Thai Chicken Pasta

Wowie! Where have I been? Well to answer that I should be sharing a recipe with sugar and spice and everything nice because I am now the proud mother of a darling baby girl. The nursery has been filled and so have our hearts. For a while there, our bellies were neglected. However, I am back in the kitchen and ready for summer dishes. This turned out to be pretty tasty if I do say so myself. My complaint is it was more sweet teriyaki tasting than Thai, but we loved it anyway.

Thai Chicken Pasta

3/4 Pkg of fettuccine noodles cooked
1 pound of chicken breasts
1 cup snow peas
1 cup carrots sliced thin

For the Sauce:
1/4 cup peanut oil
juice of one lime
1 clove of garlic minced
3 TBS of spiced ginger (the tube in the produce section )
3 TBS peanut butter (I used more to taste)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce

Directions:
Mix all of the ingredients for the sauce together. Pound the chicken into flatter pieces and place in ziplock bag. Poor sauce over the chicken leaving about 1/3 cup reserved for later. Place chicken in fridge for an hour or longer to marinade. Grill chicken basting a little more sauce over each piece. While chicken is cooking, cook pasta. Put the snow peas and carrots in the boiling water with the pasta in the last 2 minutes of cooking. Drain and add diced chicken to pasta and veggies. Add remaining sauce if more flavor is desired. I used about 2 more additional tablespoon of sauce stirred into mixture. Serve and enjoy!

Creamy Baked Mac n Cheese

Sometimes you just have to have a big bowl of macaroni and cheese. The Kraft kind will work once in a great while, but a big bowl of this recipe could be a regular at my household. I researched recipes and took what I loved from each one and came up with this. It was yummy in my large pregnant tummy.

Ingredients:
3 cups uncooked elbow macaroni shells
6 thick slices of bacon cooked and cut into small pieces.
2 cups milk
1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup Colby cheese
1 cup Cotija cheese (found with other Mexican food dairy products)
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1 can of Campbell's condensed cheese soup
2 Tbs butter
3/4 cup bread crumbs

Directions :
Blend milk, cottage cheese, cumin, salt and pepper, and soup in blender. Pour over dry noodles in casserole dish. Stir in bacon and half of each shredded cheese leaving the rest for the top. Add remaining cheese to the top. Combine butter and bread crumbs and spread as the final topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

What about Bob? .....and his pasta......and where have I been?

Well hello! Thanks for coming back even though I have been gone. I had a little vacation with the husband to see in-laws and attend a wedding. Don't worry my in-laws are very cool. How have you been? I missed you.

Once upon a time my Dad invented this pasta recipe and I have hated all other sauces since. What makes it even cooler is the chef's name is Bob. Bob the chef/dentist! A good guy to have around I'd say.

This sauce really is pretty easy and tastes healthy and light. The best thing about this recipe is you could easily add-in whatever you love and it would be quite tasty.



Ingredients:
One chopped onion
3-4 cloves of garlic minced
1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning (to taste)
1 teaspoon of capers (or black or green olives)
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 jar of artichoke hearts sliced briefly with knife
2-3 cans of diced canned tomatoes with oregano, or basil or other seasonings
1 pound of cooked and shredded chicken (I used my canned chicken and it just shreds perfectly once it hits the pan)
Salt and pepper to taste
Shredded Romano or Parmesan cheese

Saute the onion, garlic, capers, pine nuts, and seasonings in olive oil. Add the tomatoes,artichoke hearts and chicken. You can exchange the chicken for shrimp, sausage, or whatever protein you prefer and it will work perfectly. Let the sauce simmer for 20 minutes to let the flavors marry. While sauce is simmering, cook desired pasta. I use whole wheat pasta and can't tell the difference from white anymore. Serve over pasta, top with cheese, and enjoy!



I had lots of sauce left over and made a basic Alfredo sauce the next day to combine with the leftovers. It was creamy, and so flavorful with the tomatoes and pine nuts.

My Take on Chicken Gargonzola Pasta

It's pretty easy and oh so tasty. The flavor of the sharp Gorgonzola mixed with the flavors of prosciutto, asparagus, and cream makes for a lovely dish.

Ingredients:
2-3 grilled and diced chicken breasts
1 cup asparagus tips
1/2 cup diced prosciutto
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Gorgonzola cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 stick of butter
salt and pepper to taste
1 box of Penne pasta cooked al dente

Directions:
Melt butter in saucepan. Add cream and hit to just boil adding Parmesan and Gorgonzola cheese just to a boil stirring constantly to avoid burning. Grill Chicken and boil pasta 8 minutes adding asparagus for the last 4 minutes. Drain and add sauce to pasta. Add prosciutto and grilled chicken. Serve and enjoy the goodness.





What is that drink in the background? Well that was sparkling cider, with thawed frozen raspberries, and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It was a hit! Thanks for stopping!

Simple Sunday Part Two: Crock Pot Italian Chicken

My new favorite! It is so easy, yet so tasty!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds of chicken
1 Family size can of Cream of Chicken Soup
2 cups milk
1 block of cream cheese
1 packet of Italian Dressing Seasoning mix (Found in the salad dressing Aisle next to Hidden Vally Ranch Packets)
1 Box of your favorite pasta (I used Penne pasta)

Directions:
Combine all ingredients except pasta into crock pot. Cook on High for 4 hours, or longer at a lower temperature depending on your schedule. Once cooked, boil pasta, drain, and serve mixture over pasta. It is creamy and so yummy. It tastes like an enhanced Alfredo sauce. Nobody will ever know it was that easy. I promise I won't tell.

Ruth's Diner Macaroni and Cheese

It is so good you don't need a picture! (Plus I ate it up and forgot to take one)

Ingredients:
3 cups uncooked macaroni noodles
1 cup diced onion
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 cups milk
2 bay leaves
1 Tbs paprika
2 tsp salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 1/2 cups grated cheddar
2 1/2 cups grated Monterey Jack
1 cup cottage cheese

For the topping:
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup bread crumbs

Directions

Cook macaroni, drain do not rinse.
In a large saute pan, saute the onions in butter. Add the flour to make a roux and cook for one minute. Add the milk, bay leaves, paprika, salt and pepper. Brink to a simmer, stirring often. Mix the 2 cheeses together in a small bowl. Once the mixture is at a simmer, add 3 cups of cheese mixture and the cottage cheese. Stir well, remove from heat, and remove bay leaves from mixture. Add macaroni noodles to milk mixture, mix well.

Pour 1/2 of macaroni mixture into a 2 quart baking dish, cover with 1/2 of the remaining grated cheese, add remaining macaroni mixture and cover with the remaining grated cheese mixture.

In small bowl mix together the topping ingredients and top the macaroni. Place into the oven and bake until golden brown, about 45 minutes.

As always, serve and enjoy!

Beef Stroganoff

1 Round Steak cut into small cubes (sprinkled with tenderizer)
Flour, salt, and pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove of garlic minced
1 can mushrooms sliced (some juice)
1 cup sour cream
1 can condensed tomato soup
6 drops Tabasco sauce ( I used more)
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsp. Worcestershire
Dash of Pepper

cooked spaghetti
Parmesan cheese

Dip meat in flour and brown in oil. Add onion, garlic, and mushrooms. Combine sour cream, tomato soup, and seasonings. Pour over meat. Simmer till tender at least 1 hr. Serve over Spaghetti and top with Parmesan cheese. Serve and Enjoy!

(I doubled everything for leftovers)

Alfredo and Red Pepper Pasta

I had a red pepper, leftover Alfredo sauce to use up, and a hankering for pasta. This is what I came up with. Too bad the picture sucks (part photographer, part camera's fault)

1 red pepper
1 cup of your favorite Alfredo sauce
1 tbs minced garlic
1 pound chicken
1 tbs Cajun seasoning
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 large tomato
3 cups cooked Bowtie pasta (I used whole wheat)

Take the red pepper and tomato and throw them in the food processor. Meanwhile saute the chicken in garlic with a little bit of oil. Add Alfredo sauce and processed tomato and red pepper to saucepan. When chicken is no longer pink sprinkle with Cajun seasoning, paprika, and salt and broil till outside is crispy and golden brown.(this may be unnecessary, but I like my chicken slightly crunchy in a dish like this. Add chicken to sauce and pour over pasta. Sprinkle with black pepper. Serve and Enjoy!