You're all getting the loonnnngggg weekend update from me, since I've been absent for a few days! Here's what I've been up to since last Wednesday, not particularly in order...
* Valentine's date with my hubby at Texas Roadhouse and went to see Identity Thief in theaters, which was hilarious
* Mass for Ash Wednesday, meaning Lent started, meaning taking 40 days to give up something since Jesus gave his life for us
* Spending some time with my sister-in-law and adorable 2 1/2 year old nephew
* Watching my brother-in-law coach at state wrestling and supporting our hometown Jaguar wrestlers
* Winning some money playing slots and blackjack at the casino...yeah!!
* Fun times with some friends at the hotel after wrestling
* Relaxing run on Sunday to continue my half marathon training
* After my run, lazy day on the couch with my hubby catching up on shows from our DVR
It was a very good weekend with some wonderful people! I hope you all have a great week and I promise to be a better blogger and blog reader this coming week!
Happy Mardi Gras Everyone! And Happy Fat Tuesday! Since I can't be in New Orleans celebrating, I'll do my best to pretend I'm there through pictures and video on my blog!
Mardi Gras is a very fun day for my family and I. We have relatives that live in New Orleans, and so we know all about this holiday! Ever since I was little, I always remember my aunt and uncle bringing beads to Nebraska for us from the parades!
When I was in sixth grade, I was lucky enough to get to go to Mardi Gras with some of my aunts, uncles and cousins! It was so much fun and I really want to go back soon! Now that I am older, I would love to get the full experience, including downtown and Bourbon Street during this crazy celebration!
Can't have Mardi Gras without King Cake! The tradition is that whoever gets the piece with the baby in it has to host the next Mardi Gras party!
Parades means beads, beads, and more beads, along with so much more that gets thrown out from the floats, including cups, stuffed animals, swords, hats, moon pies, sunglasses, balls, and lots more!
A pictures courtesy of my aunt Nancy of my cousins who are currently at Mardi Gras right now! Showing off just a few of their beads!
Video courtesy of my cousin who is there showing the longest float this year! The young blond cuties on the shoulders in the video happen to be my little cousins celebrating their first Mardi Gras!
Do any of you celebrate Mardi Gras? Have any of you been there to experience the real thing?
Well, my weekend was pretty low key due to work, but that's ok. I worked all day Saturday and Sunday, but did get to see some friends in between.
Friday night, my group of girls from work got together with one of our former coworkers who moved. It was great to catch up and have a fun girls night! We ate some delicious food at Sinful Burger!
This is the burger I got, called the Envy, it was amazing!
Saturday night after work we went to try our luck at the casino with a couple friends! We came out ahead on the night, which is always a good thing! I had fun playing some slots and Ryan made most of the money on his blackjack skills!
Nothing else too exciting for the weekend. I am in a bit of minor depression that my beloved Kansas Jayhawks are on a 3 game losing streak, I hope they get back to it tonight when they play Kansas State!
Last night for supper, I made a new recipe off Pinterest called Bang Bang Chicken, the recipe can be found here! My friend Jenna made it a couple weeks ago and said it was a good one, so I decided to try it for myself! And, it's just really fun to say...Bang Bang Chicken!!
Here's what you need:
Chicken
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp hot sauce
- salt and pepper (to taste)
- Panko breadcrumbs
- oil (for frying)
Sauce
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
- 1 tbsp hot sauce
- 2 tbsp honey
Instructions
In a medium bowl, mix flour, cornstarch, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. To the bowl add the hot sauce, egg, and buttermilk and whisk until you have a smooth batter. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl, toss to make sure each piece is coated in the batter and set aside.
In another bowl add about a cup of Panko breadcrumbs.
Mix all ingredients for the sauce together and refrigerate until ready for serving.
Heat the oil in a large skillet.
Coat each piece of chicken with breadcrumbs, add more breadcrumbs as needed, and fry on both sides for 3 to 5 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Place on paper napkins to soak up some of the oil. Repeat with all chicken pieces. Only add a few pieces of chicken to the skillet at a time, so the chicken turns out crispy.
Drizzle chicken with sauce and serve.
Batter ready for dipping
Coating the chicken in the bread crumbs
Frying the chicken in the oil
On the pan to bake (I baked mine for about 20 minutes just to make sure the chicken was fully cooked and to get it extra crispy)
I'm on day 4 of my four day weekend, and I have a lot on my to-do list after being gone all weekend, so I better get through this post and get to work!
Thursday
Thursday night I went with my sister and friend Ash to watch our former high school girls basketball team in their conference tournament and they won! Then we visited one of our friends and got to see her adorable little baby girl!
Friday
Friday I subbed at my mom's school, got a haircut and spent Friday night watching Footloose and having a couple drinks with my friends Meagan and Samantha from 3 Oh 1 Grace St.!
Saturday/Sunday
Saturday morning we left for Minnesota to move my sister there! She starts her new job in a week! We got her all moved in, and then met my cousin and her boyfriend for supper. They also joined us for mass and breakfast on Sunday. Her apartment is nice and she is only about a half hour away from Minneapolis. I survived the 6 hour drive, not too bad of a drive. I will miss having her close but I know she will do well there!
Where we spent most of the weekend...on the road
New in Town anyone?? (great movie)
For breakfast, we ate at this Dutch restaurant, it was delicious! I got a chocolate, whip cream, and banana flavored Pannekoeken (an oven baked pancake).
Outside my sister's apartment.
Sunday night, I got to come home and see my husband for the first time in a week, yeah! We watched the Super Bowl and relaxed on the couch.
Have a wonderful week, thanks for reading about my weekend!
