Kung Pao Chicken...

I love Kung Pao Chicken.  It's my favorite Chinese dish.  I have never cooked Chinese food before, it's always intimidated me.  But, for some reason, this week I decided I was going to try to make Kung Pao Chicken.  After considerable internet research for a good Kung Pao recipe, I decided to go with a bottled Kung Pao sauce.  The homemade sauce recipes I found required Chinese wine and I didn't want to send the time or money searching for it.  I got a bottle of Panda Express Kung Pao sauce at Safeway and I stopped at Freshmart, the new fruit and veggie store in Salem to pick up the veggies.  It turned out to be a delicious and healthy dinner.  I served this with a quick "fried" rice recipe I threw together.

Kung Pao Chicken

• 1 pound chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
• Panda Express Kung Pao Sauce
• 1-2 tablespoons Vegetable oil
• 8-12 dried Chinese peppers
• 1 Zucchini, diced
• 1/2 Green bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 Red bell pepper, diced
• 3 green onions, diced
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 4 stalks celery, diced
• 2 tablespoons minced ginger
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 can sliced water chestnuts
• 1/2 cup Peanuts

1. Marinate chicken in Kung Pao sauce, enough to coat, for 2 hours.
2. Heat large, deep skillet on high with vegetable oil.  Add dried Chinese peppers when oil is hot.  Cook peppers until they turn dark in color.  Remove peppers from the oil.
3. Add chicken in marinade to oil and let cook through, approximately 4 minutes.
4. Add all vegetables and cook 2-3 minutes.
5. Add 1/4 - 1/3 cup Kung Pao sauce and stir to combine, cooking until sauce thickens slightly.
6. Add peanuts.
7. Serve and enjoy.

A Vacation, Day 2...

Day 2 of our vacation was really still just me.  For my own graduation gift, I decided I wanted to go to a spa.  I had exhaustively researched spas in the Bend area and finally landed on Shibui Spa.  They told me I could come early and soak in their soaking tub and I took full advantage of this.  Then I had the Three Sisters Fix Facial and a pedicure.  It was amazing.  What a relaxing place.  One more reason I wished I lived in Central Oregon.  I then wondered a very empty Sisters (no one's around on Mondays) and had lunch at my favorite deli, Depot Deli.  I headed back to Eagle Crest and Cesar arrived around 5pm.  We ordered pizza in and spent the evening relaxing and watching movies. 

A Vacation, Day 1...

On our 5th anniversary, we went to Seattle for a long weekend and stayed downtown.  It continues to be one of our most treasured memories.  At that time, we swore we would do something big for our 10th.  Well, the 10th anniversary was in February, when I was in the middle of student teaching (read: no paychecks!).  So, we compromised our plan trip to Hawaii in June and settled for something more reasonable (and appealed to my fear of flying - near plane crash - that's a story for another post).  We booked 5 days at Eagle Crest outside of Redmond, OR.  Its always been one of our favorite spots and it seemed like a nice, relaxing place to celebrate both our 10th anniversary and the completion of my master's program.

Since Cesar had to work both Sunday and Monday, I drove over Sunday by myself.  This drive proved to me how much I really am my father's daughter.  Growing up, we took lots of road trips.  Mom always wanted to stop at every little place along the way.  Dad, who always drove wanted to just get there.  It was about making it to our destination.  And I found myself fighting this very urge all the way to Sisters.  It was a gorgeous day and drive and I had to fight that DNA every time I pulled over to take a picture.

Detroit Lake from Mongold Day Use Park

The road to Detroit is full of very fond memories for me.  My dad painstakingly restored a jet boat when I was a kid and our family time was spent driving to Detroit either for the day or to camp many times throughout the summer.  The drive reminded me of some wonderful times with my family and had me smiling with memories of my dad.

A not quite full Detroit Lake with Mt. Jefferson in the background.

The boat dock, in Detroit.  Docked at many times in my youth:

Countdown is on...

After 2 years, I have one week left of graduate school.  One week.  5 days at the elementary school and a 4 hour class on Saturday.  And then I am free.  It is truly unreal.  I have only really understood the last couple of weeks how much work I have down the last couple of years. I look forward to having my brain back, because even when I wasn't doing homework (which wasn't often), I was thinking about doing homework and feeling guilty for not doing homework.  I see lots of novels and crafts in my very near future. 

Favorite flower...

Spring Break...

Well, this is my first spring break in 12 years.  And boy, do I have a list of things to get done.  And, no it's not that interesting to blog about (or read about), I realize.  But, I am hoping it will keep me accountable!

• Complete at least 1/2 of work sample More like 75% of it, thankyouverymuch!
• Clean and organize the office all except my craft desk
• Paint master bedroom (or watch mom paint)  Just need to paint where we had to mud
• Redecorate master bedroom (or watch mom redecorate) Just need to rehang wall decor
• Spring Clean entire house - This is probably not going to happen. Cleaning can wait, right?
• Get hair done Love it!
• Girl Getaway

Okay, that's a lot.  Especially if you have seen the state of my office, the "Oh crap, people are coming over, shove everything in the office" office.

Not bad, not bad at all.  Got a lot of fun stuff done too!  I love spring break!

Impressive...

Hubby and I stopped by the grocery store this afternoon and as we were leaving, I noticed a man pushing a cart, towards his bicycle.  This same gentleman had briefly chatted to me while we looked at the Easter display, commenting that if a holiday was invented, stores would come up with merchandise to sell us.  What was curious about his approach to the bicycle was that he had a 20 pound bag of dog or cat food on the bottom of the cart along with several grocery bags.  I said to Hubby, "How the hell will he manage that?!  Let's wait and watch."  So voyeurs we became.  I watched as he loaded not one, not two, but THREE 2-liters of soda into his backpack.  I watched as he moved all of his other purchased, including a family pack of some sort of meat - I am guessing a BBQ was about to happen, into two plastic grocery bags and then double bagged them.  I predicted and then watched with satisfaction as he hung a bag off of each of the handlebars.  I watched as he put his helmet on (safety first, as my mom would say) and load that very heavy backpack onto his back.  Then I wondered, as it appeared his bike was without a kickstand, how in the world he would load the dog food on to his bike, while balancing the bike at the same time.  But he did.  He had one of those metal rear bike racks that he set the dog/cat food on, standing on end.  While, balancing the bike and the food, he gently pushed the cart, so it was against the building - I certainly didn't blame him for not returning the cart this time! - and walked his bike across the parking lot.  At this point, Hubby, who had wrongly predicted all of the impressive biker's moves, again, wrongly predicted the man would walk his bike home.  I said with certainty, "No, he's going to ride."  And sure enough, he carefully balanced himself on that seat and rode off, adjusting the bag of dog/cat food with his left hand.  I felt so satisfied, watching this story unfold.  We probably sat in that parking lot for an extra 7 or 8 minutes watching a very impressive feat.  Bike on, bicycle dude.  You impressed me, today.  I am just disappointed I didn't even have my cell phone on me to take your picture!