BACON HONEY MUSTARD CHICKEN (Alice Springs Chicken)

Okay.... this will make the man in your life drool.... because as my sweet husband says "everything is better with bacon."
I promise, there will be drooling involved!!!

A few months back, I happened upon a recipe on a friends facebook page called "Alice Springs Chicken" that was a knock-off from a restaurant.  It had bacon in it, and since my husband just LOOOOVES bacon, I decided to give it a whirl.  I made a few adjustments, but here you go.

BACON HONEY MUSTARD CHICKEN (Alice Springs Chicken)

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Lowry's Seasoning Salt
8 strips of bacon
1 cup sliced fresh mushroom
2 cups shredded cheese
Honey Mustard Sauce

1/4 cup yellow mustard

1/3 cup honey
2 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
2 teaspoons dried onion flakes

• Either cut or pound chicken so that it is the same thickness and is about a half inch thick.

• Make honey mustard sauce by mixing mustard, honey, onion flakes and mayonnaise in a small bowl.

• Sprinkle the chicken breasts with Lowry's seasoning salt (both sides).

• Cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Remove bacon, break into pieces and set aside.

• Do not discard grease.

• Cook chicken in the bacon grease for 5 minutes per side, or until browned.

• Place chicken in a 9" × 13" casserole dish.

• Spread honey mustard sauce over each piece of chicken

• Sprinkle with bacon

• Add chopped mushrooms and cheese to each chicken breast.

Bake in a 350° oven for 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and chicken is done.



WHERE HAVE I BEEN

Sooooo, where have I been?  Very good question, with a really good answer.

This is where I have been!

Last February I started dating the most wonderful man in the world, and in December we were married in the Bountiful LDS Temple.  My wonderful husband has four children, and I have one...  so THAT is where I have been.

Things have not been the norm for about a year, so now that I feel like I am getting a grasp on married life I am picking back up where I left off on everything else.

So yes, I will have some new recipies posted.... I have a few that are AWESOME to share.

Rainbow Brite Jello

• 8 cups Boiling Water, Divided
• 2 cups Cold Water, Divided
• 2 cups Evaporated Milk, Divided
• 2 packages Green Jello (3 Oz Size)
• 2 packages Red Jello (3 Oz Size)
• 2 packages Orange Jello (3 Oz Size)
• 2 packages Yellow Jello (3 Oz Size)
• 12 ounces, weight Cool Whip

Each package makes one layer. There are 8 layers in all, two of each color. There is a clear layer, meaning you can see through the jello and a milky layer that uses the milk.

Before you begin, here are a few pointers. The first layer takes the longest to set up—after that, the next layers firm up faster. You CAN mix up the next layer while the previous one is setting up, but be careful not to mix it too soon or it will set up before you are ready.

FOR EACH CLEAR LAYER:
Boil 1 cup of water in a small pan. Pour water into a bowl and mix in one package of jello. Stir until jello is dissolved.

Add 1/2 cup of cold water. Stir and then pour into an 8×11 glass casserole dish. Place into the fridge until the jello is set.

FOR EACH MILKY LAYER:
Boil 1 cup of water in a small pan. Pour water into a bowl and mix in one package of jello. Stir until jello is dissolved.

Add 1/2 cup of evaporated milk. Stir and then CAREFULLY pour into the 8×11 glass casserole dish on top of the previous layer. Place into the fridge until jello is set.

Alternate the layers so that the same colors are on top of each other. (Clear Green, Milky Green, Clear Red, Milky Red, Clear Orange, Milky Orange, Clear Yellow, Milky Yellow).

Top with Cool Whip.

Chicken Enchiladas

• 3 pieces Large Boneless Chicken Breasts
• 8 ounces, fluid Can Tomato Sauce
• ¼ cups Green Onions, Chopped
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1 teaspoon Oregano
• ½ teaspoons Cumin
• 1-½ teaspoon Chili Powder
• ¼ teaspoons Black Pepper
• 10 pieces Corn Tortillas
• 10 ounces, fluid Can Mild Enchilada Sauce (red)
• 1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• Oil (For Cooking Tortillas)
• Lettuce (to Top)
• Sour Cream (to Top)
• Chopped Tomatoes (To Top)

Boil chicken breasts until fully cooked. Then shred with two forks.

While chicken is cooking, in a large bowl add the following ingredients and stir until well mixed:

Tomato sauce
Onion
Worcestershire sauce
Garlic powder
Oregano
Cumin
Chili Powder
Pepper

Add shredded chicken to the mixture.

In a skillet, pour a small amount of oil and cook tortilla shells on both sides. Only cook them for a short time on each side so the shell stays soft and doesn’t harden.

(Placing the shells on paper towels after they have cooked will get the excess grease off.)

Fill each shell with some chicken and roll. Place in a glass casserole dish. Repeat until all 10 shells are filled, rolled and in the casserole dish.

Pour enchilada sauce over the enchiladas and top with cheese.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Top with lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream and then gobble them up.

*To make these spicier, add more chili powder and use medium or hot enchilada sauce.

Houdini and the Follower

 Meet Hershey and Lilly!  We added these two cute faces to our family on September 23rd 2011 after the tragic deaths of Daisy and Pokey.  Lilly and Hershey are sisters, and as such are able to share a cage and look a LOT alike.  However, on closer inspection, Hershey (on the left) has a darker coat and a lot more white speckles on her neck and face...
And she has that mischievous gleam in her eye.
I should have noticed that on day one...but I was just too taken back on how soft and cute and soft...and...well...soft she was.
She was masking her true personality.
We will get to that a little later!
Hershey is my daughter Emmi's bunny and Lilly is mine.

 Here are Daisy and Pokey.  Daisy was my bunny and is the same breed as our new bunnies, a mini-rex.  We called her our "cow bunny" because she looked like a black and white cow.  Daisy was a fun loving and friendly bunny who liked to do flips in the air.  Pokey was my daughters bunny and was a mixed breed.  She was a mini-lop and rex mix.  While she wasn't as soft as Daisy, she had floppy ears that she didn't have full control of.  It was seriously cute.

Daisy lived in our laundry room in a makeshift cage for 3 years, Pokey lived in a separate but similar enclosure in our laundry room for four years.  The biggest issues we had with Daisy and Pokey were that they didn't get along after about fifteen minutes, so we couldn't put them together.  Daisy liked to chew on everything:  pine cones, wood, furniture, your shirt....etc.  Pokey on the other hand liked to pull at the carpet.   OH and he once peed in mid-air on my nephew.

This is our other family member, Tipsy.  Tipsy was a gift from a college boyfriend during I time in my life when I was dealing with a lot.  Tipsy has been part of my family since April 1997 and has pestered, bugged, woken me up, attacked me, meowed until I was deaf and cuddled up with me in bed ever since. So pretty much, he is just like my child.

Tipsy is very territorial and does not like other animals.  So when I decided to get rabbits I was a bit nervous as to how he would react.  The first few months were iffy, but then Tipsy warmed up to the bunnies (as much as Tipsy can warm up to another animal).  His favorite bunny to play with was Pokey.  The two of them would chase each other around the family room.  Tipsy would bat the bunnies ears and then the bunny would paw at the cat.  It really was cute.
And then our precious bunnies died within three days of each other the beginning of September.  At first I didn't think I would ever get rabbits again, but by the end of September my daughter had talked me into looking for new family members.

 Meet Hershey.  Hershey is my daughters rabbit.  She looks so cute and innocent.  HAHAHA!  She and Lilly share an enclosure similar to the one our previous rabbits occupied.


The floor has a plastic tablecloth with a thick plastic over the top.  A pet exercise pen is used as a perimeter with their cage in one corner and a litter box in the other.

For four years we had rabbits in this enclosure with NO PROBLEMS.

Within one week Hershey had escaped.

I was floored.  One hour there were two rabbits, the next there was only one.

At first I thought there was an opening in the enclosure she escaped through so I made sure it was snapped together tightly and then went upstairs.
The next day she got out again.
We figured out that she would climb the water bottle (which at that time was hooked to the outside of the cage) hop onto the cement ledge in the basement and then hop down to freedom.  Pretty smart rabbit.
So we moved the water bottle.
A week later she got out again!
At this point I changed her name to HOUDINI!

So I added a partial cover to the enclosure that attached to their cage.  The cover can be lifted to feed them, but keeps the rabbits from using the leverage of their cage to climb out.
I week later she escaped again!

I was puzzled, so I sat downstairs one night for over an hour, watching the bunnies and noticed that Hershey would stand on her back feet and try and climb the cage.
Yes, climb!

So I found an old window screen and put it over the whole enclosure.

A week later....
Yeah, I know, you get the picture by now.
She found freedom again, and again and again.
Each time I would add another think to the cage to try and keep the bunny in.
By last night her enclosure looked like this:

A far cry from how it had been for four years.  Hershey had managed in one week to do what our previous rabbits had not managed in four years.

And what about Lilly.  Well this whole time she had remained in the cage, like the obedient bunny I thought she was.

Until last night!

I'll get to THAT story in a minute.  First I have to tell you that last week I watched as Hershey (aka Houdini) was giving Lilly escape lessons.  He would stand up against the cage and then wait until she did the same.  I even watched in horror as Hershey climbed on Lillys back  and then stood up and put her paws on the top of the enclosure.
Good Grief!  That rabbit is going to be the death of me.

So last night I am awakened by sounds upstairs (we live in a split level home with four levels...the rabbits are on the basement level, our bedrooms are on the top).   Since our cat Tipsy enjoys waking us almost every night with his nocturnal prowling, I lifted my head, hollered at the cat and then proceeded to go back to sleep, only to be woken up twice more.

By the third time I decided that the cat was going to spend the rest of the night in the basement so I could sleep, but as I jumped out of bed I watched as the cat ran one way and something else ran the other way... or hopped the other way.  Keep in mind that up until this point every time Hershey had escaped she had stayed in the basement.

So I flip on the hall light only to realize that the offending rabbit is none other than Lilly...my sweet innocent bunny who had never escaped before.

So I pick her up, take her to the basement and put her in the cage, only to realize that there are NO bunnies in the cage, Hershey too has escaped.

30 minutes later we found Hershey in a garbage can.....She had managed to hop off of the cement ledge into  the laundry room trash can and then tip it over...trapping herself.

Needless to say, at 10:00 this morning I bought one of these.

YELLOW HEADED BLACKBIRD HEAVEN

For five and a half years I have been enjoying seeing these big guys at my bird feeders and they quickly became my favorite bird. They are Yellow Headed Blackbirds. I was a little confused when a few years ago I looked in our Utah bird book and saw that they are marsh birds. I couldn't for the life of my figure out why they came to my feeders but I figured they lived in one of the golf coarse water holes. But until last night I never went searching for them.

Each year we have more and more of them come visit out f

eeder along with the female

yellow heads. This year we had 11 males and 6 females, I assumed that was all there were...until I saw this.

There are HUNDREDS of the cuties living in a large marsh right by the clubhouse. I was in bird heaven, so of course I had to take a ton of pictures and walk around the marsh. I was amazed. If you get a chance to visit Eagle Lake in Roy...sto

p and enjoy my

bird family. it is quite an experience.