Italian Chicken

Marley was away at my sister's house for a few nights so I made this for dinner because I knew if I made it when she was home she wouldn't like it. (She's gotten very picky lately)

Chicken breasts

Stuffing mix 

1/2 -1 cup Shredded Parmesean cheese

diced tomatoes

Garlic salt

 pepper

Italian dressing

Shredded Mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix can of tomatoes (with juice), stuffing, and parmesan cheese until stuffing is moist. 

Place chicken in baking dish. Add garlic salt and pepper. Drizzle italian dressing over top 

(save some for later) 

Spread the stuffing mix over top of the chicken.  Pour remaining italian dressing over top of stuffing. 

Cover with mozzarella cheese.  Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. 

Mike loved this!! I believe this was also the night when he asked why everything I've made lately is so good, then he proceeded to tell me that I shouldn't of even tried cooking before- How rude!! 

Baked Penne

I had some of the Philadelphia cooking cream in the 'fridge that I got cheap with a coupon that was about to expire so I headed to pinterest to find a recipe to use it in. Of course, it didn't take me long to find this recipe for baked penne. 

1/2 lb. ground beef 

1/2 cup chopped onions 

1 jar(24 oz.) spaghetti sauce

1 tub(10 oz.) Philadelphia Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Creme

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

3 cups cooked penne pasta

Preheat oven to 350. Brown ground beef and onions. Drain grease. 

Pour in spaghetti sauce, 3/4 cup cooking creme and 1/2 cup mozzarella

Cook for 2-3 minutes until mozzarella cheese is melted. 

Mix in the pasta and stir until mixed well. 

Pour into baking dish and put remaining cooking cream and mozzarella on top. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes

Mike's exact words after eating it was "this is like Olive Garden" I guess he really liked it! It was so good. I usually don't like a lot of pasta sauce but this was perfect because it had the cooking cream mixed in. I will definitely be making this again soon! 

Pepperoni Pizza Rolls

I was originally going to make these for a party we had. But since I wasn't feeling well, I didn't make them. Instead I made them for lunch for me and Marley.

Biscuit dough

cheese cubes

pepperoni

1 egg

parmesan cheese

garlic powder

Flatten out a biscuit and place pepperoni and cheese in center. 

Fold up the biscuit around cheese & pepperoni to make a little ball

Place seam side down in baking dish. In separate bowl beat egg and pour over top. Sprinkle with garlic powder and parmesan cheese.  

Bake at 425 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

Marley only liked the pepperoni. Weird kid! 

Warm Bean Dip

I went to a family friend's candle party a few weeks ago. While there I had the most amazing chip dip ever! Of course when I got home I looked online for the recipe, just to make sure I was making it right. 

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 cup sour cream

2 cans (16 ounces, each) refried beans

1 packet taco seasoning

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Spread beans on bottom of baking dish. 

Mix cream cheese, sour cream and taco seasoning until smooth. 

(I heated it in the microwave to help it mix better)

Layer cheese mix on top of beans. Layer shredded cheddar cheese on top of that. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted.

I think for next time, I wouldn't add the whole packet of the taco seasoning, it was just a little too much for me. And I would probably stir my cream cheese/sour cream more to make it really smooth because there were big chunks of cream cheese still, and I didn't care for that either. Other than that, it was delicious! 

Jack's Final Adventures

Night 35

Night 36

Night 37

Night 38

Night 39- Christmas Eve Morning

After Marley got over her fear of Jack, I think she really enjoyed it. She keeps asking when he's coming back, so maybe he'll make a few visits throughout the year just to keep an eye on her. She did say that next year he'll watch Mason instead of her. 

Check out all 6 posts of Elf on the Shelf Ideas here. 

Cheesecake Dip

I could eat cheesecake every day! So when I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I decided to make it to bring to my family Christmas. 

1 jar marshmallow fluff

2 cans cherry pie filling

1 box of graham crackers

1 8oz cream cheese (softened)

2 small tubs of cool whip

(I made this in a bowl because my 9x13 dish was being used for another recipe, but it would probably work best in a cake pan) 

Crush up one sleeve of the graham crackers and place on bottom of dish. 

In separate bowl mix marshmallow fluff and cream cheese until smooth (I warmed mine in the microwave to make it a little easier to mix) Then mix in the cool whip, one tub at a time. Place on top of graham crackers. 

Pour cherries on top (you can use any kind of topping you want) 

Use remaining graham crackers to dip! Enjoy! 

This was SO GOOD! My younger cousin said "you don't need the crackers, just use a spoon" So I guess he really liked it. I had some left overs and I may have eaten it with a spoon. 

Chicken Parmesan Casserole

This recipe looked very interesting to me. I usually eat breaded chicken when I have chicken parmesan so to see the breading on top of the whole thing was different, so of course I had to try it out.

2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cups marinara sauce
1/4 cup chopped basil
8 oz mozzarella, shredded
4 oz Parmesan, grated
1 (5-oz) package garlic croutons


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Put olive oil and garlic on bottom of 9x13 baking dish.

Layer chicken and sauce next.

Sprinkle on the basil. Then put half of mozzarella and half of the parmesan cheese on top.

Add all the croutons and cover with remaining cheese.

Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

This was very good! There were no left overs. I also made some noodles to eat with it. However, next time I make it I will put a layer of noodles on the bottom of the dish so they're baked with it and I will smash the croutons so there aren't such big pieces. Otherwise it was very good!

Jack- Week Five

Night 28

Night 29

Night 30

Night 31

Night 32

Night 33

Night 34

Check out all of our Elf adventures here.