Shrimp and Bacon Alfredo

The night before a triathlon, my husband loves to have a big bowl of pasta. Hmm… a protein packed pasta dish the day before I HAD to go grocery shopping (I was down to eating pb&j’s for breakfast again) seemed impossible. In fact, I considered calling for take-out. Seriously. I had no chicken, no jarred spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce for making my own, and only 1/2 of a box of rigatoni pasta. Thank goodness it was whole wheat! I was… how do you say… in a pickle.

I dug to the back of the fridge and found two things that inspired this recipe. (I shouldn’t even call it that. A recipe? I don’t  even have measurements for the ingredients!) I found a jar of Alfredo sauce that had about 1/4-1/3 cup left and 1/3 of a container of low fat cottage cheese. The cottage cheese was leftover from a delicious veggie lasagna that I have yet to post… stay tuned for it. It’s really delicious!

The cottage cheese was a wild card but it worked out great. It melted into the Alfredo sauce and added the thickness and richness I was looking for, along with added protein!

Anyway, I basically just threw a bunch of ingredients together and tasted as I went along, adding a dash of this and that, until it was perfected. I you find yourself in a culinary pickle, don’t panic. Just throw some stuff together and see what happens. You might be surprised what you can come up with.

Shrimp and Bacon Alfredo

Servings: 2
Time: 20 minutes
Level: Easy

Turkey bacon, cooked and crumbles
Shrimp, cooked and peeled
Frozen peas, thawed
Rigatoni pasta, cooked and drained
Cottage cheese
Alfredo pasta sauce
Italian seasoning
Black pepper
Garlic powder
Salt

Mix all ingredients together in a pot over medium heat until warmed throughout. Play with the ingredient amounts until you get the right consistency, texture, and taste you want. Yum!

 

Thai Peanut Sauce and Thai Chicken Pizza

You MUST try this peanut sauce. It is SO versatile. You can put it on this delicious Thai pizza, dip chicken or beef in it, and even toss it with hot or cold spaghetti noodles.

The noodle idea really is a great one. You just take boiled spaghetti noodles, frozen peas, and shredded carrots and you mix them all together with the peanut sauce. The next day, you can eat your leftovers cold, straight from the fridge. De- freakin- lish.

Seriously, try it… But this post is mostly about the pizza. Jason absolutely LOVES this pizza. He had 3 1/2 slices tonight and tried to get another one before he realized that eating another slice would be eating over 1/2 of the entire pizza.

This pizza is chock full of veggies and the cabbage and crushed peanuts add a nice, unexpected crunch. I hope you make this recipe and enjoy it as much as we do.

Thai Peanut Sauce

Servings: 1/3 – 1/2  cup
Time: 5 minutes
Level: Easy

1/3 c. peanut butter, all natural
1 tbsp. soy sauce, low sodium
1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp. Thai chili sauce, sweet, hot, or garlic
1 tsp. Sriracha
1 tsp. ginger powder
1 tsp. curry powder
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. water

Mix all ingredients together.

Yum!

Tips
– This sauce freezes well. After thawing, just add a touch of water to help it become creamy again.
– You can leave out the Thai chili sauce if you want. Just add a little more of the other liquid ingredients.

Thai Chicken Pizza

Servings: 4
Time: 20 minutes
Level: Easy

1 chicken breast, boneless, skinless
sprinkle of curry powder
sprinkle of ginger powder
sprinkle of cayenne, optional
pizza dough
1/3 c. Thai Peanut Sauce
1/4 c. peas, frozen
1/4 c. carrots, shredded
1/4 c. cabbage, shredded
1/4 c. onion, sliced (optional)
1/4 c. peanuts, crushed
1/3 c. cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 400°. Butterfly the chicken breast by slicing it in half lengthwise, making it thinner. Sprinkle curry, ginger, and cayenne over chicken breast. In a pan over medium-high heat, cook chicken breast until no longer pink. Set aside to cool and then dice it into bite sized pieces. In a baking pan, roll out dough and bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and top with diced chicken and remaining ingredients, beginning with the Thai Peanut Sauce.

Bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until crust becomes golden brown. Yum!

Tips
– I dip mine in extra Sriracha.
– You can also use hot peanuts.

Thai One On… It’s Peanut Noodles Night!

Oh, how have I not written about this before now? I adapted this recipe a while back from an article I read on EatingWell.com. This recipe has quickly become one of our favorites. Since it can be served hot or cold, make extras and pack it for lunch the next day!

We LOVE peanut butter, so this recipe is perfect for us! Also, this dish is really good for you. If you boil the chicken, like I did in my Stir Fry recipe, and use all natural peanut butter, there are tons of health benefits. I don’t have kids yet, but I hope this type of recipe will get them to eat their veggies without a fuss.

The directions look long but don’t get scared away! They are super easy to follow. They were just a little lengthy to write up.

If you make this, please let me know what you think. I hope you like it as much as we do.

Thai Peanut Noodles

Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Level: Easy

1/2 lb. chicken
1/4 c. peanut butter
1 tbsp. low sodium soy sauce
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. sweet chili sauce, chili-garlic sauce,  or any Asian chili sauce you have
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. cayenne, if desired
2/3 c. whole-wheat spaghetti noodles
1 c. Asian style stir fry veggies, from your grocers freezer section

Put on a pot of water and begin to boil for the noodles. While waiting for water to boil, cook chicken in a skillet or use the same method I used in my Stir Fry recipe. Shred cooked chicken and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic powder, chili sauce, ground ginger, and cayenne, if desired.

Cook noodles in the boiling water according to package directions. About 1-2 minute before the noodles are done, add vegetables to the boiling water. Drain noodles and vegetables, reserving 1/2 c of cooking liquid.

Stir the reserved cooking liquid into the peanut sauce, add noodles, veggies, and chicken and toss until well coated. Serve hot or cold. Yum!

Tips
– Top this dish with a drizzle of Sriracha, if you dare!

– You can substitute the ground ginger for fresh and the garlic powder for fresh; just mince very finely.
– This is a perfect opportunity to use that left over chicken breast you have in the fridge!

Chicken, Pesto, and Peas Pasta – Super Easy Monday Dinner!

This is a recipe that is super quick… I took  A LOT of help from the store on this one. Mondays are just so busy in my house. Getting back into the swing of things is tough when you’ve been go, go, go all weekend. All I ever want to do is kick off my shoes and sit the heck down. Spending a TON of time in the kitchen is sometimes not an option so ideas like this one are great to have handy. I say “ideas” because the recipe is fairly arbitrary. Just throw in whatever you have on hand and it’s gonna taste good.

This recipe calls for store-bought pesto. The kind that comes in a little jar and stays in the fridge after you open it is my favorite.  This little jar is a miracle worker on a busy night. You can use it a million different ways. Here are a few of my favorites:
– Spread pesto instead of pizza sauce on a quick pizza
– Spread pesto on a tortilla with leftover chicken or lunch meat and other toppings for a quick wrap
– Roll out crescent roll triangles, top each with a little pesto, a tomato slice (seeded), and a little mozzarella cheese. Bake for about 8-10 minutes for a super quick appetizer or light lunch.

Chicken, Pesto, and Peas Pasta

Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 2
Level: Easy

1 c. spaghetti noodles
1/3 c. frozen peas
2 – 3 tbsp. pesto
1/4 – 1/3 c. chicken, cooked and cubed
1/8 c. Italian style cheese blend (or use parmesan or mozzarella)

Boil noodles according to packaged directions. In the last two minutes of boiling, add peas.

Continue boiling until done. Drain pasta and peas, reserving 2 tbsp. of the cooking liquid. Stir in pesto and chicken. Add reserved cooking liquid if needed. Top with cheese and serve warm or cold. Yum!

Tips
– Leftovers are great so double the recipe and take some to work the next day!
– sun-dried tomatoes are a delicious addition.
– Use the same pot for boiling and mixing for less dishes.
– Use whole wheat pasta for added nutrients.