Countdown: Day Five

In honor of Bre/Emily {& the men in our lives} weekend happening in FIVE DAYS we will start a countdown complete with one of my favorite pictures each day of us together.

Five…

This is mega throwback to my sophomore year & B as a senior in the annual Baylor Sing!

Just Add Butter: Recipe 9

There are a few times that I am truly impressed with what I turn out of the kitchen for dinner.  Last night’s meal was one of them!  These chicken Parmesan stuffed manicotti are for sure one of my raving successes.  The recipe makes enough for about six manicotti shells.  Coach Husband scarfed sown three at dinner last night and ate the leftover two today for lunch after church today.  The recipe calls for cooked shredded chicken and thanks to Rebecca that didn’t derail my plans at all!  I’ve started purchasing a whole chicken while grocery shopping and throwing it in the crock-pot when I get home from the grocery store.  Seasoned with some rosemary, thyme and filled with plenty of water the bird cooks all day and provides me with enough chicken for at least two meals and a couple of lunches!  It’s also been a huge money saver on the grocery budget and has no cleanup.  Double win in my book. 

On to the manicotti.

Stuffed Manicotti

Manicotti Shells

1 cup shredded chicken

1 egg

½ cup ricotta cheese

Parmesan cheese

Oregano

pepper

Can Italian style tomatoes

Chopped basil leaves

Cook shells until done & drain.  Handle with care so they don’t tear!

Mix shredded chicken, egg, ricotta cheese, ½ cup Parmesan & a few shakes of oregano in a bowl.  

Stuff shells with chicken mixture gently & place in a greased baking dish.

In a small saucepan heat Italian style tomatoes, 2 tablespoons Parmesan and chopped basil leaves.

Bring to boil and then reduce heat and allow to simmer until heated through.

Spoon sauce over shells & sprinkle with more Parmesan and whole basil leaves

Place in an oven (pre-heated to 350) and bake for 25-30 minutes.

I loved how quick this was to make and how filling!  Served alongside a salad and French bread it was the perfect dinner on a cold, rainy Saturday night.

Happy Eating,

Just Add Butter: Recipe 8

These ham & cheese roll-ups were a Pintrest inspiration with a twist to make it more appetizing for us.  Coach Husband was an immediate fan and has asked for them multiple times since.  They’re quick, relatively effortless and quite filling.  I think they would be a great party appetizer but we had them for dinner alongside some steamed broccoli and carrots.

Cheesy Ham Roll-Ups

Refrigerated Pizza Crust

½-3.4 lb. deli ham thinly sliced

12 slices of Swiss cheese

1-tablespoon honey mustard (it can also me made with Dijon mustard...just not really our thing)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

½ cup butter

Roll our pizza dough on a cutting board, forming a square

Top with thin slices of ham & cheese slices

Here is the fun part!  Tightly roll the ingredients into a long tube.

Cut the tube into sections (think cinnamon rolls)  You should be able to create about 12 sections. 

Arrange the sections in a 9X13 greased baking dish

In a saucepan melt butter, brown sugar, mustard & Worcestershire sauce

Whisk until the sauce is smooth and then pour over the roll ups

Bake in the oven on 325 degrees for about 25 minutes.

So yum!

Bookcase Facelife

One of the family room projects is finished!  The past weekend we put the last coat of paint on the bookcase, and unpacked the final three boxes of books that had been living in one of the guest rooms/Coach’s office.  So glad that this is finished…only one more project left!

This is the first furniture re-do I have done completely independently from my mom.  We started off by using stripper to take off the other layers of paint.  This bookcase was a birthday present back in college.  My daddy actually built this bookcase to hold my plethora of books.  Originally the bookcase was a soft ocean color blue but had since been painted white & brown.  Never had we ever stripped the paint, so we had multiple layers to eat through.  After about thirty minutes of futility attempting to strip through the layers CH left for Home Depot supposedly to purchase some additional stripper.  Instead he came home with a handheld sander, talk about a happy girl!  Using the hand stripper we quickly stripped through the remaining layers quickly! 

Two coats of Behr paint later we finally had a finished product to move into the family room.  I used paint & primer in one and skipped a separate primer. 

Keeping this bookcase was incredibly important to me.  Having pieces that my mom dreamed up and my daddy constructed and has followed me through several phases of life is meaningful.  It might be heavy, cumbersome and a pain to move but it’s something I refuse to get rid of!

before

love that CH’s college helmet & my favorite sign live in harmony