What's For Dinner? Swiss Chicken

I've taken the LONGEST break from blogging. Mostly just because life gets in the way sometimes. Also because a certain two-year-old I know doesn't take kindly to his mother sitting in front of a computer much. Like at all. Ever. Is it just mine? If I even try to get on the computer for one minute during Robby's waking hours, he thinks he needs to get on too. And starts banging on the keyboard. And tries to use the mouse. Which then ends up crashing onto the floor. Blah blah blah. So obviously he's napping right now.

Dear Robby, Please never, ever give up napping. I don't know if I can deal. Can we at least have quiet time like at school and summer camp? PLEASE. Love, Mommy.

I have been in a dinner rut lately and my sister sent me a new recipe. It is originally a Paula Deen recipe (Thanks Paula!)...so you can probably guess what one of the ingredients is. If you're feeling bloated or fretting about the looming swimsuit season, I'm sure it would still turn out great if you cut back on the butter. But like, not AS great. Honestly, life's too short to not eat butter.

This chicken is so easy and so delicious. If you are bored with your current chicken recipes give this one a try. I don't have a photo of this delish recipe for you so here's a pic of my little love from a few weekends ago. He's ready for summer!

Swiss Chicken

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts
• 4 Tablespoons melted butter
• 4 slices of Swiss cheese (one per chicken breast)
• 1 can cream of chicken soup (you can also use cream of mushroom)
• 1/4 cup white wine *I add an extra splash
• 1 cup stuffing mix (crushed) OR 1 cup breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
• Add chicken breasts to a greased casserole dish and season with salt and pepper.
• Place cheese slices on top of chicken.
• In medium bowl, mix soup and wine. Pour over the chicken in the dish.
• Sprinkle the crushed stuffing mix or breadcrumbs over the top and drizzle with the melted butter.
• Bake for 45 minutes.

That's all for now! Lots of exciting summer things coming up. One of them being that we bought and are renovating a house. I am hoping to document here with before and after photos and lots of fun DIY projects. 

Happy Wednesday! PS: I just had to look at my calendar to see what day it is. #mombrain 

February Must Haves

I have taken a major blogging hiatus since October! Oops.

This is what has been going on the last few months: stomach bug, cold, sinus infection, then repeat x 2. Followed by broken garage door, shattered iPhone screen, and a rumor that Robby's college fund was gonna get the crap taxed out of it. (Thank God that isn't the case. I really want to be able to send this kid to college without having to live on beans and rice. K? Thankssss).

This multiple rounds of sickness stuff happens to us at the exact same time of year every.single.year. Remember this?

I think we just aren't built for winter. Being a 5th generation Texan, I'm almost certain that me and my people don't know how to stay warm and/or healthy in weather that is below 60 degrees. I'm getting desperate to keep us all in good health so as we speak I have my diffuser going with On Guard oil, I've drank more than one Emergen-C, there is a humidifier running, and we are slathering ourselves in Lavender oil at night so we can get good sleep. If you walk in my front door right now it smells and feels like a cross between a hippie pharmacy and a greenhouse. Hey, whatever works.

Here's my list of February favorites! Enjoy!

Maybelline Great Lash Lots of Lashes Mascara - My sister introduced me to this mascara. It doesn't clump AT ALL and gives a nice, thick coat to your lashes. It's cheap, it's easy to find, and it works. Winner.

Aveda Dry Remedy Daily Moisturizing Oil - Winter can be so hard on one's hair. If you're feeling like a scarecrow, try this oil. It smells amazing and doesn't leave you feeling greasy at all. Rub a few drops onto the ends of your hair and you will see a huge difference. You can purchase it on the Aveda web site, at a local Aveda salon, or I also saw it on my beloved Amazon. I've been using it for a few years and highly recommend it.

Quilted Riding Boots - Boots are my winter go to. I am loving all the quilted styles. I recently got these and wear them every week. They seem pretty sturdy and I think they'll last for at least a few winters. Always a plus when winter rolls around and you can pull boots out from last year!

Suzanna Dai Earrings - Sometimes you need a little sparkle in your life. These earrings are perfect for that. They are backed in leather and are SO lightweight and easy to wear. Her items can run on the pricey side but check out her SALES! The sale items are always changing and you can get a great deal on some really unique items. These would make a great Valentine's gift from your man (or woman, or friend! Just being PC here...) Are there even any men reading this? I didn't think so...

Stovetop Slow Cooker - Y'all. There is now a crock pot you can use on the stove AND the regular ol' way of plugged in and sitting on the counter. You know how recipes always call for browning your meat first and then transferring to the slow cooker? Well now you don't have to use two pots! HALLELUJAH! Isn't that amazing? You can brown the meat or sautee onions or whatever your fancy using the slow cooker insert on the stove and then just toss that insert onto the heating base and plug it in. Mine is West Bend but I saw several different brands online. #grannyoverherelovesacrockpot

Happy Tuesday!

October Must Haves

OK so I know October is already almost over and I'm just now getting around to my must haves for this month. Not sure what I've been doing but it must have been a crazy first half of the month! Oh wait, it's football season. And football season is time consuming. I feel like it takes a day to tailgate prep, the actual day of tailgating/football watching, and then a day to recover. So there's a lot of your month already! I guess that's what I've been doing. I've also been searching for the perfect candy addition to brownies and I think I've found it. Stay tuned for that post.

Druzy Jewelry - I'm seeing the druzy trend pretty much everywhere. And I love it! My favorite way to wear it right now is either a druzy pendant necklace or a bracelet. I love stacking bracelets and this trend is great for stacking. You totally don't have to match either. Right?

Lands' End Chambray Trim Plaid Shirt - Y'all know I'm mad about plaid. And you know I love Lands' End. Check out this adorable plaid shirt with chambray trim detail. I'm adding it to my wardrobe immediately! Don't you love online shopping? It's so fun to just hit the purchase button and know it's on the way to your doorstep. YAY! But not yay for the credit card. Oh well. You only live once. And this shirt is actually super affordable.

Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Eye Cream - I have used this eye cream for probably five years. Sometimes I switch it up and try something new and I ALWAYS come back to this one. I think it really works. I know you may think $20 is pricey for like the TINIEST tube of eye cream ever but it really goes a long way. I probably only need to buy it every three months or so. I only use it at night so that helps too. Be gone with yo bad selves eye wrinkles!

Revlon ColorBurst Balm Stain - I love it when you find a truly great drug store product. This is one of them! It goes on really smooth and the color is long lasting. I would say these are similar to the Clinique Chubby Sticks. My favorite colors are Cherish (a light bubblegum pink) and Sweetheart (a darker hot pink). I was surprised how much pigment these have. They're great.

HUE Leggings - Hallelujah, it's legging season. Can I get an amen? There's nothing I love more than a good pair of leggings. Not counting chocolate and wine, preferably together. Leggings are so effortless to wear and look great on everyone. As long as you aren't wearing them two sizes too small as pants. HUE makes leggings in a wide variety of materials (and fun patterns too) and they are all nice and thick with no "show through" - always a plus. I have found that they are more resistant to pilling than others I've tried and hold up extremely well. Nordstrom is my go to source for purchasing them but you can find them many other places. Just google them. On my last Nordstrom trip I went a little crazy and got three pairs. They're just that good.

Happy day-before-Friday!

And P.S. - I added some fun printable Halloween tags to the Etsy shop if you're putting together goody bags. Don't see something you like? Let me create something custom for you. Don't want to print and cut yourself? You can ask me about that too. ;)

So Long Summer (A Month Late...!)

It's October! And I realized I forgot to do a summer photo dump. I've just been so busy keeping up with the Joe and Teresa Giudice story and trying to keep my nails painted. I kid. Anyway, here's a little photo montage of our summer:

In May my generous in laws sent us (my mother in law, and two sisters in law) on a girls trip to Chicago. It was so much fun! We had a blast shopping and eating. Do you see that plate of food below? If you're ever in Chicago go visit Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab. You won't regret it. Unless you have a shellfish allergy. Thanks God for giving me no known food allergies! I appreciate it.

Nom nom nom.

We spent TONS of time at the pool.

Check out that tongue. He does this when he's thinking really hard about something. So does his Dad.

Why do they seem to spend more time OUT of the water than in it? #boys

We spent HOURS in the backyard with the water table and sprinkler.

That little sprinkler is the best $5 I ever spent. Hands down.

Robby has an adorable habit of trying to help me "water" the plants and flowers with his sippy cup. Have you seen anything cuter in your life?

The water hose is our latest obsession. The first time he played with it he drank so much water out of it I thought he may puke. Thank goodness he didn't. Y'all know me and vomit don't mix.

We took Robby to the lake for the first time on July 4th. My in laws have a beautiful house there. Robby loved staying up way past his bedtime and playing with his GrandBob and KK, and uncles and aunts. It was a successful trip but I must say taking a toddler to the lake is quite a different experience than it used to be! As in, it's A LOT.OF.WORK. Our little guy is worth it.

Fun times with Aunt Lizzi!

He HATED the life jacket. Sorry buddy. We just really want you to survive if you fall in! #Iamacompletefreakaboutwatersafety #poolslakesandbeachesgivemeanxiety Water safety is enough to make one need a cocktail. Oh wait....that's probably counterproductive.

Porch time=The best time

We took lots of quick trips to Waco to visit my family. Robby had a ball with his cousin James, Marmi and Opa, Aunt Alie and Uncle Patch, and Aunt Catie and Uncle Clayton.

I die over the picture in the bottom left square above. They are sitting EXACTLY the same way with their right hands on their hips. Like twins. Allison and I always talk about how they're technically half brothers since we are twins.

Opa took Robby to ride the train at Kiddieland. He loved his first train ride!

Matching cousin swimsuits. #duh

We went on lots of outings around Fort Worth.

The museum was a fave for Robby. But I can't say we'll be back soon. The germaphobe level here is extremely high. I just don't know if I have it in me to do it again while my child still sticks his hand in his mouth every 5 seconds. #whoopingcough #stomachbug #flu #EBOLA???? #notok

We went to Bluebonnet Bakery with friends on Friday mornings.

We baked and ate lots of cookies. I can't wait until Robby can really help in the kitchen! It will be so much fun to have a mini sous chef.

We got popsicles.

We lunched with friends and sometimes Dad.

We went to the zoo.

And we're on hiatus from the zoo because we got a stomach bug the next day.

We went to Plano to visit Robby's great grandparents, Dottie and Angelo. How cool is it to be able to visit your great grandparents? I have no living grandparents on my side but all four of Andy's are still here which is amazing.

We got a haircut. Robby hates haircuts. #ohthescreaming

We walked around the TCU campus so Robby can learn his way around in case he decides to be a horned frog later in life.

We rode the Fort Worth miniature train.

We got our culture on at the Botanic Gardens.

We got in touch with our inner artist.

When we weren't traipsing around Fort Worth, we had lots of fun at home.

I don't think you'll fit in that bowl. #bigkidproblems

"Mom, why is there something green on my tray. I already told you - meat, cheese, and bread only please." 

And we took a lot of naps. #longlivethenap

While we had TONS of fun with Robby this summer, Andy and I also made time for some of our own fun. As much as we adore and obsess over our little man, we feel like we are much better parents when we get opportunities to take a break. I have no shame in saying that we need time off from parenting to just be us. And travel is our jam so we will take any chance we can to see new places. (By the way I can't stop saying "jam"....help!) There's something so refreshing about soaking up other sights and cultures.

In May, we took a getaway to Turks & Caicos and stayed at the Regent Palms. We had the most relaxing time and know just how fortunate we are to have people to take good care of Robby while we're away. Shout out to Marmi and Opa for volunteering to keep him in May!

Excuse the grainy photo. #photographerprobs

We drove around to explore the island in this sweet rental.

If you find yourself in Turks, you simply must eat at Da Conch Shack.

Don't you just love vacation? #anyexcusetoeatfriedfood

Our hotel had bicycles for riding around the island. We felt like teenagers again. Thank goodness you never forget how to ride a bike.

Never on a beach without my hat.

I have always thought Cayman has the best water I've seen, hands down. But I have to say Turks & Caicos is definitely on par with Cayman. SO beautiful! 

Relaxed. Rejuvenated. Ready to parent!

And that's a wrap!