Rainy Monday and a few Recipes... WHAT!

This blog started out as a cooking blog ( I don't even remember the last time I posted a recipe!!!) During the days of being a newlywed in tandem with teaching preschool I would read cook books, tweak them, and blog my own little concoctions. Fast forward a pregnancy and baby later..there are NO recipes to be found! They have all been lost in the sea of newborn pictures and monthly updates!!! So I have decided to start posting bi-weekly NEW recipes now that I have a little bit more time to myself ( baby Jax is on a great sleep schedule now yay!) 

First up is something that a dear friend made for me right after I had Jax. Now I can't exactly take full credit for it but I did some minor tweaking so I felt I needed to share it on the blog. If you have a busy week ahead all you need to do is prep this meal on a sunday and it can be lunch for you/kids/husband all week long. It saves great so thats also a win!

Grilled Chicken Pesto Pasta

This is a simple supper that requires about 30 minutes of your time. If you don't have time to fire up the grill, simply bake your chicken breasts and you are good to go!!! Here is the ingredient list

Ingredients:

two grilled chicken breasts sliced or chunked

two cups grape tomatoes sliced in half

freshly diced basil

bowtie pasta cooked drained and rinsed

olive oil

home made pesto ( or if you want to save time just buy the store-bought version!)

Fresh Mozzarella ( or shredded in the bag)

Salt and pepper

thats it!!

Directions:

Grill or bake your chicken ( salt and pepper/ olive oil both sides) to perfection and then chunk or slice it however you choose. Set aside-

While your chicken is cooking, cook your pasta adding just a little olive oil to the pot . Once finished,  rinse and drain and set aside. 

here comes the fun part :) 

In a LARGE bowl add your pasta, chicken, sliced fresh basil, grape tomatoes, and pesto sauce.. MIX TOGETHER!!! Continue to add salt and pepper until it is seasoned to preference. Serve in a Bowl and top with a few chunks of fresh Mozz!!!!! SO simple!!!

Cajun Chicken Spaghetti

Out. Of. This.World.Good.

I had this craving for pasta all day long.. it's all I could think about really, so when I got home from work I immediately started scouring my fridge to see what I could come up with.  I didn't actually intend for it to be cajun but it ended up that way with the ingredients I had on hand. Thus this spaghetti was born!!! 

Shopping List

one can cream of celery

one can cream of chicken

two bell peppers- chopped

three stalks of celery-chopped 

two large cloves of garlic-chopped and minced

1/2 large yellow onion-chopped

heavy whipping cream

1 cup grated swiss

1/2 cup grated fontina 

cajun seasoning

s&p

four chicken breasts-seasoned the way you like and grilled

angel hair pasta-serving for four

4 tablespoons of butter 

phew. I think thats it. I went to town ya'll.

Procedure

start by sautéing your veggies together over some EVOO and a little butter. Throw the garlic, onion, peppers, and celery in there and give it a little stir. While the veggies are softening, lets work on the sauce. The sauce is going to start with the two cans of cream soups. Plop them in a pot over medium high heat  and add a half a can of water..stir it a few times add in 2 tablespoons of butter and some cream ( I used about two glugs) yes I realize I am adding cream to what is already known as "cream of" soups. Whatever I'm  pregnant.  Crack in quite a bit of pepper and add some Cajun seasoning to your sauce mixture and then just add to your taste. Once the veggies are soft..its time to pour the cream over them.  Once the cream is added to the veggie mix now you need to dump your cheeses in.. this is the best part :) Next Boil your water and add your pasta. Cook for ten minutes...while your pasta is cooking cut up your already grilled chicken and set aside. Once pasta is boiled drain and place back in pot. Add cream sauce and sliced grilled chicken to the pot and toss until everything is well coated. Serve up and enjoy!!!!!