One Crazy Week

We had one crazy, crazy week.  I had some work days at school, Jeff was called in for SWAT due to the wild protest over the monuments in Charlottesville, and then he ended up working 109 hours in ONE week.  I had the girls on my own for part of the time and spent the other part of the time working and being worried about Jeff!  We were all very glad when the week was finally over!

Emily and I did make a trip to the station on Sunday since we had not seen him at all! We stopped by Dick's on the way home and bought her a new pair of pink soccer cleats too:)

What do you do when your husband works that many hours and you hear of the other families that didn't get their loved ones home safe from work?  You make sure he has a hot homemade dinner on the table when he finally gets home.  I cooked fresh green beans from the garden, chicken cordon bleu casserole and homemade brownies.   Emily absolutely loved the casserole, so it will be one that we made again for sure! 

The girls making bubble gum from their science kit

SWAT gear during the rally

Daddy's engine

Double rainbow from Dad

Reading on the deck, waiting to hear from Jeff

Storms rolling in 

An hour of picking green beans for dinner

Homemade brownies, not from a box!

YUMMY!  Green beans from the garden

Chicken cordon bleu casserole

CHICKEN CORDON BLEU CASSEROLE

(From writtenreality.com)

INGREDIENTS

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half

12 slices of thin sliced ham

1 1/2 cups swiss cheese, shredded

3 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 cup of Ritz crackers, crushed

3 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

FOR THE SAUCE. . .

3 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. flour

1 cup milk

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and coat a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.

Layer the chicken in the bottom of the baking dish. Then, layer with ham slices and the cover with shredded swiss cheese.

In a medium bowl, blend the crushed crackers, grated parmesan, and salt and pepper. Sprinkle the cracker mixture over the cheese to create the next layer.

Pour melted butter over the top of the casserole and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until juices run clear and cracker crust is browned a bit.

To create the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan slowly. Whisk in the flour and cook for just a couple of minutes. Then slowly pour in the chicken broth and milk. Make sure to continue whisking for about 5 minutes or so as the sauce thickens.

Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the Dijon, Worcestershire, and a little salt and pepper to taste.

Top each serving of the casserole with the warm creamy sauce. Enjoy!