Chicken Broccoli Casserole

A couple of weeks ago, I came across this recipe on Pinterest.  Since Chicken is one of our staples when it comes to dinner, and we are always looking for ways to incorporate veggies, I thought I'd give it a try.  It looked so yummy in the picture! And it really is super yummy :-)  So here is what you will need to make it:

 1 – lb. fresh broccoli Break in pieces, and steam for 2 minutes.

3 cups cooked chicken breasts  – Break up in small pieces (we used 2 chicken breasts)

3 cups Grated Cheddar Cheese divided
2 tubes Ritz Crackers
1  stick melted butter
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

  SAUCE: 
1/3 cup Butter- melted
1/4 cups Cornstarch, dissolved in 1/2 cup COLD Water
1/3 cup Chicken Broth
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
2 Cups Milk
1 1/2 cups of the above Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

In greased 13×9 pan, layer the broccoli and chicken, then set aside. 

In saucepan over medium heat, combine the melted butter, cornstarch dissolved in water, chicken broth, seasonings, and milk. Stir well, and continue stirring until sauce has thickened. Turn heat down to low, and add 1- 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese. Stir until melted. Pour over the chicken and broccoli. Top with 1- 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese.

Melt the butter, and add the poppy seeds, and stir well. Crush Ritz crackers in large zip-lock bag with a rolling pin. 

Don’t crush too small. Add crumbs to the melted butter. Sprinkle crumbs over the top of the grated cheese.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until hot & bubbly and ENJOY!!

Recipe: Creamy Avocado Pasta

Hello there!  I know I have been completely slacking when it comes to updating the blog.  But, alas, I am back and I have a new recipe for you that I found on pinterest.  Hubby and I tried it last weekend and it was amazing!  Definitely is going on our list of "recipes to remember".  I'm trying to be better about trying new things, and not just pinning them!

So, first off, the things I love about this recipe:
It is super simple, only like 5 ingredients for the sauce
It uses avocado which I LOVE
The whole dish only takes 15 minutes to make!

Things I don't love...
I can't have it every night because the hubby likes variety in his meals.  :-)

Ok, so here we go.  This recipe originally comes from Oh She Glows.  So feel free to check out her blog if you want as well.

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 1 medium sized ripe Avocado, pitted
• 1/2 lemon, juiced + lemon zest to garnish
• 2-3 garlic cloves, to taste
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
• ~1/4 cup Fresh Basil, (probably optional)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 
• 2 servings/6 oz of your choice of pasta (I used Barilla Whole Grain Thin Spaghetti)
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Chicken cut in small pieces (optional)

We added chicken to our recipe to get some protein.  

First you can cut up the chicken and put the water on to boil for the pasta since this will take the longest.

Then mix the oil, garlic, lemon juice, avocado, basil (optional) and salt in a food processor.  Mix until creamy

Once the pasta is done and the chicken is cooked all the way through, mix it all up in a bowl!  You can garnish with lemon zest and pepper if you like.  We didn't have real lemons...hence no lemon zest.  But it still tasted pretty darn yummy to me!  

Simple and delicious!  I love it.