Stephanie cooks: Italian Chicken

If you've noticed, my "Stephanie cooks" posts have been few and far between lately. That's because I haven't been cooking.

But I'm starting fresh this week with one of my favorite winter recipes. It's so good, and so easy (even easier if you cut the potatoes the night before).

Italian Chicken

What you need:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, fat trimmed off
• 2 large potatoes, peeled, diced into 1" squares
• 1 can french style green beans, drained
• 1 can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 package Italian dressing seasoning (like to make Italian salad dressing from scratch)
• 1/2 stick butter, melted

How to make it:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut chicken into strips and place in the bottom of a 9x13 glass baking dish.
3. Cover chicken with diced potatoes, green beans, and corn.
4. Mix Italian seasoning with melted butter and pour over top.
5. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour.
6. If the potatoes aren't quite done at an hour (which, sometimes they're not), up the temp to 400 and continue cooking for 15 minutes.
   

So good! And great for leftovers the next day!

Thanksgiving recap.

Wow.  Coming back to work after 5 days off is no bueno.

But, I did have a great Thanksgiving!  I was pretty much worn out by Wednesday evening because I got up early and cooked all of my dishes, so I wouldn't have to bother with them on Thursday.  Personally, I think it was brilliant.

I had a lot to cook, so I had to get started early.  4 pumpkins pies, pumpkin bread, corn casserole, sweet potatoes, broccoli casserole, stuffing, and prepped a turkey (for cooking on Thursday, of course).  It was yummy, if I do so say myself.

On Thursday morning, I went with the police wives auxiliary to a local children's home to serve  Thanksgiving lunch to the kids.  I have to say, if they hadn't told us we couldn't take the kids home, I would have definitely added this cute little black baby to my family.  He was so adorable and so smiley!!  I fed him stuffing (because that's all he would eat) and then cleaned the remnants of what he had tried to feed himself out of his hair.  It was a great start to Thanksgiving day.

After the children's home, we headed to Joey's moms.  Joey's grandma was in the hospital, so it was a small Thanksgiving.  We missed Memaw and Pepaw, but needed Memaw to get better, for sure!

Around 2:30, the kids and I headed over to my parents.  Joey had to work, but I had to be at my parents in time for the game.  It was a good game, overall, but I'm disappointed that we lost.  If Roy Williams hadn't fumbled that ball, and if we would have gone for the field goal instead of punting, I think we would have won.  But... shoulda, coulda, woulda, right?

Of course I had another dinner at my parents.  I'm nothing if not willing to eat.  Any time, any place.

Then, I did something I swear on my life I will never do again... Black Friday Shopping.  I've only done it once before, but this time, it was just all sorts of wrong.  At least last time I got some sleep before braving the crowds. This time I went with my psycho friend, Kelly, (and I say that with all the love in my heart) who had everything all mapped out and told me we needed to be at Wal-Mart at 9pm.  Yes, that's 9pm on Thursday, for sales that did not start until 5am on Friday.  I trusted her, against my better judgment.

Although I was not a happy camper while I was standing in line for 7 hours straight, I did end up with my intended purchases and saved $100 in the process.  Thanks, Kel!

Then I promptly drove home (while trying to keep it between the lines), crawled into bed, and slept for 4 hours.  I should have slept for 8 hours, but 4 was all I could manage.  No worries though, because I went to bed at 8 on Friday night and didn't move until 11:30 on Saturday morning.

It was glorious.

How about you?  Did you all have a good Thanksgiving?  Did any of you brave the Black Friday madness?

PS - I would have loved to add the few pictures that I have from the holiday, but my phone is not cooperating and will not send me the pics.

Love notes from Taylor.

Personally, I really loved his request for me to write a note back to him.  And I was more than happy to oblige.

Weekend recap

This weekend was pretty nice.  No major commitments, which I really appreciate!

I started the weekend by picking up my parents dog, Ditto.  My parents were heading out of town for the weekend, so I was dog-sitting the best dog ever!

Isn't he cute?  And he didn't hesitate to make himself right at home, either.

On Saturday, I finally got my Jeep back, only to realize that my brake light isn't working.  So, it's back to the shop for a little check up today at lunch.

Saturday evening my friend Kelly came into town so we went out to look at the house.  It's still just a foundation, but I showed her the model home, so that worked.  Then we took the kids and headed to Target where we both scored a cute pair of casual black boots for 30% off.

Sunday morning, I slept in then the kids and I headed to Joey's mom's house for lunch and football.  This is where I pause to say...

GO COWBOYS!!

(That would be McCann, #37, running back a punt for 96 yards!  I think we'll keep him.)

Sunday evening was fairly low-key.  I took the kids to the library to pick out some books, then met my parents to hand off Ditto (he nearly bolted from the car as soon as he saw my dad!), then relaxed and watched more football.

I'm not sure why, but I had a crazy stretch of insomnia last night too.  I could not go to sleep, no matter what I tried.  So I ended up watching "The Blindside" on HBO at 1 in the morning.  Seriously, the best movie ever made.

Today, I'm running on about 4 hours of sleep, at most, so I'm just trying to keep from fallling asleep on my keyboard.

How about you?  How was your weekend?  Did your team win?

Things that only happen to me.

We're all aware that my precious Jeep is at the body shop and that I've been forced to drive a lame, stinky sedan, right?  Right.

Well, this morning I was driving said sedan to work, minding my own business, when I started hearing this funny noise.  It sounded like cracking.  I turned the radio off and kept listening trying to figure out what it was, when all of the sudden I saw the windshield cracking right before my very eyes!

So I did what anyone would do... FREAK OUT!!!!!!!!!!

What the heck!  Nothing hit the windshield.  Nothing happened at all!  It just started cracking.  And kept cracking.

Luckily, I called the rental car company and they were totally cool.  I took the car in and they switched it out.  But I was so worried they were going to make me pay for the windshield!!

Ugh.  Seriously.  These things only happen to me.

My Google Reader is jacked!

I have been having so much trouble with my Google Reader lately.  I can't seem to figure out what the problem is so I thought I'd turn to blogland for some help.

Here's the deal - A few weeks back, all of the sudden my Google Reader stopped removing "read" posts.  Generally, when I scroll through and read a post, once I pass the post it's marked as read and then it no longer appears in my Reader.  Well, this isn't happening anymore.  I'll read a post, scroll past, refresh (to get any newer posts) and everything I just read appears again.

Do you have any idea how frustrating this is?  I have a need to accomplish things and if I read tons of posts, but they never disappear, it's like never being able to mark something of your To Do list!

Have any of you had this problem?  Any ideas on how to fix it?  I've searched Google Help, but I must say, they are pretty much useless.

Please, someone, HELP ME!!

It's about that time.

Ok, so I've tried to stay off the boat, but I just can't any longer. I know everyone and their mother is posting about the great Shutterfly giveaway, so I just decided why not?

I use Shutterfly every year for my Christmas cards (here's last years card), as well as calendars.  Personally, I don't think you can beat the quality or price.

I'm still waiting to get our family pictures back, so these choices may change, but for now, I've got it narrowed down to one of these:

This Christmas will be a bit strange, since I really can't decorate due to selling the house and moving (minor details), but I can still send out super cute cards, right?

Let's talk cars.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this already, but about 2 weeks ago, I was sitting at a stop sign right outside of my neighborhood, waiting for a break in traffic, when this lady ran into me.  There wasn't much damage, but I still had to put my beloved Jeep in the shop earlier this.  Really, it's just more of an inconvenience than anything else.

But let's talk insurance companies and rental cars for a sec.

I drive a 2008 Jeep Commander with a 3rd row seat.

I wasn't the one who caused the accident.  Again, I was sitting, completely stopped, at a stop sign.  Minding my own business. So why is it that the insurance company will not pay for me to drive an equivalent car to the one that their insured driver wrecked? Why am I now forced to drive this?

Nothing (really) against the Chevy Impala, but I drive an SUV for a reason.  And get this - My Jeep will fit in my garage (just barely, but it does fit), but this sedan will not.  So now I have to park outside in the elements and defrost my rear window on my drive to work. (Yes, I realize I live in South Texas and that "elements" is a bit of stretch.  Work with me.)

AND, it is really hard to drive!  It's like a major calf workout just depressing the gas pedal. And it smells.  And it's dirty.  Why are all rentals cars dirty?  Don't they clean those things??  Ugh.

Spoiled much?  Yes.  Yes I am.  And I'm not ashamed to admit it.  I love my Jeep.  It is the best car I've ever owned.  I can't stand to be away from it.

How about you?  Are any of you as in love with your cars as I am?

I have a secret.

Well, kind of.  If you follow me on Twitter, you may already know, but if not, you're probably in the dark.

And let me just stop you all right here and tell you that no, I am not pregnant, and BITE YOUR TONGUE!  This kitchen is closed people.

Now, onto the secret...

WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!

Woo hoo!!  I can not tell you how excited I am because the real secret is that we have a contract on another house that is being built and if our house didn't sell within the next few weeks, we'd have to back out and I would need to be committed to some sort of mental hospital. (And wow, that's sentence probably just set some sort of record.)

But, the good news is that it doesn't look like I'll be wearing a straight jacket any time soon.

I think I mentioned the new house briefly on the blog a while back, but I was hesitant to post too much about it because I didn't want to have to then come back to the blog and say we had to back out.  And that you could now reach me via a mental hospital.  But, last week, even before the house sold, I had decided that I really needed to put it on the blog because this blog is really a journal of our life.  And even if we lost the house, I'd still want it to be in my journal.

So here goes...

Yay!  We chose our lot!

Yay!  We have a foundation!  (And yes, we all had to pose with the new member of the family.)

Up until Sunday evening, when we got the offer on the house, it had been really hard to get excited about the new house.  Joey and I both love it more than we can express - it's pretty much everything we had on our list, plus the location we always wanted - so it was hard having that nagging thought "if the house doesn't sell, we have to give it up" in the back of our minds.

Last night, for the first time, Joey and I both said how excited we were.  It finally feels real!

Worth mentioning...

Well, it looks like this guy might have just whipped The 'Boys into pretty good shape!

When McCann intercepted Eli's pass in the endzone and ran it back 102 yards for a TD? Yeah, that was sweet victory!

And Dez? Holy smokes this guys can play some football!!

Final score? 33-20 COWBOYS!!!!

Update.

I just wanted to thank all of you who lifted up the injured officers in prayer.

The latest update that I have is that 4 officers were shot - 2 were serious, 2 were minor injuries.  The good news is that they are all expected to make a complete recovery.

Our God is good, is He not?!?

Also, this is what I found when I got home yesterday, laying on the bed by my pillow. (Joey had already left for work.)

Love that man.  He always knows just what I need.

And just for grins (literally), here's the pic of Taylor that I sent to Joey last night after Taylor's haircut.  I asked Taylor to smile and this what I got.

Seriously.  How could you not love this boy?

Happy Friday, y'all!

Please pray

I never wanted to have to do this again, but unfortunately, I do.

I need you all to please pray with me.  2 SWAT officers have been shot while serving a warrant just about an hour ago.  Joey got a call from an EMT friend who heard it go out over the radio.  We think one was shot in the head and the other in the back.  No word on their conditions.

Please pray.  I'll keep you updated as I learn more.

PS - If you're a police wife/girlfriend/relative, would you mind sending me your email?  I'd really appreciate it!  (Jennifer and Ashlynn, I know I have yours.)

Observations.

Yesterday, I was buried.  Totally exhausted.  So when I got home from work I made dinner, changed into my pj's, and crawled into bed.

While there, I made a few observations.

• Since the time change, I'm completely blinded by the sun on my drive home.  No sunglasses or visors will help.  Good times.
• The Good Wife is the best show on TV.  If you're not watching it, you're missing out.

• Carrie & Brad are so great together!   They did an amazing job hosting the CMAs last night, right?

• Carrie is amazing.  She's a GREAT performer, wonderful singer, and seems to be just an overall nice person.  I love her!  
• Oh, and she's absolutely gorgeous.  It should be illegal for someone to be that pretty.  Unless it's me.  Which it's not.  So it should be illegal.
• I was pleasantly surprised by Taylor Swift's performance.  Generally she's not very good (vocally) on TV performances, but last night I thought she did great!

• That being said, what the heck was up with her at the end of her performance??  It looked like she mouthed "what?", but I couldn't figure out why.  So weird.
• I love my people.

• The end.

Not dead.

In case you're wondering (I know my mom is), I'm not dead.

Just buried.

(image via Google)

If I'm not back in a couple days, send reinforcements.

Taking recommendations.

Last night was disappointing, to say the least. I wait all year for football season and then to see this?? UGH! I just can't take it. I actually went to sleep (on purpose) after our first possession in the 2nd half. It was just too painful to watch.

Therefore, I'm taking recommendations for a new team (if only for the remainder of the 2010 season). I love football, but it's just no fun to cheer for a team that has absolutely no hope of winning.

So, who should I cheer for? Who should I shift my allegiance to?

My only stipulation is that is can not be an NFC East team. Even though I'm fed up my Cowboys, I could never bring myself to cheer for the Redskins (sorry Dina!), Giants (no can do, Megan!), or Eagles (Does anyone like the Eagles?). It's just not gonna happen. Oh, and that will also eliminate the Colts, as I can not stomach the Mannings. (Sorry LauraAnn. Don't hate.)

Oh, and it needs to be a team that is televised in San Antonio. Maybe I should just make the obvious choice - the other Texas team? I mean, it would almost be like supporting the Cowboys, except the Texans at least have a chance, right?

Honestly, I'm just not sure about which team to pick. Since I've been such a loyal Cowboys fan, I've grown to despise ALL OTHER NFL TEAMS. It's just what I do. But I suppose I'll have to un-despise one of those teams. I need football!

So, what do you think? Who should I start cheering for?

Happy Friday

It's Friday!  The best day of the week, right?

Several things are making me happy today, one of which is my first Starbucks holiday cup of the season.

What is it about the red cup?  I don't know, but it just makes me happy.

This morning, I was helping Taylor get ready for school and he asked me if I was going to work today?  I told him yes, I go to work every weekday.  Then he proceeded to tell me that I didn't look pretty enough to go to work (I only had my jeans and t-shirt on - no cardigan, boots, or jewelry yet - and my hair was still wet). He said I needed to put on some necklaces, bracelets, and don't forget my shoes.

Dang I love that boy.  He's always looking out for me.

Then I went to kiss Joey goodbye (he's still sleeping when I leave for work, since he doesn't get home until 4am).  I leaned over, put my hand on his shoulder, whispered "I love you", and gave him a kiss.  About 10 seconds later he opened his eyes and said, "Robot."

"What?" I asked.

"Robot.  Did you say robot?"  he mumbled.

"No honey.  Go back to sleep."  And he was out.

I hope your Friday started out as happy as mine!

A date with my boy.

Saturday, Taylor and I had a little date. Joey was working and Ashton was at a party, so Taylor and I headed out for a fun little night.

First stop, Chick-fil-a!

(Yes, that's a nugget in his mouth.)

After dinner, we headed to Fiesta Texas to meet a friend and her kids.  Most of the kids were dressed in their Halloween costumes, but Taylor wasn't.  After chatting with the other boys for a bit, they decided that Taylor was dressed as Tony Hawk.  Which was more than pleased with.

Since Taylor was "dressed as Tony Hawk", it only seemed fitting that we ride the Tony Hawk ride, which happens to be Taylor's favorite.  So we headed to that area of the park and hopped in line.

Little did we know we'd be waiting for close to an hour.  It's ok, though.  We made the best of it.

When we finally got on the ride, I have to say, I was a little worried.  I had trouble determining if Taylor was having fun or about to vomit all over me.  At one point, he covered his mouth and his eyes got huge and he screamed "Cover your mouth!"

Turns out he wasn't going to be sick.  He was just having so much fun that he wanted everyone to cover their mouths!

After Big Spin, we hit up the giant swings and then one more ride before we had to bolt out of there to get Ashton from her party.  Short and sweet, but we had a great time - just the two of us!