Lemon Angel Hair with Chicken and Spinach

Lemon Angel Hair with Chicken and Spinach
1/2 lb whole wheat angel hair pasta
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 t. crushed red pepper
2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks
2 lemons, zested and juiced (or lemon juice from a bottle)
3/4 c. half-and-half
1 c. Parmesan, grated (or shredded)
1 box of frozen spinach
3 T. extra virgin olive oil

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Salt the water well, and add pasta. Meanwhile cook chicken with your choice of seasonings (I use garlic salt, pepper, paprika, basil leaves). Once chicken is done remove and chop but do not clean out skillet. Add oil, garlic, and crushed red pepper. Cook until the oil sizzles (about 7-10 minutes). Add lemon juice, half-and-half, and a ladle of the pasta water to the garlic oil mixture. Raise the heat to med-low to med heat until the sauce begins to bubble. Drain pasta - DO NOT RINSE. Add the pasta, lemon zest (if you have it), and 1/2 c. Parmesan to the cream sauce. Toss for a minute or two and throw in frozen spinah. Cover and let spinach thaw out for a few minutes.Add chicken and toss until well distributed. Top with remaining cheese. Enjoy!

Get ready y'all.. About to start posting once again!!

Crock-pot Italian Chicken Pasta

I am a HUGE fan of the crock-pot!! This dish is AMAZING!
It is simple and cheap. 5 ingredients + 1 crock-pot = Awesome

Ingredients:
- 2 cans Cream of Chicken soup (Publix now has a brand YAY!)
- 1 box of softened cream cheese
- 2-3 chicken breasts
- 1 packet Zesty Italian salad dressing mix
- Pasta of choice (I recommend egg noodles)

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in the crock-pot. I recommend halving the chicken breasts so they cook faster. At first this meal looks really strange but trust me it is delicious! Cook on high for 3-4 hours.
2. Cook egg noodles when ready to serve.
3. That's it. It's literally that simple! And you'll most likely have yummy leftovers for the next day!
4. Also, for an even easier meal use crock-pot bags for no clean up.

Arroz Con Pollo

One of my favorite Colombian dishes is Arroz con Pollo aka chicken and rice. I used what I had to put together a knock off version off this popular hispanic dish.

Ingredients:
- Bag of yellow rice
- 2 chicken breasts
- Onion
- Salsa
- Random spices

Directions:
1. Cook rice by directions on bag.

2. Meanwhile boil water. Add in chopped onion and season chicken breasts as desired. I recommend the usual salt and pepper along with some garlic salt, Montreal chicken seasoning, and a little BAM!

  

3. Once chicken is cooked through shred apart and add into cooked rice.
4. Top with salsa and enjoy!

Homemade Pizza!

HOMEMADE PIZZA!
So so so yummy!

Mom's really do know best. My Mom suggested that we have family night while I was home for Spring Break and make homemade pizzas. My parents used to do this all the time as newlyweds so it was fun getting to create pizzas all together 25 years later. My brother even cooked his own and ate it all too (GASP!)

Ingredients for Margherita Pizza:
- Pizza Dough (we got ours from the Publix bakery $2.30 a dough)
- Mozzarella cheese
- Tomato
- Fresh Basil
- Fresh Oregano
- I tbsp. Olive Oil

Directions:
1. Flatten out pizza dough. We recommend using olive oil on your hands instead of flour when spreading out the dough.
2. Add cheese, chopped basil, chopped oregano, tomato, and a drizzle of oil olive on top. The more cheese and toppings you add the more flavor your pizza will have.

3. Bake in the oven for 18 minutes.

This was my mom's creation: Sausage with Marinara and Cheese - I must admit her's ended up being my favorite.

Comfort Mexican Tortilla Casserole

Comforting mexican casserole...yes please!

This recipe was inspired by: http://www.jamhands.net/2008/12/mexican-chicken-casserole.html
(For the Dorito version go to the link)

Mexican Tortilla Casserole 
Serves 4-6

2 c. shredded cooked chicken
1 c. shredded cheese (or more if you are a cheese hound)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes (canned tomatoes with jalepenos-mild)
1/2 packet taco seasoning (or more- to taste)
Bag of doritos

1. Pre-heat oven to 350-f degrees.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except doritos.

3. In a greased 2 qt baking dish, put a layer of crushed doritos (about 2 cups), then a layer of the chicken mixture. Repeat once more, ending with a layer of chicken mixture. Top with more shredded cheese, cover, and bake for 30-35 minutes, till bubbling hot.

Easy Chicken and Biscuits

So this is a recipe I made from scratch. It was the Sunday before midterms so I knew that I would need some vegetables and protein in me to get through the week. So I came up with this recipe which is a mixture chicken pot pie and chicken and biscuits. Yum, yum, yum. It's recipes like these that define my goal with this blog: easy, cheap, and nutritious.

Ingredients:
- 2 cans Campbell's Cream of Chicken soup
- 1 or 2 chicken breasts
- Milk
- Bag of frozen vegetables
- Pillsbury biscuits
- Chicken broth

Directions:
1. Actually make the Cream of Chicken soup by the directions on the can. I used milk instead of water to make it creamier.

2. Once the soup has warmed throw in your bag of frozen vegetables. You can use as little or as much as you want.

3. Cook chicken on another pan with some basic seasonings. Shred apart and add into mixture.

4. I added about a 1/2 cup of chicken broth just to give it some more flavor and to increase the mixture.

5. Meanwhile, cook your biscuits in the oven. I don't buy store brand when it comes to biscuits because Pillsbury really has them all beat. It will be worth the few extra pennies.

6. Once the vegetable and soup mixture is all warm crack open a biscuit and pour your yummy mixture on top.

Easy right?
The best part of this meal is that I fed four people and still had leftovers! Oh and I forgot to mention truly how cheap this meal was. I got my bag of frozen vegetables 50% making them $1.20 and my Pillsbury biscuits were $1.00 for each can of 5. I always have Cream of Chicken soup in my pantry and plenty of chicken broth. I also buy all my chicken when it's on sale. So this meal was dirt cheap!