One Pan Chicken Alfredo

As soon as I saw that this dish only required one pan, I was sold! While I enjoy cooking, I hate dishes. The end. :) Before starting, make sure your one pan is plenty big for all of the deliciousness and that you have a lid to fit it. This is the blog I found this recipe on - No. 2 Pencil.

Ingredients:
*3 tblsp of olive oil
*2-3 chicken breasts (1 1/4 lb)
*2 cloves of garlic, minced
*2 cups chicken broth (I used low sodium)
*1 cup heavy cream (I used half and half)
*1/2 lb penne pasta (you can use any small bite sized pasta)
*2 cups fresh parmesan cheese
*Salt and pepper to taste
*Parsley, for garnish, if desired

Cut chicken breasts into small, bite size pieces, and lightly season with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in the pan over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook until it's mostly cooked. It will continue to cook, as the rest of the meal is made, so it does not have to be completely cooked at this point. Add garlic and sauté for one minute. Add chicken broth, cream and uncooked pasta to the pan - stir well. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the pasta is tender. Once the pasta is tender, remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the parmesan cheese, and season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.

The pasta goes well with wine and garlic bread. ;) TTFN!!

Recipe #32: Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

The other day I was really craving something buffalo-y. I also wanted something that was relatively easy to make. Enter this recipe. Sorry, I don't have a picture. :(

Ingredients:
*1/4 cup cooked shredded chicken, warm
*1 tblsp hot sauce (like Frank's)
*1/2 tblsp ranch dressing (more or less, to taste)
*1 tblsp grated carrot (optional)
*1 tblsp sliced celery (optional)
*1 tblsp green or red onion, sliced (optional)
*1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
*sliced bread
*butter

Butter one side of each bread slice. Place buttered side down in pan, over medium-high heat. Spoon chicken mixture onto bread. Top with another slice of bread, butter side up. Carefully flip sandwich, when bottom slice of bread is cooked. Once both sides are golden brown, the sandwich is done!

Since I wanted easy, I did not use/shred a freshly cooked chicken breast. I used a 10 oz can of chicken, so the work was already done for me. That 10 oz can was about 1 cup of chicken, so I adapted the recipe accordingly. This ultimately made about 4 pretty full sandwiches. I thought it was the perfect amount to serve both dinner, and then have just a little bit left over. For the record, the chicken mixture also tasted great as a dip for pretzels. :)

Enjoy - TTFN!

Recipe #31: Bubble Up Pizza

This recipe was soooo easy! I wasn't sure what to expect, because of the biscuits. But, I thought it was great! I'm actually making it again tomorrow night for our pizza and movie Friday night family date. Here is where I found the recipe originally.

Ingredients:
*2 cans (12 oz each) biscuits
*1 jar (15 oz) pizza sauce
*2 cups mozzarella cheese
*favorite pizza toppings

Preheat the oven to 375*. Cut biscuits into quarters and put them in a large mixing bowl. Toss biscuit pieces with pizza sauce. Once coated, add pizza toppings and half of the cheese. Mix well. Grease a 9x13 pan, and pour biscuit mixture into the pan. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes, or until biscuits are done.

My notes - 1) The original recipe calls for it to bake for 25-30 minutes. I found it cooked a little faster than I expected, but that could just be my oven. 2) Rusty and I do not like a lot of sauce on our pizza, and I was nervous about this dish being too saucy for our preferences. I used a little less than half of the jar of pizza sauce. The end result was a little dry. Next time, I'll use more. I do think, though, that the entire jar would've been too much. 3) I didn't exactly follow the measurements on the cheese and toppings. I mixed in until I was satisfied with the amount of toppings there seemed to be. The cheese probably worked out to be somewhere around the 2 cups that are called for.

Another note - I really want to try making this in cupcake/muffin liners for a party or something. I think that it would be a great little snack, and that a small cupcake/muffin sized portion would be just perfect. If/when I get a chance to test that out, I'll follow up on this post. Until then, enjoy!!

TTFN!