Easy Italian Chicken Pasta

Finally! I'm going to share a super duper easy Italian dish that I sort of stumbled upon last week. Here's the background story...when I asked Brad if he had any requests for dinner he said "Some kind of pasta." So I went to the store and picked up some penne noodles (my second favorite type of noodle to bowtie), tomato sauce, and some sourdough bread to go with it.

I had three chicken breasts in the freezer from a previous meal that needed to be used so I defrosted them and then just stared at them....again, I am NOT a cook, we don't have a grill yet, and Brad was at school...my first thought, CRAP! What have I gotten myself into?! So I started cooking the noodles and continued to stare at the thawed chicken breasts, trying to think like a chef. Then I realized, they needed to be marinated in something that will give them some flavor so I started hunting around in my cabinets and refrigerator. VOILA! I found some Caesar Vinaigrette dressing and, remembering our fancy spice rack we got as a wedding present, some Italian Seasoning. I poured 1 cup of the vinaigrette and 1 Tablespoon of the seasoning into a gallon size plastic baggie and added the raw chicken breasts. I let that sit for about an hour before cooking them in a skillet on the stove. I just kept flipping them every so often to make sure they were getting done on both sides.

While the chicken and noodles were cooking, I rubbed some stick butter onto the top of the sourdough bread and stuck it in the over at 350degrees for about 8-10 minutes. I mixed some olive oil and parmesan cheese & garlic herbs into a little ramekin for dipping the bread in (like they do at Zio's or Johnny Carino's). I drained the noodles, sliced the chicken and bread up, warmed some sauce, and it was ready to eat!

Seriously. It was delicious, and I was super proud of myself because I didn't follow a recipe! It was also perfect for the two of us; we both ate some that night and then there was enough for me to take for lunch the next day and a little bit of leftovers. I felt very accomplished! Even Brad said something like "Wow this is really good!" and THAT right there is the best compliment ever! :) So there you have it, my "genius" recipe. If you're a great cook you're probably like, Wow, really that's all ya got? but you have to give me a break...I'm a baker!

Until next time ~ Jen

PS: Here is an easy reference recipe for the Italian Chicken & Pasta dish...

Easy Italian Chicken Pasta
(Adjust as needed for the size of your family, I made this amount for 2 people and still had leftovers)
What You Will Need:
     3 raw chicken breasts
     1 cup of Caesar Vinaigrette dressing
     1 Tablespoon of Italian Seasoning
     Any kind of noodles (your choice)
     Pasta sauce (your choice again, warm up the amount you think you will need)

What To Do:
1. Marinate the chicken breasts in the dressing and seasoning mix for at least an hour (I imagine if you did overnight it would enhance the flavor even more)
2. Cook noodles as directed; spray a skillet with cooking spray and place your marinated chicken breasts in the pan on Med/High heat until cooked thoroughly.
3. Slice up your chicken breasts how you like.
4. You can either warm your sauce up in a pan on the stove or in the microwave; put all the yummy ingredients into a bowl and ENJOY!

It's May! Self-Defense & A Busy Month

Woooo, what a week it has been so far!! I have been going, going, going!!! Brad has been gearing up for finals this week and taking over my computer so that's why I've missed a couple of days. (Blogger has an app for iPhone but I don't really like typing full-on paragraphs on my phone.)

But HELLO MAY! It's my birthday month and I've got lots of exciting events coming up! It's the beginning of wedding and graduation season, plus a million other things I have planned, so here we go!

(My cupcake calendar at work...it helps makes my day a little sweeter)

It all started last weekend when my mom and I took a self-defense class. In the beginning I thought it was totally cheesy, but by the end of it on Saturday I was totally grateful that I had the opportunity to take it and learn how to protect myself. I highly recommend that if you can find a R.A.D. Systems class near you, TAKE IT! R.A.D. stands for Rape Aggression Defense. (click here to check out their website and find a class near you!) Hopefully I never have to use the things that I learned but I definitely feel more confident about myself being in that kind of situation. At the end of the class, one of the instructors put on the full "Aggressor Suit" and "attacked" us one at a time, granted we knew he was coming but it gave us a chance to test out our new skills.

This is a picture of my mom being "attacked", she got him real good! ;)

 

 In other exciting news, they've started on our driveway!! Came home from Zumba tonight to dirt/concrete/gravel being moved from our driveway and prepped for the weekend when they are hoping to start pouring. I'm hoping it doesn't rain too much tomorrow and Friday so that they don't have any delays, but I'm extremely grateful that we are able to do this so I am willing to be patient. I'll keep y'all updated as we see more progress!! Have I mentioned that I'm VERY EXCITED!

 

 

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I swear I'll share my genius recipe for an Italian dish with you tomorrow!! I know you will love it!

 

Until next time ~ Jen





My Week's Discoveries

Okay y'all. I swear I'm going to get better at this blogging thing! Sheesh I guess I have a pretty busy life so you understand, right?! Well let's see, this week I discovered...
- that my cooking skills are a little better than I thought. You'll find out more about that this week when I post my ingenious recipe that I came up with all on my own.
- that the month of May is going to be really busy and I have something going on every weekend. Weddings, graduations, etc...
- that I like to bake, but I'm not great at baking healthy things. More about that later as well.
- that I hate laundry...okay I already knew that but I realized I sorted clothes at least twice and still have yet to get any of it washed/put away.
- that we have a lot of clothes.
- that even though I want to like sushi, I just can't. I got some from Reasor's that had crab in it (I can normally handle some crab) but after 3 bites I just couldn't do it anymore...ugh it's so frustrating!
- that even if your backup plan, homemade fries are covered in oil....still spray the pan or they'll come out looking like this...

Ha ha! Yes, that was my mess up of the week! But it's okay because I like to learn from my mistakes, and they still taste good. (I discovered this after I yelled at the pan of course!) Brad says I need to chill out more...yes I know I do! I chilled so much outside yesterday afternoon I ended up with a sunburn yay!

It really was a great week and weekend though. The pastor of our church (Brad's grandpa) retired and now Brad's dad is taking over. I'm excited to see the new things he has planned and to see where our church goes. Yesterday we had a retirement lunch with everyone, delicious of course! Aaannnddd, I'm training to be the new treasurer! I'm very excited to get to use my degree there as well!

Here's a picture from yesterday of me, my cute husband and my lovely sister(in law, but I really just consider her one of my sisters because I love her soooo much!) That's his "I don't really want to take a picture with you guys" face....

Until next time ~ Jen

Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas

Howdy friends!! Hope your day was fantastic! Today I'm featuring one our all time favorite meals that is super easy to make and easily adjustable to your own taste: cream cheese chicken enchiladas. My mom made these all the time when I was growing up, I introduced Brad to them, and now we just can't ever get enough of them. I probably make them about every other week for dinner and end up having leftovers for lunch. Yay for not having to eat a frozen meal for lunch! (At work we call them "frozen goodness", in a lovingly sarcastic way of course!) In fact, I just made them last night and had one for lunch today. YUMMM!!

First, I will post the original recipe (this is all from memory so bear with me, I don't know that there is actually a "real" recipe) and then I will post adjustments I have made or experimented with.

Original(ish) Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas
1 whole rotisserie chicken from your local grocery store's deli (I get mine from Wal-Mart or Reasor's)
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1 4oz can of diced green chilies
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 package of about 12 corn tortillas (or flour if you prefer)
1 16oz package of shredded cheese (I use Kraft's Taco Blend or just regular cheddar, but you can use whatever you like)

1. Pull all the meat off the rotisserie chicken, discarding all the skin, bones, grit, etc..., and shred the chicken to your liking.
2. Combine the whole block of cream cheese, whole can of chilies, and shredded chicken in a large bowl until mixed well.
3. Warm up your tortillas so that they are warm and soft, basically easier to work with :)
4. Fill the tortillas with a decent amount of the chicken mixture and roll into an enchilada shape, placing them into a 9x13 glass baking dish as you go.
5. When you're done making enchilada, or have filled up your pan, pour whole can of cream of chicken soup over the top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with as much or as little cheese as you would like. Cook at 350degrees for about 30 minutes (give or take a few minutes depending on your oven).
6. Once the cheese is melted, bubbly, and a little crunchy around the edges you are ready to eat!

Jen's Adjustments

• Because it is just Brad and I, we don't need a whole 13x9 pan of chicken enchiladas (although they would get eaten, but I like variety in my life), SO I usually halve the recipe. How in the world do you use only half a rotisserie chicken and not waste, you ask?? Well, I found one of the most amazing things EVER...roasted chicken legs. At Reasor's (my new found love, we just got one across the highway from us last summer and I am obsessed) they offer a variety of wonderful, delicious items in their deli. One of those wonderful items is roasted chicken legs, technically it is the leg and the thigh still attached. They are already cooked, just like the full rotisserie chicken, but about half of the meat that you would get from the rotisserie! I was so excited when I made this discovery; as I mentioned before I am NOT a cook and I really don't enjoy it so for me, this was awesome and gave me that extra boost of confidence that I CAN DO THIS! So, if you are looking for a way to halve the recipe because you don't want to make a dozen enchiladas, check to see if your local grocery store/deli has these available.
• Another adjustment I make is using the remaining chilies and cream cheese at part of the topping with the cream of chicken soup. Since you can't halve a can of chilies or block of cream cheese (I guess you could but the store might get mad, ha!), I combine a little of the cream cheese and the remaining chilies with the soup and then pour over the enchiladas. You don't have to, it's just my way of wasting as little as possible :)
• If you are halving the recipe, you will want to halve the time as well. Temp stays the same, just cook for about 15-20 minutes--until you see that melt-y, bubbly, crunchy goodness I talked about in the original directions.

NOTE: If you can't find a readied rotisserie chicken, I believe boiling whole, boneless chicken breasts until they are done all the way through and then shredding them should do the trick. And you may not want the flavor that a rotisserie chicken has since it's already been cooked, so cooking your own chicken may be right for you! :)

Unfortunately, before I remembered to take a picture of the ones I made last night, we had devoured almost the whole pan and it didn't look pretty anymore sooo...you'll just have to trust me on this one, and I'll try to take a picture next time.

Enjoy! ~ Jen

Color Run & Concrete

Hello Hello!! Sooooo I've been M.I.A. for a few days...yeah, I haven't quite gotten the hang of this blog thing yet. But I'm still working on it, and of course new ideas for daily posts! No worries, I'll get there eventually :)

Saturday, I did my first Color Run with my mom and sister. It was so much fun!! It's a 5k that you run (or walk) and along the route, there are 4 "color stations". At each color station, volunteers squirt you with dyed cornstarch that sticks to you and at the end you come out looking like a rainbow threw up on you. Then at the end they have a "color party" every 15 minutes where you throw the contents of the color packet, that comes in your packet with a shirt, up in the air with the whole crowd of people all around dancing and singing and having a great time. We met up with my cousin's wife, Brittney, afterwards! Always so good to see her! (check out her awesome blog here, she's definitely a blogging pro) It was so great I can't wait until next year!

Basically you start out looking like this... (my baby sister and I)

And end up looking like this...(me, my mom, and sister)

I highly encourage anyone who is able to find one near you to do it. It really is true what they say about the Color Run, "It's the happiest 5k on the planet!"

Brittney, Candace (my sister), Anita (my mom), and Me!

In other news, looks like we will be doing our first big "house project" here in a couple weeks--concrete pouring! As it is right now, our driveway is gravel and we don't have a back patio. I can't wait to have somewhere to sit in the back and chill with friends! Plus, when you have wood floors and it rains, it is not fun having to sweep the floors every time someone comes in the house dragging in loose gravel and dirt. Aaaaannd we are widening the driveway at the end so two cars can sit side by side. This makes me very happy!! Fortunately for us...and for the sake of all things beautiful and perfect, also my sanity...we are NOT doing it ourselves :)  I'm looking forward to the landscaping we're going to do around the edges when it's done...I say that now but I may change my mind after the fact.

Sunday was a beautiful day! After church and a birthday party, I sat outside in my new lawn chair (a banana chair...??) and read for almost two hours. It was lovely! Then I tried to paint my nails outside....bad idea. The wind started to pick up and now my nails look all bubbly, yuck! So I'm about to go remove the bad polish job and choose another day to paint my nails, inside this time.

Tonight I made my mom's famous chicken enchiladas (with a few of my own tweaks here and there). Stay tuned for the recipe that I will post tomorrow. It's fairly simple and doesn't take long at all! For now, I'm going to enjoy some delicious Otis Spunkmeyer cookies and a little TV with my husband and puppy. Ok, he's not a puppy anymore but he'll always be MY puppy :)

Peace out ~ Jen

Cooper (Coo-man) says "Have a great evening!"

 

Whatcha Wearin' Wednesday: LOFT Modern Straight Leg Jeans

Helloooo and Happy Wednesday! Hope everyone's week is going well! And look, we're halfway through! :)

Alongside Makeup Mondays, I have decided to do a Whatcha Wearin' Wednesday every once in awhile. I LOOOOVE to shop, especially when I get great deals! I shop A LOT at Name Brand Clothing (aka Half of Half) which is basically an overstock store which receives the extras, returns, imperfect clothes, etc...from clothing stores or donations from individuals and prices them, for the most part, way down from their original price. You definitely have to be in the mood to shop, be willing to dig around, and watch for imperfections (whether fixable or not worth trying to fix) but it can be really rewarding. I get a lot of my LOFT/Ann Taylor stuff there because otherwise I would not be able to afford it. My favorite pair of jeans came from NBC, they are LOFT Petite Modern Straight Leg Jeans in Rinse Wash (see picture below, and no that is not me). To be honest, I'm not really sure how I got my rather large bum (otherwise known around our house as "Big Bootie Jootie" haha, don't ask!) into these petite jeans but it was magical when I put them on. Kind of like the movie "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" where the same pair of jeans fits every girl in a close knit group of friends. I wanted to jump up and down and wear them every day, but I didn't...and I don't because that would be gross. But, they are super comfy and cute! I love them because I can dress them up for work or special occasions and then dress them down for the evenings or hanging out on the weekends. It's just another one of those deals that you just can't pass up when you see them hanging there on the rack for waaaaaay less than in the actual name brand store. Shopping at NBC is like a really big treasure hunt and I love looking for the next new piece to add to my already exploding closets (yes, I said "closets", I told you I have bad habits!)

I hope you find my ramblings a little helpful or at least some entertainment for the day. Don't forget to share it with your friends and find me on Instagram (@jenstecker) where you can get a little taste of my life. Alas, it's another Zumba day which gets me pumped up and ready for the day. Now it's off to work; looking forward to another productive day in the accounting world!

Stay sassy but classy! ~ Jen

A.D.D., Packages, Instagram OH MY!!

First of all, I want to stop and send my prayers out to all those in Boston who were involved or knew someone in the bombings yesterday. There were a couple people from my work there supporting a family member who was running but word is they were unharmed, just shaken up. I just cannot imagine how scary it must have been.


Today's post is going to be a bit A.D.D. with a little overflow from Makeup Monday. Work was a bit crazy yesterday and I have a feeling today will be too. So here we go...I seriously love getting mail! Well, as long as it's good mail, not bills or junk, duh! :) Yesterday I received another package from e.l.f. and even thought I already knew what was in it, I felt like a kid at Christmas!! It's just so rewarding to get amazing products for so little $$$. Eek! I just want to wear it all!!

Have I ever mentioned that I love nail polish, too?! The four that I received in my package yesterday are all glitter polishes that I can't wait to use on accent nails! You know, like, you paint four fingers one color and one finger with a pattern or glitter, etc...making it the accent nail. I'm sure you've seen it on Pinterest or Instagram. Speaking of, I'm officially on Instagram now! (You can follow me: @jenstecker) I tried hard to stay away but it seems like fun so I'm giving it a try!

Thanks for baring with my A.D.D. today!~Jen

In case you're interested, below are the items I received in my latest order, linked, so you can check them out for yourself! Don't be surprised if you see them featured during a Makeup Monday :)

Glitter Nail Polishes
     Gold Star
     Chic Confetti
     Love Me
     Dream Maker
Lipstick in "Captivating"
Jumbo Lip Gloss Stick in "Pink Umbrellas"
Super Glossy Lip Shine
     "Pretty Peach"
     "Goddess"
Eyeshadow "C" Brush
Eyeshadow Applicators
Stipple Brush
Baked Eyeshadow Palette in "California"