Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken Breast

Got this recipe from Skinny Taste I love all her recipes they are so good and healthy. This one takes a little more time but so worth it! I modified it by adding some marinara sauce on top a trick my friend Michelle taught me. We are both equally obsessed with Skinny Taste and cooking its a match made in food heaven. Anyway I made this recipe on Sunday with some grilled zucchini and some cheesy mashed potatoes.

What you'll need

10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and juice squeezed out

1 tsp oil

1/2 cup (2.5 oz) fat free Feta cheese

1/3 cup fat free ricotta

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/4 cup chopped scallions

1/2 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic

salt and pepper

3 (1.25 lbs) chicken breast halves

1 egg

1 tbsp water

1/2 cup whole wheat seasoned breadcrumbs (I used 4C)

spray oil

toothpicks

In a small sauté pan, heat oil. Add onions, garlic and scallions and sauté about 1 minute. Add spinach and parsley, salt and pepper and cook another minute. Removefrom heat, add feta and ricotta cheese.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Slice chicken breast halves into 3 thin cutlets. Pound them to make them thinner. This helps when you wrap the cutlets. Season chicken with salt and pepper.

Place just under 1/4 cup of spinach mixture in the center of the chicken. Roll it and secure the ends with toothpicks to prevent filling from coming out. It's ok if it's not perfect. The egg wash and breadcrumbs keep everything in place.

Dip chicken into egg wash, then breadcrumbs.

Spray cookie sheet with oil and place chicken on cookie sheet. Lightly spray chicken with oil and bake about 25 minutes, until cooked through. Remove toothpicks and serve. Good Luck! 

Zucchini Quiche

Grandma Maries Zucchini Quiche is always a hit and its pretty simple to make. Perfect for when you have company over it makes quite a lot of food. We had this Saturday for lunch while we watched the West Virginia game and then again for breakfast on Sunday!  

What you'll need
- 3 or 4 cups diced Zucchini
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup Bisquick (I used gluten free to make this recipe gluten free)
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup grated italian cheese
- 1 cup mozzarella, diced
- Paprika
- 1 tbl basil 
- Salt and pepper


What to do
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until the zucchini is coated

Pour into a greased 8 by 12 inch pyrex baking dish and sprinkle paprika over the top. Then bake at 350 degrees for about 35-45 minutes or until golden brown. 

WVU Apron

I went to Hobby Lobby the other day to look around for a new project to do while Steve watches football (theres only so much football I can watch). I saw these blank aprons next to all different colors of puffy fabric paint and thought they would be perfect. I needed a new apron and since it's football season I figured I needed to make it a West Virginia Apron- you can never have too much Mountaineer gear. I would paint my house West virginia colors if I could but were renting :( Anyway I just bought the blank apron and drew on the West Virginia logo and then painted it- it was very simple and I love the way it turned out! 

Eggplant Parm

This is Steves FAVORITE recipe. I love cooking on Sundays while watching football because it makes the whole house smell amazing and its so relaxing. This is one of the more time consuming recipes so I had to get started as soon as we got back from church. You could use a good jar sauce but I prefer to make my own. I'll put my sauce recipe up another time but for now here is a great recipe for eggplant parm. It's a healthier version because I bake the eggplant instead of frying it (Nanny taught me that) but I need to give credit to my grandma Marie for the rest of the recipe. Isn't she the cutest? LOVE HER! 

Grandma Marie! 

What you'll need 
- Medium sized eggplant
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups breadcrumbs
- olive oil 
- Fresh mozzarella
- Parmesan cheese 
- Marinara Sauce

What to do

Have your marinara sauce warmed and ready!
First you need to slice the eggplant in slices about 1/2 thick. Then have a bowl with the 2 eggs (scrambled) and another bowl ready with the breadcrumbs. Also spray down a baking sheet with cooking spray so you have a place to put the eggplant once they are breaded  

Dip the eggplant in the egg and then in the breadcrumbs and place on the baking sheet. 

Then bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes flipping them halfway or bake until each side has been lightly browned. Once they come out of the oven its time to layer them. 

First spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan. I used a glass pyrex dish but you can also use a throw away pan it makes cleanup much easier. I usually use the throw away tins if I make this for a large group of people. 

Anyway, first put down a thin layer of sauce, then place a piece of eggplant put a little more sauce on top of the eggplant then a thin slice of mozzarella top with more sauce and then repeat this entire process until you run out of eggplant. Top with parmesan cheese. I usually stack mine two eggplant slices high. 

Here's what it looks like before it goes into the oven- nice and sloppy and delicious! Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the eggplant is cooked through.

Then serve over pasta or with a salad and enjoy! I made garlic buttered asparagus and italian bread and some pasta for Steve with mine. Good Luck!

Pinterest Party

Friday night we had a girl's night at my friend Ellens house, we decided it would be cool to make it a Pinterest party where everyone makes a dish from Pinterest and then we could sample everyones dish. I made the funfetti cake dip and pared it with chocolate animal crackers and fresh strawberries. I also bought some of Nanny's cookies (otherwise Steve and I would have ate them ALL) so I had to get rid of them asap. 

Ellen made a greek hummus and an apple croissant (which tasted like an apple pie) it was delicious! 

 Pinterest party was a success! I recommend everyone try it! 

Nanny's Italian Butter Cookies

These are my absolute favorite cookies ever! My Nanny (Dad's mom) always makes these for the holidays and every year I look forward to eating at least ten or twelve. Steve loves them too, I always catch him going back for more. He also dips these in the funfetti cake dip which I have in the fridge for the party later (gross i know). Heres the recipe hope you like it as much as I do! 

What you'll need
- 2 eggs
- 2 sticks of butter
- 2 cups of flour
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla 

Once you have all the ingredients mix them together and then put the dough in the fridge for a few hours- this makes it easier to work with. 

 Then take it out and on a clean flat surface roll it out using extra flour so it doesn't stick to the table. 

Cut into long strips and roll it out so you can shape it into the pretzel shape(see below) its not complicated just twist it around! 

Then bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. When the cookies have cooled it is time to decorate them.

 -Mix confectionary sugar with a few drops of milk until it has the consistency of thick syrup then add the food coloring of your choice and paint on the cookies. While the icing is still wet put some on and enjoy! 

Funfetti Cake Dip

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and have been thinking about it ever since. My girlfriends are getting together tomorrow night for a girls night Pinterest Party! Everyone has to bring a dish from Pinterest so it was only fitting for me to make this funfetti dip. My college roommate and bff made this and she said it was amazing so I had to try it and she was right it is DANGEROUSLY good. I wish I waited until tomorrow to make it because I have a feeling not much will make it to tomorrow night. Heres the recipe.

What you'll need:
- One box funfetti cake mix
- Low-fat plain yogurt (2 cups)
- Lite Cool Whip (1 cup)

What to do:
Mix together all ingredients until smooth and refrigerate. Serve with fresh strawberries or fat free animal crackers! 

Servings: 24

Serving Size: 1/4 cup

Calories: 105

Fat: 2 g

Carbs: 20.2 g

Fiber: 0.3 g

Protein: 1.4 g

Old Points: 2.2 pts

Points+: 3 pts

Hello Fall

Good Morning! So you all know those crazy people who are obsessed with the holidays well I am one of those - and now that I have my own house I am going crazy with decorations. We even have fall decorations in the bedroom I cant stop. Also the dollar store has so many decorations so thats a great place to start for really cheap. 

I made a wreath and I love it! It was super easy and it looks great. I didnt glue anything so this way I can just take out all the flowers and replace them with different flowers for the next season I cant wait to make a Christmas wreath!

Im not a fan of halloween and scary decorations but I did put up a lot of pretty fall decoration lots of pumpkins and scarecrows. I want to get mums and a big bale of hay for out front. My mom always decorated our house so much for the holidays so I guess I got it from her. 

The outside still needs more work but its still early 

I picked these pinecones from our front yard and just paired them with a bag of potpourri from Walmart and it looks and smells sooo good!

Crock Pot Beef Pot Roast

So despite Steve's disapproval and the ninety degree Texas weather I made a pot roast for dinner! Steve says its a winter meal but I have been making summer meals all summer and I was craving something hearty and wholesome. Also it's never really going to feel like winter here so why not. Heres the recipe it was really easy and really delicious! Perfect fall meal even if it feels like summer haha 

Crock Pot Beef Pot Roast

Ingredients: 
- Small to medium size rump roast
- 1 envelope onion soup mix
- 1 envelope brown gravy mix
- 1 individual size serving apple sauce
- 2 cups water
- Small bag carrots (I used baby carrots)
- 1 onion sliced
- Potatoes (I used 8 little red potatoes cut in fourths)
- Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions: 
 Sear the roast in a frying pan with a small amount of oil, sear it well on all sides then put the roast in the crock pot and top with veggies. Mix envelope mixes with water and apple sauce then pour over everything. 

Set the crock pot to low and let cook for at least 8 to 10 hours. You can make stew out of the left overs thats probably what ill end up doing. 

Where it all began...

My first blog post ever! I've never done the blog thing before but how hard could it be? Im obsessed with Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest so why not throw one more social media into the mix! Heres a picture of Buster and I when we first crossed the state line into TEXAS! Where it all began, our new life 13,000 miles from home. We packed our life into a million little boxes and rented a POD- its like a moving truck they drop off at your house and you fill it up and they come back and pick it up and take it to your destination so you dont have to drive a moving truck across the country. 

We left West Virginia in a BLIZZARD and when we got to Texas it was 75 degrees and beautiful. It was quite the adventure anyone who hasn't driven across the country probably should there's so many things to see! 

We had to find pet friendly hotels along the way and Steve insisted on moving all our house plants from West Virginia to Texas (which I thought was a ridiculous request) we had 9 plants total. Just picture two people walking through the lobby of a hotel 4 times back and forth, each time coming in with a different set of plants in our hands. I wish I took a picture but I do have a picture of a very scared Buster on his first elevator ride ever.. Poor baby  

But after following Steve across the country with walkie talkies (yes steve insisted we each have a walkie-talkie so we can easily communicate from my car to his) we FINALLY made it to our new HOME! We slept on the couch for 2 weeks and ordered takeout until the pod finally arrived with our stuff- I had never been so excited to sleep in a bed before. We are loving Texas and couldn't be happier. Well maybe if my friends and family were a little closer but other than that life in Texas is amazing! The weather is beautiful and we met some great friends down here.