Pesto

This is the easiest meal in the world, not to mention authentic, really good Italian! My toddler loves spaghetti noodles!

Pesto

1, 7 oz. container Pesto
Spaghetti or angel hair pasta

Cook however much spaghetti or angel hair you think your family could/would eat. Cook according to package directions. Drain, return to the pan, had the container pesto a spoonful or two at a time until coated. Enjoy!

Notes: You can find Pesto in the same section as the refrigerated tortellini. At Fred Meyer it's also near the cheese section. Sometimes you can find it bottled too. There are usually a few different brands. Tonight we used, Arthur's Italian Cuisine Traditional Pesto, it was half the price of the other stuff($2.50 compared with $4.99)...and it tastes about half as good, but still good. In case you don't know what Pesto is, it's made mostly of basil, Parmesan and pine nuts...so it is a very green color. The first time I had it I couldn't get past the color...green spaghetti just didn't appeal to me, but I've gotten use to the color and can now enjoy the flavor. On a different note, remember not to overcook your pasta, it should be al dente. Just follow the directions and if you think it still needs more time, don't go much more than 1 or 1 1/2 minutes longer or you'll have soggy, limp noodles, YUCK!
Sometimes I add chicken pieces that I've cut into 1 inch pieces, seasoned(season all, or salt+pepper+a little garlic powder) and pre-fried to the finished pesto, it's really good this way...but tonight I was lazy!

Cheesy Chicken Potatoes

I needed to make dinner quick one night last week and found this recipe on the side of my *Hungry Jack Four Cheese Potatoes. I'm eating the leftovers as I type, it is really yummy, light yet hearty!

Cheesy Chicken Potatoes
Servings: 5

1 (4.9 oz) pkg. Hungry Jack Four Cheese Potatoes
2 cups boiling water
2 T margarine
2/3 cup milk
1 chicken breast cooked and cubed (original recipe: 2 cups cubed cooked chicken)
1 cup frozen peas (original recipe: 2 cups frozen broccoli florets, thawed)
1/2 cup (or more!) cottage cheese (original recipe: 1/2 cup sour cream)
4 oz. (1 cup) shredded Cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Combine potato slices, sauce mix, boiling water and margarine in ungreased 8 inch square glass baking dish. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Cut up chicken breast, season with season salt, fry in olive oil until juices run clear.
Remove baking dish from oven. Stir in milk. Stir in cooked chicken, peas and cottage cheese. Sprinkle with cheddar. Bake an additional 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Let stand 5 minutes to thicken sauce. Enjoy!

Notes:
You can always substitute Regular Unflavored (not vanilla!) Yogurt for Sour Cream. Sometimes like in this recipe you can substitute Cottage Cheese for Sour Cream. I always substitute Cottage Cheese for Ricotta in my Lasagna.

Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

I made this probably about 2 weeks ago. It was so yummy! It's a tad spicy. If you don't like spicy I would substitute tomatoes for the salsa. Enjoy!

Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves-minced

2 chicken breasts

1 cup frozen corn (or canned)

1 can drained and rinsed black beans

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp Worcester sauce

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp fajita seasoning

1 cup salsa (or you can use a can of diced tomatoes and green chili's)

4 cups chicken broth

Optional-1 T diced jalapenos

Directions: Combine all ingredients in the crock pot. Cook 8 hours on low. Shred chicken. Serve with tortilla chips, shredded cheese, sour cream, cilantro and avacodo slices. A squeeze of lime is good in it too. Also, I usually taste and adjust seasonings a bit about an hour before eating. Add more spices according to your family's preferences.

http://feelingscrappyclasses.blogspot.com/2009/02/chicken-tortilla-soup.html

Tomato-Basil Chicken

From: http://www.simplifysupper.com/recipes/160-Tomato-Basil-Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup plain yogurt
5 ounces tomato-basil wheat thins, about half a box
1/4 cup Parmesan, grated
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 Tablespoon Parsley, flakes
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk

Pour yogurt into a small dish. Crush crackers into fine crumbs. In a separate dish, blend cracker crumbs with parmesan cheese and seasonings. Dip chicken breast halves into yogurt, coating both sides. Roll in crumbs until well coated. Place in greased baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about one hour. For sauce, combine soup and milk in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until hot. Serve over chicken.

What I did:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Half the recipe, use sour cream in the place of yogurt and pound the chicken to 1 inch thickness. For the crumbs combine the crackers and all the seasoning in a food processor and blend until done. After pounding the chicken smother it in sour cream, both sides, then roll the chicken in the crumb mixture. Next put a piece of tin foil on top of a cookie sheet (or other baking pan) and spray it with PAM (this makes clean up much easier!) Place the chicken on the greased foil and bake for 1 hour.

10-15 minutes before chicken is done mix the soup and milk together, with a wire whisk, over medium-low heat until creamy. Keep warm, be careful not to scald the sauce.

To serve:
Spoon some sauce onto plate and place the chicken on top but slightly to the side (the trick is to trap the sauce to the outside of the plate so it doesn't run into your veggies and such.

Serve with spaghetti(or other pasta) and red sauce(I made my own sauce but I also like Hunts Traditional Spaghetti Sauce); canned Blue Lake Pole Beans and Granny Smith Apple slices.

Possible Variations:
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Pound the chicken to 1/4 inch thickness, put a slice of Swiss cheese and a slice of deli ham on each chicken breast and role up so that the cheese and ham are on the inside, secure with tooth picks. Smother with yogurt or sour cream, roll in the crumbs, place the chicken seam side down on the greased pan and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until juices run clear. (I haven't tried this, it just sounded yummy! Let me know if you have success!)