Post Spring Break

Here's the thing about spring break. It is awesome having a lot of free time and being able to see my husband when I get home from work... and then it ends. And, all the homework that was not done during spring break (because we were too busy partying) has to be done the next week. So, this has been post spring break homework week for Matt.

Which means that he gets home from school and is up late studying. It sucks. Probably more for him than me because he is the one doing all the work, but I still miss my man.

On the bright side, I invented two new dinner recipes this week. One was better than the other. Nicole would only eat one of them. But, here they are for your viewing pleasure.

Chicken, Potato, Green Bean Stuff

5 Potatoes
A bunch of frozen Green Beans
3 breasts of Chicken
1 Cube Bullion
1/2 c Water
2 small cans Cream of Mushroom Soup
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Lowry's Salt
Pepper

Wash and dice potatoes into bite size chunks and place in 9x13 pan. Place a layer of green beans on top of potatoes. Cut chicken into serving size chunks and place on top of green beans. Add broken up bullion cube and water to pan. Add soup over everything. Season pan with seasonings (just a layer of seasoning over everything, I never measure). Bake for 40 minutes at 425 degrees. Eat.

Nicole would not eat this dish. She had two bites of potato and two bites of chicken, tried one green bean and then told me the whole plate was yucky and wouldn't let it near her. Literally, she kept pushing it away from her and when I  would scoot it back to her, she pushed it again and had a fit. Ugh.

Broccoli Chicken Pasta

1 Head Broccoli
1 pkg noodles
2 breasts Chicken
2 T Olive Oil
2 T Butter
1 t red pepper flakes
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Lowry's season salt
Pepper
1/2 c whole milk
1/4 c Parmesan cheese

Cut broccoli into bite size pieces and place in boiling water for 3 minutes. Then, drain and set aside. Boil noodles and drain when cooked (any noodles you want, I use ones that look like wheels from the bulk section of Winco because Nicole will actually eat them). After you have drained the noodles, throw a little olive oil on them and stir it around so that they don't get all stick togethery.

Heat olive oil, 1 T butter, and red pepper flakes in frying pan on med. high heat. Butterfly chicken breasts and season with onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. (Again, I don't measure, I just sprinkle a bit of eat on both sides of the chicken.) Saute chicken in butter and oil until cooked.

(Trick with chicken: put it in the pan and don't touch it. Don't fiddle with it, don't turn it a million times, just put it in and leave it until you see it turning half way through the breast, THEN you turn it and you once again leave it. After 3-5 minutes, bend the breast with a fork or tongs; if the chicken breaks, then it is done. If it bends, it is not.)

Remove chicken from pan and let rest for 5 minutes. Chop chicken into bite size pieces after it has rested. Add milk to saute pan and deglaze all chickeny goodness from the bottom of the pan. Add cheese and more salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste. Add the other T of butter. When sauce tastes yummy and the butter is melted, add the noodles, broccoli, and chicken to sauce. Stir until the sauce gets everywhere and then serve.

Nicole at this meal. I told her the broccoli was little trees and the noodles were wheels and she ate it up. She wouldn't touch the chicken though. If it doesn't look like chicken nuggets, I swear that child doesn't believe it is chicken. But, she does call fish sticks chicken because they DO look like chicken nuggets. I just can't win with this girl.