Crock-Pot Creamy italian chicken

  I made this dish a couple weeks ago and our whole family LOVED it. It's a little like a stroganoff, but with chicken instead of steak or ground beef. plus, it's a good way to use up the extra egg noodles I have laying around!

Throw into a crockpot:

2 chicken breasts (they can be frozen)
8 oz. cream cheese
1 3/4 C milk
1/2 C cream
1 dry packet italian dressing
1 Tbsp chicken bullion
1 tbsp corn starch

cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4, then shred the chicken. If you just take a fork and stir it around the crockpot, it falls apart really easy! Cook a 12 oz. bag of egg noodles and dump in a huge bowl. Dump the chicken mixture on top of the noodles and stir it all around. YUM. YUM. YUM.

I really couldn't believe how yummy this was. Serve with some rolls and a salad and you're golden!

Chicken and Ham Tetrazzini

In my hunt for all things creamy, starchy, and have no tomato sauce in sight - I stumbled across this beauty. It's from my Complete Cooking Light cookbook from forever ago (one of my FAV's). You can buy one HERE for $10?! That's a deal!! Everything I've tried in this cookbook is a keeper!

Anyway, there are quite a few ingredients but don't let that scare you away!! This is SO yummy.

cook 7 oz. spaghetti in boiling water until done. drain and set aside.

melt 2 tbsp. margerine in a large skillet and add:
1 C sliced mushrooms (I took this out because I hate them)
1 C chopped onion
1 chopped bell pepper
2 garlic cloves.

saute until soft. Then add:

1/4 C flour
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp pepper

stir for 30 seconds. Add:

1 1/4 C low fat milk.

Stir until thick, about 2-3 minutes.

stir in 1/4 C shredded cheddar cheese,
1/4 C chicken stock,
1 can cream of mushroom soup and
1/3 C parmesan cheese. remove from heat.

Add 1 1/2 C chopped pre-cooked chicken,
3/4 C diced ham, and
1 4 oz. jar pimentos.

combine cooked spaghetti and ham/chicken mixture, and then pour into 9x13 sprayed with cooking spray. Top with 1/3 C parmesan cheese, 1/2 C cheddar, and a sprinkle of paprika.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 20 minutes. I served this with wheat rolls and corn. (any veggie side would work)

This is supposed to serve 6, but after my 3 kids ate kid-like servings and Dave and I ate full adult size servings, we still have more than half the pan left. This is SO creamy, I loved it. (keep in mind, this could be pregnancy talking)

Shrimp Lemon Linguini

If I swore, then I would have started swearing when I tasted this pure lemony, garlicky goodness wrapped up in pasta.

Who knew that so few ingredients could be so KABLAM in your mouth??

My new favorite.

If you don't dig on shrimp, top with grilled chicken.

Adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

8 oz. linguini (I used fresh pasta)
1 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp butter
1 pound shrimp (I used precooked, frozen)
1 tsp. dried basil
1 1/2 C. chicken stock
2 lemons, zested and juiced (don't use that bottled stuff)
6 cloves garlic, diced.
1/2 heaping tsp. pepper
3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1/4 C. grated parmesan.

boil water and salt heavily. Add pasta and cook until done. (since mine was fresh, it took about 2 minutes)
In a large, high sided skillet like this one:

heat olive oil and saute garlic for about 1 minute. Add stock, zest, lemon juice, basil and pepper. simmer until reduced by 1/2. swirl in butter until melted. add cooked noodles and thawed shrimp, stir to combine and warm shrimp. top with parsley and parmesan. Try to hoard it from your kids by giving them mac and cheese. I served it with rolls and steamed asparagus.

Homemade 3 Cheese Ravioli

I wish I had taken a picture of this one, but it's gone already.

Pasta Dough
recipe adapted from The French Laundry Cookbook
1 1/4 C. all purpose flour (maybe a little more if sticky)
6 large egg yolks
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp. olive oil
1 TBSP milk.

make a well with the flour and throw the rest of the ingredients into the center, swish it around until all the flour is incorporated. It should not be sticky and should be a tiny bit flaky. Knead for 10 minutes. You can NOT over knead pasta dough, so don't be scared. getting sticky? throw some more flour on the board. When it's ready, you should be able to punch your finger in the dough and the dough will try to bounce back. Wrap in saran wrap and rest for 30 m. to 1 hour. (you can refrigerate overnight, but it will need to be at room temperature to roll)

run through your pasta machine. Don't have one? Get one HERE.

place 1 tsp. size fillings (recipe below) and put another sheet on top. boil for 5 minutes (or simmer) until pasta is cooked. Top with your favorite marinara.

should make about 35 ravioli's, depending on the size.

3 Cheese filling
recipe courtesy of me

1 C. mozzerella
1/2 C. shredded fresh parmesean
1/3 C. or more of mascarpone cheese
pepper
garlic powder
basil (fresh or dried)
mix together until it all sticks together

taste it to see if it's yummy. add seasonings to taste.

Leftover Makeover

I thought I'd get the ball rolling here with a recipe we tried last night. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture.....that's how good it was. By the time I thought about it, there wasn't much left for a good picture. Anyway, this recipe was a "leftover makeover", which I love because we don't eat leftovers well at my house. I made a turkey dinner for Brandon on Father's Day, and even though it was only a turkey breast, we have turkey coming out of our ears. So in addition to all the yummy turkey sandwiches we'll be eating for lunch this week, we'll also be having turkey noodle soup, and last night we had this:

Turkey Tetrazzini
8 oz. spaghetti or angel hair pasta, broken and cooked al dente
5 Tbs. butter
6 Tbs. flour
3 c. chicken broth
1 c. milk
1 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
1 c. mushrooms
5 Tbs. minced green pepper
3 c. cooked turkey
1/2 c. grated parmesean
1/2 c. cheddar cheese
garlic

Melt butter and stir in flour to make a roux. Slowly add broth and milk, cooking and stirring until thick and bubbly. Add salt, pepper, spaghetti, peppers, mushrooms and turkey. Heat through. Put in casserole dish and top with cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until cheese bubbles.

Notes: Because I don't ever cook a recipe exactly the way it says.....I'll tell you my alterations. First of all, I didn't measure out 8 oz. of spaghetti, I just eyeballed what I thought I would need to feed the four of us, (and it was probably more than 8). Second, I used about 8 Tbs. of flour, because Brandon's Aunt Mindy, (who was kind enough to give me this recipe) said that sometimes the sauce came out a little thin with only 6. Third, I sauteed the mushrooms and green pepper in some butter with about 1 Tbs. of garlic, (Mindy said that she thought she just sprinkled garlic salt for the garlic) before adding it in with the rest. Also again, I didn't measure out the green pepper, I just used a whole small one. Fourth, I forgot the salt and pepper, and it was still great, (we don't really eat much salt though, so that's probably why it didn't bother us). Fifth, Mindy said that sometimes she uses canned mushrooms; one can juice and all. I used fresh and diced them tiny so my family couldn't see them. It's all about the mind games. Last, but definitely not least.....who measures cheese? I just sprinkled on what looked good, and I can promise it was more than the recipe called for. Maybe that's why I can't seem to lose a pants size.