Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta

Steve and I had this for dinner last night, and it was really quick and tasted amazing!! Recipe from Pioneer Woman.

Ingredients

• 4 whole Grilled Chicken Breasts, Sliced
• 1 pound Penne Pasta, Cooked Until Al Dente
• 1/2 stick Butter/Margarine
• 3 whole Lemons, Juiced
• 3/4 cup Heavy Cream
• 1/4 cup Half-and-half (note: I just used 1 cup fat free half-and-half instead of the cream/half-and-half mix. It was a little thinner than it would have been otherwise, but tasted fine.)
• 1-1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese (or Romano)
• Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
• 20 whole Basil Leaves, Chopped (I used dried basil)

Preparation Instructions

Cook pasta, reserving 1 cup of hot pasta water when you drain. Set pasta aside in a colander.
In the same pot, melt butter over medium heat. Squeeze in the juice of 3 to 4 lemons. Whisk together. Pour in cream and half-and-heat. Whisk until hot. (Note: You really have to whisk the cream and half-and-half in or else the texture will be off.) Dump in cheese and whisk until melted. Add salt, pepper, and basil to taste. Check consistency, adding some of the hot pasta water to loosen the sauce if needed.
Pour pasta and sauce into a large serving bowl. Sprinkle remaining basil all over the top, then add sliced chicken breasts. Serve immediately!

Cookies n' Creme Cookies

(I got this recipe from cjaneinthekitchen.blogspot.com.)

2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 (4.2 ounce) package Cookies n' Creme pudding mix (Jello pudding)
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups white chocolate chips
15 Oreo cookies, very coarsely chopped

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars, add pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda with a whisk then add it to the butter mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips and Oreo cookies. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes in preheated oven until cookies tops barely have a touch of brown. Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Pumpkin Sage Pasta

Recipe courtesy of Nat the Fat Rat (I can't take any credit here, people. But it's so good~ probably my new favorite fall recipe.)

3 Tbs Olive Oil

3 Tbs Butter

2 Cloves Garlic, Diced

8 Leaves Fresh Sage, Chopped (I have never tried this with fresh sage, but it tastes great with dried...)

1 Cup Canned Pumpkin

1 Cup Reserved Pasta Water

Salt and Pepper To Taste

Red Pepper Flakes To Taste

Four Handfuls Whole Wheat Pasta

Parmesan To Taste

1. Sautee garlic and sage in olive oil and butter in a pan over medium-high heat.

2. Add pumpkin and pasta water.

3. Whisk together until combined. Add more pasta water if sauce is too thick, more pumpkin if too thin.

4. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste.

5. Pour sauce over drained pasta and stir to combine.

6. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

(Makes for really good left overs and tastes really good cold.)

Garbanzo Salad

MIX TOGETHER: 2 cans garbanzo beans, drained

1 red pepper, diced

1 green pepper, diced

4-5 green salad onions, sliced thinly

1 small can sliced black olives, drained

1 (4 oz.) can diced green peppers

DRESSING (mix together and then mix well with garbanzo mixture and chill before serving):

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. oregano

3 TBS. olive oil

4 TBS. vinegar

Fudge Pecan Pie

1 unbaked 9" pie shell

1 Baker's "Sweet Chocolate" bar

3 Tbs. margarine

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 and 1/4 cups light corn syrup

2 tsp. vanilla

3 eggs, beaten

2/3 cups chopped pecans

1/2 cups pecan halves

Melt chocolate bar and margarine in a double boiler, stirring frequently.

Add sugar, flour, salt, corn syrup, and vanilla. While stirring this mixture, add the eggs one at a time. Fold in chopped pecans and place all of this in the unbaked pie shell. Garnish with pecan halves.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. cool.

Cajun Chicken Pasta

Ingredients:

2-ish chicken boneless, skinless breasts
2 cups fat free half and half
1 Tbs. corn starch
1 Tbs. margarine
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 tsp. cajun seasoning (more or less to taste)
1/8 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. lemon pepper
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
8 oz. (roughly) dry pasta (I would recommend using penne or farfalle.)

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Cut the chicken into 1/2-inch to 1 inch cubes. Cook thoroughly in a skillet over med high heat.
3. Remove chicken and place to the side. Turn up the heat and add margarine When margarine is melted, add the onion and the red and green peppers. Cook 2-3 minutes (I like it if they just barely start to sear), and add half and half. Bring to a boil and add all spices and the chicken.
4. In a dish on the side, mix cornstarch with either 2 Tbs. of the boiling water from the pasta or with the boiling half and half mixture. Mix thoroughly and add to the pan with the sauce. Boil for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, and add the cooked pasta. Stir it up and you're done!

Serves 4-6

Chicken Tortilla Soup

3 tsp. instant boullion + 4 cups water (or 4 cups chicken stock)

3 small tomatoes (cored and sliced)

1 small zucchini (chopped and blended)

1 medium carrot (chopped and blended)

1/2 green bell pepper

1/2 jalapeno chili (optional)

1 garlic clove

1 1/2 cups chopped, cooked chicken

1/2 cup whole kernel corn (frozen)

1 1/2 tsp. cumin

2 cans black beans

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Sour cream

Tortilla chips

Blend tomatoes, zucchini, carrot, bell pepper, and chili in a blender or food processor. In pan, combine boullion, water, and blended mixture.

Add chicken, corn, cumin, black beans, and cilantro.

Serve with sour cream and tortilla chips.