Recipes, Tried and True

Before I start on the real post, thank you for the concern about my last one!  I'm okay, I just tripped over Toby on the stairs, fell on my tailbone in a bad way and hit my head on Sunday.  My head is fine and as far as we can tell, there are no cracked bones on my vertebrae (plus, I think I would know.)  My chiro is just waiting for the swelling and tenderness to go down so she can work her magic!  In the meantime, my back brace, ice packs and Alleve are working wonders.  I swear...

SO!  It's been a while since I posted favorite recipes and I'm not going to lie...I've spent a bit of time in the kitchen since then.  It's become a stress reliever and a personal point of pride when I copycat a recipe I like!  So, here are the recipes I have found myself recreating time and time again this past summer.

*Guiltless Alfredo Sauce
**Amazing with seafood or chicken and whole wheat noodles.  If I'm splurging, I bake a whole wheat baguette and use this sauce for dipping!  Also great for making creamy tomato sauce with your favorite ready made spaghetti sauce (I personally use canned tomato puree and add my own spices.)  Yum, yum, yum.

*Restaurant Style Ranch Dressing
**I no longer buy Ranch.  I make this, at least once a week, and it's the best dressing I've ever had.  Cheaper too.  Once you start, you won't ever go back to the bottled version again! 

Chicken Pesto Pizza
**I don't make the dough, I buy it (yeast scares me a bit.) But this is good the day it's made, the day after and the day after that.  SO yummy.  Easy to make too.  I bake the ready made dough on a cookie sheet for 5 minutes at the recommended temp with garlic salt and onion powder before I add the sauce and toppings.  I make this probably once every 2 weeks.  It's THAT good!

Baked Pesto Chicken
*There might be a theme here...I love chicken and I love pesto!  This meal is cheap, simple to make and my favorite way to enjoy it is with brown rice and a sliced zucchini/squash combo.

Creamy Garlic Pasta
**I use whole wheat noodles (usually angel hair or thin spaghetti) and grilled chicken.  There are denser versions of this recipe but I prefer this lighter take.

These are nothing super creative but again, I find myself craving/eating them at least once every 2 weeks.  I guess that's a perk of being a creature of habit, right??  I hope you try and more importantly, I hope you enjoy!  Bon apetite. :o)