from Taco Bell!  My only improvement or constructive feedback would be to have the option to have the long lost and forever missed Lava nacho cheese sauce back to dip them in!  Taco Bell, you get my thumbs up approval on this one!

See & Hear

I will hit my 19^th year of adulthood in a few weeks and still haven’t figured out the dating scene yet.  Out of my 19 years of being an adult, I’ve been single for almost 12 of those years.  You would think as we get older, dating would be easier, but it’s not.  It seems to get worse! 

I’ve experienced all the clichés:  lying, cheating and even stealing.  As I’ve gotten older, my prayer when I meet someone new is always, “Lord, give me eyes to see and ears to hear.”  Some of them show their true colors quickly and others take some time to show it. 

Each time a relationship fails, makes it harder to even want to try again.  You walk into a new relationship and things happen making you wonder if you’re actually getting a red flag or if it’s you being paranoid due to a bad experience from a previous relationship. 

Unfortunately, I sit here single again because those feelings of hesitancy were just that: red flags.  Over the past month as things began to unravel in my relationship, I found myself experiencing all aspects of grief:  I was hurt, mad, angry, in denial….but why?  God did exactly what I asked him to do!  He gave me eyes to see and ears to hear.  Instead of being hurt and angry, I’m choosing to be thankful that I realized this person wasn’t for me early on instead of 5 or 10 years down the road when things would be messier and more complicated. 

People are like puzzle pieces.  Just because you don’t fit together with someone doesn’t make you damaged or them a horrible person.  It just means they aren’t the piece of the puzzle that fits with you.  Don't force a fit or you'll regret it.  When putting together a puzzle, some pieces are easy to fit together and others take some time.  Enjoy the journey and the hunt for your piece of the puzzle!

Super Hero Cord Keepers

So as I stated on the Favorite Things page, I review products for Amazon. Companies send me their products for Free or close to it and in return, I give my honest opinion of their product.  Last week, I was doing a conference for Samsung and made the comment that I needed something to organize my cords as they always end up in a spider web of a knot by the end of the week.  I typically travel with my cell phone, laptop and 3 or 4 iPads.  That's a LOT of cords!  The same day, these little guys popped on my que as products to be tested.  Of course I jumped at the chance to review them as they're adorable and would potentially fix my issue of the cord knot.  They arrived and I was interested to see how I would get them to help my problem.  

So I coiled up my cords and attached my little super hero and they worked great!  I love these little super heros and will order more of them!  I think these would make a great stocking stuffer.

Click here to purchase them on Amazon.  Right now they're on sale for a low $9.99!

Time

Anyone that knows me knows I have a heart for ministry and outreach.  I love giving and helping others whenever I can.  It makes my heart smile when I see friends and family giving back whether it's serving the needy on a Saturday morning or helping the widow at church fix a window.  Giving doesn't always mean handing someone the cash in your pocket or writing out a check.  Many times, giving comes in the form of time.  

I think a lost area of servant hood is the singles community.  Helping someone that's single doesn't always look like helping them with their electric bill or fixing our car because they're down on their luck.  Not all of us struggle financially.  Many of us just want your time!

I heard a pastor speak one time on single women and how the church is failing them.  In the message he spoke about how many single adult women settle for less than what God has for them because they just want someone to have companionship with them.  He talked about how if the church did a better job of filling in the gaps relationally for these women, they would be less likely to settle for a man that's less than what God has planned.

I was talking to a friend of mine last week and I told him the thing I miss the most about being in a relationship is having someone that cares how my day went.  Some of my most depressing days as a single person have been those days where I had an amazing or horrible day, just to come home and have no one to talk about it with.  A need for companionship is something that's ingrained within us. 

Want to really feel alone?  Go to a restaurant on any given weekend, and sit by yourself and eat dinner in a sea of couples having date night.  I know for me, going to a restaurant or a movie by myself is mortifying.  

I totally get it.  Married people typically have husbands and kids or sports to tend to on a Friday or Saturday night.  I know for me, I will only ask a friend to go to dinner or to hang out so many times before I just stop asking.  Rejection sucks!

I know many of my married friends are sitting there laughing in their minds as they read this thinking, "Man what I wouldn't do for some peace and quiet and some time to myself."  Too much of one thing is not good.  Do you know what it feels like to sit at home by yourself weekend after weekend with no one to do anything with or even talk to?  It can be quite maddening!  Isolation is a breeding ground for the enemy to get in your head and try to convince you that nobody likes you and you're going to be single forever.  

If you really want to bless the life of a single friend, call them up and ask them to go to dinner or see a movie on a weekend.  You'd be shocked at how little we get to do things like that because of fear of being judged for being alone.  Don't have the free time to go to dinner?  Reach out to a single friend in your life and randomly ask how their day went.  Don't just ask, really listen.   

I've Done My Good Deed for the Day

It’s a phrase we’ve all said, “I’ve done my good deed for the day.”  While the phrase is typically in a joking manner, in the back of our minds, we feel like we’ve checked off that box of being the “good Christian” even for just a moment, so we’re on God's nice list for the rest of the day, right?  

Today after church, a group of us went to lunch together.  A fellow church member offered to pick up the check for my meal.  As we left and I thanked him for lunch, he made the comment, “I’ve done my good deed for the month!”  It reminded me that God laid this topic on my heart about a month ago, and today was a nudge that I needed to share it. 

I’ve always had a heart to help others in any way I can, even during times in my life when I didn’t have the resources to help myself.   I really believe that God gave me this blessing of a giving heart.  He also brings the resources into my life to allow me to bless others.  No, I’m not only talking about money, giving comes in many ways.  He gives me free time, where I can sit with a friend in the hospital.  He gives me extra toiletries from my travels, where I can share them with the needy.  He gives me a bonus at work and turns around and shows me someone he wants me to share it with.  There’s lots of ways I can give.  It’s not about doing one good deed a day; it’s about living a giving life in general.

The Bible doesn’t say you have to sell all your processions and give the money to the poor.    Nor does God call you to never buy anything nice for yourself.  What He does want is for you to come to Him with your resources and give where He asks you to give.  It may be handing the guy on the corner asking for money the last $5 you have in your wallet.  It may be helping the struggling family at church with their electric bill.  It may be spending the evening with a friend that you know is struggling with life. 

That also doesn’t mean God wants you to help every single person in need that you come across.  He will show you who to give to and sometimes He’ll tell you not to.  Sometimes God is working on someone in their time of need.  I’ve spoken to many friends who have been taught such lessons as dependency on God and humbleness in their time of need.  Yes, me writing them a check would have helped, but it would have interfered with the lesson God was trying to teach them. 

It’s in those moments where God gives me the opportunity to share with others that I end up receiving the biggest blessings, the blessing of getting to be the hands and feet of Jesus!

Biblical truths behind this message:

• “Generous hands are blessed hands because they give bread to the poor.”  Proverbs 22:9
• “Sinners are always wanting what they don’t have; the God-loyal are always giving what they do have.” Proverbs 21:26
• “You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” 2 Corinthians 9:7
• “And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.” Hebrews 13:16

Bermuda

The photos in the post were taken in Bermuda while on a business trip.  

                                      All photographs contained in this blog are property of Becky Rowbotham