Lightened Up Chicken Piccata

I absolutely love the flavors from capers and have fallen head over heels for Chicken Piccata. My all time favorite was from Zio's Restaurant. But as Mr. Right and I have resolved to counting our calories, we have had to figure out a way to lighten up this tasty dinner. We loved it and we hope you will too! 

Ingredients
2 Chicken breasts(Filleted)
1 egg 

1/2 cup AP Flour
1 Cup Seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried parsley

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup brined capers
1 T Olive Oil
2 T brine from Capers

Preheat oven to 375. Fillet chicken breasts. While still on cutting board, place plastic wrap over chicken and hammer with a meat tenderizer. (I love my Pampered Chef Meat Tenderizer) Set up 3 bowls that will fit the chicken breasts (1. flour, 2. beaten egg, and 3. breadcrumb and spices) Dredge chicken breasts in flour, then beaten egg, then breadcrumb and spice mixture. Lay on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with canola cooking spray and spray more cooking spray on top of chicken.

Bake in oven about 8 minutes each side. (may vary depending on thickness of chicken)

While baking, prepare 4 servings of Angel Hair Whole Wheat Pasta and Piccata sauce.

In a saucepan by combining lemon juice, Olive Oil, caper brine and chicken stock. Allow to reduce for 7 minutes. Add Capers and allow them to come to temperature.

Plate pasta and chicken, pour Picatta sauce over the top and garnish with Parmesan cheese. 

Pretty satisfying meal for about 540 calories!

Call me crazy, but I am a Caillou Fan!

Have you ever taken a shower with peering eyes on the other side of the glass? How about once you make a motion to turn of the water and your helpful little angel pulls your towel onto the floor picking up any dust bunnies that have congregated there since the last time you vacuumed the floor (three weeks ago). So you wrestle the towel from the kid and attempt to dry off and as fast as possible before they try give you kisses on anything he or she may perceive as "owies". You reach for your lotion and of course, they want some too. To avoid a fight, you give them the smallest squirt and all of a sudden, "It's ok Mommy! I put some cream on you!" If only cream could fix the cottage cheese that was once my butt. Sigh.

But you know what is great? Having your 2 year old want to stay downstairs to watch Caillou so that you can sneak away and take a shower without a tiny audience! Now, I know some mommies have come out with their deep seeded hatred of the whiny little tyke that graces Sprout's airwaves. I get it, the kid is constantly whining, has the world's least inventive theme song, but yet, my sweet little PeeWee schedules her whole day around him. And for now, I am thankful!

I am equally thankful that my little PeeWee is so very sweet and wants to make sure that anything that ails me is taken care of. 

Slow Cooker Beef Barley Soup

This summer, I made this delicious summertime meal from Iowagirleats.com. I had a lot of leftover barley and started dreaming of the fall when I could make a delicious beef barley soup. Well, my taste buds needn't wait any longer and yours don't have to either. I found this recipe on Betty Crocker's website here.

I have made a few minor changes.

Slow Cooker Beef Barley Soup

Ingredients

1 cup frozen cut green beans 

1 cup frozen corn2 lbs pounds beef stew meat1 chopped bell pepper1 chopped large onion1 cup uncooked pearled barley1/2 teaspoon salt1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon pepper1 carton (32 ounces) beef broth -Reduced Sodium 2 cans (14.5 ounces each) diced tomatoes1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

Directions

Add all ingredients in slow cooker. Mix carefully to not splatter. Place on Low heat for 8-10 hours. Go to work, run after a few little ones, go to the spa, or whatever it is that you do during the day. Come home, ladle a few spoonfuls into your favorite crock and Enjoy!

This also freezes great for those "I just don't have it in me to make a meal" kind of days!

Talk about easie peasie, lemon squeezie! (You can take me out of the classroom, but you can't take the 7 year old lingo out of me!) 

Sufferin Succotash!

With this being the first Thanksgiving away from our families, Mr. Right and I have been busy meal planning for our big Turkey Day. This is no time to forgo a delicious feast nor time to go healthy, right?! Here is what we are planning on dinning on, I hope you can use one of our recipes in your home

Roasted Turkey

Grandma D's Pork Sausage dressing - Check out our family recipes blog for this deliciousness!

Grandma's Cranberry Relish (recipes to follow in a future blog post)

The Best French Bread EVER 

Ruth's Chris' Sweet Potato casserole

Corn & Edamame Succotash 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups frozen shelled edamame

• 1 tablespoon EVOO

• 1 chopped red bell pepper

• 1 chopped onion

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 cups frozen corn kernels
• 1/2 pint heavy cream
• 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter

• 2 teaspoons dried basil

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

Directions

1. Steam edamame in the microwave per package directions.

2. In large, non-stick frying pan, heat EVOO. Add onion, garlic, and bell pepper. Stir frequently until they start to soften. Stir in corn and edamame. Add butter and allow to melt. Slowly incorporate heavy cream, basil, salt, and pepper. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes so all of the flavors can meld. 

Enjoy! 

In the Blink of an Eye

And in the blink of an eye, it is no longer May, but November! In my meager defense, a lot has occurred in the time lapse. I settled into my Stay at Home Mom status including updating my Facebook status. After working last school year, our home was close to being quarantined for YUCKY! I made every attempt to clean up the neglected house work. I found this fantastic idea I found on Pinterest: Getting Mold Out of the Shower I was way skeptical but it works! It totally works! Thank you,  Jessica @ http://www.thisblessedlife.net/ !!

We found out in June that Mr. Right's employer was being acquired and it was uncertain whether he would have a job come the closing of the deal. Super, because I just quit my job! Thankfully, Mr. Right is a rockstar in his career and most companies would be beside themselves to have him on board. Sadly, Albuquerque isn't known for having plentiful corporations to work for in his field. Happy news, the Dallas/Fort Worth area is and he was made a job offer. Hooray! 

Dropping Mr. Right off for his first day

We had minimal notice of our move to another state.... like less than 2 weeks. But in good spirits and a belief in God's plan for us, we packed up a 6x12 trailer and made a preliminary move to the area. We were fortunate to find a lovely home to rent in a quaint town outside of Dallas. 2 weeks later, we returned to Albuquerque to pack at 26ft Penske truck with the remainder of all of our worldly goods. (Thank heaven for amazing families that have our back at every turn!) 

 PeeWee posing for pictures on top of her pumpkin while the movers unloaded our moving truck. I will definitely pay someone to move our stuff when it's time to move again! 

Welcoming committee

PeeWee got to be her beloved Olivia for her first Halloween to be Trick or Treating. We are definitely living in a family friendly neighborhood and we couldn't be happier!!

We are quickly acclimating to the area and have even joined a mommy & me group. We have been to the library a handful of times and decided to stay at home today for a low key kind of a day. We enjoyed making these Thankful Turkeys compliments of  http://afaithfulattempt.blogspot.com/

Stay tuned, because I am determined to start blogging more often! 

It's official.....

As of 1:00 today when I turned in my classroom keys, I am a stay at home mommy! I anxiously called Mr. Right to announce my unemployment.

There are so many things I want to tackle and accomplish that I just don't know where to begin! Perhaps I just take today to sit back, relax and have a pretend tea party with PeeWee. Yes, that's what I'll do! Check back frequently to see how I fare as a SAHM.

This is what dreams are made of

What a fantastic weekend!
The weekend festivities kicked off Thursday evening when we got to meet the beautiful baby G! PeeWee absolutely loved her baby.

Friday, we again got to see Baby G and her ever brave, courageous mommy. (Check out her blog to be completely inspired: http://fightlikecrazy.blogspot.com/

Saturday, Mr. Right, PeeWee and I had a relaxed morning hanging out before going to register PeeWee for swimming lessons. We are so excited to get to play in the pool for 2 weeks. After dealing with the less than polite teenagers running the lesson sign ups, we were off to my in-laws house for a family get together. The girls had on their matching outfits and their sunshine bottoms were absolutely adorable. What a great time to see PeeWee and Baby G together.

This morning, I woke up and looked out our patio door at our dismal looking backyard. Since we got rid of the dogs last August, weeds have overtaken our backyard. I decided that PeeWee and I would work in the backyard while Mr. Right went to cut the grass at my in-laws house. The kid actually really enjoys pulling weeds! Wow, I hope that stays the case after I can teach her not to pull the flowers! The yard still has so many more weeds to go, but we're making progress. Mr. Right stopped at the hardware store on his way home to make me the herb planters that I found here: http://www.artandappetite.com/2011/04/desert-gardening/ He is so close to being done and then I can start transplanting the seedlings that are growing in PeeWee's room. We finished the evening by getting a pizza and eating on the patio.

And with 30 calendar days left of being a working mom, I am elated to get our summer fun started!