Creamy White Chicken & Artichoke Lasagna

I love Pasta! Who's with me on that? When it comes to lasagnas, I've always been a red sauce lasagna type of person, but when I saw that artichokes were involved in this dish, I was in. I love artichokes as much I love pasta! You still with me? Lasagna, artichokes, creamy white sauce, and chicken? Yeah, I see you drooling back there.

In my opinion though, lasagna is a bit of work. Every time I make it, I always forget how much work is involved, but when I taste the finished product, I'm always kicking myself for not going the extra mile and making it more often.  But I must warn you in advance...please don't make the same mistake I made. It not only costed me a lot of time, but made a ton of extra dishes too. And let me tell you, I hate washing dishes! When you make this recipe and you go to make the creamy white sauce, do not...I repeat DO NOT use your Kitchen Aid mixer. It doesn't matter how soft your cream cheese is, the paddle nor the whisk attachment will do the trick...surprisingly. Save yourself the disappointment and just use your hand mixer...it gets the job done beautifully.

If you're still riding the fence on this dish, let me just guild the lily a bit more. Not only does this make a ton of food, but the leftovers are awesome! So, feed your family with this really delicious meal and then later in the week, say...oh Friday, when you are too tired to make another meal after your very long week, just heat this baby up and dinner is served! The perfect ending to a long work week!

Creamy White Chicken & Artichoke Lasagna

Source: Kraftfoods.com

2 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts

1 can (14 oz) artichoke hears, drained and chopped

1 pkg. (8oz) shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 chopped drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (I didn't the oil packed, so I just used the dried)

2 pkg. (8oz) cream cheese, softened

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 cup tightly packed fresh basil, chopped, divided

12 lasagna noodles

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. 

Combine chicken, artichokes, 1 cup mozzarella, parmesan, and tomatoes. Beat cream cheese, (with hand mixer) milk, and garlic powder until well blended; stir in 2 TB basil. Mix half with chicken mixture.

Spread half the remaining cream cheese mixture onto bottom of a 9x13 baking dish; cover with 3 noodles and 1/3 of the chicken mixture. Repeat layers of noodles and chicken mixture twice. Top with remaining noodles, cream cheese mixture, and mozzarella; cover. 

Bake for 25 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining basil. Let stand 5 min. before cutting to serve. 

Cake Batter Pudding Cookies

Eden came down with some sort of virus this week. I have no idea how she got it, but she's been miserable with a high fever for several days. So far, the rest of us are okay, (knock on wood) but when your babies are miserable, I think most parents would trade positions and give the sickness to themselves instead of seeing it wreck their precious kids.

The sad thing is, though Eden is completely miserable, she still has her very sweet personality, even when she's woken up at 3am crying because she feels so bad. She still manages to thank us for giving her medicine to make her feel better. Josh has even been making her vanilla milkshakes in the evenings to cheer her up a little bit. Remind me the next time I'm sick to have Josh make me Vanilla Milkshakes, too, okay?

The other night, I made her chicken noodle soup, and though she only ate like 5-10 spoonfuls, I felt she needed something else to cheer her up. Yes, something else on top of the Oreo's and cream milkshake Josh had already made.  She needed cookies with sprinkles!

The cookies had already been on my menu of things to make this week, but with Eden getting sick, the baking I had planned on doing got postponed a little bit. Since the all the dishes from making the soup were done and we still had some time before the kids were going to go to bed (early, I might add), I thought that it might be the perfect opportunity to bake something warm and delicious and full of happy sprinkles.  Unfortunately, my sprinkle selection kind of bites. I have three bottles of exactly the same kind of multi-colored sprinkle balls. Obviously, I don't use sprinkles enough when baking, otherwise I might have had an idea of what I already owned before buying yet another bottle of the same kind. Needless to say, it didn't really matter what kind of colorful sprinkles I used. As soon as these cookies baked up and I gave Eden one, warm out of the oven (not hot, because I didn't want to burn her), there she was thanking me for making cookies with such pretty sprinkles!

Eden is feeling better today. She has more energy now than she's had since she got sick. Maybe that has something to do with the power of pretty sprinkles, maybe it has something to do with us taking good care of her, and maybe it was the seven bites of chicken noodle soup she ate. Whatever the reason for her improvement, I'm happy that I could be here for her, and bake her some cookies that put a smile on that sad little face.

Cake Batter Pudding Cookies

Source: Chef in Training

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 (3.4 oz) pkg. instant vanilla pudding mix, dry

3/4 cup yellow cake mix, dry

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 F. 

Stir together flour, salt, and baking soda, set aside. 

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars together. Add in pudding mix and cake mix and beat until well blended.  Add eggs and vanilla, mix until smooth. Add flour mixture slowly until well incorporated. Mix in sprinkles. 

Roll into 1 1/2 " balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool for 2-5 minutes before removing and placing on wire cooling rack. 

Tuesday's Tidings

1. We leave in two weeks for California. My anxiety for the long car ride is starting to set in. Eeek! My kids are thankfully very well behaved little girls, so I'm hoping that for two days of straight driving, they won't think we're punishing them to much.

2. Eden has been sick off and on and today, this morning, is the first day she's woken up acting like her old self! This momma is relieved. I missed her smiles and morning songs so much!

3. Gracie is almost done with school for the year. She has finished her Science and History book and later this week, Letters and Sounds will be done. Which only leaves books left: Language, Cursive Writing, and Arithmetic.

4. I think Grace is a glutton for punishment. She's requested to have Josh wake her up in the morning even after school is over. I remember what I was like at this age as a kid and all I wanted to do was sleep. I still just want to sleep. So what is wrong with my kid?!

5. I'm getting my hair done today. I haven't had it done since January. Isn't it amazing how getting your hair done can make you feel like a completely new woman?

6. Our weekend consisted of a lot of cooking! Seriously, we made so many delicious and healthy meals this weekend. And then Josh got back from working on a church project last night and brought home Taco Bell since our Shrimp Bruschetta didn't fill us up. We were doing so good with the healthy-ness :(

7. Josh made flat bread on Sunday. It was amazing and I give the boy props for playing with yeast. It can be a little stubborn bugger sometime.

8. Soooo, many of you have heard and seen pictures of my cat Noel. Noel is about 9 months old. Guess what that means...she went into heat on Friday! I swear, I thought something was seriously wrong with my cat until her howling at 4am Sunday morning woke Josh up and he brought the subject up to me! I know it's like mother nature and what not, but a female cat in heat is not only annoying to listen to, but really uncomfortable to observe. I wish I could of not only blindfolded my kids eyes, but mine as well.  Needless to say, as soon as we get back from California, that cat is getting fixed!

9. Noel is back to her old self again. Which means no more sleeping in the garage for her and we can actually sleep in peace at night again.

10. I got sunburned this weekend. We topped out at 82 degrees Sunday and Monday, and today it's like in the 60's and cloudy! What gives?

No Weekly Menu for the next 3 weeks! *Gasp*

The next few weeks are going to be a whirl as we finish up getting school done and doing some of our bigger Awana activities. Eden was under the weather last week, and over the weekend she's relapsed again and I think she is also fighting off some allergies. The Awana grand prix is this Thursday night and Josh is the tech guy who is setting up all the stuff. The girls got their cars carved yesterday and we need to paint them today or tomorrow. And who knows when we will actually have time to grocery shop. So we're all kind of running around like crazy headless chickens right now. And on top of that, we leave for California in two weeks. Since we're so busy and our meals are going to be a kind of think on our toes kind of thing, I'm not going to be doing a weekly menu for the next few weeks. I plan to be back at it when we get back from California, but I'm just not sure how much I will be able to follow through with our menu, even if I make one. For all I know, we could be eating Fried Egg Sandwiches every night for dinner for the next two weeks, lol!

I will still be scheduling posts for the rest of the weeks until I leave, but the week were gone, I won't be posting at all, EXCEPT for the Crazy Cooking Challenge recipe, which we've already made. My wonderful sister in law over at KitchenJoy, will be linking that up for me, since I will most likely be on the road. Yes, you heard me right. We are driving to California with two kids in the car. Please, Pray for me ;)

Have a great week everyone :)

Chels

Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas

One of my favorite food blog sites is the 5 Dollar Dinners blog. I've been following Erin since I saw her appear on Rachael Ray's talk show a few years ago. Several of the recipes I've blogged are hers and I've never been disappointed. We are a one income family. Josh works really hard so that I can stay home with our kids and I'm grateful for that. It's really hard sometimes to be a food blogger because when I'm reading through posts on blogs I follow, sometimes they will use ingredients that are a luxury item that maybe we can't afford. That's not their fault at all, some foods call for expensive ingredients like Saffron or Vanilla Beans, etc. There is a reason why those so called ingredients are expensive. Have you ever used a Vanilla Bean? Its flavor can't be matched!

So in order to afford fun things like that, I'll make meals that are less expensive a couple of times a week. That's where this site comes in. It's saved my rear many nights because a lot of the ingredients are cheap staples we already have on hand.

Enter, Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas. I saw the title of this dinner in my email and was so intrigued. I've seen the flavor combo of sweet potatoes and black beans together before, but never made into a Mexican meal. I already had most of the ingredients on hand, so I knew this would be a very pocketbook-friendly meal.

Let me just say this, the flavor in this meal is INSANE! I was shocked at how good this dinner was. The flavors just make a perfect marriage of deliciousness that keeps you longing for just one more enchilada. This recipe is such a keeper. You would be cray-cray (as my sister would say) to not try these yummy little bambinos. :)

Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas

Source: 5 dollar Dinners

2 medium sweet potatoes

1 can black beans

1/2 cup salsa

12-20 corn tortillas

1 can red enchilada sauce

2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese

Either steam bake the sweet potatoes about an hour before your going to start fixing dinner or stab them and put them in the microwave under the the baked potato option. If you don't have that option on your micro- about 8 minutes and 30 secs will do the job well.  Let the potatoes cool before peeling and and cutting. Cut them into bite size chunks and add them to a mixing bowl. 

To the sweet potatoes, add the drained and rinsed black beans and salsa. Gently combine. Spoon the sweet potato  mixture into the corn tortillas and roll them up.  Pour the enchilada sauce over the top and add the shredded cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, or until cheese has melted and sauce is bubbly.  Let cool slightly before serving. 

****TIP*** The corn tortillas are virtually impossible to roll when they are completely dry. It's best if you take a few minutes and steam them in the microwave or oven. To steam the tortillas, shake some water onto a plate, and layer the tortillas, sprinkling water in-between each tortilla. Cover with a paper towel for microwave (or you could make a foil packet and do it in the oven) and zap for about 25-30 secs. I suggest making a few extra tortillas in case some do rip. 

Turnover? Pizza Roll? Stromboli!

Okay, so we should just get this out of the way at the beginning. I am not referring to the Sicilian island of Stromboli, known for the "Strombolian eruption." I knew you would all be confused, so I wanted to make that clarification. This is the food, not the island. Actually, fun facts, the island of Stromboli is one of three active volcanos in Italy, and is technically erupting as we speak. Except we're not speaking. But, anyway, it's erupting, and has been for the last 2000 years...fascinating, right?

Yeah, anyway, not referring to that Stromboli. Unfortunately. Because it's actually very interesting. True, this dish and the volcano/island share the same name - obviously, there is some connection there - but they have nothing to do with each other, other than being connected to Italy in some way. Supposedly, Stromboli uninterestingly originated in the United States, of all places, in the fifties, of all times. Really quite the let down. Italian food is supposed to have history going back thousands of years, sustaining Roman legions and Greek poets, nourishing devious Cosa Nostra, and most certainly having nothing to do with the US. Nevertheless, this particular pseudo-Italian poser is quite tasty and well worth a few moments of your time. It could soon be a new family favorite, disappointing history and lack of connection to continuously erupting volcanos aside.

Stromboli is yet another excellent use for pizza dough (if you haven't mastered the dough yet, go back and check out Chels's awesome recipe). Pizza, of course, being the other. Right. Anyway. This particular incarnation of the dough can masquerade as an indulgent appetizer, or a full-fledged entree, depending on your need and number of guests. The possibilities for fillings are quite literally endless, with great candidates ranging from the ultra-traditional pepperoni (pictured) to the more adventurous artichoke hearts to the outrageous (peanut butter?). Once you have the basics down, go to town (rhyme!). Experiment with fillings, dips, and toppings. And, you know, maybe make up a new history for the food while you're at it. Your guests won't know the difference. If Homer composed the Iliad on spaghetti with browned butter and mizithra cheese, perhaps Hannibal fed his elephants Stromboli to coax them over the Alps...hey, it could have happened. It didn't. But it could have...

STROMBOLI
Source: Lauren's Latest

Ingredients

Makes two

1 lb pizza dough

1 cup pizza/pasta sauce

2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

7 oz package of pepperoni slices

1 beaten egg

dried or fresh parsley

Definitely start by getting your oven preheated, especially if you have one that takes a while, because you're preheating to 500 degrees. Cover a cookie sheet in parchment paper, and spread out the pizza dough in a rectangle nine or ten inches wide and 12+ inches long. Spread pizza sauce over most of the rectangle, leaving a few inches dry on the left long side of the rectangle. Cover the sauce in pepperoni. Cover the pepperoni with cheese (reserve a little cheese to sprinkle on top). Brush the dry strip of pizza dough with the egg. Fold the short sides of the pizza dough in roughly an inch, and then brush the newly exposed dry dough with egg as well. Roll the dough up from the long side covered with toppings to the dry side brushed with egg, ending with the dry side on the bottom of the roll. Brush the whole roll with the egg. Very carefully make diagonal cuts in the top of the roll with a sharp knife every two inches. Sprinkle the parsley and reserved cheese on top of the completed Stromboli. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until Stromboli is golden brown. Let cool for five minutes, and serve as you wish (whole or sliced for dipping). 

Tuesday's Tidings!

1. Soooo, last Wednesday, I stood in line for 2 hours ( in heels) to meet Lauren Conrad and get some of her books signed! It may or not be silly, but it was fun and she was very very sweet. I can now say, I've met one of my fave Fashion Icons!

2. Friday night, Josh and I went with my in-laws to go see the movie," October Baby." Such a great movie. It's a christian film that supports pro-life, but not in the way you would think. Basically, the main character finds out that she was a faulty abortion ( which is why she is struggling with so many physical and emotional issues) and she goes on a search to find her birth mother and to find some answers. What I loved about this movie was that it wasn't preachy. The message was the story and that's it. The acting, screenplay, and cinematography was incredible and so well done. If you have this movie playing in your area, I highly recommend you seeing it.

3. Grace learned about weed pulling this weekend and believe it or not, like me, she enjoys it :) Now I have someone to help me out :)

4. I despise cleaning bathrooms!

5. I CANNOT WAIT FOR SPRING!!!

6. I'm so lucky that I married my husband. The boy loves to cook and can't seem to cook anything in normal sizes.

Look at this plate of food from last night! I rest my case.

7. I changed all of our flannel sheets to our Spring and Summer Sheets last week. Every night, climbing into bed feels amazing. Have you changed out your sheets yet?

8. I'm almost done reading, "The Help." Incredible!!!

9.  Josh and I watched "Ocean's 11" the other night. The sad thing is we can quote that entire movie.

10. I'm ready for Spring and done with the rain. Just Saying...ya know for the Umpteeth time :)

Weekly Menu 4/16-4/22

We got another small burst of Spring this weekend. I even dawned one of my Spring dresses with sandals and it felt great! Granted, I brought my snuggie along in the car wherever we went, because I had goosebumps, but for the most part, Saturday was gorgeous. Sunday, we stopped by Home Depot and got some flowers and did a lot of weeding around the house. Josh did most of the replanting of things, while Grace and I dug up weeds.

But this week, the rain is supposed to return. Sometimes I don't really realize how much I miss the sun and good weather until I get a little taste of it, only to have it gone within a few hours. It's just plain cruel! My menu this week is unfortunately going to reflect the cold weather with some comforting meals.

Monday

Creamy White Chicken and Artichoke Lasagna with Garlic Bread

Tuesday

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas with chips and salsa on the side

Wednesday

Crockpot Split Pea Soup

Thursday

(Awana Night)

Tuna Patties with a side salad

Friday

Crockpot, Spaghetti Bolognese with garlic bread and green beans

Saturday

Blackened Chicken and Cilantro Lime Quinoa

Sunday

Pizza Night

Desserts and other goodies

Friendship Amish Bread

Homemade Croutons

Cake Batter Pudding Cookies

Penne Pasta with Sun-dried Tomato Cream Sauce

I don't remember to many details about my last experience getting my cavities filled. All I remember is that my dentist (at the time) did a horrible job and I felt everything. Needless to say, when I had to get my new set of cavities filled last week, I was acting like a gigantic baby who couldn't stop worrying. I was so scared and freaked out, that I ended up taking Benadryl to help me take the edge off. When I got to the dentist office, I was talking to one of the ladies who works there and I think she could tell I was nervous because she asked me how I was doing, I replied," I would rather be giving birth again." I was very serious too. She just laughed and said I would be fine. "Yeah, that's what the last guy said too!" By the time all the numbing meds and shots had taken effect, I had lost my nerves in the right side of my face. I started frantically texting my mom, who just said," It could be worse. It could be Cancer. It could be a root canal." Those are my mom's typical answers. No offense mom, they aren't reassuring.

The drilling went by quickly and though I was uncomfortable, I wasn't in any pain. Within 45 minutes my appointment was over and I was rescheduled for the end of the month to take care of the rest of my cavities.  Oh, Joy! I picked up my daughter from my parents who were watching her for me and we went home. And I quickly discovered that when I got home, I couldn't smile very well. My face sagged on it's right side when I would try and smile. And on top of that, my jaw was getting sore ( because I have TMJ) and my eyes were getting watery due to my nerves being messed up.

Because I'm a good sport, I'll show you my face with my severely screwed up nerves. Don't laugh.

Okay, you can laugh. I laugh when I look at this picture now too.

But still, at the moment...this was awful. I got this fear that my face would never return to normal again, and I suddenly had a new appreciation for those who suffer from strokes and bells palsy. But I was determined not to let my face ruin my day. I took my little Eden down to Canby ( a town about 15 minutes away) and we went to a Spring Bazaar. Granted, I had to wear sunglasses the whole time because my eye wouldn't stop watering, and I couldn't smile at anyone and I think everyone thought I was rude, but I did buy some Easter treats for Grace and Eden and these amazing toasted coconut marshmallows for me and my mom. ( Which by the way, we're in search of a recipe so we can make them and then eat them!)

By the time early evening rolled around, I had most of my face back to normal and though my face, jaw, and cheek were sore...I was determined to make dinner. This dinner. This pasta was the perfect thing to eat. It was soft and flavorful and so easy and fast to make that I didn't really mind cooking it, even though I was really tired and feeling slightly traumatized from my day. That's right, I AM that dramatic. Aren't you glad your not married to me? Look what you would have to put up with? Instead you get to read about my traumatizing day that thankfully ended up with delicious warm flavorful pasta!

Penne Pasta with Sun-dried Tomato Cream Sauce

Source: Very Best Baking

Yields: 7 servings

2 cups (8 oz.) dry penne pasta

8 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (about 1/3 cup)

1 can (12 fl. oz.) Nestle Carnation Evaporated Lowfat 2% milk

2 cups (8 oz. pkg) shredded Italian style cheese blend

1 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Prepare pasta according to package directions, adding sun-dried tomatoes to boiling pasta water for the last two minutes of cooking, drain.

Meanwhile, combine evaporated milk, cheese, and seasonings to a sauce pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until cheese is melted. Remove from heat. 

Add sauce to the  sun-dried tomatoes and pasta. Stir until combined. Serve immediately. 

Butterfinger Cookies

Josh started working at his new bank last week and as a way to kind of help him get adjusted and make new friends, I knew that come Monday morning, I would be sending him to work with a big plate of cookies to kind of help him win everyone over. But as it turns out, everyone was very excited to have Josh join the team and they hosted a big potluck to help welcome him. As part of my contribution to the potluck, I thought I would make these amazing cookies I saw My Baking Addiction post last week.

Though I knew these cookies were sure to satisfy Josh's peanut butter cravings, Butterfinger candy bars are not my thing;  I despise Butterfingers actually. But let me tell you, there is nothing to despise about these cookies! They taste just like the candy bar, but in the super adorable in a cookie form.

When Josh called me on his way home from work on Monday, had asked me to guess how many cookies were left. I had no idea...! Out of the 40 cookies that this batch made, there were only 5 left! I guess that means they were pretty darn good right? Now that I know his new bank has such good eaters, I have a whole new group of guinea pigs people to bake for when I want to try out new treats! SCORE!

Butterfinger Cookies

Source: My Baking Addiction

Yield: 40 cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup white sugar

2/3 cup lightly packed light brown sugar

2 egg whites

1 1/4 cups crunch peanut butter

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

5 (2.1 ounce) Butterfinger candy bars, chopped

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with Parchment Paper. 

In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or large bowl with electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add egg whites and beat well. Beat in the peanut butter and the vanilla, mixing until well combined. 

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in the chopped candy bars. 

Using a medium cookie scoop or large spoon, shape dough into balls and place on the prepared baking sheets. 

Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove cookies from oven and allow them to cool for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. 

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. 

Tuesdays Tidings

1. Spring Break is officially over and we started school back up today. I'm excited about it. Grace, however is not!

2. Easter was a gorgeous fun beautiful day! I bought the girls matching dresses. I try to get them to dress alike as much as possible. Thankfully, they don't have a problem with that.

3. We ended up hiding 48 Easter eggs for the girls to find. 1 dozen hard-boiled eggs, and the rest plastic. Why 48 and not 50? I have no idea. But the girls each found their 24 eggs :)

4. I love this shot of Eden. I'm not normally one to come up with fun artsy shots, but I thought this shot was pure genius!

5. I started reading "The Help" yesterday. So far it's amazing! My sister and I swapped books to read, she loaned me "The Help" and I loaned her " Wuthering Heights." To be perfectly honest I think I got the better book out of the two...considering it took me 10 years to actually get through "Wuthering Heights!" Yes, you heard me right, 10 years!!! I know, I have issues.

6. Now that Easter is over, we have an abundance of plastic Easter Eggs and that color basket hay scattered all over the house. I think I've finally found the last strand of hay and 5 minutes later there is 10 more somewhere else in the house. And since my cat thinks she's dog, she keeps finding the eggs. She got me up 3 times last night at 1am because she had found 3 different halves of the eggs and was throwing them down the stairs and they would clang against our wood pergo floor. Each time, I would grab an egg, she would give me a death stare.

7.

We grilled fish for dinner. Doesn't it look amazing? Oh it was, Amazing! Are you drooling? We fed 13 people with all these fishes!

8. Anyone else's allergies starting to flare up? I feel your pain. :(

9. Josh has taken over Grace's math class again! YAY!!!!!

10.

Our Cherry Blossom Tree has bloomed! Life is beautiful!

Weekly Menu 4/9-4/15

First of all, let me start out by wishing my sweet sister (in love) HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY!!!! We were fortunate to be able to celebrate her birthday yesterday because she was home from College for Easter, but today she heads back to school till she graduates in a few weeks!

Soo, how was everyone's Easter? Ours was probably the best Easter we've had in 9 years. I say 9 years because, it was 9 years ago that Josh and I announced we were engaged and the weather that day was so perfect and beautiful, much like yesterday was. We were all outside all day! The kids even got a little pink from the sun. It was a very perfect day to celebrate not only Jesus conquering the grave, but also a birthday and spending time with a lot of family. I'll be sharing pictures tomorrow on Tuesday's Tidings!

Monday

Ham and Cheese Omelet's with some fruit on the side

Tuesday

Tuna Patties with a salad

Wednesday

Taco's with ground turkey- I have a box of hard taco shells in my pantry and believe it or not, they've been calling my name, lol!

Thursday

Crockpot Bolognese Sauce with pasta and steamed broccoli

Friday

Chicken and Artichoke Lasagna

Saturday

The weather is saying its going to be nice, so I'm leaving today open for us to possibly grill something

Sunday

Pizza Night- 

one pizza I'm think will be Roasted Garlic Chicken Pesto Pizza

Pepperoni for the other

Desserts and other goodies

Homemade Croutons

Sweet Peach Cake

Jumbo Junior Mint Cookies

Blueberry-Lime Muffins: Crazy Cooking Challenge

Crazy Cooking Challenge #8

Blueberry Muffins

I was really excited when I found out that this month's challenge was blueberry muffins. My girls and I love muffins for breakfast, and blueberry muffins are one of their favorite kinds. And lucky for me, I knew the recipe I was going to use because I had saved it from awhile back and had just recently pinned it to my muffin board on Pinterest. 

This recipe comes from one of my very favorite foodie blogs, My Baking Addiction. I've been reading Jamie's blog for a long time, and not only are her pictures drool worthy, her recipes are not difficult either. 

When I think about the perfect breakfast, I picture a cup of coffee with my favorite flavored creamer and a muffin on the side. Since I'm not much of a breakfast person, a muffin tends to be just the perfect amount of food for me in the mornings, and nothing is cheerier than a bright and happy blueberry muffin...that is unless it's a blueberry muffin with a kiss of lime zest in it. 

Blueberry-Lime Muffins

Source: My Baking Addiction

Yield: 12 muffins

1 cup sugar

zest of two limes

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberry muffins

coarse sugar, optional ( I couldn't find any in my store)

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin pan with paper muffin liners.

In a small bowl, combine sugar and lime zest. Mix with clean fingertips until sugar is moistened and fragrant. Set aside. 

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. 

In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar until mixed together. Continue beating while slowly pouring in the vegetable oil. Add in vanilla. 

Stir dry ingredients in egg mixture alternately with sour cream. Gently fold in blueberries. Drop batter into prepared muffin cups and sprinkle with coarse sugar or if your like me, use granulated sugar. 

Bake in preheated oven for 20-22 minutes. 

(Super Simple) Artichoke Bruschetta

Sometimes the appetizer is more fun (and tastier) than the actual meal. And, personally, I consider that a triumph. I mean, hey, if you can do more with fewer ingredients and less time...isn't that a win? My problem is simply that I usually come up with really tasty appetizers and run out of energy and creativity before I get to the main course. Not good.

That's one of the many, many (many) wonderful things about this particular appetizer. Not only is it simple, relatively inexpensive, quick, and delectable - it's also versatile. Essentially, you can serve this as an appetizer before just about any Italian meal. That's right - all of your lasagnas, spaghettis, pizzas, raviolis, calzones, zitis, carbonaras, fettuccines, and strombolis have met their compliment.

Before we get in to the recipe proper, here are a couple of quick tips to keep in mind. One, the bread is an all-important component of this dish. Without the right bread, all is lost. If you have a bakery nearby, I strongly recommend a crusty, "artisan"-style Italian bread with roasted garlic baked into it. The loaf may set you back three or four dollars, as opposed to the dollar-fifty you can pick up a standard loaf of Italian bread for, but it's worth every penny. Secondly, if you can grill this, do so. It's very tasty under the broiler, and therefore it's absolutely a year-round favorite, but if you have a grill at your disposal and the conditions are acceptable (i.e., you can shovel through the snow and sleet to escape from your tornado shelter long enough to brave the impending hurricane and reach the life boat to sail through the flood waters and grab your protective gear to keep you safe from the storm of locusts long enough to get these on and off the grilling surface), use the grill. On to the recipe.

Artichoke Bruschetta

Source: Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

6.5 once jar of marinated artichoke hearts

1/2 cup of Romano cheese (or a blend of Romano/Parmesan), grated

5 tablespoons of mayonnaise

loaf of crusty bread, cut into thick (half inch) slices

Drain and chop the artichoke hearts. Put in small bowl and add mayonnaise and cheese. Stir together until well-mixed. Spread mixture atop slices of bread. Broil or grill for 2-3 minutes, or until cheese is slightly browned and bubbly in mixture. Serve immediately.  Serves 8

Easter Round Up

I'm still putting together a menu for our Easter dinner Sunday night, and since I'm still trying to decide what I'm going to make, I'm sure some of you are all in the same boat too. So I thought I would put together a little bit of a round up of treats for you to choose from in case you've been volunteered to bring a dessert or host a breakfast. Sound good?

Blueberry Muffins with an Orange Glaze

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce

Sausage Egg Casserole

Spice Pear Sour Cream Bundt Cake

Orange Yogurt Loaf Cake

Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake

Resurrection Cookies

White Ricotta Tart

Huckleberry Pie

That's a lot of desserts! Eh, I'm more of a dessert person anyways. LOL, I hope this helps you a bit on your quest in finalizing an Easter menu.  Happy Easter Everyone!!!

Chicken with Mustard Gravy

One of the things I love about sometimes making out my weekly menu's is that I can try all the new recipes I want. But sometimes, when I'm trying to come up with meals to satisfy my family with, it's great to lean on some of your old stand-by favorites. This dinner, happens to be one of them.

I stumbled across this chicken recipe years ago in one of my Taste of Home magazines and fell in love. It's simple, it's easy, and full of flavor! A simple mustard gravy that goes over a deliciously moist chicken breast that's been cooked in butter. Could there be anything more divine? Anything more satisfying? I think not!

This chicken dish doesn't require a ton of fuss or fancy ingredients; just normal ingredients that are already found among your fridge/pantry staples. Since these are ingredients you already should have, then you don't have an excuse on why you can't make this dish. And since your going to make this dish, just relish the fact that your going to be biting off a succulent bite of chicken bathed in gravy!

Chicken with Mustard Gravy

Source: Taste of Home

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 tsp salt, divided

1/4 tsp black pepper, divided

2 TB butter

4 tsp honey mustard

1 TB milk

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried parsley

1/2 cup sour cream

Rub chicken with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp black pepper. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook chicken in butter for 6-8 minutes on each side until cooked through and juices run clear. Remove and keep warm

In the same skillet, combine the mustard, milk, basil, parsley, and remaining salt and pepper. Cook and stir over low heat until heated through. Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream. Serve over chicken.

Tuesday's Tidings!

1) Today is a very bittersweet day. I'm getting cavities filled today, but the sweet part is Grace is coming home!!!

2) Remember the days when you were a kid and you would wake up on Saturday mornings and watch Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies???

This brings me back to the good ol days!

3) Our cherry tree in our backyard has finally blossomed. Does that mean Spring is finally here?

4) Josh is a saint- he bought me all the necessary ingredients for a coupon binder! Do you know how happy this makes me? Probably a lot happier than it really should! :)

5) Josh has a tendency to want to watch confusing movies with me. I always sit there and think to myself," I never learned this in school" and I end up feeling pretty dumb. But finally, I wasn't the only one. We watched Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy this weekend and not only did Josh keep falling asleep on it, he was as equally confused with the plot as I was! SUCCESS!!

6) Whether Oregon recognizes that it's Spring or not, my body knows it's Spring. LET THE ALLERGY BATTLE BEGIN!

7) So you all know how I take part in the Crazy Cooking Challenge every month. We just found out what next month's challenge is and Josh and I got so excited, we've already made our meal and I think Josh is going to blog it! One reason we've already completed May's challenge is we'll be gone around the time the post goes up, so I wanted to have it scheduled and done, lol!

8) Eden is obsessed with Shrimp. We took her to Olive Garden the other night and she ordered pasta with shrimp. She picked out all the shrimps and then went looking for more on Josh's plate. I love that my 3yr old love seafood!

9) We recently got a herb container for kitchen counter and so far we've only filled it with Oregano- which of course the cat will not stay out of. She just stands there and inhales the aroma and tries to nibble on the leaves. I wish I had a picture to show you.

10) Have I mentioned that I hate getting cavities filled? I'm going to my appointment today with Benadryl in my system and hoping for laughing gas, lol! Wish me luck!

Weekly Menu 4/2-4/8

Happy Easter Week! I can't believe it's already that time of year again. What are your plans for Easter this year? I'm having Josh's family over to our house this year. Josh and I thought it would be nice to give his parents a break since they host it every year and I thought the girls would enjoy searching for eggs in their own backyard.

Gracie comes home from Washington tomorrow. I can't wait! She's been having a wonderful time with family, but I'm missing her. I think the first trip away from home for the year is always the hardest on me. She normally goes camping a lot during the summers with her grandparents, but it's always that first trip that I have a hard time adjusting too. The good news about that is, when it's time for her to go on her next trip, I should be fine, lol!

Monday

We're getting Subway tonight. We're picking up his sister from the airport tonight and I want to go to the gym, so easy dinner it is, plus we have a gift card :)

Tuesday

Grace requested Spaghetti Carbonara for dinner. That's assuming that she is home in time for dinner though. Garlic bread will be served on the side. 

Wednesday

Slow-Cooker Chicken and Butternut Squash with a baked potato and maybe green beans.

Thursday

Penne Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce and a side salad

Friday

Chicken with Peanut Sauce served over rice and veggies

Saturday

Homemade Pizza

Sunday

Easter Dinner- I think we're fixing fish :)

Desserts and other treats:

Butterfinger Cookies- For Josh's potluck at his bank

Sweet Peach Cake- For Grace's homecoming

An Easter Cookie treat

Carrot Cake for Easter