Recipe: Chicken Cordon Bleu

I'm back from vacation and to the same old routine of being a 'home-maker' as well as working-mother. I try to carve out weekend time to plan meals for mid-week - otherwise we end up eating a lot of frozen pizza. And we have this winter since I haven't been as good with the cooking this year, it is in the house and it is cheap. FYI: Ryan is fed by her nanny before we get home from work so she isn't subject to the bad nutrition with which we treat ourselves. :-0

Sooooooo sportsfans, here is a VERY easy and fast recipe for a delicious dinner - Chicken Cordon Bleu. I made it for our dinner before I went on vacation and had enough to make him two individual dinners (two rolls each). I also timed myself - from start-to-finish, it took me 17 minutes, without pounding the chicken.

Ingredients:
- Thin chicken cutlets - I use a 1 lb. pack for the two of us
- Seasoned breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 lb. sliced ham
- 1/4 lb. sliced swiss cheese (or any cheese you like)

Preparation:
- Rinse chicken and lay on a cutting board (pound if not thin enough bc will need to roll it up
- Place a piece of ham on each cutlet
- Place cheese on each cutlet
- Roll each up and leave on the board
- Whisk the two eggs in a bowl; Pour breadcrumbs on a plate
* here comes the messy part.....
- Take a cutlet, roll it in the egg, then roll it in the breadcrumbs
- Place in a baking dish *fit CCBs snuggly in baking dish
- Cook uncovered for 45 minutes at 350.

We usually make rice as a side and place the CCB on top since the 'drippings' make a nice sauce. Let me know if you decide to try it out! I'll be making fore this afternoon and will post a pic.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Vacation: Day 2 and Commute Poll

I'm on vacation now in Florida visiting my parents, who rented a house for 3 months in Martin County. My SIL and niece are here for the early part of the week, so it's nice for the cousins to play together. Ryan really misses Emilia since she moved to Jacksonville. I'll post some pics once I receive from Zuzja - makes me wish I brought the camera. The weather is FANTASTIC and today we went to the pool, to the spa for facials, and to buy some orchids. I have 2 more to add to my collection. :-) More to come.....

AND the result of my commuter poll indicates I'm the only idiot traveling 90+ minutes ONE-WAY to start my daily grind. I thought someone else may be clocking in at the 60-minuyte mark, but the nearest was 30-minutes. Just reinforces that we need to get out of dodge to better this aspect of our QOL. :-0

Chocolate and Steel: *.*.*.*GIVEAWAY*.*.*.*

AND here is another great ring giveaway from Chocolate and Steel - check it out folks..........
Chocolate and Steel: *.*.*.*GIVEAWAY*.*.*.*

First Day of Spring!

Happy "First Day of Spring" everyone!

One would think today would be filled with blooming crocuses, sprouting tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, singing robin red-breasts, but NOOOOOOOOOO....not in New York City! Instead it is cold and SNOWING.....

Booooooooooo!

Giveaway: M&M Studio

M&M Studio is having a fabric giveaway! And I LOVE LOVE fabric. Although, my husband will growl if I bring any more yards into our house! :-0 I'm trying to sew new bags and sundresses, but I'm not outputting nearly as fast as I'm inputting....

Check out the giveaway through this link:
http://mandmstudio.blogspot.com/2009/03/new-fabric-in-shop-giveaway.html

Q104.3 FM Weekend of U2 Music

On Friday as I was running errands, I had on my favorite radio station - Q104.3 - which for those of you our of the New York City area, is classic rock. I am in LOVE with the DJ Ian O'Malley - he has the best voice, the best radio show, and he plays golf. What more could a girl want?? :-) But, I digress.....

As I switched from all-news, all-the-time 1010 WINS, Q104.3 had on a U2 song...followed by another...followed by another. Thoughts sprang to mind, "It is St. Patrick's Day this week - Q104 is doing the all-U2 weekend again!", but the songs were from "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb", and the all-U2 weekends in the past were always in alphabetical order. As DJ Ken Daschle noted, this years U2 weekend wasn't all-band 24 hrs, but album sides mixed in with regular classic rock music. BIG BUMMER for me because when Q104 did the all U2 weekends in the past, I was literally glued to my radio.

I was a bigger U2 fan of the earlier albums, and sort of dropped off after "Rattle and Hum". But a free ticket to the "Pop" tour reminded me why I loved the band and I went out to buy "Pop", "Zooropa", "Achtung Baby", etc etc. I've since tried to get tickets to recent tours to no avail - seeing a band live has to be one of the best experiences in the world. My first U2 show was "A Sort of Homecoming" tour at Nassau Collesium, six rows from the back stage. Maybe I'll get lucky this year if they tour NYC? My friend Lorena had the pleasure of meeting Bono in a hotel lobby bar and after 2 hours of conversation, he gave her two tickets front and center and passes to the after party, so he is a nice guy. :-) She took her boyfriend instead of me! :-( But, again I digress...

I think the band's music has evolved and stood the test of time. While "Two Hearts", "Trip Through Your Wires", "New Years Day", and "Party Girl" favorites have been joined by "Discotheque", "Please", "Numb", "Electrical Storm", and "City of Blinding Light", among MANY others, nothing will ever replace "Wire" as my favorite of favorites. So when Q104 does the all-U2 all-weekend, I'm reminded of my crazy younger days, my insane single-in-the-City days, and my married-in-suburbia-but-still-dance-to-"Elevation" days, all in a fantastic weekend of music from a band I will never tire hearing. I hope next year brings back the U2 alphabet playlist. HEY Mr. DJ.....You hearing me?? ;-)

P.S. Can 'listen live' through streaming radio at www.q1043.com

Color Poll Winner: GREEN

Green was the big winner in my color-poll, so I decided to head to the shops of my followers and pick out some awesome green goods - not only in honor of St. Patrick's Day, but also for Spring! I need it to get to Long Beach soon! I hate trudging to the train in the cold and it seems, always against the wind.

All you green-lovers out there, maybe one of these lovelies will catch your eye and you'll spend a little green in the 'green-season'. :-)

From IfIHadAHammer: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19016718

Justbehappy: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10069189

StuffbyXtine: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21544565

CountryGirl: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16785770

Roses7184: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19902306

RavenX: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19925683

mydeardarling: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22051820

Treasury: "Spring Critters" and "12 Comments"

This week HoorayforCrochet sent me a note saying she included me in her Treasury. My chenille bears joined 11 other Spring Critters in this ADORABLE grouping:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=45479

HoorayforCrochet's shop is chock-full of great crocheted items - some of my favorites include these wristlets, slippers (that I now wear all the time in the house to cut down on the dragged-in dirt), and beanie (I think 'beanie' is one of Ryan's favorite words):

Horrayforcrochet shop is here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6414646

And while back KimsCraftyApple included my "Hip to be Square" earrings in her "12 Comments" Treasury. I wasn't fast enough to catch it when it was listed, but a pic from Kims blog helped me out!

Here is her great shop filled with awesome quilts, tie-dyes, and jewelry:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5665286

Some of my favorites with a "springtime" theme include this FANTASTIC Spring quilt (What better way to come out of winter?), fun colorful ring, and adorable baby girl flower hat:

Bonnie the Bunny!

We just made Bonnie the Bunny last weekend - squeaked it in before Easter came around. I think Bonnie may be in Ryan's Easter basket, but we all know what bunnies do, so Buster may land in her cousin Luke's basket as other multiples will head to our Etsy shop!

Etsy Shop: Chocolate and Steel GIVEAWAY

Happy Monday Morning!

"Chocolate and Steel" is offering a fantastic ring giveaway....here is the link to her blog where you can enter!

http://chocolateandsteel.blogspot.com/

From the Mouths of Babes: II

Last night, after a long day at work -

Daughter: "Mommy, stick out your hand"

Me: "Why?"

Daughter: "Because I have something for you" as she rolls her little fingers together.

Me: "OK" and I stick out my hand....daughter trying to get a 'crumb' into my palm.

Me: "What is it?"

Daughter: "My snot"

Me: *sigh*

New Quilt, Dress, and Blankets!

I finished sewing the custom girl chenille quilt last weekend, the straps for the pillowcase dress on Saturday, and all three new blankets on Sunday. Add in picture taking, downloading, editing, and whalla....some new items! I don't have the energy to post to Etsy tonight, but wanted to get some pictures out there so here goes....

Ryan modeling the pillowcase dress. She didn't want to take it off!

The three new blankets. Each made with a flannel or cotton top and a soft minky back. The monkeys have a white stripe minky back, while the cotton nursery rhyme and flannel blue dots have a pastel blue dot minky back.

The custom order girl chenille 12-patch is done with 6 different chenille patterns with the accent white inner border. I love the classic pink and green combination. This reminds me to keep little babes sweet - don't let them grow up too soon!

A Treasury for a Sunday Morning

Happy March 1st! March is definitely coming in like a lion on Long Island. We've got a dusting of snow this morning and due for 9" of snow overnight into Monday afternoon. And it is COLD out there!! My commute into work tomorrow will stink not only because of the storm, but also because I need to lug the freakin' laptop. uugh.

I woke to a nice note that my chenille quilt was included in a Treasury by SandmanQuilts. Here is the Treasury and the link if you want to view and comment:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=43234

Here are some of my favorite items from SandmanQuilts Etsy shop, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6088189

A nice bright tote bag:
A detailed string quilt with brown and olive base:

This jigshaw quilt reminds me of the Ocean with its gorgeous blues and greens: