Bacon Cream Cheese Wrapped Chicken Breast over Buttermilk Alfredo Linguine

Bacon Cream Cheese Wrapped Chicken Breast over Buttermilk Alfredo Linguine

Today was a low key afternoon and I was so grateful for it.  Our little family has had quite a few changes in schedules and activities in the last month so it was nice to have our whole family home early in the afternoon after school.  While my hubby played some games and read books with our boys I had the opportunity to prepare a dinner that I might not have, if it weren't for a little alone time in the kitchen.

One thing lead to the next as I rummaged through my pantry and fridge for ingredients I needed to use up and this is what I came up with!  It was a huge hit and it has made the list of Can you please make again soon?  As a Mom, I consider that a success.

Bacon Cream Cheese Wrapped Chicken Breast: 

So, to get started-defrost 3 chicken breasts and place in a prepared baking pan.  In a bowl combine 8 ounces of fat free or low-fat cream cheese, 1 cup of finely chopped onion, a few dashes of cayenne pepper, a heaping tsp of minced garlic and a dash of pepper.  Stir together until combined, but not too much to cause the cream cheese to soften and lose solidity. 

At this time preheat your oven to 400*.  Take a chicken breast- spoon and smooth the cream cheese mixture over the chicken breast.  Place enough on to evenly distribute the mixture amongst the chicken you have prepared.  Once the cream cheese mixture has been placed on the chicken, wrap 4-5 slices of turkey bacon around the chicken breast with the seam underneath to secure the bacon's placement and set in the pan.  Continue this process with each piece of chicken.

I had a few tbsp of cream cheese mixture remaining that I placed around the wrapped chicken before baking and I let it cook for 45 minutes at 400*.  In the last few moments you can also set the oven to broil and crisp the bacon if that is your preference.

Buttermilk Alfredo Linguine:

While the chicken baked, I boiled a package of linguine noodles.  

While the noodles were cooking, I prepared my sauce.   Melt 2 tbsp of butter in a saucepan and stir in 2 tsp of flour.  Once incorporated, whisk in 1/2 c of milk with 1 c of buttermilk.  Continue to stir in 1 dash of nutmeg, 1 tsp of minced garlic and 1 tsp of pepper.  Then add 1 c of parmesan cheese, continue to stir until the sauce begins to thicken.  Add the cooked noodles to the sauce.

Serve the buttermilk alfredo linguine with the bacon cream cheese chicken on top- finish with a pinch of parsley and enjoy!

Homemade Toaster Pastries

Homemade Toaster Pastries

I made sugar cookies with the boys this morning and before I got started I doubled my ingredients to make these pastries after- the recipe below is a single batch.

In a bowl add 3 1/2 c flour, 2 tbsp baking powder, 2 eggs, 1 c butter, 1 tbsp vanilla and one can of 14 oz sweetened condensed milk.  Beat until the dough forms and chill in between baking batches.

I used a mold, but if you don't have one, cut out rectangle shapes in your dough after it has been rolled out.  On one rectangle place a tbsp of jelly and then top with another dough rectangle.  Press the edges closed to seal.  Repeat until all your dough is used and bake for 18 min at 350 degrees.  I topped with sanding sugars before baking as well.  

Other fillings that would be great are peanut butter, nutella or lemon curd!

Let cool and enjoy as a breakfast on the go, a yummy snack or dessert.

The Tried and True Sugar Cookie Recipe

The BEST Sugar Cookie Recipe!

The boys asked if we could make super hero cookies, so we used our impressions in our cookie dough and they were thrilled!!

I have used quite a few recipes for homemade sugar cookies, and this is my favorite.

In a bowl add 3 1/2 c flour, 2 tbsp baking powder, 2 eggs, 1 c butter, 1 tbsp vanilla and one can of 14 oz sweetened condensed milk.  Beat until the dough forms and chill between batches to keep firm.

We rolled our dough out, designed each cookie to look different with captions and characters and baked for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Braydon always loves to watch the goodies bake!

Let cool and enjoy!