Lists and Sweet & Sour Chicken

I’m a big believer in to-do lists. I think of five things in the shower. I set goals and get my work done, but I have to plan for fun things, too. I’m always thinking about what will make my family happier. So I set up playdates and trips.

Heidi Klum

I have 2 lists going right now because… August 😏 A bucket list and a to do list.

My TO DO list is monthly stuff I normally do PLUS back to school stuff and prep for the busy fall season. September is always crazy with starting school and getting into our new schedules. This year dance looks different because we are taking a step back back and because SBean really wants to try out a few new activities to really find her “thing”. I have also changed up my work schedule and added more clients and moved my commercial client to Wednesday nights… meaning I have to give up my DPAC meetings. It will be a BIG adjustment unless I can maneuver things to give me more hours in a day 😂. HBear is almost 13 so her schedule is different PLUS she is different. So many changes over the past few months, I am struggling with letting go of the little girl I knew and embracing this new preteen. I love them both but I already miss the girl she was 😢 It is hard. I don’t think I’m going to make it through the next few years 😳😂.

To do:
Fitness challenge
September Menu
Blog schedule

Invoice clients

Finalize new client schedule

Put away/organize last season’s dance gear

Organize hockey pool
New chore charts

Haircuts
Grade 8 & 4 Interviews
School supply shopping (itemize what we have from last year)
Cubbys cleaned out and prepped for school year
Bathroom drawers (take stock)
Dance clothes/shoes (try on)
Fall clothes & shoes (try on and buy)

Tackle the sock bin 😒

My bucket list is for the last 2 weeks of summer but can/will extend into the fall season. This fall is different for a few reasons, we weren’t able to do a lot of our favourite fall activities last year because of the pandemic and because this year we will have my Sis, BIL and nieces here to enjoy some of our favourite fall entertainment!!

Bucket list:
Float the Channel (if smoke clears)
Go to Linden Gardens & Frog Cafe

Paddleboarding
Read Midnight Library & Final Revival of Opal & Nev
Road trip!!

Go to a craft workshop
Dinner out with Sis and BIL
Hike Naramata Falls
Golf
Kangaroo Zoo
Covert Farm Tour
Vegetable shopping in Keremeos

Real date night with my Sis

Geocache

Attend a Flower Festival

Go to the Waterslides

I love that they are pretty equal. A little bit of work and a little bit of play 💛. I can’t wait to start checking things off!

Check out How Was Your Week, Honey? Episode #237: Lobster Anniversary HERE! This week, it’s our anniversary! Topics: hockey cards, 11th Anniversary, lobster dinner, Year of Us ?, Syd’s mood, BC Premiers, Mariner’s signs, election, & Bachelor.

I keep posting yummy better than take out recipes and this week is no different!!! This sweet and sour chicken is SO good. I made it months ago but didn’t like my pictures so I didn’t post it. However, why should my readers suffer because I take crappy pictures? Seriously, this dish tastes better than it looks and is SO easy to make. I loved this sauce so much that I kept this draft even though I hated the pictures because I just couldn’t let it go. I guess I could have remade it 🤷🏻‍♀️ But we like to try new recipes all the time and I tend to forget about the ones I made a while ago even if they are better than take out!!! Add last week’s noodles and the week before pork and you have a delicious and easy 3 dish take out meal 😀.

Sweet & Sour Chicken
Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1-inch chunks
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, slightly beaten
¼ cup oil

1 bell pepper, chopped

1/2 red onion, chopped

1/2 cup peanuts
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup ketchup
½ cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Season chicken with salt and pepper.

Place the cornstarch in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Place the eggs in a separate shallow bowl. Working in batches, toss the chicken pieces in cornstarch and then coat with the egg.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Again working in two batches, brown the chicken, turning it so that all sides are browned.

Place the chicken in a single layer in a 9×13-inch baking dish. Add the peppers, onions and peanuts.

In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic powder and pour evenly over the chicken.

Turn the chicken to ensure each piece is coated.

Bake for 1 hour, turning the chicken every 15 minutes. Serve on top of basmati rice.

This week was grey. The smoke was at times unbearable, the weather was cooler but no rain in fact the only thing that fell from the sky was ashes. We are surrounded by wildfires. Almost every highway around us is closed from either uncontrolled fires or mudslides. Thousands of people in the Okanagan have been evacuated and over 50 structures have been lost… so far 💔.

On a lighter note, I received my Thirty-One Gifts order from the party I threw last month!! SBean was in gymnastics camp this week and HBear had a 3 day dance intensive! Ninja and I had a nice steak and Poplar Grove red for a late anniversary dinner on Friday and then on Saturday Dad & J threw us a little Anniversary dinner! Everyone had lobster, potato salad, corn salad, Caesar salad and buns from Bogner’s in support of The Rotary Club and SBean and I had pasta from The Pasta Factory. It was a great night! On Sunday I chilled and read a FANTASTIC book, Daisy Jones & The Six and Ninja treated everyone to DQ 😊.