Busy busy hump day!

Another day, another blog! Although I didn't get a chance to write this on Wednesday, I had too much going on! I had wanted to get this entry up much sooner than I'm getting to it, but unfortunately my days have flown by and now it's Saturday already! I had planned on getting this up last night before I went to bed but my pictures weren't cooperating with me... but I will get this up before my sister in AZ (Erin) and I go get dinner started!!

On Wednesday I was trying to get the house cleaned for Bunco night on Thursday. I was hosting for my oldest sister's (Carrie) group. Our house needed a lot of work but thankfully my brother's fiance (Shelley) came up to help :)

While we were eating the chicken quesadillas (one of the things I just couldn't stop myself from getting at Sam's Club lol), Picasso was quite fascinated with Shelley's socks.

While we were eating the chicken quesadillas (one of the things I just couldn't stop myself from getting at Sam's Club lol), Picasso was quite fascinated with Shelley's socks.

After lunch I went over to Carrie's house to pick up some wine, and things for the thank yous that we were giving to her friends at Bunco. The thank yous were a recipe card of a cookie we grew up named after my mom, Carol's Favorite Cookies, some of the cookies, and a card my sister wrote. Then I had to hit the grocery store to grab a few more things for the cookies, and then it was get back home time so I could get dinner going!

For dinner, we had Angel Chicken Pasta with Asparagus and garlic cheese bread. I found the recipe here on All Recipes. The asparagus recipe is from my brother's fiance, Shelley.

Everything you need for Angel Chicken Pasta! You need: 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 1/4 cup butter, 1 (.7oz) pkg of dry Italian-style salad dressing mix, 1/2 cup white wine, 1 can condensed golden mushroom soup, 4 ounces cream cheese with chives, and 1 pound angel hair pasta. I found that the first time I made this it didn't make enough sauce for my liking, so in this picture I have enough ingredients to double it, but I would try it normally first and see what you think.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

NOTE: The following pictures will show ingredients for doubled sauce.

Cut up your butter into small pieces and add it to a large saucepan over low heat.

While the butter melts, add your chicken breasts to a 13x9 baking dish. I had TJ cut the breasts into slices because it allows the sauce to seep in-between the slices and give the chicken some more flavor. But this is something that I found preferable to just adding the breasts normally.

After the butter has melted, stir in your package of italian dressing mix. Then blend in your wine and golden mushroom soup. Mix in your cream cheese...

...and stir until smooth. Heat through, but do not boil it.

Sophie is a huge help in the kitchen. She is a master of getting underfoot while you're moving, and then when you try to get around her she magically knows where you plan on moving to and is there before you get there. She is also very skilled at backing into you. I like to make the "beepbeepbeep" sound as if she were a semi-truck backing up :P

After the sauce is heated, pour it over the chicken breasts. Put the dish in the oven for 60 minutes.

20 minutes before the chicken is done, get water boiling on the stove for the pasta. Lightly salt it.

Once it's boiling add the pasta and boil until al dente, or 5 minutes.

For the asparagus add some water to a pan of your choice and lightly salt it.

I actually used my stir fry pan because it fit the asparagus nicely. While the water reaches boiling, grab an asparagus spear and hold it at the end and break it, it should snap at the natural breaking point. If the spear ends up breaking really long or really short, then try it on another one. Once you have your spear broken, use that as a guide to cut your other spears.

Once the water is boiling add your asparagus and boil them for 8-10 minutes for thicker spears or 6-7 minutes for thinner spears.

After they're done boiling, shut off the burner and drain the awesomely neon-green water out and add 1 tbsp of butter, 1 tbsp olive oil, and some seasoning of your choice. I used french herb seasoning, but it can just be salt and pepper. It's up to you. After you add the butter, oil, and seasoning, hold onto the handle of the pan and move it back and forth to move the asparagus around and coat them.

All that's left is to saute them over low heat for 6-10 minutes. The nice thing about this part is you can let them sit on the stove until dinner is just about ready.

When the chicken is done, pull it out of the oven and let it sit while you drain the pasta.

Serve the chicken and sauce over the pasta, and enjoy with the asparagus and garlic bread if you choose.

Next up I had to get my mom's cookie's made! It was about midnight by the time I finished... which is why I didn't get this blog up until now. I ended up being up til 2am because I was trying to figure out how to type the recipe on Word and get it to line up properly with the recipe card. If I could've gotten it to cooperate, I would have printed it on some clear label paper and put it on the recipe card, but alas it wasn't meant to be! So instead I got as many recipe cards hand-written as I could before I had to get to bed because I was exhausted.

Thankfully this recipe is so easy! It really takes no time at all :)

Everything you need: 1 cup shortening, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 egg, 2 cups flour, 1 pkg milk chocolate chips. I had to make enough cookies for 11 thank you bags worth, so once again I had to double this recipe. So everything I have in the picture is doubled.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

NOTE: The following pictures will show ingredients for doubled cookies.

Add your shortening, sugar, and vanilla...

...and combine.

Then add your egg...

...and combine, again. See? What did I say. Easysauce.

This is what it should look like.

Next is the flour. Add it gradually so you don't end up with flour all over your kitchen! I've been there and done that... not so much fun to clean up!

Be sure to scrape the sides of your bowl in between adding the flour. After all the flour has been combined, that's it! The dough is complete :)

All that's left is spreading it into your 13x9 pan. Stoneware works great for these, but if you only have metal be sure to grease it first. I used Pam for baking on the metal pan.

Have fun spreading out the dough, I sure did! Yeah... maybe not. I kind of got frustrated at it because I was so tired, but yeah... anyways! Moving on!

Once both are spread out and even, put them in the oven until golden brown. The metal pan took about 15 minutes to bake, and the stoneware took about 18 minutes.

This is me trying to relax while the cookies bake. Picasso had to join me of course, he loves to snuggle.

So then I really snuggled with him. Let me tell you, he was not a huge fan! But it's his own fault :P

While the cookie is cooling, melt your chocolate chips in a double boiler.

Yummy melted chocolate! Aka a girl's best friend <3

Pour the melted chocolate on top of the cooled cookie.

Spread the chocolate out until it's even all over the cookie.

I got to repeat the process one more time! Yay for me!

After the chocolate is on the cookie, let it set. Then you can cut them and enjoy my momma's favorite cookie!

That's all there is to it. It's such a yummy simple cookie. I hope you enjoy them as much as my mom did!

Lucky me, Erin's cat Hailey decided to help me finish my blog entry! She looks pretty comfy lol

<3 Kate

Angel Chicken Pasta                               [click to print] Serves 6 Ingredients 6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves 1/4 cup butter 1 (.7oz) pkg dry Italian-style salad dressing mix 1/2 cup white wine 1 can condensed golden mushroom soup 4 oz cream cheese with chives 1 lb angel hair pasta Method Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Stir in the package of dressing mix. Blend in wine and golden mushroom soup. Mix in cream cheese, and stir until smooth. Heat through, but do not boil. Arrange chicken breasts in a single layer in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour sauce over. Bake for 60 minutes in the preheated oven. Twenty minutes before the chicken is done, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a rolling boil. Cook pasta until al dente, about 5 minutes. Drain. Serve chicken and sauce over pasta.

Asparagus                                                           [click to print] Ingredients 1 bundle of asparagus 1 tbsp butter 1 tbsp olive oil pinch of salt and pepper, or seasoning Method Bring water to a boil. While water reaches a boil, rinse your asparagus. Then take a spear and hold it at the end and break it. It should snap at the natural breaking point. If that particular spear ends up breaking really long or really short, try it with another spear. Once you have your broken spear of a good length, use it as a guideline to cut the rest of the spears. Once the water is boiling, add your asparagus and boil them for 8-10 minutes for thicker spears, or 6-7 minutes for thinner spears. After they're done drain the spears and add your butter, oil, and seasoning. Toss the spears in it until coated. Then turn the heat to low and saute for 6-10 minutes. Enjoy!    Carol's Favorite Cookies                    [click to print] Makes about 24 Ingredients 1 cup shortening 1 cup brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla 1 egg 2 cups flour 1 pkg milk chocolate chips Method Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix the shortening, brown sugar, and vanilla; add egg. Then add in the flour gradually. Spread into a 13x9 pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. While cookie cools, melt chocolate chips in a double boiler. Spread onto cookie after it is done baking. Cut and enjoy when chocolate has set.