It's My Birthday

If you have read my blog then you know I have had very mixed feelings about my birthday this year. I feel like I am still a kid in so many ways and part of me has felt very nostalgic for my childhood in the last few months. The best way to describe it is this: I want the knowledge and skills of my 20's combined with the care-free lifestyle of my teens. I think we all feel that way at times (or at least that is what I tell myself). I saw a quote recently and it really resonated with me.

In lieu of Dr. Seuss's amazing advice, I truly enjoyed my birthday. Derek and I were talking about how, when you are a kid, your birthday means an excessive amount of sweets, gifts and attention. As you get older it becomes more about doing things with people you love.That was exactly how I celebrated my birthday. The night before my birthday I went and got pedicures with Alana, Olivia and Jacki. I love these girls and spending some girl time at the salon was the perfect way to kick off my birthday celebration. They also brought me some amazing cupcakes that Derek and I ate much too quickly. 

Such a fun night :)

These didn't last long! 

The night of my birthday Derek took me to a Thai cooking class. It was so much fun! We made spring rolls, soup, custard and an Indian dish as well. I love Thai food and it was a very enlightening process to learn how to make all of these dishes. We were in charge of the spring rolls and it turns out I make a pretty mean spring roll (evidence below). Since this was my first cooking class I had no idea what to expect, but I am happy to say that I loved it and now feel very motivated to take additional classes. It was the perfect way to spend my birthday night! The next step is taking Derek up on my birthday gift of starting my urban garden. Once he is done with finals it is on.

Derek was suited up and ready to cook. 

I was really into rolling my Spring Roll

The finished product... I am pretty proud! 

Shrimp and Mushroom soup... sooo good! 

 Our custard was caramelized and I was pretty bummed we didn't get to use the fire. But it turned out awesome so I cant complain!

Cooking

I am not much of a cooker. It's not that I am bad, but I just don't like to spend so much time cooking then eat it in like 5 minutes. But I have been venturing out of my comfort zone lately and cooking more. I read on my iPad while things are cooking and I actually do the dishes (instead of letting them pile up). Below was one of my recent successes, homemade chicken noodle soup. 

This soup was sooo yummy! Even though its not cold, sometimes it is just nice to eat some homemade soup. 

Tonight I decided to cook a Humpherys classic meal, Chicken Adobo. I actually didn't like think meal growing up. I think it was because it was my sisters favorite meal and I wanted to be different haha. Or maybe I like it now because my food taste has changed so much since I left home. Anyway, now I love it and it is a go-to meal for me and Derek. It's fast, filling and super cheap to make! My mom got this recipe from a BYU married student ward from when my parents were there, thus making it tried and true. I figured there are a lot of people out there in our situation who could use a good, fast recipe so here it goes. I have never shared a recipe or anything like that before so here is my first shot at it. 

Chicken Adobo

Ingredients for Sauce: 

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon garlic

Cube 4-5 chicken breast and place in a sauté pan. (I always go heavy on the meat in my recipes) Cook chicken on medium/medium-high heat until the outside is white.

While the chicken is cooking mix all of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. I always use more garlic because I like it and you can use a little less white vinegar if you don't want the sauce to have that kick. Make sure you get all of the ketchup mixed well before mixing into the cooking chicken. 

Stir sauce into pan and let the chicken and sauce cook together for 10 to 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve over white or brown rice. 

IT IS THAT EASY!! I don't add a veggie, but you can add broccoli or green beans on the side. I mix all the sauce rice and chicken for a delicious dinner! 

Hope you like this recipe. Let me know if you try it :) Have a great week everyone!