I ended up making Sauteed Chicken in Spicy Peach Sauce that the family raved about, so I thought I would share my revisions with you. I also cooked some peaches in my crock pot…

… & served with homemade vanilla ice cream for our afternoon snack. Big thumbs up there. I would like to revise that one first though before posting. I thought it came out a bit gloppy.

One thing about me is that I roast 2 chickens every week. Why? Well, buying a whole chicken is a lot cheaper than buying the pieces separately (especially chicken breast). We will eat part of one roast the night I make them & then I’ll take the rest of the chicken off the bones for use throughout the week. Then I can throw together something like this recipe without having to cook the chicken first. And I have chicken on hand for a quick salad or sandwich. Throw together a taco bar by chopping some chicken & heating in the pan with some taco seasoning. It’s a huge time saver & money saver.

Sauteed Chicken in Spicy Peach Sauce
2 TB coconut oil
2-3 cups leftover cooked chicken
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 c cold water
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar/sucanat
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder, to taste
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons garlic, minced or pressed (or 1/2 tsp garlic granules)
2 cups peeled diced peaches (fresh or frozen)
1/3 cup toasted walnut halves

1. Place 1/3 cup of walnut halves in toaster at a low setting.
2. While walnuts are toasting heat a pan to medium. Add oil & saute onion until limp.
3. Mix together cornstarch & water, add in vinegar, sugar, pepper, chili powder, salt, & garlic. Add to pan along with peaches.
4. Cook sauce until thickened (this barely took a minute).
5. Add chicken & walnuts. Cook until heated through.
6. Serve over hot, cooked rice.

Enjoy!
Antoinette

Meatloaf Muffins with BBQ Sauce

Vegetable oil or extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), for pan
1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin (Used 2 pounds & made 12 muffins)
1 small yellow onion, cut into quarters by a grown-up helper (GH)
1 small green bell pepper
A splash of milk
1 large egg, beaten (used 2 eggs)
1 cup plain bread crumbs (used ground oats)
2 tablespoons grill seasoning, such as McCormick brand Montreal Steak Seasoning
(used 1 TB Wildtree’s Rancher Steak Rub)
1 cup smoky barbecue sauce*
1/2 cup tomato salsa*
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 450°F. Brush a 6-muffin tin with vegetable oil or EVOO.

Put ground beef into a big bowl.

Put onions into a food processor.

Cut the bell pepper in half and rip out the seeds and the white stuff and throw it away.

Cut the pepper into a few pieces (ask your GH for help if you need it) and add to the food processor.

Pulse the food processor to finely chop the onion and bell pepper. Add to the meat bowl.

Whisk the milk into the beaten egg and add to meat. Add breadcrumbs and grill seasoning.

In a small bowl, mix together the barbecue sauce, salsa and Worcestershire sauce. *Didn’t have BBQ sauce & my kids are no crazy about salsa. I subbed 3/4 cup ketchup, 1/4 cup grape jelly, & 1/2 cup of tomato sauce + the Worcestershire sauce. It was gobbled up.

Pour half the sauce mixture into the bowl with the meatloaf mix. Mix the meatloaf together with your hands. (Totally didn’t see this step & they turned out great.)

Wash your hands well after handling the raw meat.

Use a large ice cream scoop to put the meat into the muffin tin.

Top each “muffin” with a spoonful of reserved sauce. Bake about 15 minutes. Ask your grown-up helper (GH) to cut open one muffin to test if it’s cooked through.

Let me know if you try them.
Antoinette

It’s been increasingly hard for me to find a regular time to write up a blog post. With kiddos off to Vacation Bible School this week & trying to keep with the regular household duties (plus the new catalog coming out) I’m not finding a lot of spare time. So, I’m going to keep it simple for the rest of the Challenge. I’ll just post the link for the Day on my Facebook page & on Twitter (craftyantoinett). That way I can keep the Challenge going & still encourage you too! Feel free to add my as a friend on FB or follow me on Twitter and we can learn how to FLY together.

Here’s today’s Challenge… Day 16 – Read an email from FlyLady. Click on the link & it should take you there.

Thanks for stopping by today,
Antoinette

Just a quick post here to see how everyone’s doing. I got knocked out of commission this weekend & didn’t get a whole lot of cleaning done. But I’m ok with that. Got a lot of rest in & I think I needed that.

I need to go get my shoes on then take a look at Day 15 – Make Your Bed.

Oh Goodie! This is one of those Baby Steps that I have half ways down. We use our bed as a diaper changing station so I usually make the bed right away (unless my husband beats me to it) & put all the diaper stuff on there before I go get the baby boy.

How’s everyone doing? Are we getting bored with the FlyLady Challenge? Or would you just rather go at your own pace? I would love it if y’all could leave some comments so I know whether I should keep going with this or not. AND, let me know what kind of challenges you are interested in.

Thanks for stopping by,
Antoinette
“Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” – Francis Chan

Day 14 beholds an essay for us to read. It’s about using a calendar if you don’t already do that. Nowadays there are some really great calendars out there. You can even sync your calendars with other family members through gmail and other sites! There are some really great apps for your phone. Don’t underestimate the old school wall calendar either. FlyLady has great calendar in her shop & this is the calendar that I use.

To go off on a bit of a tangent, I’ve been thinking about starting another challenge since we’re getting our lives organized. Some of you know that I’ve lost a lot of weight this past year. I get a lot of questions about how I’ve done it. I did it all through a group that met at our church called PRISM. I learned a lot about nutrition, but I also learned a lot about why I ate the way that I did. I’m an emotional eater/stress eater & not everyone is the same. Unfortunately the group isn’t meeting any more. However, a friend mentioned a book that I was shocked to find was very similar in its eating plan. The writer is spot on with his approach to weight loss & has such good information to read. It’s called The ABS DIET. I have to admit that when I first heard the title I didn’t like it at all. My goal is not to have well defined abs, a six pack or anything of the sort. The more I read though, the more I realized that his approach is to get rid of the fat in that area of your body, surrounding your organs.

I won’t go on & on about it right now. If you get a chance, go over to this site to read a review of the book. I liked the review because it was very realistic. I was able to check this book out from the library to preview it first before purchasing. However, I found a link to the diet information through Women’s Health Magazine. The goal is not so much to go on a diet, but to work on changing bad eating habits. There’s so much I want to share it that area.

What I need to know is, who’s interested? And if you’re interested when do you want to get started? Monday? That would give you a chance to read through the info & go grocery shopping this weekend. I can’t wait to hear what you think.

Antoinette

What are you doing today?

Antoinette

How are you doing? I still struggle keeping the sink shined, but I’ve been doing a whole lot better at keeping it empty & cleaning off the counter. Believe me, that’s a BIG improvement. I picked out my clothes last night & dressed to shoes in the morning. When I don’t wear my shoes my back is usually hurting pretty bad by about 2:00 & I need to sit down to rest it. But when I get my shoes on I can get a lot more done. Enough motivation for me!

Anyone have a favorite Baby Step so far? Anyone still doing the challenge?

Antoinette

What are some of your favorite inspirational sayings?

Antoinette

Woo-Hoo! We’re getting organized and decluttered! (My Spell Check is tell me that’s not a word it’s familiar with.) LOL!

On to Day 10… You can Do Anything for 15 minutes! Do know know how true this is? There have been so many times when I look at my kitchen and get so overwhelmed at the mess. But when I remember this Baby Step I set my timer for 15 minutes & start with the dishes. Before you know it my timer’s going off & I’m saying, “I just need to finish this & put that away…” Once you get started & you see yourself making progress, you don’t want to stop! However, don’t get yourself into a position where you’re pulling everything out of a closet & won’t have time to get back to it until next week. That’s why I love the 15 minutes rule. Do what you can in 15 minutes. If the timer goes off & you have another 15 minutes to invest, go for it! If the timer goes off & you need to get some other stuff done, you don’t have a huge mess to clean up before you go. Wanna see my desk? Still a work in progress, but here’s the first attempt…

Look, I can now actually get to the desk! I sorted through all of my Thirty-One bags, pulled out the ones that are retiring & kept the ones that are current. Now to find a place to store them out of the way (hence the shelf in the basement).

Here’s my next attempt…

A lot more cleared off on the actual desk area. I got some filing done & some shredding done too. Feels awesome!!!

I hope you are doing well & enjoying the challenge. Remember this is only meant as a tool to help you FLY. If you’re feeling behind, just stick to the day that you’re on. You may still be back on Day 1 trying to keep your sink cleaned & shining. That’s ok! Move on to the next step when you feel ready. We might be trying to undo years of other habits. That takes hard work & dedication. And you know what? I know you can do it!

Antoinette

The original recipe came from The ABS DIET for Women, but I changed it up enough that I’m able to post it. (I will be doing a review of this book in a couple of weeks & issuing a new challenge!)

Pumpkin Smoothie

1 scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup whole milk
1 scoop of vanilla whey protein powder
1 tsp ground flax seed
1 good pinch of cinnamon
1 TBSP of honey
3-4 ice cubes

Dump into blender on high. Makes about 2 – 8 oz. glasses.

We have some dairy allergies in this family, but I added a powdered enzyme to the mix & that helps so much. I use this brand.

Enjoy! (And you too can have a pumpkin mustache… and beard)
Antoinette