Chicken Florentine Penne Pasta Casserole

I'm always looking for new things to do with chicken, so I found this recipe and, of course, added some things to make it mine.

- 1-1.25 pounds of chicken- either cut up or shredded
- 1 box of penne
- 1 10 ounce box of frozen spinach, thawed. Make sure you wring the excess water out-- there will be a lot of it.
- 2 ounces of cream cheese
- 1 cup of chicken broth
- 2T of sun-dried tomato vinaigrette dressing
- 1 glove of garlic clove, chopped
-1 small red onion, chopped
-6 mushrooms, chopped
- 2 cups of mozzarella cheese, divided
- Parmesan Cheese
- Salt and Pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 375.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta for about 11 minutes (you don't want it completely done b/c it's going to continue cooking in the oven). Drain the pasta well.

Cook your chicken- add salt and pepper. When it's about halfway through, add the dressing and continue cooking until just cooked through. Add the onions, garlic, and mushrooms- salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 3-4 minutes. Add your spinach and break it apart. Cook for another three minutes. Add your chicken broth and cream cheese- add salt and pepper. Cook until the cream cheese is melted. Add the mixture to the cooked pasta.

Put about half of the mixture into a 13 x 9 casserole dish. Add 1 cup of mozzarella and some grated Parmesan. Add the other half of the mixture to the dish. Add the remaining mozzarella and more Parmesan on top.

Bake in the oven for about 15-17 minutes.

It is one of the best casseroles I've ever made... still eating the leftovers!!!

How I Know I Own a Great Dane

... And yes I mean besides the food and the size ...

Some people we know that have a Dane used to tell us that he had his own designated spot on their bed that he would sleep, and if anyone got in his way he would pout and pace and make noises until they got up.

WELL... when we got our furniture, we said, "Paisley is not allowed on the furniture. It's new... blah, blah, blah..." Yeah that lasted about a week. We have a couch, a recliner, and an over-sized chair-- and Paisley can pretty much sleep and sit where she wants now (it's kinda hard to control the power and weight of a Great Dane). So recently her place to sleep has been on the couch beside of her daddy.

A couple of nights ago, I was sitting in her spot and she started pacing.. pacing around the coffee table, pacing around the room... she would NOT lay down. I took her out, thinking that would make her lay down... NOPE. She's still pacing... then she comes over to me and puts her head on chest and sighs. And she's pacing again and making noises and looking at Josh.

Then it hit me, and I said, "I'm going to get up. Let's see how long it takes for her to get in my spot."

I got up and walked to the kitchen, and as soon as I got up-- I get the look like, "Are you watching me? When you're not looking, I'm going to get on the couch." And sure enough when I was far enough away, the front paws get up on the couch and the look of, "Oh am I going to get away with it? Is she watching me?" The back paws go up and she plops down.. within 5 minutes she was zonked out.

And tonight.. Paisley ate her kibbles and came over to look at me like, "Mama get up so I can lay down on the couch." And as soon as I got up, she climbed up and is now out like a light.

I LOVE this dog-- she's awesome!!!

Chicken Mushroom Provolone Sandwiches..

This recipe originally came from Williams-Sonoma, but I altered the recipe to make it mine.

- Thick Textured Bread-- I used Sourdough.

- Thinly Sliced Chicken Breasts (you can use Oscar Mayer or Sara Lee, but I used actual chicken breast and cooked it through). I sliced the breasts even more to make them thinner.

- 1 cup of fresh white or brown mushrooms

- Slices of Provolone Cheese (the original recipe called for Gruyere)

- Salt/Pepper to taste

- Extra Virgin Olive Oil

If you use actual chicken breasts and cook them through, remove them from the pan and add your mushrooms to the same pan. Saute over medium heat and set them aside. Slice your bread so your slices are thick enough so they won't fall apart in your panini maker. Put cheese on both sides of the bread. Put your chicken on one side of the bread, and the mushrooms on the other. Put the sandwich together and put in the panini maker until the cheese is melty and gooey.

Don't have a panini maker? You can use frying pans.. put the sandwiches in one pan over medium heat and put a foiled-covered brick or another frying pan on top of the sandwich to flatten the sandwich and add weight.

Pair it up with some sweet potato fries, and you have got yourself an awesome Bistro meal..

What I Have Learned in SC.

So we have been in SC for a little over a month now-- and it's amazing the things I have learned so far...

1. People are just as crazy in SC as they are in NC.

2. Alligators really do live in the ponds and marshes and lakes.

3. Squashed armadillos exist too (saw my first one rolled over on the way home today).

4. School zones in the pm are between 3.15 and 4.00- 45mph, and not 1mph over or the cops will get you (no this hasn't happened to me but they are watched very closely)

5. Hurricanes- even off the coast of Africa- can make the waves and rip currents bad (good for surfers, bad for everyone else).

6. Paddleboarding is extreme fun but extremely hard. Your upper legs have to be strong.

7. Surfboards, paddleboards, and those other board things are expensive.

8. Paddleboards are heavy.

9. Jellyfish are plentiful in the month of August ONLY. They start going away in September.

10. Jellyfish stings hurt. Now granted I only got stung by a small one. And some of them can't hurt you. But they still hurt. To get rid of the burning and stinging: spray vinegar on it.

11. You're not allowed to keep live sand dollars. If they're dead, keep as many as you want. Otherwise leave them alone.

12. The most important thing I have learned is that there are ophthalmology offices that treat their techs and pay their techs what they're worth. I have never worked at a place that treats their techs so well. For instance, we shut down Friday pm to have a pool party. Monday was Labor Day. This morning I came and signed off on my time sheet and noticed that not only did I get paid for Labor Day, but I got paid for Friday pm. Plus I got to leave early today to meet the cable guy. When I asked about getting my hours in so I got paid for Labor Day, I got a very strange look and then the response of, "No you get paid regardless." If it were "anywhere else" (and you girls know where I'm talking about), it would have been, "I hate that for ya. You have to get your hours, or you don't get paid for yesterday."

13. Another important thing I have learned, and I'll end on this: I've learned and remembered what it is to be happy... This was a GREAT decision to move down here.

PS... For those of you that question if I'm really down here or not, YES I AM!!! Just because my cell number still says 828 doesn't mean a thing. Josh's best friend has lived in Savannah for the past 4-5 years, and he still has an 828 number. However with Josh's new job, we'll have to switch to 843.

PSS... One more little tidbit, and I'm officially done-- We officially have internet again. Woo!!!