Every now and then I like to do a chicken Parmesan of some sort… I’m not a big tomato sauce fan, but sometimes I get a hankering for tomato saucy. For these sandwiches, I coated the chicken breasts with panko bread crumbs after dredging them in an egg. Next, I cooked them in a skillet for a few minutes on each side until they got nice and crispy. Then, I put the chicken in a baking pan with some tomato sauce underneath and over top and finished cooking them in the oven for about 25 minutes. Top with Parmesan cheese for the last 5 minutes or so. They were lightly crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. Not too bad for a throw-together sandwich where I was basically winging it…

December has the holidays, starting with Thanksgiving even. For us, my parents usually come out to celebrate Christmas the first weekend of December, so we start early. Then we head into the actual holidays with Pup and Mr. BFF’s parents and Granny. Usually low-key with just them, and that’s just how we like it. Head into the new year and all that holds…

At work, that holds preparing in January for the accountants arrival in early February. That just happened earlier this week. But with year-end, month-end and quarter-end, it tends to be a very busy month. And all days leading into it are full and busy and calculating. So, as others may speak of Christmas vacations and holiday breaks, I’m getting ready to get into the thick of it. Which is all good… that’ s the way it is. And January is gone in a blur…

But now, already, as the work week winds down, I’m already back into cleaning out files mode and shredding old stuff. Cleaning up and out of sorts. Which is what I do when everything else is done. So everything else kind of comes to a screeching halt, and I’m left with file maintenance. Again, all good…

So, we’re thinking of taking Pup to the Dells sometime soon for a long weekend, when I can finally get away a bit (my available days away a bit limited due to it being a small company and such). Sounds like it sounds good to Pup, and looks like a lot of fun things to do there, so here’s hoping to getting away within the next month! 

• Ham and Cheese Sandwiches (and Chips) – That was yesterday. Since I went to the grocery store after work, it tends to be simple sandwiches for dinner.
• Cheese Ravioli with a Light Tomato Sauce, Salad and Croissants – That was tonight. Tasty, with Parmesan cheese over top, but nothing to write home about.
• Chicken Parmesan Subs
• Roasted Veggies over Couscous

And that is the menu for this week. Fairly simple and plain, nothing too fancy. Still have to see what’s going on for the Super Bowl… I’m sure we’ll get some good nibbles in somewhere along there. 

• 16-oz whole-wheat rotini pasta
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 8-oz mushrooms, sliced (next time we’ll use a full 16-oz package)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 12-oz jars artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed well and quartered
• 8-oz Parmesan cheese, shredded

1.  Heat pot of boiling water for pasta. Prepare as directed.

2.  While pasta is cooking, saute mushrooms in 2 Tbsp of butter. Set aside.

3.  In medium saucepan, melt remaining 2 Tbsp butter over moderately low heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the cream, salt and artichoke hearts. Cook until warmed, about 5 minutes.  Add Parmesan cheese.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for another 5  minutes, until warmed through and slightly thickened.  Add mushrooms and stir.  Toss pasta with sauce and enjoy!

I was actually planning on taking a picture of last night’s roasted broccoli, but we kind of ate it all before I got a chance.  I’d say that speaks to how yummy it was.

This is a tried and true stuffed mushroom recipe, made all the better with a pat of goat cheese on top!

• 1-lb button mushrooms, stems removed and set aside
• 4-5 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan (asiago works well, too)
• 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• 6 strips bacon
• olive oil
• 6 oz. goat cheese

1.   Cook bacon and set aside to cool. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  In food processor, pulse chop garlic and mushroom stems. Add breadcrumbs, cheese and bacon and pulse chop again.

3.  In saute pan, add chopped mixture with 2-3 Tbsp olive oil and cook about 5 minutes.

4.  Spoon filling into mushroom caps. Top with dab of goat cheese. Bake in oven for about 8 minutes. Press the softened goat cheese with back of spoon. Put in oven for about 4 more minutes. Enjoy!

We were lucky to have had a beautiful weekend, weather-wise, for walking around downtown. We ate some good food, did some walking, found some dives, did some people watching and overall had a blast. Our hotel was maybe 2 or 3 blocks from the stadium and even though it was a bit rainy, it was so easy just walking over to the game. The stadium itself was very cool and for me, it was just awesome to be inside. I have to say, I loved being there in person watching the game. The cheering, the clapping, the yelling, the Colts’ ‘first down’s… I loved jumping out of my seat to watch the run for a touchdown! Yes, I got to see touchdowns, although they didn’t win this game. Wacky season as it is. I think the part most interesting was how relatively quiet it is sometimes, as opposed to watching a game on TV. Quiet during the interim stuff when there’s nothing over the loudspeakers…
I guess I’m used to commentators babbling on incessantly during any down time. Everyone in town (almost) was dressed in Colts garb and gear. That was fun to see, too.

Here’s a shot of Peyton Manning, my favorite football player, who is unfortunately on the sidelines this year. I would have loved to see him in action, but at least I got to see him at the game. He is the player who sparked my interest in football some 13 years ago, with his rookie season of 3-13 followed by a second season of 13-3. I just think he’s a great quarterback; I thought he was great during his first season and I’ve had fun watching him ever since. We had good seats for the game, as you can see from this photo (with an assist from a good zoom lens).

After the game, we found a great pub for burgers and the Bears game on TV. We poked around downtown some more and even got in a swim at the hotel pool! I always enjoy being in the water when I can. Found a dive from the night before to watch the Steelers game and simply had an awesome weekend away. I’ll close with Mr. BFF’s favorite pic of the game… He made a great effort to get a shot of this part of the routine. UPDATE: Okay, this is Mr. BFF’s 2nd favorite pic… His first fave is a pic of me with a big smile on my face.

This is my lil girl… the love of my life. The one I run with in my dreams… And she, my sweetest, runs along with me…

So, we had a cookie exchange at work on Monday. I made Peanut Butter Blossoms. I’m not really a cookie baker, but I had tried this recipe the weekend beforehand, and frankly, it came out good enough. I did end up burning the first batch; I think because the oven rack was too low, but I still ended up with enough dough for my needed 5 dozen cookies (and then some), so all was good. Of the 11 participants in our exchange, 4 people made Oreo Balls… Never heard of them before, but the ones my boss made were the tastiest. She called hers Inside-Out Oreos and by gosh, that’s just what they tasted like! One of our salesmen made some semi-nutty sort of bars, maybe blondie-like? I have to ask him for the recipe because they were very tasty, too!

As for pseudo-drama, one woman brought a single plate of cookies with just enough for one cookie per person… Mind you, the idea was exchanging batches of 1/2 dozen cookies here. No biggie, but kind of typical for this person to “do her own thing”. Of course, that “own thing” is part of the reason why she is recently no longer with the company. Some of us are waiting to see if she shows up for the company luncheon tomorrow, cuz that’s something she would do (and being a former employee, she’s not really invited, per se). Another woman showed up a day and a half late with her cookies, and that information did not get passed along properly, so she ended up with maybe 1/3 of what she should have gotten. Not atypical for where I work, really. All in all, we’re riding sugar buzzes these past several days. Oh, and one woman brought homemade Irish Cream, which reminded me to bring out MY Irish Cream recipe… that’s on the agenda for Christmas Day!

Here’s another pic of my Peanut Butter Blossoms, with the recipe below. The cookies are tasty, and pretty simple to make, which was all part of the appeal:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1-1/2 cups peanut butter
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups flour
• 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• additional sugar for coating
• about 7 dozen Hershey’s Kisses

1.  Heat oven to 375 degrees. Beat together sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, butter and eggs. Stir in flour, baking soda and baking powder.

2.  Shape into 1″ balls; roll in additional sugar. Place 2″ apart on ungreased baking sheet.

3.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until light brown. Immediately press 1 Hershey Kiss into the center of each cookie. Remove from baking sheet and place onto wire rack. Makes about 7 dozen.

Next post = Colts game pics!