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Crusted Honey Mustard Chicken

from:

Ingredients
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cup fat-free evaporated milk
2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste
1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste
10 oz dry lasagna noodles, cooked al dente (about 12 noodles)
10 oz cooked winter squash, thawed if frozen
1 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
3/4 cup golden seedless raisins
2 Tbsp pine nuts, chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place flour in a small saucepan and very gradually whisk in milk and garlic. Warm over low heat, stirring constantly, until sauce simmers and is thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

Spread 1/4 cup of cheese sauce over bottom of a 9 X 13-inch glass or metal pan and cover with 3 lasagna noodles; top with 1/3 of squash and 1/2 cup of cheese sauce. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup of raisins. Cover with 3 more lasagna noodles and spread with 1/3 of remaining squash and 1/2 cup of cheese sauce; sprinkle with 1/4 cup of raisins. Cover with 3 more lasagna noodles and top with remaining squash and raisins; cover with last 3 lasagna noodles, pressing sheets firmly down. Top with remaining cheese sauce; sprinkle with pine nuts and remaining mozzarella cheese

Bake until lasagna bubbles around edges and is browned on top, about 30 minutes. Slice into 8 pieces and serve.

from:

Ingredients
1 sprays cooking spray
2/3 cup lite honey mustard dressing
1/8 tsp table salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 tsp dill, freshly chopped
1 medium scallion(s), finely sliced
1 cup cornflake crumbs
1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, four 4 oz pieces

Directions
Preheat oven to 425°F. Coat a shallow pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine honey mustard dressing, salt, pepper, dill and scallions; remove 1/3 cup and set aside.

Place cornflake crumbs in a shallow bowl. Dip chicken into dressing mixture and then cornflake crumbs; place in prepared pan.

Bake until chicken is golden and no longer pink in center, about 15 minutes.

Drizzle remaining dressing mixture (the 1/3 cup that was set aside) over chicken breasts and serve. Yields 1 piece of chicken and about 1 1/3 tablespoons of dressing per serving.

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Baked Winter Squash, Raisin and Pine Nut Lasagna

from:

Ingredients
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cup fat-free evaporated milk
2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste
1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste
10 oz dry lasagna noodles, cooked al dente (about 12 noodles)
10 oz cooked winter squash, thawed if frozen
1 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
3/4 cup golden seedless raisins
2 Tbsp pine nuts, chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place flour in a small saucepan and very gradually whisk in milk and garlic. Warm over low heat, stirring constantly, until sauce simmers and is thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

Spread 1/4 cup of cheese sauce over bottom of a 9 X 13-inch glass or metal pan and cover with 3 lasagna noodles; top with 1/3 of squash and 1/2 cup of cheese sauce. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup of raisins. Cover with 3 more lasagna noodles and spread with 1/3 of remaining squash and 1/2 cup of cheese sauce; sprinkle with 1/4 cup of raisins. Cover with 3 more lasagna noodles and top with remaining squash and raisins; cover with last 3 lasagna noodles, pressing sheets firmly down. Top with remaining cheese sauce; sprinkle with pine nuts and remaining mozzarella cheese

Bake until lasagna bubbles around edges and is browned on top, about 30 minutes. Slice into 8 pieces and serve.

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So this is what Having Twins Would Be Like

Somewhat against my better judgement, we bought a baby monitor. I admit, it's been nice here and there, but our house isn't big and I really have no doubts that I could hear her, plus I think it sometimes encourages parents to hover over every little sound and murmur. Just my opinion. But I've got a nervous dad on my hands, so we bought one. It's done very well for the most part, though I constantly have to make Matt turn the volume down so I can sleep. “Sweetie, if the volume of her music is louder in here than it is in her room, I think that's too loud.” Tinny classical at 10 dB is not paticularly relaxing.

Anyhoo, for the past two nights, we've been getting interference on our receivers. Sounded mostly like fuzz the night before last, but last night, we distinctly heard a baby crying. And not a 7 month old baby and not OUR baby. This sounds like a little little baby. But it wakes us up … and for a second, we were *very* confused. Miss Tabby, however, was peacefully asleep in her crib (not having a receiver installed in her room), if rotated 90 degrees clockwise from when we put her to sleep.

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Halloween and Other Things

What're y'all doing for Halloween? Tabby has some hand-me-down Halloween costumes … a black cat, I think, and maybe something else (I've got to look thru boxes). But I'm still not sure what we want to do about a costume for her. Part of me wants to mark the event (her first Halloween) with a cool costume, and part of me goes “$17(-$25) for something she's only going to wear for *maybe* 2 hours?!? Crazy!!” But I did see a really cute monkey costume @ Old Navy and a Pumpkin Faerie costume @ Target, both of which I really liked. And I'm also tempted to dress her up as Maggie (from The Simpsons) since she's so in love with her binky (though where can I find that hair?!?).

And of course, we need to carve pumpkins. Matt LOVES to carve pumpkins. I just saw a really great post about that too … ah yes, here it is. It's funny, I remember Halloween vividly last year, lying on the couch, eating pizza and watching that horrible Herbie movie (the one with Lindsay Lohan) and feeling Ms. Tabby kick me … hehe. Continue reading “Halloween and Other Things”

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Jesser the Clumsy

I think I shall go down in history as Jesser the Clumsy. No “the great” or the “nerdy” even, for me. Clumsiness seems to define my existance lately. As I look at the back of my hands, while typing, I can see no less than 6 scratches/abrasions. There are more if I turn them over. And sadly, I only know how I got about half of them.

A brief recap of my recent clumsiness:
* reached up into our upper cabinet to get the huge bottle of oil for some baking; finger got cut on said bottle's plastic seam on the bottom
* jar of cherry preserves fell out of the refrigerator, bounced up and hit me on my ankle bone; swore like a sailor
* scraped the back of my hand against the door frame when leaving tabby's room
* knicked my finger on a food processor blade (barely even noticed this, but now it stings a lot)
* two large abrasions on my legs still not gone from going tubing and hitting rocks at the beginning of august
… and the piece d'resistance ….
* while in Nashville, pulled a glass door open over my foot and cut my foot deeply in two spots; bled so much i dripped blood all over the bathroom floor and stained my flipflop; rode around in the car with my foot in a plastic bag so i wouldn't stain matt's car's interior

Maybe I need more sleep. Or more time so I'm not always rushing around.

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Chicken Tagine with Apricots and Almonds

2015-01-26 17.57.56from: Weight Watchers

Ingredients
4 oz dried apricot halves
1 cup fat-free chicken broth
1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 medium onion(s), chopped
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup slivered almonds, or whole blanched almonds
1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste
1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste
2 cup cooked couscous, hot

Directions
In a small saucepan, bring apricots and chicken broth to a simmer. Set aside.

Coat a large, nonstick saucepan with cooking spray and place over high heat; toss chicken with flour and then sauté chicken until golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in onion, reduce heat to medium-low and cook until onions are very tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in cinnamon and honey.

Stir in apricots, broth and almonds; season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer 10 minutes and serve over couscous. Yields about 3 ounces of chicken, 1/4 cup of sauce and 1/2 cup of couscous per serving.

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Late


It is late. Way too late for me to be up goofing around on the computer. But this is really the first chance I've had. Monday is the day when I play mommy to two under 2 and man, it is some kinda fun, but exhausting kinda fun. Hehe.

Had a good weekend. Did lots, but nothing interesting. Got a few fall photos and some new shots of Tabby, cuz she's oh-so-cute. Slept more than normal, which was nice.

Today was with the kids all day. Had a long walk and made muffins. Had to re-make them this evening because somehow between lunch and dinner time, they all disappeared. I think Loki had a hand paw in this, but there is no evidence, because he never leaves any (i.e. he eats wrappers). Tricky, cheeky dog. I made an amazing Moroccan-style dinner tonight. I will have to post the recipe later because we both just loved it.

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7 Months


Miss Tabby is 7 months old today. I don't want to do these retrospectives too often because I want to have new things to say each time, but so much has happened in the past month, that I really thought I should recap. Continue reading “7 Months”

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Fitness Mac ‘n’ Cheese

from: Fitness Magazine

Ingredients
2.5 C dried radiatore, rotelle or elbow macaroni
2 C reduced fat (2%) milk
2 T all purpose flour
1/2 t dry mustard
1/4 t salt
1/8 t black pepper
1/2 C shredded cheddar
1/2 C American cheese
1/2 cup crushed croutons
2 T Parmesan

Directions
Heat oven to 350. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and return to pot. Meanwhile, in a large screw-top jar, combine 1 cup of the milk, flour, mustard, salt and pepper; cover and shake until combined. Pour into a med saucepan. stir in remaining cup of milk. Cook and stir over med heat just until bubbly. Reduce heat to low. Add cheddar and American cheese, stirring until melted. POUR Sauce over pasta, stirring until combined. Spoon into a 1.5 qt casserole.

Bake, covered, for 15 minutes. In a small bowl, stir together croutons and Parmesan cheese; sprinkle over casserole. Bake, uncovered, about 5 minutes more or until heated through. Let stand 5 min before serving.

Nutritional Info (1/5 recipe)
345 calories, 16 g protein, 44 g carbohydrate, 11 g fat (7 g saturated), 2 g fiber