Tasty Tuesday

Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu

Ingredients:  

**4 chicken breast halves, pounded thin 
**4-8 slices of ham  
**4-8 slices of swiss cheese ( I used Mozzerella because it's what I had on hand, and I didn't feel like making a trip to the store for swiss cheese) 
**can of your favorite cream-of-something soup ( I used cream of mushroom..again it's what I had on hand)   
**2 T low fat milk

Directions:  

Pound chicken breasts flat (put them in a ziplock before you pound so chicken juice doesn't spray all over the kitchen.  Nasty. 
Put a slice of ham and cheese on the chicken breast. Roll up and place in crock pot, seam side down. 
Next....this part is the hardest part :) Open the can of soup.  Stir in 2T of milk and stir.  Then all you do is dump it over the chicken. 
Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or 4 hours on high. 


This was delicious!  We made homemade mashed potatoes with potatoes from Kevin's grandparent's garden.  This is now one of my favorites and it's super easy.  5 ingredients.  That's it.  Instead of pounding out the chicken. I used a sharp knife and cut in half.  I don't have a mallot, so this was the easiest option. 

I hope you all try this..such a warm delicious comfort food for the fall. 

Dietary Modifications. 
Trim the chicken of any fat.  Cutting the chicken breast will also reduce the portion of the chicken as well.
Using part skim mozzerella reduces the fat and calories compared to swiss cheese.
Use heart healthy or reduced sodium soup. 
and use skim milk or water.  It's just to thin out the soup to be more pourable over the chicken. 

Please comment me back if you try this recipe and what you thought of it!!

Kaelin's 1st Birthday!!

I absolutely just cannot believe that it has been a year already since Kaelin Deborah came into our lives.  She has been so fun.  She definitely is a different kid than Lauren.  Everyone said "No two kids are the same" and that is the God honest truth. 
Last week, my mom was in town for about 5 days so we did a little early celebration with her.  My mom made this super cute doll cake!  It was a big hit!  This last week, Kevin's mom and cousin Ashleigh were in town for about 5 days as well.  We spent time visiting and playing. On Kaelin's birthday we went out for lunch at Cracker Barrel and then went to the Wizard of Oz museum. It was a beautiful day for my baby girl's first birthday! 

 

Kaelin also was able to Skype and talk to Kevin.  She LOVES talking to him on the phone. She gets so excited and babbles and laughs. It is so adorable. She will walk around with the phone up to her ear just talking away. I know Kevin absolutely just loves it too.  We are so blessed to have both of our families be so supportive and loving to both of our girls.  It was a great week of celebrations. I can't wait until Kevin is home to celebrate many more with us. 
P.S.  Kevin left when Lauren was 7 weeks old, ...that means we are 45 weeks done with this deployment. 7 weeks, give or take a few days and Kevin should be home! yay!!!

Lauren Grace: 2 years

Last Sunday, Lauren celebrated her 2nd birthday.  Another birthday without daddy.  Luckily she is young enough to not fully understand that he isn't here. I understand though and it breaks my heart.  I wish that he could enjoy these special days with our little girls.  I wish that we could celebrate these milestones as a family.  I pray that we have many many many more birthdays to celebrate with Kevin, despite the fact that we have missed the last 2 years of birthdays/anniversaries/holidays etc. 

This birthday was so much more fun than her 1st birthday! I really think all of the hype should be about birthday numero dos!  Sure, sure, the first birthday is a big deal..but more for the parents. More a celebration of "We made it a whole year without killing or seriously harming our child! We did it!" The child really has no concept of what is going on.  At least that's what I've noticed from my experience.
The second birthday was completely different.  Lauren understood and was quite excited!  I didn't start hyping it up until the day before saying "Lauren you will be TWO tomorrow and get presents and treats!!"  ... The actual morning of her birthday she woke up and said to me "Presents, tomorrow?" and I said "Presents TODAY!".  She smiled and squealed and then jumped into my arms. It was so precious. 

We started out the day by letting her pick out her own birthday dress.  She picked out her lime green striped dress with a cupcake on it! How appropriate!

 

We then went to get her a special sprinkle birthday donut.  For some reason, here in the Fort Riley area, we are lacking a good homemade bakery.  We settled on Casey's donuts.. It's also the shortest drive for us too.  She loved her chocolate frosted donut with sprinkles!!

                                                                    Lots of playtime!

Lot's of presents!

and best of all..cupcakes and the birthday song and candles with DADDY!!! Even if it was just on Skype. It was the most special part of our day.  I may have cried..Ok I bawled..

All in all..a WONDERFUL day!

Lauren's stats: 26.4lbs and 35 inches!