Creamy Chicken Pasta Soup

This recipe is from Jeanene Davey, who is a fantastic cook.

3 T butter
4 oz. button mushrooms (sliced)
1 cup celery (Bob thinks these are optional!)
1 cup shredded carrots
3 T flour
6 cups chicken stock
1.5 cups half and half
2 T parsley
1.5 pounds chicken breasts, cooked and cut up
1 cup penne pasta
1/4 cup sugar snap peas, halved (or you can use green peas)
3 T lemon juice

Cook penne pasta according to package directions and set aside (10 minutes or so). Melt butter in pot, add mushrooms, celery, carrots and onion. Cook until tender (5 minutes). Add flour and cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add half & half and parsley. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add chicken, simmer another 5 minutes. Mix in cooked pasta and peas. Mix in lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper. Total time 25 (provided that you have pre-cooked chicken!)

Alfredo Lasagna

Can you tell we have been having a noodle fest?

Ingredients: Lasagna noodles, 1 stick of butter, 1 pack of cream cheese, milk, Parmesan cheese, cottage cheese, spinach, mushrooms, chicken

Cook noodles according to directions, lay out to cool.

Make sauce: 1 stick of butter, 1 pack of cream cheese, 1/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Melt and boil softly in pan. Add more cheese or milk to make it creamy - you don't want it too buttery or thick. (This should make a nice creamy alfredo sauce - my kids favorite noodle topping! Adding other cheeses is fun and delicious too - we have tried all sorts!)

Layer sauce on bottom of pan, then noodles, cottage cheese, thawed spinach, mushrooms, and bite-size (cooked) chicken. Repeat layers 3 times. Bake in over at 350 for 1/2 hour or until golden brown.

Dresden

Lasagna

Boil noodles according to directions, lay out to cool.
Make Raylene's yummy spaghetti sauce (I'm assuming we all have that essential recipe)...
Make cottage cheese mixture with 1/2 cottage cheese container, 1 T italian seasoning, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. This can be modified also, depending on what you have in the fridge!
Layer in a 9X13 pan:
Sauce on bottom

Noodles
2 spoonfuls of cheese mixture per long noodle
Sauce (enough to barely cover the noodle)
Mozzarella cheese (or other cheese)
Freshly cut tomatoes (this really was the yummy part!)

Repeat 3 times, and end with sauce and mozzarella cheese on top.
Put in fridge for the NEXT day's dinner. This lets all the flavors mix in really well and "solidifies" it so that it is not lasagna soup.

Bake at 350 for about an hour, or until it starts getting golden on top and you can smell it!
Enjoy!
Dresden

Oatmeal Cake

Yummy Oatmeal Cake

Pour 1 1/4 cup boiling water over 1 cup quick oatmeal. Let stand for 20 minutes.
Cream 1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
Add oats
1 1/3 cup flour
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
Bake in a greased 9X13 pan at 350 for 35 minutes
While cake is warm, spread and broil:
6 T melted butter or margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup coconut (can be skipped or sub cookie crumbs)
1 cup nuts

Today, my kids didn't eat all the oatmeal, and so I subbed the leftovers in the pot for the beginning step. Way better than storing it in the fridge to be dumped out later. Who eats leftover oatmeal?
Dresden

BBQ sauce

This is our favorite BBQ sauce. This smoky version of the traditional sweet & sour sauce is delicious with BBQ chicken, pork and seafood. As a dipping sauce, try it with crispy egg rolls or chicken nuggets, French fries or onion rings. Use in place of ketchup on burgers. Use with bacon. It really should be a mainstay in every refrigerator.

An new favorite use: Cook diced onion in the sauce and then use it on a hot dog with cheese, tomato, some mayo

I hope you have a grocery store near you that carries it. Macey's and Albertson's have it here in Utah.

Sesame Chicken & Teriyaki Chicken

Jan requested I post the recipe for Sesame chicken. I found it in the Warner Robins Relief Society recipe book a long time ago. It was submitted by Carol Anne Daniels. I decided to go ahead and post my teriyaki chicken as well.

Sesame Chicken

Uncooked cubed chicken (2-4 lbs.)
1/2 c. soy sauce
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 c. chopped green onions
1/2 c. toasted sesame seeds

Mix together all ingredients and marinate chicken for at least 2 hours. Place chicken and marinade on a large cookie sheet in a single layer. Broil until brown, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes. Serve over rice.

I have made it this way, but I have also tweaked it a little and now I will usually add a little oil and instead of cut up chicken I will marinate whole chicken breast tenderloins, then I will put it in a 9x13 pan and cover with foil. Then I cook it at 400 for about 1 hour. A lot of times I will do one pan of sesame chicken and one pan of teriyaki chicken. My teriyaki marinade is below and then I just cook them the same way. I have also cooked the teriyaki on the grill before, very yummy.

Teriyaki Chicken Marinade

1/2 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. chopped green onions
1/3 c. oil
1-1 1/4 tsp ginger
2 cloves garlic (1 tsp. minced)

Sorry for the long post, but I think I remember Bob and Dresden requesting these recipes before too.

Oven Barbecue Chicken

This is one of our family favorites. Some of you probably already have this recipe, sorry. When I make it I usually triple it and then freeze 2 containers of it so the next 2 times I make it, all I have to do is defrost the sauce and pour it on the chicken and cook it. Hope you like it.

1 stick butter
1/2 tsp. mustard
1/4 c. chopped onion
1/4 tsp. chili powder
3 T. vinegar
1 T. Worchestershire sauce
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. ketchup
1/4 c. water
chicken breast tenderloins (frozen or thawed)

Melt butter in medium saucepan, add onion and cook over medium heat. Add remaining ingredients (except chicken) and simmer for about 2 minutes. Place chicken in 9x13 inch baking dish and pour barbecue sauce over chicken. Cover tightly with two layers of foil and cook in 400 degree oven for an hour and a half.

Red Pepper Cashew Chicken

Joe and I really like this. If I were to cook, this is what I would pick (this week). We haven't had it in a long time.

1 box Jasmine rice (2 cups of the rice)
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced
combine chicken in bowl with:
1 T. (once around the bowl) sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, minced and mashed
2 T. (a couple of glugs) rice wine vinegar, or dry sherry
a couple of red pepper flakes, crushed
black pepper to taste
[add 1 ½ T. sugar]

set it aside and let I hang out

1 T. sesame oil
1 lg. carrot, peeled diced in small cubes
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 can (7oz.) sliced water chestnuts, drained and coarsely chopped
3 heaping T. scoops of Hoisin sauce
A couple handfuls salted cashews
3 green onions, thinly sliced on an angle

Start rice according to directions on the box.
Heat oil in wok or large nonstick skillet over high heat until it smokes. Add carrot and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the coated chicken and cook another 2-3 minutes. Add the coated chicken and cook another 3-4 minutes. Toss in red pepper and chestnuts. Heat through for 1 minute. Add hoisin sauce and toss to coat evenly. Dump chicken out over a bed of rice. Top with cashews and green onions. Feeds 4 well.

30 minute meals by Rachel Ray

Let's Get Cooking!

I started this blog to help get new ideas or suggestions for one of my main tasks as a wife/mother...cooking. Sometimes I get bored with the same old stuff and want to try something new. Hopefully we can all help each other and have some fun doing it. It should be pretty simple, if you make something that goes over well, share it. If you need a suggestion, ask for it. If you tried something new, let us know how it turns out. There's no limit on how often you can post, and no requirement on how often to post...whenever you want really! So Let's Get Cooking!