Chicken and Pasta

Firstly...SO sorry about not posting. I've been busy with other things lately and this site has been neglected. I hope you all are still visiting and trying the recipes posted however. I still come here frequently to find new recipes to try as I haven't got through them all yet. Secondly...thanks to Kathy and Frances for the recent recipes...so excited to try them both. Frances also has another recipe blog that I plant to post a link to on here soon because there's been some great things on that site as well...just don't have time to look it up right now.

OK, so I threw together this pasta for a dinner party the other night. SO yummy and so easy. Since it was an improvisation, there's a lack of precise measurements, for which I apologize. I am a direction follower most of the time and this would drive me nuts, reading someone else's recipe like this. But this is as good as it gets tonight.

Chicken: I was making it for a lot of people so I used the better part of a whole roatisserie chicken. You could use whatever, but I'd happen to get this for $1 at walmart (reduced at 10 PM to get rid of them for the day!) and needed to use it.

Veggies: I just used a Frozen Veggie Mix (basic, carrots, peas, corn, green beans) I had on hand, but I think something with brocolli would be good, or mostly anything really. I think I used the whole bag.

Pasta: I used twisted noodles.

Cook everything individually, drain pasta and veggies. Then toss together with some olive oil, and seasoning. We used parmesean cheese and mozzarella cheese as well as garlic salt and italian seasoning. Joey and I just mixed it together until we got the flavor we wanted. There are really endless variations with this and it is really easy to tailor to your families tastes. Let me know if you try any other variations on this theme and how they turn out!

Crockpot Chicken

This is not a recipe I have tried yet, but another one from my friend Lara's blog. Let me know how it turns out if you try it!

Crockpot Chicken
In a crockpot, throw in:
1/4 c. butter
4 frozen chicken breasts
1/4 c. water
1 pkg. onion soup mix

Cook on High for 3-4 hours
One hour before serving add:
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 pkg. cream cheese
frozen peas
Serve over rice or noodles.

From scratch tuna casserole

I really, really hate cooking with cream soups most of the time (I do have two exceptions that I can think of and I will share them later) so I make the sauce for my tuna casseroles from scratch, it is so easy and the taste is so much better.

Ingredients:

· 6 Cups medium noodles (about 8 oz.) or 2 cups elbow macaroni (about 7 oz.) (I usually use either egg noodles or small shells)

· 1 sleeve saltine crackers (I like to use whole wheat or multi-grain ones the best. most people top a tuna casserole with bread crumbs but I tried saltines once when I was out of bread crumbs and have never gone back)

· a few shakes garlic powder (optional)

· 2 Tbsp. butter, melted (for cracker topping, more if you would like)

· 1 C. chopped celery

· ½ C. chopped onion

· 1-2 cloves garlic, chopped or a few shakes of powdered (optional)

· 6 Tbsp. butter

· ½ C. all purpose flour

· 1 tsp. dry mustard (optional, although it is good with it, if you don't have any leave it out)

· salt and pepper to taste

· 2 C. milk

· 2 C. chicken broth (or 2 tsp. chicken bullion dissolved in 2 cups hot water)

· 3 (6 oz) cans tuna, drained and broken up into chunks

· 1-2 cups frozen peas (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°
2. Cook noodles or macaroni according to package instructions. While pasta is cooking, take your saltines and crush them inside the sleeve. Combine saltines with 2 Tbsp (or more) melted butter and a few shakes of garlic powder if you are using it.
3. Cook celery, onion and chopped garlic (if using) in the 6 Tbsp. of oil until tender. Stir in flour, mustard powder, salt and pepper. Add milk and chicken broth. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly (it should look like any good thick white sauce). Combine sauce, tuna, peas and noodles. It will look a little like there is too much sauce for the amount of noodles but it will thicken more during baking. Transfer to a 13”x9” sized pan (I use a glass pyrex one) and sprinkle top with buttered saltines.
4. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until bubbly.