Wordless Wednesday {artistic rendering}

Someone around here is excited about

other progress we've made in our journey to mei-mei.

And that's all I'm gonna say about that.

For now.

Come back later. For more.

For more Wordless Wednesday fun,

head over to 5 Minutes for Mom.

I Just Can't Leave It Alone...

I found the below recipe inside the box of my generic low-fat cream cheese last month. I've been just waiting for the right time to make it. Frankly, to be home for a morning long enough to play around with it.

Normally, when I find a new recipe, I try to make it exactly as written for that first time. I might jot notes in the margins or think out loud while I'm cooking about the possibilities for tweaking it, but I really try to just follow the recipe. The first time.

However, when I saw this one, I knew immediately that I just wouldn't be able to do that. It's a simple, straight-forward pasta dish and when I read it, I could all but hear it BEGGING me for some creative touches. Some panache. Some wow factor changes. Really. I heard the little white cut-out card whispering to me.

It's a sickness. I know. Leave me alone with my voices, thankyouverymuch.

I canNOT wait for dinner, now. The smells in here are making me swoon. The texture of this dish and the look of it, even just waiting to go into the oven for tonight's feast is making my fingers itch. I want to pick at the tender pasta and sample the chicken smothered in sauce. I can't stand it.  And as of this writing, I have about 6 hours of this torture to go.

I'll share the bare-bones original recipe with you here, then I'll give you all my tweaks and tricks that have produced this masterpiece sitting on my counter.  I'll add more pictures later, to show you the bubbly yummy goodness, after it gets topped with these babies and cooked to perfection.

Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake
1 1/2 c. multi-grain penne pasta, uncooked
1 pkg. (9 oz.) fresh spinach leaves
1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
1 tsp. basil
1 jar (14.5 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained
2 oz. low-fat cream cheese, cubed
1 c. shredded mozzarella
2 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 375. Cook pasta as directed, adding spinach leaves to the pasta water at the very last minute.

While pasta is cooking, cook and stir chicken and basil in a large non-stick skillet on med-high for 3 minutes. Add spaghetti sauce and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Stir in low-fat cream cheese.

Drain pasta and return to sauce pan. Stir in chicken and sauce mixture and add 1/2 c. of mozzarella. Pour all of it into a lightly sprayed 9x9 baking dish.

Bake 20 minutes and sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake another 3 minutes till cheese is melted.  Makes 4 servings.

What I did:

• I doubled everything, of course, in my handy-dandy 9x13 P@mpered Chef stoneware baking dish. LOVE my PC stoneware, incidentally!
• I used almost 4 c. total of uncooked pasta (to make up for the added water in the spinach - see below).
• Once cooked and drained, I poured the pasta into a sprayed 9x13 stoneware pan.
• I grilled the chicken breasts low and slow on the outside grill (it was a gorgeous sunny morning and I wanted the flavor that only grilling can produce.). I didn't add it to to the sauce either. Once the chicken was cooked, I chopped it up and layered it all over the pasta in the 9x13.

For the sauce, I did this:

• I omitted the basil, as my sauce was already quite flavorful.
• I used more than 2 oz. of cream cheese - I was trying to use all the left-overs from another recipe.
• I added two little triangles of Laughing Cow Garlic and Herb spreadable cheese, as they needed to be used up. (Hey, I'm frugal, what can I say?!)
• I added extra parmesan to the sauce - probably about 1/4 c. (I am 50% Sicilian, after all!)
• I added about 3/4-1 c. of white wine. (See above note about my Sicilian roots.)
• I used a box of frozen chopped spinach, and just put it right in the sauce mixture from the start to thaw it and retain the nutrition in the mix.
• Just before I took it off the stove, I added 1 c. of mozzarella and about 1/2 c. of an Italian blend of shredded cheese left from another recipe. (Frugal. Sicilian. Cheese Lover. Whatever.)
• When it all came to a boil and simmered for a while (I lost track of time while I was breaking up fights over Little People weddings at the Little People zoo.), I poured the sauce over the pasta and chicken in the 9x13 and gently mixed it all up.

It's in the oven now, set on time delayed baking and waiting to be topped by yet more cheese. Don't worry, my heart will be fine. All my mozz is of the part-skim variety. I promise.

I can guarantee, when this baby makes it to the table, I will NOT be the only one who can't leave it alone. If heaven has a smell, it is this dish. Really.

Mmmmmm, just look at this beautiful, cheesey,

creamy, wine-y goodness.

Experimenting in the Kitchen

Ooooh, I'm going a little stir-crazy here at the Gang's house. Runny noses, cold, rainy, windy days (sometimes all at once!) and (gasp!) boring menu plans. It happens about this time every year. And you, my dear readers, get the benefit of my antsiness. In the form of a new-to-me (and now maybe to you!) recipe.

Bear with me, this one came to me as I was boppin' in the kitchen to old 70's tunes.

"I Woke Up In Love This Morning" quickly followed by "I Can See Clearly Now" then "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" and some awesome CCR tune I can't remember the name of.... Seriously, it was one  great tune after another in here while I was whipping this baby together. 

Heh. That might explain the wine.

Then again, it might not.

Creamy Apricot Porkchops
4 bone-in porkchops
1 package stuffing mix, prepared as directed and set aside
3/4 c. apricot preserves
          (or jam, as long as it's got pieces of apricot in it)
3/4 c. light sour cream
3/4 to 1 c. white wine
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp. butter, melted

Spray a 9x13 baking dish lightly with baking spray and place porkchops in it so they are all flat and not layering over each other.

In a bowl, whisk together the apricot preserves, sour cream, white wine, and garlic powder till well blended. Pour over the pork chops. Bake uncovered for 1 hour at 300. If cream sauce starts get too brown, cover with foil for remaining hour.

Remove 9x13 dish from oven and turn heat up to 400. Across the top of the cream sauce covered pork chops, dollop the prepared stuffing mix as evenly as you can without burning yourself.

Be careful not to drop the stuffing mix from up too high - the splatter is ouchy.  Drizzle the whole dish with the melted butter and return to hot oven. Allow to brown and crisp up lightly.

It smelled amazing in here while it was cooking up - and who doesn't love pork and apricot together? Especially when it's cooked low and slow like this. Be sure to let me know if you try it and what changes you and your gang make to the dish. Enjoy!

Happy Year of the Dragon!

I am all out of whack this week! In my efforts to be more consistent at posting here (as much for me as for you, my three dear readers!), I've been making use of the scheduling device that blogger offers. However, when I wrote up yesterday's post about Dr. D's amazing box, I completely forgot that I'd made a mental note to myself to post it on Tuesday so that I could post about the Chinese New Year on Monday.

Oy. That's what happens when I rely on mental notes. So now I'm making a mental note to use paper and pen for all future notes.

Yeah. Ummmmmm. Anyway. So.

Happy Chinese New Year,

one and all!

The Year of the Dragon is considered to be the luckiest of all the years of the zodiac cycle and so many Chinese people across the world are anticipating this to be a year of great change and prosperity.  We at the Gang's house are anticipating our own big changes and looking forward to God's continued blessing upon our home. We pray that this year brings the same to you!

We celebrated together last night with a yummy family dinner (a rarity these last few weeks, in that all 7 of us were at the table together. For the same meal. At the same time. Wow, I already feel lucky just for that!) of Plum Good Chicken Thighs over brown rice, dumplings from our favorite little Chinese restaurant, and a big garden salad. We're also really looking forward to being with some of our agency family on Saturday for another food-focused celebration!  Mmmmmmm, I love festivities partnered with good food and family. Nothing better, in my book.

During our dinner prayer, The Boss was thanking the Lord for the beauty of China, for Chinese food, for the people of China, and for the gift from China of our Li'l Empress.  Even before his mouth formed the final "n" of "Amen," Li'l Empress looked up and said, "Daddy, I'm from Chwina!"  We thought that was funny, until she proceeded to give him her whole "brain dump" on her version of her life story so far... Does anyone else's kids do that? ONE thought, ONE word, and it triggers a whole monologue of everything she knows related to her, to China, to Chinese food, to it all. Seriously, it went something like this:

"I was borned in Chwina! And my China mommy fed me bottles! And den Mommy and Daddy flew aaaaalll da way crost the ocean in a big plane to come and get me! {breath!}And my Daddy fed me bottles! And I didn't have any hair! And den I comed home and flew on da big plane with my Mommy and my Daddy and I comed home! And Dr. D teached me how to walk! And I didn't have any hair! And I slept in a crib in my green and pink room and my Mommy rocked me to sleep! And I didn't have any hair."

Yeah. Just like that. Really. My ears hurt just remembering it.  No wonder I was in bed by 9:05 p.m.

Sooooo... How did you celebrate with your gang?

It's Not Just a Box

For weeks now, we've been hearing an almost nightly update on Dr. D's box. The box that he has been making in his Manufacturing class at school.

Think updated version of our old shop class in high school.

Add some high-tech tools and way-cool power equipment...

Yeah, I know. A workshop full of power tools and teen boys. Ugh.

It's gotten to be a bit of a joke, in that the moment conversation lulls in the slightest, Dr. D proceeds to share all the minute details of the progress he made that day on this box. Sometimes we even pause our other conversations just to see if he'll pick up the thread of that conversation again, long after we've moved on from it as the main topic.  We like to mess with each other that way.

I must admit that we were not taking him nearly as seriously as we ought to have been. I mean, we didn't really know we should be taking him more seriously, given that he kept saying, "It's not that big a deal, it's just a box" every time we questioned his progress reports or asked for a description as to what kind of box it would be.  He was more focused on telling us the funny and risky pranks some of his classmates would pull and the very laid-back responses the teacher would have to said boy behavior.

There is no way I would EVER be able to be a shop teacher

in a class full of high school boys. Sheesh, that man must have nerves of steel!

But it has been fun to hear how excited he was about the things he's been learning and how much he has enjoyed creating something with his own hands. Still, we were BLOWN.AWAY. when he walked in Thursday night bearing this beautiful piece of workmanship.

Routed raised panel top.

Beautiful cuts and joints.

The top opens to reveal a removable shallow tray.

Inside the box, the slats that hold the shallow tray

in place are also removable. 

Dr. D was poking a bit of fun at me as I was "ooooohing" and "aaaaahing" over his craftsmanship. I kept hitting his arm and saying "This is NOT just a box!"

As I was running my hands over it and listening again to all the details of skills he learned on the project, I just kept thinking of my grandfather. A master carpenter, my grandfather made many beautiful things like this over his lifetime. I have vivid memories of the smells and the sounds of his workroom in their basement in Methuen, listening to him singing while he worked (he favored great Italian tenors!) and seeing his handiwork all over their home and ours.

That's when Dr. D REALLY poked fun at me.... "Are you crying, Mom?"

He asks me this question often.

I have a tendency toward leaky eyes when I'm really happy.

Or proud. Or excited.....

"Yes, Dr. D. I am. Your great-grandfather would love this box. Smelling it and hearing you talk about the joints and the router and the planer reminds me of him. He was a great carpenter and a great man. He would love this box. He would be so proud of you right now."

It is not just a box.

Mom, this post is for you.

Grandpa would be so proud, wouldn't he?

A Little Reminiscing

We were talking the other night about our upcoming series of home-study meetings, explaining to the kids what the "big family meeting" might look like and what questions might come up. It led to a conversation about how much each kid has grown and changed since our first home-study back in August of 2006. Yes, I said 2006. That led to a conversation about life when it was just Momma hangin' out with Shaggy and Dr. D.

Only, they weren't Shaggy or Dr. D back then.

They were my sweet, funny, silly little boys

who never once warned me
that they were gonna grow up

and become MEN, for crying out loud.

But aaaaaanywaaaaaay, Baby BlueEyes loves hearing stories of the stuff those two got into so I told one of my favorite stories....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One day, The Boss was hanging out with the two boys in our little duplex in town. They were talking about different words for multiple objects vs. words for singular objects. It got to be a bit of a word game, each boy trying to spit out the answer before his brother could.

The Boss: "What's a big group of birds called?"

One of them piped up, "That's a flock!"

"Well, then, what's a big bunch of cows called?"

"It's a herd, Daddy!"

It went on and on. Till The Boss got a little tricky with his boys.

"Okay. So let me ask you this. . . What is a great big group of people called?"

At the very same moment, with no hesitation, both boys yelled out their answers triumphantly.

Shaggy shouted, "IT'S A PARTY!!!!!"

And Dr. D yelled, "IT'S A FAMILY!!!!"

How cute is that?!

The strange thing is, those particular answers were very true of their personalities for quite a long time. The stranger thing is that, essentially, I think they have flip-flopped since they became teens. It's been one of those parenting conundrums for me.... One of those things that keeps me guessing. It might just be their way of keeping The Boss and I from being too assured of our methodology with this gang.  Which, I'm fairly certain, isn't a bad thing.

Forgetting to warn me that they would be growing up into MEN? Well, I would have liked to be in on that decision for sure. I'm pretty sure I would have voted for an extension on the deal.

Have a great Friday everyone!!!!!

Cold Weather Comfort Food

LadyBug has been taking a mini-course at school in Latin. Since the marking period ends very soon, the kids are busy doing projects and papers on ancient Roman culture.  Last night, as I was helping LadyBug whip up her baking project, it occurred to me that this just might be a brilliant ploy on the part of the Latin teacher. After all, this is now the 3rd baking project I have done with one of my gang members for this class. I'm thinking teachers really like repeat students in situations like this. I mean, what's not to like? This yummy pan of good gooey-ness features all the essentials of the perfect winter comfort food. Especially if you have a sweet tooth! Once our fast is broken, LadyBug will have to make this one again, just for The Gang. Let me know if you make it, and how you like it. Enjoy and try to stay warm today, my friends!

Old Roman Apple Cake

Ingredients:

3 c. flour

2 c. sugar

3 tsp. baking powder

1/2 c. orange juice
1 c. vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla
3-4 lg. apples, sliced thin
4 eggs

Cinnamon, for sprinkling

Brown Sugar, for sprinkling

Directions:

Mix all ingredients (except apples, cinnamon, and brown sugar) until well blended. Pour 1/2 of batter into a greased and floured tube pan or 9x13 cake pan.

Sprinkle half the apples on top. Sprinkle some cinnamon over apples. Cover with remaining half of batter. Top with other half of apples and sprinkle cinnamon and brown sugar on apples.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours, testing with a knife after about 55 minutes. Cake is ready when knife comes out clean but wet.

Allow to cool. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar to serve.