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

Chicken Pot "Not Pie" Soup

I am not a huge fan of Chicken Pot Pie, but Kyle loves it. After making those mini Pot Pies, I decided this soup would probably be better. This recipe will make a lot so I would cut the recipe in half if it's just 2 or 3 of you eating it.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Flour

2 cups Water

4 cups Milk

1 large Celery stalk (I used 4 pieces from a container)

1/2 medium Onion

2 Chicken bouillons

1 tsp. Thyme

1 can of Corn

1 can of Peas

3 large Carrots; peeled and sliced

2 Potatoes; peeled and cubed small

1 bunch of Green Onions; chopped

16 oz. cooked Chicken breasts; diced small (I used 3 Chicken breasts)

Salt and Pepper

1 tsp. Cayenne pepper

1 tsp. Chili powder

What To Do:

• Cook your Chicken breasts if you haven't done so already
• Dice Chicken into small pieces (I set some aside for mine and shredded it)
• Pour 1 1/2 cups of water and your milk into a large pot and slowly bring to a boil
• Add celery, onion, carrots, potatoes, chicken bouillons, and thyme and return to a boil
• Partially cover and simmer on low until veggies are tender (About 10 min.)
• While veggies are cooking, in a bowl, combine the rest of your water- 1/2 cup with the flour and whisk until well blended; set aside
• Remove lid and add corn, peas, green onions, salt/pepper, cayenne pepper, and chili powder (cook for another 5 min.)
• Add chicken and slowly whisk in your water and flour mixture
• Cook another 2 minutes until soup thickens

Crock Pot Ravioli Casserole

Italian night at our house and what better way to cook than using the crock pot!! Thanks to Becoming Betty for this delicious recipe!

Ingredients:

1 lb. Ground Beef

1 Onion; chopped

1 clove Garlic; minced

1 (15 oz.) can Tomato Sauce

1 can Stewed Tomatoes

1 tsp. Oregano

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

salt and pepper

10 oz. frozen spinach (I used fresh Baby Spinach)

16 oz. Bowtie Pasta; cooked

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese; shredded

1 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese; shredded

*For the Italian seasonings, I just used Parsley, dried Basil, Thyme along with Cayenne Pepper

What To Do:

• Brown the ground beef with the onion and garlic
• Once browned, put in the crock pot and add sauce, tomatoes, and seasonings
• Mix well
• Cook on low for 6-7 hours 
• Add the last 4 ingredients during the last 30 minutes of cooking and turn to high (I set the crock pot for 6 hours on low so that it would turn to warm once the 6 hours was up. When I got home from work and we were ready to eat, I turned the crock pot to high and added the last 4 ingredients)

Baked Tacos

Yes, I might know what you are thinking. Why baked tacos when tacos are so easy to make? Sometimes I want to add a little something different to just the easy, normal things to make. Thanks to a recipe online, I made tacos a different way!!

**The full recipe below will make around 18-20 tacos depending on how much you put in each shell. I halved the recipe and was able to make 10 Tacos.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. Ground Beef

4 tsp. Dried minced Onion

3 tsp. Chili Powder

1 tsp. Cornstarch

1 tsp. Garlic Powder

1 tsp. Ground Cumin

1/2 tsp. Dried Oregano

1/8 tsp. Cayenne Pepper

1 (8 oz.) can Tomato Sauce

1 (16 oz.) can Refried Beans

2 cups Shredded Colby-jack Cheese

Taco Shells (18-20 for full recipe/10 for half)

Optional Condiments:

Lettuce

Salsa

Guacamole

Pico de Gallo 

**When I halved the recipe, I used more for the seasonings so that I could make it spicy!

What To Do:

• Preheat oven to 400F
• In a pan, brown your ground beef and then drain any excess liquid
• Add refried beans, tomato sauce, and all the seasonings
• Mix well
• Spoon the taco meat into your taco shells (as much as desired) and place into a casserole dish (I used the shells with the flat bottoms so that they would stand on their own)
• **If you like your shells a little crunchy, make sure the shells are not touching
• Sprinkle the cheese on top of the meat
• Bake at 400F for 10-12 minutes
• Remove and top with any of your condiments!!