Chicken Spaghetti

Ingredients 

 2 small boneless skinless chicken breasts 

2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning Salt/Pepper

 2 Tablespoons olive oil 

4 Tablespoons butter

 1 small yellow onion, diced

 3 cloves garlic, minced 

4 Tablespoons flour 

1 ½ cups chicken broth

 ¾ cup milk 

4 oz. cream cheese, softened 

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

 10 oz. diced tomatoes & green chilies

 8 oz. Thin Spaghetti

 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded 

red pepper flakes & chopped parsley, to garnish 

Instructions 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Cook the Chicken (Optional. You may also use cooked chicken.) 

1.Slice the chicken in half lengthwise to create 2 thinner slices. Pat dry and season lightly with salt/pepper and Italian seasoning. 

2.Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and sear the chicken on each side for 5-6 minutes. Remove and set aside. Dice into bite-sized pieces once cool enough to handle. 

Make the Sauce

1.Reduce heat to medium low. Melt the butter in the same pot and use a silicone spatula to clean the chicken bits from the bottom. This is called “fond” and it gives the sauce a nice flavor. Add the onions and cook until softened, about 4 minutes.

2. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. 

3.Sprinkle flour over the onions and toss to coat. Cook for 2 minutes, until you can no longer smell flour. 

4.Add the chicken broth in splashes to maintain the thickness of the roux. Stir in between each splash. Add the milk next, a little bit at a time. Whisk until combined and smooth.

5. (Now is a good time to start boiling the water for the pasta. Cook it according to package instructions and drain once finished.) 

6.Meanwhile, let the sauce simmer and reduce while the pasta water heats up. Add the softened cream cheese and stir continuously until melted and smooth. This is more difficult if the cream cheese is cold. 7.Reduce heat to low and let the base cool a bit. Sprinkle in the shredded cheddar and stir to combine.

8. If you’d like to thin the sauce out at all, add a little bit of the juice from the diced tomatoes, otherwise, drain the juice and add the tomatoes along with the chicken. Stir to combine. 

9.Stir in the spaghetti. If you’re not using an oven-safe pot, transfer to a lightly greased 9x13 casserole dish. 

Bake 

1.Top with mozzarella cheese and bake uncovered for 15 minutes. If desired, broil it for a few minutes at 475 degrees at the end, watch it closely. 

2.Remove from the oven. Garnish with red pepper flakes and fresh Parsley. Serve with a side of Garlic Bread with Cheese.

https://thecozycook.com/chicken-spaghetti/

chicken manicotti

• Chicken Manicotti with White Sauce 6oz cream cheese, softened

  1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

  1 tsp garlic powder

  1/2 teaspoon salt

  1/4 teaspoon pepper

  4 cups cubed cooked chicken

  1 medium onion, finely chopped

  14 manicotti shells, cooked and drained In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in the sour cream, garlic, salt and pepper until blended. Stir in chicken. In a small skillet, cook onion in butter until tender; add to chicken mixture. Stuff into manicotti shells.

  SAUCE:

  6 tablespoons butter

  6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

  1/4 teaspoon salt

  3-1/2 cups 2% milk

  3 cups (12 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack

  8 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese

• In a large saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour and salt until smooth. Gradually whisk in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in 2-1/2 cups Monterey Jack cheese and 1/2 the Parmesan cheese just until melted. Spread about 1/2 cup cheese sauce in each of two greased 11-in. x 7-in. dishes. Top with stuffed shells and remaining sauce.  Bake at 350° for 25 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle 4 table spoons of Parmesan cheese. Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until bubbly and cheese is melted. Yield: 7 servings. 

Original recipe from taste of home magazine January 2007. I left veggies out because we would rather have them on the side and I added garlic powder. I also add a little extra cheese on top. This is also good with the large shell noodles that can be stuffed.

Stuffed Shells (with alfredo sauce)

I tried something new for dinner tonight and it was so yummy that I am excited to share it...

Stuffed Shells

20 Jumbo Shells (cooked for about 15 minutes and cooled)
4 chicken breasts cubed
1 T olive oil
1 small onion
1/2 C cheddar cheese

Fry chicken with 1 T of olive oil and 1 small onion. Mix chicken with Alfredo sauce (recipe below). Spoon mixture into shells and place in a 9x13 baking dish. Poor extra sauce over shells and top with shredded cheese and bake for 20 minutes at 350.

Alfredo Sauce

2 C milk
1/3 C (3 oz) low fat cream cheese
2 T flour
1 t salt
1 T butter
3 garlic cloves (or use 2 tsp garlic powder)
1 C grated Parmesan cheese

Place milk, cream cheese, flour, and salt in a blender and blend until smooth. In a non-stick sauce pan, melt butter on med-high heat and add garlic. Let the garlic saute for about 30 seconds, you don’t want to burn it.

Then add milk mixture to the pan. Stir constantly for about 3 or 4 minutes or until it just comes to a simmer. Keep stirring and let it cook for a few minutes more. It should be much thicker now.

When it’s nice and thickened remove the pan from the heat. Add the cheese, stir it up and then cover immediately. Let stand for at least 10 minutes before using. It will continue to thicken upon standing. Also, if you have leftovers in the fridge, the sauce will thicken almost into a solid. Just re-heat and add a little milk and it will be back to normal again.

(sauce recipe from Our Best Bites)

World's Best Lasagna

Ingredients

• *add a dash of nutmeg to the sauce to make it more authentic and delicious!
• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
• 3/4 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 12 lasagna noodles
• 16 ounces ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 448 | Total Fat: 21.3g | Cholesterol: 84mg

this is from Johnchandler at Allrecipies.com

This makes the best lasagna my family has ever had, even compared to Olive Garden! Plus we get the fun of making it alll day long together. It is expensive to buy all the ingredients, but it makes a like ten pounds. You can have plenty of leftovers (if there are only two of you hee hee), so it is not actually that expensive. MMMM MMMM

Quick Stroganoff

This is a quick meal that can be on the table in 30 minutes or less.
But if I call it stroganoff the kids won't eat it so they call it creamy meat and noodles.

2 cups Macaroni noodles
1 pound hamburger
1 small onion
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms (optional)
1/2 T. Lowery's Seasoned salt
1 tsp. Chili powder
1 beef bullion cube
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup of milk
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. cook macaroni noodles. Meanwhile In large frying pan scramble hamburger with onions, Lowery's, and chili powder and drain when hamburger is brown.
2. If adding mushrooms do now and saute. Add hamburger mixture and stir together.
3. Add cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, and milk. Stir together until soup is mixed in. Then add bullion cube.
4. Simmer until noodles are done.
5. We like to mix the sauce with the noodles, but if you want you can serve them separately.
6. side note: If you're out of noodles this is also good over rice. Also substituting leftover steak in place of the hamburger is great. Just chop is into bite sized pieces.

I almost forgot to take a picture so here is the leftovers. It makes a yummy lunch (pictured batch doesn't have the extra mushrooms). I just add a little milk when reheating it. Yumm!