Baked Teriyaki Chicken Recipe

Okay, so we made this recipe a while ago, and I've been meaning to post it for those of you who like to try new recipes. I've been finding a few good ones online lately, so I thought it might be good to share some. Here's one for baked teriyaki chicken:

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon cold water
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar (you can substitute with lemon juice)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 12 skinless chicken thighs

1. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the cornstarch, cold water, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger and ground black pepper. Let simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and bubbles.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
3. Place chicken pieces in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Brush chicken with the sauce. Turn pieces over, and brush again.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Turn pieces over, and bake for another 30 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Brush with sauce every 10 minutes during cooking.

*This recipe makes 6 servings*

Matt and I had this with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans. It was quite tasty, and I highly recommend it!

If you're wondering how life is going for the two of us it's still just rollin' right along, and we're having fun with it. I can't believe it's almost APRIL! I guess that means we've been married just short of three months now. Whew! Where does the time go? Right now we're trying to figure out our plans for the summer. Between church, work, school, family reunions, and warm weather I think we'll be just about booked! :) Anyway, that's all the updating I have time for at the moment. I'll have to go into a little more detail as we figure those details out. 

Here's a quote that I like that was in one of my books I've been reading for school:

"It is through laughter that we feel most enraptured, most alive, most connected to what is happening around us." 

Laughter is something that helps keep me going through thick and thin. Laugh your way through life's challenges!

~Jess~

Spring Break

Well, here we are again. It's only been a week since we last went to Manti. It was our spring break 2 weeks ago, and we decided to spend most of it in Manti visiting my family. It was so good to be with family and friends for a whole week! 


I spent probably the majority of my break helping my mom sew clogging costumes for my sisters' clogging team's competition yesterday. My sweet mother was put in charge of making the costumes to lessen the cost for the girls on the Sanpete Storm clogging team. Being the optimistic and helpful person she is, she was willing to take on the challenge of finding fabric and sacrificing time to put together a satin poodle skirt and scarf for sixteen girls. Much to her dismay, she realized a little too late that the skirts were going to take a lot longer to sew than planned. This is where I came in. I guess you could say that Matt and I showed up in the nick of time. I was so glad that I was able to be there to help her out with her heavy load. Matt played the part of the "taxi cab" carting the kids back and forth so that we could stay busy sewing. The two of us sewed an average of about 6 hours or more each day from Monday through Friday and barely finished the costumes in time for the girls to do a dress rehearsal before the competition the next day. Whew! We were both sufficiently worn out by the end of our task.  


Here are some pictures of my sisters at the competition:

Matt was also able to offer his helping hand by keeping the little boys entertained and doing yardwork and other odd jobs. He and my dad took apart our tiller to try to get it running properly...and didn't put it back together. It's still laying in pieces in the backyard.


Here's Matt being silly with Trace. From the looks of it, these two were just caught in the middle of their horseplay, but Trace actually requested that Matt "hold him upside down" for a picture! I thought it was quite funny.

And here is Tyler and Lance sleeping on the sofa chair:

One of my favorite parts of our vacation to Manti was our double date that we went on with my parents on Friday night (AFTER all the sewing was finished). We took a CD player, CD's with our favorite dancing songs, and drove ourselves over to the Ephraim Institute of Religion for an evening of inexpensive fun. We played pool, ping-pong (we really struggled to keep the ball on the table), and foosball before we broke out the dance moves. Matt and I attempted to teach a few country swing dance moves to my parents, and in return they tried their hand at showing us a few ballroom dance steps. Money just can't buy experiences and memories like that. It was a great date!

So besides our little spring break undertakings, we've just been at home in Logan going to school, work, and church. I'm still waiting for a calling in our ward, but for now I'm keeping myself busy trying to get to know and serve people of all ages in our ward boundaries. Today Matt was set apart as the 1st Counselor in the Elder's Quorum presidency. I know he'll do a great job, and I'm excited for him. 

We've started making bread a lot with our wonderfully handy KitchenAid, and we've made a 2/3rds rule. Each batch makes three loaves, but we make it a point to give at least one away. I feel like this has been a great way to give and serve. We don't have a lot, but we've still been able to find a way to give of what we do have. AND since we both love to cook and bake it turns out to be more of a fun activity than it is a sacrifice. 

This past week I had the opportunity to see my aunt and uncle have their adopted baby boy sealed to them in the Mt. Timpanogos temple. There was a wonderful spirit there, and I was glad to be able to attend. Afterwards we had a chance to eat a lot of yummy food and visit with family that we don't get to see often. 

Anyway, I'm not sure what else to post at this point. I guess this will be it for now! 

- Jess