Falling Asleep...So Sweet

I put Molly to sleep each night. Sometimes Ross and I discuss him putting her to sleep, but she REALLY likes her Mommy, so it's just easier if I do it! I really enjoy doing it, too. She falls asleep in my arms and it's so fun to sit and hold her. The other night she fell asleep while drinking her bottle (or ba-ba, as she calls it). I thought it was the sweetest thing seeing her there, asleep, yet still holding the bottle with it in her mouth. I took a little video and after that took the bottle away. I laughed to myself when I saw the milk that had dribbled out of her mouth. Molly is so sweet!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

Ross and I tried a new meal for Easter dinner. It was chicken cordon bleu casserole and it was very good! I like to watch The Pioneer Woman's cooking show and saw it on there one day. I thought it sounded pretty good and looked easy to make, so we tried it. It's fairly easy to make and turned out very good. It's rich, though, so a little goes a long way! I followed The Pioneer Woman's recipe, but looked up variations of it, too. Some recipes said to mix in rice or egg noodles and I thought about that, but decided not to. I did, however, make a side of rice and served the casserole on a scoop of rice. As a leftover meal I made some egg noodles and served the casserole over egg noodles. This was definitely not as good as the rice. The rice gives it a little texture that compliments the casserole very well. Here's the recipe I used, in case you want to try it!

Ingredients

• 
  
  6 tablespoons salted butter
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  2 cups small-cubed ham
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  1 1/4 cups grated Swiss cheese
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  1 1/4 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
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  4 cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
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  1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
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  1/4 cup all-purpose flour
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  2 cups milk
• 
  
  1 cup chicken broth
• 
  
  2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
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  1/2 teaspoon cayenne
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  Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon butter.
Put the ham on a paper towel-lined plate and microwave for about 3 minutes to reduce the moisture content. Mix together the Swiss and Monterey Jack cheese in a bowl.

Put about a third of chicken in a layer in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top with half the ham. Sprinkle over 1/4 cup of the mixed cheese. Repeat 1 more time, then finish with a layer of chicken.

Melt the remaining 5 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat. Put the panko in a bowl, pour in half of the melted butter, mix well and set aside.

Add the flour to the remaining butter in the skillet and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, whisking out any lumps. Whisk in the milk, broth, Dijon and cayenne and let it cook until it begins to thicken. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 cup of the cheese until melted. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour the sauce over the casserole. Sprinkle over the remaining 1 cup cheese, then the panko mix. Bake until the top is browned and the casserole is bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes.

Recipe courtesy of Ree Drummond

Going To The Ballet

Apparently you don't have to wear very many clothes to go to the ballet anymore. :)

Pig-Themed Baby Shower

One of my very best friends, Pam, is having a baby girl, Elisabeth, in May and I had a baby shower for her. It was such a nice, fun time. It was very small, with just Pam, me, and five of our girlfriends. The seven of us have been friends for a long time and used to get together once a month for girls' night. Girls' night doesn't happen much anymore due to families and busy schedules, so it's so nice when we do have time together.

I had an absolutely wonderful time planning this baby shower! I started thinking about and planning the shower in January after Pam and I decided on its date. Pam is doing a pig theme in her nursery (because she collects pigs and thought it would be cute) so I decided to do a pig theme for the shower. I think a pig theme is so cute and original for a baby nursery.

Pam had a hard time finding baby bedding she liked, but did find some pig material online and bought it to make bedding for her crib. I asked her to send me a picture of the material and I used that for the invitation and decorations. I had the decorations designed on Etsy, using the material as the background. I then took the picture of the material and printed it out on cardstock on my printer and used it to make pig cut-outs using my Silhouette cutting machine. I had such a fun time working on this!

The shower was at 10am, so we were having brunch. I made chicken salad and fruit, and one friend brought mini quiches and coffee cake, and another brought pig cookies. Since there was only going to be 7 people we were able to eat in the dining room and used my china plates. I love using my china! We hardly ever use it, but it sure is nice to have and use when I need it. We then moved over to the living room for a fun game of baby item "The Price Is Right" and opening presents. it was such a nice time!

I used pink scrapbook paper for placemats and gray napkins, along with "real" silverware and fun wine glasses. I loved the table set up. I thought it was a great mix of fancy and casual with the china plates and paper napkins. :) I made a banner that says "Elisabeth Joy" and hung it, along with pink and gray pom-poms, on the curtains as the backdrop for the table. I used the pig material background for the banner. It was so cute!

This was a really good "fruit bruschetta." I cut a French baguette into several slices and buttered each slice and baked in the oven for about 7 minutes. I sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on each slice when they came out of the oven. I made a cream cheese/powdered sugar/cool whip fruit dip and spread on each slice and then topped with a mixture of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries that had been sugared a little bit. This made for such a good fruit dish and made for a pretty display, too.

My friend, Natalie, made these super cute pig cookies! She put such time into them and they turned out great! It's a sugar cookie topped with cake frosting. She cut up strawberry wafers for the ears, chocolate chips for the eyes, and marshmallows and peanut butter chips for the nose. They were so cute and very tasty, too.

I made this pig mobile and am so very proud of it! I used the cut out pigs I made and then used my sewing machine to sew the pigs together in a line. I covered am embroidery hoop with ribbon and then tied the pig lines to the hoop. I made tiny tissue paper pom-poms for the middle of the mobile. I am so proud of it! It turned out so cute and I just loved it. So did everyone else, too. :) 

 

I found this pig at Hobby Lobby and put a foam floral block in it and filled it with carnations for the centerpiece. I think it turned out quite nice!

We played a baby shower version of "The Price Is Right." I know most people, including myself, don't really care for shower games, but this game was definitely a hit. I bought baby items and asked each person to guess the price of each item. Whoever came closest to the actual retail price (total of all items combined) without going over won. Most everyone came within about $5-10 of the actual price. I was quite impressed!

DVD Placemat

Lucy has several different placemats and we usually let her choose which one she wants to use when we eat. One day she said she wanted her "DVD" placemat. We couldn't figure out which placemat she was talking about. We have a Minnie Mouse, Paw Patrol, Frozen, Princess, and a few other placemat but no "DVD" placemat. I don't know how, but it finally dawned on me that she means her "Disney" placemat. Because Disney and DVD sound the same, you know. :)