PW Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta

One of my favorite things to get at a resturant is some sort of pasta dish. With lots of cheese and calories.

When I saw this I knew I had to make it!

Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta

Time: 15 minutes. I almost forgot the night before you are supposed to marinade the chicken! And it was easy... I am not too good at juicing lemons so that took me a little time.

Changes: First off, while juicing my lemons for the marinade, I remembered I had 100% lemon juice in the fridge. So I got that buddy out and said forget juicing! Also, I didnt have the dijon mustard. The hubs cooked the chicken on the George Forman Grill instead of the outside grill.

Reaction: The hubs and little toot liked it! Also, my bff Jessica came over and she loved it too!

Overall: This dish was delicious. It was very lemon-y, but that made it even more scrumptious. I did have a little issue when squeezing the juice out of the lemons for the sauce, some seeds fell in and it was too late to dish them out, so not sure what do about that next time!  We had this for like 3 meals, it was so good!

PW Lasagna and Cupcakes

Last night, GT and I went to LoveStrong. It is once a month get together at a local restaurant where marriage counselors, Steve and Debbie Wilson, come and speak on a topic relating to marriage. They do this in Shreveport and in Longview.

In February of this year, GT and I attended a marriage retreat that Steve and Debbie did in Longview. It was really good for our marriage and made us realize some things we needed to work on before they became issues. My mom and dad have always taught me that I can always be a better person and by going to things like this it can really strengthen your marriage. It does NOT mean something is wrong.

 I think that is why alot of people are so scared to go to counseling. I will be the first to tell you that GT and I have been to marriage counseling. Our marriage wasnt on the rocks. We were actually really happy in our marriage. GT had just been laid off, I was 7 months pregnant and we needed someone to talk to. And we are so glad we did. Honestly, if we had the money I would go again. We can always improve.

Off soapbox now.

GT's mom and step dad came over to watch Audrie while we went to LoveStrong, so I made them dinner....from no other than...Pioneer Woman!

For the main dish we had Lasagna. Or The.Best.Lasagna.Ever. in Pioneer Woman's words.

Photo by Pioneer Woman

Here is the review:

Time: I have made this twice and made it different, so the first time it takes about 30 minutes to prepare and 20 to cook. Second time it took me 15 minutes to prepare and 55 minutes to cook. Will explain below. It is easy peasy to make.

Changes: First time I made it just like her recipe. Second time I thought I would save some time by using Oven Ready Lasagna noddles. If you havent heard of these, they are basically noodles you dont have boil before, you just layer them in raw and they cook themselves. Yes, it saved me prep time. I hate boiling Lasagna noodles. However, you have to layer differently, because there has to be a meat sauce on the bottom. Here is how I layered:  Meat Sauce, Noodle, Cottage Cheese mixture, meat sauce, noddle, cc mixture then a layer of sliced mozzarella cheese on top. Worked out great! Just remember to add in the longer cooking time if you plan to use the oven ready noodles!

Reaction: Everyone really enjoyed it! I enjoyed it too!

Overall: I think I liked the second round better than the first. The first seemed to be really meaty to me, and I would rather taste the cheese and noodles.

Photo by Pioneer Woman

Desert: Yellow Cupcakes with Sticky Chocolate Icing

Time: About 20 minutes to assemble- 20 minutes to bake. Then it took about 4 minutes to assemble the icing and about 6 to put it on the cupcakes.

Changes: The recipe calls for you to have room temperature eggs and I didnt have time for that! Other than that the same...And I did sift and loved it!

Reaction: GT really liked them. He said they had a coffee flavor, I thought they had a dark chocolate flavor.

Overall: My only complaint is that they didnt turn out as moist as I was hoping for. Maybe it is because I didnt let the eggs become room temperature. Also, I poured the icing on as soon as it was mixed, next time I might wait a minute or two for it to become more stiff so I have better control of it. Anyway, all that to say they were good and I will make them again!

Cooking via Pioneer Woman

So, I used to post recipes on here all the time...Remember those days????

Well, the problem is...I mostly cook Pioneer Woman's recipes these days...and I basically cant repost her recipes. I would be a poser. So...I have decided to link her recipes that I have tried and give a review!!!!

My reviews will include how much time it took me to make it...how easy/hard it was...what I changed or will change next time, reaction from people eating it...and overall opinions of the dish.

I will begin with last night's dinner which we had Josh, Randi, Frazier, Damian, Lynzie and Adalynn over for!

Appetizer:  Homemade Baked Chips by Randi and this homemade salsa...and Randi brought this super yummy white queso 

I have made this salsa twice now and it is SUPER easy and SUPER good. The first time I made it, it was a little better, I am not sure why.

Time: It took me about 15 minutes total...I had to chop the onion, chop the jalapeno, Get out and measure the spices, etc...Then throw it all in the food processor...12 pulses later...yummmmyyyy Salsa!

Changes: I didnt make any!

Reactions: My first batch I shared with alot of friends and the second batch I had at Audrie's birthday party..it was always a hit!

Overall:  We have loved this salsa. I have used it on nachos, enchilada's, tacos, etc...And quite scrumptious with just a chip! I will make this many more times and always have some in the fridge!

Main Dish:  White Chicken Enchiladas

Photo by Pioneer Woman

Time: This took me about 45 minutes to prepare. It wasnt hard just took time.

Changes: I did not boil a whole fryer. I used 3 large boneless chicken breast. I boiled them and shredded them. And I used Swanson's chicken broth instead of the broth from cooking the chicken. I did not fry my tortilla's, just nuked them in the microwave...it worked out good! The recipe uses 12 corn tortillas, I used 17 and two different casserole dishes to fit them all.

Reactions: Everyone seemed to really like it. Lynzie said next time maybe not so many onions-I was thinking the same thing. Maybe 1/2 large onion instead of a whole one.

Overall: Loved this meal! Tasted just like chicken sour cream enchilada's from a Mexican restaurant. It is worth the time! I will add this to our recipes list!

Side Dish: Fiesta Sides Taco Rice (GT's favorite)- Not homemade!

Dessert: Blueberry Crumble Cake and Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Time: This took me about 15 minutes to throw together. It is super easy.


Changes: I didnt make any changes. However, I did use too much butter for the crumble topping so mine wasnt so crumbly, but still turned out yummy.


Reactions: Everyone liked this as well.


Overall: This was a simple, light, delicious desert. I think next time I might try it with different fruits...not that the blueberry wasnt good, it was, but it would be fun to experiment with others! 


Some reviews to come: Calzones, Lasagna, Sheet Cake...