Chicken Cordon Blue Baked Pasta

Today was Ella's Papa's day to take her to pre-school and volunteer in her class.  Which means that I was supposed to have the morning to myself to run errands and get some chores done.  I was really looking forward to that alone time...

Papa and I were going to trade cars so I didn't have to move car seats around.  When he went to start my car, it wouldn't start.  Someone I'm not naming names here (yes I am, it was my husband!) left a door open and the battery went dead.

So... I spent the morning with my friend Stacey taking the battery out of my car and over to Autozone to get charged.  I got about 5 minutes to make a bed and then the girls were back from school.

I'm a little late on getting this post up, but it was delicious and you definitely will want to make this!

Ingredients:
1lb. penne, rigatoni or rotini
3 tbs of butter
3 tbs of flour
1 1/2 cups of chicken broth
1 1/2 cups of milk
1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese
1 tbs granulated garlic
pinch of nutmeg
salt & pepper to taste
2 rotisserie chicken breasts, skinless and chopped into bite-size chunks
6 thin slices of deli ham chopped into bite size pieces
1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup of shredded swiss cheese

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare pasta according to package instructions, but only boil for 7 minutes.  While pasta is cooking prepare the sauce.  Melt butter over medium heat in a non-stick pan.  Add flour and whisk until combined and the texture looks like wet sand.  Cook for 1-2 minutes to allow the four taste to cook out.  Add the chicken broth 1/2 cup at a time and whisk well until smooth. Add milk 1/2 cup at a time and continue to whisk until smooth.  Add the garlic and parmesan and whisk until smooth, then add nutmeg to taste.  Try the sauce at this point and see if you need salt.  Add pepper and a pinch of nutmeg and remove from the heat.  When pasta is cooked, drain return to pan and pour sauce over the top.  Add the chicken and the ham and stir until combined.  Transfer to a baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray.  Top the pasta with the shredded cheeses, then place in the oven.  Bake until the cheese is melted and golden.  Voila!

Cornish Game Hens

Cornish Game Hen's are one of my husband's favorite things for dinner. He loves the fact that he basically gets a whole chicken to himself. I love making these for him when I want to do something a little special.

I prepare these pretty much the same way that I do my Perfectly Roasted Chicken. Really, the biggest difference is that they cook faster because they are smaller.



Ingredients:
1 Organic whole chicken (with giblets removed)
8 Sprigs of fresh thyme
2 Lemons and their zest
1/2 Stick of room temperature butter
Sea salt
Cracked black pepper
Garlic salt
2 Heaping tablespoons of Creme Fraiche


Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.  Spray your cast iron skillet with non-stick spray.  Place dry hens in the skillet (be sure they are completely dry or the skin won't crisp up. Salt and pepper the cavity and stuff with lemon and 1/2 of your thyme. Massage the outside of the bird with the room temperature butter. Then lightly sprinkle with salt, garlic powder and pepper. Place hens in pre-heated oven.

Baste the hens with the drippings (or chicken broth if there aren't any) every 15 minutes or so. While the hens are cooking add creme fraiche, lemon zest, juice of lemon 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper and thyme removed from stems to a bowl and stir until combined. After 35 minutes of cooking time, remove hens from oven and baste with creme fraiche mixture. Place hens back in oven and continue to cook for 10 more minutes or until the creme fraiche has carmelized on the birds (usually 10-15 mins).  Remove and allow to rest for at least 10 minutes. Serve with roasted vegetables.

Best bird, guaranteed!

October Fun

I think I've probably said I love fall about a zillion times by now, but let's go for a zillion and one, I love fall!! October is such a fun month when you have kids!  Yesterday we celebrated my little niece's first birthday and I got a chance to take a few pictures of my girls with my new camera.  I thought I would share a few with you!

I even made a little cake to celebrate our day together.  I hope you are having a beautiful weekend too, sweet friends!

Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

This is one of those recipes that are so easy, they barely require instructions.  But, since I know some people (like my husband!) can't even boil water, I'll break it down for you so you can make this too. Because you should make it, it's totally worth the time and prep and is healthy and delicious!



You will need a spaghetti squash, a jar of marinara sauce, and some ground meat, any type you like. I used lean ground pork, but ground turkey would be great too, or even ground beef.  You also need some shredded mozzarella cheese, and little salt, pepper and garlic powder, and some olive oil.  And that's it!

Start by cutting your squash in half.  If it is really hard to cut, use a rubber mallet to gently tap the knife to make it a little easier. Scoop out the seeds, then sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder and drizzle with a little olive oil.  Place cut side down on a cookie sheet and bake at 365 degrees for about 30 minutes.  Once the skin can easily be pierced with a sharp knife, the squash should be done.

While the squash cooks, brown up your ground meat in a little olive oil. I like to add a little fennel seed and ground sage (totally optional) and a little salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Once the meat is browned, add the jar of sauce. and stir until well combined and the sauce is heated through. Then cover with a lid and let stand until the squash is done.

Once your squash is done cooking and is soft, remove from the oven and use a fork to scrape the insides which should look like strands of spaghetti. Add a few ladles of the sauce to each half of the squash and then top with the cheese.  Place back in the oven under the broiler for a few minutes until they are browned and bubbly.  Garnish with basil or parsley if you have it.

Voila!  Enjoy this delicious dinner!  Serves 4.

Weekends in October

October is by far my favorite month out of the entire year.  The weather in Sacramento has usually cooled to bearable temperatures during the day and the evenings are cool enough to open up the windows and enjoy the cool breeze.

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Plus I love the colors.  Oranges and reds and golds everywhere you look.  I recently broke out the fall decor and shared a few pictures of my home decorated for the fall months here.



I thought I would share a little of our weekend outing to the pumpkin patch today.  I love pumpkins and Davis Ranch in Sloughouse, CA has really good deals on pumpkins and carries pretty much every variety imaginable.

Plus they have an awesome farmer's market with some of the best corn on the planet.

I hope you all are enjoying your weekend too!

Welcome to Dinner Delivery

Hello friends.  I realized that it's been a while since I talked about my Dinner Delivery business, and since I have a bunch of new friends following along with me I thought I would tell you a little bit about it!

Each week I put together a menu of three dinner options.  They are prepared and home cooked by me and can be picked up or delivered (within a reasonable distance of my home) on Tuesday of each week.  You can choose one or all three options.

Pricing depends on the menu, but generally speaking a meal which serves 4 will cost around $20.

If you are interested please email me at lilyseclaires@gmail.com for more information.

Here's next week's menu:
Greek Chicken in Lemon Creme Fraiche Sauce
Ham & White Beans
Butternut Squash & Spinach Penne Pasta

You can read more about my past menus here.

World's Best Vegetable Marinara Sauce

I'm sort of embarrassed to admit this, but I have to trick my kids to get them to eat their vegetables. I mean, being a food blogger and all one might think that my kids have well rounded meals with exotic spices and a wide variety of proteins and vegetables, but in reality I'm just like you.  My kids want pb&j, plain spaghetti with butter, and chicken nuggets and french fries.  Getting them to eat carrot sticks with ranch dressing feels like a victory.  I have been known to consider ketchup a vegetable.  (It's made from tomatoes!)

Sneaking zucchini into brownie mix has happened around here!  Butternut squash macaroni & cheese is also a trick I use...

Basically what I'm saying is I have picky eaters, so if you're like me, give this sauce a try.  And hey, if your kids won't eat it, at least you've already made the plain pasta...

Ingredients:
1 onion diced
3 cloves of garlic minced
2 cans of tomatoes (whole peeled, diced, doesn't matter)
1 large eggplant diced into 2" chunks
3 zucchini diced into 2" chunks
2 green bell peppers diced into 2" chunks
1/2 cup red wine
olive oil
salt & pepper
dried italian seasoning

Directions:
You will need 1 heavy bottomed pot such as a dutch oven and a large non-stick skillet.  Heat non-stick skillet over medium high heat.  Add olive oil, onions and garlic, salt and pepper.  When the onions turn translucent spoon them into the dutch oven.  Add a little more olive oil and then saute the eggplant, seasoning with salt and pepper.  Repeat all steps until all of the fresh veggies have been sauteed and are golden brown and soft.  Add the two cans of tomatoes to the dutch oven and stir all vegetables to combine.  Place dutch oven over medium high heat, add wine and cover.  Stir every few minutes.  All vegetables should begin to fall apart.  Using an immersion blender puree the vegetables until they are smooth.  Add italian seasoning and check to see if the sauce needs more salt and pepper.  If the sauce is too thick you can add a little water to thin it out.  If you like spice add a pinch of red pepper flake.   Serve with meatballs & spaghetti. (Unless you are vegan or vegetarian!)