Monday, Monday, Monday

Good evening all!   How was everyone's weekend?  I actually caught a cold (probably from the late nights and possible drinking on New Year's) and was kind of down for the count this weekend - but we were productive enough that we rented a wood chipper & cleared out the brush in our backyard that had been accumulating for 1+ years.  It looks so great back there.  This was in preparation for us to build a nice privacy fence in the back of our house for our two dogs & (of course!) for some privacy from our neighbors.  This will take a little planning as we have to go through the 'Architectural Review Board' in our town and get their approval before we can even begin purchasing the materials and building the fence.  Hopefully I'll get the application in & we'll get the go-ahead by April so we can start working before it gets too hot here.

On to the food!!!

The red wine & goat cheese risotto that I made was very yummy.  I think I put a tad too much goat cheese in it, even though I love goat cheese - it was a little too powerful.  The recipe calls for 6 ounces, I believe, next time, I will probably put about 3 in.

The baked french toast bites with amaretto were decent.  It was a fairly quick meal to prepare, but I just wasn't wowed by it.

Yesterday, I went to the grocery and purchased my food for the week and I bought the items to make the Chocolate Dream Tart from Betty Crocker.  I had made this in the past but made a very juvenile error and forgot to bake the crust before putting the other ingredients in it, but this time, I made the crust the proper way.    This pie/tart is soo very tasty - but you will only need a small slice as it is very rich.

This week, I'll make:

Monday:  Cream-Cheese Stuffed Chicken with Bacon (this is not from a recipe, but from my mom's kitchen! - - I'll explain how she taught me below)

Tuesday: Haystacks from Rachael Ray
   I will use no meat for mine, but for my meat-loving boyfriend, I'll probably add some meat & turn his meal in to soft-tacos.

Wednesday:  leftovers (lasagna that I've thawed out from a month or so ago, or home-made Chicken Noodle Soup) because I have a meeting after work.

Thursday:  Dinner out with my mom!

Friday:  Dinner out with the book club ladies!

As for how I'll make the chicken tonight:

I'll use:

4 chicken breasts and do a butterfly fillet/cut to get them to be a bit thinner
2 blocks of cream cheese, softened
fresh chives, minced
Onion
Garlic powder
Bacon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
I will cut the chicken as stated above & possibly pound them to make them thinner still.
Mix:  Softened cream cheese, diced chives, some garlic powder, and minced onion.
Spread this mixture on all 4 flattened chicken breasts
Roll chicken breasts & wrap with 1 slice of bacon
Fasten with a toothpick if necessary

Place rolled chicken in sprayed, or greased baking dish & cover with aluminum foil.
Bake at least 30 minutes.  At this point - pull out and check done-ness of chicken.

Cooking time could go up to 45 minutes.  Enjoy!!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Monday!