lemon chicken pasta

Ok, as you might have noticed lately....I am obsessed with lemon, garlic, and oregano...yummmm, my favorite thing right now with chicken! This was super easy to make! I am excited for leftover's for lunch tomorrow!

Serves 4

ingredients:

~1 lemon (I used 2 tbsp. lemon juice)

~1/4 cup flour (I used whole wheat flour)
~1 1/4-1 1/2 teaspoons seasoning salt (I used 1 tsp of Frankenmuth chicken seasoning & 1 tsp of lemon pepper seasoning & a few dashes of oregano)
~1 1/2 lbs chicken, thin sliced cutlets
~1/4 cup garlic butter (I used 4 tbsp of light butter & 2 garlic cloves minced)
~8 ounces penne pasta (I use the Barilla Plus Penne)
~2 teaspoons chicken base (I used chicken stock)
~3/4 cup white wine (I used cooking sherry because it was all I had)
~1/2 cup whipping cream (I used fat free half & half)

Cut lemon in half and set aside.(Or could sub 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice.).
Fill Large saucepan 1/2 full of water. Cover and bring to boil on high heat for pasta.

Preheat large saute pan on medium-high 2-3 minutes.
Place flour and seasoned salt in zip-top bag; shake to mix. Cut chicken into bite size pieces, then add to bag and shake to coat the chicken, make sure to get all the flour mix absorbed by chicken.
Put the garlic & butter in saute pan and then add the chicken, reduce heat to medium. Cook several minutes to brown and until no longer pink.

Add pasta to boiling water; cook 6-8 minutes or to your liking.

Stir chicken base into chicken; cook 2 minutes. Squeeze juice from lemon into chicken; stir in wine and cream. Reduce heat to low; cook 4-5 minutes.
Drain pasta and stir into chicken mixture.

Enjoy!!

stuffed spinach + ricotta pasta shells

Tonight I really out did myself ;) My husband requested stuffed pasta shells, so I wanted to look for a recipe that used creamy tomato sauce instead of regular...while searching for this, I stumbled upon this recipe & decided to try it out! Only to realize it took me a good 2 hours to prepare everything...but it was worth it!! These were super yummy, and made enough for my husband to eat all weekend while I am away in Vegas with my girlfriends!! I found it on group recipes, and modified a little to our liking ;)

Makes 10 servings: Cut recipe in half to make 5 servings)

ingredients:

For Shells:
~1 box jumbo pasta shells (cooked al dente)
~2c. ricotta cheese (16oz.)
~1c. parmesan cheese
~1c. mozzarella
~1 10 oz. box chopped spinach (thawed and drained)
~1/2t. minced garlic
~2 eggs
~1/3c. finely minced onion
~1t. red pepper flakes
~2T. balsamic vinegar
~2T. honey (I omitted)

For Meat Sauce:
~1/3c. olive oil
~2large onions minced
~4 slices beacon chopped (I added the pre-cooked bacon & cooked until crisp)
~2t. minced garlic
~1lb. sausage (I omitted)
~2lb. ground chuck (I used 1lb.)
~1 1/2c. red wine (I used 3/4c.)
~3 large cans crushed tomatoes (I used only 2 large cans)
~1 small can tomato paste
~2t. dried basil
~1t. dried oregano
~1t. dried rosemary (I omitted)
~4T. balsamic vinegar (I omitted)

For Topping:
~1c. parmesan grated
~1c. shredded mozzarellaDirections

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Boil Shells and drain; set aside on wax paper to prevent sticking.

In a large bowl mix all filling ingredients till well incorporated
stuff each shell very full and lay in extra large casserole or lasagna pan; Set aside

For Sauce:
Add olive oil to a large stock pot
Add onions and cook till light carmel color
Add chopped beacon, cook till crisp
Add garlic cook 2-3 min.
Add sausage and ground chuck and cook just till all pink is gone
Add red wine, tomatoes, tomato paste and simmer 60 min stirring often
In the last 15 min add balsamic vinegar, basil, oregano,rosemary, and honey
You may choose here to add enough spices to suit your own personal taste
Pour a layer of sauce on bottom of glass dish. Place stuffed shells in bottom of pan over sauce; pur remainder of sauce over the stuffed shells. (I didnt use all the tomato sauce, I froze the rest)
Sprinkle cheeses on top

Bake for about 45 min or until top is golden

oatmeal blueberry applesauce muffins

It's been awhile!! I have been so busy, I have no idea where the time went!! I can't believe it will be our 1st year anniversary next weekend! Married life is fabulous, and NO we are not trying to have kids just yet...we are enjoying our time together, and we are both very busy right now with our jobs & other commitments. We don't even have a dog yet, LOL!

I apologize for the lack of dinner recipes, but I have been making baked, grilled, or broiled chicken for dinner most nights because we get home too late. Also, I have been talking to the nutritionist at the gym & I am trying to cut out carbs after 5pm, so no more rice & pasta late at night ;( I have been trying to eat a healthy full lunch, so in the evening I just eat protein if I can (like protein shakes, grilled chicken & salads)...afterall it is the start of bikini season isn't it??!! LOL! ;)

I wanted to make something healthy to grab for breakfast this week, so I made these yummy muffins. This recipe caught my eye on Annie's Eats, and I knew I wanted to make them. They are healthy (they use whole wheat flour), and are great to eat with some fruit in the AM if you are in a hurry....like I always am in the morning, I never have time to scramble eggs or sit down for a bowl of cereal!

Oatmeal Blueberry Applesauce Muffins
Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients:
~1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
~1 1/4 cups oats
~1 tsp. baking powder
~1/2 tsp. baking soda
~1/4 tsp. salt
~1/2 tsp. cinnamon
~1 cup unsweetened applesauce (I used cinnamon applesauce)
~1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
~1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
~2 tbsp. canola oil
~1 large egg, lightly beaten
~3/4 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (I highly recommend fresh!)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In another bowl combine the applesauce, buttermilk, brown sugar, oil and egg. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add in the applesauce mixture. Stir together just until all dry ingredients are incorporated. Gently fold in the blueberries with a rubber spatula.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.