What's for Dinner {18} - Zuppa Toscana & Caesar Salad!

I am pleased to announce that I have made the first good batch of soup. I had not yet, in all my 25+ years of life so far, made a good soup. Tonight changed that. I did not, however, make the breadsticks or salad dressing because I was just plain lazy. I did the dishes instead :)

Zuppa Toscana Soup adapted from Copykat.com
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40-45 minutes (I was able to do dishes for a good 20-25 minutes)

*1 pound mild Italian sausage (I put a just under a T of red pepper flakes to spice it up a bit)
*2 large russet baking potatoes cubed
*1 large chopped onion
*2-5 cloves garlic,  minced
*3 cups chopped kale
*28 ounce cans chicken broth
*1-2 cups water
*1 cup heavy whipping cream
*Salt & Pepper to taste


Cook onion and garlic until translucent. Add sausage and cook like ground beef. Once done, soak up all the grease (I could have done a much better job of this)

Meanwhile, place in a large pot the potatoes, chicken broth, 1 cup water, salt and pepper. Cook on medium-high heat until potatoes are done. Add the sausage, onions and garlic and simmer for 10 minutes. Too finish, add the cream, 1 cup water and kale and heat through.

 

Had I removed all the grease, this wouldn't be so orange....it was delicious nonetheless!

Gary always wants to help so he was tasked with the salad - it, too, was delish. Thanks, Gspice!

 

  YUM!

What's for Dinner {17} - Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta

A fitting feature recipe for my favorite number - Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta. To me, it was more like an cajun alfredo which was pretty AWESOME. We aren't huge fans of alfredo with a few failed attempts already under our belt. This recipe, though, was quite delish. To be a bit nit-picky, the sauce wasn't quite as creamy as I imagined it would be. A little soupy, really. Next time, I'll let it reduce a bit.


Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta adapted from a weird tumblr site. (Really don't understand tumblr...)

*1 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
*4 ounces fettuccine, cooked al dente (I bought the Garden Delight version but didn't tell Gary until after he had finished it! It has a half serving of veggies in each 2oz serving!)
*2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
*2 tablespoons butter
*chopped garlic
*1 thinly sliced green onion
*1 cup heavy whipping cream
*1/4 teaspoon salt
*1/4 teaspoon dried basil
*1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
*1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Place chicken and Cajun seasoning in a bowl and toss to coat. In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté chicken and chopped garlic in butter or margarine until chicken is tender, about 7-10 minutes.

Reduce heat add green onion, heavy cream, basil, salt, black pepper and heat through. 

Pour over hot linguine and toss with Parmesan cheese.

MMMMMMmmmmmmmMMmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!

Update:
Had this again today as leftovers - it was even better than yesterday! It was perfectly creamy like I thought it would be!

Sweets & Treats {3} - Half Baked Cookie!

Imagine my excitement when we got these as a wedding gift. Pretty D*MN excited, actually. You'd think that by now we would have made this a million times. Alas, we have not.

In fact, we've made it only twice so far. Wednesday was the first time. Thursday was the second time.

Good life decisions.

Half Baked Cookie
*Your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe (or double chocolate or peanut butter chocolate or anynotherbawesome flavor that'd taste good half baked!)
*Mini fry pan
*Ice cream
*Hershey syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix your cookie dough. Grab a nice, hefty handful and make it in to a ball form. Put in your seasoned fry pan and push down so it takes up the whole pan.

Bake to the consistency you prefer. We tried 12 minutes and it was a bit too half baked. 15 minutes worked better with our oven. Top with ice cream and hershey syrup.

In the words of Rachel Zoe...........I DIE!!!!!!!!

Beefy Grills - Part 2!

Get excited.



Thanks, Gspice, for showing me this video. I giggled like crazy.

Hey Peach!

Peaches has been so adorbs lately. He's had some fun adventures that we'd like to share with you.

Being outside! 
He tries with all his being to get outside however he can - ALL THE TIME. He claws at the windows, meows at the front door, meows and somehow sneaks his way between our side door and screen door. Well, we finally caved and took him out for a few minutes.

Playing in the snow!
He didn't like this as much as I thought he would. He very gingerly walked around before I scooped him up so his feet wouldn't get too cold. Good thing because he was shivering after that!

Crawling in random bags, boxes or anything else he can manage his way in to!
This is by far his most favorite activity. It's pretty amusing :)

What's for Dinner {16} - Honey Garlic Balsamic Chicken

This is a winner! I couldn't get my sauce to thicken but it was awesome nonetheless.

Honey Garlic Balsamic Chicken adapted from Baked Bree

2 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 chopped garlic cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
 

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels.  Season with salt and pepper.  Melt the butter over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Add the chicken to the pan. Cook the chicken until both sides are brown and the chicken is cooked through. It is about 6 to 7 minutes on each side. Take the chicken out of the pan, and put on a plate and cover with foil.

Add the chicken broth, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, and honey to the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes, the sauce will thicken. Use a spatula to get the browned bits off of the bottom of the pan.

Finish by spooning the pan sauce over the top.  We served the chicken with mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli.

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We also watched The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Such a good movie. My favorite line? "Mary Elizabeth, why are you trying to eat Christmas!" I cried like a little girl and went to bed early.