Bacon Artichoke with Penne Bake

My friend Kim gave me a cookbook recently and everything in it looks so amazing. So today I tried this recipe. Along with this recipe is a Guiltless Alfredo sauce and it is amazing. I was skeptical but honestly it is one of the bests I have had and it was super easy.
Guiltless Alfredo Sauce

2 cups low fat milk
1/3 cup ( 3 ounces ) low-fat cream cheese
2 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

In a blender, blend the milk, cream cheese, flour and salt until smooth and set aside.

In a large, nonstick saucepan, melt butter and saute garlic. Add the milk mixture to the pan. Stir constantly for 3-4 minutes or until it comes to a simmer. Keep stirring and let it cook for a few minutes more or until the sauce thickens, about 6-7 minutes.

Once the sauce starts to thicken, remove from the heat. Whisk the cheese into the sauce and immediately cover.

Allow the sauce to stand for at least 10 minutes before using. It will continue to thicken upon standing. Use immediately.


Bacon Artichoke with Penne Bake

8 ounces penne or bowtie pasta
1 recipe Guiltless Alfredo sauce
2 chicken breasts, grilled and chopped
6 ounces (1/2 package) cooked bacon, chopped
1 (14 ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 cup mozzarella cheese, divided
Salt and pepper to taste

Prepare pasta according to package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare alfredo sauce. When pasta is done, drain and add to sauce. Toss with chicken, bacon, onions, artichokes and 1/2 cup cheese.

Transfer to baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover with aluminum foin and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is bubbly.

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

Everyone loved this. Fred ate a ton and Max is taking leftovers to school, which never happens.

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

1 roll refrigerated pizza dough or any bread dough recipe ( I made the dough)
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Pizza toppings, I used pepperoni, olives, and mushrooms
1 Tablespoon olive oil or melted butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Italian seasoning
2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Marinara, pizza sauce

Preheat the oven to the heat specified on pizza dough package or recipe.

Roll your dough out into a rectangle and cut into desired size squares. The recipe says 24, I made mine bigger.

Place your toppings, (except the sauce, reserved for dipping) in the center of each square. Put about a tablespoon of cheese inside. Make sure you'll be able to completely enclose the filling with the dough.

When all of your square dough have toppings and cheese carefully lift up each square and wrap the dough around the toppings. Pinch to make sure each ball is sealed shut and then place them seam side down in a lightly sprayed pan.

Brush the tops of dough balls with olive oil or melted butter and then sprinkle with the garlic, Italian seasoning, and parmesan cheese.

Book for about 15-20 min or until golden brown on top. Serve immediately with warmed sauce.

Honey Lime Enchiladas

My neighbor and I swap meals every week and this is what she brought tonight. It was really good.

Honey Lime Enchiladas

1 1/2 lbs chicken or pork, cooked and shredded
2 (10 oz) cans green enchilada sauce

Sauce:

1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup lime juice
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Equal parts mixed together of:

mozzarella cheese, shredded
cheddar cheese, shredded

flour tortillas

Mix together sauce ingredients then add to chicken or pork. Let the sauce soak into the meat for 30 minutes.

Lightly spray 2 pans with cooking spray ( usually makes one 9 x 13 and one 9 x9, freezes well) Pour green enchilada sauce into pans to coat the entire bottom ( save some for the top.) Fill tortilla with shredded meat and desired amount of cheese. Roll and place in dish.

Pour remainder sauce over enchiladas and sprinkly with more cheese.

Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes uncovered.

Italian Chicken Pasta Bake

This was a new recipe for me. I really liked it and didn't get any complaints from the kids. Which rarely happens.

Italian Chicken Pasta Bake

1/4 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, crushed
8 0unces mushrooms (fresh or canned)
2 small zucchini, diced
2 (14.5 oz) cans crushed or diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
1 rotisserie chicken deboned and broken into chunks
1 pkg (8 oz) shredded Itailian cheese blend
2 (9 0z) pkg fresh pasta, uncooked- (I used 3 cheese tortellini, the recipe calls for chicken & bacon borsetti but I couldn't find it.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.

Heat large skillet and spray with cooking spray. Add onion and garlic, saute for 1 minute.

Add mushrooms and zucchini and saute for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, italian seasoning, salt, pepper and sugar. Stir to combine.

Remove from heat, add 1 cup cheese. Stir. Spread uncooked pasta evenly on the bottom of baking dish. Top with chicken and vegetable mixture, making sure the pasta is covered. Sprinkle with remaining cheese on top.

Bake uncovered for 20 minutes, until heated through and cheese is melted and bubbly. Let stand for 5 minutes.

African Peanut Stew and French Bread

So when I signed up for that Thanksgiving Point cooking class this was the soup that I had ZERO interest in. It sounded weird to me but it was amazing. My kids of course did not love it like I did but Fred loved it and is excited to have leftovers for lunch.

African Peanut Stew

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 medium red, orange, or yellow bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons fresh ginger ( I used 1 Tablespoon of the dried ginger)
1 Tablespoon curry powder
1 (14 ounce) diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf ( I didn't use this)
2 cups chicken broth ( 1 can)
1 can coconut milk ( 1 can of chicken broth if you don't want the coconut milk)
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
1 1/2 cup chicken (or shelled edamame)
1/4 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter or almond butter
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 (5 ounce) bag baby spinach leaves ( I used more)
1/2 tsp salt

Heat olive oil in a 4qt pan. Add onion, bell pepper, carrot and celery. Saute until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger and curry and saute until fragant, about 1 minute; do not brown garlic. Add tomatoes and bay leaf; cook, uncovered, until tomatoes are slightly reduced, about 3 minutes. Add broth and sweet potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer about 8 minutes. Stir in chicken and peanut butter until combined. Cook until thoroughly heated, about 2 minutes. Stir in cilantro and spincach until spinach wilts. Season with salt and pepper. Serve over steamed rice.


Easy French Bread

2 1/2 cups warm water
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons yeast
1 Tablespoon salt
6 cups flour
1/4 cup oil

Stir together warm water, sugar, and yeast. Let the yeast work for about 3-4 minutes. Add salt, oil, and 3 cups flour. Knead in 3 more cups of flour. Let dough rest for 10 minutes. Knead and shape into 2 French loaves. Make little slices in the top of the bread. Let dough rise for 10 more minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.