Well I got the idea from here…”Ranch Style Chicken”…sounds good, right? And it probably is, but it really isn’t “Ranch”-y as in Ranch seasoning. I think the name of the dish just kind of came from the fact that the author lives on a ranch. This is fine, and I am sure her version is delicious. However, I decided to make ours Bacon-Ranch Chicken as in Bacon, Ranch seasoning, and chicken! Of course, I did not come up with the idea on my own either…but I googled “Ranch Chicken,” I believe it was, and this is what I found and came up with!
Cook some bacon. Coat your chicken breasts with liquid Ranch salad dressing, then in dredge in bread crumbs. Fry the coated chicken in the grease from the bacon (I know, I know…so unhealthy!) Then, after a few minutes on both sides, when your chicken has some good color, place in an oven-safe dish and bake for about ten minutes or until cooked through. Take out of the oven, place two slices of bacon on top of each chicken breast, and sprinkle cheddar cheese on top. Place the pan back into the oven until the cheese is melted. (You can turn on the broiler for a few seconds if necessary to melt the cheese more quickly…watch it, though! It burns food real fast!) Remove chicken from oven, call your husband, thank God for it, and devour!
If you want to be extra unhealthy, deep fry some thinly sliced onion for Onion Strings!
I saw this idea and directions to “do it yourself” here, and I couldn’t resist. It looked so easy, and seemed to be just my style! I bought all the supplies: foam board (you can purchase at craft stores, or use what comes in the mail for packing), straight pins (about a ga-zillion!), fabric, and something to mount it with (some used double-sided foam tape, or maybe even sticky-tac…read on to see what I did).
Then today I set to work. I used 1/2″ thick foam board from Joann Fabrics. I cut it to the size I wanted…four 12×18″ pieces, and three 12×12″ pieces. Be careful not to cut through your carpet if you try this! Measure and cut the fabric about two inches larger on all sides than the size of the foam board you wish to wrap. Then wrap the fabric around, doing the corners like a Christmas gift, or however you like it. The original sight that posted this idea gives a good way to do corners. I just advise you do them all uniformly, whichever way you choose to use. Then you pin the fabric down into the foam with straight pins at an angle so they do not show through the front of your project. I used plenty of pins to ensure the fabric was secure.
When finished, mount the pieces how and where you like them! I mounted these three in our master bedroom (pardon the yellow lighting –I could have waited for daylight pictures, but then you might not be reading this right now!)…
…and came back a while later to this:
…every piece of tape, exactly in position, but no fabric boards! It was then I realized duct tape was not going to work! So, in addition, I took one more straight pin and carefully inserted it straight in through the top center (front) of each board (just as if you were nailing something to the wall, only with a straight pin, your fingers, and maybe a thimble. You can hardly even see it. I may be the only one who does!
So here are the final results…in three different parts of the house.
Since I am reorganizing my life and actually planning menus and grocery lists for a change –starting this week, that is –I decided to try Pioneer Woman‘s Chicken Parmigiana. You can find the recipe here. It looked delicious, and it had Dustin’s name written all over it!
I think the only variations were splitting the recipe in half since there are only two in our household, eyeing some amounts instead of precisely measuring them, not beating the chicken breasts thin, and adding chicken broth in place of wine.
Here’s how it turned out!
Observations:
1. Next time I would half or quarter the amount of sugar, as I thought it was too sweet.
2. Dustin likes a bit of sugar in the sauce, something I did not discover until today!
3. It would be nice to pound the chicken thinner as the recipe says to do next time.
4. This recipe uses LOTS of dishes! *Note to self: Hire a maid next time this meal comes around!
I also made a variation of PW’s Garlic Cheese Bread to accompany the Chicken Parmesan. I had to vary the recipe since Dustin doesn’t like mayonnaise! It turned out alright, but it is probably best to stick to the exact recipe. Maybe we can just come up with our own recipe for a cheesy garlic bread next time!
Altogether, it was a delicious meal, and Dustin really liked the Chicken Parmesan especially!
Yesterday, Dustin threw me another of his surprise, spur of the moment, “Let’s go spend the night in a hotel and take a day-trip…” –and this time to Baltimore! I guess we were made for each other, because, my reaction is always, “Fun –Let’s go!” I like to know ahead and plan, and look forward to things, but this way I don’t have to wile the time away waiting for a special event to happen…I get instant gratification! (Yes, I know, that is a problem with our age –which could be another whole post of its own –but never mind…Let’s keep to the topic at hand!) So, once again, I had about twenty minutes to pack my bags, and then after the evening church service, we headed straight to Baltimore.
This time however, it was not just any hotel…the Hotel Monaco, with four stars, and for a great deal at that! I don’t know if any other Hotel Monaco guests ever ordered Domino’s Pizza, but we did! We also took pictures of the things all the bigwigs just kind of brush by –like ornate ceilings, the decor of our room, and the beautiful balcony.
Complimentary bathrobes to use...and only $90.00 if you want to keep it!
We spent the day EATING, of course, among other things…you have to take advantage of the scrumptious food big cities always offer. We went to Potbelly’s sandwich shop for lunch which was delicious. We both had their Italian sandwich with lots of toppings. We also tried their Southwest chicken soup. Leaving there, we did some walking and sight-seeing. Lots of places were closed, it seemed on Mondays (at least in the winter), but we still got to know the city to some extent. We walked around the Inner Harbor seeing several historic ships and a submarine. We also saw the Flag House where Mary Pickersgill sewed the Star-Spangled Banner. We ended off the day in the Little Italy part of town, at Vaccaro’s Italian Pastries, a specialty Baltimore is famous for. Here Dustin ordered a Belgian waffle topped with delicious, light and fluffy ice cream, whipped cream, and walnuts and strawberries; I, on the other hand, could not get away from their éclair. O dear heart, hast thou known a morsel more lovely? It was about eight inches long by four inches in diameter, and the majority of that space was creamy, smooth custard! The pastry itself was very good, obviously fresh and homemade, and it was topped with a thick layer of chocolate icing. Then, upon removing it to a plate to serve it to us, they drizzled chocolate syrup over the whole plate and sprinkled powdered sugar over it! I could only eat half! I brought the rest home, and ate a few more bites, and maybe tomorrow I will take the remainder to work and share with my friends…they must be friends, too, for me to share my éclair with them! It was a wonderful day!
