White Chicken Lasagna

The other day, I stumbled upon a recipe for White Chicken Lasagna. You may have noticed in reading my blog that I have a love for all things cheese, so when I saw this recipe, my heart skipped a beat. It requires some of my favorite things, and so I deemed it perfect. I made it on Wednesday, and my husband and I have been eating it since. That says a lot because normally Scott gets sick of leftovers quick, but the two of us have nearly devoured the whole pan like a swarm of locusts.

I did make a few changes to the original recipe though. When I first saw the picture, I was drawn to it (for the cheese) and for what I thought was sweet potato. Upon further investigation, I found that it was butternut squash. Now I love butternut squash just as much as another, but my heart was set on sweet potato. So that's what I decided to add. You do what you'll like, but I will say the sweet potato was divine.

So on to the recipe...

White Chicken Lasagna
Adapted from One Ordinary Day

*Lasagna noodles (I used one box-get two to be safe though.)
* 1/2 c. butter
* 1 onion, minced
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/2 c. flour
* 1/2 tsp. salt
* ground black pepper, to taste
* 2 c. chicken broth
* 2 c. milk
*4 c. mozzarella cheese, divided (I didn’t actually measure out my cheeses…I stopped when I hit cheese capacity)
* 1 c. shredded or grated Parmesan cheese, divided
* Italian spices
* 1 c. part-skim ricotta cheese
* 2 c. cooked and shredded chicken
*1 small box frozen spinach, thawed and drained; liquid squeezed out (Buy a good brand. I bought Kroger's - and normally Kroger brand is awesome - but this time the spinach was all stemmy. Next time I will consider sauteing my own.)
2 medium sweet potatoes, boiled then whipped - butter or milk aren't necessary

(I used the sweet potatoes in place of 1 small box frozen butternut squash puree, thawed)

Directions:
Melt butter in a large sauce pot. Add onions and garlic and cook over medium heat until translucent. Add flour, salt, and pepper. Cook flour mixture 1-2 minutes. Add chicken broth and milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 1 minute. Turn off heat and add 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese.

Lightly spray a 9×13″ baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Ladle some cheese sauce onto the bottom to thinly cover. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Add a layer of lasagna noodles. Layer with more cheese sauce, sprinkle with spice, & add the chicken and the ricotta cheese. Add another layer of pasta. Top with cheese sauce, spinach, and 1 c. mozzarella cheese. Give another sprinkle of spices. Add another layer of pasta. Top with cheese sauce. Using a spoon, spread the sweet potato puree over the cheese sauce. Top with remaining 1 c. mozzarella cheese and 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese. Add another sprinkle of spice. Add final layer of lasagna. Top with remaining cheese sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees until bubbly. If cheese doesn’t brown on top, turn on the broiler for the last couple minutes. Allow lasagna to sit about 15 minutes before serving for easier slicing.

Photo from One Ordinary Day

Bean Soup & Jalapeno Cheddar Corn Bread

Tonight for dinner I made a very easy meal, and it was really delicious. I found a recipe for Tuscan Bean Soup on the Better Homes and Gardens website, and to accompany it, I made Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread from the Let's Dish blog. This was the perfect Sunday dinner because all that I had to do was chop up a few ingredients, and dinner was good to go. It was filling and my farmer's market spinach tasted so fresh on top of my hearty soup.

Here's how to make the soup:

Tuscan Bean Soup
adapted from BHG

*2 carrots, coarsely chopped
*1 small onion, chopped
*3 Tbsp. olive oil
*2 15-oz. cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
*1 32-oz. box reduced-sodium chicken broth
*2 t0 3 tsp. dried Italian seasoning, crushed
*1 5-oz. pkg. baby spinach
*Freshly cracked black pepper

Directions:
Heat one tablespoon of oil in a 4 quart pot. Add onions and carrots and cook until onions are translucent. Add beans, broth and seasoning. Simmer for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil. Toss spinach until it is just wilted. Ladle the soup and top with the sauteed spinach.

And here is the cornbread:

Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread
adapted from Let's Dish

*3 cups flour
*1 cup yellow cornmeal
*1/4 cup sugar
*2 tablespoons baking powder
*2 teaspoons salt
*2 cups milk
*3 eggs, lightly beaten
*1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
*2 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
*1/2 cup sliced scallions, divided
*3 tablespoons fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced

Directions:

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, and butter. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until most of the lumps are dissolved. Do not over-mix! Mix in 2 cups of the grated cheddar cheese, about 1/3 cup scallions and the jalapenos. Allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the remaining grated Cheddar and extra chopped scallions. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Favorites

I have recently become obsessed with Pinterest. It has so many wonderful things on it, and it has the ability to consume so much of my time if I don't monitor myself. It's like a wonderful little rabbit hole that sucks me in deeper and deeper each day. I love blogs, and so I love to see what everyone is pinning from their favorites.

I see Pinterest as a delightful resource to help me find things, and today I was searching for dinner. I wanted to share some of my finds with you; try them and tell me if they are any good... I might be having them later this week.

Enjoy drooling with your eyes:

Hot Brown Tart
This chicken & broccoli dish is delish... I made it last week.
Chicken & Broccoli Casserole
Brisket & Brie Tacos
Oh so much cheese... yum.
Enchilada Lasagne

To view the recipes, click on the pictures.

Mulligatawny Chicken Pot Pie

(Sorry, the best lighting was outside!)

I have been meaning to post this recipe for a while now. A few weeks ago, I found this recipe for a Mulligatawny Chicken Pot Pie. I love Indian flavors, so this seemed like it would be right up my alley. This pot pie is absolutely perfect for a family of two because it makes wonderful leftovers. The pie had a nice, flaky crust, wonderful seasonings and a fresh twist that is not usually seen in a pot pie. It's a unique recipe, and I highly recommend it.

Mulligatawny Chicken Pot Pie
Cuisine At Home
Weeknight Menus

Ingredients:

1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger root, minced
1 tablespoon jalapeno pepper, seeded, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons butter

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups sweet potato, diced

1/2 cup coconut milk
4 teaspoons cornstarch

2 cups shredded chicken
1 cup frozen peas

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400. Saute in butter: onion, curry, garlic, ginger, jalapeno, pepper flakes in a large pot on medium heat for 3 minutes.
2. Stir in broth and sweet potatoes. Increase heat to med-high and simmer until sweet potato is tender. (about 6 minutes).
3. Whisk together coconut milk and cornstarch and add to pot. Bring to a boil and simmer to thicken.
4. Off heat, stir in chicken and peas. Spoon mixture into 4 ramekins. Roll out the puff pastry and cut to fit the dishes. Brush pastry with butter, place on lined baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes at 400F.


*Note that this can be spicy... I thought it was fine, but I may have a higher tolerance than you do. Just make sure you keep some water near by. :)

Back to School...

Well friends, you can probably tell that I have been super busy this week. My posts have become fewer, but I plan to steadily continue. Tomorrow is the first day of school, and I am very excited. I have been thinking about and praying for the new little ones that will quickly become part of my everyday.

Here are some of my favorite school ideas that I will be testing out on them this year...

I love the idea of turning normal crates into lovely chairs... plus you can't beat the extra storage.
C.S. Lewis' quotes inspire me to think deeply about topics that I wouldn't always choose to consider on my own. Hopefully, he (and I) will do the same for my students.I've yet to meet a kid who doesn't like candy, so I'll take the help I can get to make them excited about reading.I love this idea too! What a fun way to remember birthdays!And of course I bake for them. They would simply love this. Last year I made my darlings maple bacon cupcakes, and I had them hooked. :)

So tomorrow, keep all the little children and their teachers in mind; it's going to be a long but exciting day.

For pictures click here.

Special Chocolate Chip Cookies

The other day, a recipe on Pinterest caught my eye. I saw these amazing looking chocolate chip cookies.

Immediately my mouth started to water. I analyzed the picture; it looked tender and chewy. You can see lots of recently melted chocolate chips, and it was (most importantly) large. Now you know why it caught my attention.

So onwards I clicked and low and behold a surprise awaited me. I read through the ingredients to see why this one was unique. Flour (check), brown sugar (no white sugar... okay ... check), vanilla.... hmm. Something was missing, and it was the butter. These cookies were made with coconut oil! Who's ever heard of such a thing, I thought to myself. Butter = Cookies, but the picture did look amazing.

The next day, I stood in the baking aisle staring at the coconut oil. It was close to $6 (I hesitated), but I reasoned that it was an investment and I should move forward. I'm so glad I did. I made the cookies, took them to my community group last night, and we devoured them. This is by far the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I've made. It takes me a really long time to find a favorite, but this is certainly it. Go grab some coconut oil, and let me make a believer out of you!

Here's how you make them:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup coconut oil - mine was melted... I'm not sure if it was supposed to be solid, but it's been so stinkin' hot here, I don't know if solidity would be possible. If yours melts like mine, don't worry.
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour
1 bag chocolate chunks (or whatever your chip preference is)

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 400. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix the first 3 ingredients together until well blended.
3. Add everything else, and mix until incorporated.
4. Scoop huge scoop (2 1/2 - 3 tablespoons) of dough onto the cookie sheet. You should be able to fit 6 per average sized sheet.
5. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until edges are beginning to turn a golden brown. Try to wait for them to cool, but if you were like me and can't be warned: you will burn your mouth because you will inhale them.

Cherry Limeade Cupcakes

Game night means dessert, and I wanted to find something that was incredibly festive to make. I was looking over at Annie's Eats, and I found a recipe for Cherry Limeade Cupcakes. These looked perfect so I decided to make them. Here's my finished product:

And I packed them up so they were ready to go!
They were super tasty, but they were super sweet. I think if I make them again that I will make them mini. If you like sweet, you will love these, but if that's not your thing, you may want to opt for something else.

For the recipe, click here.