A Brand New Week with a Few New Recipes!

Happy Monday, All!

It’s morning here, and I’m about to start work in about ten minutes.  It’s been a busy morning already, but that’s ok. I’ve gotten a good list accomplished so far.  Somehow those thin pen lines through a long list of to-do’s gives fatigue energy, beauty to my make-upless face, and class to my worn-too-many-times jeans and overused turquoise fleece.

I was really blessed by this past weekend.  Adam had Friday off, which never happens, and it was neat to actually spend a whole day home together.  We didn’t run off to any events/meetings.  We simply spent time together.  I had work still, so that was sorta a bummer, but in the end, it allowed for him to get some extra, much-needed rest and some around-the-house work done without distraction…… ok…well….. I did maybe talk to him about things as I worked…. and maybe, just maybe we watched a few tv shows on Hulu together. 🙂 Hey, it was his day off, so why  not?

On Saturday, we both had to work, and I had errands to run, so it was back to the good ol’ busy days.  Mom and Dad Bowman came over in the evening to hang out and have a smoothie, though, so that was fun.  It’s amazing to Adam and I that we can live so close to Mom and Dad and hardly see each other!  Life is so busy!

Pastor Maskell is going through a series on angels on Sunday mornings. It’s been so neat. The last time I heard someone talk on angelology was in Theology II class at Master’s, so this has been a cool discussion/message topic. He’s got some great points, and it’s been neat discussing it with Adam afterwards.  On Sunday evenings, we’ve been going through Biblical Soul Care for the Church videos by Garrett Higbee of the nouthetic counseling movement. It’s so applicable to our lives right now.  Yesterday’s lesson was on counseling to the heart of anger.  Wow, great stuff!

On a completely different topic, Adam took my first pies to the mill today.  The peanut butter pie was sold before it hit the market. I’ll hear at lunch how the apple and blueberry pies do.  I have another apple pie in the fridge to send down, and I plan to try my hand at a banana creme, another peanut butter pie (of course), and maybe a pumpkin (easy!) or cheesecake.

Last Thursday, I experimented with a new recipe. Well, I guess there wasn’t really a recipe, but I had fun putting together something that I will most-definitely make again: Inside-Out Chicken Parmesan. 🙂 Check out the recipe below!

I have a Mary Kay party tonight. This should be fun.  I think even nicer than that is the motivation it’s been to get our office finished and completely set up, the curtains hung in the living room/kitchen area, and the diningroom table cleaned off and organized.  Sigh…it’s beautiful now….well…. the office is still not complete, but it seems every time we plan on finishing it, something else/more important comes up.  Oh, well.

I do need to organize though, since I’m officially starting my Pampered Chef business and will need the office space.  I got my kit all organized (Adam did it for me) and now I need to go through the paperwork, send out some catalogs to some out-of-towners, and make some official plans for the upcoming shows I’ll be hosting here as well as putting on for three to four other people in November. 🙂 I’m so excited!!  I’m a little nervous to be honest.  I’m not at all nervous about the party aspect of it. I’m just not a paperwork person.  Oh, well. I guess it’s time to learn. 🙂

I’m dying to tell you more about food. 😀  I currently have three meals frozen for later dates (I LOVE freezing meals for later!  What time-saver!) and two meals prepping for early this week (meat marinating — chicken marinating for Lemon Pepper Chicken and some other chicken marinating in some mustard and spices for Southwestern Chicken).  Tonight we’re having chicken and broccoli alfredo.  Yes, it’s a new recipe, so I’ll let you know how it goes.  I pre-cooked the broccoli so it’s not too crunchy within the alfredo and the chicken is all cooked (I did a crockpot chicken yesterday –recipe below– so I’m using leftovers. ).  Yum yum!

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Slow-Cooked Chicken

From my kitchen! 🙂

1 whole chicken

*For this recipe, I normally buy the 79¢/lb. whole chicken at the grocery store.

2-4 quartered onions, depending on the size

Spices sprinkled on top

*I use chili powder, Italian seasoning, garlic, salt, lots of black pepper, red pepper, poultry seasoning, and Lawry’s Seasoned Salt.  That might seem like a lot, but it soaks into the chicken and helps give it flavor.

Approx. 1 cup chicken stock (I use the gluten-free boxed version)

Turn on high and slow-cook for  5-6 hours.  (The longer you cook it, the more moist and tender it is.)

*** Use leftovers for:

quesadillas

chicken salad

chicken alfredo

enchiladas

stir-fry

pot-pie

It’s a super-cheap way to get meat for multiple meals! 🙂

Here’s our dessert for tonight! 🙂

Impossibly Easy French Apple Pie/Cake

(Taken and modified from Bettycrocker.com)

3 cups, sliced and peeled apples

1 tsp. cinnamon (I never measure spices!)

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 c. Pamela’s pancake/baking mix (They called for Bisquick®)

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. milk

2 Tbsp. butter, softened or melted

3 eggs

Mix together the apples and spices.  Pour in bottom of greased pie plate.  Top with remaining ingredients.

Then, mix together the following ingredients and crumble over pie.

1/4 c. Bisquick (again, I used Pamela’s)

3 Tbsp. butter

1/4 c. brown sugar, packed

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Inside-Out Chicken Parmesan

3 skinless chicken breasts

1/2 c. Bisquick (I used the gluten-free version)

2 eggs (or more as needed)

1/2 c. bread crumbs (I use the Ogran gluten-free crumbs.  Avoid the gluten-free panko crumbs.)

spaghetti sauce

2 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 c. pepperoni slices

If you’ve ever made chicken cordon bleu, then you can save yourself from reading this how-to by just making this recipe just like you would cordon bleu. If not, read on. 🙂

Slice through each chicken breast lengthwise to make a thin filet.  Open and cover each chicken breast with loose plastic wrap on both sides. Pound down to 1/4-1/2 inch thick.  Believe it or not, I don’t have a normal rolling pin or something kitchen-intended to do this, so I just used Adam’s hammer….shhhh…. 🙂

Once pounded, cover one side of the chicken with mozzarella cheese and pepperoni.  Roll up and use toothpicks to hold together.  Cover in the Bisquick, then wet in the egg, and cover with bread crumbs.  Repeat with remaining chicken.

Cook in greased pan for approx. 35 minutes.  I then served it with spaghetti and parmesan cheese. 🙂  Adam’s first word was “Fantastic.” I think I can deal with that review! 🙂

Enjoy!

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**photo of slow-cooked chicken courtesy of EatatHomeCooks.com**