Tag: cheese

Creamy Chicken and Bacon Bake

Leftovers/ Freezer Meals, Pasta

Evening, folks! So tonight is the last night of freedom. School starts tomorrow and I will be pulled in lots of directions;  mom, teacher, chauffeur, etc. It will be great, and I will be a little glad to be back in the routine of it all, but I will always mourn summer’s ending.

Tonight, I made this yummy dinner for my family. Everyone loved it! Lots of leftovers for the week. I hope you will give it a try!

Creamy Chicken and Bacon Bake

Ingredients
1 package of pasta- I used Rotini
About 2 cups Alfredo sauce- homemade or jarred- I used a combo of each- After I mixed everything together, I found it a little dry, so I eyeballed some extra parm and heavy cream plus a bit of pasta water.
2 chicken breasts- You could also use leftover or rotisserie here to save time.
5 strips of cooked bacon, chopped
6 slices or 2 cups shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/4 stick cubed butter

Directions

Boil pasta water with plenty of salt. Cook pasta a little under, about 8 minutes.
Cut up your chicken in bite sized pieces and brown in a pan. Add in sauce and chopped bacon.
Stir in cooked pasta to Alfredo mixture.
Spray casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.
Add everything in the casserole dish.
Add cheese, then breadcrumbs, then cubed butter on top of your pasta mixture. Bake at 350 until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

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Cheesy Beef and Mushroom Sandwiches

Appetizers and snacks, Beef, Sandwiches

Evening guys! I hope everyone had a great day. It was a scorcher here, so instead of the pool, we opted to go to an indoor jump place for the girls. My parents came with us and then we all had lunch at Mellow Mushroom. My dad and I both had a calzone; mine was tomato, basil, and black olives and his was steak and cheese.  I have enough leftovers for a few days…those things are bigger than my head!

Tonight I made this new recipe. I had a container of ground beef, but I wanted to come up with a something unique that we have never had before. I also had some mushrooms, an onion, and a random can of cream of mushroom soup. So I thought I might make a take on Philly cheese steak, but more playing up the mushrooms. I also used 2 different cheeses. Cheddar on half and provolone on the other half. Turns out they both taste good! This would be great for a quick dinner on a busy night or even a great appetizer for game night! I am already thinking of new sandwich ideas to use in the future!

Cheesy Beef and Mushroom Sandwiches

4 mini french loaves or one large loaf cut in 4 sections
1 pound ground chuck
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced in a garlic press
1 container mushrooms, chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
salt and pepper to taste
CHEESE! I used half cheddar (about 1 cup shredded) and half provolone (6 slices in total)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350
Brown the onion and beef. Season with salt and pepper. Halfway through the beef being browned, add the mushrooms and garlic. Mix well.
Add in the mushroom soup and Worcestershire sauce. Mix well and cook for another 5 minutes or so. Cool.
Slice your bread and scoop out a little of the insides to make room for your beef and mushroom mixture. This is a great snack for the kids or dog =)
Add the beef and mushroom mixture on the bread. Top with your cheese and bake in the oven for about 12 minutes or until the cheese is melted and starting to brown.

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Spaghetti with Sun-dried Tomatoes, Bacon, Pine Nuts, and Parmesan

Pasta

Good evening, kids! I hope everyone had a marvelous Monday! I got home late tonight, so I needed to find something that I could throw together. I had some random things in my fridge and pantry, so I threw caution to the wind and created this masterpiece =) Pretty much anytime you can add pasta, bacon, and cheese, you should do it.

I had about half a pound of thin spaghetti, the last spoonful of a container of sun-dried tomatoes, 3 cloves minced garlic, 1/3 of a container of pine nuts, 1/2 a container of Parmesan, and 8 pieces of bacon. I also added 3 fillets of anchovies and 2 tablespoons of tomato paste.

If you don’t have a jar of anchovies in your fridge, I highly suggest you get one. If you think you don’t like anchovies, you are wrong. If you like Caesar Salad, you like anchovies. I am not suggesting you eat the anchovies whole. That would be an amateur move. I am letting you know that if you add 3 anchovies to a bit of bacon fat, olive oil, or butter, they will melt and make the base to the most delicious sauce you have ever had. So amazing. Trust me, please. Just don’t put your nose directly in the jar, ok? But if you don’t have any in your pantry, are going vegetarian on this dish, or you are allergic for some reason, you can totally leave them out. It is you meal and your life, so you can do whatever you want.

So while I was boiling the water for my pasta (add lots of salt), I made the bacon. I started cooking the pasta. I took out the bacon (cool and chop) and added the anchovies. They melted like butter and I added the garlic and 2 tablespoons of red pepper flakes (optional). I added 2 tablespoons tomato paste and stirred well. Then I added the sun-dried tomatoes (packed in olive oil, but add another drizzle if needed) and pine nuts. I cooked those for 3 minutes, then added the pasta (read time on box and follow minus 2 minutes). I added the pasta in to the mix plus a coffee cup full of starchy cooking water. I let this cook for a couple more minutes before I added the Parmesan. I mixed well then added my chopped bacon on top. 004

Easy Green Chili, Bean, and Cheese Burritos

Girls' Night Out/In, Mexican, Vegetarian

5 ingredient Easy Meal… Tortilla, refried beans, cheese, green chilies, and enchilada sauce…

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Put some enchilada sauce on the bottom of your pan. Start layering…tortilla, beans, cheese, chilies…fold, etc.

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Top with enchilada sauce and more cheese…006

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until the cheese it nice and bubbly…

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Eating up all the chips in the house cheering for the Seahawks…Good game tonight!009

Ham, Spinach, and Cheese Strata

Breakfast and Brunch

Ham, Spinach, and Cheese Strata

INGREDIENTS

3 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 onion, chopped
8 slices honey baked ham… deli ham, sausage, or even bacon would be delicious
1-2 packages of frozen spinach or 1 cup cooked fresh spinach- I had some leftover creamed spinach which I used…my girls are not big spinach eaters, so I eased up on what I may normally make for myself.
1 tsp. salt, divided
½ tsp. pepper, divided
Dash freshly grated nutmeg
6-8 cups bread, cubed in to pieces. The girls helped me break apart about 1 1/3 leftover Italian loaves
about 2 cups shredded cheese (whatever you have on hand…I used mild cheddar, mozzarella, and Gruyere)
2/3 cups grated Parmesan
8 eggs
2 1/2 cup milk

DIRECTIONS
Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onions to the pan and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg, and continue to cook for 1 minute more. Stir in the spinach and ham. Stir to combine, remove from the heat, and set aside.

Spray the inside of a 3 quart baking dish. Layer the bottom of the dish with one third of the bread cubes. Top with one third of the spinach and ham mixture and one third of each of the cheeses. Repeat these layers with the remaining ingredients.
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In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, milk, the remaining ½ teaspoon of the salt and ¼ teaspoon of the pepper. Whisk together until blended. Pour the mixture evenly over the layered mixture in the baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight.
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Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Bake uncovered until puffed, golden brown and cooked through about 45 minutes. Let stand at least 5 minutes before serving.

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