Chicken Alfredo

Chicken Alfredo

Hello strangers!! 

I don't even have an excuse for not blogging in over a month.. 

So lets skip that part! 

As I type now, I'm about 30,000 feet in the air somewhere between
Boston, MA and Pheonix, AZ. 

I got super excited that I could use wifi on the plane until I realized

 that Netflix is not supported and well... 

Here I am with $14.99 worth of wifi and nothing much to do with it...

l mean there's only so much of Pinterest that can keep me entertained... 

I looked through my Instagram and found a picture of a dish that I've been meaning to blog about... Now since I'm limited to my iPad and and only one picture... 

This isn't going to be like my usual "step by step with a picture" recipes. 

Sorry about that! 

But hey, me thinking of you at 30,000 feet should count for something right? 

Forgive me? 

So here we go....

I've been making this dish for some years now and I swear, 

every time I make it , it gets better. 

You might recall that in my first post, 

I was a little embarrassed that I was using a store bought Alfredo sauce... 

Well this recipe is why. 

You'll never buy another bottle of that a average stuff again... 

It's just too easy to whip up this one from scratch!

Alfredo Sauce Recipe

1 stick of unsalted butter

1 package of cream cheese

1 cup of milk

1 cup of Parmesan cheese

2-3 table spoons of minced garlic or garlic powder

Chicken 

4 large chicken breast cut into small cubes

Garlic

Vegetable oil

Basil or dried Italian seasoning

Salt

Pepper

The Rest

1 box of pasta

3 cups of broccoli florets (optional)

Shredded carrots (optional)

Baby spinach (optional)

Dice up the chicken, season and cook until golden brown. Set aside. 

If you're in a rush to make dinner, 

you can always buy a rotisserie chicken, 

take the meat off and chop up. 

I've done is in the past and it works just fine! 

See that? 

I'm being such a good helper! 

Remember that the next time I don't blog for months on end... ;)

Lets get to the sauce. 

You can boil the water and cook the pasta in a separate pot while making the Alfredo sauce. 

It's pretty quick to whip up. 

When the pasta is almost finished, toss in the broccoli and cover. 

You just need a quick blanch on the broccoli so using a whole separate pot would just be silly. 

Tip #2.. You're welcome! 

In a medium/large sauce pan, melt the butter and cream cheese. 

If you are using fresh garlic, add that in before the cream cheese and let it sauté. 

If you're using garlic powder, which i would recommend, save that for the end. 

Use a whisk to mix and melt thoroughly. 

Your heat should be on low/medium to avoid burning and you should be constantly whisking. 

This mixture will not "become one" in the pot, if that makes sense. 

You will basically have a melted butter and melted cream cheese concoction... 

Don't be alarmed! 

Add the milk, turn up the heat and continue to whisk. 

It should all begin to blend together. 

At this point, add the garlic powder, of that was your choice and the Parmesan cheese. 

Keep mixing until it is creamy and smooth. 

Turn down the heat and let it simmer. 

Toss in the chicken, pasta, broccoli, baby spinach and shredded carrots and mix all together. 

Transfer to a pretty bowl and serve up with a side of garlic bread! 

It will thicken as it cools and believe me when I say, it tastes even better the next day!!

Sorry again about the lack of pictures and for neglecting you all for so long! 

I'll try my best to keep keep up when i get back. 

Two weeks will fly by :) 

ENJOY!!!! 

Shrimp Alfredo

Shrimp Alfredo w/ Bacon

If I had to eat the same thing every single day of my life, it would involve shrimp. 

Don't ask me why, because I couldn't tell you...

Maybe because it's so easy to cook, or maybe because it just about works in any dish imaginable... 

Umm.. Ok Maybe not any dish.. but you get what I'm saying..

Don't you?

I'd just agree so we can move on...

I usually NEVER use spaghetti pasta, but today, for some reason I decided to do so.

I'm pretty sure something distracted me and I just picked this one by accident.. But it worked.

Side Note: Do you get as overwhelmed as I do when looking for the right pasta? 

Is there any shape that they DON'T come in??? 

Geesh!!! 

Oh, I tend not to measure when cooking. I use my best judgement, 

but I'll try my best to estimate for you all. Sorry!

RECIPE

4 Tbsp Butter

4-5 Cloves of Garlic

4-5 Stalks of Green Onion

1/2 Lemon

1 Large Bag of Medium Size Shrimp

1 Box of Spaghetti 

1 Jar of Bertolli Mushroom Alfredo (Don't Judge Me!!)

5 Strips of Bacon

In a large pan, melt about 4 tablespoons of butter 

and grate in your cloves of garlic.

Oh, did I mention that I have a deep love for garlic?? 

Like seriously, we are in love!! 

Just when your butter and garlic are starting to give you that "Oh My Goodness" smell,

toss in your shrimp.

I used frozen shrimp that were cleaned and had the tails still on. 

This is totally up to you. I was just trying to get a little fancy.

Let your shrimp cook until they turn ^ this color.

Chop up your green onions, toss in and squeeze 1/2 a lemon into the mixture.

Ok, this is a little embarrassing... This is not something that I do.. 

I NEVER use jarred Alfredo sauce.. NEVER!

So... If my sister saw this, she'd laugh at me! She taught me to make 

Alfredo sauce from scratch a loooong time ago and now I always brag about how I make it better...

And then I bought this.. Really? 

Shame on me!!!

But, I must say... It tastes pretty amazing once you add all the stuff that I just did...

Once you add in your sauce, just let it simmer for a while so all of those flavors have time to mingle...
While they chat... fry up your bacon or microwave it... whatever your method is.. Just make sure it's crispy!

And chop it up!

This is pretty much the end of the story...

Add in your bacon and pasta and toss together.

Put it all in a pretty dish and let it set up. The sauce will thicken after a few minutes. 

ENJOY!!