Chicken Alfredo

Chicken Alfredo is a quick and heart meal! It's definitely not diet food but it is delicious. And it's another meal in which you can eliminate the meat if you'd prefer.

The basics to an and Alfredo sauce is a white sauce or bechemel sauce. It is very easy to make and you can add any type of cheese to change the flavor. It is also the base for homemade Macaroni & Cheese.

Ingredients

1 cup Half & Half or Cream

2 cups Milk

3 TBS Butter

3 TBS Flour

1 cup Parmesan cheese

1 package Penne pasta

3-4 Chicken Breasts, cooked and diced

4-5 pieces cooked bacon

Basil & Parmesan to garnish

Directions

Bechemel Sauce

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Whisk the flour into the butter and cook on low-medium heat until it forms a light tan paste. Don't cook too long or it will darken and taste burnt. One your paste is light tan, whisk in the Half & Half or heavy cream. Allow this mixture to thicken and simmer. Once it has thickened, add the milk until you get the right consistency. If the sauce is too thin, let it simmer longer to thicken or add a small sprinkle of flour. If it is too thick, add more milk a little at a time. Once you complete sauce has thickened, add salt and parmesan cheese. Add more salt or cheese to taste. That's your alfredo sauce!

Boil your penne until al dente (slightly firm, still has a "bite" to it).

Add you crumbled bacon and diced chicken to the pasta. Add the Alfredo sauce and mix. Top with more bacon and basil and parmesan.

Enjoy!

Chicken Soup from the Garden

All the ingredients for this soup (besides the chicken) came from the garden! It's so satisfying to make almost a complete meal from vegetables we grew entirely by ourselves! It turned out delicious! Instead of pasta we used potatoes from the garden to add starchiness and more heartiness.

Ingredients

1 whole organic chicken

2 quarts chicken stock

1 large onion or 3 small onions

3 large carrots

4-5 stalks of celery

1-1 1/2 lbs of Red Potatoes

2 cloves garlic

2 TBS Olive Oil

Directions

Boil the chicken in your dutch oven or stock pot for about 1 hour or until cooked through. Remove the chicken to cool and place broth into a bowl to cool so you can remove the fat later.

Prepare you veggies by dicing everything about the same size.

 Saute the veggies in olive oil in the dutch oven or large pot until soft and translucent.

Add the chicken stock from your chicken back in and more stock if desired for the right consistency.

Boil until the veggies are tender. About 25-30 minutes.

Then shred the chicken meat from the bone and add it to the soup!

Ginger Pumpkin Muffins

These are delicious on a fall day! They are moist and dense and very pumpkin-ey!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup pumpkin purée

1/3 cup melted butter

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2-3 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 cup chopped toasted walnuts or pecans OR 1 cup Chocolate Chips

2 Tbsp well chopped candied ginger


Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda.


Mix the pumpkin, melted butter, eggs, 1/4 cup of water, and spices together, then combine with the dry ingredients, until just incorporated. Do not over-mix. Fold in the candied ginger and chopped nuts or chocolate chips.

Spoon mixture into a prepared muffin tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean, it's done. Cool on a rack.

(Recipe adapted form Simply Recipes.)

Bizzare Carrots

Does anyone know WHY this happens to carrots? Half of our carrot bed has been plagued with this bizzare disease. They look like mutant carrots!

Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread

This delicious recipe is from our friend at A Chow Life. It's a great breakfast bread or anytime bread! I love the toasted walnuts for a crunchy contrast to the soft raisins! Her recipe is below!

Ingredients
1 package active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 tsp, plus 3 tblsp. sugar
2 and 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup walnut pieces, toasted and chopped
5 tblsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1/2 cup water
1 cup raisins

Directions
Stir the yeast, warm water, and 1/4 tsp sugar together in a small bowl. Let the mixture stand in a warm location until the yeast starts foaming, 5-10 minutes.

Combine the flours, remaining sugar, cinnamon, salt, and walnuts in a large bowl. Stir well. Stir the yeast mixture, butter, and 1/3 cup water into the flour mixture. Then stir in the raisins or work them in by hand. Let stand 10 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead by hand until it is smooth and elastic, about 7 minutes.

Lightly oil a large bowl and turn the dough in it to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl loosely with a kitchen town and let the dough rise in a warm location until it is doubled in bulk, 45 -60 minutes.
Oil a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. Punch the dough down and shape it into a loaf. Press the loaf into the prepared pan and, again, cover it loosely with a kitchen towel. Let it rise in a warm place until it nearly fills the pan, 45-60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the bread until the top is browned and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped with your finger, 35-40 minutes. Remove it from the pan and let it cool on a rack.
Adapted from The New Basics Cookbook

Here's the link to her RECIPE.