Tasty

I came across this recipe the other day and it made my mouth water.  So, of course, I decided to make it.  Let me just say it will be added to my recipe collection. :) SO good!

Coconut Crusted Chicken
w/ Apricot Sauce

1 egg
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup flour (I used whole wheat flour)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup apricot preserves
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Preheat the oven to 400˚F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Lightly beat the egg in a medium bowl; set aside.  Mix the coconut, flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl.  Working with one chicken breast at a time, dip the chicken in the bowl with the beaten egg and then coat with the coconut mixture.  Place on the baking sheet.  Once all chicken breasts are coated and on the baking sheet, evenly drizzle with the melted butter.  Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, flipping once halfway.

To prepare the apricot sauce, mix the apricot preserves and the Dijon mustard in a small bowl.  Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Tastes great with brown rice! I used about a 1/4 cup of coconut milk while cooking the rice which went great with the chicken.

Enjoy my friends!

grateful.

every now and then i go on lds.org to watch the videos on the main page.  they are always so uplifting and humbling. they help me to put things into perspective. 

this particular video really struck me.  the message is so simple and true.

 i think back to august 3rd 2008 and feel so grateful for the path that i have chosen.  for the path that God has made for me.  i truly don't know where i would be without the church.  i'm sure i would be fine and happy.  but not the kind of happiness that everyone deserves.  to have that hope and faith in something that is so real and makes perfect sense.  that makes life WORTH living.  the Book of Mormon IS the word of God.  my testimony of its truth and divinity has grown so much since that day.  and i'm forever grateful for that.

i pray that one day my family will get to feel the joy that i feel from this message. 

here's another amazing video.  it's a tear-jerker for sure.

if you need a good laugh..

then this is the movie for you!

We saw this at the dollar theater this past weekend and it cracked me up! Russell Brand is hilarious!

Go see it :)

update.

Here is a quick rundown of some of the things we have been up to lately. An update is clearly needed. This post will be really random just fyi.

This last weekend the boys took Saturday night off early so we could spend a night in the city.  We took the train from where we live into Union Station where we planned on walking through the city and finding a good place to chow down.

Tate :)

Turns out everything was closed because we were in the financial district.  We really didn't think on a Saturday night that it would be completely dead.  But it was.  Not to mention it was pouring down rain and we were running around trying to find food to feed our empty bellies.  The rain was so bad we took a taxi to drive like 3 blocks.  Ridiculous how much those things cost.  Finally we came across Giordano's which is a famous stuffed pizza restaurant.  Eh.  It was alright.  We had it last year too and it just didn't do it for me.  My favorite Chicago pizza by far is Lou Malnatis.  If you come to Chicago this place is a must!

 Brit and Cody soaked after running around in the rain.

My computer died early on so sadly this is all I have of that night.  Even though it didn't go as planned, it was still such a fun/random night.

Since Branson and the other boys are out working all day, the girls have been spending a lot of time together!  Brittany and Kenz have introduced me to Prison Break.

I'm hooked.  We have watched 7 episodes in like 2 days.  May or may not be because we get to stare at Wentworth Miller the whole time... Who knows.

There is also a dollar theater close by so we have decided to make a weekly trip to watch a good flick.  Last week we saw Never Say Never.  It was a first for all of us and I have to say we were all pretty pleased.  He is just adorable.

Branson and I also had a date night a couple weekends ago and we saw Something Borrowed.  We loved it!  However, I am not a good movie critic.  I pretty much love any good chick flick.  Cheesy or not.  Even if I know the ending before it has even started.  But i'd recommend it.


One of my new favorite ways to pass the time is on Pinterest.  If you haven't made an account I would highly recommend it.  It's amazing and I can't believe I didn't think of this myself.  I have SO many folders on my computer of pictures that I have saved over time and this is a much easier and more organized way to do it.  I'm in love.  You can follow me HERE!

Aaaaand this is all I have for now folks.

Beauty

Like I have said before, B and I love looking at houses. We want to build our own house one day so it's fun to get ideas and see what other people have done. Last Sunday we drove around in Naperville which has the cutest houses! Some are pretty darn HUGE! We also walked downtown which is adorable as well and has the cutest shops and places to eat. As we were driving around we spotted this house and we both fell in love-

I made sure to capture every angle. haha.  I love it!  The corner lot, the wrap around porch, the colors, everything.  The trees on the lawn were beautiful with the flowers and all.  It's a beauty.  Too bad it's in Illinois cuz I aint livin here forever.

Livin down in Chi town

Now that we finally have internet after about a week, I can finally post that we are all settled in here in Chicago!

We are living in the same apartments as last year so we are really familiar with the area and how to get around, which has been really nice. I would post pictures of our little abode, but it's nothing too exciting. Rented furniture.. no decorations.. you get the point.

Last summer we were only out here 2 months and Branson wanted to work, work, work to save up for the year.  So, we didn't get to do as much in the city as we wanted to.  This summer we have a lot more planned and it's going to be a great time.  Come visit us! Seriously...