Molten Chocolate Cakes.....

Sunday was a another strange weather day.....we had hail, thunder, downpour of rain, & of course - power outage(s)........yes, multiple times...fun stuff! Braeden wasn't feeling well, around noon announced he had the chills & was achy....what is this - round 3? Anyway, I stayed home from Church with him (& kept Ella home too - any excuse to keep her out of nursery)....the power went out for a 1/2hr or so, then came back on...then went out within minutes....then surged a few times....freaked Ella out...then stayed off for a couple hours. It couldn't have been better timing though....Ella went down for a nap & Brae did too. I read scriptures for a good hour....it made me feel better since I was missing Church.
By dinner time, Zach was in the same boat as Brae....lucky us....poor Zach & Brae! They still had their appetites, so after dinner, we had Molten Chocolate Cakes that I made....not too bad for my first time, although I think I'll try another recipe next time......The top got a little too crisp for my taste while it baked......
That didn't seem to bother the kids though.....everyone loved them......

How Many 4 YEAR Olds Do You Know That Can TIE Their Own SHOES?

So today was an exciting day at the Goff house. (Sad too)... I signed Connor up for Kindergarten. I'm sad because it means my baby boy isn't so little any more.....but he's so ready - really smart & has the best manners....& too cool for his own good...I have a feeling he'll break a few hearts over the years....he's quite the charmer....

Tonight I made Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps for dinner.......yum! Hot & spicy, but GOOD! Everyone but Connor loved them.....he's still a bit picky....but he's 4 - he'll grow out of it! (thank's Rachelle for the recipe!) We added a Thai Chili Plum Sauce to it too...
Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps
1.25 lb chicken, cut up in small pieces (Rachelle uses ground chicken, I prefer the chunks of chicken)
1 head lettuce
1 carrot peeled and diced
1 clove of garlic minced
1 tsp fresh ginger minced
juice of 4 limes
2 tsp Sriacha chili sauce (I used 1 1/2 tsp.& it was really hot)
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 bunch of green onions chopped
Garnish
1 red pepper chopped
1/2 cucumber chopped
2 TBSP roasted cashews chopped

Mix all ingredients, minus chicken and lettuce and set aside. Brown chicken, then add mixed ingredients. Let simmer for a few mintues. Serve on lettuce and top with garnish. ** The Sriacha is pretty hot and makes it too spicy for Connor, so next time we will omit that & add it to our individual lettuce wraps.

But the most exciting news of the day is that Connor learned how to TIE HIS OWN SHOES!!! This is quite the feat for our 4 year old....having 2 big brothers do this (and a lot of other things too) for him is always the quickest, & the easiest. His a tough kid, but when it comes to something new, he's always hesitant to try it...he & Tyler sat down with the shoe, he shed a few tears, but he did it!....again & again. I had told him that if he did it, I'd take him to ice cream while Zach was at scouts tonight. That reward helped a little. Being the sweetheart he is, I asked him if he wanted it to just be us two, or should we let Brae & Ella come & have treats too.....he immediately said that he wanted them to come & have treats too. That's our Connor! He picked McD's....so he could have a shake & french fries.....
The proud shoe tie-er... Check out the blue eyes on these two!... Ella, refusing to look at the camera....what's new?!?

Rachelle's Black Eyed Pea Salad/Dip -YUM!!!!!

For those of you who wanted Rachelle's recipe from our Superbowl Party! - She is the best - brought me a bowl of this yesterday too - you're an awesome friend!!! Thanks!!!

Black Eyed Pea Salad

1 11oz can of shoepeg corn drained
1 15oz can of black eyed peas drained
1/2 bunch of cilantro chopped
5 large green onions chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 avacado's cut into chunks
3 large roma tomatoes cut into chunks
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Drain, chop, mince, and pour everything together in a large bowl and mix. Serve with tortilla chips. Yummy!

This is another recipe that Aryn and I came across (we found it online after seeing it The Biggest Loser and we thought that it looked good and decided to try it).