Chicken & Penne Alfredo
I was actually craving for chicken fettuccini alfredo when I made this chicken & penne alfredo dish but realized that I didn’t have enough fettuccini in the box. I had a full box of penne though so I used that instead. AND, I didn’t have boneless chicken breasts either so I decided to just cut up chicken leg quarters and cook ‘em in big pieces like that. I guess I could’ve deboned the chicken but I was lazy so big pieces it is. to make it a little fancy, I added a splash of Pinot Grigio. White wine in pasta never hurt anyone. In fact, it makes me very happy, Haha!
| Chicken & Penne Alfredo |
- 1 box of penne,cooked according to the box (al dente;)
- 2 leg quarters, cut each in half(or use 6 chicken thighs or legs)
- 1 jar of Alfredo sauce
- 1/2 cup of Pinoy Grigio (use whatever white wine you have)
- 1/2 cup of water
- a handful of capers
- sprinkle of garlic powder
- sprinkle of Italian Seasoning
- sprinkle of salt and pepper
- roughly chopped parsley for garnish
- a little bit of oil
- Cook the penne, according to the box.
- In a pot, heat up oil. Add the chicken pieces, skin side down. Brown each side for 3-5 minutes. Transfer the browned chicken into a platter. Drain the grease into a bowl.
- Pour the Alfredo sauce into the pot. Add water, white wine, capers, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Whisk everything together. Place the chicken pieces back and the juices into the pot. Stir a couple of times. Cover the pot and let it simmer. Stir occasionally.This pot should be simmer while cooking the pasta in another burner.
- Stir in the cooked penne into the pot of chicken and Alfredo sauce. Stir everything then transfer into a serving bowl/platter. Sprinkle with chopped parsley for garnish.
- Serve in a plate and generously sprinkle grated parmesan cheese.
Dinner @ Two Dogs Pizza
Two Dogs Pizza is the only local owned pizza place where we live. Tonight was the second time we’ve eaten at the place in the year and 2 weeks that we’ve lived in this area. It’s a pretty decent sized local pizza restaurant with a buffet but we’ve discovered tonight only lasts until 2pm. The first time we went there last year we thought the prices were kinda high and the pizzas, although not that bad, are nothing extraordinary. Which explains why in a year and two weeks that we’ve been here, this is the only second time we’ve gone back.
Tonight we ordered from the menu since the buffet(salad and pizzas) was done. We ordered a large Bulldog Bonanza which has sausage, bacon, ham, pepperoni and cheese toppings. We also got a free order of bread sticks.
Homemade Veggie Lovers Pizza
Sometimes I get the urge to just eat vegetables all day. I’m no vegetarian coz I can’t live without pork unless of course I get the crazy idea to join a reality show to win $1Million and be stuck in an island with nothing to eat but exotic veggies. But I digress. Still, I do love vegetables. Gotta have vegetables with every meal. But like I said, sometimes I just want to eat veggies and veggies alone. I could’ve just easily sautéed whatever veggies I have from the crisper and come up with a vegetable stir-fry but that would make me crave for rice so I decided to make Veggie Lovers Pizza instead. You can’t eat pizza with rice. Well at least not in this household. My husband said he likes meat in his pizza when he saw it after coming home from work but while eating his 3rd(or was it 4th) slice, he said it was really good. INDEED it was!
Corabella Tortelloni & Turkey Sausage In Alfredo Sauce
My son said this is the best dinner he’s had this week but that was on Tuesday and we had pizza last night so I’m guessing this is his 2nd best dinner this week. This pasta dish was actually pretty delicious. I really don’t think you can go wrong with any kind of pasta swimming marvelously in Alfredo sauce. I mean, carbs who? Serve me up a second plate, please. But let me show you how to make this Corabella Tortelloni & Turkey Sausage In Alfredo Sauce dish first then decide if you want seconds or thirds.
Baked Spaghetti Alfredo W/ Mushrooms & Capers
For lack of a better chefy-gourmet-ish word, this Baked Spaghetti Alfredo W/ Mushrooms & Capers is what you call the white version of Baked Spaghetti W/ Mushrooms. White, of course comes from the Alfredo sauce and Mozzarella cheese, instead of the usual tomato based spaghetti sauce and shredded cheddar cheese. And to add another twist, I threw in some capers which in my opinion work really well with Alfredo sauce.
Stuffed Tortellini & Broccoli Slaw Pasta Salad W/ Raspberry Vinaigrette
Cold pasta salads are good side dishes with grilled meat dishes during these Spring warm days which of course extend all the way to Summer season. This Stuffed Tortellini & Broccoli Slaw Pasta Salad W/ Raspberry Vinaigrette is similar to the Corabella 4-Cheese Tortelloni & Broccoli Florets Cold Salad and Tricolor Rotini & Broccoli Salad W/ Golden Raisins and Sunflower Seeds. In the two aforementioned pasta salads, I used Italian Salad dressing. This time around, I used raspberry vinaigrette dressing that I was so happy to find at the store just the other day.
And of course, this is another simple dish for the Corabella cheese-stuffed pasta that are just so handy for any day.
Turkey Meatballs In Corabella Mezzaluna Ravioli
I’m still going through the various Corabella pasta that I received from the company to try. The family is enjoying the simple dishes I’ve come with that’s for sure. This time around I used the Mezzaluna Ravioli to go along with the turkey meatballs. The raviolis are stuffed with 4 cheeses which includes ricotta and Gorgonzula.
Beef Rotini W/ Chick Peas
I love chick peas. I could eat by itself out of a can or in humus form as a dip for crackers. I once put it in a shepherd’s pie and it was really pretty good. I figured I’d add it in a simple pasta dish using rotini shells and cut up cubed beef steaks. It was pretty good too.
BBQ Chicken & Turkey Bacon Pizza
Every time I opened one of my cupboards, a jar of pizza sauce kept staring at me. For about 2 weeks. This past Sunday I finally gave up and said, “fiiinnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeee, I’ll make pizza for dinner.” Then I realized I don’t have the usual pizza toppings like pepperoni, or sausage, or black olives, or mushrooms or even peppers. Geez, my fridge really sucked last Sunday. But wait, I have chicken. I always have chicken. And I have half a jar of bbq sauce. So a plan was formulated. Cook bbq chicken in the oven, make the dough, open the jar of pizza sauce, sprinkle cheese and ooohhh, I found a few slices of turkey bacon too. BBQ Chicken & Turkey Bacon Pizza sounded like a great plan and it turned out delicious. YAY!
Kraft New Homestyle Mac ‘N’ Cheese
I’m pretty capable of making macaroni and cheese from scratch like Creamy Mac ‘N’ Cheese W/ Crispy Bacon Bits but my husband saw this new Kraft New Homestyle Mac ‘N’ Cheese (Old World Italian with Parmesan & Romano cheese sauce) so he grabbed it to try. There was also a coupon from Food Lion so it only cost $1.
It’s very easy to make. Just follow the instructions from the package which comes with the macaroni and packets of cheese sauce, seasoning and bread crumbs topping. You still need butter, milk, and water for boiling the pasta.
