A Manic Monday

I woke up this morning feeling a little blue.  I recently cut caffeine out of my daily routine so I needed something else to wake me up and put me in a good mood.  Running crossed my mind first but I am not into running in the cold, and I don't last too long on the treadmill.  I never thought I would say Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred and good mood together, but that is exactly what I did this morning to start my day off right.  It was the most grueling 20 minutes of my life, and my arms hurt as we speak, but it was a fun and quick way to get in a work out. 

After that, things shaped up a bit.  Kids got in the bath, I got some laundry done, and Aiden was shipped off to kindergarten.  Emma was my big helper today and we went grocery shopping and did some cleaning when we got back. 

All day I wanted to order a pizza for dinner, but after hitting the grocery store I knew it made no sense when the house was full of food.  That doesn't mean dinner can't be easy however, so I made up a Chicken Divan dish in no time at all.  (I do realize it is only 5:00pm and I am already posting about dinner, but I got it done early so I didn't have to do all the dishes at 8:00 at night!)



Chicken Divan

Ingredients:
3-4 cups of chopped fresh broccoli
1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
1 can chicken broth
1 cup milk
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
pinch nutmeg
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup motz/parm blend (I got Kraft shredded Italian blend)
3 tbsp shredded parmesan cheese

 On the stove, place your chicken breasts in a pan and pour the can of chicken broth over them.  With a lid, simmer for about 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.  Remove the chicken from the pan but reserve the broth from the pan.  While the chicken is cooling, start the cream sauce.

Melt the butter completely in a medium sized saute pan.  Add the flour and whisk until combined.  Add the milk and 3/4 cup of the reserved chicken broth.  Keep whisking until the clumps dissolve and the mixture begins to thicken.  Add the nutmeg, black pepper, and 1 cup of cheese.  Whisk until the cheese is completely melted.  Add the white wine, stir to combine, and remove from heat. 

Meanwhile, in a casserole dish, place your broccoli and 1/4 cup water and microwave until tender, about 4 minutes.  Drain the water and keep the broccoli in the bottom of the casserole dish. Top the broccoli with 1/2 of the cheese sauce mixture.

Cube the chicken once it is cool enough to handle, and place on top of the sauce layer.  Add the rest of the sauce on top of the chicken and sprinkle the shredded parmesan on the top of that.  Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees or until the top starts to turn golden brown and the sides are nice and bubbly. 

I served mine with Long Grain and Wild Rice from Uncle Ben's.  Doesn't get much easier than that :)