Three Cheese Chicken Alfredo Bake

I follow several food blogs. One of them is called Plain Chicken. The blogger posted this recipe a few weeks ago. I made it tonight except that I made it without the chicken. It was very good, a little rich with all the different cheeses.


Here's the recipe:
1 - 16 oz package of penne or elbow macaroni
2 - 10 oz containers of refrigerated Alfredo sauce
1 - 8 oz container of sour cream
1 - 15 oz container of ricotta cheese
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups of cooked chicken, chopped
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 cups mozzarella cheese

Prepare pasta according to package directions, drain and return to pot. Stir together all ingredients except mozzarella cheese. Spread mixture into a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.


www.plainchicken.blogspot.com

Rain and More Rain. etc.

It started raining yesterday and it continues. According to the weather people, it will be raining into next week. And after these storms are over, another storm is expected Christmas Eve. The wind has been pretty strong too. Supposedly it is going to be a wet winter, thanks to a La Nina weather pattern.


The coughing lingers on...it is mostly bad at night. I have been sleeping better and that's a good thing. The wet weather certainly doesn't help matters. At least we're not having real cold temperatures.


I need to clean up my craft table. I came in from our shoebox swap 2 weeks ago, dropped everything down on my table and there it still sits. I have a couple of SCS swaps that are due the first part of January so I really, seriously, need to be working on them. Somehow I can't get into a mood to even think about them. Of course being sick hasn't helped getting motivated.


Two weeks ago I had a hair appointment...cancelled it because it was raining that particular day. I desperately need to get another appointment made. Its been 3 months since my last appointment and my hair is back down on my neck. It is driving me crazy. I was watching "What Not to Wear" last night and the lady that was getting a makeover had her hair cut short. It really looked cute and I decided I'm going back short...not real short...just off my neck. I know I probably can't have a cut like she got...my hair is too coarse and wavy...I'm sure Brent can come up with something cute. I just need to get in to see him.

A Quick Post

I am still fighting my cold. Actually...I think I've had a relapse. We were out Saturday, Sunday and last night. I think the cold air didn't do me any good. Then Saturday Gerry started sniffling and coughing. At the Christmas play we went to Saturday night and the Christmas concert we went to Sunday night, there were a lot of people around us that were coughing. I hate being sick and will be relieved when all this is over.


The concert we went to Sunday evening was really good. It was presented by the Music Department at Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church. The church is pretty big with a balcony and it was packed. They had folding chairs set down the aisles and had set up chairs in the foyer area too. The youth and children were also involved along with the adult choir. The young band played too. One of our neighbors sings in the choir. Every year we say we are going to go and then something comes up and we don't make it. We made it this year and it was well worth it. I sat there thinking about all of the years in my life when I was involved with choirs, ensembles and the like. It was always so much fun...it was hard work learning all the music yet such an enjoyable time participating in concerts.


Last night we made a quick trip out to the airport. The PGR had a mission welcoming some families back from a weekend in Dallas, TX. It's called the Snowball Express and every year the children and family members of fallen military are given an all expense paid trip somewhere. I'm not sure who sponsors it. This was the second year they went to Dallas. Gerry said there were 14 families from Sacramento that went on the trip. American Airlines provides the transportation.


Oh, yesterday we lost phone service and our internet since we have DSL. It was fixed by this afternoon. Gerry got so frustrated with AT&T yesterday that he called Comcast and next Monday we'll have cable for the internet and our home phone. When I finally logged on to my Hotmail account, I had over 100 messages...which I didn't think was very bad.


It has rained all day here...it is really not that cold though. Sunshine hopefully tomorrow, according to the weather people.

Cough, Cough, Cough!!!

Its been a week since I got sick with this crazy cold. The cough lingers now and I sure wish it would go away. Elizabeth told me that Delsym works good for suppressing the cough so I got some the other day. It supposedly works for 12 hours too. Well, that may be true...it certainly hasn't worked for me. So today I got some Robitussin for cough and chest congestion. I'm going to give it a try tonight and see if it works. Here's hoping...


The thing I hate about coughing is that it wakes me up at night. I did sleep a lttle better last night...only woke up a couple of times. However, I woke up about 6:15 this morning coughing "my fool head" off and couldn't go back to sleep. I did go back to sleep about 8:30 and slept for about an hour and a half.


It was a dark gloomy day with overcast skies. There was quite a bit of fog last night and it didn't completely clear up. We came in about an hour ago and the fog was starting to get thick in some areas.


Tonight we went to a Christmas play at the church where Elizabeth and her girls go. Hannah and Emily were both in the play. It was pretty good...they presented the play last night too.


It is rather strange to be in the building where the church is. It use to be a Bel Air Market and it is where I shopped when we first moved to Citrus Heights back in the early 1980's. After Bel Air closed that store, it was a health club and there were some other businesses on the side of the building. The church has the entire building now so the sanctuary is quite large with classrooms surrounding it.


Several of the mobiles right around us have decorated the outside of their mobiles. Sure is pretty. I noticed driving down Madison Avenue, on the way home tonight, that there were a lot of homes decorated. I love to see what people do in the way of decorating the outside of their homes. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen here. Hopefully I can get a little bit of decorating done inside. How about y'all...do you go all out decorating?

I'm Sick

I have a cold...I don't usually get one...when I do it is usually a bad one. I started with my throat feeling kinda of scratchy on Friday. I had a Shoebox Card Swap to go to Saturday so I couldn't be sick. Saturday morning I woke up and my sinuses were draining...I didn't feel bad.


I went ahead to the Shoebox swap and then after it was over, I came home and got Gerry and we went to St. John's Craft Fair. It is held every year the first weekend in December...Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It is huge, all the classrooms of the Catholic school are used besides the cafeteria and auditorium. And it is always very, very crowded. The parking is horrendous. Gerry was able to find a spot very close to the entrance.


We were there for an hour...walking through about half of it. I told Gerry I wanted to leave...I was completely wiped out. We stopped by Walgreens on the way home and I got some stuff to take for my cold. So for the last 3 days I've spent quite a bit of time in bed. Sunday it was raining and cold so it was a good day to stay in. Gerry drove me to Bel Air yesterday afternoon to get a few things and I went back to bed soon as we got back.


Sure hope I get to feeling better. I managed to get a couple of loads of laundry done yesterday...have more to finish...towels are on the sofa that need to be folded and there's a load in the dryer that needs to be folded also.


I hate being sick. Hope none of you are sick...

Holly Jollies, Christmas Candy on a Budget, In a Hurry!

One of the food blogs I follow, Southern Plate, posted this recipe yesterday. My stamp group is getting together on Saturday for a Shoebox Card Swap and we are going to do a cookie exchange too. I didn't know what I was going to make until I saw this recipe. It looked super easy and quick. The blogger, Christy Jordon, lets her children make these. On the left are chocolate ones with rice krispies, then white chocolate with chopped up apricots and then white chocolate with dried cranberries. I am having one with apricots right now and it is yum!


Holly Jollies
1 package Almond Bark, white or chocolate
36 mini muffin papers
2 cups of one or more of the following:

• Salted peanuts
• Rice Krispie Cereal
• Dried Cranberries
• Raisins
• Crushed candy canes
• Other salted nuts
• Your favorite dried fruit, chopped to the size of raisins

Line a mini muffin tin with the papers. Place almond bark in a large microwave safe bowl. Microwave for a minute and a half, stir. Return to microwave and microwave for about 30 seconds at a time, stirring each time, until the bark is smooth and creamy. Remove from microwave and stir in 2 cups of your choice of add in. Spoon into mini muffin papers and allow to sit until cool and hardened. (I used some wax paper too because I only have 2 - 12 cup mini muffin tins). They can be put in the refrigerator to speed up the process if you like.

Note: Take special care not to allow even the tiniest drop of water to get into the bark as it will clot up if you do.

Add this recipe to the Christmas goodies you make. I think you will enjoy them.

Recipe by Christy Jordon of www.southernplate.com

Evening Sky

I looked out the kitchen window just before 5 pm and this is what I saw. I was starting to fix dinner. So I grabbed my camera and went outside to take these pictures. What a beautiful sunset!!

Within a few minutes, the sky completely changed and it was all gray with a little bit of blue by the time I walked back into the house.

I shared these pictures on Facebook too.

Note: the time stamp says a few minutes before 6 pm. I hadn't changed the time on my camera and it was still on daylight savings time. Its on Pacific Standard time now. :)