Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese

Although my Alex will eat pretty much anything, my family (parents and brother) are EXTREMELY picky.

From my dad not liking tomatoes, my mom eating like a four-year old (macaroni and cheese, burgers, chicken fingers), and my brother who refuses to eat anything that might go in a salad, it is quite difficult to come up with anything that they will all eat.

I was at home for the weekend and needed a recipe that I could try that they all would eat.  I saw this while browsing my favorite cooking blog, and thought it would be a good recipe to try.

It was a hit!

Terrible picture, but it is from my cell phone.  I’ll fix it later though ;)  Visit the original recipe here for a better, more appetizing picture

Baked Buffalo Chicken Pasta

serves 4-6

• 1 pound pasta (I used shells)
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into chunks
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 4 ounces grated monterey jack cheese (I used half a brick) + more for topping
• 1/3 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese + more for topping
• 2/3 cup mild buffalo wing sauce (original calls for 1/3, but I added more for more flavor)
• 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
• salt and pepper to taste

for garnish: additional buffalo wing sauce  (She added additional garnishes on the original recipe found here)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Prepare water for pasta and cook according to directions.

While pasta is cooking, heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter, and once it’s melted and bubbly add the flour. Whisk together to create a roux and cook for 1-2 minutes until mixture gets a bit golden in color. Add milk, stir and turn down heat to low. Continue stirring until milk thickens. Add in grated cheeses and continue to stir until mixture is smooth. Stir in buffalo wing sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed.

Spray a baking dish (9x13) with non-stick spray. Add pasta and chicken, then pour cheese sauce over and mix thoroughly until everything is coated. Sprinkle with additional grated cheese and bread crumbs. Bake for 25 minutes or until cheese is golden brown.  Drizzle with buffalo wing sauce.

Linguine with Clams Casino

Alex was coming into town and I was determined to try out a new recipe on him while I had him here.  I ran across this recipe and between the bacon, pasta, and clams, I knew it was perfect (and fairly reasonably priced, which made my financial analyst boyfriend love it even more ;))

We actually ended up cooking it together (because Alex can’t stay out of the kitchen), but it was really easy and it tasted AMAZING!  Alex even went as far as to say that I will have to make it again so far, and maybe even for his parents (both requests are a big deal coming from him).

I served it with a store-bought tomato basil focaccia (sorry, only one new recipe a night ;)), and had planned on adding a salad, but forgot to pick up the salad ingredients.  Oh well, just more room for pasta ;)

Recipe from How Sweet It Is (my new favorite cooking blog ;))  I didn’t make any changes to it and wouldn’t change a thing!

Clams Casino Linguine

serves 3-4

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped red peppers
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cans minced clams in clam juice, 13 ounces total
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 slices bacon, fried and crumbled
• 1/2 pound whole wheat linguine
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese + more for garnish
• freshly chopped parsley for garnish

Boil a pot of water for pasta and cook according to directions.

While pasta is cooking, heat a skillet on medium heat and add olive oil. Add chopped onions and peppers with a pinch of salt and sauté until soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Add in both cans of clams + juice and bring the mixture to a boil. Add white wine and let mixture simmer for about 5 full minutes. Stir in butter.

Turn heat down to low and add cooked linguine. Toss to allow the noodles to soak up the sauce. Add in parmesan cheese, crumbled bacon and parsley.

Serve with additional parmesan and crusty bread.

Three-Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake

Alex has been dying for me to cook for him, so while I was in Arkansas…I thought I would do just that.  I found this recipe on the Kraft Foods website and with chicken, pasta, spaghetti sauce, and cheese I didn’t see how you could go wrong!  The original recipe was semi-healthy and with my changes, it definitely took that aspect away, but it was so good!  I’m sure it is delicious without the additions as well…we were just about to go out of town for the weekend and didn’t want a lot of leftover ingredients :)

I hope you enjoy as much as we did! :)

*Note:  As always, my additions/substitutions are in bold italics

From:  kraftfoods.com (It has a video if you need extra help, but honestly, if I can handle it, I’m sure you can too! ;))

What You Need

1-1/2 cups multi-grain penne pasta, uncooked (I used regular penne and I used the entire box)

1 pkg.  (9 oz.) fresh spinach leaves (I coarsely chopped it to make it easier to eat – this could be easily left out without compromising the dish)

1 lb. Boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces (I used 2 pounds)

1 tsp.  Dried basil leaves

1 jar (14-1/2 oz.) spaghetti sauce

1 can  (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained (I didn’t drain them)

2 oz. (1/4 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, cubed (I used 4 oz.)

1 cup  KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided (I used the whole package)

2 Tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese (just tasted it and added as I saw fit)

 

Make It

HEAT oven to 375ºF.

COOK pasta as directed on package, adding spinach to the boiling water the last minute.

COOK and stir chicken and basil in large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat 3 min. Stir in spaghetti sauce and tomatoes; bring to boil. Simmer on low heat 3 min. or until chicken is done. Stir in Neufchatel.

DRAIN pasta mixture; return to pan. Stir in chicken mixture and 1/2 cup mozzarella. Spoon into 2-qt. casserole or 8-inch square baking dish (Because I upped the ingredients, I used a 9 x 13 baking dish)

BAKE 20 min.; top with remaining cheeses. Bake 3 min. or until mozzarella is melted.

Like I said, it definitely wasn’t healthy, but it was definitely yummy!  It made a lot (with my alterations of course) and it was just as yummy as leftovers :)

As always, if you try it, let me know how it works for you!

Penne pasta with Sausage & Homemade Garlic Bread

I made this dinner tonight for Alex and I on Thursday and Alex ate three helpings and asked if he could keep some of the leftovers.

When my parents came down this weekend, my dad tried it and ate almost all of the leftovers so I can definitely say this was one of my best dishes yet!

The original recipe was from Sandra Lee’s show, "Money-Saving Meals”, but I adapted it to fit my tastes (which makes it even more exciting that it actually turned out :))  I’m listing her recipe and my alterations are listed in bold.  Enjoy!

From:  Sandra Lee, Food Network

Prep: 10 min       Total:  35 min       Serves: 4 (huge servings!)

* 1 pound penne pasta
* 2 tablespoons olive oil (used vegetable oil instead)
* 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced (left this out)
* 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped (used garlic salt instead and added some more as I cooked - whatever I thought it needed)
* 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning mix (I also added some more after it started cooking)
* 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flake, optional (left this out)
* 4 Italian-style hot pork sausages, cut into 1/2-inch slices (got mild Italian ground sausage instead...it was much easier to deal with :))
* 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained (I wanted more sauce so I left the juice in)
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 1/4 cup heavy cream
* Basil leaves, for garnish (I left this off)

I followed the directions accordingly, just left out or substituted as listed above :)

Bring large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook pasta according to package directions.
In a large deep skillet over medium-high heat, add olive oil. Add onion, garlic, Italian seasoning mix and red pepper flakes, if using. Sir frequently and cook until the onions are soft and fragrant, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add sausage and cook for 1 minute. Add can of crushed tomatoes, stirring all the ingredients together to combine. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste and let simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in heavy cream and mix well.
Drain the pasta and add directly to the skillet with the sauce Toss the pasta to coat with the sauce. Transfer to a serving bowl or platter and garnish with basil leaves.

As for the garlic bread, Sandra Lee just took store-bought garlic bread and added cheese.  Our grocery store was out of fresh garlic bread, so I just got a french loaf, put a slice of “I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter” and some garlic salt on each one and baked them at 400 until cheese was melted :)