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 

Chocolate chip-cookie-dough cupcakes

Um yeah, these are so awesome I'm not even going to write it out, just go here and follow the directions [I added the chocolate frosting] and this is what you will get:

[cupcake batter with the cookie dough dropped in them]

[curious kitties that either A. Like the smell B.Think it's warm to hang out by the oven C. A&B]

[Ta-da! Where did the cookie dough go?]

[curious Sophie's thinking the same thing, "Where did the cookie dough go?"]

[ahhhhh yes... there it is :)]

PS - Congratulations to Stefano! Made the Top 11 on American Idol last night! :) Proud to be a Kentwood Conk!

Recipes up the WAZOO!

This weekend went by entirely too fast! Anyone else agree? Dang I wish there were more hours in a day!

We had such a busy weekend - but so much fun! Hope this isn't too big of a post.

First, my baby sister went to her first dance... with a boy! If you remember, back in October she had gone to Homecoming but it was just with her group of girlfriends. I went over to my parent's house on Saturday, curled her hair and applied her make up for her - I can't help but get choked up when I look at her, she looked absolutely beautiful!

B-E-Autiful

The theme was 'Beauty and the Geek'

Proud big sissy right there :)

And yesterday, I managed to make some really tasty things for Superbowl 45 yesterday! Let me just show you!

Jalapeno Popper Dip

Ingredients:

2 8oz bricks of cream cheese (I like Philly but you can use the store brand too)

1-1 1/4 cup of mayo

1 6oz bag of Parmesan cheese

 1 4oz can of diced jalapenos

 1 4oz can of diced green chilies

Directions:

1. Soften the cream cheese to room temperature, combine with mayo, can of chilies, half can of jalapenos, and half the bag of Parmesan cheese.

 2. Pour into an oven safe dish, sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese on the top of the mixture

3. Bake at 350degrees F until bubbly golden brown on the top.

My two cents:

-Depending on how spicy you like things, you can add the entire can of jalapenos but beware like Nelly says - It gets a little hot in here!
-You can serve with cut up chunks of crusty bread or Triscuits (my favorite)

Buffalo Chicken Potato Skins
Ingredients:
4 chicken breast fillets (or thin cut chicken breasts)
4 TBSP butter
1/2 - 1 cup buffalo sauce (I use Frank's)
5-10 Russet potatoes
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
2 TBSP olive oil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400degrees F
2. Wash, dry and wrap in foil the potatoes, place in preheated oven for about an hour or until you pierce it with fork and it's soft inside.
while potatoes are baking
3. Dice raw chicken into small bite size pieces (about 1/2 inch)
4. Melt 2TBSP butter over medium/high heat and saute chicken for about 5-8 minutes (or until juices run clear and chicken is no longer pink inside), add salt and pepper to taste.
5. In another saucepan, melt 2 TBSP of butter, add the hot sauce and mix together.
6. When chicken is done, toss together with the hot sauce.
7. When potatoes are finished baking, remove from oven and immediately open from foil. Wait until cool enough to handle, cut in half and scoop out the guts. Be careful not to scoop down too far or you will break the skin.

8. Turn potato skins over and brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake in oven for about 5 minutes

9. Remove skins from oven, flip back over and fill with buffalo chicken pieces, sprinkle each little 'boat' with a little bit of cheese.
10. Place potato boats back in the oven for about 3-4 minutes until cheese melts and serve immediately - enjoy! :)

My two cents:
-These little guys are spicy, so again, depending how much spicy you can handle, go easy on the hot sauce to coat the chicken.
-I gotta pat myself on the back for a minute because I've never been able to 'gut' a potato for twice baked potatoes or anything, so I was really excited I was able to do it this time! :)
-Spoon a little of the extra juice in each boat to make spicier

I also made a super easy salsa from 5th Belle Avenue! Here are the ingredients, just chop the cilantro and onion and mix everything together. Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy!

it made a LOT more than this, I just forgot to take a picture before everyone dished up

Whew, that felt good! Hadn't cooked like that in a loooong time!

Also, I have a confession, I did not get things unpacked like I'd hoped - I got a few things here and there but not thing big unpacking I was shooting for, hopefully this week and weekend I can continually work on it, I'm not giving up on me yet! :)

How were YOUR superbowl weekends?! Any must try recipes?! Leave me your link if you did make something yummy! :)

PS - did anyone else LOVE Glee last night? The Lady A song was soo good!