Chicken Dinner

So, I'm trying something special tonight....

Ingredients:
3 Boneless Chicken Breasts
10 oz Frozen spinach thawed and drained
1/2 a stick of Cream Cheese
4 Tbsp Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 cup Shredded Mozarella Cheese
1 Egg
12 Crackers (I used Ritz)
Butter

Preheat oven to 375

Butterfly and pound flat three chicken breasts...that was fun! (put inside a zip lock bag for easy clean up)
Mix spinach, and three cheeses.
Spread spinach on the chicken and then roll up and pin with toothpicks. 
Dip in egg wash. (just the egg)
Dip in crushed crackers mixed with parmesan cheese. 
Bake in a glass dish (9 x 13) with seams down.  I then put 4 pats of butter in the dish to keep them from sticking. 

Bake about 30 minutes.  Then, serve on warm pasta sauce.  My husband (aka test subject) and I both agreed it was very tasty!!! 

Go Cats!

We celebrated our anniversary this year by attending our first UK Basketball game!!!  UK vs. University of Tennessee.  It was really fun and we had a great time!  This was the "cell phone shot."  We were a little nervous that if they lost we wouldn't be invited back considering the winning streak that the team is on.  No need to worry anymore...they won!

Week 1

So, I have officially one week (five days) under my belt as a store manager.  What can I say?  I'm actually enjoying myself.  I am getting to make decisions and not have to clear them through someone else.  I am getting to set the course for the team.  I am getting to initiate change and see fairly fast results.  I think I was most apprehensive about the team not wanting to change.  However, I think that they want change probably more than I do.  How awesome is that?  It is a really great feeling. 

Recipe followers...

Stuffing for porkchops without the mushrooms...so, I prefer mine with mushrooms, but I'd already played that trick on my non-mushroom-loving husband.  For his valentine's dinner he was given stuffed porkchops with a different stuffing, a baked potato, and black-eyed peas.  So, for the stuffing preparation:

3 slices of sandwich white bread diced and toasted
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup diced onion
2 tbsp chicken broth
1 egg
salt and pepper
1/4 cup frozen corn
(celery is optional too)

Mix this together and stuff a thawed and butterflied pork chop.  Brown the pork chop in EVOO.  (We pinned ours with toothpicks.)  Then, bake covered with aluminum foil in a casserole dish for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  I put the extra stuffing on top of the porkchops while they were cooking.  This was a winner!  (For timing...the 2 pork chops weighed 1.9 pounds combined, with the bone-in...they were extra large!)

Another Birthday?

JMS had a second mini-birthday when his box of gifts arrived from Auntie Tanya, Uncle James, and Ms. Carol.  Does he look excited?  I asked him "remember Tanya?" and he said, "um, yes."  Haha...the last time he saw her he was 9 months old.  (Sorry Tanya, I doubt it.)  Then, he called her and unfortunately had to talk to the voicemail...but he said, "Thank you for my presents.  Can I play with Haku? Bye Ms. Tanya." It was enough to melt her when she heard it I'm sure.  :) 

The Seattle Seahawks jersey is from Carol.  It is perfect b/c the "blue team" is always JMS's team...whether that be the Colts, the Seahawks, the UK Wildcats...always the blue team.  The books are from Tanya and James...his favorites: Cars, Wall-E, and Up. 

Happy Anniversary

Today is our 8th wedding anniversary.  I love you sweetie!

Where were we 8 years ago...
home:  2 bedroom, rented apartment, Hinesville, GA
jobs: lieutenants in the Army
pets: a goldfish
kids: none
cars: '99 blue ford explorer sport (2dr), and '00 white vw jetta

Now we are....
home: 4 bedroom, owned, Lexington, KY
jobs: retail store manager and online retail warehouse manager
pets: quincy dog
kids: 3yr old...JMS
cars: '03 chevy trailblazer, and '05 blue ford f150 lariat

We won't even discuss everything in between. :)  But I do love to imagine where we will be 8 years from now....it's hard to say. 

Rearranged

If you are looking for my "links" to other blogs...they are currently at the very bottom.  To incorporate my larger pictures I had to change a few things.  Sorry. 

Big Boy...and photos I forgot to share.

Well, today we finally took apart the baby crib that has been the stuffed animal "jail" for the last 8 months in JMS's room.  I just couldn't do it...I don't know I guess I was in denial that he was growing up so fast.  Last night was the deciding factor.  JMS likes to "camp" under the crib and play around underneath it rather than going to sleep.  Sorry kiddo...the fun has been eliminated.  I'm curious to see what he does tonight. 

Then, we went to the furniture store and placed the order for the official "big" boy bed.  He's been sleeping on a twin mattress now for quite some time.  We are crossing our fingers that the bed frame, with some fancy new bedding will be the key to keeping JMS in his own bed.  We are experiencing the stage in which he climbs in our bed.  And, lazy us...we let him stay there. 

JMS had his 3 year check up yesterday.  He is 36 pounds and 39 inches.  He is in the mid-80 percentiles for both.  I guess they don't measure their heads anymore.  Thank goodness for we already know it's big.  :)  He was given the H1N1 vaccine ...up the nose, part 1.  I'm not sure how I feel about this.  But if it keeps him healthy in the long run, I can't say much. 

Alright, in uploading this "little helper" photo, I realized I had some great photos from when The Sutton's visited that I hadn't shared:

We stopped by to visit my husband at work..."safety tip" wear your vest. :)

JMS is wearing his "WALL-E" glasses that came as part of a birthday card from grandma.  We had fun with these. 

Pop and JMS sharing that they were both wearing their warm/soft fleece pants. 

JMS taking the grandparents to the airport.  He was such a good helper. 

Test Photo

In reading a friend's blog...I've learned how to make my photos in "large print" for those of you who need glasses. :)  Here is  my test sample photo...no I didn't take a trip to the south pole.

My Blog Book and Taxes

I'm so happy. I went to this website (Blog2Print) and clicked a few times, promised to pay a little money and now I am holding a 160+ hardbound book of all of my blog entries since I first began blogging. I am so excited that I've been able to chronicle and publish a keepsake of the last 2 years for my family. The pictures are really well done and (all my readers will laugh) when I re-read my entries, I cracked myself up. How cool is that? I think what impressed me the most is how little I talked about work and how positive I sounded about life. I am my toughest critic and I beat myself up about being too negative. This is proof that I am a positive source of energy. :)

All this being said, I have been "training" for my new position over the past 5 weeks. And, this process has had me living in Cincinnati with my parents off and on again. Well, JMS didn't seem to understand or mind at first. Now, it is a pleading "mommee don't go" everytime I go to grandma's house. We are thankful that I only have one more week left and if it works out, I will only be away for one night.

On to another topic...Is anyone else getting their paperwork together for taxes? We most definitely are...and my all-time favorite piece is the paper that says "charitable contributions" from the church. Why is it my favorite? Because it is proof of how many times I was able to go to church...for me it was a New Year's resolution to go every Sunday that I wasn't working. I really committed to introducing my son to Christ this year and it was just a great feeling to know that I was able to do it. It makes me super nervous when he is on the altar...never know what the little booger is going to say, but at least he knows that Jesus Loves him. :)

Goodnight.