Coconut chicken

Someone shared this recipe on Facebook a couple of weeks ago and I decided to add it to my

meal planning. Dan is a big coconut fan (or just a big coconut--you be the judge), and the person who posted it had wonderful things to say about it. Well, we had it tonight and it was a HUGE hit! Super yummy. Definitely something I'll make again! Enjoy. :)

Coconut Chicken

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 cup flour

1/2 t. salt

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk (the recipe suggested coconut milk, but I wasn't about to buy it just for 1/4 cup, so I used regular milk)

1 cup shredded coconut

1 cup panko bread crumbs (this is really important--you need the crispiness of panko. They can be found in the asian food section at your grocery store)
vegetable oil

dipping sauce (the recipe called for sweet chili sauce, but I forgot to add it to my shopping list. So I ate mine plain and Dan used some ranch, but agreed that something with a bite would be awesome)

Prepare your dredging station by mixing the flour and salt in one bowl, the eggs and milk in another bowl, and the coconut and panko in a third bowl.
Pour about 1/4 cup oil into a large fry pan. While it gets hot, start dredging your chicken--first in the flour, then the egg mixture, then in the coconut and panko mixture. Set aside until your oil is hot (I didn't start dredging until my oil was hot, so it went straight into the pan).
Fry over medium heat for 2-3 minutes per side. The coconut will let you know if your pan is too hot--it burns rather quickly. I don't know that from experience--I've just heard. ;)

Drain on paper towels to absorb the extra oil.

Four chicken breasts (about 20 strips) took me four batches in the pan. I probably could have done it in three, but I didn't want to crowd things.

My little Jedi masters :)

Last week, Jackson decided that he did not want to be Superman for Halloween again (the original plan, which had me doing a happy dance because it was easy). His new idea was to be something from Star Wars, so we did some looking online and landed on "Jedi." I thought, "well, it sure would be cute if Leah was Yoda!" So we looked at costumes online and found everything we needed on Amazon. For $56. Yeah, not happening. So I started searching for "how to make a Jedi costume" and found this: http://www.degraeve.com/jedirobe/
Super easy instructions on making a Jedi robe, as well as what to wear under the robe to make it look more Jedi-ish. I found cheap fabric to make a robe and the under-stuff for Jack and a robe for Leah.

Step two was finding a Yoda hat for Leah. I found this on Etsy and fell in love. And it seemed pretty cheap, since I was saving so much on the costumes by making them myself. Well, I happened to teach myself how to crochet (with the help of YouTube) a couple of weeks ago and thought, "I wonder if I could find an easy pattern for a yoda hat." I found this:

http://happyhooker.wordpress.com/2011/02/15/yoda-hat/
I decided to TRY it and go with the Etsy hat if all failed. Well, the hat whipped up in no time last night. I got the ears done this morning and attached them this afternoon. Super quick. I do want to starch them before Halloween--they're a little floppy. But otherwise, I was quite pleased.

Here are the final results:

And now, of course, Halloween won't come quickly enough! Especially for Jackson, who isn't allowed to REALLY play with this costume until November. :)

Off he goes!

I sent my baby boy to kindergarten today. I think his excitement helped me not fall apart. :) I'm anxious to hear all about his first day!