EUREKA!

I grew up in Southern Arizona, where I enjoyed many a Santa Fe Chicken Sandwiches from Carl's Jr.  A lot of people think that Carl's Jr. and Hardees are the same thing, but they aren't.  Carl's Jr. first started in Anaheim, California in 1956, and then in 1997 they acquired Hardees, which adopted some of Carl's Jr. menu items and also acquired the same branding (the smiling star).  They have some similar menu items, but they don't carry identical sandwiches.  For me, this was a problem when I moved to Nashville.  I greatly missed my Santa Fe sandwiches.  There is something about the sauce, combined with a green chili pepper, that just made this sandwich irresistible.  I had to get my fix every time I went out west.  (That sounds so country) 

Well, the other day it finally occurred to me to check Pinterest for a copycat recipe for the Santa Fe sandwich but I didn't find anything.  So I then checked the internet and I found a copycat recipe and we tried it last night.  It was AMAZING!  It tasted just like the real thing.  So if you, too, are missing your Carl's Jr. fix, I proudly present the solution!  Or if you are in the mood for an AWESOME chicken sandwich, try this recipe.  Yum, yum!!

But wait, it gets better.  I made the sandwiches with another recipe that I found on pinterest for baked zucchini sticks with sweet onion dip.  Let me tell you something my friends, I wanted to take a straw to that dip, it was so amazing.  You can definitely make it for a sandwich spread or to dip anything else into.  It was so delicious and amazing.  Plus, it is always good when you can get crunchy, breaded zucchini baked in the oven instead of frying it.  I highly recommend both these recipes! 

Carl's Jr Santa Fe Chicken Sandwich

copycat recipe from Todd Wilbur's Top Secret Recipes

4 skinless chicken breasts
1 cup teriyaki marinade
1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp cheyenne pepper

pinch of salt

2 cans of whole chiles

slices of American cheese

lettuce
hamburger buns

Wrap each chicken breast with saran wrap and hit with a mallet until there is an even thickness.  Marinate in teriyaki for about 1 hour.  Grill on the BBQ for 5-8 minutes on both sides.  In a small bowl, mix mayonnaise, paprika, curry powder, and cheyenne pepper.  Let cheese melt on the chicken breasts and assemble the best sandwich EVER!  Enjoy!

Baked Zucchini Sticks and Sweet Onion Dip

from King Arthur's Flour blog

Dip

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 medium sweet onion, about 1/2 pound, peeled and sliced
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon prepared mustard
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• salt and pepper to taste

Zucchini sticks

• 3 medium zucchini, unpeeled, cut into 3"-long stick
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
• scant 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon Pizza Seasoning or mixed Italian herbs
• olive oil spray
• 1/2 cup egg substitute; or 2 large eggs; or 3 egg whites, lightly beaten

Directions

1) To make the dip: Melt the butter in a medium frying pan over moderate heat, and add the sliced onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions soften, then caramelize. This should take between 10 and 15 minutes. The lower the heat, the longer it takes, but the less likely you are to burn the onions.

2) Once the onions are a medium brown, remove from the heat and add the vinegar.

3) Place the onions and vinegar into a small food processor. Add the honey and mustard, and process or blend until smooth.

4) Add the mayonnaise and salt and pepper to taste, stirring to combine. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve.

5) To make the zucchini sticks: Place the zucchini sticks in a colander over a bowl and sprinkle with the tablespoon of salt. Let the zucchini drain for 1 hour or longer; rinse and pat dry.

6) Combine the Panko, Parmesan, and pizza seasoning; set aside.

7) Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment, and spray the parchment with olive oil.

8) Dredge sticks a few at a time in the egg, then roll in the crumb mixture. Place the sticks on the prepared baking sheet.

9) Bake sticks for 12 minutes, turn over, and bake for an additional 8 minutes, until golden brown and crisp.

10) Serve immediately, with sweet onion dip.

Yield: about 3 dozen zucchini sticks, and 1 1/2 cups dip

I have a friend that asked if I take pictures of my weekly progress, and I've never been one to do it.  But since she wanted to see the bump, I took a 23 week picture just for you!  I had some trouble last night with rib pain.  Every once in a while I will feel a lot of pressure in my ribs, but laying down usually relieves the discomfort.  However, yesterday it wasn't pressure, it was pain.  I called the doctor's office and they think I pulled a muscle and just advised Tylenol and a heating pad.  But nothing I did made it better and I had continuous pain for 8 hours yesterday!  It was horrible.  And I've been kicked by cows, sprained ankles, pulled muscles, had the wind knocked out of me, and been landed on by a horse.  Not all at once.  But I'm just saying, I don't think that was a pulled muscle.  Luckily it just went away.  Who knows what is happening down there.  A lot of people are telling me that I must be carrying a boy because they like to lay low and put pressure on your ribs.  But like my doctor says, if it feels like your uterus is hanging down by your knees, it's because it is...that's the price you pay for having more than one baby!  Whoever it is in there is getting a pretty bad reputation so far. 

Hopefully I'll make it 16 more weeks.  :)  Love to all!

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Shrimp and Spinach Salad

The girls are napping and I've been browsing Pinterest and getting ideas for dinner this week.  I get excited about food and have been enjoying myself at the dinner table lately.  Let's just say that there is a coffee-crusted beef tenderloin and sweet potato pancakes with peach butter on the menu for this week.  I've just got to get to the store! 

We got home yesterday afternoon after a weekend with Adam's family in Indiana.  We celebrated his mother's birthday.  It ended with a zero, so it was a big deal and we all had a good time hanging out. Grandpa and Grandma Huhnke came, too.  The girls got to swim at the hotel, show off their singing and dancing skills, and got spoiled by all.  We met at a halfway point in Columbus, Indiana.  It was only a four hour drive, but on the way back, the girls about had it.  Moral was low.  Adam was tired from driving, there was a stinky diaper and some whining coming from the backseat.  We pulled over and fixed the problems and switched drivers, but moral didn't seem to rise much.  Thankfully, Adam's seat gripping rendition of "Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins got the whole car singing loudly.  We then popped in Disney's Greatest Hits (volume 1, of course) and let it rip.  The second crowd favorite was "Kiss the Girl" from The Little Mermaid.  Aubrie had the sha-la-la-las down and Emilie and I had the yeah-yeahs going.  Adam has every lyric memorized to every Disney song ever made.  And according to him, he sounds "just like them."

singing happy birthday

chatting up Gaga

playing bible dominoes with Granny

bedtime story with Tia

Special thanks to Aimee Drabyn for watching Petey while we were gone.  That's always a difficult task.  I actually had a flashback as I was giving Aimee directions on how to care for Petey.  One year Steve came to town to run in the Country Music Marathon and we had a volleyball tournament in Atlanta that weekend.  So Steve stayed at our house and watched Petey while he was in town for the marathon.  The morning of the marathon, he had to get up pretty early and he let Petey out, but Petey refused to come back in.  Steve spent a good ten minutes chasing his furry behind around our backyard trying to get Petey back in the house.  Then, after Steve ran a FULL MARATHON and got his tired legs back to our house, he walked in to find that Petey had chewed about a dozen dvd cases and destroyed about six dvds while he was gone.  Steve calmly picked up the mess, went upstairs and showered, then came back downstairs and got down on all fours and looked Petey in the eye.  They then had a wrestling match and both let us some aggression.  I had this flashback because this weekend was the marathon here in Nashville and we had a Drabyn watching Petey.  Lucky for Aimee, Petey is more mature and the dvds are locked up in a cabinet. 

Good friends.  Good memories. 

I made this shrimp and spinach salad several weeks ago and never shared it.  So I thought I would share it now.  It's definitely one of my favorites.  You can change up the dressing if you'd like.  If you do a bacon vinegarette, it would be just like Applebee's shrimp and spinach salad. 

Shrimp and Spinach Salad

from Bobby Flay

12 ounces large (21-24) shrimp, peeled, tail-on, and deveined

1/8 cup soy sauce

1 limes, juiced

1 teaspoons honey

1-inch piece fresh ginger, finely grated (I just sprinkle in ginger powder)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/8 cup canola oil, plus more for brushing

Prepare shrimp and set aside.  Make marinade and add shrimp to the marinade.  Toss and cover in a bowl and leave in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. 

Place shrimp on skewers and salt and pepper them.  Brush with canola oil to prevent from sticking to the grill.  Grill for 2-3 minutes on each side.

For salad:

1/4 cup rice vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

8 ounces baby spinach

1/2 cup chopped salted peanuts

Toss spinach with some of the vinegarette and mound on a plate.  Place shrimp around and spoon on more dressing and sprinkle with peanuts.  Enjoy!!

Oh!  And good news!  Adam found the key to the tahoe!  It was....

drumroll please...

in his pants pocket. 

Yes.  You would think he would have checked there.  Well, he did.  But he kept checking the wrong pants pocket.  He hung his pants up next to a pair the same color.  So on Friday before we left, and after I have logged two hours of my life searching on the kitchen floor and closet floor on my hands and knees as well as walking around the backyard crouched over...he said, "I bet I know where it is!" and walked straight to the other pair of pants and found it.  I LOVE HIM!  I'll now take bets on whether he goes and gets a copy made...

Love to all!

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He holds the key to my...tahoe.

Adam lost the key to the tahoe.  He broke his key around January.  He broke the part that attaches to the key chain.  I suggested that we switch cars right away, and I take it in one day while the girls are at school and get a copy made at a dealership.  "No.  It will be fine.  I won't lose it.  I'll keep it in my pocket." 

He got up this morning to workout (4:45) and I can hear him moving stuff around in the kitchen.  Then he comes back to our bedroom and I hear him shuffling stuff around in the closet.  I knew right away that he's lost his key.  I figured he found it because I hear him leave for the Y.  After he is home and showered, I hear him in the kitchen and it sounds like a ravenous raccoon is out there nosing through our kitchen cupboards and trash can.  The whole house is up now. 

Emilie usually shrugs off Adam's noise in the morning and rolls back over.  But I found out later that she threw her pacifiers out of her crib and wasn't happy about it, so she didn't go back to bed.  Aubrie handles being woke up earlier than usual pretty well.  She breaks out into song.  I can lay in bed all morning and listen to her sing.  What is fun is she is starting to make up silly words for songs.  She also likes to tell you something in a singing voice.  Tonight it was, "I was a lady bug and I went trick or treatinggggggg!" Very random. 

Adam came in the room to kiss me goodbye and asked if he could take my key to the tahoe.  After he left, I began to wonder where it was. This is the second time he's lost it.  First time wasn't bad.  I was able to find it in the front lawn in a matter of seconds.  He was out there looking for 5 minutes already.  He comes home from work, hands full of his computer bag, lunch, oatmeal bowl, and coffee cup.  "Oatmeal bowl?" you ask.  Yes.  Every morning he makes his oatmeal here at home and has time to eat it before he leaves, but insists on eating it in the car on the way to work.  So every day he comes home with a bowl that has dried up oatmeal in it and half the time the spoon is stuck to the side of the bowl and it requires some soaking before we load it into the dishwasher. 

So about the key, I know what you common-sensers are thinking out there.  Just take your key, Kellie, and go make a copy.  Not so fast.  Our keys registered our settings.  When I put my key in the ignition, it says driver 2.  It automatically puts the radio on whatever station I had it on last at whatever volume I had it on.  It will also adjust the seat to my settings (but it doesn't.)  So these aren't just regular keys.  Let's call them smart keys because I don't know what they're called.  Ideally, we would like to find his key.  And when we do, we can go straight to the dealership and make a copy that he can attach to his key ring. 

Let's talk about the Pros. 
He drove home last night with his key, so it has to be somewhere on our property. 

But let's talk Cons. 
It could be anywhere.  He came home late and went straight outside to play with the girls because I was grilling.  He and the girls went straight into their race game.  They start at the top of the yard and Aubrie will pick how the race goes.  It will be something like this.  "I say go, run to the slide, go touch mommy, jump over Petey's toy, do two jumping jacks, touch the swing, shoot a basket, and give mom a boom shocka (high five)."  So Adam will yell go and they all take off to do the race.  It could have fallen out of his pocket during these activities.

Another con.  Emilie is into throwing things away.  A couple of days ago I found her playing lipstick in the trash and later that day I found Aubrie's juice cup in the trash.  I now find myself walking past the kitchen trash and just lifting the lid and scanning what has been thrown away lately.  I have a feeling my sunglasses are next.  She hunts for them in my purse or diaper bag and will play with them until I bust her. 

This key is a mystery.  Just like how Adam is able to rip holes in the elbows of his work shirts, or get ink stains on the cuffs.  Just like him insisting on eating oatmeal in the car.  Just like him saying that he'll just keep the key in his pocket and not lose it!!  But BACK OFF ladies!  He's mine.  I love his quirkiness.  I love the way he thinks.  I love that he's leaning on those spreadsheets so hard while at work that ink is getting on his cuffs.  He may be throwing bows at the printer while at work just so he can get done on time and get home.  I love how he comes home from work and sprints through the front door to save me from my hungry growling children so that I can finish cooking dinner.  I wouldn't trade him for anything.  So if we have to be risky and just go with one key to the tahoe, that's fine. 

But if you see it, let me know.

Love to all!
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Her is my friend

These are my girls.  A lot of people think I'm crazy for having my children so close, but this is why.  They are best friends and they enjoy each other every day.  And I enjoy them!  They are so fun to watch or listen to.  The other day we were driving down the road and Aubrie's really into me telling her about how she was once a baby in mommy's belly and then how Emilie was a baby, and now mommy has a new baby and we have to wait to see if it is a boy or a girl!  Then Aubrie said, "I like my baby sister.  Her is my friend." 

Now, about people thinking I'm crazy for having them close.  Who cares!  Don't tell me about how you feel.  Can I go back and change it?  Nooo.  I'm all in and I love it. A young hostess a couple of weeks ago saw Aubrie and I walk in and she said, "Wow!  You're going to have another one!?"  I said, "Yep!"  Then Adam walked in with Emilie and she said, "OH MY GOD!  You have another one???!!!!"  (Really loudly) 

What do you say to these people?  One day it will be her turn.  She'll be the flustered mom whose kid is not cooperating in public and some random stranger will come up to her and give her unwanted comments or advice on how she can do different.  Hahaha.  I think that might be the hardest part about becoming a new mom.  It was looks and comments from strangers.  But don't worry new moms.  You learn how to roll those comments off your shoulder and smile at the glares. 

We had a wonderful weekend.  We got to celebrate Reese's birthday at the zoo (even though the weather was not cooperating) and we got to go on a date last night while Adam's sister, Amanda, watched the girls.  Today Adam worked really hard around the house.  He mopped the floors for me because it is really hard on my back.  He also mowed the lawn.  As a reward, I made a bland chicken and noodle casserole for him.  hahaha.  He and Aubrie are game for a chicken and noodle casserole.  Aubrie especially loves her Grandma's casserole (which I enjoy as well, especially when I've been sick!).  Emilie and I like a little spice.  We tried a new recipe, but it didn't do it for us.  But Adam and Aubrie liked it, so they get to enjoy it for leftovers.  :) 

I also gave him a haircut.  He hates going to go get his haircut.  He doesn't like a stranger that close to his personal space.  So ever since he found out that I used to cut my cow's hair when I showed cattle (and after a little convincing that he was no different than a hot blooded brangus), I gave him his first haircut in June of 2009, right after we got married.  He remembers we used a wedding gift card to go buy the clippers.  I enjoy cutting his hair and I also enjoy that it saves us about 13 bucks a cut!  I also like to mess with him.  He likes to sit in front of the mirror and watch what I do.  So I'll all the sudden make "big eyes" when I'm working on the back of his head or behind his ears to make him think I made a mistake.  It works every time.  :)

I mentioned this recipe the other day.  I found it on Pinterest.  Since shrimp was on sale, I went ahead and made cilantro lime shrimp even though I made cilantro lime chicken a couple nights ago.  It turned out great and I hope you give it a try.  I paired it with a good ol fashioned tostada.  A tostada is a hard (fried) corn shell with refried beans on top and taco toppings.  I also made some guacamole to go on the side or on top.  It made a wonderful meal!

Cilantro Lime Shrimp

from www.skinnytaste.com

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 lb shrimp, shelled and deviened
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 lime
• salt and pepper 

Heat a large frying pan on medium-high heat. Add oil to the pan, when hot add shrimp. Season with salt and pepper. When the shrimp is cooked on one side, about 2 minutes, turn over and add garlic. Sauté another minute or two until shrimp is cooked, careful not to overcook. Remove from heat. Squeeze lime all over shrimp and toss with cilantro. Serve hot.  Enjoy!

I hope everyone else enjoyed their weekend!  Love to all! Pin It Now!