Artichoke Crusted Chicken

Here is another one of my favorite recipes. It's not the healthiest but it is SOOOO good!! I have made this before and we are having it again tonight for dinner (that right there should let you know how much we like it!) So, just because I love you I will give you the recipe :)

pic from www.sugarlaws.com

Artichoke Crusted Chicken

2 six-ounce chicken breasts, pounded thin
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (I used canned artichoke hearts, but frozen ones that have been thawed would be fine)
1/3 cup grated white cheddar cheese
Salt
Pepper

DIRECTIONS
Salt and pepper the chicken and then sauté each chicken breast in 1 tbsp olive oil on medium-high heat, for about 8-10 minutes, flipping once, or until the juices run clear when pierced with a fork.  Set aside.

Mix together the mayonnaise, artichoke hearts and cheddar cheese until evenly distributed.  Spread the mixture over the sauteed chicken breasts, and then broil at 400 degrees for about 3 minutes.  Do not take your eyes off them — broiling can lead to burning faster than you can imagine.  When the cheese is melted and bubbling and the tops are golden, remove and serve.

Serves 2.

P.S. This recipe is for 2 chicken breasts and I always cook 3 for our family - this was actually enough to spread over 3 breasts. Enjoy!!

Wheeler Family Reunion

This past weekend we had our annual Wheeler Family Reunion. We started out with dinner at Amerigo's friday night, the boys and Becky :) played golf on saturday followed by a bbq dinner/swim party at Dad and Darnelle's house and we ended the evening watching our neighborhood firework show. It was a great weekend and we are tired today!! Looking forward to next year!!

Friday Night Dinner at Amerigo's

 Brian and Emi

 Louise (Meme), Jack and Me

 Me and Sara

Saturday Night BBQ Dinner

 Jack hanging out in his spot with the ball popper

 Annette and Louise

 KK working really hard

 Emi and Eli having some sort of deep conversation by the pool

 Forced to be nice to each other so Mom can get a picture

Jack and his buddy Makenna

I found me a baby to play with ;)

 Jack and Becky

 Jack and Dad with a sparkler - he's really into it and pant less, it was a great party!

 everyone getting into the sparkler action

Neighborhood Firework Show

 Emi is always nervous about watching the fireworks

 Jack couldn't be bothered to watch fireworks - he stayed in the car so he could watch Elmo

Happy Fourth of July!!

Teacher Gifts

I made these (thank you Pinterest!!) for Jack's summer school teachers. He just completed his 4 weeks of summer school and I am all about showing our appreciation to these wonderful women who take care of our precious boy! When I saw this, I knew it would be the perfect summer treat and it was super easy to make and assemble.

You will need:

8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
Marzetti's Caramel Dip (15 oz.)
Heath Bits (found in the baking aisle)
1/2 pint mason jars

medium size cellophane bags

apples

ribbon

Mix the cream cheese and half of the caramel dip in a bowl. Put a generous scoop into the mason jar followed by a scoop of the leftover caramel. Then top with a sprinkle of Heath bits.

Pop that little puppy into a bag, throw an apple on top and tie with some cute ribbon. I added a thank you note for good measure :)

I will be making this dip for us to snack on because it was GOOD!! 

LuvMud

This past Saturday Brian and Emi participated in LuvMud. LuvMud is a benefit 5k mud race with obstacles and a mud pit. The race supports Habitat for Hope. Habitat for Hope exists to support, serve, and care for families facing the serious or long-term illness of a child.

Emi did the kids 1 mile run with some of her friends.

Here she is at the start line.

And she's off.....

navigating her way through the obstacle course

the finish line is the mud pit, here she is climbing out - blaaaak!

friends :)

P.S. It took me 3 cycles through my washing machine to wash the clothes/shoes and 2 showers plus a dip in the swimming pool to clean the kid :)

silly boy

here's my boy wearing his sister's sunglasses while "horseback riding". He-he

Apple Cake

I made this the other night for dessert and it was so easy and so good! It's great for dessert with vanilla ice cream and because it's not overly sweet it makes a great breakfast too :) Happy eating!!

pic and recipe from www.laylita,com

Apple Cake

Ingredients

• 6 ounces of sugar (3/4 cup)
• 6 ounces of flour (11/3 cup)
• 3 large eggs
• 3 large apples, peeled and cut in small chunks

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400F degrees.
2. Mix the eggs with the sugar using an electric mixer for about 2 minutes.
3. Use a flat wooden spoon to slowly stir in the flour until the batter is smooth.
4. Mix in the apple chunks, pour the cake batter into a buttered and floured cake mold.
5. Bake for 5 minutes at 400F, then lower to 360F degrees and bake for the approximately 30 minutes or until it turns golden. To test if the cake is done insert a toothpick into the middle, if it comes out clean, then the cake is done.

Loft Bed

Brian recently helped a friend move and in the process they built bunk beds for his kids. After that he was all about building Emi bunk beds and once he told her about it they were ganging up on me and I really didn't have a say in the matter. So, of course, I start thinking about how cute it would be if it was a loft bed with a fort underneath with curtains and a bean bag chair, new bedding and we could hang her pink christmas lights in the top of the fort - oh my! I was starting to get really excited! In my head it was looking something like this

and in Brian's head it was going to look something like this

ummmm NO!!!! This was not going in my little girl's room! So I thoughtfully found some plans for a loft bed on the internet (and yes, they were 36 pages long - big deal!) So nice of me you say? well, Brian had other words for me and my 36 page plans but he gave in because he's awesome that way and I think he just really wanted to play in the fort :)

Here we are at Lowe's gathering supplies

getting started

we recruited Kevin

here is my spot - hey, somebody has to supervise and take pictures for the blog!

assembled what they could in the garage and are finishing up in her room

Emi was helping just like her Momma does - hey, somebody had to watch Tangled!

finished!!! And only after 10 hours of labor, 2 hours of painting and 3 hours of curtain sewing.

She seriously loves it. I can't keep her out of her room.