Broccoli Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I found this recipe a LONG time ago in one of my Family Circle magazines and it has absolutely been a staple in my menu plans since then.  Chicken breasts stuffed with cream cheese, cheddar, and broccoli are pretty hard to beat!

Here's the recipe:

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 oz cream cheese (1/2 a package)

1 package frozen chopped broccoli florets, thawed

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons bread crumbs

1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper

1. Heat oven to 350.  Cut a pocket into the chicken breasts, cutting into, but not through.

This is easier with a small paring knife and your fingers to help pry the chicken apart without tearing it.

2.  Soften cream cheese slightly.  In a large bowl, combine broccoli, both cheeses, bread crumbs, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper.

3.  Stuff 1/3 cup of mixture into each chicken breast and secure the opening with a toothpick (or two, if needed).  Season chicken with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper.  Brown chicken over medium-high heat in two batches in a nonstick skillet for 3 minutes each side.

4.  Transfer chicken to a baking dish and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.  (If there is any leftover broccoli/cheese mix, I usually just add it to the pan with the stuffed chicken.)

I usually serve this with long-grain and wild rice, but it would go great with anything from mashed potatoes to egg noodles, as well.  Don't forget to remove the toothpicks before serving! :)

Garage Clean Up

This week, I've been trying to stay offline as much as possible because I go back to work next week and I still have a ton of things on my to-do list.  After procrastinating Monday and Tuesday, I finally decided to tackle the garage Wednesday afternoon.  It was a gorgeous day outside, not too hot and partly cloudy, so I had no excuses.

Our garage lately seems to have become a dumping ground for pretty much everything.  Kids' toys, workout equipment, Marine Corps gear, and out-of-season decorations have been piling up and it was getting hard to walk through there without stepping on something. So, before I started cleaning I took some pics.  Try not to judge, lol.  :)

After 3 hours of cleaning and sorting and organizing, it's not exactly how I want it, but it is miles ahead of where it was.  I think the best thing I did was to group things into sections.  All of the gardening supplies are together, all of the fishing stuff is together, etc.  Before, everything was everywhere and there was no cohesiveness.  I just can't function like that; my brain NEEDS organization in order to work well, haha. 

One of the other things we are going to do soon is mount some hanging shelves on the ceiling.  We should be able to put the hurricane shutters and a few plastic containers up there to free up some more floor space. I'm hoping that some of those toys that the kids have outgrown will fit up there as well because they're taking up the majority of one corner.  We're also planning on upgrading our shelving units so that we can mount them to the wall and get more of the smaller stuff off the floor.

Without further ado, here's the after pics:

Like I said, I know it still looks like a mess, but I'm happy with it because now I can actually walk from the house to the driveway in a straight line instead of having to weave around a bunch of STUFF.  :) 

The Commandant's Own and Silent Drill Platoon

Amazingly, in Marcus and my combined 19 years of service in the Marine Corps, neither one of us had ever seen the Silent Drill Platoon perform live.  Watch this commercial if you have no idea who the Silent Drill Platoon is:

Anyways, we got the opportunity to watch The Commandant's Own Drum and Bugle Corps and the Silent Drill Platoon perform this past week at the Air Station.  They did an amazing job and I'm glad we can now say that we've seen them perform in person. 


The Commandant's Own:

The Commandant's Own performed several selections, including Rocky Top and a medley from the movie Grease.  The entire group did an outstanding job; the way they performed reminded me of watching a marching band at a football game, except there were only drums and horns, instead of a full ensemble. 

The Silent Drill Platoon:

Yes, those are real bayonets on their rifles and the precision was really amazing to watch, especially when one row would spin their weapons (with the bayonets affixed) in between the other row's heads as they were marching forward.   Those rifles weigh 10.5 lbs each, so it is no easy feat to spin it around and toss it around like it weighs nothing, but these guys were able to do it.  They even did that single line where they spin their rifles in succession, like they did in the commercial. 

Both the Commandant's Own and the Silent Drill Platoon perform throughout the summer in Washington DC at the "Evening Parade" in front of Marine Barracks 8th and I and they travel throughout the country doing shows.  If you ever get the chance to see this performance, you should definitely go!

Painting, Day Four

I am finally getting around to posting the pictures from the fourth day of painting last week.  I decided after that day that I was done painting for a while.  I was getting burned out and I was tired and sore from climbing up and down the ladder all day for four days straight.  That, and I ran out of paint. :)  I got the hallway upstairs done, so now the only thing left to paint is the loft and the stairwell. 

Here's the before at the top of the stairs:

And after:

The before of the hallway:

And the after:

Outside Taylor's room before:

And after:

This is what I have left to paint:

The Infamous Monstrosity of a Stairwell

That wall is going to be incredibly time consuming and to be honest, it scares me.  I am definitely going to wait on a day when both Marcus and I can be home because I really don't want to fall off a 20 foot ladder while I'm by myself.  Not that I think I'd fall off, but you know, just in case.  That's a long way up!

Painting, Day Three

Today I finished painting all I can downstairs.  In order for me to finish the last wall, I'm going to need a really tall ladder!  I gotta say, painting for three days straight has been rough on my body! Especially from going up and down the ladder about 1,500 times!  My shoulders hurt, my back hurts, and my hands are cramped from holding the brush for so long!  But I'm determined to get this done before I go back to work!  I've been wanting to paint since before we moved in, so it's only two years late.  But better late than never, I suppose! :)  Anyways, here's the pics!

The long living room wall before:

And after:

The TV wall and stair wall before:

And after:

The rest of the formal living room/dining room before:

And after:

And last, the rest of the formal living room after:

Tomorrow, I'll be tackling the upstairs hallway and loft and I am hoping that I can get it all finished so that I can try to find a ladder and completely finish on Friday.  I'll post more pics tomorrow!

Painting, Day Two

Yesterday I started painting the khaki color downstairs.  The color is actually called Mark Twain House Oak by Valspar.  I knew this was going to be a big job, but I don't think I truly realized HOW big a job it was going to be until I started painting and the walls just kept on going! So now that I'm finished with the downstairs, here's the pics of what I got accomplished yesterday. 

Garage door (in the foreground) and long hall by the front door Before:

And after:

Long wall by the front door after:

Formal living room and front door before:

And after:

The dining room wall before:  (I only painted the wall on the right yesterday, not sure why I didn't get a straight on shot of it)

Dining room wall after:  (I made sure to get the corner in the pic because that's where the green in the kitchen meets the khaki for the rest of the downstairs)

That was all I got done yesterday. I had to stop early because Tay had dance class last night, so I didn't get as much done as I wanted to, but I finished it up today.  Pics and updates in the next post! :)