Taste of Tuesday

Well, the dinner went great. I easily had enough food, since way fewer kids showed up than what I planned for! That is an important lesson to learn with teens. They do not always do what they say they will do. They are very consistent that way! So I think I had five or so, seven with Brian & I. Let's just say we have some leftover salad. The garlic bread was devoured, as was the pasta. There's just enough for me to enjoy at lunchtime. Yay leftovers!

I'm the only one in the house who gets excited about leftovers. I think the reason is obvious. But what is it about men and leftovers? Do they really think we can provide a freshly cooked meal each and every day? I mean, come on! But I am a big fan of small bits of yesterday's meal in a plastic container. It means HOT LUNCH FOR MAMMA! Really, it's the simple things in life that make me happy. (or, as my college roommate - ooh, she was mean! - liked to tell me, "simple things for simple minds." Okay, let's go with that. Either way, I'm happy.


Here's a couple pictures of what went down last night:

This is me, cutting the chicken up into tiny little bite-size pieces. That was while I was still under the impression that I would not have enough food!

Here's a part of the cast of characters, you'll have to guess which one is mine.

Here's some of them again, ready to hit the ZOE House

for a night of fun! Hint: My son is the one who is

utterly confident in his headgear. Note the feathers.

Taste of Tuesday - Recipe of the Day

Creamy Chicken Italiano

I love this recipe because it is done mostly in the CrockPot and I come home to a heavenly aroma and just a little additional preparation. Served with salad and some garlic bread, it's a simple meal that tastes great.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 envelope dry Italian salad dressing mix
¼ cup water
8 oz package cream cheese, softened
10 ¾ oz can cream of chicken soup

Bow tie Pasta

Place chicken in slow cooker. Combine salad dressing and water, pour over chicken. Cover, cook on low about 5-6 hours. Remove cooked chicken to cutting board – cut chicken into bite size pieces. Combine cheese and soup until blended. Pour mixture into liquid remaining in slow cooker and whisk to blend. Add chicken pieces back into slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 30 minutes to 1 hour. Serve over farfalle (bow tie) pasta.

Notes:
I use the frozen chicken tenderloin pieces from Sam’s – they cook fast and rarely have anything that needs to be cut off. Normally, in my small crock-pot, I use about 9 of those chicken pieces. For the soup, I use the fat-free kind since the cream cheese has plenty of fat! I try not to add the pasta until just before serving – the pasta absorbs a lot of the liquid and it seems drier when you do it too soon. In the big crock-pots, I would double the recipe. Oh, and I usually only use a half of the box of pasta for our small family. For the big crock-pot it takes about a box & a half. You can be pretty loose with the cooking time as well. I've been known to put the frozen chicken in at 8 a.m. and leave it on low until 6 p.m. - it never seems to dry out. All in all, I've done this so many ways and never been disappointed.

Enjoy!