Chicken Fried Rice

Fried rice is one of the easiest, fool-proof dishes to make. It's pretty forgiving and you can put whatever you want in it - chicken, beef, shrimp, ham, pork, or any combo you want! I made chicken fried rice tonight because it's what we had in the fridge. The key to really good fried rice is to use day old, cold rice. If you use fresh, hot rice, it will be mushy and you'll end up with a big goopy mess. Here's what you'll need:

2-3 cups leftover white rice, cold
1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked and diced
2-3 eggs, beaten in a bowl (I like eggs in my fried rice, so I used 3)
3 stems of green onions, chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas & carrots, thawed
1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed
Soy sauce
Black pepper
Salt, if needed

You'll want to use a deep skillet because of how much stuff you'll be cooking in one pan. Drizzle the pan with some vegetable oil and turn the stove to medium-high to high heat. You want the pan pretty hot. Once the oil is hot, pour in the eggs and swirl them around the pan to coat the bottom. Don't scramble the eggs, just swirl the pan. The bottom should set pretty quickly and the egg on top will still be runny like this:

Now, dump in the rice and mix it together with the egg.


Next, throw in all your other ingredients - veggies, meat, and green onions. Mix it together.

Now season it all with black pepper and soy sauce. I usually just eyeball the soy sauce - about 2 tablespoons. If you're using low-sodium soy sauce, you'll also probably need to add a little salt. Just season to taste.

I like to let the rice sit in the hot pan for a little bit - this kind of "crisps" the rice, which I love. Just let it sit for about a minute, then stir and let it sit for another minute. And that's it!

Yum!! Enjoy!

That's MY Ball!

One of Casey's favorite toys is this red Kong ball.

It's super bouncy and super durable. If she had her way, we'd be throwing it down the hallway all day long for her to chase and bring back. Almost every time Casey gets this ball in her mouth, it inevitably ends up under the entertainment center or coffee table, where she can't get to it. When this happens, she throws a temper tantrum and growls and grunts until David or I get it out from under the table for her. Last night, she was feeling particularly gutsy and she started barking at me to get the ball for her. This got old pretty quickly, so I got the ball from under the coffee table and hid it behind a pillow on the couch. And it worked! Out of sight, out of mind! Later in the evening, Casey got sleepy and crawled up on the couch with me. Little did she know that by crawling up on the couch, she'd find her favorite red ball! This is Casey after she found her ball:

She fell asleep with it right next to her head, one arm wrapped around it. I don't think she liked that I hid it from her...

Look Who's One!

It's hard to believe that it's already been a year...

My niece, Nathalia has gone from this bundle of joy...



To this bubbly, happy, fun loving, little lady!

Time flies when you're having fun! I'm so sad that her daddy isn't home to celebrate this milestone with her, but I hope she knows that he's loving her from Oklahoma. Happy 1st Birthday, sweet girl!!!!

Snow!!

In true Texas weather fashion, it started snowing early Thursday morning around 3am. This wasn't the regular sleet/slush mixture we normally see, though. These were big, wet, REAL snow flakes! The kind that was made for building snowmen and throwing snowballs! It snowed and snowed all day, nonstop for almost 24 hours. These pictures were taken around 10:15 pm on Thursday.

As it continued to snow into the night, this is what we woke up to the next morning.

Yes, that's David, all dressed up, ready for work. We had permission to work from home that day; however, David had to drive out to Farmersville for a Board meeting. Fortunately, the roads weren't too icy and he made it there and back safely.

Casey absolutely loves the snow. She first experienced it at Christmas. This time around, it was like she was reunited with her long, lost friend!

The snow is now starting to melt and we're anticipating 80 degree temperatures by tomorrow. Just kidding.

Crazy Casey

David is out of town again this week. As much as we travel with our jobs, you would think that I'd be used to us being apart, but I'm not! I hate it when he's not home. I never sleep as well, and I swear the dog acts up when he's away. Anyway, David had his suitcase half packed last night in the bedroom. I woke up this morning to the sound of Casey getting into something, and I thought to myself, that sure sounds like she's climbing into David's suitcase! Sure enough...there she was!

Sorry for the poor picture quality. I took this with my iPhone and it was dark in our bedroom. I think Casey wanted to go to McKinney with David today!

Chicken Divan

Chicken divan is one of my favorite dishes. It's so, so easy to make and it's so, so tasty!! It's one of my go-to recipes during the week.

Here's what you'll need:



1 cup of cooked, diced chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1-10 ounce package of frozen, chopped broccoli, thawed and drained (in the photo above, I bought a 16 oz bag and used a little more than half)
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup of breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
Hot, cooked white rice - enough for 4 servings.

**Note: This recipe serves 4.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine soup, mayonnaise, and curry powder. Stir to combine, then add cooked chicken and thawed and drained broccoli.

Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish and top with shredded cheddar cheese.

In a separate bowl, stir and combine the breadcrumbs with the melted butter. Sprinkle over the cheese.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes until cheese is melted and casserole is bubbly. While the casserole is baking, make your rice. Serve the chicken divan over hot white rice. Enjoy!

Private Lam

My brother joined the army. He's 29 years old. Married with 2 little kids - Daniel is 4 years old and Nathalia will be one in February. When he told me he was thinking of joining the army, my first reaction was, I DON'T THINK SO!! What was he thinking??? Does he not know what's going on in the world right now???? Then I realized he was serious. He's been unemployed for about 2 years, unable to get a job doing what he wanted. The economy's upside-down, and he had an even harder time since he didn't finish college.

Albert left for basic training last Tuesday. He's at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult the next 9 weeks will be for him, for his wife, and his two kids. My sister in law, Fatima, sent me this picture yesterday. And I finally got it - he's doing this for himself, for his wife, for his kids, for his family, and for his country. And I've never been more proud of him.