Guiltless Alfredo Sauce

If you are a reader of Our Best Bites, you might already be familiar with this recipe. I LOVE me some yummy Alfredo sauce, so this does the trick without the same amount of calories and fat--if you're counting. :)

(Recipe found here)

You will need:

2 C low-fat milk (I use skim)
1/3 low fat cream cheese
2-3 Tbs. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. butter
3 garlic cloves
1 C grated Parmesan cheese

**Put milk, cream cheese, flour, and salt in a blender and blend until smooth. 

** In a non-stick sauce pan, melt butter on med-high heat and add garlic, sautee for about 30 seconds.

**Add milk mixture to the pan--stir constantly for about 3 or 4 minutes or until it just comes to a simmer. Keep stirring and let it cook for a few minutes more. It should be thickening up. **When it’s thickened remove the pan from the heat. 

**Add the cheese, stir it up and then cover immediately. 

**Let stand for at least 10 minutes before using.

**It will continue to thicken upon standing. 

**Season with additional salt and pepper if needed.  

YUM!

Creamy Pesto Chicken & Bow Ties

Is anyone out there still checking this poor, poor, neglected blog? We have been slacking big time, but I am here to give you a simple, delicious dinner recipe. Lucky for me I actually looked at the back of the Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup can when I was making dinner and decided to tear off this recipe for future reference. We tried it out at my mom's house when both Candice and Mindy were there and we were all fans and definitely thought it was worth sharing with you--just in case you had never tried it before! So, here goes!

(source)

You will need:

2 Tbs. butter

4 chicken breasts (cut into cubes)

1 can (10 3/4 oz) Cream of Chicken Soup

1/2 C. pesto sauce (I just bought a small jar by the pasta sauces)

1/2 C. milk

3 C. bow tie pasta, cooked & drained

**Heat butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until well browned.

**Stir soup, pesto sauce, and milk in skillet and heat to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cook 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. 

**Stir in pasta and cook until mixture is hot and bubbling.

There ya have it! Quick, easy, and delicious!!

Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Pasta

Hello! Hello! I am here to amaze and wow you by sharing a wonderful new recipe! If  you like pasta and you like chicken enchiladas, well my friends, this recipe is for you! All credit goes to my fabulous, amazing,  neighbor Krista and her delicious blog Budget Gourmet Mom this was one of those recipes I knew I had to try as soon as it showed up in my RSS feed! I was NOT disappointed! Matt kept saying after every bite how good it was and as soon as he was done told me he couldn't wait until lunch the next day, so he could eat it again! Mmmm mmmm this was too GOOD not to share!!!

Stop over and check out Krista's blog and leave her some love if you try this one out!

 (picture from here)

 You will need:

1 lb bow tie pasta

2 chicken breasts, cubed and cooked

1 - 10 3/4 oz can cream of chicken of soup

1 - 4oz can diced green chilies

2 cups sour cream

1 small onion, diced

1 small can black olives, sliced

3 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Enchilada Sauce:

1 - 8 oz can tomato sauce

1/3 cup water

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp cumin

1 clove garlic, minced

I got my enchilada sauce cooking first--it's SO delicious!! First of all I didn't know you could make your own so easily, second of all I had no idea it would be so YUMMY!!

**In a small saucepan mix all of the ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cook for a few minutes for the ingredients to blend. Pour over the enchilada pasta or store in the refrigerator for later.

**Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the pasta. 

**While the pasta cooks in a large bowl mix the soup, green chilies, sour cream, onions, olives and 1 cup of shredded cheese.

 **Once the pasta is al dente fold it into the soup mixture along with the cooked chicken.

**Pour into one 9x13 baking dish or two smaller rectangular dishes (she uses the disposable ones for freezing).

**Pour over enchilada sauce and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

**Bake at 350° until cheese is melted and it's heated through, mine took about 20-25 minutes!

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cheesy chicken spaghetti

maybe we'll just not post a recipe for a week or more and only provide you with meal plan mondays.

oh. wait. we just did. oops! well to make it up, here's a good one for you! and...i'm working up some halloweenish recipes to get you pumped for your halloween bash. look for those! 

i originally saw this recipe on pinterest. it was labeled as a crock-pot recipe, so i pinned it without even reading the details. once i did read the details, i saw that a crock-pot was in no way involved. but by that point, i was already all sorts of excited about trying it out.

let me say...yum! we loved it. it tastes like a southern, comfort food (because i know what that is. as if i've ever been south of colorado), which the original blogger says it is. it is a good meal for a cold or rainy day. it's warm and filling and just plain good. it comes from this blog, which is where i got the picture from. as always, i modified and changed it to what worked for me. you can do the same if you'd like. :) here's my version. ps, it seems like a lot of steps, but it's really fast and simple to put together:

you'll need:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 12 oz. pkg. spaghetti

1 16 oz. pkg. velveeta cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can chicken broth

1 cube butter

1 green pepper, diced

cook your chicken in the crock-pot (i lied! a crock pot is involved!) all day with about a half a cup of water. when it's cooked, shred with a fork. set aside. (you could shred a rotisserie chicken or cook it in a frying pan and shred).

cook spaghetti. i added a sprinkling of chicken bouillon to the water i cooked my spaghetti in, but i don't know that it really made a difference. while pasta is cooking, saute green pepper in butter until pepper is soft. 

in a microwave-safe bowl, combine chicken broth, velveeta, and cream of chicken, and microwave on high for 7-9 minutes (or until cheese is melted and mixture is smooth), stirring every 2-3. when mixture is combined, mix it with the noodles, butter/pepper, and chicken. stir together. 

at this point, because i was leaving the house, i threw it in a pammed crock-pot on high for about an hour and a half. or, you can pam a 9X13 and cook it at 350* for 45 minutes.

it turned out suuuper cheesy, so i might only use 3/4 the block of velveeta. then again, maybe not. as my bro-in-law says, "you can never have too much cheese!" :)

Goulash

did that name just turn you right off? well don't let it! a couple years ago, i called nicki from the grocery store asking for dinner ideas with which i could use hamburger; i had some, but I wasn't in the mood for the typical tacos or spaghetti. she suggested cheeseburger pasta. to put it lightly, i was grossed out leery, but i took her word for it and tried it out. let me say...yum-mo! we loved it! it's hearty and filling and super quick and easy. also, it's a kid-pleaser. my little guy eats it right up. it's probably not the dinner you want to make for guests or fancy occasions, but for a quick, week night, throw-it-together-and-eat kind of meal? yes sir. it does the job.

 picture from here

They obviously used large shell noodles. I use small, but really any pasta will work.

What you need:

Adapted from Campbell's Cheeseburger Macaroni

 1 lb. hamburger

1 can tomato soup

1 can cheddar cheese soup

12 oz. small shell noodles

1-3 C. water

brown hamburger (i always add s&p and some minced onion) and drain. add both soups, noodles, and 1 cup of water. let simmer until noodles are cooked. and that's it! the water cooks off pretty quickly, so i watch it and stir and add more water as i see fit. i said 1-3 cups of water because i truly don't measure. i start with about a cup and then add more as i go. top with grated cheddar cheese and serve with any kind of bread! easy peasy!

Penne San Remo

When Nicki gave me this recipe and I was writing it down I thought it seemed like a ton of ingredients with a lot of steps. I am always a little leary of trying things that seem complicated but Min was here and I was secretly trying to impress her (I have to keep up on my super amazing big sis rep) so I gave it a go. Let me assure you, it does have more igredients than our usual faves, but you really just have to thrown them all in so it goes together quick and is easy peasy.

Here is what you will need:

16 oz. Penne Pasta

1 lb. Chicken Breasts

1 1/2 T. Flour

2 t. Italian Seasoning

1 t. salt

1 t. pepper

3 T. Olive Oil for chicken

3 T. Olive Oil for Sauce

1 T. butter

2 T. Fresh minced garlic

3/4 C. Marinated Artichoke hearts

1/2 C. Frozen Peas

3/4 C. Sun-dried tomatoes

3/4 C. Chicken broth

1/2 C. Whipping Cream

3/4 C. Grated Parmesan

*So first get your water boiling for your pasta

*Heat up the olive oil and butter and cook your chicken up. Then cut it into slices

*Clean your pan out and then add the other 3 T. olive oil to start the sauce

*Add the garlic, peas, and chopped artichokes. Stir for 2 minutes

*Sprinkle in the flour and stir it up real good (this is to thicken the sauce)

*Next, add the chicken broth, italian seasoning, and S&P

*Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and let simmer for 3-4 minutes

*Stir in cream and then add the parm and stir until it is all melted

*Add the tomatoes and then stir in the chicken

*Toss it all together with the pasta

Believe me, it is pure yumminess!

thai ginger peanut noodles

does that name sound like a mouthful? i agree. i kind of made it up. the real name is 'ginger peanut noodles with chicken.' but that's kind of a mouthful, too, right? also, i can never remember what it's called, so i always say, "you know...that thai ginger peanut noodle recipe? you know which one i mean?" and that's what we call it at our house. so that's what we'll call it here.

so once upon a christmas, my mother-in-law decided to remind me of how awesomesauce she is and give me a subscription to the magazine of my choice. although can said i should choose "people" (we love us some celebrity gossip), i went with "real simple." i know, i know. i'm quickly maturing from a gossip-loving-teen to a trying-to-figure-out-how-to-cook/clean/organize/parent-twenty-something-er. let me put a plug in for this magazine. i love, love it! i always find some good tips and tricks in there to help me simplify my life. if you don't get this magazine, you should! and if you don't want to, you should check out realsimple.com!

okay. where was i? oh yes. ginger peanut noodles and "real simple". i found this recipe in the recipe section (go figure!) of the magazine and was eager to try it. as i've mentioned before, we love thai food. also, once in a while i get in a cream of chicken soup/cream cheese rut (i know! it's normally my fave!) and want to change it up.so when i found this recipe, it seemed right up our alley. i love that it's different from what we usually eat, yet it's still quick, simple, yummy, and easy on the budget. i made a few minor changes. you can find the original recipe here if you don't trust my changes :)

 
image from realsimple.com
you need: 
1 c. water

1/2 c. peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
3 tbsp. rice vinegar (if you have it, use it. but it smells like regular vinegar. so you can use the regular)
3 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. grated fresh ginger (the recipe calls for 1, but i use 2 because i love it)
8 oz .spaghetti

1.5 cups shredded rotisserie chicken (i don't like rotisserie chicken, so i just put a couple of boneless, skinless breasts in the crock-pot all day on low and shred them)

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 small cucumber, cut into strips

2 Tbsp. chopped peanuts

cook the pasta according to the package directions, drain it, and put it in a large serving bowl. 

while the pasta is cooking, combine the water, peanut butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, and ginger in a blender and blend until smooth. when it is smooth, pour the sauce mixture into a pot and heat on high until boiling. once hot, pour the sauce mixture over the noodles and toss. add in the chicken, bell pepper, and cucumber, toss to combine, and serve with sprinkled peanuts.

mmm. i think we will be having this tomorrow. just thinking about it makes my mouth water! it is a really yummy dish, and the cucumber and pepper make it taste really fresh and refreshing during the summer.

enjoy!

ps, we realize that we've been seriously neglecting this blog lately. but it's summer. that in itself is a good excuse, right? we have been spending our days swimming and camping and eating popsicles with our kids. so we're staying busy and having fun.
you can forgive us, right??