Creamy Bow-Tie Chicken Alfredo Pasta

This I cannot take credit for. My dear friend and co-worker Dale came up with this one. She may even be reading this (Hi Dale!). It has quickly become one of our favorite recipes, so thanks Dale!

Here is what you'll need:

• 1 box of bow-tie pasta (I only had a bag so I used about 3/4ths of it)
• 1 small onion diced
• 1 tbsp of minced garlic (see my previous post a few down about the type to buy at the store)
• 1 pkg of fajita chicken (I get ours at HEB, you can find it anywhere in the freezer section of your grocery store) or you can grill 2-3 chicken breasts.
• 1 jar of Bertolli Alfredo sauce
• sprinkle of crushed Red Pepper flakes (this will add heat, so if you like heat, add a generous sprinkle, if not, just a bit)
• a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese
• olive oil for sauteing

Directions:

In a large pot, bring water to boil and cook pasta according to directions. Also, in a large saucepan bring olive oil to medium heat and add in onion and garlic to saute for a few minutes until onion is tender. While this is happening, chop up chicken into smaller pieces. Toss in chicken to garlic and onion mix and let warm up. Mine was only partially defrosted so I gave the chicken a few extra minutes to defrost and warm up.

When pasta is finished cooking, drain and transfer into chicken mixture. Add in one jar of Bertolli Alfredo sauce and a little Italian crushed red pepper. Toss in a generous handful of shredded Parmesan cheese. Mix together and let heat through. Serve with your favorite sides.

It makes a lasagna tray full-so it's great for company or leftovers! :)

If you make it, let me know how you liked it!

In 6 months I've learned...

That you need to pad the car seat or stroller with a towel when transporting a baby in a swim diaper.

That bubbles are cheap entertainment and half of the program people pay too much for at Gymboree.

That if you feed a baby pureed peas you will still find a pea shell in the oddest places…similar to corn.

That frustration is evident even in infants as they attempt to do new things.

That babies need a change of scenery during the day, just like their parents.

That in an effort to be everything, something will always suffer-I’m learning to let it be my clean house rather than family time.

That teething is still no fun.

Making baby food is so easy and cheap!

That babies cry in their sleep and it’s heartbreaking.

At the gym 20 pounds doesn’t seem like much, but holding a baby all day will lead to sore arms (Tony added that one).

Good morning smiles make you forget about all the sleep you lost that night.

More about reflux than I ever wanted to know. I can tell you which medicines interact with which and how far to space them apart. Carafate? Zantac? Nexium? Maalox? If any of those sound foreign to you and you have a child, consider yourself lucky.

That Einstein is much funnier than either of us to her.

That I relate so much to this post.

That love is all-encompassing.

Prunella De Vil

My baby girl sat in her big girl high chair today for the first time today. She was sans clothes or her bib at her afternoon feeding. Daddy was responsible for that. She had some prunes to follow up her introduction to bananas (which tend to make babies constipated, eek!) this morning and outdid herself! It must have been the freedom of being naked!

My favorite thing to do on the internet....

Nope not Facebook. Not looking for hot men in Speedos. But Tony and I kid and call it food porn. It's called Food Gawker and it ROCKS! Here's where I get all my inspiration for new stuff we try. It's a compilation of every food blogger out there in the WORLD that tries new things and wants to share them. It's updated as often as people update their blogs and contribute their recipes to the site. So the homepage will always look different. Here's a screenshot of it.

If you scroll to the bottom it's divided up into categories. Those will always change too as new recipes are added. It's addicting if you love to cook. Enjoy!

Delicious Chicken Pot Pie

I came up with this recipe after trying a few and picking and choosing what I liked best from each. The biscuits are so good, that we don't miss the traditional crust. Here's what you'll need:

Ingredients:

1/2 stick of butter

1 cup heavy cream

2 cups chicken broth

2 bags cheesy garlic biscuits

2-3 cooked chicken breasts or large can of pre-cooked chicken

1 bag frozen veggies

1 onion

1/4 cup of flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 415 degrees
2. Melt butter in a skillet or dutch oven.
3. Add onion and frozen veggies and cook until translucent for a couple of minutes.
4. Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir. Cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.
5. Pour in chicken broth stirring constantly and then pour in heavy cream.
6. Bring to a slow boil and allow mixture to cook and thicken for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and fresh or dried thyme to taste (optional-sometimes I add celery salt)
7. Pour mixture into a casserole dish
8. Mix both bags of biscuits in separate bowl according to directions.
9. Cover mixture with biscuit mix and bake for 30 minutes or until very golden and bubbly. Allow to cool for a little bit before serving.

Enjoy!

This is why...

date nights only happen after she's asleep

date days usually only take place if she's napping

I struggle to leave her for anything other than work

I know I picked the right man to be with for the rest of my life

I'd rather be with family than anywhere else

Meal Planning for 2 Weeks

Let me preface this by saying if two weeks is too much for you, start with a week. We give ourselves Friday and Saturday night off to eat out. That's our treat. Do what works for you.

Before I go to the store I talk with T and ask him if he has any preferences for the upcoming weeks. I nix or agree to his preferences (hey it's what you get to do if you do the shopping). I then check out foodgawker for new recipes and the pioneer woman because she's legit. Seriously, she has my dream life. The woman cooks, lives on a GORGEOUS ranch with two homes sitting on it, has a cookbook, successful website, beautiful children....I could go on, but I won't.

Anyway after this I write out my list. I go through our pantry/fridge to see what I already have and this trip's list looks something like this:

spaghetti:

meat, onion, bread, lettuce (I already had sauce, and pasta)

hamburgers:

meat, cheese, onion, buns, season all (I was out of this seasoning and already had Worcestershire sauce which we also use to mix them up)

tacos:

meat, seasoning, tomatoes, lettuce, shells, and rotel (for mexican rice that we eat as a side with this meal.)

fish night:

at our HEB in the seafood section they sell pre sliced portions of various fish flavored with yummy crusts. These are delicious, easy, and healthy so we do this at least one a two week period, sometimes more. So here I got honey-chipotle glazed salmon, corn, and zatarain's wild rice

chalupas:

corn tortillas, tomatoes, cheese (I already had a can of beans in the pantry)

stir fry:

ground beef, broccoli (already had white rice and soy sauce)

stuffed red bell peppers: This was a new recipe for us so I didn't have a lot of things for it

onion, 1 16 oz jar of salsa, 3 bell peppers, sour cream

skillet tortilla dish: (again, new one for us)

onion, 1 can minced chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, chicken broth, 2 chicken breasts, 1 can of pinto beans, 2 limes, tortillas

honey sriracha beef skewers: (new again)

1 pd top sirloin beef, honey, sriracha sauce (in Asian section), lime

spinach artichoke pasta (new again)

1 box of shell pasta, 1 box of reduced fat cream cheese, sour cream, lemon, 1 14 oz can of artichoke hearts, 10oz frozen spinach, 1 chicken breast

*My list also includes the regulars. This time it was milk, oj, cinnamon rolls, face wash, paper towels, etc.*

Let me say that I always sandwich in the new recipes between two tried and true recipes. That way if it sucks (for lack of a better word, because sometimes it does) we have a night before it that was good and one to follow. In the beginning it was night after night of new ones and that wasn't so fun to sit through. I learned my lesson and now T and I are both usually happy (I say this while he's in the kitchen making homemade chocolate chip cookies-I love that guy!)

Anyway after I come home from the store I unpack all my groceries. I buy my hamburger meat in bulk in the big 2 pound containers because that's way cheaper. It also means I have to section out the meat into freezer bags for each meal. If any of the meats need to be marinated I will do that and throw it in the bag with them then. I label them with a sharpie and then decide what meals I want to have first-those meats go in the fridge and next week's meals go in the freezer. Yes you can freeze meat with marinade in it. It does thaw just fine.

Also, if a recipe ever calls for "minced garlic" use this:

Some foodies say that's not authentic, but I say that's life.

I also pre-dice all of my onions into a Pyrex container so it's an easy go to as I'm cooking. I'll do the same for any strawberries, pineapple, broccoli, etc. I don't like to wash, cut, and clean as I go...that's WAY too much work throughout the week. Also, it makes it more likely that you'll reach for a healthy snack as opposed to chips or cookies. I read about this here back in the day.

I usually go to the store on a Friday or Saturday so I get all the planning/prepping/putting away done then. Then on Sunday T grills any meat that needs to be made and I make all the meals during Emmy's nap time or when T's watching her. I'll post on that later.

I hope this helps give you an idea of how to do it. I've found that shopping for 2 weeks at a time saves a ton of money. I used to spend $70-80 a week when I did it weekly and now I bring it down to $50-60/week. That's pretty significant to me.