Stuffed Manicotti

I can never get a picture of this one-- we eat it too quickly!

This is Aunt Liz's recipe (see p.108 of the the family cookbook) and I've been making it since I was a newlywed. It's so good and so easy. I haven't been able to tolerate toast or crackers for the past 3 months (morning sickness, bleh)-- but I could eat this!

Stuffed Manicotti

8 uncooked Manicotti noodles
1/2 lb mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 cup cottage cheese
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1 jar Prego spaghetti sauce
2 Tbsp Parmesan or Romano cheese, grated (and some extra to sprinkle on top)

Combine mozzarella, cottage cheese, beaten eggs, 2 Tbsp parmesan or romano cheese, soft butter, salt and pepper. Stuff uncooked noodles with the sauce and place in a 9 x 13 baking pan.

Heat spaghetti sauce to boiling and pour over the noodles. Sprinkle generously with extra parmesan or romano cheese.

Cover the pan with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Noodles will be a little firm, but not mushy.

(Adding hamburger or sausage is optional)

Creamy Garlic Chicken

Creamy Garlic Chicken

.

1/2 cup butter, divided (the butter helps make the sauce)

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 red onion, cut into strips

1 yellow bell pepper, cut into strips

1 red bell pepper, cut into strips

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 to 1 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 1/2 to 2 lbs Penne Pasta

.

Cut up chicken to bite sized pieces, saute in a large skillet in 1/4 cup butter and 3 Tbsp olive oil. Sprinkle with garlic salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Cook until done, and set aside. In the same pan add 1/4 cup butter and add the onion, red and yellow bell pepper. Cook until soft. Add the 3 garlic cloves that have been minced. When you can smell the garlic, add the unwhipped whipping cream and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the sauce is thickened.

.

.

.

Add chicken to the cream mixture. Cook pasta and toss with the cream mixture. Top with freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.

This recipe serves about 8-10 people. This recipe is adapted slightly from a recipe given to me by Kelli M.

Shauna's Chicken Artichoke Pasta

This dinner is what Cory wanted for his birthday dinner. I like to have all the chopping and everything done when I start cooking because it does come together pretty quickly. Thank you Shauna for putting this in our family cookbook, and since that was done about 10 years ago, I thought I would add it here to remind everyone how yummy it is! Here is a tip: I save time by getting the chicken already roasted at the store.
.

.

.

Chicken Artichoke Pasta

1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter

3 large garlic cloves, chopped

12-16 oz fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

2 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered (be sure to get the cans of non-marinated artichoke hearts in the vegetable aisle)

2 tsp dried basil

2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup white wine (may be substitute for chicken broth)

1 cup heavy cream

2 1/2-3 Chicken, roasted, skinned and deboned then shredded into bite-sized pieces

salt and pepper, to taste

1 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

3/4 lb Fusilli Pasta

Melt butter in a large skillet. Add the garlic and mushrooms and saute for about 3 minutes. Add the artichokes and cook for another 3 minutes. Stir in the basil, oregano, and chicken broth, and turn up the heat to high. Boil until broth is reduced a little bit, add the wine (or substitute with chicken broth), and continue boiling until it is reduced some more. Add cream; add chicken when the sauce is slightly thickened. Heat through, stir in salt and pepper and parsley. Toss with hot pasta and serve with Parmesan cheese. If you like it a little more "saucey" add a little more chicken broth and cream. Serves 6-8 people.

Smoked Bacon and Tomato Pasta

This is one of my family's favorite dishes and one of my most requested recipes. For those with milk allergies, you can omit the cream and it is still yummy!!

Smoked Bacon and Tomato Pasta

12 oz. smoked bacon

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 large can Hunts whole tomatoes or 2 cups fresh tomatoes that have been peeled, seeded, and chopped

1 cup fresh basil

1 Tbsp salt

1 lb dried pasta, penne or rigatoni

1/2 c heavy cream

Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Saute bacon over medium-high heat until done, but not crispy. If there is a lot of grease, you can drain some of it. Return bacon to pan and add onion, until the onion is soft and lightly golden; about 5 minutes. Add garlic. Pulse tomatoes in a blender and add to the bacon and onion and garlic mixture. Add half the basil and let simmer for 30 minutes. Add the heavy cream and remaining basil. Serve over cooked pasta of your choice and top with grated Parmiganio-Reggiano cheese. This is excellent served with lettuce, tomato and fresh mozzarella topped with your favorite balsamic vinegarette.

Chicken Pasta Salad

As the temperatures start to climb, I love to cook recipes that don't require me to heat up the house. This is one of our family's favorite dinners. This recipe is versatile, so if you like more celery or grapes or whatever, just add it.

Chicken Pasta Salad

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes.
Grapes, halved (to taste like 1 cup)
Celery, sliced (to taste like ½ cup)
1 (15 oz) can of pineapple tidbits, drained
4 green onions, sliced
2 apples, peeled, cored, sliced and chunked, fuji’s are our favorite
2/3 to 1 box of bow tie noodles, cooked as per instructions on box

Season chicken with garlic salt. Fry in salted butter with a little olive oil (to keep the butter from burning) until done but not dry. In a large mixing bowl make the dressing:

Dressing
2 (one serving containers) Yoplait French Vanilla yogurt
½ cup mayonnaise
3 Tbsp honey
Zest of 1 lime
Juice of 1 lime
Salt to taste (1/2 to 1 tsp)

After the dressing has been combined, add pineapple, grapes, apples, celery, green onions, chicken and cooked and drained noodles. Stir to combine and enjoy.

Skinny Cacciatore

Pasta, dah-ling! I've missed you! LOL

Here's a low-fat version of cacciatore we tried last week. I loved it. So flavorful! It's 8 points a serving, but, baby, you get a *plateful* of food! You will not be hungry after this meal. (In fact, it made a lot for our little family, and we froze half. It'll be perfect for some crazy busy night. Yum!)

I found this recipe easiest to cook when I "Martha-ed" it. You know how all the cooks on TV have everything set aside, all prepared and measured out for them? We would all be gourmet chefs if we had a little assistant doing that for us, every time we knocked out a recipe! LOL This recipe does call for a lot of veggies and spices; if you have them ready to go when they're called for, this recipe's a breeze!

Enjoy. Ciao for now!


Skinny Cacciatore

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
3 teaspoons canola oil, divided
1 large green pepper, chopped
2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 3/4 cups sliced fresh mushrooms**
1 medium carrot, shredded
3 garlic cloves, minced**
1 can (29 oz.) tomato sauce
1 can (14.5 oz.) Italian diced tomatoes, undrained
1 bay leaf
3 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried basil
1/4 teaspoon pepper
9 oz. uncooked spaghetti
(additional shredded carrot -- optional) **

1. In a large non-stick skillet coated with cooking spray, brown chicken in 2 teaspoons of oil; drain. Remove and keep warm. In the same skillet, saute the green pepper, celery, and onion in remaining oil for 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms, carrot and garlic; saute 2-4 minutes longer or until all the vegetables are tender.

2. Stir in the tomato sauce, tomatoes, and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered, for 10-12 minutes or until thickened. Meanwhile, cook spaghetti according to package directions.

3. Stir chicken into tomato mixture; cook for 8-12 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Discard bay leaf. Drain spaghetti; serve with chicken mixture. Garnish with additional carrot if desired.

Serving: 1 1/3 cups of chicken mixture with 2/3 cup spaghetti
Yield: 6 servings
8 points per serving


** We used canned mushrooms from the pantry, instead of fresh. We used minced garlic spice. Both times these substitutions worked fine. BTW, we skipped the shredded carrot garnish on top. Bleh.

recipe and picture credit: Healthy Cooking magazine, December/January 2009, p.55 (original recipe: Anita Webb)

Super Fast Chicken Parmigiana

I made this recipe a lot in Hawaii while Chris was in school. He thought it was fancy. I thought it was easy. Everyone was happy.

16 oz. package thin spaghetti noodles
1 jar or can of spaghetti sauce
4 frozen or refrigerated, fully cooked breaded chicken patties or cutlets
2 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Prepare noodles and breaded chicken patties as directed on their packages. Warm spaghetti sauce. On dinner plates, place desired amount of noodles and top with chicken, sauce, cheese and parsley.

Serves 4

Don't have parmesan and mozzarella? Substitute with whatever cheese you've got in the house; it still tastes great. Want to make it healthier? Use grilled chicken and homemade spaghetti sauce.

(Last night I couldn't find any jars of spaghetti sauce in the pantry, so I used some of Jen and Eric's home-canned tomato sauce and tomatoes to make a Chunky Garlic and Onion Spaghetti sauce. It tasted great with this meal.)

Adapted from Campbell's Easy Family Meals, p.4