Chicken Pesto Florentine and Tomato, Basil and Goat Cheese

So I found a dish that I really liked from Fazolis while my husband was deployed. But as my luck has it, it didn't stay popular so it was off the menu soon. It was Chicken Florentine. I absolutely loved it. So I did some searching on the internet and I found a recipe that would work and it was off the website www.allrecipes.com but I didn't keep it to the original recipe I tweaked it.

Now I've also been looking through a couple of cookbooks I borrowed from the library here. The one was a Scottish cookbook, inside of it as a side dish or an appetizer is a Tomato, Basil and Goat Cheese dish. Oh man, we tried it tonight and I absolutely love it! My husband who isn't a fan of tomatoes went back for seconds and my son who, if anyone has a toddler or young child knows how picky they can get, tried the goat cheese and wanted more!  All around I believe it is a success and I will be making it again.

Chicken Pesto Florentine

2 tbsp Olive Oil (possibly more if desired)
2 1/2 cloves garlic chopped
1 package skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size chunks
2 cups fresh spinach leaves
1 package Alfredo sauce mix
1 package pesto mix
Penne Pasta, cooked to Al Dente
Italian cheese mix or Parmesan cheese

1) Heat oil and saute garlic until light brown.

2) Cook chicken until no longer pink in center, keeping warm.

3) Mix Alfredo sauce according to packet. Once Alfredo is mixed accordingly mix in the dry pesto mix.

4) Add spinach in with the chicken, cook for 2 more minutes. Then mix chicken and spinach mixture in pot with drained cooked pasta, then stir in mixed sauces. Mix all together well and top with cheese.


Tomato, Basil, and Goat Cheese:

2 plump, ripe tomatoes
2 small packages of goat cheese (I used one rosemary and one plain)
12 basil leaves, or a tablespoon dried basil leaves to top
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1) Preheat the broiler.

2) Blanch and peel the tomatoes by plunging them into boiling water for 10 seconds then plunging them into cold water until completely cold. Take them out of the water and peel them. Then slice tomatoes horizontally.

3) Open the packages of goat cheese and place generous amounts on slices of tomato, stacking the tomato and goats cheese alternately. Sprinkle salt, pepper and if using, dried basil leaves over tomatoes and goats cheese.

4) Place under broiler until cheese bubbles, serve immediately.

Tomato, Basil and Goat Cheese recipe used from the "The Scottish Kitchen" by Christopher Trotter & The National Trust of Scotland

Spaghetti & Garlic Bread

Sorry guys about being away for a bit. I've gotten back on the loop. Things are finally evening out with me, I think the Doc finally got my meds fixed! YEAH! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a New Year. I had a wonderful one out with my family in Texas. So much good food and sweets! I miss it!

Any special plans for Valentines day? I know I don't have any as of yet.


Ever had a comfort food? I know I have, I love my moms spaghetti, I have no clue why but it is so dang good! So I decided today before my husband went to work I would cook some spaghetti so he could take it for supper tonight. Well I figured it would be a great time to back to posting and a simple recipe at that. Well I wanted the spaghetti and for those that know me know I absolutely LOVE garlic bread. I do. I can't help it and I don't know why. Its just so good. So naturally I had to bake some garlic bread as well. So while I didn't get a picture of the spaghetti I did get some of the garlic bread. So please don't be afraid to tell me what you think if you try any of the recipes on this site, its a wonderful learning experience and to find out what you guys did different is always intriguing.

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

1 lbs ground hamburger
1 lbs ground Italian sausage
1/4 green bell pepper chopped
1/4 red bell pepper chopped
1/4-1/2 yellow onion chopped
Garlic, Rosemary and Parsley, to taste
1-2 16oz tomato sauce

1) Place of pot water on to boil, prep for spaghetti. Once boiling, add noodles, cook until al dente.
2) Brown meat in skillet and drain off excess grease. Place chopped onions and bell peppers in with meat and stir until tender.
3) Make sure grease is drained and then stir in tomato sauce, add rosemary, garlic and parsley, to your tastes. Cook and let simmer for anywhere between 5 minutes to 20 minutes.
4) Serve meat sauce over noodles with garlic bread. Enjoy!

Garlic Bread Loaf:

2 pkg or 5 tsps active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp salt
6 cups all purpose flour
Olive oil
Garlic powder
Onion Powder
Italian seasoning

1)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) In a mixing bowl dissolve yeast in water. Add the milk, shortening (may need to microwave a bit to melt), sugar, eggs, salt and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth.
3) Stir in enough of remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic about 6-8 minutes, adding more flour as you go if needed. Place in greased bowl turning once to coat. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled.
4) Punch dough down. Turn onto lightly floured surface. Shape  into loaf form (or whatever form you want). Place on baking sheet, brush with olive oil, sprinkle the garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasoning over loaf and let rise again for about 30 minutes.
5) After 30 minutes, slice dough on top of the loaf and place in preheated oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown all around.
6) Serve warm with butter and enjoy!