Creamy Chicken Spaghetti

Hey all! I had some zucchini from my garden and had to use it up before vacation, so I plugged the word "zucchini" into the kraftfoods.com site and found this treasure. It is so yummy! I had everything on hand except the cream cheese so it was easy to make. My kids loved it, and my dad who was over helping us put in an AC unit into our window even asked for seconds. Some people in their reviews on the Kraft site said they added onion or garlic to their spaghetti, but I thought it was fine the way it was.Hope you enjoy!(This is not my picture, but the one on the Kraft website. It looks about the same :)

Creamy Chicken Spaghetti

1/2 lb spaghetti, uncooked (I used whole wheat whole grain thin spaghetti and it was delicious)

1/4 cup light Italian dressing (I used the Kraft Tuscan House Italian I had on hand)

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 zucchini, cut in half lenthwise, then sliced crosswise (I used one huge zucchini)

2 cups spaghetti sauce

4 oz cream cheese (or neufchatel cheese), cubed

Parmesan cheese

Cook spaghetti as directed on package.

Meanwhile, heat dressing in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 2 min. Add zucchini; cook an additional 2 min., stirring frequently. Stir in spaghetti sauce. Bring just to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 5 min. or until chicken is cooked through. Add Neufchatel; cook 1 min. or until cheese is melted and mixture is well blended, stirring occasionally.

Drain spaghetti; place on serving plate. Top with the chicken mixture; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. (I just combined the drained spaghetti in the skillet with the chicken mixture and passed Parmesan cheese at the table. Less dishes!)

Mushroom Soup

For a Girl's Night, Kristi, me and the other Pearson's girls went to Zupa's. I had tried my mom's leftover mushroom soup and was excited for a bowl of my own. As I ate it, I thought I could make it myself. And today, I did. The result was excellent and my kids loved it. Austin's only complaint--not enough mushrooms!!

I have to admit, I based my recipe off Kelli's Corn Chowder.

Mushroom Soup

1 stick butter
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pkg mushrooms rinsed & drained

Melt butter in soup pot. Add onion, garlic & mushroom and simmer until mushrooms are cooked.

Add 1/2 cup flour to create a roux.

Add 3 cups chicken stock.

Bring to a boil.

Add 2 cups milk.

Heat until thickened.

Remove from stove and add 1/2 to 1 sticks butter before serving.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. (You can also add directly to soup. Maybe 1/2 cup?)

Serve with homemade bread, my bread sticks, or French bread. Maybe even a bread bowl! YUM!

Chocolate Chip strawberry shortcake

If you love real strawberry shortcake and you love chocolate, you will definitely love this recipe!

This is a great summer treat and it looks pretty too!

Ingredients:
3 cups sliced fresh strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
BISCUITS:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar, divided
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon butter, melted, divided
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
Whipped cream

In a small bowl, combine strawberries and sugar; cover and refrigerate until serving.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, combine cream and 1/2 cup butter; stir into dry ingredients until a thick batter forms. Gently stir in chocolate chips. Drop by 1/3 cupfuls onto a greased baking sheet. Brush with remaining butter; sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake at 375° for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool. Cut biscuits in half horizontally. Spoon fruit onto bottom halves. Top with whipped cream . Replace biscuit tops and serve.

Broccoli & Tomatoes with Herbs

We came to my mom's house and she is cooking from Betty Crocker's Diabetic Cookbook. She had some of her broccoli leftover and Jordyn & I finished it together. The best broccoli dish I've had--and no cheese!

1 lb broccoli, cut into flowerets and stems cut into 1 x 1/2-inch pieces
2 Tbsp olive oil or canola oil
1 tsp chopped fresh or 1/4 tsp dried basil leaves
1 tsp chopped fresh or 1/4 tsp dried oregano leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 roma (plum) tomatoes, seeded & chopped

Heat 1 inch water to boiling in 10-inch skillet. Add broccoli. Heat to boiling. Boil 5-7 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and set aside. Wipe out and dry skillet with paper towel.

Heat oil in same skillet over medium heat. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat about 1 minute, stirring frequently, until hot. Add broccoli; toss gently.

Yield: 4 servings

ENJOY!!

Strawberry and cream cheese filled Crepes

I love crepes. I could eat them with nothing inside. I especially love crepes with strawberries and a cream cheese filling. Here is a recipe I have made a few times. It is more of a dessert but I will admit, I had these as a breakfast a few months ago!

Strawberry filled crepes with cream cheese filling

1 cup all purpose flour
2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

Place in a blender or mix with a whisk. To avoid lumps add all ingredients before adding the flour. I have an electric crepe maker (picture below) and I LOVE it. If you love to make crepes it is worth the $30. Amazon.com has them for sale and occasionally Target and Fred Meyer will have them in stock. If you do not have a crepe machine go to this website http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1DgmbMMOgA to get tips and pointers on how to cook a crepe. You can use his recipe for crepes if you wish. I can not taste the difference in any crepes I have had. It is not too hard although I get pretty annoyed when I rip mine. I do the same with omelets and now have an omelet maker :)

Filling:

Sliced strawberries
8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

Mix together in an electric mixer.

Place strawberries and cream cheese mixture inside a warm crepe and fold closed. You can also drizzle some chocolate on top. I have never tried it that way and thought of it after all the crepes were gone today!

Here is a picture of my reminder! This is what Brooklyn is wearing today. When I looked at her I remembered the challenge and thought I would cook some crepes while she napped!

Strawberry-Lemon Coffee Cake

Okay, so I love traditional coffee cake with the cinnamon and yumminess, and when I first read that strawberries were the "secret ingredient" I immediately thought: "Strawberry Cake with some sort of chocolate!" but, alas, it didn't come together, so I thought, what about a coffee cake with strawberries and lemon (because everything tastes better and fresher with lemon) and it sounded very summer-ish! Note: the recipe calls for lemon zest. I prefer zest from a microplane, but don't use lemon juice. It isn't the same! Adapted from CK recipe.

3 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and chopped small

1/2 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons grated lemon zest

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

3 eggs

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

3/4 cup milk

2 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 inch springform pan. Wrap foil around the pan in case the strawberry juice leaks while baking (mine leaked - woohoo for foil!). In a medium bowl, combine strawberries, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest. Toss to coat berries, then pour into the prepared pan. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest. Stir together 2 cups flour and the baking powder. Beat into butter mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated. Pour batter over the berries in the pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Place serving plate over the top of the pan and carefully invert cake and plate together, so that the berries end up on top. Carefully unlock the buckle on the side of the pan and remove. Serve warm.

Strawberry Salsa

Here is my Iron Chef recipe! I really like mango salsa so I decided to make a strawberry salsa and see if it was any good. It's more of a "fresh" salsa, or a pico de gallo, where it isn't runny and liquidy, but more just chunks of strawberries and veggies. This recipe is based on your own individual taste, so use as much or little seasoning as you want. Anyway, I hope you all like it!Strawberry Salsa

1 lb strawberries, about 16, hulled and chopped small

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped small

1/2 orange bell pepper, chopped small

1/2 small red/purple onion, chopped small

3 Tbsp cilantro, chopped fine

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 to 1 Tbsp sugar, depending on taste

juice from one lime

pinch or two of salt (I used about 3/4 to 1 tsp or so)

Combine all ingredients and let macerate for about 20-30 minutes for the flavors to "marry". Adjust seasoning as needed. Serve with tortilla chips!

**Note- You can also add a jalepeno pepper, with the seeds taken out, chopped fine. This would give it some heat. I just don't like hot salsas so I didn't add this.

Strawberry Mousse in Dark Chocolate Cups

Here's my Iron Chef recipe!!! I didn't get a chance to take pictures because they seriously were gone before I could grab the camera, but I totally plan on making this again so I'll get pictures to you later!

I posted a recipe a while back for dark chocolate mousse in white chocolate cups from Giada. Well, I love those so much that I decided to do a strawberry spin on it. These are super easy but they look gorgeous (dark chocolate mini cups with a pink mousse inside!) and they are to-die-for delicious, especially if you love chocolate-covered strawberries.

For the cups:

1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

36 mini-muffin cupcake liners

Pour half of the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval, until the chocolate chips are melted. Using a small paint brush (I used one from the kids' watercolor set...washed first of course), coat the bottom and sides of the cup. Freeze until the chocolate is firm, about 30 minutes. Melt the remaining chocolate chips in the microwave and paint a second layer of chocolate into each cup (if you hold the cup up to the light you can see what parts of the cup need extra chocolate, pay special attention to the sides because they break easy, put a nice thick layer on). Freeze until completely set, about 1 hour.

For the mousse:

1 cup whipping cream

3 Tbsp sugar

8 oz mascarpone cheese (found near cream cheese), at room temperature

16-18 strawberries, hulled and halved

Using an electric mixer, mix the whipping cream and sugar together until soft peaks form. Set aside.

Place the strawberries in a blender or food processor and puree. Pour strawberries and mascarpone cheese in an electric mixer and beat until just mixed. Using a spatula, fold in the whipped cream. Place mousse in a pastry bag with a large tip, or a plastic freezer bag with the corner cut off, and pipe mousse into each chocolate cup. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set the mousse.