Leap Day!

Jenna had to eat and run again, so I (Jami) get to blog this time.  Justin and I decided to get a movie in while Harlee slept though, so this blog post is a bit late!  We wanted to be sure to get a Leap Day dinner in, though, so Jenna came over to cook even though I didn't need her babysitting services tonight.  Unfortunately there are no cute pictures of Harlee this time either, but to update everyone on him he's learning to crawl!  I'm excited but I'm okay with waiting as loooong as possible for him to figure it out completely - I'm beginning to realize how NOT baby-proof our house is!  Can we just freeze him at his cute playful sitting-up stage?  Haha just kidding, I'm enjoying every minute of his progress and growth, I just need to suck it up and start plugging our outlets and child-locking our cabinets...  In other news, I think he's FINALLY starting to sprout his first tooth!  Or at least, there's a hard lump in his bottom gums that wasn't that prominent before, so I'm assuming that's a tooth.  Paired with a runny nose and some extra crabbiness, that can only mean one thing, right?  Well, I guess we'll find out...

So in honor of Leap Day we made Garlic Chicken Leg Quarters and Spicy Four-Cheese Macaroni.  (Did ya pick up on the "4" theme, by chance?  'Cause Leap Year is every four years?  Yeah?  haha).  This is something I'll definitely want to make more than every four years, though.  It was pretty tasty!!  Here are the recipes:

Garlic Chicken Leg Quarters
   (adapted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-garlic-broiled-chicken/detail.aspx)

1/2 cup butter
3 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon dried parsley
4 boneless chicken leg quarters, with skin
dried parsley, to taste

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Lightly grease a baking pan.
In a microwave safe bowl, mix the butter, garlic, soy sauce, pepper, and parsley. Cook 2 minutes on High in the microwave, or until butter is melted.
Arrange chicken on the baking pan, and coat with the butter mixture, reserving some of the mixture for basting.
Broil chicken 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until juices run clear, turning occasionally and basting with remaining butter mixture. Sprinkle with parsley to serve. 

**Note: The original recipe said to broil the chicken, and either I don't know how to use the broiler or our broiler doesn't work, because the chicken wasn't done after the 20 minutes it called for.  I adjusted the temperature and left it in for a bit longer, so the 40 minutes is an assumption.  Be sure to check!  This tasted DELICIOUS though!!


 Spicy Four-Cheese Macaroni
    (adapted from http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/creamy-four-cheese-macaroni-10000000222589/)


1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 2/3 cups milk
3/4 cup (3 ounces) cubed pepper jack cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
3 ounces Velveeta
6 cups cooked elbow macaroni (about 3 cups uncooked)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
1/3 cup crushed crackers (your choice of flavor)

Preheat oven to 375°.
Place flour in a large saucepan. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat 8 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Add cheeses; cook 3 minutes or until cheese melts, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in macaroni and salt.
Spoon mixture into a 2-quart casserole coated with cooking spray.  Sprinkle crushed crackers over macaroni mixture. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until bubbly.



We also served oven-roasted asparagus, a simple recipe I refer back to quite often, and you can find it on this previous blog post.  Enjoy!