Cheesy Baked Chicken

This recipe is one I saw on facebook and modified slightly. It's a really moist and tasty way to eat chicken and our family loves it. This recipe takes a little more time than some of my chicken recipes (like this, this, and this), but it's worth it and it's easy to make enough to have leftovers.




3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup milk
2-1/2 cups finely shredded cheddar cheese (I actually use a fiesta cheese blend that contains cheddar and other cheeses)
About 20 Ritz crackers (I use the Walmart brand crackers instead of the name brand)
Salt and pepper to taste

Sauce:
1 10-oz. can Cream of Chicken soup
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons sour cream

Trim any remaining fat from the chicken breasts and cut into 3-4 strips each. You want all the strips to be approximately the same thickness for even cooking.

Crush the Ritz crackers into crumbs and add a little salt and pepper. Place the cracker crumbs, shredded cheese, and milk in separate bowls. Grease the bottom of one or two baking dishes. I like to use two because I want to leave enough space for the cheese to melt and get crispy in between the strips. The crispy cheese in the bottom of the pan is really good.

 

Dip each chicken breast strip into the milk, then the cheese (pressing the cheese into the chicken), then into the cracker crumbs. Place the strips in the baking dish. If you have leftover cheese, you can sprinkle it over the tops of the chicken strips.

Here's one pan of chicken all coated and ready to bake. Notice that I usually do sprinkle a little extra cheese on top. I had another pan about half this size as well.

Cover the baking dishes with aluminum foil. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for another 10 minutes or until the tops are browned and crispy.

To make the sauce, combine the Cream of Chicken soup, butter, and sour cream in a small saucepan. Heat on low, stirring frequently, until heated through and bubbly. Serve over the chicken or on the side.

Note: This chicken works really well with mashed potatoes and steamed green beans, especially since the sauce tastes good on potatoes too.

Linked up with WLWW.

Are Embryos People?

Pro-aborts often claim that "Embryos are not people." They claim that the unborn are somehow different from those who are born, and that only the born are worth protecting.

However, that is merely a statement of opinion - an opinion which is contradicted by science, by the way. Scientifically, a new human individual comes into existence at fertilization. Embryos are just as much human beings as any other person. Embryos are smaller, weaker, less developed, and more dependent than other human beings, but we do not use these criteria to allow the killing of those who are smaller, weaker, less developed, or more dependent among those who are born. Thus, the distinction they are trying to make between the born and the unborn is not based on any objective criteria. They are just trying to arbitrarily create a division between the born and the unborn so they can feel it is okay to kill the unborn. They're assuming what they're trying to prove. They're making the choice of where to draw the line based only on what they want it to be, not on facts or logic.

The thing is, people have been trying to make arbitrary divisions between those who are "worth" protecting and those who aren't for centuries. In the past, for example, those who were white and male were considered worthwhile and those who were female or black were not considered "persons" under the law. But this distinction between who was and was not considered a "person" was totally arbitrary and was only there to allow discrimination against certain groups. In other words, there wasn’t any evidence that females or blacks were any different or had any lesser worth. The same thing happened in Nazi Germany where the Jews were not legal “persons” under the law simply because the rest of the society didn’t want to consider their rights. In all these cases, the distinction was simply made because the people who made it wanted it to be true. I think we can all agree that these false distinctions, which denied legal "personhood" to some human beings, was wrong. Females and blacks and Jews have always been persons because they are human beings. In fact, EVERY time in human history where one group has claimed that another group of human beings are not “persons,” they have been wrong and this false distinction has led to many injustices.

It is the same with the unborn. There is no evidence that the unborn are any different from all other human beings. The distinction is merely made through wishful thinking. Those who claim there is a difference, that born human beings are persons and the unborn aren’t, only do so because they want to discriminate against the unborn. They want it to be true so they can justify killing unwanted unborn children. But, as with every other time that this kind of claim has been made, this distinction is false and has led to many injustices. It must stop.

Note: I have discussed this issue elsewhere on my blog as well. I have made a secular case against abortion as well as demolished some of the most common arguments for abortion.

Linked up with Time-Warp Wife, WLWW, and WFMW.

Waiting on a Baby

As the title of this post indicates, I'm waiting on this baby to be born. I'm 38 weeks today and feeling pretty good...most of the time. But I am quite ready not to be pregnant any more. And quite ready to meet this little girl who has been wiggling and kicking inside me for so long.

Not only am I ready to meet this little one, but my husband and my daughter, Reagan, are too. Reagan, at almost 21 months, loves babies. Every time she sees a picture of any baby, she points and says "Baby" over and over. She usually notices baby pictures before I do. For instance, I can be scrolling through facebook and there will be an ad on the side with a tiny picture of a baby in it and she will notice it. Every time. If you ask her where her baby sister is, she will point to my belly and say "Kiki" (her name for Katelyn). If you ask her if she wants to hold the baby, she makes a motion like she's rocking a baby in her arms. It's so cute! I think she's going to be a good big sister.

I've got all the baby clothes washed and folded and put away in Katelyn's dresser, which is my old dresser. We realized a month or so ago that it would be a good idea to have another dresser for the new baby, but furniture can be expensive. Thankfully, we were able to find a nice dresser and headboard on Craig's List for $50 (for both of them). We put the new dresser in the master bedroom, and then moved my old dresser into the girls' room for Katelyn. So that concern was taken care of without breaking the bank. Just one of God's little blessings when we needed it.

Another blessing is the lack of pain. For awhile, a couple weeks ago, I was having some lower back pain and a splitting pain in my pelvis. I could barely walk for a day or two. Every step and every movement of my lower body caused a shooting pain. I don't know if it was the position of the baby or what, but it was not fun, and I was really hoping and praying it wasn't going to stick around for the rest of the pregnancy. And it didn't. Whatever caused it, it went away after just a couple days. That has made the last weeks much more pleasant. It really hasn't been too bad being pregnant, overall, although it obviously isn't exactly the most comfortable. I am thankful that I have been blessed with two healthy and uneventful pregnancies thus far. And all the discomforts are worth it to have another precious child to love.

Meanwhile, I'm showing signs that labor is on the way. But, unfortunately, those signs don't tell me exactly when it is coming. It could be any day now. Or it could be 2-3 weeks. I'm hoping for the former. But babies come when they're ready. So I'm just waiting, and reminding myself that no pregnancy lasts forever. The birth will come eventually, and I will finally be able to meet and hold this little gift from God that we have been entrusted with.

Linked up with Time-Warp Wife and To Love Honor and Vacuum.

Sour Cream Pound Cake

Here's a recipe for a delicious pound cake that's easy to make. It doesn't have a strong flavor. It's just homey and comforting. You can eat it at room temperature, but it is best served warm with coffee, hot tea, or a glass of milk.






1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
1-1/2 tablespoons vanilla butter & nut flavoring (not vanilla)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Beat the butter, sour cream, and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in flavoring. Gradually add flour and baking soda until well-mixed.

Pour into a greased and floured bundt cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

My little girl, Reagan, wants to know if it's done yet. She's mommy's little helper already.

Here it is - fresh from the oven.

Enjoy!

Linked up with NOBH and WLWW.

Announcing: It's a...

It's a girl!

We are having another girl - due at the end of August. Her name is Katelyn Rachelle. Reagan will have a little sister. And I can re-use all the baby clothes from the first go-round. Yay!

I'm now 25 weeks and everything looks perfectly normal, which is quite a blessing. I'm feeling good too, except that it's getting more uncomfortable to sleep at night. And this one may be a little more active than Reagan was. If that's even possible.

Just the other day, Reagan felt Katelyn kick for the first time. She usually won't hold her hand still long enough to feel, but this time Katelyn kicked her right away. She's been hearing for a few months now that mommy has a baby in her tummy and she will point to my stomach and say "Baby." But I think she was a little surprised to feel her little sister kick. Now if I say that Katelyn is kicking, she wants to put her hand on my tummy.

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In other news, we are moved into the new house and enjoying the bigger space tremendously. Our old house was about 700 square feet. We've approximately doubled that and we also have a garage/workshop (which is heaven for my husband), a 700+ square foot guesthouse/schoolhouse/science lab (a homeschooling dream come true), and several sheds. These were things we wanted, and hoped to eventually build once we got a place of our own. But they're already here. There is no way we could have afforded to build all these buildings for what we paid for this place. God has blessed us immensely.

I haven't been posting lately because pregnant mama + active toddler + moving in = no time for blogging. However, the worst of the moving in is over now. There are still boxes to unpack and projects to do, but they're things that can wait a little. So, hopefully, I'll be back in action posting more things for you to read. Stay tuned.

Linked up with NOBH, WLWW, and Yes They're All Ours.