Chicken Florentine Bake- My 1st Blogged Recipe

I got a recipe card and sample at our local Publix for Chicken Florentine! I made some changes but you can find the original recipe here. This is a labor intensive meal but completely worth it. It was deliciously yummy! We had this as a special dinner to celebrate Easton's Forever Day, July 21, 2010. This is the day that we passed Ethiopian Courts and Easton was placed in our arms forever. Such sweet memories I have. It's probably not a weekday dinner but more of a special occasion for our family!
*I doubled the recipe-I froze half of it to have a quick meal in 2 weeks.
Ingredients: (for DOUBLE)
Chicken Breast (I used 4 large breast, probably should have used 5)
1 package of sliced mushrooms (I used baby portabella)
2 8 oz fresh mozzarella
1 jar of sun dried tomatoes
2 frozen creamed spinach
2 Philadelphia Cooking Cream (I used regular but the Italian one would be better)
2 16oz gnocchi pasta
2 can of quartered artichoke hearts
1 red peper
3 cups whole milk
2 large egg
Olive Oil
Salt/Pepper
Italian Seasoning

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350
2. Preparation: dice the red pepper, slice the chicken into bite size pieces, shred the mozzarella cheese.
4. Saute' the red pepper and mushrooms for about 6 minutes. Add in the artichokes (I broke these apart as they sauteed) and sun dried tomato (I used 1/3 of the jar, I probably should have used half the jar, depends on your taste). Mix together and cook for about 10 minutes.
5. In another pan cook the chicken. I used olive oil and seasoned with Italian Seasoning, Salt and Pepper. Cook until brown edges. 6. While the chicken and vegetables are cooking boil water for the gnocchi. Cook the gnocchi as package describes.
7. Add chicken to the vegetables. Cook for about 5 minutes.

8. Transfer everything into a large bowl. Add Gnocchi pasta, 8oz of mozzerella cheese, philadelphia cooking cream, milk, and eggs- mix well
9. At this point I put half into another bowl to cool before I put it in a ziplock bag for the freezer. Pour into casserole dish to bake. Cover with aluminum foil.
10. Bake for 25 minutes covered
11. Uncover and top with Mozzarella cheese. Bake 10 minutes, until bubbly and cheese has melted.

That's it! Add some garlic bread and enjoy this complete meal!
*Please comment or email me if you have questions. This is the first time I've posted a recipe and directions. Hopefully, it makes sense!!

Our Engagement~

6 years ago Ryan and I were suppose to go to the Sarasota Boat Parade with some friends. He was working at Carmax in Tampa and called me on his way down to Bradenton. I was at my parent's house and he came to pick me up. When I got in the car he told me he wanted to go out to the beach to watch the sunset before the party. I agreed and off we went. I remember calling my friend Nikki when Ryan ran into the gas station to grab a drink. When I told her of the last minute change in plans she asked me if I thought something might be up? I said no but my mind began to race. We arrived at Bradenton Beach just minutes before the sunset. Ryan went to his trunk and got out his guitar, at that moment I knew this wasn't just a romantic sunset. We went and sat down on the sand and Ryan started playing our song "Making Memories of Us" by Keith Urban on his guitar. I sang along with the biggest smile on my face, fighting back tears at the thought of what was happening. When he finished he asked me to stand up. He then retrieved a small maroon jewelry box out of his guitar case. Honestly, I can't remember his exact words but I know "Will you Marry Me?" was in there!! I remember saying "YES" repeatedly, slipping the diamond ring on my finger and wrapping my arms around his neck. It was a beautiful moment, a beautiful surprise, and a beautiful way to start our marriage.
Come to find out Ryan had taken my parents to breakfast a week prior to ask their blessings. Ryan's parents had known of his plan all along. I remember frantically calling all of my friends and family afterwards to share our news. We ended our engagement night with dinner at the Sandbar restaurant on Anna Maria Island.

There was a family, who I will never know their names, that was staying in a condo overlooking us. They snapped pictures of us from their balcony and came down to be the 1st ones to congratulate us. Here are the images they emailed me! I am so thankful that they were there to capture the moment.