Chicken Florentine

I had a bunch of bacon and spinach left over from this recipe so I was happy to find this recipe from You Got Served. After reading the ingredients it sounded pretty tasty! Something that I learned that I love are things that come pre-prepared, like minced garlic, bacon bits, shredded cheese. All were things used in this recipe which saved tons of time. I'm not a fan of mincing garlic, it seems like it takes me forever. And I really don't like cooking bacon, the smell is way too overpowering. It's pretty much the best when it's grilled outside, at Bear Lake. This would be a great recipe to use if you have left over grilled chicken, saving you about 20-30 minutes. Anyway, here is my take on this recipe.

2 large chicken breasts, cut into 3rds or 4ths

1 big bag of fresh spinach

4 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced

1/4 c butter

1 T Italian Seasoning

1/2 c half-and-half

3 t minced garlic

1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese

1 T lemon juice

1 can cream of mushroom soup (can also use cream of chicken or cream of roasted garlic)

1 c shredded mozzarella cheese

2/3 c bacon, crumbled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the chicken breast halves on a baking sheet; bake 20 to 30 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

While chicken is baking, sautee spinach and mushrooms in 1 1/2 T olive oil, until it becomes fragrant and spinach withers. Set aside. Then, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stirring constantly, mix the garlic, lemon juice, cream of mushroom soup, Italian seasoning, half-and-half, and Parmesan cheese in with the melted butter. Be careful not to let mixture bubble or it will thicken, just heat long enough to melt cheese.

When chicken is through baking, increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees.

Arrange the sauteed spinach and mushrooms over the bottom of a 9x13 inch (or 2- 8x8, baking 1 now, freezing the other for later) baking dish. Pour half the mixture from the saucepan over the spinach and mushrooms. Arrange chicken breasts in the dish, and cover with the remaining sauce mixture. Sprinkle with bacon bits, and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake 20 to 25 minutes in the 400 degree oven, until bubbly and lightly browned. Serve over pasta.

Serves 4.

Sarah's Salad

I was craving this salad for a while so luckily I was assigned to bring a salad to my nephew Ben's blessing today! I knew just what I wanted to do, AND I already had the precooked bacon from the wraps over the weekend :) This recipe was taken from the Nelson Family Cookbook.

1 head iceberg lettuce

3 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled

5 oz frozen peas

1/4 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese

2/3 c chopped green onion

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup miracle whip

Wash and drain lettuce. DRY THOUROUGHLY. Run hot water over frozen peas and drain. Tear lettuce into bite sized pieces into salad bowl. Sprinkle with sugar, salt and pepper. Add peas, cheese, onion, mayonnaise and miracle whip in layers. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight. Toss when ready to serve and garnish with bacon. Serves 8

Sweet and Salty Salad Wraps

This is the meal that Lara and I were in charge of. We had the lunch for Saturday and this was a really quick and light meal, which was perfect as we were all in the middle of our projects so no one really wanted to stop for a big lunch. Here is the original link from Our Best Bites:

Spinach

Cooked Chicken

Craisins

Crumbled bacon (Sam's and Costco both sell big bags of precooked bacon that keep for about 6-9 months in the fridge once opened. Saves SO much prep time, I'm sold.)

Cheese

Poppyseed dressing

Poor Man's Stroganoff

I had my regular stroganoff on the menu for tonight but Mel's Kitchen Cafe posted this recipe so I had to try it. I'm glad I didn't wuss out and stick with what I was used to. According to Jake, bacon....good. Mushrooms.....good. He even helped out by chopping the onions and garlic and boiling the noodles. I love that man-o-mine.

1-2 teaspoons olive oil
6 ounces turkey bacon, diced
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 ½ pounds lean ground beef or ground turkey
1 medium red or yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
¼ cup flour
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 or 1 1/2 cup low-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
½ teaspoon paprika
1 cup sour cream, light or regular
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or 1 tablespoon dried

Cooked egg noodles or rice, for serving

In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat 1-2 teaspoons olive oil and saute diced bacon over medium heat until crispy. Transfer bacon to a paper-towel lined plate and set aside, leaving any grease/oil in the pan. Add sliced mushrooms to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, for about one minute (if the pan is too dry, add a teaspoon of oil as needed). Add salt. Continue cooking until the mushrooms are softened and have given up most of their juices. Transfer them to the same plate as the bacon.

In the same skillet, brown the ground beef or turkey with the onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until the meat is no longer pink. Drain the grease.

Stir in the flour and tomato paste to the meat mixture and mix to combine well. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 1 minute. Add the beef broth and bring the mixture to a simmer, whisking to combine all the ingredients. Simmer vigorously for 3-5 minutes until the mixture is slightly reduced and thickened. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and paprika. Cook until flavors blend, about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add sautéed mushrooms and bacon back to the skillet. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the sour cream, mixing well to avoid lumps. Stir in the parsley. Serve over egg noodles or hot, cooked rice.