Four Cheese Chicken Pasta

4/29/2015

Every mom has had that moment when the thought, "I wish I could just bubble wrap my kids before sending them out to play" has gone through their head. Well, I actually got to live that dream! No kidding - I got to bubble wrap Courtney before sending her out on the soccer field last week. And, it was just as satisfying as I imagined it would be.

Let me back up a little so you can understand WHY I bubble wrapped my beautiful 16 year old daughter.

About 5 weeks ago, Courtney came home from practice with a taped up wrist. She had fallen on it at soccer practice but had chosen to stay and finish out the last 30 minutes of practice anyway. By the time she drove herself home, she was in tears and her poor hand was so swollen that she could barely move her fingers. To make a long story short, we ended up in the emergency room that evening and the x-rays revealed that she had fractured her wrist.

By the way - she smiled like that the ENTIRE time that we were in the ER.

A couple of days after our ER visit, we followed up with an orthopedic who put Courtney in a long arm cast.

You have no idea how many things you CAN'T do without an elbow until you've got a long arm cast!
Once again though - best attitude ever.

After 2 very long weeks of a long cast - she transitioned to a short cast. I've never seen her so happy to see her elbow! She spent two weeks in the short cast and then transitioned to a removable brace. Her very first question to the doctor was "Can I play soccer in this?" Did I mention that she showed up to her appointment in her soccer uniform? (subtle)

Fortunately she was cleared to play as long as we could wrap the brace before she got on the field. I left the doctors office with this girl who was grinning from ear to ear, jumped in the car and headed across town try and get her to the game. We stopped at a couple of pharmacies along the way to try and find something to wrap around the brace. We couldn't find what we were looking for so we bought a roll of bubble wrap and headed to the game. We arrived just minutes before her team took the field. We bubble wrapped her and sent her on the field - a mom's dream come true.

Courtney was so excited to be on the field again - she played like a pro. She even scored a goal during her comeback game!

Not much can bring this girl down - certainly not a broken wrist. I have no doubt that she will come back stronger than ever after this little set back.

I couldn't make her wrist pain go away or make her cast less itchy but what I could do was make her favorite foods while she healed. Two of her favorite things are macaroni and cheese and fettuccine alfredo. I found a recipe on Pinterest that combined her two loves - Four Cheese ChickenPasta. Thank you adashofsanity.com for this little gem.

Four Cheese Chicken Pasta
1 pound rotini pasta
9 Tablespoons butter
4 1/2 Tablespoons flour
14.5 ounces chicken broth
1/2 cup 1/2 and 1/2
1 cup + 2 Tablespoons parmigiana cheese, shredded
1 cup + 2 Tablespoons gouda cheese, shredded
1 cup + 2 Tablespoons white cheddar cheese, shredded
6 ounces marscarpone cheese
2 grilled chicken breasts, sliced thin
2 Tablespoons parmesan cheese, for topping