What's for dinner?

Made this last night. yum. Thumbs up from everyone but Shorty, he had a triple decker PB&J..!

I highlight where I changed things. I very rarely follow a dinner recipe exactly. Baking yes you need to be exact, but cooking you can vary depending on your taste or size of your family. Or in my case if you have a teenage boy that has started eating you out of house and home.

Creamy Bow-Tie Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli

3 cups farfalle (bow-tie pasta) uncooked (I did more like 4; almost the whole box of Barilla brand)

4 cups broccoli florets (I used the whole bag of frozen broccoli)

3 Tbsp. KRAFT Roasted Pepper Italian with Parmesan Dressing/Marinade

(I used a little more since I made this in a huge skillet passed down to me by my mother-in-law)

6 small boneless skinless chicken breasts (used more like 8 regular sized ones)

2 cloves garlic minced

2 cups tomato-basil spaghetti sauce (*big disclaimer..see bottom)

4 oz Cream cheese (I used the whole block; 8oz ..try using light I think it would work fine too)

Grated parmesan cheese

Cook pasta as directed. Add broccoli to cooking pasta for the last three minutes of cooking time.

Meanwhile heat dressing in a large skillet on medium heat. Add chicken and garlic; cook 5 minutes. Turning chicken continue cooking until cooked through.

Drain pasta return to pan and set aside. Add pasta sauce and cream cheese to chicken in skillet; cook on medium low heat until cream cheese is completely melted, mixture is well blended and chicken is coked with sauce stirring occasionally. Remove chicken from skillet and keep warm. Add pasta to sauce mixture; mix well. Transfer to serving bowls/plates and top with a piece (or more) of chicken cut crosswise into thick slices fanned out over pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Credit- Kraft Food and Family Spring 2007

(*disclaimer...I always, always make my own sauce. I actually jarred my own tomatoes this summer with my family for crying out loud. But this time for the first time in my life I bought jarred sauce. I didn't have any sauce made and I didn't want to waste one of my jars of tomatoes (I am running low) on a recipe that may not have turned out good. So I bought Barilla Tomato-Basil Marinara. I figured I like Barilla pasta so how bad could this be. It was actually quite tasty straight from the jar and mixing it with the dressing and cream cheese it was delicious. So do what you want as far as the sauce...but to keep this one easy and it's really easy...I may buy a jar for this recipe all the time.)

Happy Three Years on H Lane...

Three years seems like a long time when I think

of it. Guess it's not really.

The to-do list is still a mile long. And with a Sweet Sixteen, Linus' wedding and throw in two more significant weddings, a 70th birthday and a confirmation...I would imagine the list will have to stay long this year. Sometimes it bugs me. Like now when I am in the house a lot. I guess once the spring thaw hits and I am outside planting and digging in the dirt I won't be so bugged about what's going on or not going on inside. I will do some painting that must get done or I may have a fit. (we don't want THAT!) But all in all can't complain. The taxes could be a little less thanks, but I guess everyone can say that.

It's been a rough year all around us, with the economy, people passing and a few more downs than ups. But at the end of the day I think we are all happy to come through that door and know we are home.

Home where there's enough room to be alone if you need to. A comfy chair to sit in by the fire and read. Friends of every size who come in and out during the course of the day; whether it's to play with toys in the basement, or play video games in the family room, or to run giggling upstairs to the teenage cave full of clothes, cd's and makeup. Or maybe it's to borrow and egg, or just to do a drive by for a cup of coffee. We have had all five birthday cakes and parties, poolside "gatherings", marshing mellows by the fire. Post trick or treating pizza with a "few" (ok 25 or so), an impromptu ice cream party after a Friday night school function. Out of town family staying for visits. Waking up to other people's teenagers sleeping on my couch. Christmas trees, Easter egg hunts, Red dinners on Valentines Day. This breaking and that needing to be fixed. Thousands of loads of laundry, floors filthy from a New Year's crowd of about 50 that need to be mopped. Some tears and some raised voices. But lots of laughing and lots of love.

I do intend to grow old in this house. So I can watch the trees I've planted grow tall, and other people's children at the bus stop. So when it's just the two of us rattling around in this house...that we still fill it with children and grandchildren and friends who have been coming here for years and years.

Whatta ya think?

I am digging my new blog layout. Are you?