Gorgonzola Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Pesto Pasta

I have been on a cheese-stuffing kick this week! First the pork chops, now the chicken breasts...

For this recipe, I used:

3lb package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts (not the flash frozen kind, you want the thicker ones)
1 tub of crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
Tomato Garlic Pesto Seasoning (I got mine from Tastefully Simple)
Tomato and Basil infused Olive Oil (also from Tastefully Simple)
Balsamic Vinegar

Preheat oven to 350.

Butterfly the chicken breasts. Place 1-2 inside a large ziploc bag at a time, and using a meat mallot, pound out until tenderized and thin. Sprinkle each one with the tomato garlic pesto seasoning and fill with 2 Tbsp each of the gorgonzola. Fold over and place into greased baking dish. (I spray mine with Pam.) Once all are filled and placed inside dish, drizzle with the olive oil and balsamic, careful not to do too much, about a Tablespoon of each on each chicken breast. Sprinkle with a little more of the tomato garlic pesto seasoning and place in oven. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until done.

For the Pesto Pasta:

1lb dried pasta, any kind, I used thin spaghetti because that's what I had.
1 7oz tub Buitoni Pesto with Basil

Cook pasta according to directions. Drain. Stir in a little pesto at a time, until it has the desired amount. Some people like a little pesto, some like a lot. I like some where in the middle.

Serve with a caeser salad and it's a meal! Here's a pic:

I think it needs something to make it look prettier...but not sure what. Tastes really good though! I think next time I would add some strips of sundried tomatoes on top of the chicken...

Crawfish Stuffed Pork Chops Wrapped in Bacon....

1 family size pack porkchops

1 container garlic and herb Cooking Creme (by Philadelphia Cream Cheese)
1 lb crawfish tails, roughly chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1/2 bell pepper, finely chopped.
6-7 Strips of Applewood Smoked bacon

Preheat oven to 425.

I used a family sized pack of bone-in porkchops, although I think the boneless ones would be easier to prepare. Cut a slit in each one, making a pocket, careful not to cut all the way through. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside.

In skillet, melt a couple tablespoons of butter and saute vegetables over med-hi heat, 3-5 minutes, until tender. Stir in cooking creme and crawfish tails. Remove from heat. Spoon filling into each porkchop, and wrap a piece of bacon around each. Place into large pyrex dish and bake 45 minutes, or until done. I served with rice and salad. Wish I'd had some french bread to go with it.

Apartment Living

We finally got all moved into our apartment this past weekend. Except for a few remaining boxes of clothes that belong to myself, we've gotten everything unpacked and in it's place for now. It was so sad to go back to the house Sunday and see it completely empty. Just a shell of a place that we've spent the last 3 years making a home. It sounded hollow and seemed to be mourning our departure. Then, I reminded myself that another young family was eagerly awaiting to make this place home, and enviously envisioned them enjoying this place for the next several years. I'm really happy for them, and am sure they will be blessed as a family as we were during our time there.

As for the apartment...wow. I had forgotten how much privacy you lack in these places. I'm pretty sure the family above us is harboring Clydesdales. Atleast 3 of them. We only have blinds on the windows and having a lit-up parking lot just outside at night is a little odd. We have to take Buster for regular walks now instead of just letting him out into the back yard. Although, he seems to be enjoying having free reign of the whole apartment. In our house, we kept him restricted to the kitchen, laundry room and master bedroom to protect the wood floors in the rest of the house. Here it's all carpet or tile, so no worries about doggy feet on the floors. The kids think they are super cool though because they know so many kids around us. I have to say, I've been pretty suprised at how people just let their little kids roam around unsupervised throughout the complex. They play in the parking lot! We had to have a strict rule meeting with our kids to explain that they would not be enjoying such freedoms while we are here. Their bedrooms are large and they both have monster sized closets, so they are happy with their extra space. It is a minor adjustment to live with for just a few months...and I'm sure we'll make it through.

Valentine...

Got to see my Daddy this afternoon and he gave me and the kids our valentine. For as long as I can remember, Daddy has given my sisters and me those tiny heart shaped boxes with chocolates in them. Even when Richard and I lived in England, he shipped them to me. Valentine's just wouldn't be the same without them. Now he gives them to all of the kids, as well, I'm sure that Russell Stover is happy.

I got a sweet Valentine from my son, they painted picture frames at school and the teacher took their picture and printed it off and put it in there. My daughter's class used empty boxes of Sweettart Hearts and made a magnet picture frame with her picture in it. My husband and I gave them each a box of chocolates with a small teddy bear and a sweet card.

My dear husband gave me a gorgeous box of Godiva chocolates and a sweet card..the box of chocolates is almost empty. I got him a delicious red velvet cake from a local lady that makes cakes that are out of this world, and they are his favorite.

I love the love that is shared on Valentine's. Not the commercialized who-can-give-the-best-gift kind of Valentine, but the ones that come from the heart and take special time to show you that you mean something to someone.

I know that the most important gift of love I've received is my salvation. There are no gifts that can compare. That Gift is what has set the standard of love in my marriage and family, and friendships. What sets the standard for your love?

Hungry!!!

For the last month or so, we have not been to church. For one reason or another, we haven't been able to go or we've just not gone. I haven't been able to make it the ladies Bible study since October that I have been going to for most of the last 2 years. I've been having my quiet time with God, but not on a regular basis. The result?  For the last few days I have had an unmistakable growling of hunger in my heart for Jesus!!! Last fall, I felt the urge to facilitate (I won't say lead, because I relied greatly on the study materials provided to direct us through the study, and I don't feel mature enough in my knowledge of the Bible to lead anyone through a study) a study at my house, and had a small group of friends that did the Vicky Courtney study "5 Conversations You Must Have With Your Daughter". It was great! The other ladies Bible study that I often attend is one that my sister has been going to for years and had invited me to when we moved here, and for one reason or another, it has been impossible for me to get there the last few months. I'm finally at a point where I should be able to get back to it, and I'm waiting for their new study to begin. At any rate, I have definitely been missing my scheduled, dedicated time to spend with God and in fellowship with other Christians in study.
I can always see a reflection in my life of that absence of study, and I often wonder why it can be so easy to get out of the discipline. I get angry at myself for allowing things that are seemingly, at the time, legitimate reasons to keep me from my time with God. I'll push it to the side with the intention of getting to it later, and then before I know it, it's been a few days and I haven't even thought about it again. I find myself having a life so consumed with stuff and things and do-this and do-that, that my God is not my first priority. And I try to console myself and say it's ok, everyone goes through that...but it's like the thing my Mama used to say to us "I'm not worried about what the other kids are doing, I'm worried about what YOU are doing." I can't let myself measure my relationship with God by what I percieve other people's relationships to be with Him. I'm guilty of that. When I come face to face with God, He's only going to be worried about what I've done. Or not done. I can't starve my heart and mind of His word for me.
Revelations 3:20 "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."

Winter Blues

Well..this is my least favorite time of the year. Why??
1) Hunting season is over. What fun is cold weather if you can't go sit in your deer stand and shoot something?
2) Everything in my closet has shrunk 2 sizes. I hate when it does that.
3) I realize I need to be exercising, and it's too cold to do it outside.
4) I can't go hunt.
5) All I want to do is stay inside and cook and eat...See Reason #2, pretty sure these are directly related.
6) We have to move. This is only pertinent to this year (so far), but nonetheless, it is one of my reasons for now. We've spent the whole weekend so far packing boxes. My hands are so dry and not pretty from all that packing paper.
7) I can't go sit in my deerstand and have my quiet time that I love to have and wait for a deer to come out.

OK...guess I've pouted long enough. I honestly am not a pouty pants..just feeling a little melancholy today. I have so many blessings and things to be grateful for, and am one pan of brownies away from feeling better about things.

p.s. Bow Season starts in 8 months. :)

Moving and Selling

It's been a while since I've blogged...so here's the latest...We found out recently that we will be relocating this July to Alabama. While I'm excited about the opportunity that is being provided to my husband for his career, I'm ever so saddened by the thought of leaving my family and this place that is home to me and has become home to my children. We have our house up for sale, and as I sit here writing this, I am waiting for our first potential buyers to come by to look at the house.
I loathe moving.
I hate unpacking.
I detest boxes and paper.
Most of all, I hate the thought of having to do it atleast 3 times within the next 12 months if we sell our house in the next few weeks. We will have to live in an apartment until we leave here, then we'll be in Alabama for only 10 months before we are sent to another assignment. Sigh. I just want to stay on my Mama's back porch for the next 40-60 years. This home is the first home Richard and I have bought, and it is the first place that has been ours to do with what we want. It was hard to put so much into it knowing that we would have to leave it again eventually, but it was still worth the while. My children have established roots here. They will consider Louisiana to be "home", where they "come from". They have had the opportunity to have priceless time with their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins that they wouldn't have received had we been assigned anywhere else. I don't want to move. But I will. We will pack up and go and follow my husband and his career for atleast the next 8 years. And then we'll be back. Is it terrible to wish those 8 years to pass quickly? In 8 years, Brian will be 18 and Rachel will be 15. I will be...well, we won't go there. In 8 years, we'll be home again. We will have moved atleast 4 or 5 more times, packed and unpacked, travelled here and there...and then we'll be home again. Okay, I have to quit crying before these people get here to see my house or I might scare them away!!!