Chicken Fettuccine Bake

 My Christmas vacation so far has been pretty low key... I mean, REALLY low key.  Hubby has been working, kiddos aren't home, and my wheels were taken out in a sleigh before Christmas NOT driven by Santa.  I've been stuck.  I keep refreshing Pinterest, looking to see who has pinned what, but have had no groceries to do anything, which led to little motivation once hubby got home from work.  This afternoon when he got home, I mustered the energy, got my list together from all of the things that made me salivate on Pinterest, and set out for the grocery store to fill up mama's cupboards.

I found this recipe and thought it would be a good meal to have for dinner.  My husband's response after the first bite "Very yummy!  Make this again!"

• 2 chicken breasts 
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil 
• 1 Tbsp. butter 
• 3 cloves garlic, minced 
• Salt 
• Pepper
  
• ½ lb. of fettuccine, boiled to al dente and drained
• 2 cups of broccoli
  
• 6 Tbsp. butter 
• 3 Tbsp. flour 
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) chicken broth 
• ½ cup milk 
• ½ cup grated parmesan
  
• 2 slices bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled 
• 3 Tbsp. shredded Parmesan cheese for topping

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray baking dish; square 8x8 or oval dish, with cooking spray.
   
2. Have bacon diced and cooked until crispy and set aside.
   
3. Dice up chicken breasts and sprinkle with salt and pepper. 
4. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and butter. 
5. Add diced chicken and cook thoroughly. 
6. When almost cooked through, add the minced garlic and cook for another minute or two. 
7. Place chicken in a bowl, leaving as much of whatever liquid is left in the skillet, and set aside
   
8. Meanwhile, boil pasta in salted water as directed. 
9. About 4 minutes before pasta is done, add broccoli. 
10. Drain pasta and broccoli and set aside.
     
11. In the skillet with the liquid, melt the butter over medium heat. 
12. Stir in flour. 
13. Gradually stir in broth, heating to a boil, stirring constantly; remove from heat. 
14. Stir in milk and ½ cup grated parmesan cheese. 
15. Add chicken and bacon. 
16. Add pasta to chicken mixture; toss gently to mix well.
    
17. Spoon everything into the baking dish. 
18. Sprinkle with 3 Tbsp. of parmesan cheese. 
19. Bake uncovered about 30 minutes or until hot in the center. 

Adapted from a Dash of Sanity blog 

Cream Puffs

   

Merry Christmas 2013!
Feast of Christmas Eve this year was low key -- just the four of us.  But it was still a great day, as the kids leisurely opened up their gifts mid-morning, followed by a slow afternoon puttering around.  By the middle of the afternoon, Catherine and I began working on the meal.  While I put this year's Beast in the oven, we made the mashed potatoes and got dessert started.  The inspiration from dessert came from the interwebz -- and of course I can't remember if was Pinterest or one of the new Facebook pages I began following that posts "incredible" recipes daily.  Whichever site led me to the recipe, I was intrigued when I saw this, especially since it seemed rather simple for something I had always assumed was complicated and intricate to make.  The only hard part was trying to bake one cookie sheet at a time while the Beast was cooking.  Other than that, I found it pretty simple... and finger-poppin' good -- at least the small ones!  The larger ones contain oh-so-much-more goodness, but just be forewarned, the cream filling tends to splat out as you bite into it, leading to suggestive jokes and endless laughter.

• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup flour
• 4 eggs
• 2 small boxes instant vanilla pudding (3.4 oz each)
• 1⅓ cup cold whole milk
  (NOTE:  Do NOT follow the pudding box directions.  The amount of milk in this recipe is LESS than a box of pudding calls for) 
• 8 oz. sour cream
• Powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS

Cream Puffs:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Melt stick of butter and water to a rolling boil
3. Stir in flour and stir vigorously over low heat until mixture leaves the pan (comes off the sides) and is in a ball (about 1 minute)
4. Remove from heat and cool for a couple of minutes
5. Beat in eggs (one at a time) with a mixer
6. Beat mixture until smooth and velvety
7. Drop by spoonfuls (walnut sized) onto ungreased cookie sheet (I used a small scoop and a large scoop for two different sizes of cream puffs)
8. Bake until DRY, 20-25 minutes
   (maybe longer -- one of my batches took longer than 30 minutes)
9. Allow to cool

Filling:

1. Mix instant vanilla pudding with whole milk until the pudding is dissolved
2. Add sour cream until thick
3. Put mixture in the refrigerator (at least an hour)
4. Add the pudding mixture into a piping bag
5. Using a piping tip, insert the tip into the side of one of the puffs and squeeze enough filling until it just comes out of the puff (be sure not to overfill the cream puff – you will feel the cream puff slightly expand as it fills)
   (An alternative if you do not have a piping bag and tip -- Slice the cream puffs in half and fill with the chilled pudding mixture)
6. Sprinkle with powdered sugar

Adapted from Real Housewives Blog

Firehouse Chili

It's a snowy, snowy night and we were supposed to go to a holiday party.  Hearing the news making it sound like snowmageddon, we decided it was best to stay home; however, not having been prepared to stay home (and no desire to go out to the grocery stores along with the rest of the State of Massachusetts), I took to pinterest and found this recipe that used things I actually had in the cupboard and the freezer.  Served along with some casserole elbow macaroni, it proved to be a fabulous comfort food kind of dinner for a bitterly cold, snowy night.  Oh yeah, and spice-ay!  YUM!

• 1 onions, chopped
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 3 cloves mined garlic
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
• 3 hot Italian sausages
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 can diced tomatoes (plain)
• 1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
• 1 oz. chili seasoning mix (see recipe below)
• 1 can red kidney beans
• 1 can yellow corn (or ½ bag of frozen yellow corn)
• Water, if desired

DIRECTIONS

1. Sauté onions in dutch oven in butter until translucent.
2. Add garlic and sauté for one more minute.
3. Remove all but about ½ cup from the sauté pan and reserve for later use.
4. In same dutch oven, brown the sausage and ground beef with the ½ cup of onions, salt, and pepper flakes.
5. Once browned, add in reserved sautéed onions, canned tomatoes, and chili seasoning.
6. Add kidney beans and corn.
7. Simmer for at least 1 hour.
8. If a thinner chili is desired, add water as needed.
9. Serve with casserole elbows, or tortilla chips, with some cheddar cheese sprinkled on top and enjoy!

Adapted from Doughmesstic.com blog

Chili Seasoning Mix

• ¼ cup flour
• 4 tsp. chili powder
• 1 Tbsp. crushed red pepper
• 1 Tbsp. onion powder
• 1 Tbsp. garlic powder
• 2 tsp. white sugar
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 2 tsp. dried parsley
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• ¼ tsp. ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. In a bowl, stir together flour, chili powder, red pepper, onion, garlic, sugar, cumin, parsley, salt, basil and pepper.
2. Store in an airtight container.
   
   Makes ¾ cup, but for the recipe above, use 3 oz.

Adapted from allrecipes.com