Creamy Coconut Chicken Thai Haystacks. & Giveaway!!

This is a recipe from 365 days of slow cooking

Makes 6 servings

12 bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed and trimmed
1 (14 oz) can coconut milk
1/4 cup peanut butter (creamy or chunky)
2 tsp chicken bouillon granules or 1 tsp Shirley J chicken bouillon
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground red pepper (if you like it spicy, add more)
2 Tbsp cornstarch
Toppings: red bell pepper, grated zucchini, peanuts, coconut flakes, cilantro

1. Place chicken in bottom of slow cooker.
2. In small bowl combine the coconut milk, peanut butter, bouillon, soy sauce, lime juice, garlic powder and ground red pepper. Whisk until smooth. Pour over the top of the chicken.
3. Cover and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours.
4. Remove lid. Combine 2 Tbsp cornstarch and 2 Tbsp water in a small bowl. Stir until smooth. Pour into the slow cooker. Cook on HIGH for 10 minutes without the lid, until sauce thickens.
5. Serve chicken and sauce over rice. Top with desired toppings.

You Probably have most everything on hand right now!! LUCKY YOU!! As far as toppings I would add pineapple, chow mien noodles, cheese and olives to that list. The toppings are so flexible in this recipe you could really go crazy! We also used Wowbutter in place of the peanut butter due to LM's food allergy. It works out pretty good as a substitution in most recipes.

Don't forget to check out the March Madness contest going on at 365 Days of Slow cooking! She is giving out a copy of her cookbook to the winners of this and it could be you!!

And now for something completely different!

Well Kinda.... If you know me, you know I love to cook, and cook with my crock pot. So when 365 Days of Slow cooking announced that they were doing a March Madness of Slow Cooker thing. I volunteered and was chosen! I was given 2 chicken dinners that I had never made before to try. It was fun, exciting, and a little scary at the same time.

My First dish I made was a Creamy Coconut Chicken. We all loved this soooo much, and I am going to add it to our regular dinner rotation. It is pretty much Curry Haystacks. You know like Hawaiian Haystacks but with some Thai flavors. I LOVE THIS. I love that I can put all kinds of toppings on it like coconut, pineapple, cilantro, olives and etc. The list is really endless. We also used Wowbutter instead of Peanut butter because of LMs allergies. I love that stuff it is made out of soybeans and is an excellent substitute.



The Second Dish we tried was Lemon Artichoke Chicken. It was pretty good, but not as tasty as the Thai haystacks. Nothing could really compare and it isn't fair to other dishes to even try to compete. And our dinner did not look like the picture she had on her blog.



I had a good time doing this and can't wait to see the results! So keep an eye out on 365 Days of Slow cooking in March to see what dish wins!

The one with the Gallbladder.

I have been watching A LOT of Friends lately... you know the TV. Every episode is titled The one with (whatever). I felt this was fitting because this time we will talk about my stupid gallbladder and the trouble it got me into. Did you even know what your gallbladder does?? Where it is?? If yours has given you trouble you will not need to Google it. Other wise we will pause for a moment so you can go and check it out.



One night just before before Christmas 2010 I ate a awesome homemade BLT. It was the most delicious thing I have ever eaten. OH it was tasty, so I had 2. About an hour or so later I got this HORRIBLE HORRIBLE pain in my abdomen, that just wouldn't go away. I was in pain for about 4 hrs before I decided to my husband take me to the ER. I did not want anything to happen to my baby!! The ER wasn't to busy and if you are hysterical enough and pregnant they will take you right back. That is just a tip for the next time you have to go to the ER. We wait and wait get an ultrasound and told that HEY guess what you have gall stones and there isn't much we can do about it because surgeons don't like to operate on pregnant ladies unless they have too. =( I am pumped with Morphine and sent on my way.

I would like to add that this night maybe be known to others as the night that the Provo Tabernacle burnt down..... The thought has swirled in my my mind that Micah and I are probably some of the last people to see it before it burnt down. I feel a touch guilty about this.


The next few months are HORRIBLE. I have to be on a stupid low fat high fiber diet so that I don't upset my gallbladder. Upsetting it may cause me to pass a gall stone which could lodge in my liver and then I would need a new liver. =( I weight the pros and cons of this and decide I like my liver and am very good on my diet. So good that I don't gain to much weight, which is upsetting to my doctor. I tell her hey what can i do !?!? and she said she doesn't know. From Dec. to April the pregnant lady who LOVES to eat can not. It is very sad and scary for those around me.

There are a few things I would like to point out. Most doctors I have talked to don't believe my gallbladder had anything to do with Gavin coming early. Well I would like to add it is stressful worrying about food all the time and my liver failing. I did ended up having my gall bladder removed while Gavin was in the NICU. I bet that doesn't happen to often. I don't think it does because I had my surgery in the same hospital that Gavin was in and it freaked the day surgery people out every time I talked about it. And I did have a picture of my gallstones but I am pretty sure my husband threw it away after I carried it around for months and months.

The Beginning

I wrote "my story" about when Gavin was born today. You know because everyone in cyber world has one. It was pretty short compared to other peoples stories, I even had story envy. Then It came to me that everybody is different and some tend to go on and tell every tiny detail. To some that is fine, but I just can't do it. I can't go into every tiny detail of what happened because it is such a blur to me.

There are a few culprits to this. The Magnesium Sulfate... that is some nasty shizz... What is it?? Well you might have some in your bathroom, but it is called Epsom salt. Hey you can even buy it at the dollar store. The doctors gave it to me,in an IV,to help with my super high blood pressure. One thing I remember is the PAIN when I was first given this, my arm felt like it was being crushed by a boulder bigger than me. One of the side of effects of "The Mag" is memory loss. I don't remember much after Gavin was born I pretty much lost the 2nd half of that day, I can't tell you what I did who came and saw me. I do know that I pumped milk for Gavin because I was made to, and my husband, my mom and mother in law where there. That is it. I don't even remember seeing Gavin. It is very sad and I hate to even admit it... I don't remember the first time I saw Gavin. That was painful to say.

I chalk the other reason up to just the pain shock of it all. side note... I was admitted to the hospital a few days before Gavin was born to watch my awesome blood pressure. We celebrated Easter 2011 there, that was not fun. I was doing so awesome that I really thought I was going home soon. Then It happened.. The "attack" I woke up early that morning throwing up and just feeling bad and like I wasn't all there and my blood pressure was going crazy. I think my nurse was freaking out because she thought I was going to have a seizure or worse a stroke. I remember a few drs coming in and talking to me about what was going on... I said just do what you have to do. I was shocked they said ok we are going to schedule you for a C-Section as soon as your OB can get here. Most of the time when your tell your OB to deliver your baby they don't go OK lets do it in a few hours... they really don't say that when you are 27 weeks. UNLESS it is bad and someone could die. This was so Shocking to me.

HUH I guess I knew lots of details.. I would not say details as much as the narrative of what I remember that day, and some snarky comments about the nursing staff taking Cafe Rio orders... I remember that, but not seeing Gavin.. GREAT. I know I have Postpartum Depression and maybe some PTSD because of it all... Don't worry I am taking medicine. More on that another time, and maybe another reason I don't remember every tiny detail of that worst best day ever.

96

Do you ever have thoughts that just nag at you and nag at you until you do something about it??? Well this post is my nag. For the past couple of nights I have even lost sleep about it. On facebook I follow several preemie groups, and they all have post of everyones stories. I have even been asked to post mine, I quickly poo pooed that idea, but it kept nagging at me. For one I don't think a lot of people know the whole story and my REAL thoughts and feelings about it. I also kept it super private because I almost died and I thought Gavin would die so I pretty much shut it out. However the anniversary of that great and terrible day is coming up SOON, and I am getting old so the details need to be recorded quickly.

So before we get into that THE FACTS:

I Had Gavin at 27 weeks.... 27 weeks out of 40 weeks. I completely missed our 3rd trimester! He was 1 lb 13 oz and spend a total of 96 days in the UVRMC NICU. That will always be a special place in my heart, more on that later.

The Reason for having Mr Gavin so early was due to me having severe unstable preeclampsia. Don't get if you are pregnant, it is not a good thing. I also think some part of it was due to me having gallstones... no body will say it, but it really did not help. Don't get those either. I had to have my gallbladder out when Gavin was in the NICU.... that was not fun.

More on this later.


Gavin at 2 weeks old

Freezer Dinners ?!?! Don't mind if I do!

Winter/ RSV season is quickly approaching which means, LM, G, and I won't be going out much. I am ok with that I am preparing myself in many ways.. crafts for me and LM, internet shoppings, and FREEZER MEALS!

I LOVE Freezer meals, making, eating, thinking, and even planning! Why not join a group, weeeellll I did that once and the hubster didn't care for that. What you did not like that one person made 3 quesidilla's for one of her meals? Yeah between not getting equal meals then having ones that sounded amazing ending up tasting like shizz. It was just not worth it. HECK, maybe some of the ladies didn't like my meals... It probably happened. Either way it wasn't for us.

SO my plan: I have to make dinner daily so why not make an extra meal? Why not take a Saturday and make a bunch of meals? I could do that and I am going to. To prepare I made a pretty awesome list, and I thought I would SHARE! Do I have recipes for all these things pretty much, and I am going to type them all up and share with you HECK NO.... just google, ask, or use your own recipe. I am not an exotic cook, I don't make things with more then 6 or 7 ingredients I pretty much have ADHD for cooking, but what I do make is pretty darn good. Here is the list and enjoy!

1. Lasgana Rolls *found on pinterst and looks GOOD
2. Apricot Chicken
3. Creamy Ranch Chicken w/noodles
4. Buttermilk Chicken
5. Sloppy Joes on garlic Bread amazing!!
6. Stuffed Pasta Shells
7. Stuffing Meatloaf * Amazing.. I might post this recipe soon.
8. Chicken rolls/pillow whatever you want to call them
9. Bacon Wrapped Chicken
10. Broccoli Cheese Soup
11. Santa Fe Cheese Soup
12. Raspberry Pork
13. Aloha Pork Chops
14.Chicken Caccatore
15.Honey Pork *Great for stir fry
16. Woodland Park Beef Sandwiches
17. Beef Stroganoff
18.Sweet and Sour meatballs
19. Cranberry Chicken
20. Kaluha Pork
21. Taco Braid
22. Beef Stew

There is my list!! I thought that would at least find links for a few of the dinners because I am nice like that! On an unrelated note: Tuesday was LMs 4th birthday It was a hit and worthy of its own post. And today it really feels like FALL YIPPPEEE.

I did 2 things today!

I only did two things today.... my NICU project and make dinner. That's ok because I stayed up late reading The Help, because both LM an G went to bed early!

Project #1: burp cloths for the NICU.. sounds and looked super easy to make. Well it took me 2 days to do make ONE! They are cute and I bet it would be easy to make expect I don't sew that much and I am not really sure how to thread my machine properly. My nice neighbor came over twice to thread it for me. I have stuff to make 5 and by gosh I am going to make those 5. The NICU says they like to have 45 of one thing so that no baby gets left out................



Don't those look cute?!?!

This is what mine looked like:


Yeah... I bet after I make 45 mine will look awesome. One thing, I am a firm believer in washing fabric before sewing it. I washed the cloth diapers before sewing them and they kinda shrank BIG time. Don't let discourage you from making them, if you sew and need a cute present. CLICK HERE TO SEE HOW TO MAKE THEM.


#2 I made this super tasty dinner!! You can find out how to make it HERE.



They were sooo EASY and YUMMY and husband like them too.