Dinner - Crispy Honey Sesame Chicken {aka Jack Astor's ~ my version}

Ok, so apparently as of lately it's much easier to blog about what I cook, then what exactly is going on in my life - great eh? Can you tell I love food - when I have nothing else to say, food comes pretttyyy naturally... 


Tonight's Dinner - Crispy Honey Sesame Chicken.. on a work night, very easy and very delirious! I do not hide, this is no no way a "deep down home cooked meal" - but it's simply a pretty darn close attempt at trying to make Jack Astor's Crispy Honey Sesame Chicken, in which they now charge close to $20 for, for around.. $5 per person at home. Again, this isn't made from complete scratch, so don't judge me ok - it was taste I was going for.. 

You'll need...

3 good size Chicken Fingers per person - M&M's are THE BEST to use! (http://www.mmmeatshops.com/en/products/product.asp?productID=343&catID=4)

A bottle of Thai Sweet & Spicy Sauce (I just checked their website for it, and it's not showing anymore, but you can also buy a bottle of "cock" brand, {thats rooster my friends} Thai Sweet & Spicy Sauce at No Frills, it's a big bottle and it has a red label - it's about $2.00 per bottle. The one from M&M's hands down tastes WAY better, but I have used this brand before and it was okay too. 

Honey

Sesame Seeds, toasted 

Carrot, cut like matchsticks 

(did you know...you can buy them this way, found in some stores by the baby carrots!!)

1 Red Pepper, cut into fine strips

Sweet Snow Peas, rinsed

Bean Sprouts

3-4 Green Onions, finely chopped

Jasmine Rice, cook as directed

Bake chicken fingers as directed on package. 

Start Jasmine Rice in rice cooker or stove stop. We love our rice cooker and it makes it perfect every single time! We rarely use a rice cooker, but for the $20 is cost us for the cooker, these ethnic rices cook so nicely in it - it's SO worth it!! 

Prepare vegetables. In other words, if you bought the match stick carrotes, chop the green onion and red peppers - quick, yep!!

Toast your sesame seeds, have you done this before? It adds so much flavour to them! Put a frying pan on medium low and put your sesame seeds in the pan. Keep them moving in the pan, you will smell the aroma and notice they start to turn a light toasty brown. Shut the heat off when they are all equally toasted.

Meanwhile, add 3 parts Thai Sweet & Spicy Sauce and one part honey. I use about 3/4 cipe of the Sweet & Spicy and 1/4 honey. Pop is in the microwave in a small microwave safe bowl and heat until it's hot. Stir and heat again. The heating process will thin out of the sauce, and that's ok! 

Once the chicken fingers and rice are all done, turn a large wok or frying pan, add a little olive oil and stir fry the carrots and red peppers. The amount of vegetables you want, depends on if you like them - we love ALL of these vegetables, so I tend to cook a lot! Once they are soft, throw in a handful or two of bean sprouts, the snow peas and toss. Basically you just want the sprouts and snow peas to be warm, not cooked. Once this is achieved, add 3/4 of the green onions and shut off the heat. Toss again. 

Now you're ready to plate.. lay a bed of Jasmine Rice, then chop up the chicken into bit size pieces, then add the stir fried red pepper, carrot, snow peas and bean sprouts on top. Drizzle with the hot Thai Sweet & Spicy Sauce/Honey mixture, and spring toasted sesame seeds and reserved green onion on top! 


You're ready to eat, hope you enjoy!

Dinner Time - Goat Cheese Chicken Pasta

Alright, so I wanted to use the blog to not only share with friends., family and followers about our life - but also to share recipes! I love to cook {you wouldn't know for looking at me, would you!} and I quite often make some things that I surprise myself with - this was one of those inventions. Tonight I made it for the second time, it was a total hit on the first night. Neil requested it for tonight! 


Note: I do not measure anything, unless I'm baking.. so if I give a measurement, it's usually an estimate. I gauge it for however many people are eating. 


Goat Cheese Chicken Pasta (for two people)


1 chicken breast per person (pounded to be about 1/2 inch thick)
Panko crumbs
Italian bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp aprox of yellow mustard
garlic and onion powder and seasoning salt (if you like)
1/4 each of mushrooms, any pepper, and red onion finely chopped
1/2 cup of mushrooms, any pepper, and red onion coarsely chopped
2 florets of broccoli, steamed
Spaghetini Pasta/Angel Hair Pasta (or your favourite) cooked to your liking 
Olive Oil or Butter
Your favourite pasta sauce (we love Ragu or Prego!)
Goat Cheese


Ok so here we go.. I took pictures - so let me know what you think!


Pound out the chicken breasts to be about a 1/2 inch thick. 


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 


Crack two eggs into a shallow marinating tray and beat them. Add a small amount of mustard and mix together. 


In a second marinating tray put equal parts of Italian bread crumbs and Panko. Add garlic powder, onion powder and seasoning salt to crumb mixture. I think I use about 5 shakes of each power, and three seasoning salt - which is likely about 1 tsp of the powders, and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Obviously this is only for two chicken breasts, so for more, use more.

Next take the pounded out chicken and coat it in the egg mixture, then transfer it to the crumbs, and ensure breast is coated well. Take the coated chicken back to the egg mixture and repeat through egg and crumbs for a second time. Do this to each breast. 

Next spray a baking pan with Pam, or a cooking spray and put chicken in baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees for about 35-40 minutes. Depending on the thickness of the breast, time will vary. 

Meanwhile, take the finely chopped vegetables (mushrooms, onion & peppers) and saute in oil or butter in a small pan. Cook these vegetables well. Set aside. 

Meanwhile, lightly steam broccoli and cook pasta to your liking. 

Then take the coarsely chopped mushrooms, peppers, and onions and saute them lightly in a pan. I don't mind lightly cooked vegetables that leave a bit of a crunch, so I lightly saute them - however if you liked them cooked more, do that to your liking. 

Once the chicken is done, bring it out of the oven and top with the finely chopped sauteed mushrooms, onions and peppers. Also top with a couple tablespoons of your favourite pasta sauce,  and finish with goat cheese. 

Pop chicken back into oven under the broiler! We love garlic bread, so I popped a couple pieces in with it while it was cooking. Once goat cheese starts to bubble or brown, it's done. 

Meanwhile, finish cooking pasta and transfer coarsely chopped cooked veggies including the broccoli into a skillet. Also, add 1/4-1/2 cup of your favourite pasta sauce, and the pasta into the skillet. 

Toss together, on medium low heat and bring to serving temperature. 

Plate the pasta, and top with chicken breast. If you LOVE goat cheese like we do, crumble a bit on the pasta before you top it with the chicken. 

One of our new favourites! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! It's going to be a weekly thing around here I think! Please, let me know if you're going to try it and what you think. If you don't like goat cheese, I'm sure it would be delicious with feta too! 

I need to get back into this, because I love it!

Alright, I'm back atter now. I want to do this again, because last year I loved doing it. My thing was sitting with my {then} fiancée, {NOW} HUSBAND..while he watched TV and yes.. I blogged. He even loved reading them. So even though my blogging friends at lacking {Jen K, Amanda A, Natalie F, Jackie C.. } just to mention a few names - I am no-longer going to lack. 


So the update. We are married. Tomorrow will be 4 months! Married life is great. There really is no change.. we are the same people we were a year ago. Just as busy and life is just as hectic. We are really enjoying the fact that I am working closer to home now, and the stress of driving in the winter is a little less. I am still working at the hospital a between 2-3 shifts a pay, and sometimes more depending on the need or them, or me. The 911 gig is going great, I am LOVING it and really enjoying working with the ladies and gents of OPS. 


 Lennox is 1 year & 8 months old - she is still crazy as ever! I cannot tell you how smart she is, well I can - but the examples would be never ending. She is very suggestive when she is ready to play {brings you toys and sets them on your lap}, wants to go for a walk {goes and sits at the front door, by her hanging leash} ect. She also is very attentive with when Neil should be coming home from work, and often lurks around the front door until he makes the driveway when she goes absolutely a-wall like an intruder is about to invade - nevertheless, she is just so excited to see him - she can barely contain herself. 


Holy snow, everyone thought it would never come.. well guess what my friends - it's here. We have had some crazy accumulation in the last week. Neil has been busy as heck at work, which he is still loving. Speaking of loving, he has a new baby - he bought a truck! He is loving his truck, and I am too. He has been looking for a while now, and we found one that we both liked. Anyway, I have to admit I am loving driving it - and wouldn't mind if he wanted to switch cars for the day any time! :)  The Blue SX2 is heading to my parents, I think mostly for my brothers use. He is looking forward to having it to boot around in, and it will be perfect for him.


I started reading this blog, a fellow Canadian - those of you who love to laugh - check this one out!! http://www.saigewisdom.blogspot.com/ - her CONFESSIONS post is hilarious!



I have had two very special deliveries in January! Auntie Ashleigh & Uncle Neil DOUBLED our BROOD January 2012. WOOHOO! 

Please welcome Katelyn Jane, born January 8th - she is happy, healthy and beautiful. Big sister Haley is doing fantastically with her little sister - I am so proud of her!! You would not believe how many boyfriends Kate already has! I could not be happier for one of my best friends Keri, and her husband Dale. This is a dream come true for them!! We are so proud to be their Auntie Ash & Uncle Neil! 
We love you guys, so much and are SO HAPPY for you!! 

Then new as new, Mr. Eric Andrew came into the world, less then a week ago on January 25th! A second boy (see a pattern) for Pammy & Art, and again I could not be more thrilled for them. Big brother Alex is clearly adoring Eric!! He is not even two yet, but already has a "girlfriend" {above!!} and a best friend {his brother, whether he likes it or not!} We are so proud to be their Auntie Ash & Uncle Neil, Alex & Eric!!

Aren't these children ADORABLE!?!

So speaking of children, your likly wondering, because everyone seems to be, as is the rest of the world with questions flying my way, left and right every single day! Yes, we're trying!! There's your answer. When we have news, you will all find out!! 


Anybody sticking to their "new years resolutions".. I'm really not good at that, so this year I abstained! 


However, I am planning to join a "learn to run" clinic in the spring. I actually was fully committed to starting a couple of weeks ago, however my schedule changed a little bit and that prevented me from going to the first three clinics. After speaking to a friend who has done it, I've decided the spring start is the better option for me. So I'm looking forward to that, I really want to do something and I thought this might help me. It would be a great way for me to get out more with Lennox, and gosh does she love running - so she could be my buddy and wouldn't tell anyone how many times I had to stop, or how many bad words I said while we were out. Do any of you run/jog? What are some tricks of the trade when it comes to this? Please help!! I will pre-prepare myself with your advice!!


And before I go, one thing I want to share with you. After a very short yet hard battle with a very aggressive cancer, we {the ladies of the birthing suites at CVH} say a fond farewell to our dear friend Marian. She passed away Novemeber 1st, 2011. I made this tribute to her, to be placed on the Birthing Suites unit at the hospital. I have worked with Marion for 8 years, she was a wife to Alvin and a mother to a beautiful 5 year old girl, Francesca. When I lived in Missisauga, she lived just around the corner from me. I'd drop her off at home after night shifts sometimes, she was the sweetest person. Her smile was infectious. She was a great nurse, and a great friend. She will always be in my heart. 

Please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers always. 


Ok, I better stop here. 
See - so much to say, no commitment. 
I will blog again, therefore I will continue my commitment. 
As mentioned, {Jen K, Amanda A, Natalie F, Jackie C.. } I wouldn't mind if you followed suit.
Love,

our wedding...

Yes, it's nearly been two months. Hard to believe how fast time flies, but then again, I should know better. What a year it has been! I am happy to say, that our day was perfect {except for the fact that I think its warmer on November 26th, then it was the day we got married} but all in all, our day could not have been better! 

So October 1st, 2011 at 3:00pm we got married at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Swinton Park. This is the church that I grew up in, and the minister, Rev. John Hogarwaard who was preaching at our church when I was younger, married Neil and I.  Surrounded by 160 of our friends and family, we said our "I do's" - it was the best day of my life, and I think Neil would say it was the best day of his too. 

As apart of our ceremony, we incorporated some memory candles for those who were taken from us over the passed year, and would have been there for our big day. Jamie-Lee and I designed this candle holder for this exact purpose, and it will forever stay in our home. I love it. 


After the ceremony, we went down a sideroad and had some pictures taken with our wedding party! I cannot wait to get our pictures back from Amanda! I am sure they are going to look amazing!


We then met up with our family at the Holstein Community Park for family pictures and more wedding party shots! 

 I surprised Neil with arranging to have a fire truck from Dundalk come to the park, I wish I could have arranged to have someone take a picture of his reaction, better yet a video. The siren sounded, and he looked at me. I just kind of shrugged it off, and then he saw the truck coming towards us, filled up with some of the Milliner Clan. He was so surprised, and all the {little white } lies were worth it just to see his reaction that day.  

I look at this picture, and remember thinking I want this to last forever. If you're not married take in every moment with this day comes. The day flies by. So many friends of mine gave me the save advice, and I took it but wish I could have slowed things down even more then I tried that day. I mean, don't drag your feet, but you know - take it all in - moment for moment. 

Our reception was held at the Egremont Optimist Hall in Holstein, we had that place decorated to the NINES in my eyes, and I loved every single aspect of what we did to dress that place up for our big day. It was perfect in every way, and exactly... EXACTLY how I pictured it in my mind for the last year. Our caterer was Peter Chaplin from Markdale, and I cannot tell you how many people have said how great the food was at our wedding. Each time someone comments about our wedding, it's about how nice the hall looked and how great the food was {no, not about how stunning the bride looked... }.. they must have forgot about me?? LOL Just kidding. 

 My decorating vision was put into reality because of a very dear friend of mine, Jamie-Lee Higginson, of Prim Pickins. We basically tore my house, and her house and work shop apart bringing things to decorate our wedding. Her and I made the centre pieces, the favours, and so many other things that tied into our theme, and added so many little details that everyone noticed and will always remember. Thank you Jamie-Lee for everything you did for me, as I said in my speech, you're not just the "girl who makes everything in my house" to make my love of country decor, in my home - you're a dear friend to me too. Thank you! <3

In addition to the "surprise" fire truck at the pictures, I also had Debbie our family friend, who made our wedding cake do a "grooms cake" for Neil, surprise!! Another fire truck. She did a great job and all of the cake was delicious! We saved the top layer to eat next year, it's in the freezer.. anyone want cake? LOL I was told it's a tradition, who knows what it'll taste like a year from now. 

We loved our wedding cake, it was one of the first things we decided on and loved it from the moment we found the picture online. I helped Debbie make the leaves from gumpaste and we painted them with edible paint and shimmer. They looked amazing! Thank you Debbie!!


Our bouquets and flowers for the wedding, were done by Lisa Marshall from Country Petals in Dundalk. I would highly recommend her  business for any flower arrangements, as she took a picture I had picked and adjusted the flowers (still keeping in the same flower families and colours) to to my budget! Thank you Lisa for your wonderful talent! I appreciate everything you did for our flowers, we LOVED them!!

I cannot WAIT to get our wedding pictures back and share them with you, they should be coming very soon, just in time for Christmas!! I cannot wait. Amanda Arch Photography, you are one AMAZING photographer and business lady! I congratulate you in your first year of business - you have become super successful and the one and only person I send my friends to to get their family, newborn and any other kind of photography they need. I hope you continue to grow in your business, and your talent! Love you lady!! Here is the sneak peak we got from her.. don't you LOVE IT?? WE DO!!

Our wedding dance was a huge party, I loved that everyone had a lot of fun and tons of people were dancing all night long. I could have danced all night long, until I stopped and realized I could not feel my feet anymore, and at 2:00am - we called it a night! Wasn't that a party!?!?

And that was our wedding day, it flew by quicker then I thought but we enjoyed every single moment. I wouldn't change a thing for the world, except for the temperature but I wouldn't have wanted to be too hot either. A girl can't ask for much more then that? 


Thank you to our family, friends and wedding party - our day was perfect because of you. We love you all and cannot wait to share more memories with you!

Love From, 

The Mrs. Milliner-Cowan <3

{ we're married }

Will write all about our wedding day, another day - but until then, here's some special pictures from our day! <3

hello.. yes, it's been a while...

Well well.. look who it is, me. Yes, it's been a while. I have been working like never before, if you can believe it - and the wedding is still on! We're managing well. We have been so busy, and time is FLYING! 



It's been quite a summer, after training since early March, I started off on my own at my new job in June, it feels like yesterday but here we are on my fourth month on my own! I am REALLY enjoying it, and it's SO nice to be working close to home. I really love the people who work there, and it's nice being in the police station where the action is! I have been working a lot of nights, which I am getting used to. It's meant a lot less time at home with Neil, but he's adjusting well.


Our laundry machines went on us a couple weeks ago, what a disaster that was! Needless to say someone is coming to pick them up tomorrow, and we're getting new pretty ones delivered on Friday! Nothing like a "happy wedding" present to each other
 before our upcoming nuptials! 

We had two beautiful and spoiling showers in August. We got so spoiled, and feel so blessed with everyone's generosity! We have already started using some of our new stuff! 

My Aunt passed away after a lengthy battle for her life a few weeks ago. I have grown quite close to her during her ups and downs of her illness, as most times she was in Credit Valley (where I work) for her hospitalizations. It was hard seeing her so sick, and I feel blessed to have spent the time with her that I did. I know she wanted very much to be at our wedding, she would tease me about wearing this silly "posey" in her "wedding hat". Though I wish she could be at my wedding, I know she is not suffering any longer, and I know she'll be there in her own little way. 

We had great engagement pictures done in July with Amanda Arch Photography, after seeing them - it makes me so excited for our wedding pictures! This lady is sure to impress! Not only is she an amazing photographer, she is a WONDERFUL friend.



So we're 23 days away now - we are both so excited. Neil seems so relaxed, I don't know if he knows what he's getting to, but he says he knows. :) 

We've been doing a lot of "crafting" for the wedding - as Jamie-Lee would say, the two of us making 250 wedding favours; it's no longer "crafting" - it's like a factory. Neil has even came up to the "work shop" after work to help out! Thankfully, the rest of the stuff we will make will not be into high numbers! I have really enjoyed every minute I've spent with Jamie-Lee in the workshop this summer! I'm looking forward to the wedding planning being over, and hopefully spending even more time helping her with her orders! 

We're working on our honeymoon plans.. we're thinking Jamaica, Cuba or Mexico. Any suggestions? The highest vote is for Jamaica right now - however a travel agent I was in contact with sent me a really great deal for a beautiful 5 star resort in Mexico. I don't know what Neil is going to say! A few girls I work at with the station say that Mexico is safe if you stay on the resort, which I'm 100% sure we would if we were in Mexico. Geez.. though it's scary to think about! 

So I'm trying to make up a "do not play" and "please play" music list for the wedding.. any suggestions are welcomed! What's the best songs to dance to at weddings? I just heard "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" - love it! Doesn't it make you want to dance? The "Chicken Dance" is most definitely on my do not play list.. ugh, annoyed just talking about it! Ok, so help me out - good tunes please!!

Less then 100..

Hey Everyone - sorry but the posts have been super sparse. I'm telling you, it's not for lack of trying - I have sat down tons of times, and then got side tracked with wedding details, phone calls and catching up with friends. 


Work is going great, I am on my own now and I have really enjoyed working with all of the other dispatchers that I didn't meet on my training. I am really enjoying the job, and I LOVE being 10 minutes from home. Twelve hour shifts don't seem to be such a drag anymore and I am happy to admit I don't even mind starting at 5:30am as it means I am home in time to eat a normal supper time meal. The nights are good too. When I used to work a lot at the hospital, and working a night about 4am you'd wish the clock said 7am. The shifts seem to go faster when they end earlier, even though it's the same amount of time spent at work. 

My garden is growing at a rapid pace, which is very exciting! Everything has come up so far, and is looking very good. My radishes are mostly ready, and I think beans, peas and beets won't be too far from being ready too. Tonight we wedded the better part of the whole garden as it really needed it, as Neil said it was hard to tell what was a weed and what wasn't - there was A LOT of weeds!


Our buck & doe was on June 18th, and was a huge success! We had so much fun and are so thankful for our wedding party and families for all their hard work and help to make it such a great night for us. It was certainly overwhelming to know a little more than 300 people were in the same building, to support us. It was an amazing feeling. 

Our house got it's 1st Birthday Present - about three weeks ago, we along with our friends Meredith & Sonny, and Neil's dad, and Jeff installed new front steps. We love them, and they look great! 












Our neighbours have given us wonderful compliments, and everyone who comes to our house say how nice they look! About a week later, we bought a screen door for the front door. It's hard to believe on June 25th, we've been here, at "our house" for a whole year. Hard to believe!!








I went to a beautiful wedding this passed weekend with my sister, in Drayton. It was a friend of hers from work, and I was so glad to go with her. It was a beautiful day, with a beautiful Bride named Denise, and a really sincere and wonderful groom named Rob. The wedding was beautiful and really got me excited for ours. Lynsey and I had a really great time together, and we started the morning with pedicures and breakfast! Thanks for the great day Lyns! 

I will promise to post pictures of the garden soon! I better before the weeds take over again! 


We had Holli and Drew over for dinner tonight, I made some killer ribs which were a huge hit! I'm telling you, ribs so are easy! For these ones I made a dry rub, with some spices. Then I made a home made chipoltle barbecue sauce to baste them with on the bbq. I had them in the oven for about 4 hours at 250 degrees, and then finish them on the BBQ. I throw a bunch of things together, and how it turns out as good as they do, I will never know - but damn, these ribs had it going on!! We had baked potatoes, and garden salad (lettuce from my garden!), and Holli brought a Snicker's cake for dessert! Yumm! 


If you haven't already guessed.. it's less than 100 days til the wedding! As of today, 94 to be exact!


Will write again soon,