Pasta with Pesto Cream Sauce

From the lovely Ree at Pioneer Woman. Check out her recipe. I've simplified it quite a bit.

Ingredients
Jarred Pesto - a couple tbsp
½ cups Heavy Cream (or whole milk)
2 Tablespoons Butter
¼ cups Grated Parmesan (optional)
12 ounces, weight Pasta (cavitappi, Fusili, Etc.)
2 whole Tomatoes, Diced (or red pepper, diced)
Chicken Breast, cooked and sliced (optional)

Cook pasta until al dente.

Heat cream and butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add pesto and stir.

Drain pasta and place in a serving bowl. Pour pesto cream over the top. Toss to combine. Add diced tomatoes (or peppers) and toss quickly. Top with grated parmesan.  Serve immediately.

Sweet & Sour Chicken

Try this!  It is delicious. Even my husband, who is not always willing to try anything "new" and insisted he wanted his own naked chicken pieces, ate up the rest of this recipe. 

(Sorry no pics, we ate it too fast!)

Straight from Chef Mommy

Chicken:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix sauce ingredients (below) together and pour over chicken.

Sauce:
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes. If you like extra sauce, make another batch of sauce and bring it to a boil on the stove top. Stir constantly and let cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced – about 6-8 minutes

Nutty Chicken Salad

This is my current go-to recipe for Chicken Salad. My husband likes it, and I do too - it adds a little sweetness with the apple and crunch with the almonds. I won't take a picture (yet) because Chicken Salad just doesn't photograph well unless it's on the sandwich.

And honestly, I just use this recipe as a guide. I used 2 chicken breasts, no celery, no garlic, a golden delicious apple, relish, mustard, salt & pepper, and mayo this time. If it were just me, I would add the garlic and red pepper... and in fact I might yet:-) My husband doesn't like those as well - but they add a nice contrast that he might be missing. 

Courtesy of allrecipes.com

Ingredients
3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 stalk celery
1 onion
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
4 eggs
1 large red apple, diced
6 small sweet pickles, diced
1 (3 ounce) package sliced almonds
salt and pepper to taste
crushed red pepper to taste
1/4 cup mayonnaise

Directions
1.Over medium-high heat, bring a medium pot of lightly salted water to boil. Add chicken, celery, a slice of the onion, and garlic. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 1 hour.
2.Chop remaining onion and set aside.
3.Place egg in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, cool, peel and chop.
4.Drain chicken, discarding boiled vegetables. Chop chicken when cool.
5.In a medium bowl, mix the apple, onion, pickles, almond and salt, if desired. Add black and red pepper to taste. Stir in enough mayonnaise until the mixture sticks together well.
6.Cover a serving dish with lettuce leaves. Mound the chicken salad in the middle, and sprinkle with additional almonds, if desired. Serve with crackers.

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

From Crockpot Tuesday's.  I like her recipes, they are easy prep work, not a lot of ingredients, and very tasty.

Ingredients:
1 lb. chicken breast
2 cans chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 stalks of celery, chopped (omitted)
half of a large onion, chopped (omitted)
1 cup carrots, chopped (I used three large)
Rosemary and parsley, to taste (or whatever seasonings you like)
8 oz. egg noodles (I used 6 oz)

Directions:
Place everything in the crockpot except the egg noodles. Cook on low for 7-8 hours. At end of cook time, shred the chicken. Add egg noodles; cover and cook on high for about 30 minutes.

Mine was VERY thick, it was basically chicken and noodles.  I even added about 3/4 of a cup of water when I added the noodles.  It was good, though, and very easy!  The chicken shreds very nicely after being in a crockpot all day, and the noodles are very tasty on top of it.  If only it were healthy...

Chicken Enchiladas Roll-Ups

I got this recipe from Annie's Eats and made them for Superbowl tomorrow. They are fantastic (of course I had to try a couple to test them).  I used Mission sun dried tomato basil tortillas, and I put leg quarters in the slow cooker for the meat. 

Edit - eat these the day you make them. I threw them in the fridge, and tried them the next day - WAY too mushy!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup shredded cheese (cheddar, Mexican blend, pepper jack, etc.)
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
2 tsp. chili powder
½ tsp. cumin
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
Salt, to taste
Handful of cilantro, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
10 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chiles, drained well
4-6 8-inch tortillas

Directions:
Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Cook in a skillet over medium-high heat until lightly browned and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and let cool.
In the meantime, combine all of the remaining ingredients except tortillas in a large mixing bowl. Mix until well blended. Once the chicken is cool, transfer to a cutting board and chop or shred into small pieces. Add the chicken to the filling mixture and stir well to incorporate.
Spread a thin layer of the filling mixture over a tortilla, leaving a small border clear around the edge. Roll the tortilla up tightly into a spiral. Place the rolled up tortilla on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to cut into 1- to 1½-inch thick segments. Transfer to a serving platter and serve chilled or at room temperature.

Chicken Tetrazzini

I have made this quite a few times - it is always delicious. I got it from the Kraft website. I served it with my version of Caprese salad - the store was out of fresh mozzarella and basil, so I did the best I could! Those are tomatoes out of my garden... the few that grew this year. Next year I hope to plant the tomatoes in the ground, hopefully they will grow better!

1/2 lb. (8 oz.) spaghetti, uncooked
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 medium red pepper, chopped
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, cubed
1/4 cup flour
1 can (14 oz.) fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 Tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
1/2 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Cook pasta as directed on package. Meanwhile, spray large nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Add chicken, peppers and mushrooms; cook and stir 5 min. or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove from skillet; set aside.
PLACE Neufchatel, flour and broth in skillet. Cook and stir with wire whisk until boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 5 min., stirring frequently.
DRAIN pasta; return to saucepan. Add Neufchatel cheese mixture, chicken mixture and 2 Tbsp. of the Parmesan cheese; mix well. Spoon into 2-qt. round casserole dish; cover with foil. Bake 25 min. Top with mozzarella and remaining 1 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese; continue baking, uncovered, 2 min. or until mozzarella cheese is melted.

Creamy Orzo served with Herb-Rubbed Grilled Chicken

I was confused by Giada's recipe, from Smells Like Home, so I made it a little differently. For some reason, I thought that the chicken was cooked in the same pan as the orzo. Next time, I'll do it right! Also, it calls for shallots, but I have no idea what those are and couldn't find them in the store anyway, so I omitted those. I used half of the orzo that it calls for, and I didn't have a garlic clove or fresh parmesan, so I did my best without those (garlic powder and mozzarella/canned parmesan seemed to work just fine).

1 pound orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, juices drained
1 1/4 cups whipping cream
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
reserved pasta water
2 tsp herbes de provence
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2″

Bring a heavy large saucepan of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the orzo and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring often, about 10-11 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

Season pounded chicken on both sides with herbes de provence (1 tsp per breast), salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium heat and pre-heat the grill to medium-high heat. Add the shallot and garlic, and saute until tender, about 2 minutes. Put chicken on grill, turning after 4-5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook until they are tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in the cream and peas*. Add the orzo and toss to coat. Remove the skillet from the heat. Add the Parmesan to the pasta mixture and toss to coat. Stir the pasta mixture until the sauce coats the pasta thickly, adding enough reserved cooking liquid to maintain a creamy consistency. Season the orzo generously with salt and pepper, and serve.

Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Serves: 6-8

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken

I made this delicious crock pot meal yesterday from Gina's Weight Watcher's Recipes. I modified it a bit, and we ate it as tacos instead of on rice. Very easy and good flavor.

Ingredients:

24 oz (1 1/2) lbs chicken breast (I used 3 large chicken breasts)
14.4 oz can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies
15 oz can black beans
8 oz frozen corn
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro - skipped
14.4 oz can fat free chicken broth
3 scallions, chopped - skipped
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)
salt to taste

Directions:

Combine chicken broth, beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt in the crock pot. Season chicken breast with salt and lay on top. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Adjust salt and seasoning. We ate as tacos; you can also serve over rice.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

I made Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole Sunday afternoon. Actually, I made two - one for the freezer, one to eat. It was delicious! I also omitted the pepper and actually ended up using only 2 cups of cooked rice - that's all I had - and since I didn't have garlic, I used garlic powder. It would be better with the full amount, but it wasn't bad. I used diced grilled chicken breasts also, I don't shred chicken if I can help it. I ended up putting a ton of cheese on it - way too much for me, but Jeremy loved it. He's a big cheese fan.

This was also from Lauren's Kitchen.

2 T EVOO
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 bell pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 lb diced ham
2 c cooked, shredded chicken breasts
4 T butter
1/4 c flour
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
14 oz can chicken broth
3 cups cooked rice
1 c shredded cheddar
1 c shredded mozzarella or swiss

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.I precooked the chicken by cutting it into thin strips (to cook faster) and throwing it into a skillet with a bit of oil. Then I shredded from there.Heat oil in a large, rimmed skillet over medium heat.Add the onions and peppers and cook for about 5 minutes, until tender.Then add the garlic, chicken and ham and cook for another 5 minutes until heated through.Add the butter until it is melted, then stir in the flour, salt and pepper until combined.Slowly stir in the chicken broth, then mix in the rice.Transfer mixture to a 9x13 baking dish and sprinkle the top with your cheese.Bake for 20-25 minutes. For the last 10 minutes place aluminum foil overtop for oozing cheese.

Chicken Scallopine

I tried Chicken Scallopine from Lauren's Kitchen last night. It was fantastic! I didn't get a picture, but here is the recipe. I only used four chicken breasts, omitted the capers, and used chicken broth instead of dry white wine. I felt like such a professional, deglazing the pan and reducing the sauce! I'm excited to try this again with white wine next time.

Ingredients:
1 pound linguine
6 boneless, skinless, trimmed chicken breasts
Flour
Salt & Pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
12 ounces white mushrooms, sliced thin
1 cup dry white wine
Chicken broth (optional)
1 lemon
1/2 cup heavy cream (can use half & half)
1 heaping tablespoon capers
chopped fresh Italian parsley

Cook pasta according to package directions.Flatten chicken breasts to uniform thickness. Salt and pepper both sides, then dredge in flour.Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry chicken breasts until golden brown. Remove to a plate and set aside.Throw mushrooms into the pan and stir. Immediately pour in wine, then squeeze juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon. Stir to deglaze the pan, then cook vigorously for 1 minute, until sauce reduces.Pour in cream and stir, then add capers and parsley and stir. Turn off heat. Stir and add salt and pepper to taste. Don’t undersalt!Place pasta and chicken on a platter and top with every last drop of sauce. Generously sprinkle Parmesan Cheese over the top.