Chicken & Spinach Pasta

This poor blog is begging for a recipe post and since the boys (thanks Joe) are downstairs putting the new washer and dryer together (alas, my oldies crashed together - look for the freebies on CL tomorrow folks!), I'm sitting here thinking about what to cook for Sunday dinner. And since I take random pictures of food, I thought I'd add them here. So, gentle reader, if you've no idea what to prepare for Sunday supper, ditch the roast and create this beautiful thang!

You'll need these things to start with, which will yield a two or three layer dish, depending on if you use 2 or 3 cups of the following and depending on how many mouths are crying to be fed:

* 3-5 lg b/s chicken breasts - cooked and shredded (that's boneless/skinless, but it's cool to say *or call* bs on this site). I boil mine in water with a bullion cube thrown in for good measure, but you can cook them however you please.
* 3 cups cooked pasta - pick anything you like, but bowties are cute, mostaccioli works and penne is my fav.
* 2-3 c. baby spinach leaves, rinsed/drained
* 2-3 c. Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Sauce:
* A stick of butter - no margarine for this baby
* 3 T flour
* Chicken broth: 2 c. boiled water with 1-2 chicken bullion cubes dissolved into it
* 1 pint of whipping cream
* LOTS of grated Parmesan cheese

Is your calorie counter protesting yet? If so, chuck it in the bin and keep reading:

Preheat the oven to about 350F and grease a 13x9" baking dish. Or use a cute round one. Whatever makes your skirt fly up, as PW would say.

In a pan, melt the butter and stir in the flour to create a roux. Slowly stir in the broth and stir until well blended. When that's smooth, add in the *entire* pint of whipping cream. And smile happily. And when that's all mixed together, stir in as much P cheese as you please. Voila! You have homemade Alfredo sauce. Let's commence to the heart of it, shall we?

This is where you decide how many layers you want. I've made two layers, and I've made three. And I've eaten most of it myself......so you can decide. They're your lips and hips, right?

In your greased, whatever-you-picked dish, pour a little sauce over the bottom. Then you'll start your layers
1 c. pasta
1 c. spinach
1 c. chicken
1/2 c. (or there about) Mozzarella cheese.
This picture looks too healthy for me:

Spoon some Alfredo sauce over these layers and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Repeat. Repeat again.

Then finish with Mozz cheese on top....which will, upon baking for about 25 mins, turn golden-brown and delish and look like this: 

You can't help but practically die with happiness. Happy Sunday everyone!

Three for Thursday

Three types of weather experienced in my area this week and what I did on those days:
1. Fri afternoon: I stopped to see a dear friend and our children played and played as we sat in the SUNSHINE! and talked about everything under the sun until dusk. Many needs were filled this day.
2. Tues: The SUN was shining again! So I worked in the garden, planted s'more and worked on muh tan. Well, the backs of my calves burned, if that counts.
3. Wed night: After planting the last of the squash/pumpkins/zook plants, a massive hail storm passed over so we ran inside and videotaped it.

Three home decor items that I own and treasure:
1. Scott's stepdad made this mirror for us about 8 yrs ago. Tonight, I cut out and applied the quote "God dwells in us, As us" from Eat, Pray, Love. It is one of my most favorite quotes in the world:

2. After having crappy couches for the last 12 years, we were blessed with these. If you've never suffered the embarrassment of having company sit on old used couches, or worse, no guest seating at all....you wouldn't understand. If you have had that ever-so-humbling experience, then you get it. These may not mean much to the rest of the world, but they are heavenly to me.....a chance for our whole family to sit, snuggle and enjoy a movie. Or conversation. Or whatever. Together.

3. And this beautiful piece squeezed into the tiniest of rooms :) The mattress set was a gift from my mum after Macady was born, a place where I nursed and rested and snuggled my newborn. (And many countless more nights that would occur over the next 11 years). The log frame and furniture - our wedding gift, again from my mother. Draped by a buffalo hide (courtesy of Scott) since 2005, regulatory tan & red flannel sheets (now put away) and an open window with a cool breeze...I treasure this place.

Three favorite holidays:
1. Christmas
2. The Fourth of July
3. Macady's birthday


Three accomplishments from the high school years:
1. I was homeschooled...does that even count?
2. We moved to Idaho during my Jr. year, and it was here that I found my place in the world.
3. I found Scott three months later...'nuff said.

Three phobias:
1. Galeophobia
2. Dental phobia - Not even IV sedation works well. Needless to say, combining numbers 1&2 means Finding Nemo was not a good movie for me.
3. Claustrophobia

Three favorite breakfast foods:
1. Crepes
2. Feta & spinach omelette
3. A proper English breakfast

Three random habits (good or bad, silly or sad):
1. I constantly spot poor grammar in public and I have this *huge* urge to put White-Out and/or a permanent marker to good use!
2. When driving, my mouth has road rage :(
3. I always forget whether or not I turned the hot iron off after I've left the house. So I go back and check.

Three favorite scents:
1. Fresh cut alfalfa fields♥
2. My horses...they all smell different. Wanna keep reading?
3. Dune by Christian Dior and Chanel No. 5 (From Europe, not some knockoff)

Three bits of advice for newlyweds:
1. You're a team. There is no *I* in team. However, there is an *ME* :)
2. Don't have a baby right off....get to know each other. Otherwise, it's gonna be a long ride.
3. Communicate. All.the.time.

Three pictures:
1. My beautiful Friday afternoon was spent snuggling this:

2. This is what happens when you accidentally leave the screen door open for three minutes. Yep, that would be Jetta hanging out on Macady's dresser:

3. Rescued on Monday from the Idaho Falls Animal Shelter, his story will be posted later. His name is Dash, and I call him MINE♥

Three for Thursday - On Saturday

I'm late and have great excuses why.

Three things I accomplished this week:
1. Planted the entire garden, sans onions and got the yard bea-u-ti-fied!
2. Hosted a cousin I've never met before and found he was Pretty Much Amazing.
3. We got the house projects finished this week and got a couch and loveseat. You have no idea what it's like to have a dirty old couch replaced with something wonderful!

Three things I want to do this summer:
1. Take Macady through the National Parks
2. Go swimming, not just watch.
3. Get a tan

Three colors used at my wedding:
1. Periwinkle blue
2. Lavender
3. Of course I used white too.

Three things I find repulsive:
1. The inside of a microwave when it's smelly and filthy
2. Hobo spiders, alive *and* dead
3. Dog poo

Three things I like most about my body:
1. My hair, because it pretty much behaves when it's told
2. My feet, because they are flip-flop worthy and they love my boots
3. My hands, because they look identical to my mum's and because they comfort, create and have opposable thumbs.

Three chores I make my husband do:
1. He has to mow the grass, because I can't run the ride-on tractor thing
2. Using his sheer height, he gets to reach up and get things for me, but that's not a chore...
3. I don't really make him to chores, we're just a team.

Three recipes:
1. I use this one all.the.time.: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/06/crash-hot-potatoes/
2. Easiest Cheesiest Dish - I'll post the recipe later, because no link exists to add here.
3. Soul Food: Take one amazing albeit difficult week, add in more than a full cup of treasured sisterhood, five ounces of laughing children and a pinch of adorable baby and you have the perfect recipe to nourish your heart and soul.

Three favorite flavors of ice cream: (Not a big ice-cream fan)
1. Mint Chocolate chip. Not the oreo/cookie kind, but with real mint bits.
2. Huckleberries & Cream from the Rainey Creek store
3. Cheesecake from Orange Leaf

Three animals I'd like to have (maybe not all at the same time):
1. A Nigerian Dwarf or a Toggenburg goat
2. I'd rescue more cats and dogs.
3. Definitely another horse and a rabbit and an African Grey parrot

Three pictures:
1. A planted garden. The strawberry patch is enormous, green and beautiful and I got the maters for $2 bucks apiece at CAL Ranch...great deal!

2. We took Tom to Jackson Hole and enjoyed a carriage ride. We paid extra to kiss the horse, and that was the best part of the day.

3. And we hit the zoo, where I promptly struck a Rawlins pose.

Discovery

As we laid Pard to rest under the lilac tree in January, I was filled with a heartache that is still, even five months later, indescribable to me. With all the tenderness in the world, Scott dug the hole, crawled into it and laid Pard's body in the ground. Facing West in true cowdog tradition, I had written in the Pard Letters. I watched that part, and turned away before the backhoe could move the earth to cover him over. That is one thing I could not witness, and for that, I asked Pard to forgive my aching soul. Tears still quickly slip from my eyes as I write this, as they have done many, many times since that day. I still tell P goodnight, I still touch his collar left on my beside cabinet. I miss him every day. But since his passing, and through the healing process that is beginning, something magical (for lack of a better word) is happening in our home.

It started with the change in the energy of our home. A slight shift at first, then growing and changing. On Easter Sunday, Scott was confirmed an Elder. Which in our little world means he now holds the Melchizedek priesthood, which is something we have never had in either home since we were about 12 and 10, respectively. The beginning changes were small, but people in our ward were noticing. They came up quietly and told me they could see the light in his face, the change in his countenance. They saw how happy I was, how happy we were, and told us what they saw. Inside our home, spiritually, things ar changing for us in amazing ways, but it is subtle, still and gentle.

Outside our home, things are changing as well. Next to the darker lilac tree, the lighter-colored lilac bush in our backyard has never bloomed more than maybe three blossoms at best in the nine years we have lived in our home. This year it has fully blossomed. It is beautiful and the whole landscape is breathtaking to us. I take so much joy in listening to the birds singing, the owl hooting, the chickens talking to each other. Scott brought in more dirt to extend the garden, and we planted it as a family the other day. Something small, but something we have never done together, in harmony and with laughter sprinkled in with the seeds that were laid in the ground. Perhaps it's just my view on things, but the grass almost sparkles, it's so bright and fresh. The flowers offer so much color and I can't wait to see what the rose tree will look like when she's fully in bloom. The tramp is just crying for a warm night, so we can sleep on it and the firepit waits for marshmallows and starburst candy. The whole thing just begs for friends and family, barbecues and night games and memories to be made.

The beauty of back garden takes away some of the pain I feel now, when I look at the bare spot where my beloved dog now lies. I think of his body, not in repose like I did before, but now nourishing the ground, filling our garden with a special magic that is spreading to the inside and outside of our little home. I am so grateful for the love and protection Pard showed our family when he was here, and am so thankful for the same, yet different, kind of love and protection that continues on afterward. His little body may be gone, but the strength of his spirit lives here.....from the living room where he spent so much time, to his resting place outside. Pard is here, and I am ever-thankful that my eyes and heart are open to see and feel this. As I sat down to write this, moved to do so quickly, which happens when I write, I realized upon finishing that it was five months ago today that we said goodbye for now. For this is how the Lord works, in His most mysterious ways. How lucky we are to realize this now....to learn such a lesson from loss, experience peace and witness the sheer joy of discovery.

These are a few of my favourite things ♪ ♫

The other day, our local news station posted an update on facebook about the cold weather we've had since, oh I don't know.....October? I thought about making my own snarky commment on there too, until I started to type and realized that I have absolutely no reason at all to complain about cold weather. We know it's cold, but heck, it snowed last June, and it's only rained and been windy so far. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I really don't have much to complain about, but I have much to be grateful for.
◘ I have a roof over my head that is stable, which provides protection against the elements, and if I put my back in to it, cleans up pretty nicely. In a neighborhood that I cherish, in an area that is not damaged by earthquakes or tornadoes or flooding. I have a home.
◘ I work with people who truly like me and make me laugh hysterically and who don't care when I'm late or when life gets in the way. I am happily employed.
◘ I have a family that is alive and well and for the most part - healthy, and who love me unconditionally. I am not an orphan.
◘ I have a daughter who snuggles me and tells me how beautiful I am - regardless of morning breath, an unwashed face and dry, contact-laden eyes that can barely open at first. A daughter who is vibrant, healthy, alive. I am a mother.
◘ I have a husband who has gone above and beyond preparing our home for the impending arrival of family I've never met, fixing, texturing, painting, skirting-boarding (is that a word?), mowing, raking, hauling in fresh dirt to extend the garden, tilling said garden, fixing a bird-proof netting/wooden support thingie for the strawberry patch, making a firepit for us to enjoy on warm and chilly nights and roasting marshmallows for his little girl. I am not a widow.
◘ I use the internet tonight to blog, not as a desperate search for a loved one, or to tell relatives that I survived devastation.
◘ I am going to sleep tonight in my beautiful king-size log bed (our wedding gift from my mother) with it's flannel sheets and an open window. I will snuggle with my dogs, my cats, my husband and I will rest peacefully, knowing I am safe.
◘ I am going to get up in the morning, and have fresh, clean, hot running water to bathe in.
◘ I am going to wear whatever I want to. Because that is my choice.
◘ I am going to church tomorrow. Because I can.
◘ I am going to teach 7 year old precious souls to the best of my ability, and tell them of their Heavenly Father's love for them, and show them that I love them. Because I am free to do so.

At the close of this extraordinarily busy day of cleaning and yardwork and chicken-chasing and neighbor-talking and enormous preparation, I am finding a multitude of choice blessings to be grateful for. These are just a few of my most favourite things.

Three for Thursday - A first for yours truly

Three favorite items of clothing:
1. Muh Arizona jeans. I have 3 pair, all.the.same.
2. Brown Ariat ProBabys, broken and broken in :)
3. Layered Modbe shirts

Three things in my house that I wish were self-cleaning:
1. Does the backyard count?
2. The laundry
3. The litter box

Three favorite summertime lunches:
1. Fruit pizza
2. Chicken/walnut/craisin-salad croissants
3. Turkey/avocado in a tomato-basil wrap

Three things my child says that she picked up from me:
1. Shut the front door......and I'm not talking about one with a doorknob.
2. Crazy Utard drivers!
3. *The voice*....used when the dogs are in trouble

Three good movie recommendations:
1. Eat, Pray, Love
2. True Grit
3. The Holiday

Three inexpensive date night ideas:
1. The drive-in movies
2. Orange Leaf
3. Driving to Heise

Three favorite flowers:
1. Gerber daisies
2. Wildflowers
3. Orange Asiatic lilies

Three places I'd like to visit:
1. Home to England
2. Lanzarote
3. Greece

Three good habits that I practice:
1. Brushing my teeth at least 2x/day
2. Making it to church every week
3. Making sure every mouth is fed before mine

Three pictures:
1. The tree we thought was a weed at first, grew in between the chicken coop and the shed. It grew and grew and so we transplanted it to the middle of the yard. I christened him George.

2. Because only Jay, our crazy rescue cat would choose to lie down next to a crackling fire. A campfire. So we pulled out the marshmallows and basked in the glory that is our little home.

3. And this one, because I'm lucky to have friends that don't get mad at their sewing machines and throw them downstairs like I do. And sparkly turquoise curtains make me happy :)