Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Yummy Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken Crockpot Recipe

My friend Kristeen and I are celebrating "Crock-tober-fest" this month. Kinda cheesy, I know....but, kinda awesome too, you really have to admit it. Instead of our Friday night pizza dates, we are celebrating fall with our crock pots! Her first choice? Brown Sugar and Garlic Chicken. It will be hard to top this recipe...it's super yummy, super easy and super delicious. A big THANK YOU to Kristeen for introducing me to this amazing recipe. 


Garlic & Brown Sugar Chicken

Slow Cooker Garlic and Brown Sugar Chicken
Ingredients:
4-6 chicken breasts (or thighs would work great too!)
1 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup vinegar
1/4 cup lemon-lime soda
2-3 Tablespoons minced garlic
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 Tablespoons corn starch
2 Tablespoons water
Rice or noodles, cooked
Red pepper flakes (optional)
Directions:
Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place chicken (I used frozen chicken, thawed chicken works great too) inside slow cooker. Mix together brown sugar, vinegar, soda, garlic, soy sauce, and pepper together. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours. Take chicken pieces out of slow cooker (mine basically fell apart) and pour remaining sauce into saucepan. Place saucepan over high heat. Mix together corn starch and water, pour into saucepan, and mix well. Let sauce come to a boil and boil for 2-3 minutes, or until it starts to thicken and turns into a glaze. Remove from heat and let sit for a minute or two (it will continue to thicken as it cools down).
Serve chicken over rice or noodles and top with glaze. Sprinkle red pepper flakes on top if de
sired.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Hafner's Fall Fun

Hafner's has become part of our fall tradition line-up. It has everything that you need right there in one nice location. Pumpkins, mums, hay, cornmaze, ponies, hayrides with draft horses, face painting, donuts,...donuts,....did I mention donuts? They're so good. 


Hayrides at Hafners

Old pro at this!

This smile did not leave Riley's face all day. She was ecstatic about riding a horse!




Look! It's a real life Llama Llama Pumpkin Drama!

Someday I will own a goat,...and it will be magical.

Somewhere over the rainbow..................





Heart on one side....

Frankenstein on another?













Accidental pit stop for pumpkins aka detour while looking at leaves in the Onondaga Hill region.





Leah and the girls visit Syracuse!

My friend Leah and her girls Hadley and Callie came to visit from Corning last weekend. Our girls have known each other since birth. Although we don't see each other as much as I'd like, our times spent visiting are always a blast. Leah is one of those girls who I turn to for advice about anything and everything. She's always willing to deal with all of my stupid questions and issues I am having at the time. It takes about ten minutes before I immediately feel better. We plan together, we find deals together, I steal her shopping lists, she helps me balance our finances,....even though we talk almost daily, it's always nice to visit in person. So they packed up, drove out and we all met up at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. It was a beautiful fall day, with very little people visiting, so it felt like we had the zoo to ourselves. 











Kenzie's face says it all in this picture. She was having quite the day. (insert sarcasm)

Look at how far we've come Leah!!






Apple Picking

My parents are lucky enough to have thriving apple trees right in their backyard. I can remember my Dad planting them when I was just a little girl. Although many didn't make it through the years, he was consistent with their upkeep. All the hard work has certainly paid off. What I remember as seedlings have somehow turned into enormous trees, covered with red, delicious apples. 

Quick photo session at lunch =)

Playdoh on the porch






Riley LOVES her owl backpack 

This is Bogey. One of my parent's basset hounds. We have a special bond...when I was pregnant he used to lay right on my belly and sleep next to me with his head right on my baby bump. He just knew. I adore him. 

And of course, "Blue Steel"