Lemon, creamy, chicken pasta & asparagus

Last night was my mother-in-law's birthday so there was an extra special reason to get together and make dinner! Isn't she beautiful?! Love you Kim, Happy birthday!

Dinner was SO good I had to share the recipes! I'm including an asparagus recipe because believe it or not, it's one of my favorite veggies but I really didn't know how to cook it - until now! :)

Lemon Cream Pasta with Chicken
Ingredients:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 lemon halved
3 tsp garlic powder divided
1 tsp ground pepper
2 14.5oz cans chicken broth
1 16oz package penne noodles
1 cup heavy cream


Directions:
1. Cube chicken into inch by inch cubes. Saute in enough olive oil to cover the skillet, season with salt, pepper,  2 tsp garlic powder and squeeze the juice of one half of the lemon.
2. Meanwhile in a saucepan, bring the two cans of chicken broth to a boil, season with the remaining garlic powder and 1 tsp pepper.
3. Add the pasta and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid is absorbed [or for about 25 minutes]
4. When pasta is finished, pour pasta and the cup of heavy cream into the pan that the chicken was saute'd in and mix together.
5. Add a squirt more of lemon juice, add salt and pepper to taste and heat on low for about 5-7minutes.
6. Serve and enjoy!


My two cents:
-I got the original recipe from Allrecipes.com however, there were many things I changed so I just wrote the recipe as such.
-the whole adding the pasta to the chicken broth thing and waiting 25 minutes totally confused me! I was like, isn't the pasta going to get all mushy? The answer is no, there is more pasta than liquid, so the pasta will in fact absorb the chicken broth! And it's ok if it doesn't absorb it all because whatever is left over will help become the sauce in the end when you add the cream


Oven Baked Asparagus
Ingredients:
1 bunch [about 1lb] of asparagus spears, washed and dried
salt
cracked black pepper
1-2 TBSP olive oil


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400degrees F. Trim the bottoms of the asparagi [that's my plural for asparagus] removing about one inch.
2. Lay out asparagi in a single layer on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with Pam.
3. Drizzle evenly with olive oil and add enough salt and pepper to your liking.
4. Bake for about 8-12 minutes or until tips begin to brown and asparagus is tender. *NOTE - cooking time will depend on the thickness of your spears. Serve immediately.


My two cents:
-my asparagus cooked WAY faster than 8-12 minutes so be sure to keep an eye on it, you will be able to hear the olive oil sizzling.
-make a LOT - it's a crowd pleaser! I actually used two bunches or about 2lb's