Aloha Pork Chop Skillet

Aloha Pork Chop Skillet recipe 
This is what I’m making tonight!
It’s SO yummy!
We’ve tried it with Chicken, too, which I’ve heard tastes good.
I wouldn’t know.  I can’t try it myself.
Chicken doesn’t like me.
Anyway, here’s to recipe:

WHAT YOU NEED:
2 tsp. oil
4  bone-in pork chops (1-1/2 lb.)
1 each red and yellow pepper, coarsely chopped
2 cans (8 oz. each) pineapple chunks in juice, undrained
1/2 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup KRAFT Classic CATALINA Dressing
1-1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1-1/2 cups instant white rice, uncooked
 
  MAKE IT:
HEAT oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add chops; cook 5 min. on each side or until browned on both sides.
ADD all remaining ingredients except rice; mix well. Bring to boil.
STIR in rice; cover. Cook on medium-low heat 5 min. or until chops are done (145°F). Remove from heat; let stand 5 min.
SERVES 4 

SUBSTITUTE:
Substitute 4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.) for the pork chops. Prepare as directed, increasing browning time to 5 to 6 min. on each side.
 
Hope you like it!
(Of course, I won’t be offended if you don’t.  It’s not my recipe!)
 

“Mommy & Me”

Mallie woke up really early one morning last week,
and wouldn’t go back to sleep.
So, I brought her in my room, fed her, changed her diaper,
and got her some toys to play with.
And, I laid back on my pillows to watch her.
Next thing I know, Ivon is taking pictures.

Cutest little punkin!
I don’t know when either of us fell asleep, and I’m really surprised that Mallie did!
Her pj’s say, “Mommy & Me”.
How cute is that?!
We both woke up to the shutter noise on my camera.
LOVE. THIS. GIRL.

Wallets

Last week, the boys were very into having wallets.
Robby made himself one with paper and blue masking tape.
He put scraps of paper, pennies, a dime and a nickel in his.
Christopher thought it was pretty cool.
So, Robby made him one, too!
Robby wrote the name on it.
I think it’s funny!
Wolit.
Or Wallet.
Christopher put old receipts, pennies, and other trinkets in his.
He thought he was pretty special.
He’d have me help him put it in his back pocket, just like Daddy.
He he he!  His “Wolit”.
Love my boys! :)

Jolly Rancher Lollies

Or, as Ivon would call them,
“Gay Cowboy Suckers”.
Hannah came home with a recipe for these.
A girl in her class had done a project and showed everyone how to do them.
So, being a sugar addict myself,
I HAD to try them!
What you need:
Jolly Ranchers, lollipop sticks, cookie pan, foil, and parchment paper.
Preheat your oven at 200 degrees.
Line your cookie pan with the foil.  Then put a layer of parchment paper over the foil.
Unwrap your Jolly Ranchers and arrange them however you’d like.
You can do two or three together.  Or more.  :)  Make sure the candies are touching.
Put the pan in the oven on the top rack.  Cook for 5-15 min.
Keep watching them, though, making sure they don’t melt too much
or you won’t be able to get the sticks in them.
Pull them out of the oven, and working carefully and quickly,
twist the stick into the bottom candy up through to the other layers.
Allow to cool for 30 minutes and then put them in cellophane bags and tie.
And, ENJOY!

Robby = Funny Boy!

When Robby got home from school,
I noticed his shirt and pants were quite dirty.
I asked him, “What’s on your shirt?!”
He said, “Jam.  From my sandwich.” (Very much unconcerned.)
I said, “You went to school like that?!?!” (Yes, apparently I am very quick.)
HE SAID, “NOBODY NOTICED THAT I WAS WEIRD.”
(I had a VERY good laugh at that!)

Boys’ Room

I just finished the boys’ room!
I even made curtains…
now they don’t have to have a blanket hanging in their window!

The room is too small to get a good picture of it though.
But, Robby and Christopher LOVE the green!
:)

Hannah

So, on the 3rd we took Hannah to her appointment
at Primary Children’s.
I brought a list of ALL of Hannah’s problems.
From headaches to limbs falling asleep all the time,
to extreme tummy pain, brittle bones, bad teeth, difficulty sleeping,
bladder problems, fatigue, and a weird rash that comes and goes.
I also included our extensive family history.
That alone should have been enough to scare a doctor away.
Doctor Patel had some labs done to test her TSH (low normal), sedimentation rate (normal),
zinc (normal), giardia (negative), c. diff (negative), and blood in the stool (negative).
He actually thinks that her problem may be more
along the lines of a rheumatic or neurological problem.
So, we get to go to two more doctors.
He needs their input before he can make a diagnosis.
He seems to be pretty on top of it.
He gave her a medication, too, to help stop the pain in her tummy.
(Which has some evil side effects, too).
The only problem is we have to wait another two and three months
to get her into these other doctors.
This past week has been REALLY difficult for me.
Yes, I know I’m not the one who has the health problem.
It’s just that it’s so hard to tell Hannah that she has to wait a long time again,
and I have nothing for her to help her.
I feel like such a looser as a mother.  I feel like I’m failing her.
It’s SO hard to see her hurting and not be able to help!
I feel such an urgency to get this figured out for her.  Yet, my hands are tied.
She has dealt with this for so long now, and I still don’t have anything for her.
She’s had Priesthood blessings,
(one that said this would soon have a name and would be taken care of),
and I pray so much for guidance.
I know the answers will come, I do.
It’s just in the mean time…
Please pray for my Hannah.

Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

This past week Ivon and the girls were in our
Stake production of
 
It. Was. AWESOME!
Emily and Hannah were in the children’s chorus.
They were excited to be a part of it, and did so well!
Mallie even entered the stage the first night as a baby. :)
And, Ivon was Pharaoh!  (He was AMAZING!)
(On a funny note, one of the other girls in the chorus is a friend of Hannah’s in school.
This girls’ parents were in the production, too.  She was telling her dad that she knew
“Pharaoh’s Daughter”!  She felt pretty important!)
She did SO good!
 These pictures aren’t the best- 
the lighting wasn’t good for pictures and I couldn’t use a flash.

It was such a fun night!