Yesterday, we had our first co-op. My friend, Cynthia has two boys and I have three, so it made for an afternoon of fun. Our plan was to tackle science experiments on each grade level.

I laid out all the instructions and items for each experiment. It definitely helped things move right along. It was great to see the guys working together to figure out the experiments. They worked hard and seem to have a good time.

Adam, my youngest , Adam, my youngest didn’t have a helper, so I did the experiments with him. He uses a microscope for most of his experiments and iodine is used for staining many of the items. After a mishap with my kitchen table, I am buying a cheap vinyl table cloth (lesson learned).

For future experiments,we are currently growing mold in the window sill in

Experiments in the making

a jar and sprouting lima and corn seeds.

Next week, we are going to Cynthia’s house and the iodine is staying at home. I think it’s time to clean out my garage, so science experiments can happen out there.

After sanding table & coat of poly

Iodine mishap

In baseball, a grand slam is when the bases are loaded and the batter hits a home run. When it comes to dinner, a grand slam recipe is when my whole entire family loves a recipe and wants me to make it again. I found such a recipe the other night.

I modified the recipe and will post the original recipe with my tweaks in red. I found this recipe on Real Mom Kitchen.

Baked Cheesy Chicken Penne

• 6 tablespoons butter, plus more for baking dishes
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 pound penne rigate (I used a 14.5 oz box of Ronzoni Smart Taste Penne Rigate) I used Sam’s Club huge bag of penne pasta. It is cheap.
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 8 ounces each), halved horizontally (I used some leftover cooked chicken)
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
• 6 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 6 cups whole milk
• 10 ounces white or cremini mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced (I used 8 oz of button mushrooms) 1 jar of mushrooms instead, it’s what I had
• 1 cup sliced oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained
• 1 1/2 cups shredded provolone (6 ounces) (I used an italian blend that had provolone in it) 8 oz of Havarti (yummy)
• 1 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan (about 6 ounces)

1. Preheat oven to 400. Butter two shallow 2-quart baking dishes. If you’re going to freeze one, use a disposable foil pan.  In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta 3 minutes short of al dente; drain pasta and set aside.
2. While pasta is boiling, heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Season chicken with salt and pepper; cook until opaque throughout, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Halve each piece lengthwise, then thinly slice crosswise.  While chicken pan is still hot, toss the mushrooms in and saute until golden brown (3-4 minutes) skip this step w/ mushrooms if you are using jar mushrooms. Use a little extra olive oil if needed.(Since I used left over chicken, I just cooked the mushrooms in the olive oil)
3. In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot , melt butter over medium. Add flour and garlic; cook, whisking, 1 minute. While whisking constantly, gradually add milk;( I added a 1/2 cup of heavy cream) bring to a simmer.  Keep whisking frequently as sauce thickens, about 1 minute more. Add mushrooms and tomatoes; cook 1 minute. Take the pan off the heat and and gradually stir in provolone and 1/2 cup Parmesan.
4. Add chicken and pasta to pot; season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide pasta mixture between baking dishes.  If freezing, place remaining parmesan cheese in a zip-top baggie.  If cooking, sprinkle on top.
5. Bake, uncovered, until top is golden and bubbling, about 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Freezer instructions:

To freeze, prepare through step 4 and then let pasta cool.  Cover pan well with plastic wrap.  Place extra cheese in baggie (for topping) on top and then cover entire pan well with foil.  Freeze for up to 3 months.  To bake, preheat oven to 400.  Remove foil and plastic from pan and set cheese baggie aside.  Place foil back on pan and bake for about 1 1/2 hours.  Remove foil, stir pasta, and top with cheese.  Return pan to oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes (I only did 10 minutes)  or until mixture is hot and bubbly throughout.

I froze ours and then served it to my family later. It was delicious!!!