Fave* Foods-Pesto Chicken Casserole

*If you have read my recipes/posts for a little bit, you may notice that there is something missing from the title there....Be warned! This is NOT a "fit" recipe....but, it sure was delicious! I do think, however, that next time I make this, I will try and "lighten" it up and bit! 

Pesto Chicken Pasta Casserole-very slightly adjusted from original recipe found here
Makes 6 servings

1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon italian seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
8 ounces whole wheat rotini pasta
3 cups diced, cooked chicken breast
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cups fresh spinach
8 ounces (about 1/2 of a 15 ounce jar) Alfredo sauce
3 heaping tablespoons pesto sauce
3/4 skim milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9x9 glass baking dish with nonstick spray. In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, and olive oil until moist then set aside. Cook pasta according to package directions until cooked yet firm. Drain in colander and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine chicken, shredded cheese, spinach, Alfredo sauce, pesto sauce, and milk. Stir cooked pasta into chicken mixture and spread into the prepared baking dish. Top with the bread crumb mixture and bake 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown.

The original recipe calls for 2 cups of cheese however, I only had one (poor planning on my part) but, I don't feel like it needed any more. It also calls for diced tomatoes but, I left those out because the hubby doesn't like them. All in all, this recipe was super tasty and would even be good with the addition of some broccoli or fresh sliced mushrooms (don't worry, husband, I won't try to slip those in on you). I cut the recipe in half to make only the 6 servings (original made 12) and it was more than enough for the 3 of us. I will say that this tastes even better reheated (after the flavors absorb more in the fridge) so, if your household is the type that will eat leftovers happily, make more! Even my husband (who rarely will eat leftovers) heated this up on his own and ate it!

If you try this and have any pointers or ideas, let me know! I would love to hear how it turns out for you!

Enjoy!

• 
  

For Cindy, SuperTy's SuperMomma

Today is Super Ty's momma's birthday. Instead of birthday wishes, she asked that people share his story. You all know that I have shared it here before but, if you have not taken the time to go read it or if you don't have more than 15 seconds, please say a quick thought of prayer for them today...especially for Cindy. She has fought (and continues to fight) against horrible, terrible cancer for her son. Her first born. Her baby. Only God truly knows how much longer their battle will be but, I do know that her battle will live on until one day when her and Ty are both in heaven without cancer, without pain, without medicine, without crankiness caused by steroids, without sadness, and without tears. 

Please take a minute to go read their story. If anything, go look at the photo she posted of Ty this weekend smiling so big! So brave! 

1st Haircut

Last night, my baby boy got his very first hair cut ever.

 EVER. 

I have never even trimmed one single strand of those beautiful white blonde curls. We have always smiled and nodded (and chuckled) when people called him a little girl...and remember the bullying incident because of the ponytail? Whoops! Finn has always said he likes his long hair and never mentioned really WANTING it cut....until recently. He started asking for a haircut...not just any hair cut but he wanted to "get spiky hair, momma" like a little boy in his class. I put that thought in the back of my mind and then again yesterday, when I picked him up from school, he looked at a photo on the Rhea Lana's flyer we got and brought it up again. With bright eyes, he looked at me and said "momma, I want spiky hair like him" in the most serious 3 year old tone. We talked for a minute about how we would have to have our baths in the morning now so we could fix our hair, how it would be really short, etc. He was adamant about "getting spiky hair from the spiky hair store". I asked him when he wanted to go get a haircut and he said "Now". This was serious business, you guys! Off we went.......(after I washed his hair because the major downfall to that head of long curls was the HEAT...bless his heart...he was SO hot all the time :/ )

Those of you that know me know that I no longer have a regular hairdresser. I was dedicated to a fabulous lady (by dedicated, I mean, the 2 times a year I used to get my haircut/colored, she was the ONLY one who could do it....) but, I had Finn and spending money on those kinds of things was no longer an option so my hair was placed very far on the justifiable spending list. I have gotten the occasional "so so" walk in haircut and then let it grow several times.....then the last time I got my hair cut, I went to a different walk in place and got a really good haircut! We went to the Supercuts and even though it wasn't the same person who gave me the great cut, we were really AMAZED at how great of a job she did. Her name was Chiree and she will officially always be cutting Finn's hair. I couldn't speak more highly of how good she was with him and how great of a job she did!!

Now, on to pictures!! 

Before: 

While I LOVED my baby's long curls, they were unruly 98% of the time. Humidity, little boy activity, plus naps made it kind of a mess :/

Long hair combed walking into the salon...he was so excited I could not get him to stand still enough for me to get a good photo!!

Bye, bye, curls....Kept the first curl to save ;)

Such a big boy! Did not move or shed a tear! He was mesmerized watching her cut it in the mirror...

At this point, he held his hands up to his hair in the shape of a point and asked if it was going to "get spiky"!!

Finished!!! 

Of course, we had to go show it off to husband's family!

Grown up hair? check..Big boy scraped elbow? check.

Wiped out after all the excitement :) Oh yeah, and daddy got his haircut "spiky" too :) Husband, I love you and I love how you always want to match Finny

Fitter Fave Foods-Chili Lime Chicken Tacos

Here is a recipe I made last week that I thought was awesome. I made the chicken from this recipe and man, it was delicious! Super simple and packed with flavor...it even went over well with the husband who is much more of a ground beef taco guy!

Chili Lime Rubbed Chicken Soft Tacos-Makes about 6 soft tacos


                                 photo from recipe.com site

Ingredients:

Chili lime rubbed chicken breasts, recipe here. (I did not change anything about this recipe except for I only used 3 pieces of chicken and only had about 1 teaspoon of the grated lime peel but, still felt like it had enough lime flavor)
6 soft taco tortillas
1/2 large white onion
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced into strips
Fresh cooked black beans (or canned, if you don't have time to make fresh..I will post how I make them)
Whole kernel corn-I did use canned here because it was in my pantry and sounded good so I threw it in there!)
Additional toppings, if desired:
Light sour cream
Shredded fiesta blend cheese
Fresh chopped cilantro
Salsa

Directions:
I followed the chicken recipe exactly and it was great. I grilled the chicken breasts on our gas grill and they turned out perfect. I received the green version of this digital meat thermometer as a wedding gift and absolutely love it. Be gone, dry chicken! The rub was super easy to make and I had the chicken cooking in no time. Meanwhile, I took my onion and green pepper and put it on the stove in a small skillet over medium-low heat. I let these cook the entire time I was cooking the chicken and preparing everything. Cook until the onions are translucent and starting to brown. When the chicken was done, I covered it with foil and let it "rest" about 5 minutes while I got everything on the table. This is good to do with any type of grilled meat. I then sliced the chicken and served a "taco bar" with all our choice toppings, etc.

Voila! That's it!

Photo(less) Life

Guys----you will never guess what I did.....(actually, husband you are probably not the in the least surprised by the statement I am about to type)

I deleted everything on my phone. 

every-dang-thing.

contacts, photos, videos, to do lists, saved random notes on things I wanted to remember......

shoot.

Sooooooooo, I don't have any photos to share....I did...I promise! I had lots of photos that I was overdue to post here but, they are gone. Along with some videos I really wanted to treasure. Shoot again. Awesome video I made of Finn singing happy birthday to my sister so I could send it to her at the crack of dawn on her actual birthday? deleted. Pictures of the super top secret craft project I couldn't tell you about until after it was given to sister for her birthday? deleted. 

Thank the stars above that I had recently transferred most of my photos, etc over to our home computer so that when I updated the ol iphone to the new iOS 6 without plugging it into itunes (I had JUST updated my phone to the last OS without plugging it in and had no problems so I assumed (you know what THAT means) this update could be done the same), it only deleted a month or so worth of memories as opposed to a year's. 

Believe me! LOTS of photos will be taken from now on and shared IMMEDIATELY on the blog before ol Mrs. McFancyphone has the chance to delete them again. 

Little things...

(As I mentioned before, I will be doing some posts about things that make me happy/unhappy modeled after posts I enjoy reading by Brandilyn on Cats and Cardigans)

Things that make me happy this week:

New projects in the future with my shop. (Remember my shop? I haven't talked about it much on here but I have been busy!! There are around 100 items currently for sale! I plan on featuring more of those items on this blog as well as some things I have my fingers crossed about!)

Successful recipes and new recipes to try in the future

Toddler snuggles

Having husband around the house with us for 99% of the time Saturday and Sunday (!!)

Miller has a new sister!!!!!!!!!!! The Woodruff family welcomed a sweet baby girl, Mattie McNeil, into the world on Monday! Congratulations!!! <3 

Things that make me less than happy this week:

Ty Louis Campbell. Please go read his story. Please pray for him and his family. If you live close to them, please go give his sweet momma a hug from me. I know I have said this before but their battle is long from over and every tiny thought helps. I have never lost a child. My child has never battled a major disease. I know or know of people who have but, as much as I would like to think I can sympathize, I know that my aching heart for them and for what they have been through in no way compares to what they are feeling. 

This list ends there. As much as I would like to complain more about my "terrible threes" or the fact that my child hasn't been sleeping through the night, I can't. My "problems' are so trivial compared to what others are facing. As weird as it may seem to constantly think about someone you don't really "know", my thoughts have been filled with this family. I have been meaning to write about the recipes I mentioned or about silly things happening in our home and I just haven't. I promise to get back to posting about the other things but, just wanted to mention them again because they have been on my mind so much.

Super Ty

I woke up this morning all gung ho to share with you some delicious food I made last night. It has been a while since I have been cooking up a storm in the kitchen and last night's dinner was the first "success" we have had in a while. But then..something more important came along......

Super Ty

"Super Ty" is an understatement. Ty is a hero. Ty is my hero. At just shy of five years old, this little boy (and his courageous family), have gone through more than most people go through in a lifetime. Ty was diagnosed with cancer in 2010 and his mother documents their miraculous ups and heartbreaking downs. Super Ty was the first blog I ever started reading. It used to be the first website I went to each morning (long before I ever signed up to get the updates by email, long before my blogger reading list, etc). Ty needs our prayers. His family needs our prayers. If you have not ever gone to their site, please do. Please just take a minute or five or ten or however long you choose to read their story.

 My heart aches for him....for his mother and father and little brother.