Creamy Pesto Chicken & Pasta!

I found this recipe on the back of a can of Campbell's Cream of Chicken soup. The original name is Creamy Pesto Chicken & Bow Ties but I used penne pasta so I changed the name.

This recipe is super easy but definitely has the "wow factor." The recipe below is from the Campbell's website with minor alterations. I thought the sauce was a little too thick so I reserved some of the cooking water from the pasta and thinned the sauce down a little bit. I think I used a little over a 1/4 of a cup. I think next time I'm going to sprinkle in some freshly diced tomatoes when I add the pasta to the sauce. It will not only add color but compliment the creaminess of the sauce. After I plated it, I sprinkled fresh shaved Parmesan and a little fresh parsley on top.


Creamy Pesto Chicken & Pasta

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound), cut into cubes
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
1/2 cup pesto sauce
1/2 cup milk
3 cups penne pasta, cooked and drained (reserve some of the pasta water)

1. Heat the butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until well browned, stirring often.

2. Stir the soup, pesto sauce and milk in the skillet and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cook for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Stir in the pasta and cook until the mixture is hot and bubbling. If the sauce is too thick, use the reserved pasta water to thin it down until you feel it's the right consistency.

3. Garnish with shaved Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley and enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Garlic Herb Chicken!

I made this for dinner last night and it was a big hit.

It's a variation of a recipe I saw on Cheryl a.k.a. Tidy Mom's blog and she changed a recipe she saw in a cookbook to get her recipe. I love being inspired by other bloggers!

Anyway. Hers was actually Breaded Pork Medallions but I used Chicken and they weren't medallions so I changed the name to what was comfortable for me.

Here's a link to her recipe. Mine is below.

Garlic Herb Chicken

Ingredients:
4 (4 oz.) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 triangles of Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb Spreadable Cheese
1 1/2 cups Italian style bread crumbs (I used Cheryl's measurement because I didn't measure mine. I just dumped it in the bowl.)

Directions:
~Preheat oven to 375°
~Rinse chicken breasts in cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
~Place chicken on a large cutting board and cover with 3 layers of plastic wrap. Pound with a kitchen mallet until about 1/4" to 1/2" inch thick. This will allow for even cooking and also gives you a very tender product because it breaks up the meat a bit.
~Using a butter knife, spread one triangle of cheese on the top of each breast.
~Coat each side in the bread crumbs.
~Place on a sheet pan which has been sprayed with non-stick spray.
~Spray the top of each breast with more non-stick spray.
~Bake for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is done.

I served mine with Parmesan parsley noodles and vegetables. Yummy!

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Easy Chicken Pot Pie!

Have you noticed that 90% of the recipes I post on my blog are easy peasy lemon squeezy?

I love easy! I don't have time to spend hours in the kitchen every day! In fact, I don't know many wives and Mothers that do have the time. Anyway. I think it's pointless to do everything from scratch when there are so many great products out on the market these days.

In this recipe, I took advantage of one of those products...already prepared pie crusts that you find in the dairy section at the grocery store. Using them enables you to make this pot pie in minutes.

Another thing that I also pick up sometimes when they are on sale is the baked chickens that the grocery stores carry. I will bring it home, clean it and freeze the chicken so I can use it in recipes later. It cuts my cooking time tremendously!

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:
1 box of Prepared Pie Crusts, let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes
1 - 1 1/2 lbs. of Chicken, cooked and diced
1 1/2 cups of Frozen Mixed Vegetables
1 can of Diced Potatoes, drained
1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup
Salt and Pepper, to taste

~Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
~In a large bowl, add prepared chicken, frozen vegetables, diced potatoes, soup, salt and pepper.
~In a pie plate (I use a glass one), line the bottom with one of the prepared pie crusts.
~Put the chicken, veggie and soup mixture in the pie plate on top of the first crust.
~Cover with the second pie crust. Fold the edges under the bottom edges and pinch the two together.
~Using a sharp knife, cut some air holes into the top crust so pie doesn't build up steam and explode.
~Cover the edges of the crust with foil so it doesn't burn before the whole pie cooks.
~Bake with the edges covered for 20 minutes.
~After the first 20 minutes, remove foil and bake for another 20 minutes.
~Let sit for 10 minutes to set.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Thanksgiving Turkey!

This year I cooked my family's Thanksgiving meal. Last year I saw it had gotten too much for my Mom. So. This year I told her that I'm taking the turkey baster off of her and Thanksgiving dinner was now mine! It wasn't the first time I cooked a turkey but it was the first time I did the whole meal.

Even though Thanksgiving is now over, I am going to take the next few days to post all of the recipes I used. Any of the items would be great for your Christmas or Holiday meals or you could tuck them away for use next year.

Before I post the first recipe, let me say that I prepped everything the day before. Yes, everything...even the mashed potatoes! Doing this enabled me to have a stress free, relaxing Thanksgiving. I'll share more about how I prepped ahead with each recipe that I post. It really worked out beautifully. Even though I cooked for 12 people, I had time to sit in the kitchen with my Mom while the turkey was cooking and visit.

The first recipe I am going to share is for the turkey. As I have said, I have cooked turkeys before but this year I wanted to try something new. Yes, trying something new on the day of Thanksgiving is taking somewhat of a chance but I threw caution to the wind and went for it. If it didn't work, we had a lot of side dishes we could fill up on!

So. A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving I saw in the Parade Magazine (that comes in the Sunday's paper) the article "The Best Chefs Create Your Perfect Thanksgiving Dinner." Bobby Flay did the turkey and after reading over it, I decided this was the recipe I was going to use. Even though his cooking usually is more elaborate and has a wonderful flair to it, his recipe for turkey seemed more traditional and perfect for me. The main thing I liked about it, was that he said you could cook a 17 pound turkey in 2 hours plus 20-40 minutes resting time after you take it out of the oven. Seriously friends, it worked and was the most tastiest, juiciest turkey I have EVER put in my mouth! Since I live about an hour away from my parents' and I was cooking there, I didn't want to drag Allison out of bed at 5 in the morning to get there to put the turkey in the oven so we could eat around 12:30. I will never cook a turkey the long way ever again!

Here is his recipe with my adjustments in red. (I know, I know...I couldn't help myself...I had to do things a little different but you'll see they weren't in the cooking. I followed his instructions exactly.

Turkey by Bobby Flay

Ingredients:

1 whole fresh turkey (17 lbs.), rinsed and patted dry (I used 16 lbs.)

1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened (I used salted)

2 Tbsp each finely chopped fresh sage, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme leaves, and fresh flat-leaf parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 large carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 large celery stalks, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 large onions, quartered

8 cups warm homemade chicken stock

Instructions:

1. Remove turkey from the refrigerator 1 hour before roasting.

2. Mix butter, sage, rosemary, thyme, and parsley in a food processor until smooth; season with salt and pepper. (I didn't use the food processor. I let the butter come to room temperature and finely chopped the sage, rosemary, thyme and parsley by hand. Then I mixed them together in a small bowl with the back of a spoon.)

3. Preheat oven to 450ºF. Season the cavity of the turkey with salt and pepper and fill with half the carrots, celery, and onions. Rub entire turkey with herb butter and season liberally with salt and pepper. (I also lifted the skin and rubbed the mixture directly on the meat under the skin.)

4. Put 4 cups of the chicken stock in a medium-size saucepan and keep warm over low heat.

5. Place remaining vegetables and stock on the bottom of a large roasting pan. Place turkey on top of the vegetables, put in the oven, and roast for 45 minutes or until lightly golden brown. (I covered the turkey for this part of the cooking) Reduce heat to 350ºF and continue to roast (I did this part uncovered), basting with warm chicken stock every 15 minutes, about 1 1/4 hours longer. (An instant-read thermometer inserted in the thigh should register 160ºF.) Remove turkey from the oven, transfer to a baking sheet, and tent loosely with foil (I left the turkey in the pan and tightly covered it with foil and then put a double folded bath towel on top of the foil). Let rest 20 minutes before slicing (I let it rest for 40 minutes and it was still hot).

Per 4-oz. serving: 240 calories, no carbs, 32g protein, 95mg cholesterol, and 11g fat.

Bobby Flay's Turkey Tips

Fresh vs. Frozen
Both are good, but frozen turkeys have to be defrosted, which can take several days and occupy valuable room in your refrigerator.

Fresh Herbs vs. Dried
Dried herbs can be substituted for fresh herbs at a ratio of 1 to 3. But fresh herbs have purer flavors that stand out on Thanksgiving Day.

Resting
It’s imperative to let the turkey rest before slicing so the juices recirculate. Wait at least 20 minutes for a small bird, 40 minutes for a larger one.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!