Thai Peanut Pasta

Enjoy! I've "heathified" all of the ingredients, but if you don't have the exact ingredients on hand, use what you've got. No big deal.

Ingredients

2 cups vegetable broth (or chicken but the smell of that makes me sick)
1/2 cup all-natural peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup raw honey
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less depending on your spice level)
3 cloves garlic, pressed/minced
2 tbs freshly grated/minced ginger

1 package linguine noodles
A good, big old handful of freshly chopped cilantro
A couple of limes, sliced

Cook your pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, combine broth, peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, cayenne pepper, garlic and ginger into a medium sized saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until mixture becomes smooth. Once pasta is cooked, toss sauce over pasta. Dish up and add a splash of lime juice and sprinkle with fresh cilantro. DON'T leave that last step out. You'll regret it. It tastes unbelievable when you add that fresh lime juice and yummy cilantro.

Spinach and goat cheese pasta

I thought this would be a great meal to serve for St. Patty's Day. I know a lot of recipes for this holiday call for green food coloring, but what's so great about this, is you don't need any of that stuff at all. You get this gorgeous, natural bright green color from the spinach, so it makes it fun for your little kiddos to eat :) And minus the amount of carbs you're about to indulge in, it's pretty healthy.
This is great if you're looking for something a little different than your average marinara sauce pasta. It's creamy and tart and "light" tasting. Try it out and let me know what you think!

Ingredients
Adapted from Everyday Italian

1 lb penne pasta (or something similar)
1 clove garlic, minced/pressed
4 tbs goat cheese
2 tbs cream cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
6 oz baby spinach leaves (about 2 handfuls)
2 tbs freshly grated parmesan cheese

Cook pasta accordingly. Reserve 1/2-1 cup pasta water. Once your pasta is cooked, in a blender or food processor, combine garlic, goat cheese, cream cheese, salt, pepper, cayenne, 1/2 cup pasta water and a little more than half the spinach leaves. Blend until combined.
Should look like this...

Take the rest of your spinach leaves and give them a rough chop. Toss pasta, sauce, and spinach leaves in a large bowl. Garnish with fresh parmesan cheese.

Veggie and Gnocchi Soup

Ever been to Olive Garden and had their Chicken and Gnocchi soup? If yes, this is very, very, very similar to that. I used only vegetables because I was too lazy to thaw out frozen chicken, but you can easily throw some in there and it would taste fantastic. Hope you enjoy this creamy, hearty, delicious, tasty soup as much as I did.

Ingredients

1 cup diced, cooked chicken (optional)
4 TBS butter
1 TBS e.v.o.o
4 TBS flour
2 stalks of celery, diced
1/2 an onion diced (optional)
2 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
1 quart half & half
2 cups veggie or chicken broth
3 large carrots sliced or diced
1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli
2 cups coarsely chopped spinach
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp parsley
3/4 tsp salt (add more if needed)
1 pound potato gnocchi ( you can usually find this in the pasta isle or gourmet sections)

Here is what gnocchi looks like. The first one is of the packaging, I forgot to actually take one with it in there. And the second is the gnocchi. Looks a little weird but it's really yummy. Tastes like a dumpling.


In a large stock pot saute butter, oil, garlic, onions and celery. Once onions and celery are soft, whisk in your flour to make a roux. Let the flour cook for about a minute. Now slowly add in your cream. If you add your cream too fast it'll leave little flour clumps that are impossible to get rid of, so when I say slowly, I mean slowly :) Now bring to a boil and continue whisking for a minute. Reduce your heat to med/low and continue mixing until roux has thickened.
Add in your veggies and/or cooked chicken. Next mix in your broth and continue to stir. Once your mixture has thickened again add in spinach and seasonings.
Now cook your gnocchi according to the package. Once cooked (should only take about 2-3 minutes) add it to your soup and let it simmer for a few minutes. Once you've completed those steps you're ready to dish up and enjoy!

Creamy Chicken Fajita Pasta

Okay, all 3 readers of mine... I'm sorry I've been slacking. But I finally have a new recipe to share. Hope you all enjoy it!

Ingredients

1 package of pasta, your favorite kind (mine's bow tie)
2 chicken breasts
2-3 bell peppers of your choice
1/2 an onion - optional
1 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup cream
1 TBS flour
1 package Taco Seasoning
Salt
1/2 a lime
Cilantro - optional

Slice your chicken in breast in half (vertical) then cut into strips/pieces. Place chicken in zip lock bag with taco seasoning, salt, pepper, and the juice of half a lime, then toss to coat. Slice up your bell peppers and onions. In a skillet, with a little bit of e.v.o.o drizzled at the bottom, toss in your chicken over medium heat. At this point you can start boiling water for your pasta and cook accordingly. Let the chicken brown on both sides and then throw in your peppers, onions and broth. Continue to cook until chicken is cooked all the way through and peppers are semi soft and then add in your cream and flour. Whisk until well combined. Let it simmer until it begins to thicken. Drain your pasta and toss it in with your chicken and peppers. If it's not "saucy" enough for you, add more cream until desired consistency. Dish up and garnish with cilantro, if you're into that kind of thing...which I am!

{Crock pot} Chicken Taco Soup

My favorite time of the year has almost arrived. I am so excited for Fall to hit. The smell of football is in the air, along with giant pots filled with homemade soups. I love making soup when the leaves start to change colors and the temperature drop. There's just something so "homey" about it.
And because all of that is sort of happening now, the husband and I decided to whip out the crock pot and make some taco soup. The thing I love about a crock pot is that it does all of the work for you. Just dump in your ingredients and walk away. How easy is that? Pretty easy. Here is a quick recipe for shredded chicken taco soup.

Taco Soup

2 skinless chicken breasts
3 cups veggie or chicken stock
1 8oz can El Pato tomato sauce (or just regular tomato sauce)
1 10oz can tomatoes w/ green chilis
1 15oz can pinto or kidney beans, whichever you prefer
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups corn
1 packet taco seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot, excluding the chicken breasts. Once all ingredients are mixed, add in chicken breasts. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. Pull chicken out and grab two forks to start shredding it. Once chicken is shredded, dump it back into the crock pot. Continue to cook for another 2 hours on low before serving.

Serve with tortilla strips, avocado, sour cream, and/or shredded cheese.

Please don't judge my "photography." I'm still in the process of trying to figure it all out. It's very hard to do so when my picture taking coach (my sister) lives in another state :)

Tortillas

Homemade tortillas, is there anything better? I think not. The smell, the taste, it just can't be compared to store bought. Making them may seem a little intimidating, but don't be fooled. It's so easy, it's almost ridiculous. It calls for very few ingredients and just a little, teeny, tiny amount of time.

Tortillas (makes about 12)

2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2/3 cup warm water (heat in microwave for about 30-35 seconds)

Combine flour, salt, and e.v.o.o in mixer (Kitchen Aid or something similar). Mix until it makes little clumps. Slowly add in warm water, and mix until dough forms. Do not over mix, it will make for tough dough that is very difficult to work with. Cover and let it rest for 15 minutes. Break into 2 inch sized balls. Roll out into circular discs and cook in a skillet on medium to high heat. As soon as bubbles start to form (big ones, not little ones) flip over and wait for bubbles to form again. Both sides should be golden brown and "bubbly."
Fill with your favorite taco fixin's or eat it plain. Either way, you shouldn't be disappointed.

BBQ Chili

I must have inherited this from my dad, but I love BBQ. I could put BBQ sauce on just about anything and enjoy it. The other night I was making a chili and felt it was missing a little "pizazz," so I asked my hubby what he thought it was missing. He quickly said, "BBQ sauce." Ah, now why didn't I think of this? I squeezed a little bit in, and then I squeezed a lot more in. For me, it was perfect, but if you're not a smokey BBQ fan, you may want to leave it out. But try it, you'll like it...I think I've been watching way too much Yo Gabba Gabba! And if you got that, well, you've watched it too much as well :)

BBQ Chili

1 lb ground beef
2 15oz cans chili beans
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
1 8oz can of El Pato tomato sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 TBSP sugar
2 TBSP BBQ sauce

In a large pot cook the ground beef. Once cooked all the way through, drain liquid out (it's okay if you don't remove all of it). Add in chili beans, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, pepper, sugar and BBQ sauce.
*Note about the El Pato tomato sauce. It's a very spicy sauce, so if you don't like spice, I would add a small amount at a time and taste it. If you don't like any spiciness at all, use regular tomato sauce.*

Let simmer on low for at least 1 1/2 hours. If you're in a rush, you can eat it sooner, but the longer it sits, the better it tastes.
Enjoy!