Chicken, Broccoli, and Cheese Skillet Meal

This is just one of those tried and true recipes for my family.  I found it through Pinterest.  Here is the original recipe.

I've made this recipe 4 or 5 times now in the last year.  And I just really like it.  What's not to love about the combination of cheese, chicken, pasta, and broccoli?  For me, nothing :).

I also love that it's stove-top (therefore perfect for summer, in my opinion).  And it's a one-dish meal, so fewer dishes to wash!  And it's not terribly time-consuming to make.  The most tedious part is probably dealing with the raw chicken.  Which I didn't have to do this time, since I used my THRIVE Seasoned Chicken Strips :).

So here's the recipe the way I made it tonight:

1 to 1 1/2 cups THRIVE Seasoned Chicken Strips*
2 cups broccoli florets
1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni
1 can cream of chicken soup + 2 cans full of water
black pepper to taste
1 large garlic clove, pressed or minced
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Pour cream of chicken soup and water into a large skillet.  Warm over medium-high heat.  Throw in the chicken strips.  Add all other ingredients, except cheese.  Stir together.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes or until pasta is tender.  (Checking to make sure there is enough water at about 15 minutes.)  Stir in cheese until melted and combine.  Allow to heat 2 more minutes.  Serve.

*1 chicken breast can be substituted.  Just cut it into bit size pieces and cook it in the pan in olive oil before adding the soup and water.  The THRIVE just saves me time :).

It's yummy.  My toddler loves it.

Spinach Artichoke Pasta

(I need to get new bowls -- so my food "pops" more...)

I'm telling ya... I have a serious Pinterest addiction...  And mostly in the food area. 

Every pay period, when I make my menu list for the following two weeks, I generally like to choose a recipe or two from my "to try" pins...  I'm supposed to be working my way through a binder of collected print recipes too...  But that binder got put out of sight...  And now it's mostly out of mind.

So this was a recipe I found a while back and decided to try, since I had a large majority of the ingredients :) (that's always a good reason!).  I happen to love spinach artichoke dip, so I thought this might be a fun and delicious recipe to try. In fact, this recipe appealed to my tastes so much (visually and taste-ily) that I actually pinned it twice.  This is a Pioneer Woman recipe.  I've seen her stuff a lot, so I'm assuming she may just be a house-hold name ;).

I followed the recipe, with the exception of the crushed red pepper flakes.  I try not to give my munchkin too much heat in her young age.  I did still include the cayenne, though.  I halved the recipe, so here is what I did:

3 Tablespoons Butter
2 cloves Garlic, Finely Minced
1 bags Baby Spinach
1 cans Artichoke Hearts, Drained And Halved
1 1/2 Tablespoons Flour
1 1/2 cups Whole Milk
1/8 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
Salt And Pepper, to taste
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 cup Monterey Jack Cheese, Grated
1/2 cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth (less Or More)
1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni, Cooked Until Al Dente
1/4 cup Seasoned Panko Breadcrumbs
Crushed Red Pepper, To Taste (optional -- I opted out)

Melt 1 tablespoons butter in a large pot or skillet. Add garlic and throw in the spinach. Stir it around until it's wilted, about 1 minute. Remove spinach from heat and set aside.

Add 1 tablespoons butter to the same pot and raise the heat to high. Throw in the halved artichokes and stir it around until they get a little color, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the artichokes from the pot and set them aside.
Reduce the heat to low. Add 1 tablespoons butter to the pot. When melted, sprinkle in flour and whisk until it's combined. Pour in milk and whisk to combine. Let it cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until starting to thicken. Add Parmesan, Monterey Jack, salt and pepper, and cayenne pepper. Stir to melt, and if it's overly thick, splash in chicken broth.

Add artichokes and pasta, tossing gently to combine. Gently fold in spinach, then pour the pasta into a serving bowl. Sprinkle the top with crushed red pepper flakes and plenty of Panko breadcrumbs for crunch.
Serve immediately!

Personal Notes:  I used unseasoned Panko, because that's what I had.  I also didn't feel the need to use chicken broth, so I didn't.  I am now realizing I wilted my spinach down too much and probably didn't cook my artichokes long enough...  Her finished product looks way better than mine.

Verdict:  It was good.  Not as stellar as I'd hoped, but still good.  The munchkin loved it -- except the artichokes.  I think some bacon could actually really add some extra depth to this dish (not that I usually have any bacon to include).  I might make it again one day, but it wasn't so awesome that I'd consider it a favorite.  Also, with the ingredients being what they are, it's not exactly the most budget-friendly meal, even though it's meatless. 

Garden Zucchini Cakes

If you've ever grown zucchini in a garden...  You know it's a plentiful crop!  Very plentiful!  I have definitely found a variety of ways to cook and enjoy zucchini.  But, even so, I still end up shredding and freezing a lot to use throughout the year for zucchini bread and zucchini brownies.  And I'm okay with that!  Yumm-o!

But during the summer, we try to enjoy our zucchini fresh and in a variety of ways.  Which led me to finding this recipe on Pinterest.

The recipe is delicious.  Even my toddler likes the zucchini cakes!  So here it is (with my changes):

2 cups shredded zucchini
2 eggs
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs (I used unseasoned, because that's what I had)
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1 1/2 teaspoon Creole seasoning (Tony Cachere's brand)
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 tablespoons flour

Heat skillet over medium heat.  Spray with cooking spray (or use a small amount of olive oil).  Add all ingredients into a large bowl and mix together until well blended.  Form the mixture into patties.  When the pan is to temperature, place the patties in and cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side.  Serve as soon as possible so they are warm.  I got 9 zucchini cakes from this recipe.

*Original recipe claims they can be frozen and heated up later.  Wrap individually in plastic wrap and then place all of them in a freezer storage bag and freeze.  That and re-heat in a skillet or microwave.  I'm currently trying this, so hopefully it works well!

Yum!

I served these along-side a buffalo chicken pasta salad using THRIVE seasoned chicken strips.  Delicious!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

(Sometimes Blogger annoys me when it doesn't load my pictures right...)

I love chocolate.

With peanut butter.

I love bananas.

With peanut butter.

And chocolate.

So this was pretty much the perfect recipe.  Especially for summer time.

I found this recipe a long time ago on Pinterest.  I've used it often.  Especially when I have frozen bananas.  Because I only like them so ripe...  Once they get really ripe and brown-spotty...  Yuck.  I just have to slice them up and freeze them before they get to that point.

Anyway, this is a link to a recipe similar to the original one I found.  The original one I found disappeared one day.  And this one helped me to remember it after I hadn't made it in a while.  And now I'll record how I have it memorized, just in case I forget it again :).  (My version is a little different... but it works for me, so I keep doing it this way :)).

1 large ripe banana, sliced and frozen
1 cup of milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 tablespoon peanut butter

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until bananas are well blended.  The frozen bananas will make it sort of slushy/Frosty consistency -- at least for a little while.

I make mine in a pint-sized mason jar.  Narrow-mouth ones generally fit the blender's bottom stuff.  So I just turn it upside down and blend -- then drink from the jar.  Saves me from having to use the big blender when this is perfect for one:  me.  Well, and my munchkin.  I happen to like her enough to share ;).

This is bomb.  And made with plain basic ingredients.  Many reasons to like it :).  And, in case you were wondering, I'm keeping it.  And plan to make it again and again and again...

Copy-Cat Panera Mac and Cheese

Two things I want to say right away:

1.  I wish I had a different colored bowl to help the mac and cheese really pop.  Because I'm not a fancy food photographer (though I wouldn't mind being ;)...).
2.  I've never actually been to Panera and had their mac and cheese.  So I cannot say if this is a good copy-cat or not.  It's times like these when I need to have my dear friend Stacy living nearby so she can be my taste-tester.  Not only has she eaten the real thing, she also has exquisite taste in things like cheese.

That said...  I have been doing a lot of searching Pinterest for stove-top recipes for summer-time.  And, because I'm a huge macaroni and cheese enthusiast, I am always drawn to pins for macaroni and cheese -- of pretty much any sort.  But when I saw this was a copycat of Panera's...  Well, I've heard the scuttlebutt from Stacy about that stuff.  So I knew I needed to try it.  And we did.

I definitely like that the recipe doesn't call for hard-to-find ingredients.  True, they aren't all ingredients I have on hand all the time, so I did have to do some shopping (mostly for the cheese), but they weren't difficult to find.

Also, the recipe was easy.  And I followed it almost exactly, except for the type of pasta I used (I used shell pasta) and I used salted butter, so omitted the salt.

Here's the recipe:

16 oz pipette pasta or other small pasta shape
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk, heavy cream, or half-and-half
4 oz white American cheese, chopped or torn into pieces
8 oz extra sharp white Vermont cheddar, shredded
2 tsp - 1 tbsp Dijon mustard (adjust according to your tastes)
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp hot sauce (like Frank's)

In a large stockpot, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well.

While the pasta cooks, melt the butter in a 4-quart sauce pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and has started to bubble, whisk in the flour; cook for 1 1/2 minutes whisking constantly. Gradually whisk in the milk until no lumps remain. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook milk mixture, whisking frequently, until it thickens and bubbles, about 8 minutes.

Remove sauce pan from the heat and by the handful, stir in the cheeses allowing all of the cheese to melt into the sauce before adding more. Stir in the mustard, salt, and hot sauce. Return the sauce pan to the heat and stir in the pasta. Be sure to stir up the sauce from the bottom of the sauce pan and thoroughly coat all of the pasta with sauce. Cook for 1-2 minutes over medium-low heat until heated through. Serve hot in bowls with spoons.

(Again, recipe is from http://www.smells-like-home.com)

My thoughts:  This is definitely rich and creamy.  And very, very filling.  The recipe claims to serve 4.  Often, in our house, that just isn't the case.  I love macaroni and cheese.  And my husband can eat a lot (though I have no idea where he puts it).  But this is definitely a macaroni and cheese that literally serves 4, in my opinion.  I was beyond full after 1 bowl (the one pictured).  My husband had seconds, but not a huge helping.  And I put plenty away for leftovers.  My toddler loved this too, but didn't eat a lot of it -- again, I think because it's so filling.  She ate everything I gave her happily and excitedly, but didn't want more food when she was done. 

I honestly don't know if I'll make this recipe again.  It was good.  But it may have been a little too rich for me (I'm glad I used whole milk and not heavy cream!).  I will be trying to try the Panera, though...  Just so I know how close this recipe is :). 

Apple Pie Jelly

A few months ago, I was asked to make apple jelly for an upcoming wedding -- to be given away as wedding favors.  I immediately jumped onto Pinterest to find a good recipe.  And this is the one I decided on.

Let me say, this is a great recipe.  It is easy and quick -- and it tastes delicious.  In fact, since I changed the recipe up (just a tad), I decided to give it a slightly different name and call it Apple Pie Jelly, since my husband commented that it tastes like apple pie.  It is very sweet, though.  So if that's not your thing, you may not enjoy this jelly like we do.

So I mostly stuck with the recipe as found.  But I changed the red-hots (cinnamon candies) to cinnamon.  Also, I always double the original recipe.  So the recipe below is the way I make it every time.


5 1/3 cups apple juice (can use cider)
2 boxes pectin
6 cups sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Pour apple juice into a large pot and whisk in both boxes of pectin while heating over medium-high heat.  Bring to a hard boil.  Add sugar and cinnamon.  Return to a hard boil and boil a full two minutes, stirring constantly.

Pour into jelly jars and seal according to your preference.  (I usually water bath my jellies, but these jars are small and the lids cannot be water-bathed, so we are doing a wax seal).

Makes about 63 ounces of jelly (or about 4 pints).

I'm thinking I may be sending some apple pie jelly out in Christmas packages this year...

Burrito Bowls

I've mentioned before that I do not feel the need to use the oven when it is hot outside.  And I also wanted to find some meatless meals in an effort to cut back on our grocery costs (beef becoming more expensive and all...). 

So this was a recipe I found on Pinterest.  The original recipe can be found here.  I mostly followed the recipe, but added a few things and deleted a few.  Prior to our additions, this is a vegan meal, I think.  We added plain yogurt (or sour cream if you prefer) and cheese, though.  Also, I didn't feel like buying a chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, so I didn't make the creamy topping.  Which was probably a mistake...

1 cup raw white rice
2 (or more) cups water
1/2 cup salsa
2 cups black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups corn (I used a mix of thawed frozen corn and THRIVE corn which I rehydrated)
2 cups shredded lettuce
1 cup tomatoes, chopped
green onions, optional
cheddar cheese, optional
sour cream or plain yogurt, optional
cilantro, optional

Cook the rice (using the water ;)) as you normally would.  When rice is done cooking, mix in the salsa. 

Layer rice, then beans, lettuce, tomato and any other options you choose to add.

Verdict:  Discard.  I wasn't impressed.  Even with our addition of cheese and plain yogurt, this just needed something more.  It was too bland to me.  Maybe I would have enjoyed it more with the adobo sauce.  What I'm learning is that I am not cut out to be vegan.  The food always turns out bland, in my opinion.  Or maybe I just need to experiment more with seasonings.  But... it was a meatless meal, so it did help save on cost...