Chicken Florentine

There hasn’t been much to blog about lately, as you can tell. Things, for the most part, have been going smoothly. I did want to share this recipe with you because….well…..it was so yummy!!! I love recipes and I love trying new things. This one is definitely a keeper. Stephen said he loved the spinach part so much he could have gone without the chicken!

Chicken Florentine
~serves 4

3/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in half
1/2 cup green onion, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
1 ten-ounce package frozen chipped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Mix the breadcrumbs and Parmesan. Dip the chicken breasts in the breadcrumbs and cheese mixture to coat lightly. (Save leftover breadcrumb mixture.) Arrange in a baking dish.
3. In a saucepan, cook the onion in olive oil until tender. Blend in the flour and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the chicken stock all at once. Cook, stirring, until thick and bubbly. Stir in the spinach.
4. Spoon the spinach mixture over the chicken and sprinkle with the rest of the breadcrumb mixture.
5. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, or until done.

 

1 serving = 1 breast half
284 Calories

This recipe was found in the book “Cooking with Joy” by Joy Bauer.

Ima princess!

Last week, Emily’s favorite friends came over to play. They had a blast while the mommies had a good time visiting and catching up. A good time was had by all!

Among their many activities, they played dress up. Of course, Emily had to be a princess! The kids all looked so cute- I had to share a few pictures. Even Slade got into the action. I am sure his Daddy must be proud! 😉

Emily’s favorite song

Emily is such a funny little girl. She has her own taste in clothes, music, etc and isn’t afraid to let you know.

She LOVES music as you can tell. She listens to the radio with me all the time (24/7 kids music would send me over the edge) and has picked up on some songs and found her favorite. The other day we were driving home from the library when Lady Gaga’s Poker Face came on. I swear only 30 seconds had played, no lyrics yet, and she said “NO Poker Face!!! Change the station!!!!” I was taken aback!

Her favorite song, hands down, is by Katy Perry. I think it’s because I changed the lyrics one day and inserted her name in place of “a girl”. Now she makes me sing it with her name in it. When it comes on the radio, she says “It’s my song!!!! Turn it up!”

Not what you would expect from a 2 year old, huh?

Blueberry Buckle Muffins

Oh, so yummy!!!!! Emily and I really enjoyed making these muffins. They were even more enjoyable when you ate them! I hope you think so too!

Topped with a cinnamon-sugar crumb, these kid-friendly muffins–bursting with blueberries–taste like mini coffee cakes.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
	Batter
	1/4 cup butter, room temperature
	3/4 cup sugar
	2 eggs
	1/2 cup milk
	1 teaspoon vanilla extract
	2 cups all-purpose flour
	2 teaspoons baking powder
	1/4 teaspoon salt
	2 cups blueberries, stemmed and rinsed
	Topping
	1/3 cup sugar
	1/2 cup all-purpose flour
	1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
	1/4 cup butter, room temperature

1. Heat the oven to 350° and line a 12-cup muffin tin with bake cups. In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter and the sugar. Beat in the eggs, then the milk and vanilla extract.

2.Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium-size mixing bowl. Pour the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and stir well, being careful not to overmix the batter. Use a spatula to fold in the berries. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin, filling each cup about three-quarters full.

3. To make the crumb topping, stir together the sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a small mixing bowl. Using your fingers, work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly. Your child can then sprinkle the topping over each muffin.

4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until they are lightly brown and a knife inserted in the middle of one comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 15 to 30 minutes before serving–if you can wait. Makes 12.

****The only thing I did different was I used 1/2 all purpose flour and 1/2 whole wheat flour. It made more than 12 muffins for me. 15 I think.

Yummy goodness!

World Famous Clydesdales

I would imagine everyone knows about Clydesdales. Watch the Super Bowl and you will be guaranteed to see a Budweiser commercial featuring the famous horses. They were involved on this year’s All-Star Game as well.

Our town is celebrating their 200th anniversary. This year has been full of different types of celebrations. At last minute, they were able to secure a visit from the Clydesdales. They were to march down Main Street and deliver beer to establishments that sold their product.

We headed down after dinner. It was awesome! They were dressed in their gear and pulling the old school wagon. You could get as close as you wanted to. They were majestic and beautiful! Emily was in love. She even brought Sear, her Clydesdale from Grant’s Farm, so he could say hi to his “brothers”.

A wonderful night made even better with a stop to Riverside Sweets for some ice cream. Can’t get much better than that!

Fun in the sun with friends

Last week we were able to take advantage of the nice weather with a trip to the pool. It was a beautiful day and not too busy when we first got there. Emily had a blast with her friends Chase and Slade. I enjoyed the girl time as well! Thanks Julie!

 

Big changes

There are some big changes going on in the J household! We are expecting our SECOND child!!!!!!!!!

I know to many it doesn’t seem like a super huge deal but it is to us. We always truly believed that Emily was going to be an only child. We had heard stories and known people who have gotten pregnant naturally after IVF (we like to call them “freebies”) but never in a million years imagined that it would happen to us. Especially considering our circumstances behind our IVF.

Imagine our surprise when the pregnancy test showed 2 lines!!! It was a fluke that I had taken it anyway. I was participating in the Biggest Loser Challenge, eating well, dropping weight and being active. Stephen made me test based on a morning I told him that I felt sick and I had only eaten plain toast for breakfast. It’s a good thing he was adamant about that! I was 6+ weeks along at that point! I would have NEVER known I was pregnant honestly. Probably still wouldn’t to this day. Missing a period is not uncommon for me so that wouldn’t have been a tip off.

I am now 13 weeks today. Dealing with some bleeding issues and a low lying placenta but feeling great overall. I have seen my little one more times than most people have by this point and will get another picture in 3 more weeks. Hearing the heartbeat for the first time earlier this week was AMAZING and very reassuring. Our official due date is January 22, 2010.

God is truly amazing. He must have planned for Emily to grow up with a sibling. Despite what we might have believed, He had other plans. I am so thankful to be blessed not once, but twice. I don’t know what I have done to deserve these blessings but I am truly thankful. I hope to be the best mommy I can be to these two little souls that God has entrusted into my care.

So, I guess this will be the first entry in a long line of “pregnancy” posts!

Mommy and Emily day

Last week, I decided that a zoo trip was in order since the weather was still nice. Emily was a more than willing participant as she loves the zoo and must see the elephants every time we go. It was just the two of us. I know it might sound dumb, but it was the first time we have gone to the zoo alone. We had a blast! We were there from about 9:20 until about noon. Emily WALKED the entire time. We left the stroller in the car and went on our way. We had a deal. If she got tired of walking or ran away, we had to get the stroller. She did WONDERFUL! I was highly impressed, especially since she is still only 2 1/2. I was so proud of her!

The first thing we did when we got there was to check out the sting ray exhibit. Good thing we did that first because it was packed later in the afternoon! Emily didn’t want to pet a sting ray but she did like sticking her hand in the water! I petted a few of them. It was really neat!

We then did our circuit of elephants, hippos, carousel, etc. We even took a ride on the train! (Love being zoo members!) It was great! The weather was perfect and the zoo just started getting busy as we were leaving. Perfect timing for a perfect day!

July 4th weekend fun!

I hope everyone enjoyed their long (hopefully) holiday weekend! We live in a great, wonderful country where we get to enjoy numerous freedoms!

Friday night we headed over to Riverfest to check out the carnival, music and food. We all had so much fun!!! Emily rode on a cool ride all by herself, one with daddy, the carousel with Mommy and the kiddie coaster with Daddy. I was very impressed with her riding the kiddie coaster! She LOVED it!

Remember when we were kids? The rides were so AWESOME and you never thought about safety?? You know you are getting old when you say things like “That kind of freaks me out that this ride is so close to the other ride” and “I hope the bolts are tight enough on that thing”. Oh to be young and stupid again!!! I swear I lose several years off of my life when Emily gets on a carnival ride!

After the rides, we played the duck pond. Emily “won” a prize. She picked out a unicorn. Of course it’s PINK! She was in love!!!! She named it “pony”. Every original! We then headed out to find some yummy food for dinner. We then ate until our bellies could hold no more! We had so much fun!

Unfortunately, mother nature had other plans for Saturday. It rained…….almost all day. Ruined our plans for the parade in the morning and our plans to hit some of the booths at the festival and get cotton candy. We thought we were going to get the fireworks in but started getting rained on. Luckily, we were on the church parking lot so we didn’t have far to run in the pouring rain. Emily was disappointed but got to see some neighboring fireworks going off while we were waiting, before the rain.

I can’t believe how big my little girl is getting! It was amazing to see all of the stuff that she can do now! We all had a wonderful 4th weekend!

“Pony”

Waiting for fireworks on the 4th

All by herself

I hear that a lot. “All by myself”. Emily is very independent (yay!) and loves doing things by herself, for herself. Great when you are not in a hurry!

Today I had to call daddy because Emily got herself dressed “all by herself”. I had laid some clothes out for her to change into after our shower but she decided that she didn’t want to wear what I picked out so she got into her closet and chose her own clothes. A Dora shirt and jean shorts. The only thing she wore that I had out was her underwear and socks. She was SO proud!

She build a tower “all by herself” the other night as well. She brought me the camera to take a picture of it. This was not the final product. I didn’t get a picture of that one. It was as tall as she is!!!