Creamy Ranch Chicken. With Bacon.

Here's a new recipe I tried last week. It was good, but then again, I think anything with bacon is good. I also think anything with Swiss cheese is good too, as my mom and sisters will verify. This recipe has no Swiss cheese, but it does have bacon. But, I digress. Back to the recipe:

Creamy Ranch Chicken - 4 servings
6 slices bacon (mmm...)
4 chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces
2 Tbs. flour
2 Tbs. dry Ranch dressing mix
1 1/4 c. milk
3 c. dried noodles
1 Tbs. shredded Parmesan cheese

Cut bacon into pieces. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Drain on paper towels; discard all but 2 Tbs. drippings. In the same skillet, cook chicken in drippings until tender and no longer pink, turning to brown. Sprinkle flour and Ranch dressing mix over the chicken in the skillet; stir well. Stir in milk. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Stir in bacon. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Serve chicken mixture with noodles, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

And now, a photo tutorial: :)

Mmm...bacon.Mix that flour and Ranch dressing.
Browning the chicken chunks.Adding that flour and dressing mix,Give it a good stir,
Then add the milk. Cook until thick.Throw in the bacon!Actually, this recipe would be just as good, if not better, with no chicken and twice as much bacon!

Missionary Pictures!

Oh, I love it when Peter sends pictures! We've been laughing all week about the news he gave us in last's week's letter- how he's gained 8 kilos, or 17-ish pounds, in normal measuring. We couldn't imagine where he'd put all that new bulk! But, as we can all see, he looks pretty much the same. There was a baptism in their branch yesterday- that makes 18 members in the branch! The Branch President baptized John in the lake, since there is no font in the mortuary where the branch meets:Here he is on the southern coast of New Zealand, pointing to the nearest land mass, Antarctica.
Here's the view from the gondola they rode on a recent P-day.And a road sign that Peter found interesting.It's great to see him enjoying himself and doing good things!

Japanese Water Punch

Here's a really useful recipe if you ever have an open house, reception or ladies luncheon coming up. It's easy and cheap to throw together, and you can use food coloring to tint it any color you need. Or you can float lemon or lime slices in it. I have no idea how it got it's name, but it's today's sister recipe:

Japanese Water Punch- 4 gallons
3 1/2 gallons water
9 c. sugar
3 Tbs. citric acid
3 Tbs. lemon extract

Mix and chill.

My Favorite Commercial, Grover Style!

Nuff said.

Fun Photos

After taking the formal family pictures, various girlfriends and a German exchange student joined the mix for some fun photos at the amphitheater.

My cute niece:I learned a lot this day, and I hope I can use what I learned next time!

Conference Photo Shoot #1

Last Sunday, before Conference, Bruce and I drove up to Logan where I took some pictures of his sister's family. They mostly wanted a picture of their family with the temple in the background. These are what we ended up with:They are big Aggie fans, so they needed a picture with Old Main too:Their family was really fun, wonderfully photogenic, and we got a lot done in the 45 minutes we had before Conference started!

Goofy pictures coming tomorrow. :)

Next To Last Show

Wow, it's been busy this week! This past weekend we were here for a horse show:This is the barn where the horses stayed. Rocko loved to raise his head up to it's maximum 8 foot level to see the inmates at the prison across the field play basketball.It was hot, hot, hot, and I'll admit that even I am ready for cooler temperatures. One more show to go for the season!