I’m going for longest Post Title in history. How’d I do?? ;)

If you have checked out my recipes before, or if you’ve eaten at my house (which unfortunately none of you have) you’d know we are big pasta lovers.

We also love quick and easy – and this dinner is definitely that.
In fact – the salad and breadsticks are cheater recipes. :)

Hungry yet??? Well let’s get started!

Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 Tablespoon cream cheese
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt/pepper
• 1 lb. fettuccine noodles
• 8-10 chicken tenders
• romaine lettuce (I used 1 bag of prepared lettuce)
• 1 cup of mozzarella balls
• black olives
• grape tomatoes
• yellow peppers
• small jar artichoke hearts
• 15 slices salami
• small amount of store bought Caesar dressing or your fav. Italian dressing
• French Bread (in a can)
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon oregano

That looks kind of long – it’s not too bad and I bet you have a lot of that stuff on hand. :)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and start your pasta water. Bring to a boil.

Start by combining the 1 stick butter, heavy cream, and cream cheese in a saucepan. Bring to a light boil.

Once the mixture boils and the butter and cream cheese are melted, add in 3/4 cup parmesan cheese and garlic powder.

I recommend using fresh grated parmesan in this – it’s so yummy. And if you don’t have a Microplane – start dropping hints now. Christmas is 93 days away!!
Seriously – I love this tool!

Mix everything up and put the Alfredo on simmer. Cover and put it on the back burner – let it simmer for about 20 minutes. It will give you plenty of time to do all the other things.

Prepare the breadsticks next. I have made breadsticks from scratch and I have the recipe for those if you’d like it, just email me.
But sometimes I just don’t have the time to do the whole yeast/rising thing.

I found this can of French bread at the store – it’s supposed to be good for you. Ha. We’ll fix that.

Open up the can and cut the loaf into 8 or 9 pieces.

Oh – and put parchment paper down – it will make cleanup so much easier and the breadsticks will turn out better. Promise.

Roll each piece into a breadstick shape. I leave them kind of rustic and rough looking.

Melt the remaining butter (1/2 stick) in a little dish. Mix in the garlic powder and the remaining 1/4 cup cheese and salt.

Brush the butter on the breadsticks.

Put the breadsticks in the oven and bake for 12-14 minutes.

Your pasta water should be boiling – add the fettucini and make sure you salt your pasta water well. It’s your only chance to season the pasta.

Saute your chicken.

Now I have a little trick I use. I don’t always remember to take the chicken tenders out of the freezer in time to thaw for dinner.

So to avoid having to defrost in the microwave – I put a small amount of chicken broth in the bottom of a skillet. Add in the chicken.

Bring the broth to a boil and cover. This will cook the chicken quickly and keep the chicken moist.

Start assembling your salad. This is super easy. Just put all the salad ingredients in a bowl.
(lettuce, tomatoes, olives, artichokes, salami, mozzarella, yellow peppers)

Dress the salad with a small amount of Caesar Dressing.

Check your chicken. Once it looks cooked through take the lid off and let the liquid cook off.
Season the chicken with salt and pepper and turn as it browns.

Now it’s time for the finishing touches!! :)

When breadsticks are done, remove from oven and brush with remaining butter mixture.

Taste your alfredo sauce and see if you need any salt.

Drain your pasta water and add the pasta to your serving dish. Pour the Alfredo over the pasta and toss.

Cut your chicken into pieces and layer over the pasta.

Grate more cheese over the pasta if you like lots of cheesy goodness.

Ok. Mmmmm.

You’re all done – time to eat!!

I hope you enjoy this quick, easy, yummy dinner!

You could also make this vegetarian super easy. We do that all the time.

Let me know if you give it a try!

And let me know if you want to come over for dinner! We’ll have pasta. :)

Here’s the download link to print out.

Download: Chicken Fettucine Alfredo

Comments

Are you ready for a new twist on meatloaf?

We looove meatloaf but I’ll confess – I don’t often take the time to make it.
Between running kids around and various appointments, I don’t usually get dinner going early enough to put a meatloaf in to cook for an hour before dinner time.

That’s one of the things I love about this recipe. ( I got the meatloaf recipe from Rachel Ray and then altered it a bit.)
It’s nice and fast – cooks in half the time of a regular meatloaf and it gives you the time to get your other sides done while it’s cooking! Perfect.

Not to mention that it’s super yummy. :)
Here’s the recipe – along with our two favorite sides to go with it!

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs hamburger
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1 T Montreal Steak Grill Seasoning (or something similar)
• 2 eggs
• 8 slices provolone cheese
• 1/4 lb prosciutto
• 2 cups (approx.) fresh spinach
• 6-8 potatoes
• 6 T cream cheese
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup milk
• 10 tomatoes
• 1 tub of small mozzarella balls
• 10 leaves fresh basil
• garlic oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Start by putting on a pot of water to boil for you mashed potatoes. Make sure to salt your water.

Chop your potatoes (we don’t peel them but if you’d like to, feel free!).

In a large bowl combine your hamburger meat, breadcrumbs, grill seasoning and eggs. Mix well.

On a large cutting board or your counter, lay out a piece of wax paper. Pat your meatloaf mixture into a rectangle  – about 12 x 16. (I’m guessing here but it ends up being about the size of my cookie sheet.)

Layer on the provolone slices, leaving about 2 -3″ at the top free.

Layer on the prosciutto . .

and the spinach.

Begin rolling up your meatloaf as tightly as you can, using the wax paper to help hold it together, then peeling it off. Seal the ends on the bottom of the roll and place on a sheet of parchment paper (if you like) on a cookie sheet. (Make sure to use one with small sides.)

Place your meatloaf in the oven, bake for 25 – 30 minutes. Add your potatoes to the boiling water.

Cut the tomatoes into wedges and add them to a bowl. I used 3 colors of tomatoes for prettiness but you could definitely use all red.

Cut your basil into ribbons (called a chiffonade). To do this stack up your basil leaves on top of each other,

Isn’t that pretty? Now roll them up tightly in a long roll.

Slice the leaves into thin ribbons, cutting all the way through the roll.

And you have a lovely pile of basil ribbons! So fancy. ;)

Add the basil and mozzarella balls to the tomatoes along with 2 T of  garlic olive oil and salt and pepper. Mix well and taste – add more seasoning or oil if needed.

When the potatoes are done, drain them and mash. Add the cream cheese, milk and salt and pepper to taste.

Check your meatloaf for doneness – it should be cooked through. Remove from the oven (turn the oven off which I NEVER remember to do) and let rest for just a few minutes on a cutting board. Slice into pieces and serve with potatoes and the caprese salad. YUM!

A reader (Thanks Sue) asked if I’d put the whole recipe at the end of the post for easier printing.
Which makes a lot of sense ( yes, I should have thought of that) – so here’s the recipe – click to download and print!

I hope you enjoy this quick, easy dinner!

Download: Meatloaf Rollups Recipe

Comments

Need some dinner ideas for next week? I have one of our favorites for you.
It’s too yummy – with the creamy sauce and the fresh tomatoes and basil – and anything over pasta is good in our book. :)

Ready to get started?

Serves 6 (ish)

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs Chicken Tenders
• 3 cups Chicken Broth
• 4 T butter
• 4 T flour (*Updated – forgot to include!!)
• olive oil
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 tomatoes
• 10-15 fresh basil leaves
• 1 lb. fettuccine noodles
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat 2 -4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet or saute pan.  Start your water boiling for the pasta. Make sure to add salt to the pasta water.

Salt and pepper the chicken tenders and saute them till just cooked. Remove them from the heat and keep them warm. (I just put them on a plate with foil over them.)

In the same skillet melt the butter. When butter is melted add the flour and mix with a whisk until flour is all incorporated into the butter and bubbly.

Don’t let your mixture get too brown. (Which can happen if you’re trying to cook and take pictures at the same time. We almost had to start over here. ;)

Whisk in the chicken broth and let simmer until slightly thickened.

Add your pasta to the water – it should be boiling by now. ;)

When this is thickened add in the cream and mix well. Let this cook for a few minutes until sauce is creamy. Add back in your chicken tenders.

Let your sauce simmer and thicken. Chop your tomatoes and basil while you’re waiting.

Once the sauce is the consistency you want and your pasta is just about done, add in your tomatoes and basil. Mix well. Taste and add salt and pepper if desired.

Drain your pasta and pour it into a serving dish.

Spoon your chicken and sauce over the pasta and serve. :)

I usually serve this with a simple spinach and bacon salad dressed with a Creamy Balsamic dressing.

I hope you enjoy this simple yummy recipe!

Comments