Monday, June 24, 2013

Better than CPK Alfredo!

So we named this "Better than CPK Alfredo" at our house! The other night we went out to eat at CPK and I got a salad and Eric tried the pasta. People don't go to CPK for pasta! It has great pizza, but the pasta was just a watered down pasta! We decided to make something better! We had a good laugh because usually when you go out to dinner you have something that is so good that there is no way you could create something better at home...well we did, but it wasn't hard! This is so easy to make.
Ingredients:
Pasta, any kind you want
Alfredo, any kind you want. I think ours was Bertonollies that come in a glass bottle.
Chicken if you would like. We used 2 large chicken breasts.
Grated mozzarella cheese
Grated Parmesan cheese if you would like.
 First cook your pasta in a pot, then get your chicken going. We decided to grill the chicken on the BBQ  but you could do it any way you want. Then cut the chicken in strips.
Once all that is done pour pasta in a baking dish then pour Alfredo sauce all over the pasta, then add as much mozzarella as you want and Parmesan cheese. and then your chicken. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Super easy! Add a salad with it or bread sticks or both!


Friday, June 14, 2013

Chocolate Pudding Pops

This is just a fun summer treat that is easy enough for kids to help with!
Submitted by: Jessica

Ingredients:
  • 1-3.9 oz package instant chocolate pudding
  • 1 1/2 cup milk (2% or higher is the best)
  • 2 cups cool whip

Directions:
  1. Dissolve pudding in milk
  2. Whip in the cool whip
  3. Spoon into dixie cups (I used 5 oz cups but 3 oz would be fine too).
  4. insert popsicle stick
  5. Freeze. Be sure it is completely frozen or it won't hold it's shape when you take it out of the cup.
This is what it looks like 2 hours later, right out of the freezer.


 Slide the cup off. Some of them you'll just have to rip off.

Enjoy!

Creamy Tuscan Pasta Sauce

This recipe didn't call for chicken but we are trying to have protein at every meal, so I added it to the sauce and it was delicious. You can leave out the chicken or add it or any other meat if you'd like!
Submitted by: Jessica

Ingredients:
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 1/2 tablespoon dried basil
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 8 ounce jar sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed, drained and chopped
  • 2 cups milk
  • 6 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (about 2 cups)
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt, more to taste if needed
  • diced fresh tomatoes and fresh basil for topping (optional)

Directions:
  1. In a medium pot or skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly, taking care not to let the garlic burn. Stir in the dried basil. Add the cream cheese, stirring with a whisk until the mixture is smooth. It will look curdled at first, but with constant whisking for 2-3 minutes, it will come together to form a smooth, creamy paste. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes.
  2. Over medium heat, add the milk gradually, about 1/4 cup at a time, whisking quickly and constantly until each addition is incorporated fulling into the sauce. Stir in Parmesan cheese, pepper and salt.
  3. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the cheese is melted and the sauce is the desired consistency, 5-10 minutes. Serve over hot, cooked noodles.
This picture doesn't look very appetizing. I think it's because I used wheat noodles and the colors kind of blend. They recommend bow-tie pasta with this dish.


Monday, June 10, 2013

White Chicken Enchiladas

I know Lacie just barely posted an enchiladas recipe. But seriously can you have enough enchilada recipes?! This one also seemed quite a bit different so I don't think you'd be feeling like you had the same meal twice! Just know that the sauce made for this does not freeze well. If you want to make it as a freezer meal, make the enchilada part (stuff the tortillas) and make the sauce the day of.

Submitted by: Jessica

Ingredients:
  • 10 soft taco shells (I used 8 burrito size)
  • 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken. I've also used a rotisserie chicken
  • 3 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 3 tbsp flour
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 (4 oz) can diced green chillies

Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350*. Grease a 8x11 pan (or a 9x13 if you are making 10)
  2. Mix chicken and 1 1/2 cup cheese. Roll up in tortillas and place in pan.
  3. In a medium saucepan, melt butter, stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add broth and whisk until smooth. Heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly.
  4. Stir in sour cream and chillies. Do not bring to a boil. You don't want curdled sour cream.
  5. Pour over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.
  6. Bake 22 minutes and then under high broil for 3 minutes to brown the cheese. The broiling part is important, so the tortillas aren't soggy!


Great served with rice and beans. We also topped ours with sour cream and salsa.

Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells

This was wonderful!
submitted by: Jessica

Ingredients:
  • 16 Jumbo pasta shells, cooked and drained
  • 4 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup grated parmesan cheese plus 1/4 cup for topping
  • 3 tablespoons prepared pesto
  • 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
  1. Combine all the ingredients (except shells) and stuff into the cooked jumbo shells.
  2. Sprinkle with the 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.
  3. Bake at 350* uncovered for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

We served our with a side salad and breadsticks!

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Banana chip muffins

These are so easy to make and so good! I got the recipe from taste of home.
Posted by Suanne


1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1tsp. Baking soda
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 1/3 cups mashed ripe bananas
(About 3 medium)
1/3 cup butter , melted
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven 375.  In a large bowl , whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
In another bowl, whisk egg, bananas, melted butter, and vanilla until blended. Add to the flour mixture, stir just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips.
2. Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups 3/4 full. 
Bake 17 to 20 minutes. Or until tooth pick comes out clean.
These do not require a electric mixer. Just stir by hand. Very quick to make!

Friday, June 7, 2013

Pineapple Glaze Chicken

Submitted by Lacie
This was a recipe I found on another blog, but I left out a few things, and changed a few things they said to do. This is a really easy recipe because it is all done in the crock pot! 
Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (they can be frozen)
1 (20oz.) can pineapple slices
2/3 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1/2 cup of cornstarch (could add less, if you want sauce thinner)

Directions:
Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place chicken breasts inside slow cooker and add pineapple rings on top of the chicken. In a separate bowl, mix together remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook on low for 5-7 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
Serve over rice. ENJOY!!!

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Submitted by Lacie
Sometimes I can't come up with quick and EASY dinner ideas when I am really needing to, so I thought I would share this pizza idea! We love pizza at our house and eat it a lot, probably too much.  Chicken Alfredo Pizza is just a little different than your average pepperoni and cheese. For this pizza you will need:
Mozzarella cheese, and I also added grated Parmesan that I had, you do not need to do that though, I just had some left over!
Alfredo sauce, mine was not homemade, I just bought a jar of it, any kind will work.
Pizza crust, mine was not homemade either, I used the crusts that come in a package of 2, you could use any sort of dough though, I just took the easiest route.
2 large chicken breasts, cook them and then cut in the size you would like.
Olive oil.
First spread the olive oil on the uncooked crust, then add the Alfredo sauce, chicken, and cheese. I also added a little bit of the sauce on top in different spots.
And cook for the time your crust calls for! And add a salad with it, and your done! Super easy and pretty dang good! Enjoy!!!