Tasha's Famous Spicy Shrimp Pasta

I through this pasta dish together one day when I was really craving seafood pasta but couldn't find a recipe I liked. I use to make this at least 3 times a month because my husband loved it so much! Anyone I have ever made it for has asked for the recipe and for me to make it for them the next time they join us for dinner. Bear with me on the measurements here. I have never measured them but attempted to when I fixed this last night. Feel free to not follow these measurements and add them to your taste. Hope you enjoy this one!

What You'll need: 

1 bag of medium uncooked shrimp

4 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

1 Jar of creamy Alfredo sauce

1 tablespoon of garlic powder-- or to taste

1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper 

1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon of onion powder

1 teaspoon of parsley

1 teaspoon of basil

1 box of penne pasta

Directions:

Put thawed shrimp in a large skillet along with the olive oil and garlic powder. Cook over medium heat until the shrimp is done, stir often.

 Mean while cook the pasta according to the directions. Once the shrimp is cooked pour in the Alfredo sauce, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, onion powder, parsley, and basil. Stir well, the sauce should have a red/orange tint to it. Heat until the sauce is warm.

 Pour over your cooked pasta and enjoy!

Like I said I normally don't measure this out and last night was a little trial and error. I used 2 tablespoons of cayenne pepper and it was REALLY spicy! I also added a little extra garlic powder in my sauce because I love garlic. Feel free to experiment! If I can find my perfect measurements I will update this so stay posted!

One Dish Chicken Dinner

What You'll Need:

3 or 4 Chicken Breast

14 ounces of Fresh green beans

1 pound of Red Potatoes --Cubed *I just used 4 baking potatoes this time*

1 stick of butter-- Cubed

1 packet of Italian seasoning

Aluminum foil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*

Placed the thawed chicken breast in the middle of a 9X13 baking dish. Place the green beans along one side of the chicken and the potatoes on the other side.

 

 Sprinkle the Italian seasoning packet all over the chicken, green beans, and potatoes. Place the cubed pieces of butter on top of the chicken, green beans, and potatoes as well.

Place a piece of aluminum foil over the baking dish and cook in the oven on 350* for 1 hour.

Be-careful when removing the foil the steam underneath is very hot.

Enjoy!

6 Can Soup

We came home today after a lonnnggggg weekend at a marriage retreat. 2 sleepless nights and a 4 hour drive home I so did not feel like cooking! I quickly remembered a recipe I came across where you just take cans of stuff and dump it in a soup pot and there ya go! It surprisingly turned out well and my husband and I loved the taste of it, plus we had enough left over for lunch and some to stick in the freezer! This is a fabulous last minute quick meal.

What You'll Need:

 For The Soup:

1 can of chicken broth

1 can of chicken and rice soup

1 can of chili OR ranch beans -- I used one can of chili beans and 1 ranch packet so I got the best of both worlds (:

1 can of corn

1 can of Rotel 

1 can of chicken -- chunks

For Toppings (optional):

Sour Cream

Shredded Cheese

Small Sweet Onion-- chopped

Green Onion-- chopped

Anything that sounds good

Directions:

Open all the cans. Dump them all into a large soup pot. Turn the stove on medium-high heat and heat soup for 10-15 minutes. Eat as is or top it off with whatever sounds good, we used Sour Cream, Sweet Onion, and Shredded Cheese, ENJOY!

Mozzarella-Basil Stuffed Chicken

I cook A LOT of chicken (if you haven't figured this our by all my other post thus far). So, I am always trying to figure out ways to spice it up or do something different. Hubby loves this one because it is stuffed full of cheese, one of his favorite things. It's fairly simple and quick as well which is always a major plus!

What You'll Need:

Chicken Breast -- 1 per person

Basil -- To taste

Mozzarella Cheese-- Shredded or 1 stick to each chicken breast

Tooth Picks

*Aluminum Foil

Directions:

Thaw out the chicken. Preheat the oven to 375*. 

 Slice the chicken so you have a place to stuff the cheese. Do not slice through the whole chicken or else the cheese will just fall out and burn. Sprinkle some basil in the slice you created and then stuff the cheese into the chicken.

Take the toothpicks and close the slit the best you can. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place your chicken on it.

Put them in your preheated 375* oven for 35 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.

Enjoy!

Mexican Chicken Tacos

After moving to upstate New York I quickly realized authentic Mexican restaurants are very rare! During my pregnancy I was always craving real Mexican food, not taco  bell or chiptole. I finally came across a taco recipe that is just simply amazing and everyone I have ever made them for loves them! They are pretty simple to make too, I like simple (:

What You'll Need:

1 pound of Chicken Breast

Chicken Taco Seasoning

Cilantro -- Chopped and To Taste

Goat Cheese

Corn Tortillas-- All we had were flour tortillas but trust me they taste TONS better with the corn.

Directions:

Cook the chicken however you like. I normally cook my chicken in a pan with some olive oil but today I was busy running my son to doctor appointments so I threw it in the crock pot. After the chicken is cooked shred it. 

In a pan add the chicken and the taco seasoning. I like to cook mine with olive oil and just a little bit of water instead of the 2/3 cups water. 

Warm your tortilla and throw on your chicken with cilantro and some goat cheese. Done! 

Enjoy the yumminess!

Turkey Meatloaf

Last week when we were planning our big trip back home to Indiana for thanksgiving I was digging around trying to find stuff to make meals out so I would have to go grocery shopping and waste a bunch of food that would go bad by the time we got back from our trip. So I found some ground turkey in our freezer and thought I would try to make meatloaf out of it. My husband loved it and said he would eat it again if I made it. Now you have to know my husband's favorite food is meatloaf and he HATES any little minor change to it so for him to say it was good and he would eat it again is a HUGE deal!

 What You'll Need

1 pound ground turkey

1/4 cup oats

1 large egg

1/2 medium onion-- Diced

2 tbs milk

2 tbs ketchup

Salt & Pepper -- To Taste 

Directions: 

Preheat Oven to 450*. Mix the Turkey, Oats, Egg, Onion, Milk, Ketchup, and Salt & Pepper into a medium bowl. Transfer the meat mixture into a baking pan and mold it into a loaf. Bake at 450* for 30-35 minutes. 

*I like to top my meatloaf with ketchup before throwing it into the oven.

An Even EASIER Chicken Noodle Soup

So yesterday Chicken tacos were on our menu and I was suffering from a migraine and a sick baby so I did not feel like putting the time into cooking dinner. I through together an even easier and quicker chicken noodle soup than in my previous post. 

So, here it is! Enjoy!

Super Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

What You'll Need:

2 Chicken Breast -- Cooked

1 can of carrots-- Drained

1 can of corn-- Drained

32 Oz of Chicken Broth

8 oz of wide egg noodles

3 Stalks of celery -- Chopped

1 can of water

Garlic salt-- To Taste

Onion salt-- To Taste (or half a medium onion)

Salt & Pepper -- To Taste

Directions:

In a large soup pot pour in the chicken broth. Chop the celery and place it in the chicken broth. Cover and cook on medium heat for about 30 minutes or until the celery is soft. Then add in all your other ingredients cover EXCEPT FOR THE EGG NOODLES and cook for about 20 minutes. Then add in your egg noodles and cook for another 5-10 minutes There! Easy Peasy and Yummy!

Note: I put my chicken breast frozen into the crock-pot for 5 and a half hours on low then shredded it but you can fix the chicken however you like. If you don't want well defined noodles and prefer "mushy" noodles you can add the egg noddles in with all the other ingredients as well.

Crock-pot Jambalaya

Crock-pot Jambalaya

This is probably one of my all time favorite recipes! There are so many flavors that just blend together perfectly. I was also shocked, my husband was thrilled, to see that my Jambalaya recipe was almost identical to Ms. Kay’s. Hubby is a HUGE Duck Dynasty fan. This recipe is excellent for busy mama’s (or daddy’s) too since you just throw it in the crock pot.

What You’ll Need:

2 pounds Chicken

1 pound large shrimp

1 pound smoked sausage

1 large green pepper

1 large onion – chopped

3 stalks of celery -- chopped

3 cloves of garlic -- minced

28 oz can of tomatoes – diced or stewed 

1 6oz can of tomato paste

2 cups of chicken broth

1 tablespoon of Cajun or Jambalaya mix

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 ¾ cups rice

Directions:

Combine Chicken, Sausage, Onion, Green Pepper, Celery, Tomatoes, Tomato paste, Garlic, Chicken broth, Spice mix, Thyme, and Oregano into the crock-pot. Cook on low for 5 hours. Add rice and shrimp and raise the temperature to high and cook for 30 more minutes.  Stir and serve. 

Enjoy!!

Play around with this recipe and make it your own. I have made it before with only one or two of the meats, less tomatoes, extra tomatoes, chicken stock instead of broth, etc. It always turns out amazing!

Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

This is an extremely simple, quick, traditional chicken noodle soup recipe that is absolutely delicious. Great for fall and winter months or when you just need some comfort food.

What You'll Need:

Egg Noodles

32 oz Chicken Broth

1 pound Chicken -- cooked

1 cup carrot -- chopped

1 cup celery-- chopped

1/2 medium onion -- chopped

1 clove of garlic

Parsley

Salt and Pepper -- to taste

Directions:

Put everything into a large soup pot and cook for at least 30 minutes.

If you would like more well defined noodles, instead of  "mushy" leave the noodles out until the last 5 minutes or so.

To let all the flavors blend more let the soup cook longer than 30 minutes.

That's it! So Simple (:

 

  

Crock-pot Rootbeer BBQ Chicken

A sweet-tangy easy peasy chicken crock-pot recipe that you and your family will just eat up!

What You'll Need:

• 4 Chicken Breast
• 1/2 can of Rootbeer
• 18oz bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Barbecue sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

• Place the chicken breast in the crock-pot and cook on high for 3 hours.
• Note- my chicken breast were still partially frozen and the 3 hours worked fine. If you are wanting to use completely frozen chicken breast I would suggest cooking them for an extra hour.

• Drain the juices off of the chicken and place them back into the crock pot
• In a bowl mix together the Rootbeer, BBQ sauce, salt, and pepper. 

• Pour the BBQ mixture over the chicken.

• Cook the chicken on high for an additional 30 minutes
• Note- When I make these again I will probably cook them for another hour to an hour and a half on low so the chicken has more time to soak up more of the BBQ sauce.

 Serve with a side of mashed potatoes, or whatever you like, and enjoy!

Copy Cat Olive Garden Chicken and Gnocchi Soup

If you are anything like me then you LOVE Olive Garden. Not just an "Oh, yeah. I like to eat there." It's an anytime anyone ask ya where you want to eat the first thing you blurt out is Olive Garden. Now if your spouse is anything like my husband then you don't get to eat there very often. So I was browsing the net one day and came across quite a few of these chicken and gnocchi recipes which just so happens to be my favorite soup from the good ol' OG. So I gave one a try and Oh My Gosh! Let me tell ya, it was as close as it could be to the actual thing! I am super picky about knock offs especially when it's my favorite but this was delicious! Even my husband enjoyed it and he is the pickiest eater I have ever met in my life!
So, Here it is. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Copy Cat Olive Garden Chicken and Gnocchi Soup

   

What You'll Need:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 cup onion -- diced
• 1/2 cup carrots -- diced
• 1/2 cup celery -- diced
• 4 cloves garlic -- minced
• Salt and Pepper -- to taste
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 4 cups (32 oz) chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups half&half
• 2 cups cooked chicken
• 1 pound potato gnocchi
• 3 cups baby spinach
• 1 tablespoon basil 

Directions:

• In a large soup pot heat butter and oil together over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the vegetables are tender over medium-low heat, this will take about 15-20 minutes. Stir Often!
• Once the vegetables are tender sprinkle the flour into the pot and mix it well into the veggies. Cook for 3 minutes stirring often.
• Stir in the chicken broth 1 cup at a time. Followed by the half&half and the cooked chicken.
• Bring to a simmer and maintain it for 20 minutes stirring the soup often.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Cook gnocchi separately according to the package directions.
  Add the gnocchi to the soup along with the baby spinach.
  Simmer until the spinach is wilted, this won't take very long.
• Stir in basil and serve with grated cheese.

My only note to this delicious recipe is I would recommend a higher quality potato gnocchi. I used a cheap-o kind from Aldi and I really believe that threw the taste off a bit.

Enjoy!