Recipe: Easy Chicken Tetrazzini

I'm always looking for easy meals to throw together that are filling and easy on the budget. I used to use Giada De Laurentiis recipe which is delicious if you want to try it, but it takes too much time if you're in a pinch, and the ingredients for the sauce can be pricey. I revised the recipe to fit my hectic and budget friendly lifestyle, so here is my version.

Recipe: Easy Chicken Tetrazzini

12 oz. of pasta (I use rotini)

8 chicken tenderloins or 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1/2 inch slices

8 oz. fresh sliced mushrooms

1/2 small onion chopped

1/4 cup white wine

1 cup frozen peas

1 jar of alfredo sauce

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

bread crumbs (optional)

salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil pasta as directed. Drain and place in a large bowl. Lightly season chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Add olive oil to a frying pan and cook chicken over medium heat until cooked through turning once. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and add to pasta. Add butter to frying pan. Once melted, add onions and mushrooms and saute until they give off their liquid (they should be a golden brown). Add white wine and peas to pan. Simmer for 3-5 minutes. Add mushroom mixture to pasta. Pour alfredo sauce over pasta. Add milk to sauce jar and place lid back on jar. Give it a good shake to get all of the leftover sauce mixed in with the milk then add to pasta. Add cheese and parsley to pasta and mix everything together. Add salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Pour pasta mix into a large glass pyrex dish (9x13 works fine). Sprinkle top with bread crumbs. Bake for 15-20 minutes until heated through.

Hope you enjoy!

Book Review: Same Kind of Different As Me

It's rare that I read a book that literally changes the way I see the world and in turn changes my life. Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore did just that. A true story of two men and a woman who's lives weave together in a beautiful braid strong with unconditional love, strength, faith and friendship, this story brings both laughter and many tears (don't forget your tissues).

Denver Moore, a modern-day slave, grew up on a cotton plantation in Louisiana, unaware of the modern world of civil rights swirling just outside his grasp. The phonetical writing of his deep Southern accent dance off the pages as you hear his voice telling the story of his childhood, loss, loneliness, homelessness, faith and his encounter with Ron and Debbie Hall which results in a life-changing friendship.

Ron Hall, an extremely wealthy international art dealer, grew up in a lower-middle class section of Fort Worth, Texas, and spent many summers on his grandparents farm in Corsicana during the 1950's. He often worked the fields on the farm with "colored folks" and noticed that they were treated differently, but never gave it much thought. During his college years he set out to find a gorgeous "rich girl," but instead fell in love with his friend, Debbie, a very pretty brunette on an academic scholarship.

Debbie Hall grew up in a small town in West Texas. A shy bookworm next to her two gorgeous sisters, Debbie had a good sense of humor and a spunky determined spirit. Her faith and desire to do God's will strikes passion into your heart as you hear her story of compassion and love told by these two men who are forever changed by her.

Their three lives collide at The Union Gospel Mission where this amazing story of unconditional love, friendship, faith and Divine intervention takes place. Lives are changed, hope and passion are set ablaze and God is glorified.

This book is full of wisdom and makes you look hard at your own life to break down prejudices of all kinds, insecurities, judgements and fears you may have, and in the end helps you to see people as God sees them and love them where they're at.

I highly recommend reading this book! You'll be glad you did.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I received a free copy of this book from Booksneeze in exchange for an honest review.

Woodland Theme Baby Shower

Sweet little Levi is a beautiful miracle! Without going into too many details, we'll just say that the pregnancy and delivery of this cute little guy had both his and his mother's lives at risk. Prayers of thousands wrapped around their sweet family, and I'm happy to say that mother and son are happy and healthy!

I was so honored to be a part of their baby shower celebrating a glowing new mom and her healthy premie boy.

His mommy, Melissa, loves the outdoors and chose a woodland themed nursery. The shower was a beautiful representation of the great outdoors with pine trees, bird houses, pine cones and woodland creatures peeking through little details here and there. I had so much fun making a cake to match the fun decor!

This cake took forever, but was worth all the effort. Unfortunately my bottom tier dowels gave way (one of a baker's worst nightmares), but it actually worked with the cake. Because of the woodland theme, the bottom layer took on a mountainous look. Though the bottom cake was "condensed" it still tasted yummy!

I used homemade marshmallow fondant for most of the cake except for the grass which is buttercream. The brown fondant is chocolate and was achieved by adding cocoa powder to the melted marshmallows before kneading in the powdered sugar.

A circle of pine trees adorned the middle tier along with some fun woodland creatures...a bunny, bear and raccoon. The top tier featured "LEVI" in fun lettering cutouts and was topped with a baby boy in a pom-pom beanie with pacifier and blanket featuring a little turtle on top.

I'm so excited for my dear friends Tyler and Melissa as they are adjusting to life as parents. And, of course, I love holding little Levi to get my "baby fix." I love you guys! Congratulations!

Photography by Stephanie Morgan Photography.