Saturday, April 20, 2013

GCC- Steak Pizzaiola

This week's Gutsy Cooks Club challenge was to make Steak Pizzaiola.  It called for a chuck steak and I had no clue what this was.  I also could not find it in our grocery stores, so I went with sirloin.  Other than that, I stayed pretty true to the recipe.  We served ours with a large bowl of rigatoni, but next time I will serve with mashed potatoes.  Overall, I believe this recipe is a keeper. Make sure to head to SweetBites and get the recipe!

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Getting Gutsy- Baked Chicken with Honey-Whole Grain Mustard Glaze

I am always looking for new ways to challenge myself in the kitchen.  I love to cook and have tried so many different recipes and am always looking for something new.  I stumbled upon The Gutsy Cooks Club and knew I had to try it!

Sweet Monica at Sweet Bites Blog host it and this was our first week.

This week we made Baked Chicken with Honey-Whole Grain Mustard Glaze by Lucinda Scala Quinn.  While this recipe was not that different for me, or that challenging, it did call for chicken thighs.  I have not cooked with them in the past and I will have to say Mr. J and I loved them, but sweet A adored them!  I found a great sale on boneless, skinless chicken thighs and so that is what we used.  While I am sure the skin would be delicious on these, it was not in my weekly budget to splurge (and we try not to eat the skin).  I would cook these again! Not only were they tasty, but super easy as well!

Make sure and jump over to Monica's blog to get the recipe!

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

From the Little Red Book

The first Christmas that Mr. J and I spent together he bought me this cute little red cookbook journal.



It is used for my favorite recipes and most of the time they come some where other than the internet.  Some are passed down from sweet family members, some from special friends, and some are my random, crazy creations! But, if the recipe makes it to the prized red book, it is for sure a family favorite!  This recipe, I believe, came from a previous co-worker and it has become a family favorite.  I hope y'all enjoy it as much as we do!

Bow-tie Chicken Pasta


  • 2 Chicken Breast, cooked, diced or shredded
  • 1 box Bow-tie Pasta
  • 1 can Rotel, drained
  • 1 jar Alfredo Sauce
  • 1/2 jar of Basil Pesto (I use the Bertolli brand...just so you know for size reference)
  • 2 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese


-Cook your chicken and dice or shred it.  Last night I used diced chicken that I cooked in the skillet.  Before I have used a rotisserie chicken, boiled chicken, you could even use canned chicken if you are into that kind of thing! Which ever way I do it, I always add some of my favorite spices (and those change on a daily basis, but always include italian seasoning and garlic)
-Cook your pasta according to the box, but 2 minutes less.
-Drain pasta.
-Add your Alfredo sauce, pesto, rotel and chicken to the pasta and mix well.
-Place mixture into a greased 9x13 baking dish.
-Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of pasta mixture.
-Bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes or until cheese is good and melted.
-Enjoy!