Chicken Cordon Bleu

I'm a big fan of Cooking Light magazine and often use it for inspiration. This is one of the few recipes that I make exactly as it is printed. The chicken comes out very flavorful and moist. This is a great recipe when dining alone (the chicken tastes wonderful when re-heated as leftovers) but also works great for a dinner party (easy dish to bake and comes out looking quite nice). I usually serve this dish with a nice ceasar salad or grilled asparagus. Works well with a nice slighty sweet wine such as a gewertzaminer.



Chicken Cordon Bleu

Ingredients
1/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
5 teaspoons butter, melted
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 teaspoon paprika
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 thin slices prosciutto (about 2 ounces)
1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Cooking spray


Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Place broth in a small microwave-safe bowl; microwave at high 15 seconds or until warm. Stir in butter and garlic. Combine breadcrumbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and paprika in a medium shallow bowl; set aside.

Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap, and pound each to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt, oregano, and pepper. Top each breast half with 1 slice of prosciutto and 1 tablespoon mozzarella. Roll up each breast half jelly-roll fashion. Dip each roll in chicken broth mixture; dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Place rolls, seam side down, in an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Pour remaining broth mixture over chicken. Bake at 350° for 28 minutes or until juices run clear and tops are golden.

Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 rolled chicken breast half)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 297(30% from fat); FAT 9.9g (sat 4.4g,mono 3.6g,poly 1g); PROTEIN 45.5g; CHOLESTEROL 125mg; CALCIUM 94mg; SODIUM 619mg; FIBER 0.5g; IRON 1.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 3.8g

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1134074

PS - In the future I'll post my more "original" recipes and include my own pics.

I've never felt so OLD!

Gosh, this question makes me feel incredibly old. I know these shoes have been all the rage for awhile but I haven't purchased a pair since I really don't need tennis shoes except when doing the gym thing. But I saw these in the last Kohl's circular and I do need a cute pair of shoes when doing the night rides at Disneyland next week. Plus, these shoes = SUPER cute. My question that makes me feel super old: what socks do I wear with the shoes? Do I let my socks show? Do I not wear any socks? Wont my feet chafe? Shouldn't I know these things??? Am I that old and un-hip?

Update: Much thanks to Erin who helped answer my questions. I bought the shoes on Tuesday and have been wearing them since. So adorable and so comfortable!

Healthy We

I've written a lot on this blog about my attempts to lose weight through exercising and a few times I've mentioned various diets that I've been on. What I've neglected to emphasize is just how important healthy eating is to me in my daily life. In the past I've led a healthy lifestyle to lose weight but now as I've gotten older I've changed my focus to being heart healthy. In the past this was very difficult since David has always been naturally trim and fit but lately (especially after he quit smoking) Dave has begun to develop a tiny baby gut. Even though he is having a very hard time dealing with his new metabolism, this has actually been a blessing in disguise since I finally feel like I have 100% of Dave's participation in healthy eating and exercising.

In general my diet consists of 1200 calories per day divided between 6 meals. For the most part I try to eat non-processed foods with an emphasis on fruits, veggies, and lean meats. I usually cook dinner each night and when I do so I choose recipes that are easy, cheap, quick, healthy, low calorie, and tasty. What is that I hear? Snickering. Oh yes. Getting all those qualities in one meal is not always easy but definitely do-able. In the next few weeks, I'll be sharing some of my favorite recipes that are regulars in our diet.

Now you may also be asking how in the hell I only consume 1200 calories per day, yet still eat 6 meals. Introducing my daily diet:

5:30am Meal #1 - Pre-Workout Snack (100 calories)
I usually eat something slightly sugary and carby to give me that extra energy boost needed for my morning workout. Sometimes if I'm in a hurry I'll grab a Luna Bar or Kashi bar but usually I eat a half slice of fiber rich whole grain wheat bread, with a thin layer of peanut butter, and a drizzle of honey.

9:00am Meal #2 - Breakfast (200 calories)
Yoplait yogurt plus banana (or some other type of fruit)

Noon Meal #3 - Lunch (300 - 350 calories)
Usually my lunch breaks consist of me sitting in front of a computer, rapidly typing out emails, while trying to consume a meal. Due to these reasons, lunch is the only meal in which I consume processed foods. My typical lunch is a lean pocket, healthy choice meal, or lean cuisine with a fruit (typically grapes) and diet cherry coke.

3:00pm Meal #4 - Snack (100 calories)
An apple with sugar free caramel dipping sauce is my perfect mid-afternoon snack. The apple has enough sugar to give me energy but also fiber to keep me full until dinner. And to be honest I hate apples (don't know why but I do) so the sugar free caramel dipping sauce helps me like to eat the apple. Sometimes if I'm busy I'll grab a Luna Bar or Kashi Go Lean Bar.

6:00pm Meal #5 - Dinner (400 calories)
This is where things get complicated. My goal each week when cooking dinner is to have one vegetarian dinner, one fish dinner, and only one red meat dinner each week. The other nights are usually chicken, turkey, pork, or leftovers. As I said before all recipes must be quick, cheap, easy, healthy, and tasty. I usually don't include a carb (even as a side dish) unless the recipe requires it such as veggie pizza (must have the crust) or fish tacos (need the corn tortilla). Most importantly, I try to make my dinner portion size the same as what I would eat for lunch. In the past I would over eat at dinner which is a shame since my body didn't get much of a chance to metabolize my meal.

9:00pm Meal #6 - Dessert! (100 calories)
My favorite meal of the day! I love sweets so my dessert is usually a sugar free skinny cow or sugar free banana pudding with chunks of banana. Mmmmm!!!!

My Dinner With Meatwad

It's 7:30p on a Friday night and my lovely husband is knocked out on the couch. I'm actually not upset since tomorrow I'm gonna either be laying by the beach or climbing a fake rock wall. Surprisingly, both tend to exhaust me the same amount so I'd like to try and reserve my energy as much as possible. Plus yesterday, Dave and I had a late night at a company dinner with several of his coworkers from St Louis (read: expensive and drunken meal on Dave's company dime). I knew Comic-Con was in town so I was prepared to encounter some "interesting" individuals (read: big fat geeks) on the downtown streets. What I wasn't prepared for was this to be greeting me as soon as I stepped out of my car at valet:



I thought it was a giant, 6 foot raspberry but evidently the characters name is "Meatwad" and he is a shape-shifting glob of red meat. Aqua Teen Hunger Force was having a private event at the same exact fancy restaurant that we had chosen for dinner. I'd probably be all excited about this but I've never seen an Adult Swim cartoon nor do I feel the desire. On the flip side I would feel un-hip and old but the private event was attended by mostly middle aged geeks who had struck it rich by drawing and voicing animated junk food. The whole evening left me wondering: how high do you think they were to not only imagine a chunk of raw hamburger that talks but also pitch and sell the idea to the rest of their comrades?

Recently, I've Been Thinking

Recent random thoughts that have passed through my brain:

Work. Work. Work. Bored. Don't want to work. Crap, 6 more hours til I can go home. I want to leave early. Must set example for employees. Can't leave early. Bored. Let's look at MSN news again. Nothing interesting. Ooo! Monkey steals tourist's glasses. Read. Bored. Back to work. Bored. Mmmmm .... raspberries + perrier water. Mmmmm ... raspberries + champagne even better. MMmmmm ... diet cherry coke + coconut rum. Going to the beach on Saturday. Maybe I should pack a picnic lunch? No. My friend is too picky. She wont eat what I pack. Work. Work. Work. I should blog. I have nothing interesting to say. Work. Bored. I need to be more stimulated. Bored. I want chocolate but I'm on a no sugar diet. No chocolate for me. I should lose more weight. No I should stay at my same weight. No I only have 20 more pounds to go. No I like the weight I'm at and I'm tired of dieting. Sex. Work. Work. Work ...

Weekend Update (Vignette Style)

I've been MIA lately since work has all but consumed my last few days. Unfortunately, it's not even the productive type of work that makes me feel good about the long hours and clean desk. Nope. I've been in a series of meetings, meetings, and more meetings. The week before last I had two days of meetings on Thursday and Friday that were all day and required a 3 hour round trip each day. Last week I flew to our State Capitol for a 5 day training on employee relations, and then next Monday I'll be driving another 3 hours round trip for my last meeting.

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Today is David's birthday and we plan on celebrating it by napping and participating in general laziness. Tomorrow we'll drive up to LA and go to the Dodger's versus Mets game. Go Dodgers!


Then next week Dave is gone for a meeting, the week after that he is gone for a second meeting in Arkansas, then the week after that he is gone for a company exhibition that will be held at Disneyland. The good news (besides the fact that one day I can drive up to Disneyland and get to do night rides) is that for the next 3 weeks I'll be able to indulge in all the red wine and sushi dinners that I could ever want (Dave hates both sushi and wine) and that I'll also be able to gorge myself on Lifetime movies and other assorted chick flicks. The bad news is that I'll miss him and I never sleep as well when he is not by my side ;-(

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Forgive me father, for I have sinned. Not only did I shop at Walmart! I completed an almost greater sin: I GROCERY shopped at Walmart! I know, I know. I feel so dirty. Californians have been very zealous in the past about their hatred of all things Walmart and it's evil empire. For a solid 2 years, my feet never even crossed the Walmart threshold. But ever since we bought the new house, there has been an evil Walmart located fairly close to our house and I have been weak and unable to avoid the low prices. In California, we've been succesful in stopping Walmart from doing the supercenter thing so luckily none of our stores offer a complete grocery store. Yet, Walmart has slowly begun creeping in two or three aisles of dry goods and one aisle of frozen/refrigerated items. The other day I needed a few things from Walmart and had planned to also make a stop at the grocery store until I found that all the items I needed Walmart carried. I felt dirty but I also knew that I was short on time. Time prevailed and now I have to live with the guilt and the self promises that I will never do this again. Yeah right! I'm weak.

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I have a girl crush, which is rare for me since I'm usually all about the guy crushes. Her name? Victoria Beckham. She's so freaking cute and self-deprecating funny. Not to mention that she has a super hot husband. I watched part of the Coming to America special that was on Thursday night and spent most of the time charmed by her antics. Maybe I'll convince David to drive up to LA so that we can catch a Galaxy game.

Little Things

Today is 7/11/07 which means free slurpees at your neighborhood 7 eleven. I went to grab a perrier (I'm addicted) and decided to walk slowly past the slurpee machines and drool. I love me a good frozen treat during the summer months but unfortunately slurpees just contain too many calories and regardless if they are free will not be touching my lips. While walking slowly and cursing my slow metabolism, what do I see??? Could it be true? Five calorie, no sugar Crystal Light slurpees in berry pomegranate and raspberry lemonade. Oh my! Combine this with several good book finds at the library and I would say that I am having one stellar day. It's the little things ...

Instant Mood Enhancers

So handsome

I've never felt prettier.



My thoughts at that moment: "please don't fall down the stairs. please don't fall".

My heels sank as I was walking down the aisle because the grass was wet. I almost did a total face plant in front of everyone.

Stunning. I can't believe that this was actually my wedding.

I do

When it came time for the kiss, Dave frenched me! In front of everyone!

The Recessional

So Happy



I loved our cake. It was vanilla toffee caramel flavored. Mmmmmm!



Being announced as Mr & Mrs

The End.

More On The Blue Thing

Well I guess I should be completely honest and clarify that when I said I was blue, I meant I haven't had the desire to get out of bed or do anything productive. I think I've called in sick the last 4 days straight (which for those of you who are keeping track means the whole week). I wouldn't call it depression but more like just bummed about life. I've come to realize that so many of the monumental, exciting parts of life have already gone by for me (college, dating, engagement, wedding). Dave and I are still uncertain on the whole kid issue so for now there really is nothing to look forward to. Add to it the "people stress" that I talked about in my last post, which becomes even more of a downer when you realize that life is never easy! There will always be someone in our professional or personal lives who is either out to get us or out to get themselves (and bring everyone down with them). I'm not sure what the point of getting out of bed is, when there really is nothing to look forward to (besides making and spending money).

Last night my mood began to improve. Partly because I worked out (working out clears my brain) and partly because I took the time to release my emotions (through this blog). It really did feel like a small part of the weight was lifted from my shoulders. I actually felt like going to work! So this morning I woke up early, got dressed, and just as I'm about to walk out the door, I get a call from my office. Computers are down and there is no point in coming in to the office. Oye Vey.

Spanglish

Hola

It's been uno week since we got back from Mexico and I'm having a muy dificil time getting out of the hablar espanol mode of thinking. I can comprende espanol fairly well and can hablar my thoughts decently bueno using basic spanish. Just don't ask me to use past or futuro tense because then I clam up and begin stammering. Over the past week, Dave and I have taken to slaughtering both the espanol and ingles languages by speaking a spanglish hybrid. Complicating matters even worse is that I am currently reading Three Junes by Julia Glass which contains the occasional french. Every so often my speech is peppered with "comme ca" and other popular french phrases which I mispronounce.

Lately, I haven't posted because I've been feeling a little blue and down trodden. I can deal with the type of stress that involves impossible deadlines, tediousness, and running around like a cat with my head cut off. In fact I thrive off that type of stress! But the minute you add people stress in to my life, I fall apart. In recent weeks in both my work and family life I've experienced people acting passive aggressively and it tears me apart! Passive aggressiveness has always been a special pet peeve of mine that borders on instant contempt (to me it means that you are a weak person who doesn't have the self esteem to stand up for things and instead have to be deceitful to get what you want). Unfortunately, I just can't run away from work or family problems so instead I am forced to endure other's actions. To help myself cope I've been trying to repeat the Serenity Prayer. Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference So far it hasn't been working. C'est la vie (or so I'd like to pretend).