{recipe} Chicken Spaghetti

Test Recipes Week 9!

Back home in Minnesota, a meal like this would be called a HOTDISH, never a casserole.  Most hotdishes follow the same basic principle:

* meat (chicken or ground beef, or even turkey on occasion)
* creamy soup or tomato sauce base
* pasta or potatoes (my all-time favorite is still Tator Tot Hotdish!)
* may or may not include veggies
* bake 350* until yummy

Mix and match any combination of the above, and BOOM - hotdish!  Here's the latest HOTDISH I came across:

CHICKEN SPAGHETTI (Pioneer Woman)
**disclaimer** These are the proportions posted by PW.  I made HALF a recipe, and it still filled a normal-sized casserole dish.

2 c. cooked chicken
3 c. dry spaghetti, broken into 2" pieces
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 c. grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1/4 c. chopped green pepper
1/4 c. finely diced onion
4 oz. diced pimentos, drained
2 c. chicken broth
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1/8 to 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
salt and pepper, to taste
1 c. additional grated sharp Cheddar cheese

Cook spaghetti according to package directions (until al dente).  Do not overcook. When spaghetti is cooked, combine with remaining ingredients except additional 1 cup sharp cheddar.  Place mixture in casserole pan and top with remaining sharp cheddar. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes until bubbly. (If the cheese on top starts to get too cooked, cover with foil - mine got a little overcooked before I caught it).

YUM YUM YUM!  I did things a little differently than PW (natch...).  I used canned chicken instead of a chicken fryer.  I also added much more green pepper than called for (probably double).  Next time, I will use half the cheese.  As mentioned above, I made a half recipe (since I'm only cooking for myself) and it still filled a casserole dish.  Sadly, my refrigerator went out the day after I made this and all the leftovers of this HOTDISH were lost during the ordeal.  I will definitely be making again.  EXCELLENT!

{recipe} Rolo-riffics

Test Recipes Week 8!

I must confess...I've eaten these bars before.  But someone else made them, so technically this was a test recipe for me.  I got this recipe from my sister, who made them for Easter one year.  I'm not a huge chocolate fan, so I liked that these bars aren't all chocolate.  Plus, they have caramel so that makes them even better!  This recipe is rated EE - Easy and EXCELLENT!

ROLO-RIFFICS (Taste of Home, via Maribeth)

1 package (18-1/4 ounces) yellow cake mix

1 can (5 ounces) evaporated milk

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1/4 cup butter, melted

36 Rolo candies, halved

In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, milk, nuts, and butter. Spread half into a 13x9

baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 13-15 minutes or until set.

Place candies, cut side down, over crust; top with remaining cake mixture.

Bake 25-30 minutes longer or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

** above photo by: Taste of Home**

....

I am starting to think the name of this blog should be geared towards recipes instead of crafts....

{recipe} Creamy Shrimp Penne

Test Recipes Week 7!  (From this point on, I have remembered to take pictures of each test recipe.  Woot!)

Pasta.  Probably my all-time favorite food.  Shrimp.  One of my favorite forms of seafood.  This pasta has BOTH.  Plus a creamy tomato sauce.  YUM.  It's from Pioneer Woman.  I changed the name because Penne a la Betsy has no meaning to anyone other than PW.  I can do that.  It's my blog.

CREAMY SHRIMP PENNE (Pioneer Woman)

¾ pounds penne pasta
1 pound cooked, peeled, and deveined shrimp
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ c. white wine or chicken broth
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp. each fresh basil and parsley, chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook the pasta until al dente.  Pull tails off thawed shrimp, rinse, and cut into bite-sized pieces.  Set aside.  In a large skillet heat butter and olive oil. Add the garlic and onion and sauté, stirring occasionally. Once garlic and onions are tender, add white wine or broth. Let the wine evaporate for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add tomato sauce and stir until well combined. Add heavy cream and continue stirring. Turn heat down to low and let simmer.  Stir shrimp and pasta into tomato cream sauce.  Add parsley, basil, and salt and pepper to taste.

I thought this recipe was SUPER yummy!  I rated it EXCELLENT and will definitely be making it again.  It made a huge amount though, which was just too much for one person, and it didn't reheat very well (microwaved shrimp - meh).  So next time I'll probably just make a half recipe.  I'm not the biggest fan of Penne either, it's a lot of pasta.  I'd be tempted to substitute linguine or egg noodles next time.  And this would probably be just as good with chicken instead of shrimp.  Try it!

{recipe} Mexican Chicken

Test Recipes Week 6!  (I actually tested two recipes this week, but already posted about one of them.  Read about the Raspberry Crumb Bars HERE.)

My sisters and I have a blog together to keep in touch, as we're spread out all across the country.  We post lots of updates about our lives, but also include things like recipes we've tried out.  At the end of 2009, my oldest sister compiled most of the recipes into a booklet, along with lots of our old family favorites.  It's a really neat thing to have.  She even scanned in some recipes that were handwritten by our mother.  I'm excited to print it off and put it into a binder, where I can add my own favorite recipes over time.  This week's test recipe came from that book.  It's super easy and practically effortless to make.  Gotta love crockpot recipes!  I love coming home from work to an apartment full of the aromas of a ready-to-eat-supper.  Comfort food to the max.

MEXICAN CHICKEN (Pam Kautz)

frozen chicken breasts
salsa
sour cream
tortillas
additional toppings of your choice (i.e. lettuce, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped tomatoes)

Place frozen chicken breasts in crockpot, add salsa, and cook on low 5-6 hours or on high 3-4 hours.  Turn off heat and drain excess juice from crockpot.  (I didn't do this when I made them, and they were VERY drippy and messy to eat.)  Stir to shred chicken.  Add 1/2 c. sour cream and stir.  Serve in tortilla shells with favorite toppings.

I am fortunate enough to be able to go home for lunch, so I threw this all in the crockpot over lunch, and cooked on low while I went back to work.  I love having supper ready for me when I get home from a long day at work.  Super yum and super easy.  I rated this recipe GOOD due to the drippy-ness, but I think it could be moved to EXCELLENT if I tried it again.

{recipe} Pantry Pasta

Test Recipes Week 5! (I'm catching up here...hopefully in the next few days I'll be all caught up on posting my test recipes to date.)

I found this recipe on the Sing For Your Supper blog.  It's a great resource for recipes and blogging inspiration too!  Check it out if you've never been there.  This recipe challenged me because she didn't have a lot of measurements in her post, but it turned out pretty good!  I'll do my best to guestimate the ingredient portions that I used.  I rated this EXCELLENT and will be keeping it in the rotation.  Unfortunately, I didn't have any mushrooms on hand (I'm a huuuuge fan of mushrooms), so I'm excited to make this recipe again in the future, because it can only get better with mushrooms.

PANTRY PASTA (SingForYourSupper)

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. flour
1/2 c. frozen peas
1 small can of mushrooms
1 can chicken broth
1/2 c. heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
spaghetti noodles

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Meanwhile, heat olive oil in nonstick frying pan, and saute chicken breast until juices run clear.  I like to drain the oil and juices off right at the end and then cook the breast a little longer until they're slightly browned/crispy on the outside.  Just a side note.  In the same pan, melt butter, then whisk flour in slowly to make a roux.  Slowly whisk in chicken broth and cream.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add mushrooms and peas.  Toss sauce, chicken, and pasta together and enjoy!  It would also be nummy sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

{recipe} Caesar Pockets

Test Recipes Week 4 (continued)!

Caesar Pockets. Or in my case, Caesar Wraps.  I thought this recipe was soooo yummy! And very, very quick and easy to make! Perfect for a weeknight meal, or a quick lunch on the go. I made a couple changes to this recipe. First, I couldn't find roasted red pepper strips at the grocery store, so I substituted pimentos. It was still good. Second, Pita bread was hard to find too, so I substituted Roasted Tomato tortillas. (It was a weeknight and I didn't feel like driving across town to the bigger grocery store.) It was still YUM! I'm a huge fan of wraps, and the tanginess of this one was a nice change to regular turkey-lettuce-cheese wraps. I rated it EXCELLENT.

CAESAR POCKETS (Kraft Food and Family)

4 c. torn romaine lettuce
6 oz. shaved smoked turkey breast, cut into strips
¼ c. drained roasted red pepper strips
3 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
¼ c. Caesar dressing (can also use ranch)
4 pita breads, wamed, cut in half

Toss lettuce with turkey, peppers, cheese, and dressing. Spoon into pitas.
4 servings