Garlic Pesto Chicken w/ Tomato Cream Penne

Another good find thanks to Southern Girl Cooking! I love Pesto, but never really make anything with it for some reason so when I saw this...it was perfect!!

**You need to marinate the chicken overnight so make sure you do it a day before you are ready to make it.

Ingredients for Marinade:

1/2 bottle Lawrys Herb and Garlic Marinade

1 large spoonfuls of Pesto

2 boneless Chicken Breasts

Ingredients for Sauce & Pasta:

8 oz. of Penne Pasta

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

3 cloves of Garlic

2 spoonfuls of Pesto

1/2 cup Chicken Broth

8 oz. Tomato Sauce

1 cup of Half-and-Half

*I added 1 Tbsp. Parsley and 1/2 Tbsp. Oregano

What To Do(NIGHT BEFORE):

1. Cut Chicken into strips and then make slits into the chicken
2. Pour Lawrys marinade and pesto over chicken
3. Marinate overnight

DAY OF:

• Boil water and start your noodles
• In a skillet, pour entire batch of chicken, marinade and all, into it and cook chicken fully
• In another pan, heat olive oil and cook garlic
• Add pesto
• Simmer in chicken broth until half has cooked down
• Add tomato sauce, oregano and parsley
• Then add half-and-half
• Simmer for 5 minutes
• Toss pasta in
• Place chicken on top & serve!!

Crispy Cheddar Chicken Tenders

YUM is all I can say. Thank you to Plain Chicken for this wonderful recipe!

Ingredients:

2 lbs. Chicken Tenders

1/2 sleeve Club Crackers

1 1/2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 tsp. Ranch Dressing Mix (oops..I used the whole packet, but I will next time also)

dash pepper

2 Eggs

2 Tbsp. Milk

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 Tbsp. Sour Cream

1/4 cup Milk

1 Tbsp. Butter

2 pinches of Parsley

1/4 tsp. Pepper

What To Do:

• Preheat oven to 400
• In a food processor, combine crackers, cheese, ranch mix, and pepper
• Pulse until crumbs are fine and pour into a shallow bowl
• In another bowl, whisk together 2 eggs and 2 Tbsp. milk
• Dip chicken tenders into egg mixture and then coat in cracker crumbs
• Place chicken on foil lined baking pan
• Bake for 12-15 minutes (We baked ours for about 25 minutes to get really crispy)
• While chicken bakes, whisk together soup, butter, sour cream, milk, pepper and parsley
• Bring to a boil and simmer until chicken is done
• Spoon sauce over baked chicken

Jalapeno Stuffed Burgers

I wanted to keep dinner simple, but yet flavors that Kyle loves. I made the Jalapeno Stuff Chicken a couple of times and it is one of Kyle's favorites. This recipe is almost exactly the same to the Chicken, but in a burger instead. It serves 2 people so you may want to double the recipe if you are expecting more people to join for dinner.

It was harder for me to get a good picture after the burger was cooked so here is what the burger looks like before I stacked the other patty on top.

Ingredients:

1 lb.Ground Beef

4 oz. Cream Cheese; softened

1 Jalapeno; chopped and diced (w/ seeds for spice)

1/4 cup Shredded Cheese (I used Colby Jack)

1-2 slices Bacon; chopped 

Salt, Pepper & Garlic to taste

Plus any toppings you like, we used:

Lettuce

Onion

Avocado (perfect for this burger)

What To Do:

• In a bowl, combine your chopped jalapeno, bacon, cream cheese and shredded cheese
• I put in the microwave for about 10 seconds to get the cream cheese a little softer
• Divide your ground beef into 4 even slices and form patties
• Add cheese mixture to the center of one patty
• Place the other patty on top and press the edges together so they close
• Season burgers with salt, pepper and garlic
• Grill each side for about 5 minutes 
• Top with your favorite toppings!!

Chicken & Ravioli Carbonara

YUM YUM YUM!! Thanks to Plain Chicken for this wonderful recipe!! This was the perfect Italian Sunday meal & I can't wait for lunch today..leftovers :)! I doubled the recipe so that it would feed 3 of us for dinner and I could have just enough for lunch the next day. If it is for two of you, then this amount below is perfect!

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 cup cooked, chopped Chicken

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning (I used Thyme, Basil and Oregano)

1 clove Garlic

1 package (9 oz) refrigerated Cheese Ravioli (I used Spinach and Cheese Ravioli)

3/4 cup Chicken broth

1/2 cup Half-and-half

4 slices Bacon, cooked and chopped

Parmesan Cheese

Parsley

*I also added Crushed Red Pepper flakes for a hint of spice

What To Do:

• In a skillet, heat oil over high heat
• Add chopped up chicken and Italian seasoning to skillet
• Heat for about 2-3 minutes
• Add Garlic and cook for another 30 seconds
• Add broth and ravioli. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to medium
• Cook uncovered for about 4 minutes (if you double the recipe, cook for about 6-7 minutes)
• **The broth will have mostly evaporated
• Stir in half-and-half; reduce heat
• Simmer uncovered for about 6-7 minutes so that sauce can thicken
• Sprinkle with bacon, cheese and parsley

*I served all three plates and then sprinkled with bacon, cheese and parsley