Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta

On New Year's Eve we had friends over for dinner. I had planned on trying out this new recipe. Having an almost 2 month old can really shake things up. Instead of me cooking the 4 of us all had a hand in fixing this delicious creation. I highly suggest that everyone should try out this recipe. If you love pasta and alfredo sauce then this is the recipe for you. I wish I had pictures of the cooking process but there was no time. I will say the sauce will seem extremely thin at first. Once you add the linguine and let it sit, it actually thickens up. It says to pour the sauce over the linguine. Well, I added it all together. I quadrupled the recipe and had plenty for the four of us and then some. If you are on a diet then this is not the recipe for you!

Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta
25 min | 10 min prep

SERVES 2

* 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
* 4 ounces linguine, cooked al dente
* 2 teaspoons cajun seasoning
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 1 thinly sliced green onion
* 1-2 cup heavy whipping cream
* 2 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
* 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Place chicken and Cajun seasoning in a bowl and toss to coat.
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté chicken in butter or margarine until chicken is tender, about 5 to 7 minutes.
3. Reduce heat add green onion, heavy cream, tomatoes, basil, salt, garlic powder, black pepper and heat through.
4. Pour over hot linguine and toss with Parmesan cheese.

Cookie extravaganza

Wow it has been forever since I've posted anything here.

This Saturday my Mom and SIL Korey are coming over to bake cookies. We started this new tradition last year. Our hubbies like it. Especially mine. Last year Nathan was on call so that meant he was home the whole time. He enjoyed eating cookies straight out of the oven. This year he is on call again and probably will do the same. I've chosen to make a couple batches of Magic Cookie Bars. The recipe is in the post below. I'm not sure if I'll be trying another recipe or not. During all of this I'll be taking care of my infant son. I'm eager to find out what recipes my Mom and Korey choose. I plan on taking pictures and hope to post them here.

Let the baking begin!!

Magic Cookie Bars

As long as I can remember Nathan always would ask me if I would make him Magic Cookie Bars. I had never heard of them. He came across his Mom's recipe for them. I decided to make them for him last month. Boy was I surprised at how delicious they are!!

Cast of characters: Butter, Graham Cracker Crumbs, Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels, Chopped Nuts and Coconut. One important ingredient missing in this picture is Sweetened Condensed Milk.

Melt butter in baking dish in the oven.

Mix graham cracker crumbs in the butter and spread out.

Pour sweetened condensed milk all over the top.

Sprinkle as many chocolate chips as you want to. I added more than the recipe called for. You can never have too much chocolate.

Cover the chocolate chips with coconut.

Sprinkle with chopped nuts.

Magic Cookie Bars baked, cut, and ready to eat. Mmm so good!

Magic Cookie Bars
Makes 24 Bars (depending on how big you cut them)

1/2 cup margarine or butter
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 14 oz can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 6 oz. pkg. semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 13 1/2 oz can flaked coconut (1 1/3 cups)
1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In 13x9 baking dish melt margarine in oven. Sprinkle crumbs over margarine, pour eagle brand milk evenly over crumbs. Top evenly with remaining ingredients; press down gently. Bake 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool thoroughly before cutting. Store loosely covered, at room temperature.

These are even better the next day. They remind me of the candy Mounds. I love those things. I'm going to make some of these soon. They don't last long in our house.

Hummingbird Cake

I'm finally posting about the cake I made my Mom on her birthday back in July.




The birthday girl!

Hummingbird Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple (undrained)
2 cups chopped walnuts (divided)
2 cups chopped bananas
Cream Cheese Icing (see below)

Combine dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. Add eggs and oil, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. Do not beat. Stir in vanilla, pineapple, 1 cup walnuts, and bananas. Spoon batter into 3 well-greased and floured 9-inch cake pans, or one large oblong pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until cake is done. Let cool completely. Spread Cream Cheese Icing over cooled cake and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup walnuts.

Cream Cheese Icing

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (16 oz) box powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine cream cheese and butter; cream until smooth. Add powdered sugar and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy.


This cake is amazingly delicious!! I was very tempted to make myself one because its just that good. There are a few things I did differently than the recipe. I used self-rising flour instead of all-purpose. That way I didn't have to to use salt or baking soda. I also left out the walnuts. This was my second time making the cake and I chose to use store bought frosting this time around. The first time I made it I tried the Cream Cheese frosting recipe. It was very tasty but it basically dripped all over the cake. It wasn't thick at all. That's why I bought frosting instead. As you can tell by the pictures I only used 2 pans instead of 3. I think I prefer it being a 2 layer cake. The first time I made it I did 3 layers, but they were so thin. I believe its easier doing 2 layers. If you decide to make it...ENJOY!!

I seriously may have to make another one! Hmmm maybe I'll do cupcakes. :) I could probably eat a whole cake right now.

More news on the house

One week ago we went to Nathan's Aunts house to look at it again. While we were there she told us that she was going down on the price of the house. She took $10,900 off the price. That helps tremendously. She's also getting rid of her realtor. We were happy to hear that too. Right now we're still waiting on to see how much Nathan's raise is this year. He should be having his evaluation this month just not sure when. Things are looking good. We're still praying everything works out. She's giving us till the middle of next month to decide if we can buy it or not. We're also thinking about keeping our house and renting to our friends for at least a year. Then see if maybe they would like to buy or maybe his brother. We shall see.

Couple of weeks ago Nathan called the bank lady (the one who never called back). He actually got in touch with her. She apologized and said she had a family emergency with her son & Mother. Whether that's true or not we will never know. Nathan told her he thought she fell off the face of the earth, because he never heard from her. He also told her this is a serious matter. She apologized more. Well she promised to call Nathan later that evening to give him the list of things he would need for her to see what kind of loan we qualify for. She did keep her promise and called later that evening. We missed the call.

She called Nathan back last week and then emailed him the list of everything he needs. He got everything together and met with her last week. We qualify for a lot more than what we need but that is great. We do have to put a bit more down on the house since we will be paying closing cost. We should have it all by next month.While he was there he found the brochure for the home inspector that inspected the house we currently live in. Thankfully its only going to cost $200 since the house is less than 2,000 sq. ft. Things are coming together. Everything is all ready for us to make an offer on the house, but we'd rather wait till we know what Nathan's pay raise is. We both strongly feel like everything will work out for us to get the house. God is moving!

In my next post I plan on sharing pictures of the cake I made for my Mom's birthday. I'll post the recipe as well. Its so good I almost want to make another. :)

Update on house situation

We still have not heard from the bank lady. Nathan has called her many times and left her several voice mail. Still no call back. Its been 2 weeks already. Its been very frustrating. Our patience has been tested so much these last few months.

Today Nathan called our bank and talked to a person about the situation. She actually answered some questions for him. As of right now we don't qualify for the first time buyer thing. We were seeing if there was a way of not having to put any money down. Even though this other house wouldn't be our first house its b/c we would then own 2 houses. Its hard to explain. We qualify to put 3% down which is $4,000. That is a lot but not as bad as it could be. She said if we decide to sell our current house then it would help greatly and we wouldn't have to put anything down.

Nathan has talked about emailing that other bank lady and see if she replies. Right now we are weighing our options and in for some more prayer time. We're anxious about getting this whole thing figured out but we want God's will in this. Hopefully soon we will know something. Please keep us in your prayers.

Jewelry Display

Last month Nicole posted an entry of her jewelry display. I mentioned to her how I need to take a picture of mine.

Here's my jewelry display:

I love being able to see my jewelry so easily. It also makes for a pretty display on my dresser. I can't take credit for this great idea. A year or two ago I got the idea from Elsie Flannigan. This isn't all my jewelry. I placed the longest and biggest necklaces in the bottom. I left the rest in my jewelry box.