Sun-dried Tomato Chicken Pasta

I cannot remember who's blog I found this recipe on, but it's a delicious and creamy pasta. She said that she had copied it from a dish at Macaroni Grill. In her recipe (listed below) she used broccoli, but that's not a favorite in our house so I substituted green beans. They were fresh and frozen ones, but the taste was a little strong. I think next time I might try frozen peas or corn...or both.

The only tip I would give is that when you're making the sauce it's going to feel like you're adding a LOT of milk and that it's going to be too thin. But, don't worry. If you keep stirring and keep it over heat like she says, it turns out creamy and wonderful. We loved it!

Ingredients:

pre-cooked grilled chicken strips
1 cup frozen broccoli
1 cup sundried tomatoes
approx. 10 oz. penne or bowtie pasta
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups milk

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions. Add frozen broccoli for the last 3 minutes of cook time.

For the sauce, melt the butter in a skillet then add flour and stir until well combined. Pour in milk and stir. Add chicken and sundried tomatoes and cook until heated through.

Combine once both are finished and stir.

Grilled Chicken Italian Pasta

I apologize that the lighting on this picture makes the dish look disgusting, but I promise it's not.

This is our big sister's recipe and every time I eat it I wonder why I don't make it more often.

My two-year old asked for THIRDS! It's that good.

Directions:

Grill some chicken (preferably on the b-b-q) and right before you take it off the grill, brush on some Ken's Steak House Three Cheese Italian Dressing.

Go inside.

Now turn some water on to boil.

Put some onions and red or yellow or orange sliced peppers in a skillet with some olive oil

(don't use green peppers, they just don't go as well)

Cook until all are soft.

Now add a can of Italian diced tomatoes (drain liquid first)

Add a pinch of sugar

When your pot of water boils, add pasta (I prefer bowtie)

Now slice or chop or dice up your grilled chicken and add to skillet mixture.

When pasta is done, drain and add to skillet.

Serve with parmesean cheese on top and some nice french bread on the side.

Pudding Extravaganza

I cannot take credit for this beautiful creation because (brace yourselves) .... my husband made it.

I know! Can you believe it? But, he did.

I can't say it's much of an "original" recipe, but it tasted awesome, and here's what he did.

Ingredients:

One small box of the Jell-o instant chocolate pudding
2 cups milk
5 strawberries
Cool whip
Mini chocolate chips
8 animal crackers

Directions:

Mix the mix with the milk as directed, stirring for two minutes.
Pour the pudding into your dishes and then garnish with the toppings.

It tasted SOOO great. Maybe it's because they're our first strawberries this year...but, they tasted like candy, they were so sweet!

Give it a try. The Jell-o is $.76, why not?

Taco Seasoning

I just dumped this crockpot dinner into the magic cooker for tonight and it called for taco seasoning and I realized maybe I should post another recipe. My aunt taught me this and I love it! It's not much different than the kind you buy in the packet at the store, it's just cheaper! I mix it up and put it in an old shaker with the label "taco seasoning" on it. So here goes....

Ingredients:
2 t. onion (powder or flakes)
1 t. salt
1 t. chili powder
1/2 t. cornstarch
1/2 t. red pepper
1/2 t. garlic
1/4 t. oregano
1/2 t. cumin

Mix and season.

Egg Salad for One

Are you having a hard time figuring out what you should do with all of those hard boiled eggs?

This afternoon I realized that we had no more bread for a sandwich and no more lunch meat. Yikes, my easy fix for lunch was gone. So, I got a little more creative. (That's rare for me, usually my lunches are pretty boring.)

Thus came ... the egg salad sandwich on a bagel. I cheated a little and walked over to Panera bread for the bagel.

I'm sure you all have already made some of this delicious egg salad after Easter, but just in case you haven't ventured out there yet ... here's the (sort of) recipe I used:

1 hard boiled egg (smashed up in a bowl)
1/4 cup miracle whip (that's probably more than most people would use for one egg, but I like mine pretty creamy)
3-4 squirts of mustard
pepper to taste

It tasted really good, I might just have it for lunch again tomorrow!