Alice Springs Braided Chicken Roll

I love Outback Steakhouse's Alice Springs Chicken.

Every single time I drive by Outback Steakhouse, I crave it.

I've been seeing a lot of copycat recipes lately on Pinterest & Facebook that have been making my mouth water.

So I decided I was going to make it to see if it tasted just as good.

That was the plan, but I had a couple cans of crescent rolls I needed to use up.

So I decided to dress-it-down a bit & turn it into a Braided Chicken Roll.

It was bonza mate!

2 cans crescent rolls

2 large chicken breasts (shredded)

1/4 cup mustard

1/3 cup honey

2 Tbsp mayo

1/4 tsp seasoning salt

1 1/2 tsp dried onion flakes

2-3 Tbsp bacon bits

1 cup colby jack cheese (shredded)

optional: Sliced fresh mushrooms (Outback Steakhouse uses mushrooms, but we don't like them so we left them out)

Cook & shred chicken. Mix mustard, honey, mayo, seasoning salt, & dried onion flakes until well combined. Add shredded chicken to sauce and stir until coated. Add bacon bits & colby jack cheese, and stir until completely coated. Unroll crescent roll dough & arrange flat on a cookie sheet. Pinch perforations together until it is one large, flat piece of dough. Cut inch-wide slits in the dough towards the center across the length of the sheet forming a fringe on 2 sides. Leave a solid 3-4" strip in the middle for the chicken mixture. Spread chicken mixture evenly onto the solid section. Fold the strips over the chicken mixture, alternating strips from each side and pinch to seal. Sprinkle with cheese if desired. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown & no longer doughy.

Note: I left out the dried onion flakes since I didn't have any, so that measurement was based off of the recipes I've seen that call for 1/2 Tbsp. Next time I will be sure to try it with the dried onion flakes!

Kuzco Rafiki

Gratitude Journal - Little Dudeman

11/2/11 (fb) - "Day 2: I am thankful for Little Dudeman & for all the joy he brings to my life! He's so stinkin' adorable & always puts a smile on my face! He's gonna be one awesome big broha (:"

__________________________________________________♥__________________________________________________

4/17/13 - Let me rephrase that... He IS one awesome big broha!

He knew his little sister's name before she was born.
He would hug my tummy & give her kisses all the time.
It was absolutely precious.
When our Little Princess was born he would run to her when she was crying to make sure she was okay.
When he's sick, he asks me what she is doing, & wants her to stay where he can see her.
He reads to her, sings with her, & dances with her.
He loves to play with her and make her laugh & smile.
She wants to be just like him.
Sure, they get on each other's nerves every now & then;
but they love each other.
A lot.

He's absolutely adorable.
So is Little Princess, but I'll save that for another post...

Some of his signature sayings when he was younger:

"Goygoygoy."
"Oh yes."

Other fun tidbits about Little Dudeman:
He was born right on his due date.
Hubby reeeally wanted to name him Kuzco Rafiki, but I felt like the name just didn't suit him.
He knows his ABCs & CBAs.
He's small for his age - almost 3 & he wears 18 month clothes.
He is the sweetest & smartest little boy I know.

He is supposed to have eye muscle surgery for strabismic amblyopia in the morning.
The surgery will be about 45 minutes & he will be completely out for it.
Although I'm sure he will be fine, I still worry.
I hate seeing him miserable.
I am hoping for a quick recovery & that he won't be in a lot of pain.
I want him to be back to his normal, chipper, cheerful self as soon as possible.
Thoughts & prayers would be greatly appreciated.

Easter Minute to Win It

Sooo I'm a tad late with my post about our Easter activities...

Sorry 'bout that.

Early in March I was in charge of planning an Easter Minute to Win It for the youth in our ward at church.

We split into two teams & I wrote the name of the mini-games on the board.

I had searched the Minute To Win It site for ideas that I could twist into an Easter theme

& these were the ones that I decided on (although there are plenty to choose from):

Bucket Head

We used the same distance requirement of 5', but used plastic Easter eggs instead of ping pong balls & a plastic Easter bucket from the dollar store. We turned it into a two person mini-game by having one person hold the bucket on their head behind a taped-off line & another person from their team throwing the eggs from 5' away into the bucket on the other person's head. We had each team doing this at the same time.

Egg Roll

We did this mini-game one team at a time & followed the actual rules except for using plastic Easter eggs instead of raw eggs.

Egg Tower

We had each team playing this at the same time & followed the rules except for using plastic Easter eggs instead of raw eggs.

Face the Cookie

We used store-bought springtime frosted mini sugar cookies & had each team playing this at the same time. We followed the rules but only required them to get one into their mouth.

High Strung

We had each team playing this at the same time, but used plastic Easter eggs instead of real ones. You would think that the groove from the Easter eggs would make it easier to carry from one soda bottle to the other, but neither team succeeded in the minute time limit.

Matchmaker

We did this mini-game one team at a time & used jellybeans for the candies.

Sticker Picker Upper

We played this mini-game one team at a time, used a plastic Easter egg instead of a raw one, & started out with them holding the tray rather than using the tables. Somehow I missed that part of the rules when I read through it. This was probably the easiest mini-game that they played.

Whippersnapper

We played this mini-game one team at a time & used plastic Easter eggs instead of ping pong balls & a medium-sized box instead of a laundry basket. We found that the 15' was quite difficult, so we moved it up a few feet. We also found that it was really hard while the box was stationary so we allowed another team member to move the box around as long as they stayed behind the new boundary line.

As you can see, we changed things up a bit to fit the Easter theme...

I think we had about nine youth show up that night, so most of them got to participate in 2 games for their team. We let the winning team of each mini-game pick the next game. 

It was a lot of fun!

While writing this post, I found an awesome link to more Easter Minute to Win It ideas...

I may have to try some of those next year!

Don't worry... I haven't forgotten about Oswald.

I've just been kinda busy & side-tracked lately.

I'll have a post up about that soon!

Breakfast Casserole

We eat this yummy Breakfast Casserole & Pull-A-Part Bread for breakfast every LDS General Conference weekend & Christmas!

1 bag frozen hash browns (shredded)

2 cups shredded cheese (I use more)

2 cups heavy cream

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic or onion salt

bacon, ham, sausage, beaten eggs, & other things typically found in omelettes (optional)

Put the potatoes in a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle the grated cheese & seasonings over the potatoes. Then pour the cream on top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45-60 minutes.

Note: Mix the bacon, ham, sausage, beaten eggs, & other mix-ins with the potatoes prior to the cheese & cream if you want them in your casserole.

Both the Breakfast Casserole & Pull-A-Part Bread are delicious enough on their own,

but personally, I feel like they need to be served together.

It could just be the tradition factor of always having them together that is making me say that,

but every time I make one without the other I feel like something is missing.

Breakfast Casserole is the best friend to the sweet & sugary Pull-A-Part Bread.
It's kind of like that saying, "You're the peanut butter to my jelly."
You can't have one without the other.
Well, technically you can...
but your taste buds may disagree.

Pull-A-Part Bread

It's that time of year again...
Time to watch LDS General Conference!
That means no rushing in late to church with the kids on Sunday morning.
It means Hubby can sleep in since he doesn't have to be at the church at 6:30 am for early morning meetings.
It means we get to be spiritually uplifted by watching/listening to talks from the prophet, apostles, & other church leaders as a family in the comfort of our own home.
It means we get to lounge around in our pajamas and eat our traditional conference brunch of Breakfast Casserole & this yummy Pull Apart Bread.

1 square butter or margarine

1 Tbsp water

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 (7.5-oz) cans Pillsbury biscuits

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

In saucepan, melt butter. Coat bottom & sides of 8x8 with 2 Tbsp melted butter. Add brown sugar & water to butter. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Mix sugar & cinnamon together in a large ziplock bag. Break each biscuit in half, place in bag and shake until well coated with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Loosely place coated biscuits in buttered pan. Pour caramel over top of dough. Bake 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees. Invert immediately onto cookie sheet or large plate and remove from pan.

Note: Double this recipe for a 9x13 pan

This post was featured:

T is for Tiger - The Tigger Movie

T is for Tiger
Although I love Rajah,
the first Disney tiger that comes to mind is
T-I-double guh-RRR
TIGGER!

Yes, I'm aware that he's technically a tigger, not a tiger.
But he's the only one, and he & tigers have a lot in common!
I like to think that they're cousins of sorts.

THIS WEEK...
Church Theme: Tithing

Primary/Church Song: 'I'm Glad to Pay a Tithing'

Preschool Song: 'The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers'

Book: The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr

We had olives, a Tiger sandwich (I didn't want to attempt a Tigger sandwich because I knew it wouldn't turn out nearly as pretty with only 1 kind of cheese, but my tiger looks like a cat since I made the ears too pointy), carrots, cheetos, a Tigger tail from Disneyland (I only gave him a small smackerel so that our whole family could share it, but he didn't even like it... more for us!), & curly fries (orange & bouncy like Tigger's tail).

Tumbling Tuesday:
We bounced around the house since that's what Tiggers do best

Word Wednesday:

T letter sheets
Tigger coloring pages

Think About It Thursday:

T math sheets
We filled out & colored our family tree

I know it's not the typical easy-to-read family tree, but Hubby was adopted and both of our parents had a divorce.
That just means that the kidlets have 7 wonderful grandparents that love them dearly (:
We love them all the same and didn't want to leave anyone out,
so I figured we would make our tree this way instead of using a pre-made family tree worksheet.

Field Trip Friday:
We have a few friends with trampolines...
If the kids weren't sick with a cold right now, we would go play at one of their houses and practice
The Whoop-de-Dooper Loop-de-Looper Alley-Ooper Bounce!

Instead, we'll stay inside to catch up on cleaning
(ya never know when the other Tiggers will visit)

I thought about getting out our Tiger costume (Hobbes) that I made for Halloween last year,
but it's almost 80 degrees in our house right now.
Not sweatshirt weather by any means.

Anywho,
TTFN
ta ta for now!

This post was featured at:
  

xoxo