Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta

I found this recipe  from food.com and it was immediate hit so I had to share. Tim has already requested it for his birthday dinner...next November!

2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into thin strips
4 ounces pasta (bow tie, spaghetti, linguine, etc) cooked al dente
2 teaspoons cajun seasoning (we use Penzy's, but you can make your own)
2 tablespoons butter
1 thinly sliced green onion
1 -2 cup heavy whipping cream (we've tried milk and half and half. Its good but not great)
2 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes 

1 red pepper, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Garnish

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1 Place chicken and Cajun seasoning in a bowl and toss to coat.
2 In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté chicken in butter or margarine until chicken is tender, about 5 to 7 minutes.
3 Reduce heat add green onion, heavy cream, tomatoes, peppers, basil, salt, garlic powder, black pepper and heat through.
  Pour over hot linguine and toss with Parmesan cheese.

Turkey Mango Club Sandwich

I made these sandwiches today, and they were most excellent.

I mostly followed the recipe from here

• 6 strips bacon 
  
  
• 1 large Hass avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and chopped
• 2 tablespoons plain Greek-style yogurt 
  
  
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 slices multigrain bread, toasted
• 4 lettuce leaves, trimmed to the size of the bread slices
• 1/2 large tomato, cut into 4 slices (season with salt and pepper)
  
  
• 8 slices roast turkey breast
• 1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and sliced thinly
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, and line a plate with paper towels.
  Lay the bacon on the foil-lined pan and bake until golden and crisp, about 15 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer the bacon to the plate to drain.
  In a blender, purée the avocado, yogurt, lime juice, and salt until smooth and creamy, about 25 seconds. Place the bread slices on a cutting board. Divide the avocado spread among the bread slices, spreading it into an even layer.
  Layer the sandwich ingredients on the sandwich: lettuce, tomato, turkey, bacon, and mango. Skewer the sandwiches with toothpicks, so they don't fall apart. 
• **I also chose to toast my bread ahead of time. 

Peanut Butter Dip

Here's an idea for a SuperBowl gathering (shape like a football), or you can make it like I did and just shape it round or whatever, leave off the frosting "laces".  I like it best with pretzels, for a salty sweet combo.

Ingredients

• ¼ cup butter, softened
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup peanut butter (your choice; crunchy or smooth)
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups powdered sugar (up to 2 cups if needed)
• ½ cup mini chocolate chips
• Optional: Chocolate sprinkles or chocolate chips for the outside of the football
• Optional: White chocolate or frosting for the football laces

Instructions

1. Cream butter, cream cheese, and peanut butter until mixed (using a hand-held mixer). Mix in vanilla.
2. Add powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, and mix until combined. (If you want a stiffer mixture, add the extra ½ cup of powdered sugar.) Mix in chocolate chips.
3. Turn out mixture on a large sheet of waxed paper. Use your hands to form into a football shape.
4. Place the waxed paper onto your serving plate. (It helps if the plate has sides…less mess!) Cover in sprinkles or chocolate chips, pressing them into the surface a little so they stick. Pipe on the laces using melted white chocolate or some leftover frosting and chill until ready to serve.
5. Serving suggestion: pretzels, animal crackers, cookies.

Tanaya's Favorite Pumpkin Cookies

 1/4 cup butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg*
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup milk
Chocolate chips optional**
Preheat oven to 375
1. In large mixing bowl, cream butter, applelsauce, and sugar. Add egg and beat. Add pumpkin and stir.
2. Mix dry ingredients and add to wet mixture, mix and add milk. Blend well, but do not overbeat. Add chocolate chips if desired.
3. Spoon onto greased bakin sheet and bake about 10 minutes.

*This recipe is very good, but the cookies are very soft, so I tried adding an extra egg white to hold it together. The cookies were still delicious, and looked a little more "cookie" like (flat) and less "muffin-top" like. I didn't like the way they looked quite as much, but they did hold together well.

**If you don't add chocolate chips, you can dust the finished product with powdered sugar.

Cilantro-Lime Soup

We made this soup on Sunday and thought it would be much better than chicken noodle soup for curing colds and opening up the sinuses.  Well Mackenzie and Matthew did not have any and both caught colds this week.  Coincidence?

1 coarsely chopped onion
2 minced garlic cloves
2 chopped & seeded jalapenos
1/4 bunch chopped cilantro
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp chili powder
2 chicken breasts, cut into 3/4" pieces
5 cups chicken broth
1 cup corn kernels
1 cup chopped & seeded tomatoes
1/2 bunch cilantro (tied with kitchen string if available)
1/4 cup lime juice
Sour cream

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until softened, about 3 minutes.  Add the chili powder and stir for 1 minute.  And the chicken and stir for two minutes.  Add the broth, corn, tomatoes, jalapenos, and bunch of cilantro.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked, about 10 minutes.  Discard the cilantro bunch.  Add the chopped cilantro and lime juice and heat through.  Garnish with sour cream.

Makes 4 servings. Stolen from "Aprovecho" cookbook.

Baked Potato Soup

4-8 potatoes
1/3 c butter
1/2 c flour
6 c milk
1/2 tsp garlic
1 tsp PENZEY'S Galena Street BBQ*
3/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 c Cheese
1 c chopped green onion (I do 1/2 white onion)
1/2 c Sour cream (I sub 3-4 tbsp Ranch sometimes)
1/2 slices cooked bacon (optional)

Bake potatoes 1 hour in 400 degree oven. Scoop out insides. In a large pot on the stove melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour to make a roux. Cook 1 min stirring constantly. Gradually pour in milk while stirring. Bring to medium heat and stir while soup gets thicker. Add potatoes, green onions, bacon, cheese, salt, pepper and spices. Stir well and continue to heat about 15 minutes. Stir in sour cream (and/or Ranch dressing). Serve.

*I added the Galena St BBQ spice and it's delicious! Other notes: I have tried this in a crockpot and it separates, but can be blended with a hand blender. I also don't recommend cooking the potatoes to far ahead of time as they become sticky and form more clumps.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

I made these Lemon Crinkle Cookies for my work picnic and everyone loved them. Just a note, though, if I made the recipe again, I would probably add more lemon. The lemon flavor in the original recipe is very subtle. I guess it just depends on how much you like lemon (and in my case, it's A LOT).

I found the recipe while looking specifically for a lemon dessert. The recipe won a contest for LDS Living Magazine.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Makes 2-3 dozen

Ingredients:
½ cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non-stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.