This month I am sharing some of my favorite recipes and will give, in my humble opinion, the pros and cons to each dish. Cooking is an interesting art. It is essential and there are a lot of factors to consider: number of ingredients, prep time, healthy or terrible for you but tastes oh so good, cost, freezable, and I guess at the end of the day....will my family actually eat it.
I have to give Brian credit because he is very open and easy going with meals. I know he has some favorites of which I am certain does not include my quinoa enchilada casserole. And I am ok with that. In fact, Catherine and I are the only ones that do enjoy it.
So we will begin with a new family fave, Creamy Italian Chicken. This one is a hit because everyone enjoys, it is incredibly easy to assemble, and there are healthy options for substitution. This recipe is a crock pot recipe that includes pasta and cheese. It's ironic because I am not a huge pasta or cheese fan as I tend to opt more for creole rice dishes and avoid cheese if possible. I do use a crock pot but not often as I find the texture is off on so many dishes.
However, this one is a keeper.
Creamy Italian chicken
**this recipe makes two meals
1 16oz bottle Italian dressing
1 pack Italian salad dressing mix
2 8oz cream cheese (softened)
2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup
3-4 lbs skinless boneless chicken breasts
Shredded Parmesan (optional)
- whisk Italian dressing, Italian dressing mix, cream cheese, and cream of chicken soup until smooth
- divide into two gallon size bags
- divide chicken into bags, press out air, freeze one bag and marinate the other bag over night (in fridge)
- place contents into slow cooker on low for 4 hours until chicken is cooked through
- once chicken is cooked you can shred it to smaller bite size pieces
- serve over pasta with parm cheese on top
And our silly photos...