Chicken Alfredo Pizza

We're always looking for a new variety of pizza to add to our repertoire. This Chicken Alfredo Pizza is the newest addition and one we really enjoy. My husband especially enjoys it because he can easily add shrimp to his side. {I'm not a seafood lover so we almost never have it at home.}
To speed up the process the sauce can be made ahead of time and any leftovers can be used on pasta later in the week.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza
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Source: Recipe Dose
Yields: 2 13-inch pizzas 

Ingredients: 
Alfredo Sauce
2 T butter
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
pinch red pepper flakes
1 T flour
1 cup milk
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
salt & pepper 
Toppings
pizza dough
Alfredo Sauce (see above)
2 medium tomatoes, diced or 1/2 can diced tomatoes
spinach- 2 large handfuls fresh or 1/3 package frozen

1 chicken breast, cooked and diced

2 cups shredded cheese

 

Directions:
   1.  In a medium saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add garlic powder, red pepper flakes and flour; stir and cook for 2-3 minutes. Gradually add milk, stirring frequently; cook until slightly thickened and season as desired.
   2.  Roll out crust; top with sauce, tomatoes, spinach, chicken and cheese.
   3.  Bake at 450 for 13-16 minutes until slightly browned on top.

This is linked to URS.

Cheese Quiche

I don't know why exactly but it truly surprises me how much we like this Cheese Quiche. Maybe it's the fact that a big component of the dish is spinach which in frozen form is not exactly the most appetizing looking thing. Whatever it is we like it! At first our daughter was a little hesitant about it but then she attacked her serving with gusto!
This is a ridiculously easy meal to put together. If you use a store bought crust (which I did this time) it doesn't take much time at all and it's a dish you can feel good about putting in front of your family.

Cheese Quiche
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Yields: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped
1 10 oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed and drained
4 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheese
1 9 in pie crust
1/4 cup bacon bits (optional; not pictured)
1/4 tsp nutmeg (not pictured)
1/4 tsp paprika (not pictured)
salt & pepper (not pictured)

Directions:
   1.  Preheat oven to 375.
   2.  In a skillet cook onions in a small amount of olive oil over medium heat until tender.
   3.  In a large bowl beat eggs and milk until blended. Add spinach, onions, cheese and spices and mix. Pour into crust; top with bacon bits (if using).
   4.  Place crust tin on a cookie sheet and bake 50 minutes or until center is set.

Source: Kraft Foods

This is linked to Good Cheap Eats.

Quesadillas

These quesadillas were a hit with all three of us. I was a little worried at first about convincing my husband that they would still be good, even without meat. It didn't take long for him to decide I was right.

Pulsing the salsa with the beans makes it much easier to work with and a little smoother for the mouth. The spinach and carrots blend so well in this application. You get a few crunches from the carrots, a nice change in this otherwise soft meal.

Quesadillas

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Yields: 5 quesadillas

Ingredients:

10 tortillas

1 can pinto beans, drained

6 T salsa, divided

1 cup spinach

1 cup carrots

1 tsp chili powder

2 cups shredded cheese, divided

sour cream and salsa, for serving

Directions:

   1.  Preheat oven to 350.

   2.  In a food processor pulse pinto beans and 3 T salsa until smooth. Remove to a medium bowl. Pulse spinach and carrots until very fine; add to bowl. Add chili powder and 1/2 cup cheese. Stir to combine.

   3.  Spread bean mixture over 5 tortillas; top with remaining cheese. Cover with other five tortillas.

   4.  Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes, flipping halfway through. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

This is linked to Good Cheap Eats.

Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

My favorite soup at Panera is Chicken and Wild Rice. Now, it's been a while since I've been there so I can't accurately speak to how close this came. No matter though, this was delicious anyway. It was creamy but thick, rich but refreshing--an absolute winner!
This soup contains some ingredients that can be prepped ahead of time, adding to the ease of assembling this. While the recipe only calls for 5-10 minutes of simmering at the end, it can withstand a longer time, as long as it is stirred occasionally.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
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Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients:
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
1 box wild rice (I used Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice.)
6 T butter
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 3/4 cup whole milk
2 cups diced or shredded chicken
2 cups spinach, roughly chopped
1 cup carrots, diced and cooked crisp tender


Directions:
   1.  In a large pot, bring chicken broth, water and rice to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes.
   2.  Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt butter. Add flour, salt, pepper and rice seasoning. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Whisk in milk; bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until thickened, stirring frequently.
   3.  Add sauce to rice; add chicken, spinach and carrots. Stir to combine; simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Adapted from: The Keune Home

This is linked to URS.

Lasagna Soup

In the pot this soup looks like a normal vegetable and broth soup. Once you dish it up on top of the cheeses it turns slightly creamy and absolutely beautiful. There are wonderful layers of flavor in this surprisingly hearty lasgana soup.
The work time for this recipe, like many soups, is not too long but the simmering time means you don't have to prepare it immediately before dinner. The slightly longer list of ingredients might be intimidating but since many of the ingredients are spices they don't create a lot of work.

Lasagna Soup
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Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients:
1 lb Italian sausage
1 tsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced (not pictured)
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
2 T tomato sauce
2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
2 bay leaves
1 cup uncooked pasta
1 cup spinach, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp basil
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded cheese

Directions:
   1.  In a skillet, cook Italian sausage until no longer pink. Drain fat.
   2.  In a large stock pot, saute onions in olive oil until translucent. Add garlic powder, oregano, Italian seasoning, red peppers flakes and tomato sauce. Cook 2 minutes.
   3.  Add cooked Italian sausage, tomatoes with juice, chicken broth, water and bay leaves. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.
   4.  Add pasta; bring back to a boil on medium heat until pasta is tender, about 7-8 minutes. After five minutes add spinach and basil. Remove bay leaves.
   5.  To serve put 1/4 cup cottage cheese, 1 T Parmesan cheese and 2 T shredded cheese in each bowl. Ladle soup on top. [When we had this as leftovers it worked well to warm up the soup then put the cheeses on top and stir them in.]

Adapted from: Our Simple Life

Toscana Soup

Whenever we go to Olive Garden I always choose a salad. My husband, on the other hand, always chooses soup. He used to order the Zuppa Toscana but no longer! He's decided that this homemade Toscana Soup is so good he doesn't need to get it when we go out anymore.

This is a fairly easy meal to put together and because of the simmering time it doesn't have to be made right before dinner. It can have a fair amount of kick to it so be mindful as you add the seasonings.

Toscana Soup
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Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients
5 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 medium russet potatoes, unpeeled & chopped
4 cups chopped spinach
1 lb Italian sausage
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (I don't like things too spicy so I use a scant 1/8 tsp.)

Directions
   1.  Cook sausage until done. Wash and chop potatoes. Roughly chop spinach.
   2.  Combine chicken stock and cream in a saucepan over medium heat. Add sausage, potatoes, spinach and seasonings.
   3.  Let simmer for two hours, stirring occasionally.

This is linked to Balancing Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday Parade of Foods.