Dd's Baked Caesar Parmesan Chicken

 

BAKED CEASAR PARMESAN CHICKEN

 

2 TB Parmesan cheese, grated

2 TB breadcrumbs

1 ½ tsp. butter, melted

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, ¾ #, pounded to ½-inch thickness

¼ tsp. garlic powder

¼ tsp. salt

Pinch black pepper

2 TB dressing, plus more for serving

 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

 

In a shallow dish combine Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs and melted butter. Season chicken with garlic powder, salt and pepper. 

Place chicken onto work surface; brush with dressing. Dredge into breadcrumb mixture pressing to adhere to chicken. Bake 10-12 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Serves 2.

Ikea Sauce

If you ever get to an Ikea somehow, make sure you buy this sauce mix.  You just add heavy cream to it and it comes out so ono!  Thank you, Sweetie!

 

I fried up some meatballs and mushrooms and added the sauce to it.  For the meatballs I combined 1 pound ground beef, 1/4 c. bread crumbs, 1/4 c. finely chopped onions, 1 slightly beaten egg and 1 clove minced garlic and rolled into balls.

Ceramics Class

 I actually made three pieces!  Two bowls and an owl. 

 

Cleta's.   They said that the baby's breath will burn away during firing.

   

Erick's red pieces.  Owl and penguin.  

 

Geri used stamps to decorate her two pieces.

  

Cocoon

This past Saturday, the biggest caterpillar on my crown flower plant was roaming around.  I knew that it was looking for a place to glue itself down, so I put it into a container and waited. 

I woke up on Sunday morning to find it dangling from the cover.  During the Super Bowl half-time show it started transitioning. 

I took a time-lapse video which you can view by clicking on the photo below.  It's not especially clear having to focus through the plastic container, but if you'd like to see footage that I did 10 years ago with my Canon you can click here. 

Crown Flower Plant

My puny crown flower plant has its first caterpillars!

 

 Unfortunately, I think I don't have enough leaves to feed all of them.

 

Click on the photo below to watch a cute, short video.

  

Kai - 11 months

Ceramics Class

All I can say about the piece that I did yesterday is that a second-grader would've been proud.

I pictured myself making a (3) cute little Japanese wind chime(s).  Instead I got a (1) huge bonshō temple gong.

It was my third and final attempt.  I squashed my first two pieces.  They were too flimsy, out of shape, and uneven in thickness.

I'll be honest.  Clay and me don't get along.  But we have around 8 more chances to become friends.

Cy's Breakfast

Beef Stew ($17) from Young's Fish Market in City Square.

🤣  You know what I laughing at, right?

Easy Baked Spaghetti

I was craving pasta so I made this fast-kine baked spaghetti the other night.  I followed the recipe from the Salt & Lavender site. 

I used a tube-shaped pasta instead of spaghetti and Italian sausage instead of ground beef.  Also, my bottle of marinara sauce was around 1 cup shy, but still came out okay.

Ingredients

• 1 pound uncooked spaghetti
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups marinara sauce
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella 
• 1 cup shredded cheddar
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375F and move the rack to the top third of the oven.
• Boil a salted pot of water for the pasta. Cook it for 2 minutes less than the package directions indicate. Once it's done, drain it and add it to a 9x13 casserole/baking dish.
• Meanwhile, add the beef, onion, oregano, and red pepper flakes to a skillet. There should be enough fat released by the beef to cook the onion, but if it's particularly lean, add a tablespoon of olive oil. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the meat has browned/cooked through (about 10 minutes). If there's a lot of excess fat, spoon most of it out.
• To the skillet, stir in the garlic and cook for about a minute, then add in the marinara sauce and cook for a few more minutes until it's warmed through. I stir in some salt & pepper as well.
• Pour the beef mixture over top of the spaghetti. Toss until everything is coated. Smooth it out into an even layer.
• Top with the cheeses and bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Broil for a few minutes to brown the cheese if you want (watch it carefully). Let it sit for 5-10 minutes, then serve by cutting it into squares using a spatula.

Knife Sharpener

Talking about knives.  😁

I found this in our knife drawer.  I never used it before.  Maybe because I didn't think it would do much good.

I like it!  Easy to use and makes knives noticeably sharper. And I see that Amazon has it for $6.99!