Pesto Chicken Florentine

Yay for another pesto recipe! This was a delicious way to combine a typical alfredo-sauce pasta dish with pesto. I've decided pesto can go into almost any meal. :)

This recipe is very good. It combines mainly spinach, pesto, and alfredo pasta to make a fabulous meal. I added tomatoes, onion, and mushrooms because I love my veggies.





Ingredients:
*Olive oil
*2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed/diced
*3-4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
*2-3 cups of spinach leaves
*1 jar of alfredo sauce
*3 tbsp. pesto (see my recipe if interested)
*1 (16oz) pkg of penne pasta
*parmesan cheese
*1/2 sweet onion, diced (optional)
*2 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced (optional)
*4-6 mushrooms, sliced (optional)

Directions:
1) Begin cooking pasta according to box instructions.
2) As the pasta is cooking, saute chicken in olive oil until almost done (almost no pink). Take out of the pan and cut into cubes. Add back to pan along with garlic, onion (optional), and mushrooms (optional). Cook until onion is tender and chicken is finished. Add spinach and saute for another minute.
3) Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the alfredo sauce and the pesto sauce. Add as much pesto as desired. (I made my sauce quite green)
4) Drain pasta, put back into its' large pot. Add the chicken/spinach mixture and the alfredo/pesto sauce. Top with tomatoes (optional). Mix. Place on plates and add parmesan as desired. Enjoy!

Comments:
*This recipe is open to creativity. The main part is having a chicken-alfredo pasta with spinach and pesto for some nutrients. Be creative!

*Make sure to add enough garlic. I always use less garlic in my meals b/c if there is too much, I won't eat it. I should have actual amount for this one...mine needed more garlic.

*My onion ended up still being crunchy, but my husband informed me that he LOVED the crunchy onions in this otherwise "soft" meal. So I will continue to add onion for that texture. This is just a head's up about that in case you are not as thrilled about crunchy onions in your pasta as we are!

Goat Cheese Arugula Pizza

I just HAD to add another pizza recipe because this recipe was so good and it used pesto as the sauce, which is such a delicious change of pace from a typical marinara pizza sauce.

I found this recipe at allrecipes.com, but I added some things to it that I think made it better. One thing: arugula is a bitter leaf, and at the last minute, I chickened out and used half arugula and half spinach. This tasted wonderfully, but the bitterness of arugula leaves actually blends perfectly with goat cheese, so if you are okay with it, I highly recommend using arugula. That's what I will be doing in the future.

What I love: The fresh veggies, pesto, and goat cheese made the most heavenly combination. YUM!

Ingredients:
*Pizza crust (your choice: I use Jiffy)
*6-8 tbsp. pesto (see my recipe if interested)
*3 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
*5-7 oz. goat cheese, big globs of it
*1 cup of arugula leaves, chopped (or spinach, or mixture, etc.)
*4-6 mushrooms, diced
*1-2 cloves garlic, crushed or diced
*1/4 - 1/2 cup of mozzarella shredded cheese, optional
*parmesan, optional

Directions:
1) Make Pizza crust according to directions.
2) Add pesto sauce and cover bottom of pizza crust.
3) Add the toppings: tomatoes, goat cheese, mushrooms, garlic, moz. cheese (optional) and parmesan (optional)
4) Bake pizza according to directions on the box, but take it out 1-2 minutes before it is done. Add the arugula. Bake until complete.
5) Enjoy!

Comments:
*The bigger the globs of goat cheese, the better tasting the pizza! I actually tried to slice the goat cheese, which is difficult due to its' soft texture, but the resulting globs were big and I put those on the pizza. The goat cheese globs mix so well with the arugula and pesto tastes....

*I added a tiny amount of moz. cheese to make my pizza have that melted-cheese look. If you don't care about appearances, then you probably don't need the moz. cheese added.

*Add the arugula later in the pizza process to avoid a burned-arugula taste.

*Here's another picture of heavenly pizza!

Pesto!

I finally have time to post some meals that I eat in the summer. My apologies for waiting so long to post again, but my husband and I have tons of adventures and activities planned for our summers off (teachers rock!) and it's hard to find time to sit still long enough to post recipes.

Anywho, for those that know me, I am obsessed with basil. I love it so much. So I might have gone a "bit" crazy this year and planted 8 plants of basil...okay, actually 10 or 12. Suddenly I find myself with tons and tons of basil so I decided to make my first ever batch of pesto.

I have always enjoyed the taste of pesto, but I cringe at the price of a small jar of pesto at the store. Homemade tastes better and is WAY cheaper! All of the ingredients for pesto should already be in the cupboards of anyone who bakes and cooks. All you need in addition to common ingredients is basil and pine nuts. When I went to the store, I almost decided against making pesto when I noticed that 4 ounces of pine nuts cost 4 bucks! But then I realized that you get a huge quantity of pesto (see picture above) from only 2 ounces of pesto, so it ended up costing me 2 dollars for a huge dish of homemade deliciousness. If you do not have enough basil growing in your garden for this recipe, simply go to your local greenhouse and buy more basil. Around Milwaukee, basil plants cost between 1 and 3 dollars. No biggie. Do NOT buy basil from the grocery store produce aisle! The stores around me, at least, have terrible tasting basil leaves that are majorly overpriced. It's way better to just buy another plant.

Enough jabbering from me. I promise to post plenty of recipes that use pesto. We have eaten four meals this week that used only part of this container of pesto, and I just made another batch and put it in the freezer. It stays good in the fridge for 2-ish weeks and for 4-ish months if you freeze it.

Ingredients:
*3/4 cup olive oil
*3 cups of basil (can include some stems...I just cut of the top third of each basil plant and put it right in the  food processor)
*1/2 cup of parmesan
*4 garlic cloves
*1/4 cup (2 oz.) pine nuts
*1 tsp. lemon juice


Directions:
1) Place all of the ingredients in a food processor. Blend to perfection. Taste and add additional items if necessary. Enjoy!

Comments:
*If you put it in the freezer, add a little layer of olive oil before putting on the cover. I don't remember why, but it had something to do with helping keep it fresh longer (I read it somewhere)

Homemade Pizza

Sometimes, when I go to the grocery store, I wonder if the frozen pizza selections have improved since I last looked. Perhaps it's just because I am fussy about my pizza toppings (I do not like pepperoni or sausage), but I have always found frozen pizza options as so disappointing. They are so boring; so expensive; or something is wrong with it (yucky thin crust with good toppings; half good toppings and half yucky ones; etc.)

I always get disgruntled with the frozen pizza options in the end and make homemade pizza instead. It's healthier (you know what's in it!), it's more fun, it's creative, and the list goes on. I often find it is a nice, simple, yet romantic date to make a pizza with Paul. We choose our favorite toppings and he chops the toppings while I make the dough. It's great fun!

While making this particular pizza at home, I thought it would be good to write down the ingredients so that I can remember it for the future, and figured, I may as well give these brilliant pizza ideas to my readers and friends while I am at it! :)

This particular pizza includes:
*Jiffy pizza dough (my favorite due to its price, taste, and simplicity
*spaghetti sauce with onion and garlic
*chopped spinach (handful)
*1 roma tomato, seeded and chopped
*4 mushrooms, sliced
*4 leaves of basil (from my garden!), sliced
*clumps of goat cheese (1/3 a package: I roll bits into small balls and plop as much as possible on there!)
*mozzarella cheese

This pizza is SO good! I love all of these toppings and my stomach is happy with me afterwards. Yum!

While I am at it, here's another favorite homemade pizza that Paul and I adore. We ate a similar pizza at our favorite pizza restaurant, and now we make it at home with some variation:

*Jiffy pizza dough
*spicy bbq sauce
*1 roma tomato, seeded and chopped
*chicken (rotisserie chicken, you are my friend once again!)
*jalapeno slices
*red onion, chopped
*cheddar cheese
*4 mushrooms, sliced (sometimes we do not include these)

I love how this pizza is unique and spicy! Yum yum...

What about you? What are YOUR favorite pizza toppings? Please share if you can, because I love getting new ideas! :)

Here's that pizza picture close up to make you crave pizza right now. :)
                                                                                                                                                                                      

Julie's Quiche

I sometimes envy my best friend Julie. While I research recipes and follow them closely, Julie can wake up one morning and think: "I wonder if such and such ingredients will taste good together..." and off she goes, inventing a new recipe with relative ease. :)

One day in college, I came home from my Latin class, grumpy and brain-tired, to a wonderful smell in our apartment. Julie and our friend Cindy were eating something delicious in our kitchen. When I asked about what they were eating, they replied that it was a quiche recipe that Julie came up with. I hate egg dishes, so I was confused why I thought it smelled good. I couldn't resist and sample it and fell in love with it immediately. I never thought that I would ever eat a quiche before. Now I crave it every once in a while and I have never veered from using Julie's recipe. Someday, maybe, I will be brave and try another quiche recipe. However, for now, I will remain loyal to my Julie's idea for quiche with a smile on my face. :)

What I love: It's simple and I love the taste of ham and tomatoes together! And of course, I love how I can add more cheese than the recipe calls for and it still tastes AMAZING!

Ingredients:
*1 pkg crescent rolls
*1 cup of grated cheese (swiss, cheddar, or mozarella are all good)
*1 cup of diced smoked ham
*3/4 cup of diced tomatoes
*3 eggs, lightly beaten
*1 cup cream, heavy or light
*salt, pepper, preferred seasonings

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) In a 9 inch pie pan, press in the crescent rolls (up the sides and the bottom of the dish)
3) Put 1/2 of the cheese, ham, and tomatoes in the pie dish, in that order.
4) In a separate bowl, mix eggs, cream, remaining cheese, salt, pepper, and preferred seasonings (I use paprika)
5) Pour this egg mixture on top of the ham/tomatoes in the pie dish.
6) Bake for 45 minutes or until the egg dish is set. Let it cool for a few minutes. Enjoy!

Comments:
*The crust along the edges gets burned while in the oven. It doesn't taste burned (to me) though, so I don't bother being worried about it. However, if you are concerned, try putting foil around the edges of the pie dish.

*Depending on your oven, more time might need to be added. Since taking this recipe from Julie, I have lived in four different places with different ovens. For each one, I had to alter the amount of time for this dish in the oven. So just watch your quiche carefully toward the end of the time in the oven. When you can "jiggle" the quiche and it doesn't slop all over, the egg is set and can be taken out.

Penne Gorgonzola with Chicken

This is another fantastic and simple meal. When I was home visiting family in Michigan a while back, I was paging through my mom's Taste of Home cooking magazines. This recipe won first prize of all the meals from 2010. That should be the best proof of how delicious it is. It makes 4-6 servings.

I have not changed anything about this recipe because it is perfect the way it is. Well, okay, I admit, I DO add more gorgonzola than the recipe requires because of my addiction to cheese. :)

What I love about this recipe: It is quickly prepared, simple, yet elegant and SO good! I love the wine, garlic, and gorgonzola combination, it is marvelous.

Ingredients:
*1 package of penne pasta (16oz)
*1 pound of chicken cut into pieces
*olive oil (approx. 1 tbsp.)
*1 garlic clove, minced
*1/4 cup of white wine
*1 cup heavy whipping cream
*1/4 cup of chicken broth
*2 cups (8 ounces) crumbled gorgonzola
*basil (dried or minced fresh)
*salt, pepper, parmesan

Directions:
1) Cook pasta as directed on box. Meanwhile, brown chicken in oil on all sides. Add garlic, cook 1 minute longer. Add wine and stir.
2) Add cream and broth, cook until sauce thickens and chicken is no longer pink. Stir in gorgonzola and spices; cook until the cheese is melted. Combine the sauce and pasta. Enjoy!

Comments:
*This is one of the few chicken recipes that I make where I do NOT use rotisserie chicken. Rotisserie chicken is too shredded-like for this recipe. I used it once and I did not care for it. Instead, grab some frozen boneless/skinless chicken breasts and use them. I cut the partially frozen chicken into cubes. I like the texture of cubes of chicken in this pasta dish.

*If you are wary of gorgonzola, add less and taste. You can always add more. I love it so much that I usually add 10 ounces of it. Yum...

*One of the coolest things about this recipe is that when you start boiling the water for your pasta, you should start at the same time making the sauce. Both the pasta and the sauce will then be done at the same time! It works out perfectly and it is not a difficult multi-task cooking job at all.

*Of course, if you open a bottle of wine for the recipe, you can't let that wine go to waste! I highly recommend drinking the remaining wine with this meal. It's a great combination! :)

Minestrone Soup

Wow, I have not added recipes in a long time. I have been pretty busy, but I promise to get caught up soon on my recipes. I have a few more to add, so stay tuned in the next few days.

One reason I was too busy to post recipes was because I went Home to Michigan partly for a historical conference and partly to see family. Due to being busy socializing or learning, I ended up eating out every day. Since Paul and I do not eat out more than once a month, this was a bit too much for me. I came home feeling fat and craving fresh vegetables. So I searched through some potential recipes that I have wanted to try and found this Minestrone Soup at allrecipes.com. Other than a sprinkling of cheese, there is nothing but healthy stuff in this soup.

What I loved: There are SO many veggies in this soup! I felt so healthy and the colors were beautiful. :)


Ingredients:
*Olive oil
*1 onion, diced
*3 cloves of garlic, minced
*3 medium carrots, diced
*3 stalks of celery, diced
*2 yellow squash, diced
*6-8 cups of vegetable broth
*3 potatoes, skinned and diced
*Huge handful of spinach, cut into strips
*1 cup of orzo pasta
*1 can (15oz) of diced tomatoes
*handful of fresh basil leaves, cut into strips or minced
*3/4 cup of parmesan cheese
*salt, pepper, spices of your choice, and extra parmesan for the topping

Directions:
1) Heat up oil in a large soup pot. Saute onion and garlic until tender.
2) Add the carrots, celery, and squash. Saute for approx. 5 minutes.
3) Add the broth, potatoes, spinach, pasta, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil.
4) Lower heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until potatoes and pasta and tender.
5) Stir in basil and parmesan. Season to taste.
6) Pour into bowls and top with more spices and cheese. Enjoy!


Comments:
*I wrote 6-8 cups of broth because it depends how you like your soup. If you like it more stew-like, only use around 6 cups of broth. If you like a more clear, broth look, add 8 cups. I like my soup to be clear, so I added 8 cups.

*It's hard to say how much spinach to add. What I did was go for equal portions of all of the veggies. I put the carrots, celery and squash on one plate, potatoes on another plate, and spinach on a plate as well. With the display of veggies in front of me, I added enough spinach to make it a good balance with the rest of the veggies. Sorry I cannot be more exact.

*I think next time I make this soup, I will add more tomatoes. I might add one of those cans of diced tomatoes that have spices with it. If anyone does that, let me know what you think!