Happy New Year!

2013 is gonna be a great year. 2012 was a wonderful year, a tough year but a good one. 2013 though....I can feel it in my bones, it's gonna be a good one.  There is already so much to look forward to in 2013 including: my nephew, William, is coming in March, so many of my friends are having babies (a special one in July, the 25th to be exact), my sister is getting MARRIED in Hawaii in November, and of course Molly turning 1 and everything else that pertains to her. :) It's gonna be a great year - it just is.

So, to close out a good year we were the lame people that stayed in, ate a good meal, drank some bubbly (yes in wine glasses because we don't own champagne glasses - it's ok, we are classy like that) and went to bed early, at least I did. It was nice. I value my sleep since we have an alarm clock that doesn't have a snooze button. I had a big family meal planned but I didn't anticipate it taking about 2 hours to make (granted this might not be a long time for some but for me it seemed like it took all day, expecially when you have a child pulling at your pant leg wanting you to push her around in her new car). It ended up just being Danny and I that enjoyed it but Molly will get to have some tomorrow and the next day and probably the next because the recipe made a ton. I recommend the dish, IF you have that kind of time. Maybe it will be a NYE tradition, who knows. Oh, dish was homemade baked sweet and sour chicken with fried rice. It was really tasty if I do say so myself.

Here is the recipe, from non other than Pinterest, who got it from Life as a Lofthouse blog :)

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

The chicken coating:

3-4 boneless chicken breasts

salt + pepper

1 cup cornstarch

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup canola oil

The sweet and sour sauce:

3/4 cup sugar

4 tbs ketchup

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp garlic salt

       Start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees. Rinse your chicken breasts in water and then cut into cubes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs.  Heat your 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through. Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish. Mix all of your sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and then pour evenly over the chicken. Bake for one hour and during the baking process you will need to turn the chicken every 15 minutes.  

Fried Rice                                                                                             

3 cups cooked white rice (day old or leftover rice works best!)

3 tbs sesame oil

1 cup frozen peas and carrots (thawed)

1 small onion, chopped

2 tsp minced garlic

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/4 cup soy sauce

      On medium high heat, heat the oil in a large skillet or wok.  Add the peas/carrots mix, onion and garlic. Stir fry until tender. Lower the heat to medium low and push the mixture off to one side, then pour your eggs on the other side of skillet and stir fry until scrambled. Now add the rice and soy sauce and blend all together well. Stir fry until thoroughly heated!  Yum!  

Oh and while we are closing out 2012 I forgot to show you our Christmas card. I have never sent them out until this year....probably because I had a good reason but anywho, here it is.