Chicken Scampi

Now that it's actually somewhat light while we are eating dinner, I'm going to try and be better at posting new recipes! This is another great recipe from my Aunt Tiffini. It sounded like something good and different.. and it sure was both! Loved it! The first time I made it I used the homemade chili sauce.. not sure who makes it, but I didn't really like it. The 2nd time I used Heinz chili sauce and it was a winner!! YUM! I now make this often. It comes together so quickly. Perfect for a busy night.


Chicken Scampi

8 cloves crushed garlic
1 T dried oregano
1 T dried parsley
4 T lemon juice
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 c olive oil
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup chili sauce
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces

Combine together in greased 9x11 inch pan. Bake at 450 for 12-15 mins uncovered or until chicken is done. Serve over cooked angel hair pasta with Parmesan cheese on top.

Tomato Tortellini Soup

I got this recipe out of the recent Taste of Home magazine. I thought it looked easy, tasty and something a little different from our normal. I halved the recipe because it served 10 people but when I put in half the amount of tortellini I felt it wasn't hearty enough for me, so I ended up using the whole package. I also felt it was lacking just a little in flavor, so I think next time I make it I will add more seasonings, I would recommend just adding to your taste. This is the recipe halved, so if you can double it if you want. I also made homemade bread sticks.. I got the recipe from My Kitchen Cafe. If you would like it you can go here. They were very yummy!


Tomato Tortellini Soup (5-6 servings)

1 package frozen cheese tortellini (or you could use fresh, frozen is just cheaper)
1 can healthy request tomato soup, undiluted
1 cup vegetable broth
1 cup milk
1 cup half and half
1/4 cup chopped oil-packed sun dried tomatoes
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan (I had this yummy Parmesan mix I found at walmart in the bagged shredded cheese section.. it was SO GOOD!)
Additional shredded Parmesan, optional

Cook tortellini according to package directions. Meanwhile, In a dutch oven, combine the soup, broth, milk, cream, tomatoes and seasonings. Heat through, stirring frequently. Drain tortellini; carefully add to soup. Stir in cheese. Sprinkle each serving with additional cheese if desired.

Chicken Divine

I know you have probably heard of chicken divan before and I'm not sure how similar this recipe is to that but most chicken divan recipes I have read didn't have noodles in them. Anyways, I got this recipe from my friends mom back when I was probably 12ish. I had some for dinner at their house and loved it so I had to take the recipe home with me. My mom has been making it ever since. It's a really easy meal and comes together quickly, especially if you already have some chicken cooked or left over turkey works nice too. My mom actually canned some chicken and I used that and it turned out great! This casserole is cooked in the microwave so if you've got everything cooked ready to go you've got dinner in 10 minutes!


Chicken Divine

1 can cream of mushroom
1/2 c mayo
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon curry powder
3 cup uncooked egg noodles
cooked chicken
cooked broccoli (you could substitute peas)
shredded cheese
Cook egg noodles as directed on package. Mix together soup, mayo, lemon juice, curry in a casserole dish. Add cooked noodles, chicken and broccoli. Mix well. sprinkle cheese on top. Cook in microwave for 10 minutes. If your microwave doesn't rotate, then rotate after 5 minutes.

Lemon Pepper Chicken Pasta

I have shared this recipe on my family blog before. But not with a photo and I just figured I would share it here. It is very popular in my little family. My hubby usually requests it for his birthday meal! My two year old loves it as well. My old boss made something similar to this one day for lunch and I just kind of made up my own version of it. And if you are on a diet, this recipe is not for you! :) I don't have specific measurements since I just kind of throw everything together but I will do my best!


Lemon Pepper Chicken Pasta
2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 pint grape tomatoes halved(also great if you have them in the garden. and cherry tomatoes work well too, just cut them into 4s if they are big)
Spaghetti noodles (as much as you need for your family)
Cooked Asparagus (or any green veggie your family likes, asparagus isn't cheap so I used broccoli this time.)
Lemon Pepper seasoning
Garlic Powder
Poultry seasoning
Season Salt
Right now you are probably thinking.. what is so unhealthy about this recipe? Well...
Here's the bad part...
1 stick of butter melted (this is what I use for about 5 adults, so you can do less)
fresh grated Paremsan cheese

Season chicken with just the poultry seasoning and season salt to taste. Stick it in the oven covered loosely with foil and bake at 375 for 30-45 mins. (depends on the size of the chicken)While that is cooking, get your water boiling for your Spaghetti and slice the tomatoes in half. When the chicken is done let it cool for a while. Then cube it and put it in a deep bowl. Sprinkle in the Lemon Pepper seasoning. Then shake the bowl to coat all of the pieces. You will probably want to add bits of lemon pepper at a time and shake it up several times. I just keep doing that until I can see that all of the chicken is coated with the seasoning.. Just don't under do it! (this is alot of the flavor in the dish) hehe. Set that aside. Cook up your Asparagus or whatever type of green veggie your family loves. Add garlic powder to your stick of melted butter.. Just go crazy! I love LOTS of garlic! (sorry I don't know how much I never measure it) After draining the spaghetti put it back in the pan and add chicken, tomatoes, aspargus, butter sauce and heat on low until all heated(maybe 5 mins or less). Toss and sprinkle with fresh paremsan cheese.

Thats it.. I hope that makes sense.. I just kind of typed it up.

Just some tips:

• I usually cook up double the chicken. Then after I cut it and season it with lemon pepper, I freeze the extra for next time. Just pull it out to thaw in the fridge the day before you plan to make it and warm it up when you toss it together.
• If you don't want to add a green veggie... just sprinkle in some dried parsley to give it some color!

Cheesy Shell Lasagna

This recipe is very similar to another casserole I make. I like this one better though. It's made with the small pasta shells, which is easy for my little guy to eat and it's chunkier than the other casserole I make. We liked it so much we had it for dinner 2 nights in a row. :) Well I didn't make it twice, but we had enough left over! :)


Cheesy Shell Lasagna
Adapted from Best Ever Casseroles

1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium onion diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
1-2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 can mushroom stems and pieces, drained
8 oz uncooked small shell pasta
2 cups reduced fat sour cream
11 slices provolone cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

In a nonstick skillet, cook the beef, onions and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, mushrooms and italian seasoning. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions; drain.

Place half the pasta in an ungreased 13x9 baking dish(I actually used my large casserole dish). Top with half of the meat sauce, sour cream and provolone cheese. Repeat the layers. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

Cover and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. Uncover; bake 10 minutes longer or until the cheese begins to brown. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

BBQ Beef Mac and Cheese

I wanted to try this recipe over at Picky Palate and had it on my menu for the week. We had my lovely Sunday Roast a few days before, so I thought instead of making it with chicken, I might as well use my left over roast instead. It was very good! I have to say I like it with or without the BBQ beef. So I just might make the recipe for the mac and cheese occasionally... even though I do have a favorite recipe for that. Another thing I was excited about was the homemade BBQ sauce. My little one is allergic to something in BBQ sauce and we haven't quite figured it out yet, but everything in the sauce wasn't something we had a problem with. And he loved it!


BBQ Chicken Crusted Smoked Cheddar Mac
(I think she made this for alot of people, I halved it and it was still quite a bit!)

1 lb mini farfalle pasta (use any pasta of choice)
5 Tablespoons butter
5 Tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
4 Cups milk, I used 2%
5 Cups shredded Tillamook smoked cheddar cheese (you could use any cheddar cheese)

2 Cups shredded BBQ Chicken HERE is the recipe(or you could use shredded beef instead)
1 Cup shredded Tillamook smoked cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and set aside.

2. Melt butter into a large dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Whisk in flour, salt and pepper; cook for 1 minute stirring. Slowly whisk in milk until smooth. Increase heat to medium high, stir continuously until liquid thickens and comes to a low boil. Reduce heat to low and stir in cheddar cheese until smooth then add cooked pasta. Pour mixture into a large baking dish then top evenly with BBQ chicken. Sprinkle with additional cheddar cheese and bake for 25-30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

3. Let cool for 5-10 minutes and serve.

Herbed Chicken and Tomatoes.

Alright folks.. it doesn't get much easier than this.. Man this dish was just so easy. It's a slow cooker dish (which I just love) and really comes together so fast. I loved smelling this dish all day too. Well, the reason I made this dish when I did was because I wasn't going to be home at dinner time. I was actually at the cannery.. so.. It would be SO easy for any husband to put together for the family. All my family had to do was boil the pasta, cook a veggie and they were done. I don't know anyone who can't do that. This dish was really tasty and OH SO CHEAP to make!


Herbed Chicken and Tomatoes
(from the Taste of Home)

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-1/2 inch cubes
2 cans (14-1/2 oz each) Italian diced tomatoes (Make sure they are Italian style!)
1 envelope savory herb and garlic soup mix (Found by the dry onion soup mix)
1/4 teaspoon sugar
Hot Cooked pasta (I used rotini because I had it.. you could use ANYTHING)
Shredded Parmesan Cheese

In a 3-qt. slow cooker, combine the chicken, tomatoes, soup mix and sugar. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until chicken is no longer pink. Serve with pasta; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Your done.. Easy peasy!

Next up from me: Pork and green chili casserole (Some of you already have this.. I'm just posting it with a picture.) (:

Italian Chicken Pasta

We tried this dish last night and it was delish. It came together really quickly. I actually think I might like it more without the chicken but the men around these parts wouldn't go for that one bit. I got this recipe from another food blog www.mykitchencafe.blogspot.com I have tried a few recipes of hers and all but one(the chicken lo mein wasn't a hit here) has been a hit with our family. I have a few more of her recipes that I will be trying and will post them if we like them.

In other news, I have my first contributor to the blog!! YAY! My long lost sister(really best friend)Sandy. She will be helping me with this blog and I'm excited to see what she comes up with, really since we were room mates in college and she never seemed to like to cook. :) But from the sound of things it's now something she enjoys. We decided to make next week a Chinese week. We will be posting a few recipes for you to try and enjoy! If anyone else would like to be a contributor you are more than welcome!! We love new recipes too! :) Just shoot me an email. Thanks!


Italian Chicken Pastina

1 cup pastina pasta (I used macaroni, since I have it in my food storage)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup cubed chicken breast (1-inch cubes)
1/2 cup diced onion (about 1/2 a small onion)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon butter, plus more for buttering the baking dish

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until just tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Drain pasta into a large mixing bowl.

Meanwhile, put the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes. Add the onions and garlic, stirring to combine, and cook until the onions are soft and the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes more. Put the chicken mixture into the bowl with the cooked pasta. Add the canned tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Place the mixture in a buttered 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish. In a small bowl mix together the bread crumbs and the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over the top of the pasta mixture. Dot the top with small bits of butter. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.