Chicken and Broccoli Pasta with Blue Cheese Sauce

My favorite dish when I was in high school and went to Olive Garden (it's probably been eight years since I've been there), was Garlic Herb Chicken con Broccoli.  The creamy sauce, the "little ear" pasta, the crunchy broccoli and herb coated chicken....hmmm...I'm sure if I ate it now I would only be able to taste salt and fat :)  Keeping that in mind, I set out to make pasta for dinner with chicken and broccoli:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chicken-and-Broccoli-Alfredo-533

I made a few changes:

Half and Half instead of Whipping Cream

Blue Cheese instead of Monterey Jack

Added garlic when I cooked the chicken

It was a really good pasta.  I think next time I might add some cream cheese or something to make it a little more creamy (and maybe even use whole milk instead of half and half)

Bacon Egg and Cheese Biscuits

It had been awhile since I made biscuits, and it was a great Sunday morning to make breakfast.  I used my Cooks Illustrated biscuit recipe and while they didn't rise as much as I would have liked, they were still perfect for the sandwiches:

I made some breakfast potatoes (the third time I've done this on the blog?), again in a different way.  I parboiled the potatoes and added them to the diced onions and peppers and cooked them until they were well browned.

Of course we had to have some grapefruit to balance out the meal....

Pizza Toppings

I'm always looking for new pizza toppings to make pizza night more interesting.  Especially since Nick won't eat a pizza topped with lots of veggies unless there's sausage in there, too :)
I modeled this pizza after one that we get at our favorite pizza restaurant (Spin!).  Instead of sauce, I topped it with olive oil, salt and Italian seasonings.  Then I sliced potatoes really thin and put those on next.  More salt, and some cooked chicken went on before I topped it all with mozzarella cheese and fresh chopped garlic.

And of course, my veggie pizza:

Tofu Stir Fry

Imagine my shock when Nick said he not only wanted to eat more healthfully but also that he was willing to eat TOFU!  Yes!!  After much chopping I had all my ingredients for stir fry: red peppers, green peppers, carrots, broccoli, onions, tofu, garlic, ginger, and for the last step bean sprouts and green onions:

I then attempted to make a sweet and sour sauce.  While it didn't turn out all the way I thought it would, it was still good.  I mixed a little chicken stock, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, Chinese hot sauce, apricot jam (I know it sounds weird, but that's the sweet part), and a little cornstarch.  Stir fries come together so fast I didn't have time to take any pictures.  I heated the oil and added the garlic and ginger for less than a minute before adding the onions.  Once they had cooked for a minute, I added the tofu, then the rest of the veggies.  Once they had heated up, I threw in the sauce and boiled it for a minute then added the sprouts and green onions.  It was yummy!

Quick Pita Dinner

I needed a quick dinner and didn't have much in the way of fresh stuff in the fridge.  Thanks to our amazing grocery store nearby that stocks many Mexican-friendly ingredients (hence it's nickname Mexican Price Chopper), I always seem to have jalapenos, cilantro, and limes.  I decided to make some spicy chicken to stuff into pita pockets.  I marinated the chicken in olive oil, lime juice, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, jalapenos, and cilantro.  I sauteed the chicken over high heat until it was cooked through.

Since we've been trying to eat a little more healthy, I made some bulgar pilaf to go along with it.  The main spice was supposed to be curry powder, but I only had garam masala, which with the shredded carrots tasted a little off.  Or maybe I just decided I don't really like the flavor of garam masala all that much!  It was ok, but I probably wouldn't make it again.  The pita pockets, on the other hand, were a great "what I had in the fridge" dish.

Macaroni and Cheese

My beautiful and tired sister came to visit during the first part of her spring break from nursing school.  I asked her what she wanted me to make her for dinner one night.  She chose Mac & Cheese!  
I decided to use sharp cheddar cheese and pepper jack:

Bekah helped me by shredding it in the food processor:

All good homemade mac and cheese recipes use a roux with butter, flour, milk and (in this recipe) chicken stock.  Once the white sauce thickens, you add the shredded cheese and some salt and pepper.

Throw in the pasta, put it in a casserole dish, top with bread crumbs mixed with melted butter, and bake until golden brown...

...and delicious

Chorizo Tacos

We had to dig deep in the freezer for this one.  I found a few chorizo sausages and decided to throw caution to the wind and try some tacos.  We were running seriously low (and possibly out) of most fresh veggies, so I sauteed onions and garlic before adding the chorizo (casing removed).  Finally, I added chopped cilantro and blackened some corn kernels from the freezer.  With salsa and sour cream, we had some delicious (and spicy!) tacos.

Shredded Hash Browns

What a delicious way to eat homemade hash browns!  Just like in a diner, shredded and fried potatoes go well with eggs and bacon...
Once the potatoes are shredded (a shredding disc on the food processor works wonders...), you have to wrap them up in a kitchen towel and squeeze all the water out of them.  This takes a bit of work, but it's an essential step!  Once you mix the potatoes with salt and pepper, they go into a skillet with some vegetable oil.

Cook the potatoes without moving on side, then invert them onto a plate and slide them back into the pan:

Mmmm...enjoy with other similarly delicious breakfast items: