Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup (gluten free)

 

I have made this creamy chicken noodle soup several times now, and it has been a big hit in my house.  You can totally make this with all-purpose flour and regular noodles if you do not need gluten free.  My daughter is a vegetarian, so I make a smaller version for her as well, and she loves it!  

Ingredients

2 pounds chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces (leave out for vegetarian)

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 yellow or sweet onion, chopped

2-3 carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced (2 Tbsp)

1/3 cup gluten free flour

10 cups chicken broth (use vegetable broth for vegetarian)

3 Tbsp cornstarch

2 tsp each of dried parsley, basil, salt

1 tsp each of dried thyme, oregano, pepper

16oz gluten free pasta (my favorite is Tinkyada brand) (may want to add an additional 4-8oz of pasta if doing vegetarian, depending on how thick you want your soup)

3 cups half and half

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup grated Parmesan

Instructions

Cook onions, carrots, and celery in olive oil on medium heat until vegetables soften.  Add chicken and cook about 3 minutes.  Add garlic and flour and stir.  Add 9 cups of broth.  Whisk cornstarch with remaining 1 cup broth, and add to soup.  Add all the spices and bring to a boil.  Add pasta and cook according to time on the package.  Add half and half, cream, and parmesan (may need to whisk to get out any lumps of cheese.  Remove from heat and enjoy!

Ultimate Chicken Noodle Soup

 

I got this delicious chicken noodle soup recipe from my sister who got it off this website.  She modified it some and then I modified it a little more.  My family loves this recipe, and it's perfect on a cool day outside or when you're not feeling well or anytime!  It does make a large pot of soup, so if you don't have a large family, you might want to scale it down or eat it for leftovers.  Leftover chicken works fine in this recipe or dark meat is fine too.  You can also make this gluten free by using gluten free pasta.

Ingredients

2 lbs chicken breasts, cut up into bite size chunks

1 Tbsp extra light olive oil

4 celery ribs, diced

4 medium carrots, peeled and diced

1 large onion, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

10 cups chicken broth

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 bay leaves

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried parsley

3-4 cups uncooked noodles, about 8-16oz (I like to use macaroni - use gluten free if you desire)

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Directions

Add oil to large stockpot and heat to medium.  Add onions, carrots, and celery to stockpot and saute until onions are translucent.  Add garlic clove, cut up chicken, chicken broth, salt, pepper, bay leaves, thyme, and parsley.  Bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes with lid on.  Add pasta and cook about 10 minutes or according to pasta direction.  Turn off heat and add lemon juice.  Enjoy!

Tortellini Giovanni

My favorite dish at Giovanni's is their Tortellini Giovanni. It is absolutely delicious! I was throwing something together for dinner one night and came up with this, and I went, "Wow! This tastes a lot like Tortellini Giovanni!" So yummy and super easy!!! I do think it had more cheese than it needed, so next time I will use 4oz instead of 8oz, but I love cheese, so I didn't mind. :-)

Ingredients
3 (19oz) bags of frozen cheese tortellini
1 jar of favorite spaghetti sauce (I used Ragu, large or regular size, preferable not one with tomato chunks in it)
1 small jar pesto (I used basil pesto by Classico)
4-8oz shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
Boil tortellini in a very large pot according to package directions (I usually boil them 9-10 minutes or until they all float). Drain pasta and set aside. Add spaghetti sauce, pesto, and mozzarella cheese. Stir over low to medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Add tortellini back into pot with sauce and stir well. Yum!

Chicken Tortellini Soup

This soup is so yummy!  I love tortellini anyway, and I had a craving for chicken noodle soup one night, so I made up this recipe using egg noodles but then the next time I used tortellini, and my family loved it.  It is also surprisingly low in calories and high in protein.  I have been making it once a week for about 3 weeks now and we aren't tired of it yet.  Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

1 onion, diced

3 celery stalks, chopped

4 medium carrots, chopped

4 Tbsp butter

8 cups chicken broth

24oz raw chicken breasts, chopped

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tsp salt or to taste

1 tsp basil

1 tsp oregano

2 bay leaves

19oz bag frozen cheese tortellini

2 cups milk

1/4 cup cream

1/4 cup cornstarch

Directions

Melt butter over medium high heat.  Add onion, celery and carrots and saute for about 5 minutes.  Add chicken broth, chicken, pepper, salt, basil, oregano, and bay leaves.  Bring to a boil and then simmer on low for about 15 minutes.  Whisk together the milk, cream, and cornstarch in a bowl.  Add frozen tortellini and milk mixture to soup and stir.  Bring to a boil and then lower heat to medium and cook for about 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally.  Enjoy!

Nutrition: 1 cup = 170 calories, 6.1g fat, 15.2g carbs, .5g fiber, 13.2g protein

Variation:  Instead of tortellini, use 4 cups of medium size egg noodles instead.  Creamy chicken noodle soup.  Yummy!

If you want this gluten/wheat free, use 4 cups brown rice noodles.

Goulash

My family loves this goulash.  I made it quite often and it's super easy and inexpensive to make.

Ingredients
2 lbs ground turkey or beef
2 cans corn, drained
30-32oz tomato sauce
32oz diced tomatoes
3 tsp garlic, minced
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp oregano
1 Tbsp parsley
1 Tbsp seasoned salt
1/2 Tbsp salt (or to taste)
3 Tbsp soy sauce
3 cups water
16oz rotini, penne, or medium size pasta (use brown rice noodles for gluten free)
Directions
Brown ground meat, drain, return to pan.  Add everything else except the pasta.  Bring to a boil, add pasta, and cook on low-medium until pasta is fully cooked (about 20 min). Serve with shredded cheese and sour cream if desired.

OR crockpot version:
Brown ground meat, drain, and add to crockpot.  Add everything else except the pasta. Turn on high 4-6 hours or low 8 hours.  Stir in pasta, turn crockpot on high, and cook last 20-30 minutes until pasta is tender.

Crockpot Chicken Spaghetti

I have started looking at recipes on the Crockin Girls Website.  This is the first one I made off of their website, and if you go to the link, you can see a video of them making this.  I did lighten it up some and used whole grain pasta (as well as some brown rice pasta I had on hand... hence the different looking noodles).  This was very yummy and made a LOT.  I did accidentally grab a can of cream of mushroom instead of cream of celery.  If you want to half the recipe, I would just use one can of cream of something soup and omit the other.  The recipe makes this a freezer meal, but I made it right away.

Ingredients
1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken, cubed (could leave out and make vegetarian) 

1 bell pepper, chopped                        

1 onion, chopped

2 pounds 2% Velveeta, cubed

1 1/2 cups light sour cream

1 can cream of chicken (I used reduced fat - watch for allergens, can make your own)

1 can cream of celery or cream of mushroom (I used reduced fat - watch for allergens, can make your own)                    

1 (7-ounce) can diced green chilies (optional)

1/2 cup milk (I used 1%) 

1-2 cloves garlic, minced                      

salt and pepper to taste

32oz noodles of your choice

Directions
Combine all ingredients except salt and pepper in a bowl.
EITHER: put into a gallon freezer bag and freeze for later.
OR: Dump everything into crockpot.  Cook on low 6-8 hours.
Cook noodles according to package directions and add to cheese sauce and mix well.  It will thicken as it cools.

South of the Border Chicken & Pasta Skillet

I got this recipe off the Kraft website and lightened it up and used whole wheat pasta.  It was a winner in our house, very simple, and I will definitely make it again!  I also doubled the recipe for my family, so you can half it if you are only serving a few people.

Ingredients
1 lb whole wheat penne (or other medium size pasta) (use brown rice pasta for GF)
2 lbs chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces (leave out for vegetarian)
2 -16oz jars salsa
20oz frozen corn
8oz package reduced fat cream cheese (neufchatel), cubed
1/2 tsp cumin
7oz package reduced fat Mexican cheese

Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions.  Meanwhile, cook and stir chicken in a large skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat until chicken is cooked through.  Add next 4 ingredients and stir well.  Simmer on medium-low heat about 6 minutes, until cream cheese is melted, stirring occassionally.  Drain pasta, add to chicken mixture with half the shredded cheese.  Simmer 3 minutes, stirring occassionally.  Top with remaining cheese, cover, and remove from heat and let cheese on top melt.

Easy Cheesy Tortellini

Made this last night and it was delicious and a big hit in our house.  Tortellini is one my favorite pastas.  Cheese filled little pastas, 2 of my favorite foods combined.  :-)  I made this similar to my two timin pasta since that is such a big hit in my house.  I found the original recipe, which I modifed, on allrecipes.com.  I will definitely be making this again.  It's so easy.  I did lighten it up since I'm on a diet by using 1/2 the amount of mozzarella it called for and light alfredo.

Ingredients
2 - 19oz frozen packages of tortellini
24oz Spaghetti sauce (I used Ragu traditional)
1 jar light afredo sauce (I used Classico), watch for egg-free if needed
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp onion powder
4oz Mozzarella, shredded
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Boil your tortellini until they all float to the top (which I found is a lot longer than the package says), drain and return to pot.  Add all ingredients together to the tortellini and mix well.  Pour into sprayed 9x13 dish and bake 20-30 minutes.

Weight Watcher Points: depending on your sauce, 1/12 of the pan is 6 points.

Two Timin Pasta

So I found the original recipe for this on Pinterest and apparently it's all over the internet.  I made it a few times now the way online said, putting the Parmesan cheese on top and not finding that as appealing.  Then I decided I wanted more flavor in it, so I added onion and garlic.  This has become one of my husband's favorites, which is funny to me since he has always told me he doesn't like alfredo.  This is so easy to thow together and yummy.

Ingredients
1 tsp onion powder (or 2 Tbsp dried minced onion)
2 tsp minced garlic (or 1 tsp garlic powder)
1 lb pasta (penne or spirals or whatever you have on hand) (use brown rice pasta for GF)
26oz jar spaghetti sauce
15oz jar alfredo sauce (watch for eggs if allergic)
8oz shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions in a large pot of salted water.  Once pasta is done, drain and add back to pot.  Add all ingredients to pasta and stir well.  Add to 9x13 sprayed dish.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Gluten Free Spinach Lasagna

I made this for my family recently and they all absolutely loved it!  I was so excited to make a lasagna recipe that was delicious and I could eat!  My 5 year old said it was his absolute favorite lasagna.  My 8 year old said it was his 2nd favorite (his favorite is Stouffer's).  :-)  My almost 2 year old ate almost 2 whole pieces.  My husband said he really liked it a lot, but maybe I should try it with meat next time.  ;-)  The only other thing I might change next time is that I cooked the pasta according to the package directions but took off 2 minutes when I probably should have took off 5 minutes because they came out a little too soft.  I got the idea for this lasagna from my pasta lasagna recipe.  If you want to add meat, brown 1/2 lb of ground meat with your onion.

Ingredients

1/2 large onion, finely diced

10 oz fresh spinach, chopped

12 Brown Rice Lasagna Noodles (I used 10oz Tinkyada brand)

26oz jar Spaghetti sauce (watch for allergens, I used Ragu traditional)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, optional

1/2 tsp basil

2 cups cottage cheese, I used 2%

1/4 Parmesan cheese

1 egg (leave out for egg free)

8oz  part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sautee onion until soft.  Add spaghetti sauce, spinach, garlic powder, oregano, salt, sugar, red pepper flakes, and basil.  Simmer on low while you prepare everything else.  Boil you pasta according to package directions in salted water, minus 5 minutes, drain, and put into cold water.  In a medium bowl, combine eggs, cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, and half the mozzarella cheese.  In a sprayed 9x13 pan, layer 3 lasagna noodles, 1/4 of the sauce, and 1/4 of the cottage cheese mixture.  Repeat layers 3 more times.  Top with remaining mozzarella cheese.  Bake in preheated oven for 35-45 minutes.  Let cool 10 minutes before serving.



Chicken & Spinach Pasta Bake

I have made this twice now for my family.  The first time I followed the directions almost exactly.  The second time I modified it a little, and I thought it was even better.  My girls in particular gobbled this up.  :-)

Ingredients
13-15oz box multigrain penne pasta (or whatever pasta you want really)
1 T olive oil
1 small onion or 1/2 a large, diced
10oz fresh spinach
1 lb chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (omit for vegetarian)
1 can Italian style diced tomatoes
8oz container chive and onion cream cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
Cook pasta according to directions.  Put your spinach in the food processor and pulse until no more big pieces are left.  I also did this to my tomatoes since they were large pieces.  In a small skillet, sautee your onion in the oil until soft.  In a large bowl, combine pasta, onion, spinach, chicken, tomatoes, cream cheese, and salt and pepper.  Spoon into a sprayed 9x13 casserole dish.  Sprinkle top with mozzarella.  Bake covered at 375 degrees for 30 minutes and then uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes.

This is a great prepare ahead of time meal you can put in the fridge and pop in the oven before serving.  Add 10-15 minutes on to the covered bake time if you bake it directly out of the fridge.

Summer Garden Pasta

I found this Barefoot Contessa recipe originally on Pinterest, and I am so glad I tried it.  I've already made it twice, once with Cilantro Thai Chicken, which will be my next recipe post, and then once with Chicken Piccata and both times got rant and raves from everyone.  It really is delicious!  I am making it again this weekend as a side dish for a get together with friends.  The recipe calls for 4 pints of cherry tomatoes, but they are so expensive, I just bought regular tomatoes and chopped them up.  You can serve this as a side dish, a main dish, or add some shrimp or chicken to it for a main dish with meat.

Ingredients
4 pints cherry tomatoes, halved OR 4-6 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
2 Tbsp minced garlic (6 cloves)
18 large basil leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (if you really don't like spicy, you can omit this)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 lb angel hair pasta (use whole grain for heart healthy)
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Combine the tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, basil, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.  Cover in plastic wrap and let sit for 4 hours at room temperature.  Just before you get ready to serve, cook your pasta in salted water until al dente.  Drain the pasta well and add to the tomato mixture.  Add the cheese and serve.

Low fat baked Ziti with Spinach

I got this off of the Skinny Taste blog.  It is absolutely delicious!  I served it on a Sunday afternoon to my family and my in laws, and we loved it.  I will definitely be making it again.

Ingredients
1 lb high fiber ziti, penne, or bow tie (I used Barilla whole grain penne and bow tie) (for Gluten Free - use brown rice pasta and cook 5 minutes less than directions say)
28oz crushed tomatoes
1 tsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
10oz fresh spinach, chopped (she used frozen, I prefer fresh)
1 tsp oregano
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil or I used 2 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste
8oz low fat cottage cheese (or ricotta)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a 9x13 pan.  In a large pot of salted water, cook your pasta until al dente, drain, and return to pot.  Meanwhile, in a large sauce pan, add olive oil and saute garlic and spinach.  Add salt, pepper, crushed tomatoes, oregano, and basil.  Add sauce to the pasta and combine.  Add half the mozzarella, cottage cheese, and parmesan.  Mix well and add to 9x13.  Spread pasta evenly and then top with other half of mozzarella cheese.  Bake for 30 minutes.  This is a great dish to prepare ahead of time and refrigerate.  Either let come to room temp for 30 minutes before baking or just bake for additional 10-15 minutes.

WW points: 1/8th of the casserole = 6 points or 9 points+ or 332 calories

Pasta Lasagna

So I made this for lunch today and it was very yummy! I found the original recipe online, but I changed it up with adding some spices and using some healthier ingredients, and I used cottage cheese instead of ricotta because I really love cottage cheese in my lasagna. I doubled the recipe not realizing it was plenty for my family without doubling it, so now I have a casserole in the freezer for later, so it worked out great! I am giving you half the recipe I made though, so it should only make one casserole and not two.

Ingredients
-1/2 large onion, finely diced
-1/2 lb lean ground turkey (use beef if you prefer or leave out for vegetarian)
-1/2 lb bow tie or penne or whatever you like pasta (I use barilla plus bow tie which was only half a 14.5oz box)
-1/2 45oz jar spaghetti sauce (I used Walmart traditional)
-1 garlic clove, minced
-1 tsp garlic powder
-1 tsp oregano
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp sugar
-1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
-1/2 tsp basil
-2 cups cottage cheese, 2% or lower fat content
-1/4 cup parmesan cheese
-1 egg (leave out for egg-free)
-8oz mozzarella, shredded (I used parm skim)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown your ground turkey, diced onion, and garlic. Add spaghetti sauce, garlic powder, oregano, salt, sugar, red pepper flakes, and basil. Simmer on low, uncovered while you prepare everything else. Boil your pasta according to package directions in salted water, drain, set aside. In a medium bowl, combine egg, cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, and half the mozzarella cheese. In a sprayed 9x13 casserole dish, layer half the pasta, half the sauce, and half the cheese mixture. Repeat. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes. Let cool some before serving.

WW points: 1/12 of the lasagna is approximately 4 points.

Light Swedish Meatballs

I got this recipe off Gina's Skinny Taste, a Weight Watcher food friendly blog. They were very yummy! I wasn't sure if my husband was going to like these, but he did. My kids weren't crazy about them, but they liked the egg noodles I served them over. :-) Next time I want to try these with ground turkey since we like the flavor of ground turkey a lot. I will probably also double the recipe next time and my husband said he wanted more sauce. He likes a lot of sauce on his pasta. I did add some cornstarch and water towards the end because it didn't look thick enough to me, but I don't think I would do that again because it got almost too thick after cooling some.

Ingredients
1 tsp olive oil (I just sprayed my pan instead)
1 small onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 celery stalk, minced
1/4 cup minced parsley (plus some to put on top if you like)
1 lb 93% lean beef
1 egg (or use one of my egg-free options to the right)
1/4 cup breadcrumbs (I used Italian)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp allspice
2 cups beef broth (I just used a can)
2oz light cream cheese

Directions
In a large deep saute pan, heat oil on medium heat, add onions and garlic; saute until onions are translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add celery and parsley and cook until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes. In a large bowl combine beef, egg, onion mixture, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and allspice. Mix well and form meatballs with your hands 1/8 cup each. Add beef stock to pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and slowly drop meatballs into the broth. Cover and cook about 20 minutes. Remove the meatballs with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add to blender with cream cheese and pulse until smooth. Return to pan and simmer a few minutes to thicken, then pour over meatballs. Garnish with parsley and serve over noodles or with toothpicks for an appetizer.

Makes 22 meatballs, 4 servings, 5 meatballs each.

WW points: she says 4 points, but I came up with 5 points, 1 per meatball. Go to her website, link above, if you want to know calories and other nutrition information.

Spinach Tortellini en Brodo (in broth)

I got this recipe off of http://www.skinnytaste.com/ where she has some really great recipes she's already figured out the calories and fat and Weight Watchers points. I LOVE tortellini. If you've never tried it, you should! It's little cheese filled pastas that are oh so yummy! I love them way more than ravioli. You can get it in the refrigerated section or in the dry pasta section, but I get them in the freezer section for much cheaper. I loved this soup! I was out of nutmeg, so I used cinnamon again, but I definitely would recommend the nutmeg next time. I did reheat for lunch and I enjoyed it just as much. "Meatless Monday" is becoming more popular, and I happen to make this on Monday, unintentionally, but this a great, filling, meatless meal. If you are a complete vegetarian, use vegetable broth instead of chicken. This is like a very elegant chicken noodle soup (without the chicken). Great for cold days or not feeling well or anytime! :-)

Ingredients
-2 tsp butter (I used smart balance light, walmart version)
-2 stalks celery, chopped
-1 small onion, chopped
-1 large carrot, chopped
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-8 cups chicken broth (or I use boullion granules)
-3 cups water
-26oz cheese tortellini (she only used 18oz, but I love it!)
-1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
-1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
-2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
-2 Tbsp grated Parmesan


Directions
In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add your chopped celery, onion, carrot, and garlic and saute until vegetables are tender. Add the chicken broth and water and bring to a boil. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg, and tortellini. Reduce heat to medium and cook until tortellini is cooked al dente. Turn off the heat and add spinach and parmesan. Stir until spinach wilts and serve.

If you don't like spinach, add 2 Tbsp fresh Italian Parsley instead.

I figured 4 Weight Watcher points for 1 1/2 cups but it depends on your tortellini brand and how much you use.

Baked Tortellini

I love tortellini. If you've never had it, it's yummy shaped pasta filled with cheese, similar to ravioli. This is super easy! You could even leave out the pesto if you wanted to make it even easier and less expensive. I love garlic and I love the extra flavor of the pesto in it. If you like this, try Beefy Baked Ravioli or one of my favorite tortellini dishes, Spinach Tomato Tortellini. I did mix some of my mozzarella cheese into the dish, but I think next time I would just put it all on top.

Ingredients
-2 - 13oz packages of frozen cheese tortellini
-26oz jar or can of your favorite spaghetti sauce
-2 - 4 Tbsp pesto (depends on how much you like pesto and garlic)
-8oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
-2 Tbsp Parmesan cheeseDirections
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix together spaghetti sauce and pesto, mix in frozen tortellini. Pour into 9x13 baking dish. Top with mozzarella cheese and then Parmesan cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Pesto Chicken Florentine

I got this recipe on allrecipes.com and made a few changes, mostly to the amounts. I made it the other night for dinner, and it was delicious! All of my kids even liked it. It did have a bit of a strong garlic flavor (but we like garlic around here) b/c I added the pesto without heating it, but if you don't like a lot of garlic flavor, just add it to the alfredo sauce in a small saucepan and heat for a little while.

Ingredients
-2 Tbsp olive oil
-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
-1 lb chicken breasts, cut into strips (could leave out for vegetarian option)
-2 cups chopped fresh spinach
-1 jar (16oz) Alfredo sauce (can make your own or use dry mix to avoid egg whites)
-1/4 cup pesto (I bought a jar of premade basil pesto)
-16oz package penne pasta
-2 Tbsp grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (watch for allergens)Directions

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic, saute for 1 minute; then add chicken and fully cook. Add spinach and saute all together for 3 to 4 minutes.


2. In a medium bowl, mix Alfredo sauce and pesto.


3. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta according to box directions. Return to pot.


4. Add chicken/spinach mixture to pasta, then stir in pesto/Alfredo sauce. Mix well, top with cheese and serve.

Spicy Szechuan Noodles

I got this recipe off of the Betty Crocker website and modified it over the years.  I've been craving Asian food and searching for good recipes, and this is a definite keeper. You could use different vegetables if you prefer and add more or less red pepper flakes depending on your taste in heat. You could also try different meats in this. It called for lean ground pork, but we are big chicken people, so I went with that, and I think you really could totally leave the chicken out, use vegetable broth, and maybe add a little more pasta if you prefer a vegetarian dish. I also couldn't find the rice stick noodles, so I just bought regular linguine. I'm not certain how much it would change the dish, but I loved it just the way I made it. It is a bit on the spicy side, so adjust to your tastes.

Ingredients
Sauce
- 1 1/4 cups chicken broth 
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 5 Tbsp soy sauce (use gluten free if needed)
- 1 Tbsp white vinegar

Stir-fry
- 8 oz linguine (use gluten free if neeed)
- 1 Tbsp coconut or olive oil
- 1/2 pound chicken breasts, chopped
- 3 medium garlic cloves, chopped
- 2-3 carrots, diced
- 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
- 3 medium green onions, cut lengthwise into 1" pieces

-1 can sliced water chestnuts (optional)
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (adjust to your taste, put in more and not at all based on how much heat you prefer)
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- fresh cilantro, chopped (optional, I'm not usually a big cilantro person, but I liked it in this, but cilantro will add some more heat, so be aware of this).Directions
1. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a 2 cup glass measure cup and whisk together, set aside.
2. Boil your linguine according to the package directions, drain.
3. Meanwhile, heat peanut/vegetable/canola oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add chicken and garlic and cook chicken through. If you use pork, break up into small pieces with wooden spoon while cooking. Add carrots, bell pepper, green onions, water chestnuts, and pepper flakes and cook about 3-5 minutes or until vegetables start to get tender.
4. Mix sauce ingredients to recombine and pour into skillet. Stir and heat to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, let simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in sesame oil.
5. Turn off heat, add noodles and combine well. I let mine sit for about 10 minutes to allow the sauce to absorb into the noodles. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro before serving.

Double Cheese and Macaroni

I had a craving for Macaroni and Cheese and so I started looking up recipes according to what I had on hand, and I found one and modified it. I think it turned out really yummy, actually one of my favorite macaroni and cheese's I've made so far. It's a simple one without crust topping. I served it with meatloaf and thought it complimented it really well. It could be served as a side or a main dish. Sorry I didn't take a picture of the ingredients.

Ingredients
2 cups macaroni, uncooked
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded (I used mild)
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 cups milk
2 egg yolks (or 1 egg, I used egg yolks b/c of Daniel's egg white allergy)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions
Boil macaroni according to package directions. Drain, return to pot, and melt butter or margarine in the hot macaroni. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and both cheeses (reserving about 1/2 cup). This is where I might differ a little next time. My cheese kind of grouped in clumps, so I think if I had melted the cheese first, maybe the whisked milk, egg, salt, pepper, and cheese over a stove top, it might have made it smoother. Either way, it was so yummy! Mix everything together and pour into sprayed square baking dish. Top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese and bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Let sit to cool and thicken some before serving. I found it was a little soupy, but after cooling and then reheating the next day, it was the right amount of milk.