Chicken and Bacon Fettuccine

Sometimes on a Monday night you just need to embrace comfort food. Not necessarily because it was a hard day (aren't all Mondays?), but more because making it through the first day back from the weekend is a real accomplishment. Especially after 6+ inches of snow... thanks again Minnesota.

Tonight on the menu was Chicken and Bacon Fettuccine. Yes you read that right, BACON. This simple twist on a classic really adds a nice depth of flavor. Check out the delish photo and recipe below. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

4.5 oz fettuccine noodles

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup chicken broth

1/4 cut half and half

3/4 cups diced chicken

3 slices bacon (cooked crisply)

DIRECTIONS

Turn your oven to 400 degrees and place the bacon on an un-greased cookie sheet. While the bacon is cooking, boil the fettuccine noodles and sear your chicken in a pan. Instead of using chicken breasts, I really like to used the pre-cut frozen Tyson chicken - it's a lot easier and tastes exactly the same!

While all the ingredients are doing their thing, you can begin to build the sauce in a separate pan. If you don't want to make your own sauce, you can of course use your favorite Alfredo sauce from the jar.

Once everything has finished, simply just combine it into one pot, add some oregano/basil/parsley and you're done! Don't plan on having left-overs - it's THAT good! 

Cheesy Chicken Orzo

These past few weeks I have been making a conscious effort to meal plan. Instead of just buying the same things each week at the grocery store and hoping for different results, I dedicated 30 minutes to my Saturday afternoon to think of meal options for each day of the week. I really liked doing this because I could make sure we have a variety of meals throughout the week and we rely less on the frozen varieties... You can also try to pick recipes that leverage some of the same ingredients to try and be more cost effective.

One of the meals from this plan was a tasty Cheesy Chicken Orzo. I'd never cooked with orzo before, so this was a first for me. For those of you that don't know, orzo is basically in between rice and noodles. It's a pretty fun alternative to your pasta game if you're looking to mix it up.

This recipe is VERY simple and quite yummy. The base ingredients are pretty neutral so you can flavor to your liking. For this meal my Mom was over and she doesn't like much spice. If it were just T and I, I probably would have opted for some red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper. Instead, I went with the 'safe' Italian seasoning.

Check out the recipe below and give it a try! It's a nice rotation into your weeknight meals that's a synch to make and only takes about 20 minutes!

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 whole chicken breasts cut into 1-inch cubes
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup orzo
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons italian seasoning 

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a large skillet.

Add chicken pieces to the skillet, season with salt and pepper, and cook over medium heat until done; about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Bring a pot of water to boil, and stir in the orzo.

Cook for 5 minutes, or until orzo is tender.

Drain.

Put the orzo back in the pot and stir in the cheese, butter, and 1/4 cup milk; add more milk if needed. Continue to stir until smooth and well combined.

Stir in the cooked chicken.

Taste for salt and pepper and italian seasoning.

Serve.