Parmesan Chicken Bake

It's been a while since I've shared some recipes, so here is one I've made several times. It's easy, it's very delicious, and it makes leftovers - all get top marks in my book.
I found the recipe, as I've found most of my favorite recipes, on Pinterest. The blog it came from, My Kitchen Escapades, has a load of other yummy recipes. I shall share the recipe here for your enjoyment:

Parmesan Chicken Bake(adapted from Food.com)
6 chicken breasts (or one large pack)
1 C light mayonnaise or Greek yogurt
1/2 c fresh Parmesan cheese, plus more for the top
1 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray the inside of a 9x13 glass pan.  Lay the chicken inside the pan.
2.  Mix together the remaining ingredients and spread evenly over each piece of chicken, being sure to cover all the exposed raw meat (so it doesn't dry out.)  Sprinkle on a bit more fresh Parmesan over all the chicken.
3.  Bake uncovered for 45 minutes. 

And there you have it. We've been enjoying it recently with baked sweet potatoes and a salad. All the flavors go so well together!

Right Now

• I'm starting the day with the near-giddy feeling of having had a full night's sleep! Caleb has been waking several times a night recently (teething and rolling over and waking himself up), and the bags under my eyes were enough to carry my keys in. But last night, he slept. All. Night.  I wouldn't want to presume on God's kindness to suggest that this is the new normal, but it's a merciful gift, and I'm taking it!
• Even as certain facets of homeschooling draw to a close for the year (co-op's finished, one more week of Bible and History), we are well on track for planning for the next school year. Most of the curriculum has been purchased, which always makes me excited; I love seeing all those new books and anticipating a new student next year - Eleanor will be a Kindergartner!
• I'm also working on the plan for the Gayner Family Summer School. Reading, projects, trips, memory work and camps should all feature in - I think the kids (and maybe even I) are gonna enjoy this...
• Last Friday was Ellie's 5th birthday. Five years old. I know I sound old, but where did that time go? It was fast! One day, she's this tiny little thing all wrapped up in her own cord and half a decade later - BAM! - she's this cute, fiery little madam with a sweet-as-honey smile and rage issues. Crazy.
• The day before her birthday, we took a little field trip to the D.C. Zoo. It was a great day - good weather, saw some fun animals, hung out with some families at co-op, and followed it all up with a nice dinner out. 

 

How much to elephants pee and poop each day?

• Saturday was our church's annual Mother-Daughter Tea, which my mom, Abi, Anna, and myself attended. It was a lovely time, hearing about God's grace in the lives of moms and their daughters and spending some fun time with my own mom and daughters.
• Mother's Day was Sunday (in this country, anyway). I'm never sure how to approach these special days - I tend to over-inflate the day with my own unrealistic expectations, then get all huffy when things don't go the way I plan. I was working hard this time, not to do that, but just relax (if possible) and enjoy my family. And I did. I was served my favorite breakfast (bacon, egg and cheese sandwich, if you want to know), had a lovely morning in church, followed by a restful afternoon knitting outside and a fun and yummy meal made by my sweet husband. I received cards and a gift from my family, but really, the family is the gift.



Herein is hope

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;

my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning,

more than watchmen for the morning.

Psalm 130:3-6

 

Presentation night!

Well, our first year of homeschool co-op ended on Friday night, with a great presentation night. We were able to tour the kids' classrooms and see all their projects and everything they made all year. (Then we got to take it home! These kids made a lot of stuff...)

Then, it was show time! Dan's two-year old class was up first - they get the biggest applause. :)

 I can't remember now what Ellie was singing, but I think it involved yelling something...

 Abi and Anna both had a great time with their parts in the play. They sang, they danced, they did a great job!

 And Noah's class? Here's a little of one of their songs:

Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

Joshua 21:45

Reading this passage a little while ago, a couple thoughts came to mind:

1. These promises of God weren't fulfilled immediately. Much time had passed between the making of the promise and seeing it fulfilled. God is patient, and He's going to grow it in His people, too.
2. The people had their part to play in God's great plan. They (and we) are not to sit, passively waiting for the good stuff to drop into their lap. They had to turn up, remain faithful and obedient, and do the next thing. The Lord may have given their enemies into Israel's hands, but Israel still needed to show up and take part.

What's God been saying to you recently?

Some of our wildlife

Toby's (and, therefore, Daniel's) favorite bird - the cardinal - - is spending a lot of time in our yard.

 We've had loads of goldfinches, too - they love sunflower seeds, if you want to lure them to your yard.

 Everyone always gets a big kick out of the tree frogs. This guy was hiding out underneath one of the cushions on the deck....

 ...so, of course, my kids brought him in the house and let him crawl up the window!

We've been very privileged to host a small bird of prey (perhaps a hawk) and a bluebird recently, though their stays were to brief to get photographic documentation. Looking forward to hummingbirds and nesting robins!

My Sweet Baby

A fine family tradition

All families have traditions. Usually they have to do with how they spend the holidays or where they go on vacation. Not us, though - we like to crank things up a notch. Our tradition is...chin stitches. A couple summers ago, Anna was the first to split her chin, with Abi catching up the very next Saturday. It'd been a little while since that injury, so I suppose we were due - I'm honestly surprised it had taken that long...

This time, it was some rough play between the boys in the bathtub that resulted in a charming little flesh wound. It wasn't bleeding terribly, but in an awkward spot, so it was off to Patient First:

 The thickly-accented Russian doctor (who I believe also treated Anna) hooked Dan up with 5 little stitches, and Dan was good to go. Little guy went through the whole thing with nary a peep.

He was pretty good about the whole thing, though the following day he seemed to be doing everything in his power to earn himself some more stitches: jumping off things, jumping into things, falling off things, getting trapped between things...I'm happy to report, however, that Dan's stitches are now out and he is back in action.
Though the children seem to be doing their best to earn a few scars and war stories, it'll take a little more than that to beat my record. I continue to be the current reigning Stitches Champion, holding steady at more than 36 stitches (not including any delivery-related stitches). Long may it continue, children - you don't need to win this one.

A Birthday

Sunday was my sweet husband's 38th birthday. I remember when I was growing up and thinking that 36 sounded really...not old, exactly, but very adult. While he is very much a man, I wouldn't always describe him as (ahem) an "adult".
In honor of my "always-manly-but-sometimes-less-than-adult" husband, I'd like to share a few little tidbits about the man I married:

1. He shares his birthday with Queen Elizabeth II.
2. He was born early and had a hernia at 6 weeks old.
3. He has a very strange affinity for bananas. He likes them any which way - on cereal, in ice cream, on pizza, covered in garlic, herbs and cheese. He also likes their price. On that front, at least, I see his point.
4. He loves cardinals. The flash of a brilliant, red bird across the yard is enough to make his day.
5. He grew up in a seaside town, but doesn't much care for the beach.
6. He writes left-handed but does pretty much everything else right-handed.
7. He's one of those annoyingly clever people that can do almost anything he tries. Never played baseball - hits 2 home runs. Doesn't play an instrument - can tap out tunes he hears on the piano. No plumbing experience - guts and refits a bathroom. Annoying, but a great guy to know.
8. There's little he wouldn't do to help someone. He's been known to move furniture, meet a friend in need at any hour, give generously, rescue stray/injured animals, and generally bend over backwards for folks. And he does it cheerfully, knowing that doing so honors the Lord.
9. He owned a Milli Vanilli tape in high school. (He continues to wear the mark of Shame.)
10. He might be the most safety conscious man I know. Hats, safety specs, ear protection - we've got it all, folks. He even brought home a gas mask for the kids to try on once. (I think a bad diaper might have been involved.)
11. He's a very "creative" dancer. Kind of like Homer Simpson - he is all white boy.

A "Chair Lift"

I can't call it a "face lift", since chairs don't have faces (do they?), but it's not actually a chair lift in the strictest sense. Whatever, you get the idea - I redecorated my sewing chair!

Using this site as a jumping off point (I had this pinned for ages!), I found some upholstery fabric in my closet (actually, our curtains from our house in Birmingham), stretched a piece over the seat and stapled underneath without removing the old cover. Then, I unscrewed the back, stretched and staple down the fabric again. On the back, however, there's a gap between what the fabric and where the screws go in. I cut one more square and covered the gap under where the screws fasten by using some spray adhesive on both the chair and the fabric. Worked like a charm. Reattach back to chair and we were back in business. 
In keeping with my "near-instant gratification" requirements for almost all crafts, this little project took about 20 minutes, mainly because I was looking for the right screwdriver.
And in less than one episode of Little Einsteins, my work room is a little more "me". Which make me happy.