Chicken Pesto Pasta Bake

Chicken Pesto Pasta Bake
Inspired by: Taste of Home
Yield: 1 casserole for dinner and 1 for the freezer!

1 (16 oz) package of penne pasta
6 cups cooked chicken, cubed
4 cups shredded Italian cheese blend
3 cups fresh baby spinach
1 can (15 oz) crushed tomatoes - *I used diced Fire Roasted tomatoes instead
1 jar (15 oz) Classico Alfredo sauce
1 jar (8 oz) Classico Pesto sauce
1 1/2 cups milk

topping:
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil

Bake your chicken in the oven - I season mine and bake it on 400-425 for about 20 minutes. Cool and then cube it. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine: chicken, cheese, spinach, tomatoes, alfredo sauce, milk, and pesto. Drain the pasta and add to the chicken mixture; toss to coat.

Transfer to two greased 9x13 inch baking dishes. In a small bowl, combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle over the casseroles.

Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months. Cover and bake the remaining casserole at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until bubbly.

To reheat the frozen casserole; thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Remove from refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking cover and bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until bubbly.Pin It Now!

Slow Cooker Italian Mushroom Chicken

Slow Cooker Italian Mushroom Chicken
Inspired by: Cleverly Inspired's Angel Chicken

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1-1/2 pounds)

1 8-oz. pkg. fresh button mushrooms, sliced
1 8-oz. pkg. fresh baby bella mushrooms, sliced

1/4 cup butter
1 0.7-oz. pkg. Italian dry salad dressing mix
1 10-3/4-oz. can condensed golden mushroom soup (I used regular cream of mushroom)
1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 of an 8-oz. tub cream cheese spread with chives and onion (I used Roasted Garlic Cooking Creme)
1/2 package of egg noodles, cooked

* I added some minced onion because I didn't have the chive and onion cream cheese

Layer your crock pot with the mushrooms on the bottom, lay the chicken on top of the mushrooms, and I sprinkled my minced onion on top of the chicken. In a small sauce pan, melt the butter - once melted add in the Italian dressing mix, mushroom soup, wine, and cream cheese. Pour the combined sauce over the chicken, and cook on low setting for 6-8 hours. 

Before serving, I shredded the chicken and put it back in the sauce. I boiled my noodles, and once they were ready - I mixed them into the crock pot and let it sit in the sauce for about 20 minutes or so to soak up some of the sauce and flavor. I did this because the sauce is rather thin, and I thought this would be a good way to not waste it - if it soaked up in to the pasta.

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Courtesy of: Niki via Food.com

Yield: 30-32 regular sized muffins

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 (16 oz) can pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil (yes, that is correct)
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

* I added a dash of pumpkin pie spice
** If I wasn't serving these to the babies - I might have added some pecans or walnuts

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside. In a second large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla, and oil together until smooth. Continue beating, adding little bits of the flour mixture in at a time until all combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin tins about 3/4 full. I used a 1/4 or 1/3 cup measuring cup to fill mine to make sure they were all equal in size. Bake at 400 degrees for 16-20 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean.

Enjoy!
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Chicken with Olives, Tomatoes and Orzo

Chicken with Olives, Tomatoes and Orzo
Modified from: My Recipes.com

YIELD: 6 servings (serving size: 2 chicken thighs and about 1/3 cup sauce)

Ingredients
12 chicken thighs (about 4 pounds), skinned -- (I used 3 thighs for us)
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 teaspoon olive oil (I skipped this)
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 to 3 teaspoons crushed red pepper (I skipped this)
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained (I used a 14 oz can)
1/4 cup sliced pitted kalamata olives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (I used dried parsley)
 ** I added minced onion, some Italian seasoning, and mixed in Orzo

I'm going to tell you how I made this dish here - and the original recipe is below in case you want to compare. I put the chicken in the crock pot raw... I knew I was going to cook it all day - so it was easier for me. I then put the tomato paste in a bowl and whisked it with the white wine. I mixed that in the crock pot with the chicken and tomatoes. I added the rest of the ingredients: salt, pepper, garlic, dried parsley, minced onion, Italian seasoning, and olives. Put everything on low for 5-6 hours.

I then boiled 1 cup of dry orzo in water, and once it was cooked - I added it to the crock pot and put it on the warm setting. I did it for ease of cooking with the kids - that was when I tested it and took the photo above. When I served it to my family - the sauce had completely soaked into the orzo... so if you have the ability - I'd add the orzo and mix it in just before eating.

You could serve it over rice or something else if you'd prefer. It does change the nutritional values below... but I think it's worth it to balance out the meal.


Original Preparation

Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Place chicken in an electric slow cooker. Add garlic to pan, and sauté 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add wine,
scraping pan to loosen browned bits; cook 30 seconds. Place wine mixture in cooker. Add tomato paste, crushed red pepper, and tomatoes to cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH 4 hours. Stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper, olives, and parsley.
 
Nutritional Information: Amount per serving
Calories: 270
Fat: 12.9g
Saturated fat: 3.3g
Monounsaturated fat: 5.6g
Polyunsaturated fat: 2.8g
Protein: 29.1g
Carbohydrate: 8.7g
Fiber: 2.2g
Cholesterol: 99mg
Iron: 2.4mg
Sodium: 658mg
Calcium: 44mg
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Green Cake

It took me a couple of years to weasel this secret family recipe out of a friend... you simply MUST try it... immediately!

Green Cake

Courtesy of: Angela F.

Preheat oven to 350F

Grease 11x13 cake pan & sprinkle 1 tbsp cake mix to "dust" pan

Cake:

1 box white cake mix

1 jello pistachio pudding mix

1/2 cup oil

3/4 cup water + 1 tbsp

4 eggs

1-2 cups pecans, finely chopped (or your favorite nut)

Mix ingredients until smooth, and pour mixture into prepared cake pan. Sprinkle 1-2 cups finely chopped pecan pieces evenly over cake. (If you don't like pecans, I would expect that any nuts would work beautifully here.) Bake at 350F for about 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Frosting:

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup water

2 cups packed powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix ingredients while cake is in the oven. When cake is done, remove it from oven. With a fork, puncture the cake several times until surface is evenly "poked". Gently spoon frosting mixture evenly over entire cake (pouring on frosting makes it pool & doesn't coat evenly). Bake the cake for an additional 5 minutes so the frosting becomes flakey. Cool to room temp and enjoy!

** I considered warming the frosting ingredients before putting them on the cake and to make sure they mix evenly... we didn't do it, but I wonder if it might work better than ours did. 

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Lasagna Roll-Ups

Lasagna Roll-Ups
Courtesy of ME!

Package of Lasagna Noodles
1 container of ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 medium zucchini, grated
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce (I used Classico Spinach)
1-2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

This recipe makes about 9-10 rolls - which for our family is plenty because currently John and I only eat about 1 roll per meal. For larger families, or if you think your family will eat more - you might want to double up on the ingredients in the filling mixture. I had quite a few lasagna noodles left over - so you should be fine with one package. 

Boil your lasagna noodles. Drain and rinse with cold water. Separate the noodles and lay them out on a towel lined cookie sheet. We had more than one layer - so I just covered each layer with a separate towel and kept stacking.

In a skillet, brown your ground beef with salt, pepper, the Italian seasoning, and onion. Once browned, allow the mixture to cool. In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta cheese, egg, Parmesan, 1/4 cup of the spaghetti sauce, and beef mixture.

In the bottom of a baking dish, spread a few tablespoons of the spaghetti sauce. You want to make sure that the bottom of the dish is covered lightly so that the noodles don't dry out.

Lay out 1 lasagna noodle on a cutting board, spoon some of the ricotta mixture on the noodle to cover it.

Then roll up the noodle.

Ideally, the rolls would stand up in the pan. Mine wasn't deep enough - so I had to lay them side by side. You will want to pack the rolls in tightly so that they can keep their moisture. If they stand up in the pan, you will be able to fit them all in one dish - I had to use two in order to bake mine.

Once you get all the rolls made up, cover them with the remaining sauce - a little bit on each roll so that the noodles continue to have plenty of moisture so they don't dry out. Top them with mozzarella cheese and bake for about 20-25 minutes until the mozzarella cheese is melted and the rolls are warm. Pin It Now!

Margarita Pie

Margarita Pie
Courtesy of: A grocery store cookbook (my son ripped off the cover and I'm not sure who's it was)

1 1/4 cups crushed pretzels
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lime juice
1 envelope KOOL-AID Lemon Lime Unsweetened drink mix
1 tub (8 oz) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed

For the crust:
Mix pretzel crumbs, sugar and butter together. Press into bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie crust. For best results - use a glass or metal pie plate instead of a disposable one. Refrigerate until ready to fill.

For the filling:
Mix the sweetened condensed milk, lime juice, and KOOL-AID drink mix together in a large bowl. Whisk in COOL WHIP. Pour the contents into the pie crust, and freeze for 6 hours.

Remove the pie from the freezer 10-15 minutes before serving, let stand at room temperature until slightly softened. Use a large knife dipped in warm water to cut the pie into slices. I dipped the knife in the water after each cut. You can top the pie with more COOL WHIP if desired.

My crust came apart a bit - so I sprinkled the pretzel crumbs on the top so no one missed any of their salty bite with the sweetness of the filling.Pin It Now!