Second Secret Subject Swap

Welcome to the Second, super-sized (sorry, no fries with that), Secret Subject Swap. Twenty brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. 

 Here are links to all the sites featuring Secret Subject Swap posts.  Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

Baking In A Tornado                                                     follow me home . . .   

Happy Little Feet                                                           Stacy Sews and Schools

Life on Peanut Layne                                                      Dinosaur Superhero Mommy

My Brain on Kids                                                            Mom of Big A and little a 

Sorry kid, Your Mom Doesn't Play Well With Others           Momaical   

That Suburban Momma                                                  It's a Dome Life  

DeBie Hive                                                                     Macdonald's Playland 

The Mommy Chronicles                                                  

Just a Little Nutty                                                           Cassandra's Corner

The Insomniac's Dream                                                  Simply Chic for You

My subject is You get invited to the Ellen DeGeneres Show to talk about.....   It was submitted by Dinosaur Superhero Mommy.  Here goes:

Thank you so much, Ellen, for having me here today. I wish I were here under better circumstances. The police suggest, in these instances, that parents make a direct plea in the media.  Although sleep deprived and puffy from crying, I’m grateful that you've given me this opportunity to face the cameras and say:

You, who have stolen my sons, we know who you are. We even know your name.  The police have asked me to address you directly, so I am here today to appeal to any humanity you may have. Please Adolescence, I beg of you, return my wonderful, intelligent, handsome boys to me. No  parent wants to miss their child, but two teenagers, that’s double the heartbreak.  It will go better for you if you give them up on your own. Return my boys and this will end here and now, no questions asked.

My boys were good students before you took them over. They’d do all their homework and do as good a job as they could.  Now they seem to adhere to the “do it quickly and poorly” philosophy.

After school, they’d sit in the kitchen eating my cookies and telling me about their day. Now they breeze past me as if I’m invisible (still managing to grab the cookies, though).

They would help around the house if I needed it. And now what a strange coincidence that every single time I request their help, they don’t hear me.

  

They would eat a healthy meal with their family every evening. Now they sit at the table with a blank stare, or look out the window.  They say they’re not hungry, they hardly eat, then miraculously find their appetites just as their friends are heading out for pizza.

 Chicken Florentine (over Rice Pilaf)

They always had tons of friends over. When they weren’t here, they’d responsibly let me know where they’d be. Now they’re always “out”. I checked Google Earth, but can’t seem to find the coordinates for “out”.

Conversations used to include the use of words, now they consist of a grunt and an eye roll.

Sometimes they’d sit with me in the living room and watch a movie. Now they disappear into their rooms or the basement where the Xbox blasts at levels that would be deafening to normal humans.

I miss my funny, smart, imaginative, little boys. I beg you to bring them back.

But in the event that you are unable to return my boys in their normal human  pre-adolescent state, then let me just say to you here and now: I’m changing the locks, you keep them, they’re yours.

Chicken Florentine
                                  ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
3 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 egg, beaten with 2 Tbsp water

2/3 cups flour

4 Olive Oil

10 oz pkg frozen chopped spinach, drain and press as much of the liquid out of it as you can

Mozzarella slices

1/3 cup white wine

1 Tbsp lemon juice

½ cup chicken broth

Directions:
* Grease a 8 X 11 inch glass dish (2 qt) with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

* Cut each breast into 3 pieces. Cut the thinner end off as the first piece. Turn the thicker piece onto its side and cut in half to make 2 pieces about the same thickness as the thinner end.

*Heat oil in a frying pan. Dip each chicken piece into the flour, then the egg mixture, then the flour again. Saute in the hot oil until brown on both sides and cooked most of the way through.

*Drain chicken briefly on a paper towel, then put into greased dish.

*In the same frying pan, put white wine, lemon juice and chicken broth. Heat to a boil while scraping up the bits on the bottom of the pan.

*Meanwhile, divide the spinach over the top of the chicken pieces, and cover each with a slice of Mozzarella.

*Once the sauce boils, pour it over the chicken in the dish.

*If you’re making this ahead, let it cool, then put it in the fridge until ready to bake. When making ahead,take out of fridge an hour or so before cooking to bring closer to room temperature. You’ll need to cook it longer than the 30 minutes stipulated below.

*Put the chicken in the oven for 30 minutes. Make sure the chicken is cooked all the way through before serving.