Chicken Cutlet Sandwiches

This was a really easy, delicious recipe, and I am happy at how much my family liked this.  I used toasted brioche, which made for a super delicious sandwich, but any good quality sandwich bread would work, just maybe not quite as well.  I used my basil cream chicken recipe, without making the sauce, and spread the bread with pesto, and topped the sandwich with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, arugula, and cucumbers.  This was a hit for us, and although each sandwich was around 600 calories, it was delicious, something we'll have again.  We all gave this a 9.

Michael Symon's Angel Hair With Tomatoes and Garlic

So this was so satisfying, even though it wasn't the most amazing thing ever, it just really hit the spot for us.  My Noah bought me Michael Symon's 5 in 5 cookbook for my birthday, and this is the first recipe we tried.  Although this does take longer than five minutes, it isn't that much more than that, and this is great to have on a busy night.  I added some chicken cooked in pesto to the top, because we can't have meatless meals around here :).  Each serving was 565, and we all gave this a 9.  Here's what to do:

1 bottle pesto
1-2 lbs chicken breasts

1 lb angel hair pasta
3 T olive oil
3 garlic cloves, sliced
28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
1 t red pepper flakes (can use as much as 1 T)
1 T unsalted butter
1/4 c flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 c Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350.  Cover the chicken with pesto, then cook in the oven for around an hour, depending on the amount of chicken.
About 15 minutes before chicken is done, boil some water, salt it well and cook the pasta to al dente. While this is boiling, heat the olive oil, garlic, and a pinch of salt over low heat.  Add in the tomatoes and red pepper flakes, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook for two minutes.  Add the pasta to the pan, stirring the noodles into the sauce, and add some pasta water if necessary.  Remove from the heat, add in the butter, parsley, and cheese, and serve with the chicken.

Crockpot Pesto Ranch Chicken

You can find the recipe for Crockpot Pesto Ranch Chicken from Picky Palate at this link, and you should try this soon.  It's such an easy, yummy, recipe.  Noah gave it a perfect 10, Aaron and I gave it a 9, and Owen gave it an 8.  For one thigh with lots of sauce, which we didn't use, the calories are 344, but like I said, we didn't use hardly any of the sauce so the calories are fewer.  This tasted great, it came together super quickly, and I will definitely make it again.  Here's what to do:

5 boneless skinless chicken thighs
4-5 oz pesto
1/2 packet ranch dressing mix
salt
1 can chicken broth

Mix all ingredients together in a crockpot, and cook on low for 5-6 hours.  Serve.

Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta with Bacon and Veggies

So we had this yummy dinner the other night, and although it took a little bit of time, longer than the 5 minute crockpot meals I have been making, this was worth it.  It was fresh and full of flavor.  Here is the link to the original recipe, and I basically followed the recipe exactly, just did my chicken a little differently.  The calories for 1/12 of the total, which was quite a bit of food, were 397, and I like how fresh the broccoli and peppers made this feel.  I didn't add mushrooms, because we have mushroom haters in this house.  Noah gave this a 9, I gave it an 8, Aaron and Owen gave it a 7.  Here's what I did.

5-6 chicken tenders
4 slices thick cut bacon, cooked and chopped
1 lb pasta
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 T olive oil
2 T minced garlic
one baggie steamed broccoli
15 oz can white beans
15 oz chicken broth
1 c whipping cream
1/2 c basil pesto
1/2 c grated parmesan cheese

Season chicken tenders with salt and pepper, then cook in a sprayed pan on both sides until chicken is cooked through.  Chop and set aside.
Cook pasta according to package directions.
In a large pot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil.  Cook onion, pepper and garlic until pepper and onion are softened.  Add in the broccoli and cook for a couple of minutes.  Add in the beans, chicken broth, cream, pesto, and parmesan cheese.  Cook until well combined, then add in chopped chicken and bacon.  Cook until sauce has reduced a little, and serve.  If sauce becomes too thick, add in a little cream or milk or chicken broth to thin it out again.

Try this, it is really good!

Pesto Cheese Pizza

This was a success!  We made this with just a simple pizza dough, the one with the Kitchenaid mixer book, and we topped it with pesto and then lots of cheese.  Everyone said it was their favorite homemade pizza ever!  Hooray!  You get no recipe or calories today, but try this easy meal if you can, everyone loved it.  Aaron and I gave it a 9, and the boys gave it a perfect 10.

Pasta with Pesto Cream Sauce and Grilled Chicken

Tonight we had such a fresh, delicious meal.  We had the Pioneer Woman's Pasta with Pesto Cream Sauce and we added grilled chicken to it.  This was easy and delicious.  I used less oil in my pesto than she called for, quite a bit less, and I smothered my chicken in pesto before grilling it.  Noah actually came in and asked for chicken bites before dinner because it smelled so good :).  We also used whole wheat pasta, we love that stuff.  Our basil came from our garden which made it even better!  Basically you make (or buy) pesto then warm up cream and a little butter, add in the pesto, combine the pasta and sauce with a little parmesan cheese, then add in the chicken (or shrimp or no meat) and tomato.  Fast and great--we all gave it a 9.  The meal was split into 8 servings and each serving was 365 calories.  Tomorrow we're having a dessert I made.