Summer Skillet Pasta

I made this recipe from Favorite Family Recipes two nights ago.

 

(Picture from Favorite Family Recipes)

It was so good!
It was so EASY!
It is a keeper!

The only changes I made were omitting the dried basil because I didn't have any and I used Mrs. Dash chicken seasoning instead of the Montreal chicken seasoning because that is what I had and it is salt free. I chose not to add any additional salt since I felt the canned diced tomatoes and the italian seasoning added more than enough.

Also, only because I am cheap, did not add the yellow pepper because it was $1.98... I think it was fine without it but when they are cheaper I am sure I will throw it in and find out what I have been missing!

Oh. And I didn't wipe out the skillet with a napkin as instructed. I'm a Rebel.

Ingredients
vegetable oil, to taste
1 Lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Montreal chicken seasoning (to taste)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
1-2 medium-sized zucchini, sliced
1 can diced tomatoes (do not drain)
1 pkg. zesty Italian dry seasoning packet
1 1/2 tsp. dried basil
Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. skim milk
1/3 c. Parmesan cheese
3-4 oz. light cream cheese (or 4 wedges of skinny cow creamy Swiss)
1 Lb. pkg. spaghetti, prepared

Instructions
◦Heat a little vegetable oil in a large skillet. Cut chicken into pieces and add to oil. Sprinkle chicken with Montreal chicken seasoning, to taste.
◦When chicken is cooked through, remove from skillet and set aside.
◦Wipe skillet clean with a paper towel (or two) and add a little more oil to the skillet. When oil is hot again, add garlic, onion, peppers, and zucchini.
◦Saute vegetables until they become bright and tender.
◦Return chicken to skillet along with diced tomatoes. Stir in Italian seasonings, basil, salt and pepper. ◦Add chicken broth and simmer for a minute or two.
◦Add milk, Parmesan cheese, and cream cheese-- stir until cream cheese is completely melted and mixed in.
◦Drain spaghetti and add to skillet. Toss until well combined. Serve immediately.

http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2012/07/summer-skillet-pasta.html

Change Is Coming...

This blog was previously a record of my 101 things to do in 1001 days. I failed. I did not complete my list. The last item I checked off was #32 and with that came a limited freedom to do much else for a while. #32 was get pregnant with Baby C2: check. And might I mention she is here and 13 months old. I have not looked at the list since I posted about her exsistance so by random chance a couple of things may have been completed. Who knows? Who cares! So to keep this blog alive(ish) I am going to switch gears a little. I am going to post new recipes that I try and new crafts that I have copycrafted. So stay tuned! I have a recipe to post tomorrow that I cooked last night and it was D.Licious!

Big List Update

Well I only have one thing to cross off my list today (well two but I can't remember the name of the recipe I made so I will have to do that later) but it's a B-I-G ticket item.

So.

Without further ado...

#31 is Complete!!

Which hopefully means that #'s 32,33, and 37 will be completed soon too as well as other "nesting" type list items!

Yep #31 is Get pregnant with Baby C2!

Done. And. Done.

Hot Mama Tilapia with Avocado Sauce and Cauliflower Mash

I have no pictures of this because frankly it never crossed my mind until right now and I was home alone i.e. Jimmy was gone and cooking while watching a toddler is hard enough without having to try and take pictures of the food. :)

The recipe is from The City Sisters and this is their photo...

(Mine wouldn't have been as pretty so it all worked out)

Let me just say that I made this for the first time last night and it was super easy! I love easy. It was probably one of the best things I have ever made. Definitely a keeper and very very healthy!!

Hot Mama Tilapia:
4 Tilapia filet's
1 tbs. olive oil
2 Jalapenos
1 tsp Cumin
1 Lime
1/2 Red onion
1 tsp Garlic
1 tsp Black Pepper

Avocado Sauce:
1 ripe Avocado
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 TBS diced red onion
Veggie broth

Cauliflower Mashers:
1 head of white Cauliflower
sea salt to taste
black pepper to taste
1 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 jalapeno de-seeded

Hot Mama Tilapia:
Pat each Tilapia fillet with a paper towel to make sure the fish is as dry as possible. Dice up the jalapeno and onion and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a large pan. When the oil is hot add the garlic, red onion, and jalapenos. Cook for about 1 minute just enough to really let the garlic open up but not burn. Add in the Tilapia and spritz each fillet with the limes juice. Dust each fillet with the cumin, pepper and garlic. Flip the tilapia over and spritz with the lime and dust with more of the spices. It is ok if the red onion mixture is in the way of the fish touching the pan this will actually help with the flavor of the fish. Cook the fish all the way through and plate. This should only take about 5-8 minutes. Sprinkle each fillet with the left over ingredients in the pan.

Avocado Sauce:
In a small food processor puree the ripe avocado, garlic, onion, and about 1 tbls of veggie broth until creamy. Add more veggie broth as needed to reach desired consistency. Drizzle over plated tilapia.

Cauliflower Mashers:
Boil enough water to submerge cauliflower in a large pot. Cut off stems of cauliflower and discard. Add the tops of the cauliflower to the boiling water and cook until the cauliflower is soft. (You want to be able to stab the cauliflower with a fork easily) Don't over cook or it will just disintegrate. Pat dry the cauliflower and place it in a large food processor. Add all the additional ingredients and puree until you reach a similar consistency to mashed potatoes. This is normally when I would tell you to add Asiago cheese but I will have skinny knees so I'm not going to. If you have skinny knees then I suggest adding about 1 cup of Asaigo cheese and mixing it all together.

Marci's Notes:

1. I did not rewrite the recipe, I left it in her words because it was so easy to follow.

2. If you are making this for two, half the avocado sauce. I did not and I have a lot left and I am not sure if it will keep... I will find out tonight!

3. Make this! You will love it! If cauliflower mash sounds awful or weird or awfully weird put your big kid pants on and get over it. Try something new. I was pleasantly suprised and Mac loved them too!

100 Things To Do Before Kindergarten

Yes. I have found another list. My friend Heather aka Jack's Mom, from Geaux Baby and Simple Etiquette, posted this list that she found on Savvy Source of 100 Things To Do Before Kindergarten.

I figured I'm doing my 101 list so why shouldn't Mac have a list!? Right? Exactly. Plus, if Jack is working from the same list as Mac then we could do parts of the list together and, hello, the more the merrier right!! Heck yeah!

It's super heartbreaking to even think that one day I will have to take Mac, my little bitty baby boy, to kindergarten. **tear** But until that black day of mommy mourning harkens my door we can do some super fun things to take our minds off the evil baby stealing education system. (I know, that's a bit dramatic but I'm rarely dramatic so just go with it...) I have set up a tab on this page that will show the items as we mark them off, much like my 101 list, and as we mark them off I will post about the fun we had and the pictures that we took!

Come back to check on our list progress! And if you have a toddler... join us!! ;)

OOOoooo just had a thought! How cute would it be for me to make a book from the blog posts of all 100 things we did! Love it!

Baked Mostaccioli

Last night for dinner I made Baked Mostaccioli. I have had the recipe for a few months and wish I had made is sooner! I came across it on one of the blogs I follow and it was obviously before I started listing where I found the recipe on the recipe when I save it so I have no idea where it came from... either way it's super tasty!

Baked Mostaccioli

Ingredients
1 box Mostaccioli
¾ cup butter
1 cup whipping cream
¼ tsp white pepper
1 ¼ cup Parmesan cheese (fresh)
2 tsp. chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 garlic cloves minced
1 jar spaghetti sauce (Ragu Robusto)
Shredded mozzarella cheese
2 to 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts cooked and sliced

Cook 1 box Mostaccoli according to package directions, drain.

Cook and chop 3 to 4 boneless skinless chicken tenderloins or breasts.

Alfredo Sauce
In a sauce pan melt the butter. (As you are making the Alfredo, have the spaghetti sauce heating up on the stove.)
After the butter is melted, pour in the whipping cream
Add some white pepper to this and let it cook over low heat for 5 minutes until it thickens slightly. Add 1 1/4 cup of fresh grated Parmesan to the mixture, and cook over low heat till the cheese has melted, stirring constantly.

Mix the Alfredo with the warm spaghetti sauce to desired taste. Stir the mixed sauce into the cooked pasta – making sure all is coated. Add the chicken, garlic, and chopped parsley, stir.

Pour mixture into a 13x9 baking dish, top with remaining Parmesan and the mozzarella. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes



Notes:
This is what the original recipe poster had to say:
*Seriously, the key to this dish is fresh ingredients - don’t go cheap or easy on it, and it won’t let you down.

~ I used fresh parmesan, grated it myself and everything! It was great! I did not use fresh parsley. If I grew my own I would have but I didn't want to buy some just for 2 tsp. I used just a tad more than 3 tsp of dried parsley. And the mozzarella was from a bag but I thought it turned out just dandy!

~ Cook/boil your chicked before hand. I boiled mine the night before while I was getting dinner on the table. It made it so much easier and so much faster last night!

~ I didn't have white pepper so I just got tacky with it and used what I had, black pepper.

~ Also, just be prepared for dishes. This recipe used lots of pans...alfredo sauce, spaghetti sauce, pasta, cutting the chicken, grating the parm. But it's worth it!

Enjoy!

Moustache Onsie

My friend is pregnant and I HAD to make this for Baby Luke.


I guess it's just the whole moustache craze and the fact that I made these shirts a while back for our buddy Jack's 1st Birthday Moustache Party... we had to go in theme of course. And we, Mac and I, still wear ours all the time!



I just couldn't resist. I grabbed the pack of onsies and went to town!


I rolled the finished product up and tied them with green tool (which I didn't get a picture of). They are so cute, in my opinion! HA!

Every sophisticated infant needs one, or three!