Busy Few Weeks

It's hard to believe I haven't posted in 1 week....a new record for me! Tyler and I both have been traveling and had lots of work. Tyler spent the last week/weekend down at Duke University for a rugby tournament. His team played really well and got 6th place out of 20+ teams! Thankfully, he didn't come home too beaten up and seemed to have a great time with the guys :)

I flew down to DC on Wednesday to meet my colleague, Sarah, for an international corporate volunteer conference, which was great. It was really nice to hear the other companies working on ICV programs and also validate the program we created. We managed to grab a nice dinner Wednesday night at an awesome restaurant called Equinox one block from the White House. If you're ever in DC, give it a try! It was so nice to see Sarah as I don't get to see her in person very often as she's based out of LA. I flew home late Thursday night, headed into the office on Friday, and then flew out Friday night to Dallas. I was in Dallas for the weekend for our annual Global Health Corps fundraiser and pleased to announce we raised over $200K!!! This is the most money we've raised at a single event and were thrilled!

This week, we've spent time getting caught up on sleep, laundry, and going through mail....real fun! I was able to enjoy a really nice girls dinner with my Columbia Better Halves (Carrie, Kate, and Maggie) and Tyler had his last happy hour of the semester (he can't go next week!) tonight. I also have a new recipe to share with you...Hope y'all are having a great week!

Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Casserole
I found this recipe online and adapted it to make a lighter version. It was sooooo good!
Ingredients

•  2 large heads of broccoli.
• 3 large chicken breasts.
• 1.5 cups grated cheddar cheese + a handful for sprinkling
• 1/2 cup of panko
• 1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1/3 stick melted butter
• 1/4 cups cornstarch
• 1/3 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Prepare chicken and broccoli. To do this, cut the broccoli into smaller pieces, and steam for 2 minutes. Boil a medium saucepan and cook chicken until it is almost all the way cooked through (I kept mine slightly pink so it wouldn't dry out in the oven). Once the chicken is done, cut it up into small pieces. In a medium size baking dish, place the chicken and broccoli at the bottom.
3. In a small sauce pan on medium heat, combine the melted butter, cornstarch dissolved in water, chicken broth, seasonings, and milk. Stir well, and continue stirring until sauce has thickened.
4. Turn heat down to low and add 1.5 cups grated cheddar cheese. Stir until melted. Pour over the chicken and broccoli. 
5. Sprinkle both the panko and plain bread crumbs over the cheese. Top the whole dish off by sprinkling a handful of grated cheddar cheese.
6. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until the cheese is bubbling.