Spicy Tomato Cream Chicken Rigatoni

Ingredients: 

Chicken tenderloin

Rigatoni 16oz

Marinara sauce 28oz (we use our homemade sauce, recipe coming soon)

Sweet onion 1/3 cup

2 cloves of chopped garlic

Olive oil 

¾ cup of chopped orange bell peppers

3 Tsp of chopped jalapeno 

2 Tsp Italian seasoning 

1 Tsp crushed red peppers 

1 Tsp salt 

Pepper to taste 

Chopped fresh Basil 

1 cup heavy whipping cream 

1 Tsp sugar 

1 Cup of shredded Parmesan Cheese 

*if you do not want this spicy you can leave out the Jalapeno and red peppers, but you may lose some of the flavor.

• Coat the Chicken in olive oil and Montreal steak seasoning to rest while you are preparing your sauce. 

• Coat the bottom of your pan with Olive oil and let the Oil heat up until it is "crackling."
• Sauté the onions and garlic until the onion are almost cooked through, about 2 minutes. 
• Add your Bell peppers and jalapeno, continue to sauté for a few more minutes. 
• Add in your tomato sauce and your heavy cream. 
• Mix in your basil, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. 
• Cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes. 
• While your sauce is simmering prepare your noodles and chicken. 
• Thinly slice your chicken and place in a pan with some olive oil on med high heat.

• Cook chicken for 3 to 6 minutes depending on how thin you sliced your chicken. Remove from heat.

• Once your sauce is done simmering add in 1 Tbl of sugar and 1 cup of Parmesan cheese. 

• Toss in your cooked noodles and chicken in your sauce and enjoy. We tossed in warm pan and found that really combined the flavors well.

This recipe was inspired by an Episode of Diners, Drive-In & Dives.  We've made several changes to fit our tastes but the idea looked so delicious on tv we just had to try!

Weekend Update & Pinterest Yummies!

This weekend was the first in which Corey was actually off all weekend, thanks to starting his new job tomorrow. No more Tower Climbing!! We decided to spend the weekend down in Yorktown visiting with his family, since we haven't had the chance in awhile.

Friday I attended the new Temple (Corey was home sick). I liked it but since it was Shabbat and Yom Kippur, it was hard to judge. They used a lot more Hebrew than I am used to but I did recognize a lot of the melodies from my days at Capital Camps and New England Hebrew Academy. Due to the closest Temple in Front Royal being over an hour away, Capital Camps and my years at the New England Hebrew Academy were my main Hebrew education. I am so Thankful that my mother sent me to both of these places, especially Capital Camps. For those not familiar, it is a Jewish overnight camp in Pennsylvania, kids from all over the county attend. From their website:

As a community agency our mission is to build Jewish identity using the most powerful tool – a quality immersive experience. While compared to some of the best private camps in the country, we like to think the motivating factor for choosing us is our impact and drive to ensure every child finds success. We approach working with your children differently than private camps – our mission is what drives us not profitability!

I consider myself reform, which among other things means I like to attend services in mostly English, although I really enjoy when the rabbi will read the Hebrew from the Torah and then tell us the many ways it can be interpreted (as our old Temple did). Each Hebrew Character can be interpreted so many different ways, all of which can change the meaning of an entire passage and I like being able to choose how I want to interpret them. I plan to attend the new Temple again this Friday and see how normal Shabbat services are. Just like there are Christians who only attend Church on Christmas and Easter, there are Jews that only attend services during the High Holidays and it can really change the entire feeling of services. None the less, I felt amazing after services and think I have finally reached that point in my life where observing in everyday life is not enough for me, I want to consistently attend services and be active in the community.

Saturday we headed down to Yorktown, we had a great time cooking and just spending time with his parents. Sunday Ed made his BBQ chicken while Corey and I handled the Roasted Red Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, Lima Beans and I tried a new Pinterest recipe (that turned out amazing)!

Corey talking to "his" redskins

Corey's Corn recipe is so simple but amazing!

For the corn: We peeled off all but two layers of husks, then soak the corn in water for about 30 minutes. Corey then grills then for about 20 minutes. The char on the husks gives the corn an amazing flavor!

 

PB Cap'n Crunch Treats

The Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch treats were a Pinterest find and amazingly easy! They didn't even last the entire day so I guess everyone really did like them! I used full size M&Ms and put them on top instead of mixing them beforehand.

Cajun Chicken Alfredo

Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breast
3/4 cup butter
4 Tablespoons cream cheese
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 cup Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
cumin
olive oil

Cook pasta.  We used Penne pasta but any type should work well.

Sauce :
In a medium sauce pan melt butter and add garlic. Let the garlic cook in butter for about 3 minutes on medium heat. Add heavy cream and cream cheese. Cook and stir until cream cheese is well blended.  Add a dash of Cajun seasoning, 1 tsp. Italian seasoning, 1 cup Parmesan cheese and salt/pepper to taste. Once Your Parmesan cheese is melted in toss your pasta in sauce, cover and set stove to "warm."

Chicken :
Place chicken in a large zip lock bag or between two pieces of plastic wrap. Pound chicken until it about 1/4 of a Inch thin. I have found that its works best if you work from the center out to the edges. Coat both sides of chicken with Cajun seasoning and cumin. (don't go too crazy with a Cajun you want a good coat but too much will make it too salty). Place a small amount of butter and olive oil in your frying pan, enough to coat bottom of pan. Once Oil and butter are heated up (sizzling) place your chicken in the pan.  Brown both sides, about 5 min your chicken should be about done.  Check with a kitchen thermometer.  Take your chicken out of the pan and slice long ways against the grain.

Place pasta on plate and top with a few strips of chicken.

BAM its dinner time.