Pesto Mozzarella Chicken... No ones complaining about cheesy chicken!

Pesto Mozzarella Chicken

So, I found this new recipe the other day and we LOVED it! If I didn't think it was weird and unheathly to drink the olive oil pesto juice out of the bottom of the pan, I would have. I made homemade mashed potatoes and broccoli with it... DELICIOUS! Dallas even took it with him the next day to work and said it was even better the second day. He loves left overs...I love fresh food.

Men are strange like that...

 

So, to make this bad mamma jamma you need a good pesto recipe. Don't you worry, I've got ya covered.

Basil-Walnut Pesto

• 3 cups fresh basil leaves


• 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts


• 4 cloves garlic, peeled


• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese


• 1 cup olive oil


• salt and pepper to taste . 

In a food processor, blend together basil leaves, nuts, garlic, and cheese. Pour in oil slowly while still mixing. Stir in salt and pepper.

Alright, now that you've got that part covered. We're onto the chicken...

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded to 1/4 inch thickness


• 1 cup prepared basil pesto


• 4 thick slices mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F


2. Spread 2 to 3 tablespoons of the pesto sauce onto each flattened chicken breast. Place one slice of cheese over the pesto. Roll up tightly, and secure with toothpicks. Place in a lightly greased baking dish.


3. Bake uncovered for 45 to 50 minutes in the preheated oven, until chicken is nicely browned and juices run clear. 

I take it out of the over every 15 minutes or so and drizzle some juice on top to keep the chicken moist. The first time I drizzle a little melted butter over the top of the chicken, and then the next 3 times I just spoon the olive oil in the bottom of the pan. 


Hope you love it!

I'll repost this to my blog in week and put up a new recipe!!!

Wow... It's been too long.

I haven't blogged in so long! Life hasn't been crazy, I haven't birthed a random child that's now taking up my time, I haven't been out of the country vacationing...

I've simply been lazy.

Life has been good lately! The last time I posted anything I was talking about Halloween and trying to get Husband dressed up for the Lifegroup halloween party we were going to... well, we ended up not getting to do the Bambi and Hunter...

This is what he decided to dress up as...





Ahhhh yes. My cheap, creative, hilarious husband! LOL. I loved it. It was very much the perfect costume for him.

We also began puppy school for Doc! He loves it and is in L-O-V-E with a girl puppy in his class named Abby. She's a lab, feisty, and loves to play... He can't wait to get into the building to see her! It's pretty cute...

This is Doc's first day of school- (yes, I bought him a school outfit!)




Let's see, what else is new?
I started selling Scentsy! I'm going back to school next semester so I'm trying to find an easier way to make money that won't take up so much of my time. It's been going okay- I just started so we'll see how it all works out in the future. It's fun, it smells good- pretty nice job I'd say!




Also, we just celebrated Thanksgiving with my Mom, Stepdad and oldest sister, Jill. It was a fun weekend full of jokes, laughing and cooking cooking cooking!! We had such a good time together and ate so much good food!!! It was the first Thanksgiving at the Paulk house here in Abilene, so it was exciting for me. :)
Too bad I forget to take pictures or else I would have posted one of the golden brown, juicy turkey we made. DELICIOUS! My mama cooks a mean turkey!

So all-in-all it's been a pretty good start to November! Now I'm just waiting on Dallas to give me the thumbs up on lighting a fire in our fireplace... Please get here soon cold weather!

Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life. You are so good to me.

Bambi and the Hunter...

Well, I'm off today to do a couple of VERY important things.
A. Purchase a new winter coat. :) Can't be freezing my cute little buns off.
B. Hair color shopping with Swiney. Gotta be looking fabulous...
C. Purchasing the ingredients for my Bambi costume.

The issue is- I need little antlers. I don't know where you buy little antlers, nor do I know how to make little antlers. This may be interesting...
Also, I'm trying to convince my wonderful husband to participate and dress up with me.
I thought-hmmm... I just need him to be a hunter- not a lot different from his usual attire, so no biggy.
Dallas HATES dressing up for halloween. Luckily, he's the greatest, so he agreed to do it. But I want him to enjoy it!!!!
Guess that won't happen, but I'll sure love it!

I've also decided that tonight we're going to have a pumpkin carving contest.
He doesn't know this- but surely he'll enjoy that!!!! Who doesn't love carving pumpkins?

So, girl time this afternoon, work for a few hours tonight, and then a pumpkin carving contest with my love... good day, I'd say!

Wish me luck with the antlers! I'll have to tap into my creative side...

Home Remedy- curing the blues with a big bowl of Banana Pudding!

This is for you Steph!

I know I just posted, but I wanted to share a great home remedy that I've learned.

Eating banana pudding out of the container with an oversized spoon is sure to cure any case of the blues!

What blues you might ask? Oh, the Texas Rangers losing game 1 of the World Series because they decided not to show up to the game...
I mean, technically they showed up, but I think a little leaguer could have caught more balls than Vladimir Guerrero did tonight!
So, what do you do when you're pouting and you're husband is napping so you have no one to complain to? You eat... You eat sweets... You eats Lots and Lots of sweets.
In this instance- Banana pudding. Extra Nilla Wafers, less banana.

I have a magical recipe that an old cowboy gave to me and it's the best darn banana pudding this side of the Rio Grande!
When I make this stuff my refrigerator glistens, a chorus sings, and rays of light burst out of the doors as they open. It's beautiful.

So, because of my overflowing kindness, I've decided to share the recipe. Don't tell Roy, the cowboy.

Best Darn Banana Pudding this side of the Rio Grande

• Big box of Jell-o instant Vanilla pudding
• 2 1/2 cups of milk
• 1 block of softened cream cheese
• 1 can of eagle brand milk
• bananas
• nilla wafers
• big tub of Cool Whip
  

So, easy as pie- or pudding... get out two big bowls.
Blend together the cream cheese and eagle brand milk until smooth.
Add the milk, blend it into the mix.
Add the instant vanilla pudding- mix well.
Divide between the two bowls and let it sit 5 minutes.
Now mix the two batches back into one big batch and let it sit another 5 minutes.

Is it pudding texture? Great!

Layer nilla wafers, sliced bananas, pudding, nilla wafers, sliced bananas, pudding...continue until you're out of pudding.
Top with as much cool whip as your little heart desires and sprinkle the top of that with crushed Nilla Wafers. It just looks pretty. Slice some banana at an angle, get a nilla wafer and make a pretty little flower on top.
So pretty!

Now get a spoon and dig in!

Save some for game 2... just in case you need it!

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8

Well, today was quite a fantastic day! I recently reconnected with a great friend from my past and we actually met up today and had a little girl time to chat it up...
Quick rundown of our friendship history-
We were best friends in the whole world, but we were very bad for each other. We were both living in darkness and Satan had us right where he wanted us... Neither of us KNEW Christ, nor did we care to- our lives were so much more fun without "restrictions".
In the midst of the darkness that we were living in, we both struggled with alcohol and bad relationships, soon our friendship was deteriorated. We lost touch for a couple of years- I honestly didn't know if she was dead, in another state, in jail... I had no clue.
I grew to know the Lord in those few years and my life changed dramatically...I accepted Christ, began living my life for Him, I met my husband, got married- I grew up!! (I'm making this story short, I'll give juicy, wonderful details later. :) ) Somewhere along the way I began to miss my old friend. I missed her so much, but I often debated if it was worth it to try to find her... What if she didn't miss me, what if she was still living like a wild child and we had nothing in common anymore, what if i found out some terrible truth about where she was??
Well, after much debate, I did it. I found her husband on facebook and asked him to please let her know I was looking for her and that I loved her face off. He did, and he passed on my number to her like I requested. A day later I got a text. :) Three texts later, I got one that said,

"...We love Jesus. It's been a rocky road but God has been so good to us."

My heart melted!!! My friend knows and loves the Lord! He split us up in the middle of our darkness so that he could draw us near to Him... He knew we were bad for each other, we just didn't know it. When we were both at the peak of our darkness, the Lord came to each of us. He found me in my weakness and lifted me up with his strength... He became my Rock.
He revealed himself to each of us in his own perfect way, showed us his faithfulness and his deep, unending love for us and he showed us the beauty of life with him! He saved us, He rescued us! We are HIS!
We live for him now, He knows it- and he reconnected us in his own perfect timing!
We talked 5 hours today, 1 1/2 of which was in person and we found out so much about one another's new lives!
We learned that we're at the same church (HUGE church...we just kept missing one another!), we have so much in common that is so different than the old us, she has a sweet little baby and oddly enough- our husbands are in the same men's group at church~~!!
Little did either of them know know that their wives were crazy kids together once upon a time... crazy kids living in the dark, needing a savior.

God is so amazing and this is just one more way that He has proven to me that He is in control. He runs the show. HE loves me deeply...
Thank you, Lord, for bringing this friendship into the light... individually, and now as a team.
God is so amazing!!!! Not only can I consider her my friend now, but my sister in Christ!

As a newly married, young, Christian woman, sometimes it's hard to meet and connect with women you're age or with the same interests...
Lately I've made some great friends that I'm so thankful for and I can see our friendships blossoming and growing daily.
I've always had an issue with making and keeping girlfriends, but since I've let the Lord lead me he's really put some great, strong Christian women in my life. I'm so glad that one of those women happens to now be, Swiney. (the old best friend. :) )

It's only been 5 months...

Well, considering I'm starting to blog about my new marriage 5 months after it began, I should probably fill you in on the interesting things that have been going on.
Such as:

I'm sleeping next to my husband now... SWEET! It's fun, our legs get tangled, we are pillow snatchers and cover stealers and often I end up laying in a moist spot where one of us has drooled. Funny, neither of us look like people in the movies when we're sleeping. It's actually very unattractive, but hilarious. Who wakes up with curls in their hair? Mine has extra body on the sides, a flat weird spot in the crown, and a rats nest somewhere in the back. It's beautiful. :)




We like to cook! We liked to cook before, but now we live together and we can do it together in our little kitchen! He's more of a grilling type of guy and I like to try new recipes... sometimes they are a little blah to say the least. Whoever is posting terrible recipes, please knock it off. I have discovered some good ones lately though- I'll share them later. Maybe. If you're lucky. ;)



We got a puppy. He is adorable and loves to eat things that I typically like to keep in one piece. For instance, my couch and bras. These things are mine- please refrain from confusing them with your puppy food.
He poops a lot. We're working on potty training and it's going pretty well, but he tests my gag reflex every one in a while when he forgets where the door is.
His name is Doc and he's a stinker, but we love him!



You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.
Or vise versa- I want to be scratched last. And preferably gently as I'm falling asleep.
Dallas and I have learned that not only do you get a wonderful wife/husband when you get married, but you get a back scratcher/foot rubber!
We DVR all of our favorite shows and set aside time to watch them together at the end of the day and give foot massages. :) My favorite time of day is when I get to spend a little time with my love, watch our "stories" and share a little love.
In heard romance described as "passionate and sexual" the other day- sure, we have that, but the best romance is when it's sweet, funny, and you're simply sharing a little time and a glass of wine together at the end of the day.





Oh, and I changed my driver's license today to my new last name. :)
I'm a bit of a procrastinator.