Lemon Chicken Pasta Alfredo – GNCO August Winner

My family and I have restarted a Game Night Cook Off that we used to do when I was in high school. Each person brings a dish that must include the “special ingredient” of the night. The winner of each cook off gets to choose the following “special ingredient” which so happened to be lemon for the month of August. Each dish is judged by everyone in 5 categories: Taste, Texture, Aroma, Presentation and Use of Ingredient. The winner takes home the Cooking Champion Trophy until the next cook off. I just so happened to win this week so it gets to chill here at my place… hopefully forever if I can keep on winning!

And this is how one looks when they lose…

This is my brother, he won the previous months’ competition with Chicken Alfredo Garlic Bread Pizza (it was amazing!). He actually made a delicious Lemon Coconut Cake but scored low in presentation or he possibly could have won the lemon round as well.

I will be sharing some awesome recipes but sadly some of pictures got deleted so you will just have to trust me until I remake these and get some visually appealing pictures up to win you over!

Lemon Chicken Pasta Alfredo

Part 1: Lemon Chicken Breasts

(Lemon Chicken Recipe From Ina Garten on the Food Network)

*If you are only cooking for 2-4 people then I would cut the lemon chicken part of the recipe in half. If you are cooking for more than that I would double the Alfredo Pasta part. The Lemon Chicken is excellent in quesadillas and Caesar salad so making a little extra will give you more yummy meal options!

Ingredients 

1/4 cup good olive oil
3 tablespoons minced garlic (9 cloves)
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4-6 boneless chicken breasts
1 lemon

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the garlic, and cook for just 1 minute but don’t allow the garlic to turn brown. Off the heat, add the white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt and pour into a 9 by 12-inch baking dish.

Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle them liberally with salt and pepper. Cut the lemon in 8 wedges and tuck it among the pieces of chicken.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, until the chicken is done. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Part 2: Lemon Pasta Alfredo

Adapted from Natasha’s Kitchen

• 1 lb fettuccine or penne pasta
• 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 garlic clove
• ⅓ cup white wine
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• ⅓ cup parmesan cheese
• 1/4 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 to 1 tsp. lemon zest (depending on how lemony you like it)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Rosemary for garnish, optional

Instructions

1. Cook ¾ lb noodles in salted water according to package instructions and drain. Don’t rinse (this helps the sauce stick to the noodles better)
2. In large sauce pan, over medium/high heat, add 2 Tbsp butter and onion and sauté onion till golden. Stir in garlic and sauté another minute. Stir in ⅓ cup white wine and reduce to about 25%.
3. Stir in Cream and simmer until it starts to thicken. Add ⅓ cup parmesan (or add to taste) and stir until creamy and smooth. Add paprika and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Turn off heat and stir in drained, un-rinsed pasta, and lemon chicken. Garnish with rosemary, extra parmesan and freshly cracked pepper if desired.

The 2nd place dish, which followed very close to 1st, was Oven-Roasted Cauliflower.

Chicken Alfredo Garlic Bread Pizza – GNCO July Winner

In continuation of my recent Game Night Cook Off (GNCO) post I wanted to share this recipe as well.  It was the winner of our July Cook Off, made by my younger brother. It was tasty!

Chicken Alfredo Garlic Bread Pizza

Adapted from TastyKitchen

Alfredo:

• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 clove Garlic, Minced
• ½ cup  Half And Half, Regular Or Fat Free
• 1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1 pinch Parsley Flakes
• 1 pinch Freshly Cracked Black Pepper
• Salt To Taste

Pizza Time:

• 1 loaf Italian Bread
• ½ cup Butter, Room Temperature
• 2 teaspoons Garlic Powder
• ½ teaspoons Parsley Flakes
• 1-½ cup Cooked Chicken Shredded or 2 Chicken Breasts cut into small cubes
• 2 cups Cooked Broccoli Florets (optional)
• 3 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Brown Butter Tilapia with Roasted Broccoli

I really love to bake but I’m trying to move from all the unhealthy sweets I want to make to focusing more on some healthy and high fiber meals. Tonight is rice Wednesday so I thought I’d make some fish to go with it. Normally I just pop a couple tilapia fillets in the oven with blackened seasoning or lemon pepper. They taste yummy but I’m getting bored of those favors. Tonight I thought I’d do some Pinteresting (if that’s a word) and try out some new recipes.

My first recipe was Brown Butter Tilapia with Toasted Basil Butter Crumbs and it was so delicious! I love brown butter and it goes so perfectly with the fish! I did not have basil on hand so I used thyme but either way it’s a keeper!

The second recipe I tried was for roasted broccoli. I usually just steam it but thought I’d try something new. It was worth it. I will now be buying broccoli in bulk at Costco… Especially since even my 1-1/2 year was a huge fan!

Cornish Pasties & Garlic Brussels Sprouts

Growing up, my childhood best friends’ mother used to whip up huge batches of pasties for dinner for her six kids plus guests….and I fell in love with them. These are such an easy meal to make and I am excited to share them with you!

Cornish Pasties
Dough
4 cups flour*
1 Tbs. Sugar
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1-3/4 Cup shortening
1/2 Cup water
1 Large egg
1 Tbs. Vinegar

*To add more fiber to the meal I substituted 1 cup of flour for whole wheat.

Mix together dry ingredients and then cut in shortening. In a separate bowl beat together water, egg and vinegar. Add to flour mixture and stir (you can do this by hand or use a stand mixer). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate while preparing filling.

Filling:
1 lb. lean ground hamburger
1 large potato (shredded or diced)
1 large carrot (shredded or diced)
1/2 cup onion
3/4 Tsp. Salt
1/8 Tsp. Ground pepper
1 beef bullion cube
1/2 cup boiling water

Peel potato and carrot. Shred or dice them and add them to a mixing bowl. Chop onion into small pieces and add to bowl. Add salt. Heat water and dissolve bullion cube. Add to mixture. Stir together.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Take dough from the fridge and on a floured surface roll out thin circular rounds of dough. Add enough filling that you can still fold the dough in half and seal the edges.

Place pasties on a baking sheet and make slits in the top of the dough.

Place in the oven and cook for 45 minutes. If you want to make these ahead of time you can also refrigerate them until it’s time.

In the last few minutes of cooking you can make a beef gravy to spread over the top. Normally with my big family I would use a pack of McCormick’s Brown Gravy and then make additional to gravy to spread it out. I was going to do that this time but realized it’s now just me, my hubby and little boy so that much gravy was not needed. I ended up only using the McCormick mix this time and it still tasted delicious!

In an attempt to add more fiber to the meal I cooked up some garlic Brussels sprouts. Yum!

Cooking Again!

After 2.5 years of staying with my family my husband and I finally were able to buy our first home! I gradually slipped out of cooking mode and slacked off on my blog in the excitement of finally having our own place again. We have officially been homeowners for a month now and I am getting back into the groove. I was all ready to go and our refrigerator passed away a week after moving in. It was an expenditure we weren’t planning on but with help from awesome relatives we now have my dream fridge sitting in my kitchen!

We had an Open House Party on Friday and ended up with tons of left over macaroni and cheese (which I made from scratch) and rolls (store bought). So this evening we will be having BBQ pork ribs with Mac & Cheese and salad. I am using the left over rolls to make raspberry bread pudding with vanilla sauce. I have never made bread pudding before so we will see how it goes!

Reuben Not On Rye

Who doesn’t love unexpected guests right at dinner time?

This evening I was scrounging around the fridge and cupboards looking for something to feed my family. Just as I frustratedly was thinking, “we have nothing!” I hear a knock at the door. My mom (who was at work) forgot to tell me that my grandparents, uncle and cousins were coming over! There I was, all sweaty and hot as can be, welcoming my family inside, having no prior knowledge of them coming over. Needless to say dinner was not made (for lack of options) and we ended up scrounging up some stuff for sandwiches after 9pm at night. We didn’t go out for fast food though so that’s a good thing!

Tikka Masala Curry Over Rice

This evening the plan is to pack and declutter which means I needed an easy, not too much of a mess making meal. I cooked up chicken, shrimp and zucchini and poured in a jar of Tikka Masala curry sauce. Once heated we ate this over rice. This is a quick, convenient and tasty meal that is on the healthier side when compared to pizza or a burger. I also forgot to bring along my camera on a trip to the grocery store where I got a 25 cent ice cream cone.

Turkey & Cheddar Croissant

Thanks to Costco I made myself a yummy croissant filled with cheddar cheese and sliced herb turkey. The croissant alone probably capped my calories for the day but I was at least good and didn’t buy a polish dog or ice cream bar on the way out the door!

Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo

This evening, after some packing, I made chicken and broccoli Alfredo over rice noodles. The noodles cooked unevenly so I will definitely use a different type next time.

4/30: Mushroom & Brussel Sprouts on a Gluten Free Bun

My family had turkey burgers this evening and I pushed through and stuck with my vegetable plan. I cooked up brussel sprouts and mushrooms and placed them overflowing on half a gluten free bun. Yum!