Painting, Prayers and Play

The past week was kind of a blow. Seems the OKC doctors and Tulsa doctors are on a different page concerning baby Max. It is going to be a weekly thing now as we get closer and closer to his due date (Jan 7.) We are now in the phase of really stepping up to watch little Min while they go to the plethora of doctor/specialist appointments. Lots of prayers please that the doctors are all wrong, that the tumor shrinks and goes away and he is just perfect, honestly he is perfect. Pray, pray, pray.

We had a nice weekend away to the cabin. It was even cool enough to have a fire in our outdoor fireplace. Can't have a pit fire because of the burn ban but our fireplace is perfect! Had a group again at the wigwam for a painting session. I brought pumpkins and mini corn to paint. Really enjoyed it.

Also captured a few snaps for future paintings. I've got a commission I need to get to this week, a horse named Big Red for a high school classmate that I haven't talked to in nearly 50 years. She found me and we've been emailing like crazy.

This weeks fun dinner was a play on a cross between lasagna and chicken tetrazzini. It came to me in a dream, yes I dream cooking. In my pantry I had a half a box of lasagna noodles, a ja of Alfredo sauce, 4 chicken thighs in the freezer, 1/2 white onion, lemon, 2 stalks celery, garlic cloves, salt, pepper, oregano, Italian seasoning, cottage cheese, egg, frozen broccoli, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese and 1/2 box of chicken broth.

First I poached the chicken thighs in the chicken broth, water, onion, celery, lemon, garlic and seasonings. When it was done I took the thighs out then strained it and was left with some broth I froze for later use. I shredded the chicken and added the jar of Alfredo sauce. The cottage cheese (didn’t have ricotta, CC is good replacement) was mixed with the beaten egg and a bit of Parmesan cheese.

Now it was time to layer:

A bit of sauce in casserole dish. Then lasagna noodles, chicken mixture, cottage cheese mixture, mozzarella, broccoli, repeat with last layer of noodle and top with mozzarella. Kind of use your imagination. Cover with foil and bake in preheated 350 degree oven for about an hour till hot and bubbly. Take foil off and top with Parmesan and return back to oven about 10-15 minutes. Let stand for about 10 minutes to set.

It was yummy and would have been nice to serve with small salad if I had the fixings for it. He thought it was great.