Cajun Chicken Pasta

Ingredients

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, bit size

4 oz. linguine

2 tsp. Cajun seasoning

2 tbsp. butter

1 thinly sliced green onion

1-2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tbsp. chopped sun-dried tomatoes

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. dried basil

1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

1/8 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Methods/steps

Place chicken and Cajun seasoning in a bowl and toss to coat. In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté chicken in butter until chicken is tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce heat add green onion, heavy cream, tomatoes, basil, salt, garlic powder, black pepper and heat through. Pour over hot linguine and toss, with Parmesan cheese.

I of course doubled the recipe and used spiral noodles because that’s what I had at home! Also, used more green onions because we love them! Also, just used a fresh tomato chopped up.  And added way more jarred garlic! Didn’t have any basil so that got skipped! But it was amazing!! VERY easy to make and the girls also loved it.

Pepper Jack Spinach stuffed Chicken

• 3 or 4 cups of fresh spinach leaves.
• 1/2 cup sour cream (approx)
• 1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese (approx)
• 2 or 3 tablespoons of jarred garlic
• 3skinless, boneless chicken breast - pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
• 6 slices bacon

Directions

1.     Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

2.     Place spinach in a large glass bowl, and heat in the microwave for 3 minutes, stirring every minute or so, or until wilted, drain liquid.  Stir in sour cream, pepper jack cheese and garlic.

3.     Lay the chicken breasts out and spoon some of the spinach mixture onto each one. Roll up chicken to enclose the spinach, and then wrap each chicken breast with two slices of bacon. Secure with toothpicks, and arrange in a shallow baking dish.

4.     Bake uncovered for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, then increase heat to 500 degrees to cook for an additional 5 to 10 minutes to brown the bacon.

Baked Potato Pizza

The most amazing foods I have ever made! Brent says its on his top 5 list of foods I make!! We used a store bought crust so we didn’t have to mess with that, but you could make your own also.

Ingredients

• 1 pizza crust—ours was I think a 12 inch
• 6 medium unpeeled potatoes, baked (I boiled mine) and cooled
• 2 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 2 cup sour cream
• 12 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled (I just used a pound)
• 6 green onions, chopped (if you like green onions I would suggest adding some more!)
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (I used a little less)
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (I used a little more!)

Directions

1.      Prepare crust according to package directions—so these times are for the crust we had.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 5-6 minutes or until crust is firm and begins to brown. –we also dribbled olive oil on the crust before putting in the oven.

2.      Cut potatoes into 1/2-in. cubes. In a bowl, combine butter, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Add potatoes and toss. Spread sour cream over crust; top with potato mixture, bacon, onions and cheeses. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

ENJOY!! Let me know if you like it!!!

Scalloped Potatoes with Ham

One of my new favorite recipes!!! I double the recipe because one batch just isn’t enough for the 5 of us.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 4 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 12 ounces cubed baked ham
• 2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a baking dish. In saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium high heat. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Remove saucepan from heat and whisk in milk. Return pan to heat and bring to a simmer while stirring. When sauce has thickened remove from heat, season with salt and pepper and set aside. In a skillet, cook onions in melted butter until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper. Spread 1/3 of the white sauce in bottom of baking dish and top with half of the potatoes. Spread out half of the onions, ham, cheese And another third of the sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Continue layering ingredients, ending with the remaining cheese on top. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

The key is to make sure you use plenty of salt and pepper or it doesn’t have a lot of taste!!! Enjoy!

Grilled Shrimp

Brent and I made this months ago after I found it online.  Had forgotten all about it until it was emailed to me in my “Recipe Of The Day” from Allrecipes.com (my favorite recipe site!)  It was amazing!! Can’t wait to make it next week.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/2 lemons, juiced
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup minced fresh basil leaves
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• salt to taste
• white pepper
• 3 pounds fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
• skewers

Directions

1.      In a shallow bowl, mix together olive oil and melted butter. Stir in lemon juice, mustard, basil, and garlic, and season with salt and white pepper (I used regular pepper).  Add shrimp, and mix. Cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2.      Preheat grill to high heat. Remove shrimp from marinade, and thread onto skewers.

3.      Lightly oil grill grate, and arrange skewers on preheated grill. Cook for 4 minutes, turning once, or until opaque.

Cucumber Salad

As requested!!! My mom used to make this all the time, very easy but goes wonderful with grilled food!

Ingredients

2 large cucumbers

1 medium tomato

1 small onion

Ranch dressing

Directions-

Peal cucumbers let soak for 10-15 minutes in salt water.  Drain and cut up into bite size pieces, cut onion and tomato mix in bowl.  Add 1/2 -1/3 cup dressing over top, stir and chill for a little while.  If you let sit over night it gets a really good flavor. 

Spicy Chicken Dip

I have made it a few times now and it is a huge hit every time!  I made this for Bryekins birthday party yesterday and under my thumb nail still hurts from shredding the chicken, but WAY better shredded by hand then cut!  Also, I have seen similar recipes online where they bake the dip…could be good if you are going to have access to an oven. 

Ingredients

8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup blue cheese dressing-Kraft is best!

1/2 cup original Franks Redhot Sauce (I cut this in half, so I only use ¼ cup)

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

Mix in large bowl and serve! I usually serve with pretzels….but could use crackers, chips, or mixed veggies.