Cajun Chicken Alfredo

Well, hey there!

I've missed you guys. I know, I've been gone for awhile. I realized that several posts involve me apologizing for my lack of consistency, and I promised myself I would stop apologizing, because, hey, I'm pretty dang busy...

...but here I go again. Apologizing. And I hope you'll forgive me. Because I couldn't live with myself if I thought I'd upset you guys. The truth is, now that school has started up, I'll be able to post more regularly. Tim was gone for half the summer (literally), so I found myself eating cereal and hot dogs most nights for dinner. I let myself go there for awhile. It wasn't pretty, and I don't recommend it.

This original recipe belongs to Comfortably Domestic, a blog that I am a HUGE fan of. Kirsten is an incredible writer and serves up wonderful dishes. I highly recommend following this blog. She also has a white chocolate buttercream that is to die for. Check it out.

While I'm not a huge cajun fan, I had to try this. I averted from this recipe quite a bit, so if you want the original, please visit their blog. For example, I used feta cheese instead of goat cheese, because they're very similar in consistency, and goat cheese kinda' freaks me out. Don't ask me why. I don't have that answer.

I normally don't cook with white wine, because we don't have it around the house, but I went ahead and reluctantly spent $5 on the finest white wine Walmart had to offer. Honestly, I think it helped. I think the wine is important. I support the use of wine in this recipe.

**This recipe has been approved as a man-friendly dish by the manliest man ever, Tim Wadsworth.**

Ingredients:

• 2 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Cajun seasoning spice
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 1 Tbsp. cream cheese
• 1 Tbs. olive oil (or more if needed)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved (optional)
• ¼ cup white wine (or chicken broth)
• 1 ½ cup half-and-half
• 1 ½ cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup feta cheese
• Salt and pepper
• 1 pound cooked fettuccini

Directions:

Cook fettuccini according to directions on package.

Drain and rinse with tap water. This gets rid of the extra starchiness that makes the pasta stick together. Make sure it's fully drained again.

For Chicken:

Rinse chicken breast and pat dry. Using a tenderizer, pound each chicken breast flat in a plastic baggie.

As far as cajun seasoning goes, I use McCormick Perfect Pinch Cajun. It's really tasty and affordable.

Generously cover both sides with cajun seasoning, salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat 1 Tbs. of the butter and the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat, until the butter is melted.

To make sure it's really combined well, use a wooden spoon and stir until completely melted.

Place chicken in the pan.

Cook each side for 3-5 minutes, or until browned.

Place browned chicken onto a rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes or until cooked thoroughly.

Remove chicken from the oven and thinly slice against the grain; set aside.

We're going to work on the sauce now. Add a splash of olive oil and re-heat the skillet over medium heat.

Add the white wine or chicken broth into the pan.

Whisk for 2-3 minutes, combining all the "drippings" from the chicken.

Add the garlic and tomatoes (if you're using them) to the pan and continue to whisk for 2-3 minutes or until garlic is slightly browned.

Reduce heat to medium-low and pour the heavy cream into the pan.

Stir constantly for 1 minute.

Add the cream cheese and whisk until combined.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Combine.

Remove from heat. Add the Parmesan cheeses and feta cheese. Stir constantly until all the cheese has melted, and sauce is smooth.

Have fun with this. It's fun to make with your spouse/significant other. Just let him do the stirring.

To check out the original recipe on Comfortably Domestic's site, click here. I'm sure they'd love to have you.

Love and new stuff,

5 Cheese Lasagna

You know what my favorite thing about lasagna is? It lasts forever. Granted I live in a household of two, but this one pan can last me and Tim 5 days. Lunch and dinner. And it's wholesome, too. Who doesn't love to come home to a warm piece of lasagna with fresh bread, a salad and a diet coke? A crazy person, that's who.

So please, my lovely readers, forgive me for making something so simple. I don't mean to undermine your skills or intelligence, but don't we all need a little simplicity in our lives from time to time?

Enjoy. Seriously.

Ingredients:

• 1 box lasagna noodles (if you can tell me what major grocery store sells whole wheat lasagna noodles, I will love you forever and ever. I can't find them anywhere!)
• There are magic noodles out there that do not need to be boiled, and while I like using them, I find the noodles are always uneven. They tend to be softer in the middle where the weight of the sauce lays, and the outsides are kinda' crunchy. Not worth it to me.
• 1 lb. Italian sausage (or 1 lb. ground beef)
• 1/3 cup minced onion
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1/3 cup milk
• Minced garlic
• 1 large can pasta sauce
• I realize that we could go the difficult route and make this from scratch with crushed tomatoes and paste and blah blah blah, but who has the time? Really? 
• In case you're relatively new, I normally add some butter and milk (or cream) to my marinara sauces. I realize this adds about 2,334,839,104 calories to the sauce, but the taste of creamy spaghetti is unreal.
• Oregano
• Basil
• Garlic salt
• Salt/Pepper
• 8 oz. bag shredded cheddar cheese
• Before you stare at me dumbfounded that I use cheddar cheese in my lasagna, let me tell you this: at a youth event, we had to make about 50+ large lasagnas for a few hundred students, and we ran out of mozzarella and had to use cheddar. With the combo of those two cheeses, it was honestly the best lasagna I had ever eaten. Just give it a try.
• 8 oz. bag shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 4-6 slices of provolone cheese
• 16 oz. container of ricotta cheese
• 1 egg

Directions:

• Cook the noodles according to package. Drain and set aside.
• While that's happening, cook sausage/ground beef and drain. Set aside.
• In a separate (large) pan, saute the onion with the butter. 
• Once the onions are a light brown and somewhat tender, add some minced garlic and turn the heat down and let the onions and garlic get to know each other for about 3 minutes. How much garlic you use is up to your own discretion; however, I always use way too much...and love it.
• Add the pasta sauce and milk and combine well.
• Add cooked meat, stir, cover and turn the heat down low.
• Just like with our classic spaghetti, the trick is to let it simmer. The longer it simmers at a low heat with the top on, the richer it will taste.
• In a small bowl, beat the egg until smooth.
• Grab a large bowl and throw the ricotta cheese in there. Add some more garlic, the egg, a small handful of mozzarella cheese, and some salt. Combine.
• Now it's time to layer everything in your 13x9 pan. Here's the order:
• Meat sauce on the very bottom (about 1 cup)
• Noodles
• Half of ricotta mixture
• Mozzarella cheese
• Cheddar cheese
• Noodles
• The other half of the ricotta mixture
• More mozarella
• More cheddar
• Meat sauce
• Noodles
• Provolone slices
• Parmesan cheese
• Sprinkle with basil and oregano.
• Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes. Serve with garlic bread, salad, and cheesecake for dessert (duh) to gain 20 lbs. To justify this, go watch "Heavy" on Netflix. You'll feel better about yourself.

Love and my-husband-just-made-fun-of-me-for-saying-"duh,"
Rachael
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One-Pot Sour Cream Lasagna

Italian food. Need I say more? It's filling, cheap and absolutely divine. My heart loves it; my thighs rebel. I once worked with a woman who had 8 kids, and she told me something that stuck with me from that day on. She said, "I serve potatoes, bread or pasta at every single meal — sometimes all three together. It's cheap, and it fills ya' up." Tim has been begging me to come up with some new recipes, and I threw this together on a whim. It took a total of 15 minutes and I had all but one ingredient in my very own pantry.

Ingredients:

• 1 box of bowtie pasta
• 1/2 lb. ground beef
• Olive oil
• 1 can pasta sauce
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:

• Throw the pasta into a pot of boiling water. Let it sit until cooked.
• Brown ground beef in large pan over high heat. Once cooked, add garlic powder and Italian seasoning
• Drain ground beef when it's thoroughly cooked. Put back in skillet.
• Add cooked pasta
• Add about 1/4 cup olive oil and mix
• Pour in entire can of pasta sauce and combine well
• Add shredded mozzarella cheese and sour cream
• For the record, you can get a block of fresh mozzarella cheese for about the same price as a large bag of it shredded. I find the block tastes so much better. Go for it.
• Keep heat on medium, stirring constantly. Let it warm all the way through.
• Serve with salad and some fresh sourdough bread. 

I feel confident in saying that this will become a new staple for your family dinners. I also feel confident that if I can type all this out in less than 5 minutes, you can cook it in less than 15 minutes.

Love and simplicity,
Rachael

Chicken Parmesan

This dish happens to be very near and dear to my heart. When Tim and I were first dating, my parents were kind enough to host a dinner party for both our families at their lake house. My mom insisted it was important that I learn how to cook for my new man, and I finally gave in. This was only a few months after my first attempt to cook for Tim in California, where he threw up my add-water-only pancakes and my barely-thicker-than-water scrambled eggs. So I took my mom's advice, and we set out to make this particular dish for my future in-laws and my future husband.

The great thing about chicken Parmesan is it's not a bunch of frills and lace. It's very meaty, filling and inexpensive, to which I very enthusiastically say, "amen." It looks much more complicated and fancy than it really is, but that doesn't change how divine it tastes.

Ingredients:

• Chicken breasts (1 per person, unless you want leftovers)
• A few eggs
• Bread crumbs (I use Progresso Italian bread crumbs)
• Spaghetti sauce
• Mozzarella cheese
• Spaghetti noodles (1 box per 5 people is normally plenty)
• Minced garlic
• Olive oil
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Take thawed chicken breasts and place in a large ziploc bag.
• Use whatever you have on hand to smash it until it's nice and thin.
• Whisk together the milk and eggs and dip the chicken into it until completely covered
• Roll the chicken in bread crumbs
• Heat some olive oil in a pan over medium heat
• Add a teaspoon or two of minced garlic to the olive oil and let it simmer for a minute
• Turn the stove up to medium high heat and place the chicken in the warmed olive oil
• Leave the chicken in there until both sides are browned and have developed a crust
• This can take anywhere from 3 minutes per side to 10 minutes per side, depending on your pan and the heat settings. Just keep an eye on it and peek every few minutes to make sure it's not burning.
• Place the chicken in a cooking dish
• Cover the chicken with mozzarella cheese (whether that's individual slices or shredded is up to you)
• Pour spaghetti sauce all over the top of the chicken and cheese
• Sprinkle with a little more mozzarella and parmesan cheese
• Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes uncovered, or until cheese is bubbly
• Cook spaghetti noodles according to instructions and set aside until chicken is done cooking
• Once everything is finished, place a large portion of noodles on a plate, cover with warmed spaghetti sauce, and top with one of the chicken breasts.
• Serve with salad and garlic bread.

Probably the greatest thing about this meal is that it can be done well in advance. You just follow all of the steps except for baking the chicken and cooking the noodles, and 30 minutes before your guests arrive, throw the chicken in the oven and the noodles on the stove.

** Leftover Tip: Chicken parm makes for great leftovers, but if you have a leftover-phobic husband like I do, follow these steps to make a chicken parmesan sub: Grab a large sandwich roll (or 2 slices of Texas toast), cut it in half, and place mozzarella cheese on both halves. Throw it in a broiler or toaster oven until the cheese is bubbly. Cut up the leftover breaded chicken into long slices and place on top of the bread. Cover with remaining sauce, and there ya' go — they have a chicken parm sandwich the next day at work.

Love and leftovers,
Rachael

Traditional baked ziti

In case you haven't noticed, I love baked ziti. I believe this is my fourth rendition of the dish, and this is the most traditional one to date. Apparently, this is how southerners make it. Well, that's what my mother-in-law tells me, but she's from Miami.

I need better sources.

Ingredients:

• 1 box of noodles (ziti, penne, and rotini noodles are the best options)
• 1 large can of your favorite spaghetti sauce
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 16 oz. container of ricotta cheese
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 cups Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 F
• Cook the noodles according to the directions. Drain and return to pot.
• Spoon ricotta cheese into the pot o' noodles.
• Add the mozzarella cheese and minced garlic. Mix until combined.
• In a separate pot, warm up the pasta sauce on medium heat
• Once the sauce is hot, add the milk and butter. Mix until combined.
• My husband claims he needs to have meat in this type of dish, so sometimes I cook 1 lb. of ground beef, drain it and add it to the sauce.
• Spread noodle/cheese mixture into a 13x9 pan.
• Top with pasta sauce (or meat sauce)
• Top with Parmesan cheese
• Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes or until bubbly.
• Top with dried basil and oregano to add a little extra Italian "kick." Serve warm with salad and breadsticks.

Being a not-so-Southern belle, I find this dish to be absolutely delightful. And for all you newlyweds and empty-nesters who are only serving two people ... this will last you for at least two days.

How beautiful is that?

Love and ziti ... again,
Rachael

Pepperoni Calzone

Thursdays were always my favorite days growing up. Honestly, they still are. I have the whole weekend just within reach, and I always look forward to Friday, simply because I spend that entire day looking forward to the weekend.

It's complicated. I'm complicated.

But as an innocent, somewhat chunky child, Thursdays were my favorite days because it was pizza day at school. I am hesitant to admit this, but I was always the first in line.

Some things never change.

As an adult, I'm trying to stretch myself and become open to new things. I listen to classical music on occasion, watch the 700 club and read the paper (probably just because I want to impress my boss, the editor of the paper, and my night-editor who knows something about everything),

That's right...I'm talking to you, Amber.

Regardless of my tireless efforts, I cannot stray from my love of pizza, which is why tonight I am preparing its cousin, the calzone.

The beauty of calzones is that they're fancier-like pizza dressing up to go to the prom. Or, depending on how you look at it, it's a glorified hot pocket. You can fill them with whatever you want: chicken, veggies, sauces, etc. I am going forward with my traditional pizza calzone and will be using pizza sauce, cheese, olive oil, pepperoni, and italian herbs. Get creative, though! It's much easier than it looks.

Let's start with the dough. Instead of being repetitive, here's the link to my homemade pizza dough.Just make sure and stop before you start putting on toppings. Just make the super easy dough and then we'll pick up back here.

**As a side note on that pizza dough, this time I used whole wheat flour instead of white flour**

• Roll the dough out into a round shape. It doesn't have to be perfect.
• You're going to need to add the dough to whatever you're going to be baking it on. I used a stone and put a thin layer of corn starch on it.
• Add the pizza sauce to half the dough. Make sure and keep it an inch from the edge.
• Add mozzarella cheese.
• Throw on some pepperoni. This is turkey pepperoni which, P.S., tastes exactly the same and is so much better for you.

• Add more sauce.
• Fold the other half over and pinch the sides together.
• Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes.

Voilà! There ya' go, people. Eat and enjoy!

Xoxoxoxo,
Rachael

Good ol' classic spaghetti

I've shunned spaghetti for the past few years of my life.

It's too easy.

Too simple.

Too quick.

Too many leftovers, leaving me less opportunities to cook.

Too easy to please my husband.

Then it occurred to me this afternoon...

...this is freaking genius

Why I haven't cooked this classic in so long is beyond comprehension. And before you judge me for posting something so simple...

...well, I had a middle-aged woman come up to me at church and say that my recipes have saved her marriage. I don't believe her...because that would worry me.

That's way too much pressure for a part-time blogger.

So let's just do this for fun, shall we?

What you'll need:
Ground beef or turkey (1lb)
1 large jar of your choice of spaghetti sauce
Milk (yes, you read that correctly)
Garlic
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Butter (yes, you need butter, too)
1 package of spaghetti noodles
Salt/pepper
Italian seasoning

Throw a little bit of olive oil over medium/high heat and toss the pound of beef/turkey into the pan.

Let's do some seasoning. Add some salt, pepper, and italian seasoning.

Smash it all up with a wooden spoon.

Aren't you loving all these closeups of raw meat?

Now, we of course have to add some garlic. Normally I would say put two or three minced garlic cloves in with the meat; however...

Is that not the largest clove of garlic you've ever seen? I like my veggies on steroids.


Just like my men.

Moving on.

Add the minced garlic and continue to stir it over medium high heat. It should take about 10 minutes to cook thoroughly.

Throw the noodles into boiling water.

Toss the sauce into a pan over medium heat. We're going to do some doctoring.

Throw in a handful of mozzarella.

Add more minced garlic...

...about half a cup of milk.

...and 2 tbsp. of butter.

The reason we do this is to add some creaminess to the sauce. You could just eat the sauce straight up, but I like more of a vodka sauce coloring. Just without the vodka.

Amen.

While the sauce is simmering, check out your meat. Now, obviously mine's done, and if you have anything except super lean meat, you need to drain it. I won't be doing that because I have seriously lean meat and it had virtually no fat.

Well, hardly any.

Drain your noodles.

Pour the sauce in with the meat.

Mmmmmmmm.

Aren't you glad you added in the milk and butter?

Now a tip for any sauce that has meat in it, the longer it can sit on low heat and simmer, the richer it'll taste. That's just the way it is. I let mine sit for about 20 minutes, but I know people who let it sit all day.

If you have that kind of time, God bless you.

Another thing my husband is completely opposed to is combining the meat sauce with the noodles in one pan. He claims it makes the noodles soggy.

So there you are, folks. A funky twist to an old favorite.

Enjoy, all!

Love,
Rachael

Spinach Stuffed Shells

It seems to me that there's a really wide-spread misconception about new moms. I truly think that people believe in their heart-of-hearts that a new mom wants to jump on the weight-loss-wagon the minute she leaves the hospital.


Not true.


Maybe it's just me. Probably. But the second I was able to eat, I wanted two things: pasta and caffeine-free Coke. I ate ravioli from the hospital cafeteria every day in the hospital. So when I got home and was greeted by a few very healthy meals from a few very well-meaning friends, I was slightly disappointed. Where was my pasta? Did this meal seriously not come with chocolate cake like the one in the hospital did? I tried moving back into the mom/baby ward, but they gave away my suite.


I don't mean to undermine the meals that were given to us. I so appreciated every single one that passed over the threshold of our home. But deep down, I wanted to eat something hearty. I lost a ton of weight when I first came home from the hospital because I was pumping and actually forgot to eat.


Guys. I never forget to eat. So when I did, I knew I had to make my meals count.


I say all this because I made these stuffed shells for a sweet lady in the church who just had her -- count 'em -- fifth child. She's got some crowns in heaven, this I know for sure. Having been in the new baby phase a mere six months ago, I joined the ladies at my church and made her and her family a meal. A hearty one.


This is actually one of the first things I learned how to make. It's sexy without all the work. Yes, I just called this pasta dish sexy, probably because it's 10:30 pm and I can barely keep my eyes open after a 10 hour day of flying across the country with my 6-month-old. Anyway, because there are kids in the mix, I decided to make half of the dish with spinach and half without. I'm sure this new (again) mom isn't really in the mood to argue over the "green stuff" with her toddlers.


Note: The pictures shown is for a double batch, but the recipe and instructions are for a single batch. I made a ton since it was a big family.



Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 32 oz. container ricotta cheese
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup spinach (optional)
• 1 box stuffed shells
• 2 26 oz. pasta sauces

Directions:

Let's start with the cheese filling. Crack an egg in a large bowl.

Whisk it up.

I love ricotta cheese. Just had to throw that in there.

Combine the egg and ricotta.

Stir in minced garlic.

Toss in 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and combine.

Throw in one cup of the shredded mozzarella cheese.

You are more than welcome to use fresh spinach, but there's nothing wrong with frozen.

To cook, I combined frozen spinach and a splash of water and microwaved until it was hot. I then put the cooked spinach on a kitchen towel and squeezed out all the liquid.

Mix it into the cheese mixture.

Cook the noodles according to instructions on the package.

Once you've drained the noodles, let them cool for a bit since you have to use your hands.

The stuffing part is super easy. One at a time, open up the cooled shell.

Spoon in 1 tbsp. of the cheese filling into the shell and fold closed.

Do that for all the shells. This does take some time, but not as much as you might think. This huge double-batch took about 15 minutes.

If you happen to have leftover shells (which I did), you can "double up" and use two layered shells. This makes it a little heartier and provides more structure to the pasta.

Pour the sauce over the noodles.

Sprinkle on the other 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.

Top with cheddar cheese.

And finish it off with the last cup of shredded mozzarella cheese.

That's it! It's a lot of bang for your buck. Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly.

And don't forget to write out instructions! P.S. I get these adorable personalized labels from Erin Condren. They're so useful!

Serve with garlic bread and salad.

Love and meals-to-go,

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