Creamy Parmesan Mustard Chicken Pasta

Ok, so you all know that we are eating no preservatives, no additives, no white flour, sugar etc this year. Well, when I don't have leftovers, and I've run out of bread, I have to cook something for lunches the next day. I could probably MAKE more bread but I'd rather cook ! I whipped this little beauty up at the beginning of the week and it lasted the four of us 3 lunches ! I'll tell you ... whole wheat pasta fills you up quicker and therefore stretches a lot longer than regular pasta !

Here's what I used ...
1 chicken breast
2 big handfuls of baby spinach
1 red onion, sliced thinly
3 cloves of garlic, I think I slivered them
1.5 tablespoons whole grain seed mustard
3/4 cup thickened cream
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tablespoon whole wheat flour
1 bag of whole wheat penne pasta

Here's what I did ...

Boil the pasta.

While that's boiling, sautee your onion and garlic, til onion is not raw and the garlic smells yum. Add chicken (and salt/pepper to taste) and cook til no longer pink. Add flour. Stir to coat chicken. Add cream, mustard, parmesan cheese and spinach. Stir to mix it up and cook for a few minutes while the cream thickens, cheese melts and spinach wilts.

Drain pasta and add to fry pan ... or if your frying pan isn't a really cool, really big, electric one that your brother in law gave you for Christmas, add your chicken sauce to your pasta !

I'm submitting this to Cooking Thursday ... hosted by Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. For more great recipes, check her Cooking Thursday posts each week !!

Crock Pot Chicken Salad

My inspiration for this dish came from Real Mom Kitchen's recipe for Chile Lime Chicken Tostadas. But ... I didn't feel like making Tostadas so I thought a salad would be the way to go.

It was !

Alia finished hers first and asked for SECONDS !! She said "I love this stuff !" Seriously, if you knew this child and that she was THE SLOWEST EATER ON THE PLANET, you would be a shocked as we were to see how quickly her dinner left her plate and got into her belly !!

Here's how you do it ..

In the morning, put the following into your crockpot:

1 can diced green chilies
4 cloves of garlic, minced
A sprinkle of chili powder ... to taste
Juice of two limes
1 diced medium red onion
2lbs or 1kg boneless chicken breasts

Turn it on low ... come back in 5 hours, shred the chicken, mix it around with the remaining juices and leave it on warm til ready to serve. If you aren't going to be out all day, like I was, you might like to put it on closer to lunch time so it doesn't sit on warm for so long. But it made no difference.

When you're ready to eat, make your salad. I used :

3/4 head of iceberg lettuce ... chopped small (cuz I'm weird like that)
4 roma tomatoes, chopped

I also had, on the side since I knew there would be leftover salad :

greek yogurt
grated tasty (white cheddar) cheese
cilantro (fresh coriander)
chopped avocado

Right before we were ready to eat, I topped the salad with shredded chicken. I didn't use all of it as I thought Rory might like shredded chicken sandwiches for lunch the next day !

Toss. At the table, serve the salad into the bowls & let people top with the toppings ...

DONE !!!

and so yummy !!




I'm submitting this to Coooking Thursday ... hosted by Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. For more great recipes, check her Cooking Thursday posts each week !!