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