cheesy chicken bake.

i found this recipe for cheesy chicken bake and made a few changes for our family.

yummy and fairly easy dinner.

ingredients:

6 tbsp. butter

salt and pepper

3/4 pound penne pasta (i used wheat)

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (next time i would just use leftover chicken and add more)

1/2 cup flour

5 garlic cloves, crushed

4 cups milk

1/2 cup broccoli heads

1 1/2 cup shredded italian cheese

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9x13 glass pan with cooking spray.

2. Cook pasta short of al dente.

3. Pan cook chicken with desired spices. Add broccoli a few minutes before the chicken is finished.

4. In large pot, melt butter over medium. Add flour and garlic; cook, whisking, 1 minute. While whisking continually, gradually add milk; bring to a summer. Keep whisking frequently as sauce thickens. Take the pan off the heat and gradually stir in italian and parmesan cheese.

5. Add chicken and broccoli to pot, season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour into baking dish.

6. Bake, uncovered, until top is golden and bubbly...about 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

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sour cream enchiladas

after seeing sour cream enchiladas on a couple blogs recently, i knew justin and i would love them.

i copied pioneer woman's technique of frying the tortilla, then dunking it in enchilada sauce. then put a spoonful of the sour cream mixture and rolled it up.

sour cream mixture:
16 oz. container sour cream
3 large chicken breasts [pan-cooked with onions and garlic]
1/4 green pepper
2 tbsp. chopped jalapenos
1 tsp. taco seasoning [or whatever spices you want]
3/4 cup of cheese [i used mexican shredded cheese]
i would have loved to put corn and black beans too...but we were out of both of them.

once rolled and placed in greased 8x8 dish, cover with extra enchilada sauce and additional cheese.

bake in 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. ours were very mild, but the good thing is that you can change it up to suit your taste and they are fantastic leftover also!

date night

we had a fantastic valentine's afternoon.
last night we made our favorite recipe to make together, calzones! my family found this recipe years and years ago and always enjoy making it together.

no need to make your own dough, just get some from the publix deli or your favorite pizzeria (unless you are really good at it, i haven't mastered that yet...)

first start with making the ricotta mixture.
small container of ricotta (currently blanking on the size)
10 oz. frozen spinach, drained (or you could always use fresh!)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
italian seasoning and oregano, however much you like
3 garlic cloves

preheat the oven to 425 before starting with the dough

each publix dough can make three good-sized calzones. since it was a holiday, we made two huge ones :)

then spoon about 1/4 cup of the ricotta mixture and lots of mozzarella cheese plus whatever toppings you want. i put green peppers and onions while justin is boring simple and wanted just pepperoni.

then fold over and pinch the seams so that it looks like this...

then bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. or until you can control yourself because it smells so amazing. the toughest part is judging who's looks best...

justin's?

or mine?

thought you would agree...mine was precious and delish.

oh and justin wanted me to take an artistic picture of his calzone over the roses...why not share it?!?

chicken philly.

Didn't get a chance to post this earlier...but here is what we ate with the fries.

I saw a recipe for Cheesesteak Kebabs in Rachael Ray mag and a recipe for a cheese dipping sauce. I knew it was going to be good and Justin was going to love it. That's really all I look for in a recipe :)

Anyway, I cooked the chicken and green peppers in the skillet. Then started the cheese sauce.

I accidentally had 4 tbsp of butter in the picture, but only used 2 tbsp. Healthy.

Melted the butter, whisked in the flour, stirred in the milk and it looked like this.

Once it came to a boil, I stirred in the cheddar cheese.

After the cheese melted, I seasoned with salt and pepper.

I toasted bread and spooned the cheese over the chicken and peppers. Served with the double baked fries.

Seriously yummy.

For dessert, Halloween brownies!

EDIT: Forgot to post the recipe the first time :)

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. flour

1 cup milk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

salt and pepper

In a medium saucepan, heat butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Lower the heat and slowly whisk in the milk until the mixture thickens and starts to boil. Stir in the cheese until smooth, season with salt and pepper. Cover to keep warm!

double baked fries.

Usually we do date night on Friday nights, but last week we ate out so much that I was craving to cook something at home.

I saw these fries on the Rachael Ray show and I knew Justin and I would love them. So we based our menu off them :)

I peeled 4-5 potatoes and cut them in strips.

Then put them in bowl and tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Then put them in the oven at 400 for 30 minutes. 

I baked them on a cookie sheet, covered in foil, with the fries on top of a cooling rack. Rachael said they get nice and brown this way!

(Almost forgot to get a pic of this step...almost)

When they were cooking, I chopped up herbs and garlic. Completely unsure how much I ended up using.

This is what they looked like after 30 mins in the oven.

Then I tossed them with the herbs, garlic, salt and pepper.

And put them back in the oven at 425 for 15 minutes. Until they looked like this amazing-ness.

The official recipe is...Double Baked Crazy-Crisp Oven Fries.

• 6 starchy medium Idaho potatoes
• EVOO, for drizzling
• Salt and pepper
• Optional flavorings (my fave is garlic and rosemary):
• Minced garlic and lots of minced fresh rosemary
• Old Bay or Cajun Seasoning
• Chipotle chili powder
• Minced garlic, Parm cheese and oregano

Preheat oven to 400.

Arrange cooling or wire racks over baking sheets.

Peel potatoes lengthwise, living a patch of the skin on each end of the potatoes. Cut each potato into very thin fries lengthwise no more than 1/4-inch thick -- the thinner they are the crispier the end product will be.

In a large bowl, dress the fries very lightly with EVOO – a couple of turns of the bowl ought to do the trick. Season with salt and pepper, and arrange fries in single layer without crowding either baking sheet.

Place fries in oven and roast 30 minutes. Remove fries and increase heat to 425°F. Toss fries in large bowl again with seasonings, garlic and herbs of choice. Return fries to oven and bake another 15-20 minutes until very crisp and brown.

potato soup

i am really trying to be intentional about planning out our menu for the week on sundays. and i was anticipating it to get a little bit cooler outside (i was sorely mistaken) when i planned tonight's dinner.

but it was delicious, even if it is still 80 degrees outside....well, i just checked the weather it's currently 61 degrees. so ignore most everything i just said...

where was i? oh yeah, tonight's dinner!

I found this recipe online, with a name like The Best Potato Soup You Will Ever Eat--how could I resist giving it a shot? (You can go directly to her blog post here)

And I have to say, it was pretty darn fantastic.

I changed up the original recipe a little bit...

5-6 whole potatoes.
3 cans cream of potato soup.
3 can milk (use soup can to measure).
1 cup mozzarella cheese.
1/2 cup cheddar cheese.
3 cloves garlic (minced or grated).
salt and pepper to taste.

-Boil the potatoes until fork tender. Drain and mash, leaving some chunks.
-Add soup and milk. Mix in cheese (save some for topping) and garlic.
-Stir over medium heat until soup comes to a low boil, then move to low heat. Salt and pepper to taste.
-Serve in individual bowls and top with additional cheese and bacon pieces (plus whatever you choose).

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garlic knots.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE any version of garlic bread. My parents always make knots from Publix dough (so good, try it!) But I dumbly forgot to buy their dough the other night, so the search was on for a great recipe. And I found one...where else than Tasty Kitchen?

The Garlic Knots recipe is so so simple and the knots turned out so so yummy (and precious).

I followed the recipe to a tee to make the dough, times for rising, and baking.

But for topping, I used melted butter, garlic and fresh basil.

Also, after baking I sprinkled kosher salt on top...I might have gone a little bit overboard, since you can see it in the pic. Forgive me?

We enjoyed them with chicken parm. 

last night's dinner

last night, we were craving burgers.

Of course, I didn't remember to take ANY pictures, except for the final project. So feel free to drool over our dinner. 

As some of ya'll know, I don't eat red meat...so this is a turkey burger. Plus, we MUST have our burgers on Publix rolls, there are no substitutes!

It seems like great minds think alike, because Rachel posted about her turkey burger experience last night too!