Creamy White Chicken and Artichoke Lasagna

When my friend, Kychelle, first made this dish for us I thought it sounded so weird.  But when I tasted it, I thought it was great!  I loved all the flavor combos and it was so light and fresh tasting.  It's completely cheesy and creamy, what's better than that?  As much as I looove lasagna, this is a nice option if you want to try something else.  I finally gave it a go a couple of weeks ago, and I loved it all over again.  The leftovers even taste great, you can even make it ahead of time and cook it when you're ready and it will still taste great.  It really gives the flavors have time to "marry."

Mix together chicken, artichokes, 1 cup mozzarella, Parmesan and tomatoes (I didn't have any, so I did w/o).  Beat cream cheese, milk and garlic powder then stir in basil. Mix half with the chicken mixture. 

SPREAD half the cream cheese mixture onto bottom of baking dish; cover with 3 noodles and 1/3 of the chicken mixture. Repeat layers of noodles and chicken mixture twice. Top with remaining noodles, cream cheese mixture and mozzarella; cover and bake.  (FYI, I used the noodles that don't have to be cooked ahead of time, for some reason they didn't work very well w/ this lasagna, maybe not enough moisture?  I don't know, but I'd recommend using regular lasagna noodles, that's what I'll be doing for now on.)

Creamy White Chicken and Artichoke Lasagna

Ingredients
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts 
1 can (14 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained, chopped 
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided 
1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese 
1/2 cup chopped drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (optional) 
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) Cream Cheese, softened 
1 cup milk 
1/2 tsp. garlic powder 
1/4 cup tightly packed fresh basil, chopped, divided 
12 lasagna noodles, cooked

Directions
HEAT oven to 350°F.
COMBINE chicken, artichokes, 1 cup mozzarella, Parmesan and tomatoes. Beat cream cheese, milk and garlic powder with mixer until well blended; stir in 2 Tbsp. basil. Mix half with the chicken mixture. 
SPREAD half the remaining cream cheese mixture onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; cover with 3 noodles and 1/3 of the chicken mixture. Repeat layers of noodles and chicken mixture twice. Top with remaining noodles, cream cheese mixture and mozzarella; cover. 
BAKE 25 min. or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining basil. Let stand 5 min. before cutting to serve.  Enjoy!!!

Welcome!!!

Welcome GTU and DD viewers!  I'm so happy to have you stop by!  If you liked the recipes I shared today, then take your time and look around.  I have several more "Mommy Friendly recipes."  Below are the links to the show if you missed out.

Good Things Utah clip (Crock Pot Lasagna):  Click here to watch the clip.

The Daily Dish Clip (Eclair Cake): Click here to watch the clip.

Tomorrow!

FYI, I will be appearing on Good Things Utah and The Daily Dish again tomorrow.  For Utah locals, you can watch me at 9 AM and again at 11 AM! Yay!  I'm extra excited this time b/c they just put in a brand new kitchen and I will be the very first to cook in it :)  For those that aren't local, don't worry, I'll post the links to my clips after the show.

Crock Pot Lasagna

Did ya'll know that you could make lasagna in a crock pot !  Well, I didn't either until I found it on Pinterest! I've been meaning to try it out for a while now.  Now that I am forced to have more crock pot meals due to my son's soccer practices being at 5 pm, I finally got around to it.  So, what'd I think?  I thought it tasted great!  It did not disappoint one bit!  It's tastes practically what I make in the oven.  And, we have tons of leftovers!  I'm so happy I can now make my lasagna ahead of time.  Try it out...let me know what you think.  Who else loves crock pot meals as much as me?  

All finished, look at all that yummy cheese.

Crock Pot Lasagna

Ingredients
1 lb. Ground Beef

1 Clove Garlic

2 T Parsley

1 T Basil

1 t. Salt

29 oz Can Tomato Sauce
8 oz pkg. Lasagna Noodles, uncooked (I used 10 noodles)
4 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese 
1 1/2 cups Cottage Cheese

Directions 

1. Spray the inside of the crock-pot with cooking spray                        
2. Brown the ground beef and drain
3. Mix in the Parsley, basil and salt
4. Stir the tomato sauce in with the ground beef let simmer for 10 minutes
5. Spread 1/4 of the meat sauce on the bottom of the crock-pot
6. Arrange 1/3 of the uncooked noodles over the sauce (I broke them up so they fit better)
7. Combine 2 cups of Mozzarella and cottage cheese in a bowl. Spoon 1/3 of the cheeses over the noodles.
8. Repeat these layers twice
9. Top with remaining sauce
10. Cover and cook on low for 4 hrs 
11. Add the remaining cheese 5 minutes before serving
12. Let the lasagna stand in the crock-pot with the lid off for at least 10 minutes  Enjoy!

* Variations 

• Add chopped onion to the ground beef in step 2
• Use Italian sausage in place of ground beef or with ground beef (I used 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 sausage)
• Add 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese to the cheese mixture. Replace cottage cheese with Ricotta. 

Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Creating Through Life

Gooey Caramel Brownies

I haven't had these delicious, gooey caramel brownies in years.  During my first Summer semester at good ol' BYU-Idaho, one of my old college roommates, Rachelle, used to make these all the time.  I just remember not being able to get enough of them, I thought they were some of the most delicious things I've ever eaten at the time!  So, when I saw she posted something about these on Facebook a while back, I was brought back to that wonderful Summer and just had to contact her to get the recipe for myself.  She was quick to reply and get me the recipe, I was not so quick to make them though.  Oddly enough, this was just over a year ago, crazy!!  Anyways, I finally made them last night, and they did not cease to impress. I honestly like them even better the next day though.  And notice the two brownies pictured below?  Well, those are the only two brownies left by the time I remembered to take a picture.  Thanks Rachelle for sharing your yummy brownie recipe w/ us :)

Look at all that caramel oozing out!  So good!

1. Layer half the brownie batter at the bottom of the pan and bake for 6 minutes.

2. Top w/ 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and...

(notice my little helpers hand?) after mixing together and melting caramel bits evaporated milk...

3. pour on top of chocolate chips

 4. take the rest of the batter and flatten out and place on top of caramel.

Bake for another 12-15 minutes and let cool.

Serve warm or completely cooled off.  Either way, delish!

Gooey Caramel Brownies

Ingredients:

• 48 caramels
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk (divided in 1/2) 
• 1 package of German chocolate cake mix
• 3/4 cup melted butter
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt together 1/3 cup of the evaporate milk and the caramels on med low heat, stir occasionally  While melting, mix together the cake mix, the remaining evaporated milk, and the butter. Divide this mixture in 1/2 and put one portion of it in a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with the nuts, if using, and bake for 6 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and add the chocolate chips. Drizzle the caramel mixture over the chocolate, being careful that the caramel doesn't touch the sides of the pan. Spoon the remaining batter over the top evenly, and bake for an additional 12-15 minutes. Let cool and serve. Don't forget, leftovers are even better!  Enjoy!

Cheesy Meatball Bites

This recipe reminded me of my Pizza Bite Recipe, which I totally love!  I found I don't like these as much, but they're still good.  I had lots of meatballs I needed to use up, and this was just another fun recipe I wanted to try out w/ them.  Who doesn't love a good meatball?!  I know I do!

Look at the gooey cheese!

Cinnamon Roll Waffles

You've probably seen this recipe floating around in blog land or Pinterest right?  Well I thought I'd go ahead and give it a try.  It looked good and really easy, so I figured why not.  I finally purchased a waffle maker for Christmas, (yeah, that's right, I've been married for 7 1/2 yrs and have yet to own a waffle maker) so I could finally try it out.  I put it off til Valentine's day and then tried it out on my family.  It was super fast and so yummy!  I mean you no longer have to wait forever for them to bake in the oven.  You can now have fresh, gooey cinnamon rolls in minutes.  They were a hit!  So my question is, will I ever cook them in the oven again?  I really don't know.  The only thing I miss is getting to pull them apart and eating the middle last, I'm not alone in this right?  But, they honestly taste just the same, cook much quicker and you can still eat them by hand.  Oh, and to answer your question, yes, I have made these again since Valentine's day.  They're delish!

Smothered Pork Chops (Slow Cooker)

It's been a while, I know.  Am I the only one that feels like life totally started over after having a 3rd child?  It's been super hard for me to get back to my routines.  It's starting to get there, now that he's 4 months old :)  But, I was going through my pictures and saw this yummy dish that I made for my family on Valentine's and thought I'd go ahead and share.  It's seriously the yummiest pork chop I've ever had!  A lot of prep to get into the crock pot and a few more after it'd done cooking, but well worth it if you want a dish to impress your man.  I mean, seriously, what man wouldn't be want a pork chop smothered in bacon?  I wouldn't recommend eating this every night, it's not the healthiest dish, but a few times a year isn't going to hurt a thing, it'll just make you feel amazing about yourself that you made such a perfectly tender smothered pork chop.  I even pulled out a knife for cutting them and soon realized there was no need, a fork did just fine.  They were that tender!  I first had this when I went to visit my sister in GA over a year ago when she made it for me.  YUM!  It was so good.  I finally decided to impress my man this year w/ it.  And can I just say, it worked!  I heard him telling his brother about it later :)  

Looks amazing right?!

Christmas Meal Planning

For those that have been w/ me since last year, you'll remember this, but to those that are new as of this year then let me explain.  Last year Christmas season I did 25 Days of Recipes.  A recipe a day leading up to Christmas.  All recipes perfect for Christmas day, or the Christmas season.  So, here they are again, all listed in order to help ya'll w/ your Holiday meal planning.  Good luck, and Happy Holidays!

25 Recipes For the Holiday!

(Or just whenever)

M.I.A.

Where have I been?  Well, a month ago today we welcomed this little guy into the world.

Between juggling 3 boys and having lots of visitors, I have barely had time for myself, let alone my blog.  So, for now, please help me welcome my newest little guy to the world. 

This is Maddox Stepehen

Born November 19th at 3:37 AM

Weighing in at 7 lbs 5 oz and 20 inches