Smokey Chicken Baked Pasta

There is this really great locally-owed restaurant here in Mobile called The Hungry Owl. They make this great pasta dish with shredded chicken and smoked sausage in a spicy cream sauce. I ordered it our first time there and while I liked it very much, I wasn’t aware that green chiles were going to be an ingredient. There were a lot of them and it was just too much for me, but Jason *loved* it. However, the few bites I was able to get without the chiles were absolutely delicious. I kept thinking about it for weeks but since it is a single restaurant and not a chain, there are absolutely no copy-cat recipes for their yummy creative dishes on the internet (at least not anywhere I could find), so I gave up looking.

Almost a year ago I went to a cooking party at my friend Brittney’s house during which we purchased and used Wildtree seasonings to make lots of freezer meals. Over the last several months my family has been enjoying the meals and the other night we used our last one, the Chipotle Lime Chicken Fajitas. Problem was, the recipe had six chicken breast halves and since we are down one child (Jeremy is in California), we only ate three of the portions. What to do with the other three?

The next day I wasn’t really feeling a simple chicken quesadilla and I felt like this really yummy marinated chicken had great flavor to lend to a dish instead of just nuking it in the microwave. So I applied my new favorite kitchen activity… throw a bunch of things into a casserole dish and hope for the best! In this case, it was a tremendous hit!!

You’ll need:
1 1/2 cups chicken, cooked & chopped (that was about three chicken breast halves)
1/2 pound penne pasta, cooked and drained
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cups shredded cheese (divided 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup)
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
2-3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
salt & pepper to taste

1) Marinate the chicken in Wildtree’s Chipotle Lime Rub (or seasoning of your choice – just make sure it’s very flavorful). Heat a little olive oil in a skillet and cook the chicken. Let the chicken rest on a cutting board for ten minutes or so then chop it up into bite sized pieces.

* This is a great dish to use up leftover chicken. Keep this recipe in mind for when you have some extra chicken from a meal earlier in the week. If you just have one chicken breast, use that and maybe throw in some chopped veggies like onions/celery/mushrooms.

2) In a bowl, combine the cream of chicken soup, milk, 1/2 cup shredded cheese, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Stir in the chicken and cooked pasta.

3) Pour the mixture into a medium casserole dish (mine was an 8×11″) and sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese over the top. Now that I think about it, a little bread crumb added to the cheesy topping would be an incredible crunchy boost to the creamy texture. I’m going to try that next time. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

I went in just wanting to make something yummy with some leftover stuff I had in the fridge. We loved it and you know what Jason said? “It tastes familiar. Smokey and just a little bit spicy.” Just then we knew I had somehow thrown together an almost exact replica of the yummy dish at The Hungry Owl that we’d both liked. Theirs had smoked sausage in it, which would be tasty, or you could put some bacon, but we liked it just with the chicken. That’s the best thing about casseroles, they are so versatile!

Special Occasion Potatoes

I got this recipe from my good friend Ericka and it was called “Funeral Potatoes”. My family loves them and they are always a hit at potlucks, so I just can’t call them Funeral Potatoes anymore. I’ve found similar recipes that call them Duchess Potatoes but I just call them Special Occasion (even though I make them for parties as well as an average Wednesday dinner).

7 medium russet potatoes (or 4 of the monster size baking potatoes)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream (I often swap low fat cottage cheese and it’s delicious)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup butter (salted or unsalted, doesn’t matter)
2 tsp. dried chives
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. granulated garlic

1) Scrub the potatoes and place in a large stock pot. Cover with water and boil them whole with the skins on. When a knife slides easily into the potatoes, drain and remove them to a cutting board and let them cool to room temperature. I do this in the morning and then leave them out for a few hours.

2) Heat the remaining ingredients in the stock pot that you cooked the potatoes in. Once everything is combined and the cheese is melted, turn it off and leave the sauce in the pot.

3) The original recipe said to shred the potatoes, but I prefer more texture, so I take the easy method and just slice the potatoes into rounds, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Add them into the stock pot and stir until everything is mixed together.

4) Dump everything into a 9×13″ pan or similar 3-quart casserole dish and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Or, this is a great dish to make up ahead of time and keep in the fridge (covered) unbaked for a few hours until you’re ready to pop it in. If you bake it from refrigerated, it will take about 45 minutes. I usually up the oven temp to 400 and bake it covered for 20 minutes and then uncovered for 20-25, that way the top doesn’t burn before it’s heated through.

5) If it’s even possible, these are better as leftovers. I don’t know why, they just are. I usually put a serving on some foil in the toaster oven pan and heat it up in there instead of the microwave or turning my oven on just for that. Since the heating element is closer to the food it only takes about 15 minutes or so and it gets the edges a little more browned and crispy. I love it!

Lastly, since this makes a huge dish full and is meant to be potluck size to feed a crowd, I have adjusted the recipe by about half and baked it in my 7×11″ dish to make just enough for a family dinner.

3-4 medium potatoes (or 2 huge baking size)
1 cup sour cream or cottage cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 butter
1 tsp. dried chives
1/2 tsp. each salt, pepper, and granulated garlic
no cream of chicken soup (it’s kind of hard to use just half a can – you could and then just put the other half in a tupperware to use later, but I’d forget about it)

Follow directions as above, but bake it for just about 20 minutes (or 30 from refrigerated). Cooking time depends on how big a dish you use and whether it’s a glass Pyrex or metal. When the cheesy sauce is bubbling around the edges, it’s done.

Beef Stew

Tonight we had the best beef stew that I’ve ever made. I’ve made several over the years using various methods: stock pot, slow cooker, packaged seasoning mix, and more homemade seasoning recipes than I can remember. I finally did it though, I worked up my own mixture and it is shockingly simple.

1 large onion, large chunks
4 medium russet potatoes (or 12 small red potatoes), chunked
4 carrots, peeled and cut in 2-inch lengths
1 pound stew meat, cubed

1 tbl. ground cumin
1 tbl. paprika
1 tbl. dried basil
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1-2 bay leaves
4 garlic cloves, minced
5-6 cups of beef broth

1) Melt a tab of butter in a skillet and cook the onions just until there is a little color on them. Just for a few minutes. Dump them into a large slow cooker.

2) Add a bit of oil to the skillet and toss in the meat. Salt and pepper to taste and sear the meat on all sides. Dump it into the slow cooker on top of the onions.

3) Add the potatoes and top with the carrots.

4) Sprinkle the seasonings on top and pour in enough beef broth to almost cover everything (sometimes it takes 5 cups, sometimes 6).

5) Cook on high for 5 hours.

I love this recipe because it doesn’t use any flour or cornstarch to thicken the broth, it stays the consistency of a soup (the packaged seasoning mixes always turn the broth almost to gravy, not what I want) and the meat and veggies are in nice large pieces which definitely makes it eat like a meal. The cumin gives it a really nice well-rounded warmth in the background and the paprika adds a little heat that isn’t at all overwhelming. Of course, if you want more heat, you can always add some cayenne or red pepper flake. I hope you enjoy this recipe for all it’s delicious simplicity.

And THIS is Why We Homeschool

I’m going to be honest and say that our first day of our 2012-2013 school year was rough, with a capital R. We completed the work he needed to get done that day, but 2-year old Jesse needed a lot of attention and 3-month old Julie kept waking up at the most inconvenient times. We had a tough time keeping Jeremy focused and I was constantly going back-and-forth between all three kids. Jeremy and I each had mini-meltdowns, then realized that we’d forgotten lunch. The afternoon was really hard. By the time we finished with school, Jason came home from work and took us out for dinner because I just couldn’t bring myself to cook. That evening Jeremy and I talked about it and said that we did a pretty good job, but we have some kinks to work out in our schedule. We were going to try again tomorrow.

Tuesday, day 2: Our first field trip. We met up with some other mom and kids friends from our MOPS group at 5 Rivers Delta Resource Center. We sat in a nice theater-style room for storytime, made a nice puppet craft, walked around and looked at their exhibits of local wild animals. Then we walked out to the waterfront, had a lovely picnic and let the kids run around. It was really nice to not be at a regular park full of climbing things and swings and such. The kids actually had to use their imagination and come up with games to play with each other. They had so much fun! We finished up our day at home with a couple of quick lessons, a dip in the pool, had a fast dinner, and rounded it all out with a trip to Chill (our favorite serve-yourself frozen yogurt place) to redeem our 2 free yogurt coupons.

Today, our third day of homeschooling Kindergarten/First Grade, Jeremy and I are taking a break after lunch. We’re watching Money Saving Meals while I rock Jesse to sleep for his nap, Sandra is explaining how her semi-homemade tamales are less expensive than store-bought frozen tamales and Jeremy exclaims “She’s doing math! It’s like her kitchen is her school room!” *Happy sigh* (in my head) “Yes, this is why we homeschool. Remember this.” Before I can even let out a breath, Jeremy tells me that cooking is like science and asks if we can bake cookies. I smile and respond “You betcha kiddo, cookies will be our science project this afternoon.”

Sure, we’re only half way through our first week of this school year, and we’ve already weathered some bumps, but I’m optimistic that we’ll do just fine.

Menu Plan: September 7-15

I’m back to planning lunches as well as dinners. I’ve been taking it far too easy on myself for the last several months and our lunches have turned into quick nachos in the microwave or the kids and I eat a lunchtime snack while Jason eats at the galley at work more often because I just haven’t been making lunch. How sad is that?

Friday, September 7:
Rehearsal Dinner

Saturday, September 8:
Wedding Dinner

Sunday, September 9:
Lunch – Pizza Quesadillas
Dinner – Meeting Jason at the galley since he’ll be at work on duty all night.

Monday, September 10:
Lunch – Korean Beef and white rice (I might skip the rice and just make these into tacos instead)
Dinner – Sweetangy Pork Chops, parmesan roasted potatoes, corn, and beer bread

Tuesday, September 11:
Lunch – tuna sandwiches
Dinner – Cheese Enchiladas and white rice

Wednesday, September 12:
Lunch – Lemon Parmesan Pasta
Dinner – Slow Cooker Pot Roast (I perfected this recipe and will share it as soon as I remember to take a picture!), “Crack Potatoes”, carrots

Thursday, September 13:
Brunch – I’m bringing this yummy casserole to MOPS.
Lunch – I’m sure there will be some yummy leftovers to clear out by now.
Dinner – Smoked Sausage Hash Bake

Friday, September 14:
Lunch – Queso Dip & salad (Holy moly, I’m pulling this one from the OLD archives. We haven’t had this in over two years and I’ve got a serious craving! Reminder to Self: Get it together and transfer this recipe with a real picture to your current blog. For goodness sake!)
Dinner – Chicken Fried Rice

Saturday, September 15: Jeremy comes home!!!
Lunch – BBQ Chicken Crescents (I’m going to use this recipe as a guide, but use barbeque sauce instead of buffalo and throw a little mozzarella cheese in there as well.)
Dinner – Million Dollar Spaghetti and I need to think of a special dessert. Think, think, think…

Menu Plan: August 6 – 12

It’s been over two months since Julie joined the family and though I’ve been cooking pretty regularly since we brought her home, I have finally gotten back into the swing of menu planning.

Last weeks menu brought back some old favorites and this weeks is pulling in a few new recipes that I’ve found on Pinterest and we’re really looking forward to.

Monday, August 6:

Brunch — Blueberry Buckle (I’m going to make these up tonight because somehow it’s better eaten the day after it’s baked.)

Dinner — Chinese Lemon Chicken with veggie fried rice.

Chore — Make pizza dough for tomorrow and let it rise in the fridge overnight.

Tuesday, August 7:

Lunch — We’ll be getting home from Playgroup utterly famished (as usual), so some quick mac & cheese from the famous blue box will fill the bill perfectly.

Dinner — Homemade Pizza (another one I forgot to make last week).

Baking — Banana Nut Bread (I bought extra bananas on purpose because I knew we couldn’t eat that many and I wanted to have some get extra ripe because I’ve been seriously wanting some banana bread.)

Wednesday, August 8:

Lunch — Smoked Sausage Hash Bake (I’ve got a lot of eggs hanging around and this is a great recipe that uses up 6-8 of them.)

Dinner — Daddy’s on duty, so we’re planning to clean out some leftovers.

Thursday, August 9:

Lunch — Grilled cheese sandwiches and fruit.

Dinner — Adobo Grilled Chicken (another yummy Wildtree meal from the freezer stockpile) with brown rice and sweet corn.

Chore — Make meatballs and freeze them for tomorrow.

Friday, August 10:

Lunch — Tuna salad sandwiches with carrot sticks and dip.

Dinner — Slow Cooker Hawaiian Meatballs with white rice.

Saturday, August 11:

Lunch — We’re going to a birthday party for a super sweet 4-year old of my friend Carey.

Dinner — Roasted Corn & Potato Chowder with breadsticks made from the same dough recipe as my Butterflake Rolls.

Sunday. August 12:

Breakfast — Sticky Lemon Rolls (Getting them made up the night before so I can just bake them off in the morning and glaze them.)

Linner — I’m going to have to give this a little bit more thought. I’m out of ideas for now.

Coast Guard Day 2012

Yesterday was Mobile’s celebration of the Coast Guard’s 222nd birthday. Jason’s base rented out the entire West End Beach on Dauphin Island and everyone gathered for a nice day at the water. The weather was perfect, warm and sunny, a little bit of a breeze, nice gentle waves.

Food and drink were provided, sno cones for cooling off, inflatable bounce houses and water slides were set up for the kids. It was lots of fun.

We brought our EZ Up tent, blankets, and chairs. I slathered Jesse in sunscreen and took him out to the edge of the sand. The same little boy who is always terrified of our pool (hangs around our necks and refuses to be let go even when he has a life jacket on) wasn’t scared in the least of the waves lapping at his feet. As the afternoon went on, it was all we could do to keep him from running headlong into the ocean. As the water rolled back, Jesse would run out to pick up seashells, and Jason had to run out to snag Jesse before the water caught up with him. A few times he sat in the wet sand and waited for the waves to come wash over him. He laughed like crazy as it splashed around him and a couple of times it was strong enough to spin him around and roll him onto his side.

Julie napped pretty much the whole time, so she and I spent most of the day together in the shade of the EZ Up. I was pleased with how well she handled the heat of the day, but not entirely surprised. I take her out into the Southern humid heat every week when we go to the park for playgroup and she’s a real trouper during hot car rides and seemingly endless errands. I figure that if you get them used to it when they’re little, they’ll mind it less and have less to complain about when they get bigger.

I can’t wait to head back out to the beach when Jeremy gets back next month. The last time we took him he was pretty scared of the waves. He’s so much bigger now and I doubt he’ll be afraid if his little brother isn’t. And next time we won’t forget all of our sand castle making supplies!