Garlic Chicken Pasta with Spinach

Garlic Chicken Pasta with Spinach

 (from the Recipe Shoebox)

6 Tbs. olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 box (1-lb) penne pasta
5-oz. fresh spinach, chopped
1 Tbs. dried basil (or 1/2 cup fresh)
6 Tbs. lemon juice
1 cup Parmesan cheese

• Heat olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a small glass bowl in the microwave for about 1 minute to blend flavors.
• Pour about 1 tablespoon of the flavored oil in a skillet.
• Salt and pepper chicken and cook in the oil over medium high heat until chicken is browned and juices run clear.
• Add the chopped spinach and saute with the cooked chicken for 1 minute (or until just barely wilted) and remove from heat. Meanwhile, cook pasta as directed on package; drain well.
• Add cooked chicken/spinach to pasta, along with basil, lemon juice, and Parmesan cheese.
• Stir in the remainder of the flavored olive oil. Toss lightly until all ingredients are well combined. Serve immediately. Makes about 6 servings.

SURVEY SAYS:  This recipe was pretty good, but I don't think I will make it again...

Cranberry Chicken Crockpot AKA Casey's Mom's Chicken Recipe

Cranberry Chicken Crockpot AKA Casey's Mom's Chicken Recipe

5 or 6 frozen chicken breasts - throw in crock-pot
1 can of whole cranberry sauce - open and throw in crock-pot
3/4 of a regular salad dressing bottle of French or Catalina - dump in crock pot

Cook until it's cooked (about 4 hours depending on your crock pot) and cut or shred it with fork while it's in the crock-pot and serve over rice.

SURVEY SAYS:  So good!  We all really enjoyed this - it is different than most of the crockpot recipes I have tried (that all use condensed soup of some kind) - this one has a yummy flavor and is definitely going to be made more often in our home!  We served it over white rice.  I received this recipe from a church recipe exchange.

"Family Favorite Meatloaf" aka Hamburger Pie

"Family Favorite Meatloaf" aka Hamburger Pie

1.5 pounds ground beef
1 cup dry bread crumbs (I used the Seasoned kind)
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 eggs
1 tsp. minced onion
1/2 can 15 oz. tomato sauce

Mix and form into a loaf and put in a 9 x 13 inch pan.  Bake at 350º for 50 minutes.

Sauce:
Remaining 1/2 can tomato sauce
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons vinegar (I didn't use)
2 tsp. mustard

Pour the suace over the meatloaf during the last 10 minutes of baking.  Can serve with white rice.

SURVEY SAYS:  Keeper.  Ethan didn't like it, but he said he didn't like it before I even started making it (he ended up eating most of it, though).  I think it may just be the name "Meatloaf" that automatically turns kids off of it, so we changed the name to Hamburger Pie.  Sean really liked this recipe!  I got it from a recipe exchange at church.

No Bake Cheesecake

No Bake Cheesecake
(From Allrecipes.com)

2 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, softened
2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (21 oz) can apple pie filling (optional)
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust

• Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth.  Fold in Cool Whip.
• Fill pie crust and top with pie filling.  Chill 1-2 hours before serving.

SURVEY SAYS:  My mom has made this recipe for years and I finally asked her for it and made it for Sean's birthday.  Yumm... SOO good! We put freshly cut strawberries on top instead of the applie pie filling.

Campbell's Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole

Campbell's Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole

1 can Campbells Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
1 1/3 cups of water
3/4 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice
1/2 tsp. onion powder (I used minced onion because I don't have onion powder)
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
2 cups frozen veggies
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

1.  Stir soup, water, rice, onion powder, black pepper and veggies in 11 x 8 baking dish.

2.  Top with chicken.  Season the chicken as desired.  Cover.

3.  Bake at 375º for 45-50 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is tender.  Top with cheese.  Let the casserole stand for 10 minutes.  Stir rice before serving.


Alternatives...
Try It Alfredo:  use 1/4 cup grated Parmesan for Cheddar cheese.  Add 2 tablesoons Parmesan cheese with soup.  Use broccoli flowerets for veggies.  Top chicken with remaining Parmesan Cheese.

Mexican:  In place of onion powder and pepper use 1 teaspoon chili powder.  Substitute Mexican cheese blend for Cheddar.

Italian:  In place of onion powder and pepper, use 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, crushed.  Substitute 1/3 cup shredded Parmesan for Cheddar.

SURVEY SAYS:  It's a keeper!  I made the original recipe and it was super easy to make.  Ethan liked it, except that the veggies I bought had peas in it and he doesn't like peas. 

"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting

"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
2/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Melt butter. Sitr in cocoa.
• Alternately, add powdered sugar and milk, beating on medium speed to spreading consistency.
• Add more milk if needed.
• Stir in vanilla.

makes about 2 cups.

SURVEY SAYS:  keeper!!!

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

• heat oven to 350º.  Grease and flour 9 inch round baking pans.
• Combine dry ingredients in large bowl.
• Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla to dry ingredients; beat on medium speed for two minutes.
• Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).
• Pour into pans.
• Bake 30-35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. 
• Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks.  Cool completely.
• Frost (best with "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting).

SURVEY SAYS:   Keeper!  Note to self - grease and flour pans VERY well next time!

Sesame Chicken with Honey Sauce

Sesame Chicken with Honey Sauce

1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs (plain)
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cooked and cubed

SAUCE:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup honey

In a small bowl, mix bread crumbs and sesame seeds; set aside.  In another small bowl, combine mayonnaise, mustard and onion.  Coat chicken pieces with mayonnaise mixture, then toss in crumb mixture.  Place on a greased baking sheet (or one that has aluminum foil on it).  Bake at 425º for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.   Combine sauce ingredients; serve with the hot chicken.

SURVEY SAYS:  Keeper!  Sean was out of town last night when I made this, but Ethan and I really enjoyed it.  Ethan didn't end up dipping the chicken in the sauce, but I really liked the sauce with the chicken.  The recipe says that this is enough for 6 servings, but I think it would really only be enough for 4.

Chinese Noodle Casserole

Chinese Noodle Casserole
1 lb hamburger
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1.5 cans of water
1/2 cup rice
1 small can chow mein noodles
soy sauce

Brown meat with onion.  Add soup, water, and rice.  Stir to mix.  Cook covered for 25 minutes.  Stir and cook 25 more minutes uncovered.  Stir and put chow mein noodles on top and cook for 15 more minutes uncovered.  Serve with soy sauce.

SURVEY SAYS:  It was OK, but I'm not going to put this in our "keeper file."  It took a really long time to make (even though it was easy) and it just didn't taste good enough to keep.  Ethan liked it except for the chow mein noodles.  Sean is out of town so I can't get his take on it until he comes home and has some of it because we have a ton of left overs.

Taco Chicken

Taco Chicken (Crockpot)

2 can cream of chicken (or you could use 1 cream of chicken, and 1 cream of mushroom)
1/2 cup salsa
1 packet taco seasoning
1 cup sour cream
3-4 chicken breasts (depending on size)

Place soup, salsa and taco seasoning in crock pot. Stir well. Add chicken. Bake on low for 6-8 hours. Remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to sauce. Add 1 cup of sour cream, stir all together and serve over rice.

SURVEY SAYS: It's a keeper!  We doubled the recipe because we had Sean's sister and her family over for dinner (we doubled everything except the sour cream - we just used an 8 oz. container).  It was really good and very different from the other crock pot recipes we have tried.  It was a tiny bit spicy (probably because we didn't put in double the amount of sour cream) but we liked it that way.  We served it over rice, but it would probably be really good over tortilla chips or even in tortillas - we will definitely be having this again:)

Baked Spaghetti

Baked Spaghetti
1/2 package of spaghetti
1 pound ground beef
1/2 medium onion, chopped (I didn't use)
1 jar meatless spaghetti sauce (I used Barilla brand)
1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt  (I just used regular salt)
1 egg
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 small container of small curd cottage cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

• Cook spaghetti according to package directions.
• In large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.  Stir in the spaghetti sauce and seasoned salt; set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk eggs, Parmesan cheese, and butter.  Drain spaghetti, add to egg mixture and toss to coat.
• Place half of the spaghetti mixture in a greased 13x9 inch pan.  Top with half of the cottage cheese, meat sauce and mozzarella cheese.  Repeat layers.  Cover and bake at 375º for 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake 10 minutes longer at 350º (or until cheese is melted).

SURVEY SAYS:  It's a keeper!  I modified the ingredients from the orginal recipe quite a bit and changed the cooking time and temperature (modifications are above) and my family LOVED it! 

Easy Cheesy Chicken

Easy Cheesy Chicken
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 (10.75 oz) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 (10.75 oz) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (11 oz) can of condensed cream of cheddar cheese soup
1 (8 oz) container sour cream

Rinse Chicken, and pat dry.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

In a medium bowl mix together cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, and cream of Cheddar cheese soup.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Stir in sour cream right before serving.

SURVEY SAYS: Keeper!  **this is another one I made a long time ago that I put a star next to, but it just somehow never made it to the blog.

UPDATE:  I made this on Sunday and only used 2.5 chicken breasts, garlic powder, salt/pepper, cream of chicken soup and cream of cheese soup, and sour cream and it was still yummy!  Etahn even asked for seconds:)

Chocolate Chess Pie

Chocolate Chess Pie
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
3 tablesppons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie

Blend together butter, eggs, cocoa, sugar, milk, and vanilla with a hand mixer until smooth.  Pour filling into unbaked pie shell.

Bake at 375º for 45 minutes, or until set.  Let cool before slicing.

SURVEY SAYS:  Keeper!  It is really good with vanilla ice cream, too.  **I made this months ago but somehow never made it to the blog...

Italian Chicken with Vegetables

Italian Chicken with Vegetables
4-6 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
8 oz. Fat Free Italian Dressing
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp. Italian Seasoning  (I used the whole packet)
4-5 Potatoes (cubed and pealed)

Pour some of the Italian dressing in the bottom of the crock-pot. Place the chicken in the crock-pot. Sprinkle with half of the parmesan cheese and half of the Italian seasoning. Pour potatoes on top of chicken. Add remaining dressing, parmesan cheese, and Italian seasoning. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Add baby carrots if you'd like more vegetables.

SURVEY SAYS:  Not very good - it was very plain, even though I used the entire seasoning packet and more than 8 oz. of the Italian Dressing.  Oh, well  - you win some, you lose some :)

Celeste Ficklin's Nacho Cheese Bake

Celeste Ficklin's Nacho Cheese Bake
2 cups egg noodles
1 lb. ground beef
mild taco seasoning
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 can mild Rotel diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups crushed tortilla chips

Cook pasta according to directions.  Brown hamburger meat in large frying pan.  Sprinkle with some taco seasoning.  Add undiluted soup and tomatoes.  Bring to boil; simmer.  Melt cheese into this mixture then add noodles and some of the crushed chips.  Transfer to a 9 x 13 pan.  Top with a little more cheese and remaining chips.  Bake at 350º for about 25 minutes.

SURVEY SAYS:  Good!  It is really easy to make and everyone ate it all:)

Comfort Chicken Casserole

Comfort Chicken Casserole
3 large boneless chicken breasts (sliced into thirds)
6 slices swiss cheese (I only had a block of Swiss cheese, so I used my grater and used shredded cheese)
1/2 cup water
2 cans cream of chicken soup
3 T melted butter
1/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

Spray 9 x 13 pan with Pam, arrange chicken (thawed) in the pan and place cheese on top of the chicken.  Mix the soup and water in a bowl and pour over chicken.  Pour melted butter on top and sprinkle bread crumbs over all.  Bake at 350º for 50-55 minutes.  Serve over rice.

SURVEY SAYS:  It's a keeper!!!  We were all members of the clean plate club and Ethan kept saying how much he liked it and it was SUPER easy to make.  We had this with corn and salad.

Lasagna

Lasagna
8 lasagna noodles
1 lb hamburger
1 har Barella tomato herb spaghetti sauce
1/4 cup water
2 eggs
1 small carton low-fat cottage cheese
1 T parsley
4 cups mozzerella cheese (1 full bag)

Cook and drain lasagna noodles.  To make the sauce, brown hamburger, add the bottled sauce and about 1/4 cup water and heat through.  In separate bowl blend eggs, cottage cheese and parsley together.  In a 9 x 13 pan layer 4 lasagna noodles, spread on half the hamburger mixture, then spread half the cottage cheese mixture and sprinkle with 2 cups of cheese.  Then layer the noodles, hamburger mixture, cottage cheese mixture and the remaining 2 cups of cheese.  Bake at 350º for 25 minutes.  Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

SURVEY SAYS:  Good!  It was a little watery, so I don't think I will add the 1/4 cup of water next time.  Also, I baked it for 25 minutes with tin foil, then 10 more minutes without tin foil.  Sean loved this recipe and it was a lot easier than I thought homemade lasagna would be!

Snap Peas 'n' Ham Alfredo

Snap Peas 'n' Ham Alfredo
1 package frozen pasta, broccoli, and Alfredo sauce
2 cups fresh sugar snap peas
1/4 cup water
2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Prepare pasta and sauce according to package directions.  Meanwhile, place peas and ater in microwavbe safe dish and cook in microwave for about a minute.  Drain. 

Stir the peas, ham, oregano, and pepper into pasta mixture; cook and stir for 3/4 minutes or until heaed through.

**Note:  I did not use frozen pasta, broccoli and Alfredo sauce.  I made pasta (using Rigatoni noodles), cooked fresh broccoli, and made the Alfredo sauce - then just mixed it all together when it was cooked.

SURVEY SAYS:  Keeper.  Not a favorite of mine, but Ethan loved it - aske for seconds and ate it all!  To me it was kind of plain.  Sean isn't home so I don't know what he will think about it, but hopefully he will like it because we have lots of leftovers!

Chicken Shepherd's Pie

Chicken Shepherd's Pie
2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (6 oz. each), cubed
4 tablespoons butter, divided
1 puch (3.6 oz) roasted garlic mashed potatoes
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2-1/4 cups milk
1 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese, divided
1 cup fresh sugar snap peas, trimmed and chopped
1/2 cup frozen corn

In a small skillet, cook chicken in 1 tablespoon butter until no longer pink; set aside and keep warm.  Prepare mashed potatoes according to package directions.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt remaining butter over medium heat.  Whisk in flour until smooth.  Gradually add milk; stir in seasonings.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened.  Remove from heat.  Stir in 3/4 cup Swiss cheese until melted.  Add peas, corn, and chicken.  Transfer to a greased 2 qt. baking dish.  Top with mashed potatoes; sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake, uncovered, at 350º for 25-30 minutes or until heated through.  Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

SURVEY SAYS:  It's a keeper:)  Sean and Ethan didn't really like it; however, Sean got seconds (and ate it all) and Ethan also ate all of his plate.  I liked it, so since everyone ate everything on their plates, I'm adding this to our "keep" folder:)

Cream Cheese Chicken

Cream Cheese Chicken
4 - 4oz chicken breasts
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 packet Good Seasonings Italian Dressing Mix (You buy it on the salad dressing aisle where the ranch packets are sold also.
1 8oz cream cheese
Put chicken breast in crock pot. In seperate bowl mix the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT the cream cheese together. Pour over chicken. Cook over low for about 4 hours. When chicken is done, shred the chicken into smaller pieces. Cut up the bar of cream cheese, and add to mix. Stir well until cheese is all melted. You could also add a little bit of water or chicken broth if you don't like the mixture so thick.

**If you don't want to do the crock pot, I have heard of mixing all ingredients including the cream cheese and pouring over the chicken in 9x13. Then bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until chicken is tender**

Serve over rice or noodles.

SURVEY SAYS.... YUM!  The boys both got seconds and we were all members of the Clean Plate Club:)  And it is incredibly easy to make - another bonus!