Taco Chicken Alfredo: Foodbuzz Tastemaker {Heinz Classico}

Today I'm happy to be joining with Foodbuzz Tastemaker to bring you a review of the product: Heinz Classico Light Creamy Alfredo Pasta Sauce. This is my first time participating in the program and I'm very excited to have the opportunity to review their product!

You all know I love my sauces. Particularly alfredo sauce. That's why I had to opt in to receive a sample jar of this light alfredo sauce. Truthfully, I didn't know what to expect. I have always been turned off by "light" products in the past. Light ranch dressing and light mayo just never tasted the same as the real thing. So I wondered if this would. 

With 50% less fat and 45% fewer calories than leading brands of alfredo sauce, it still packs the richness and creaminess that is expected from an alfredo sauce. This alfredo sauce is a great alternative to other calorie-packed alfredo sauces, with only 60 calories per serving. You can't beat 60 calories! While it doesn't taste as good as the real, fatty stuff in my opinion, it does come close, especially in a recipe that spruces it up a bit, like the one I made.

I searched around for some tasty recipes that called for jarred alfredo sauce, and came across this one and knew it was the one. While it sounded delicious, the whole time I was wondering what made it "Mexican" chicken alfredo. I figured it was just the taco seasoning. It wasn't until I was actually making it that I realized down in the directions it mentions to add in salsa along with the cheese, milk, and taco seasoning. That would have made it a lot more Mexican. We didn't have any salsa in the house, so it was left out and we had to improvise with what we had. It was fine because I was expecting to make it that way all along.

Therefore, since we didn't have salsa, I've decided to change the name of this recipe to reflect what it really was for us instead. So instead of Mexican Chicken Alfredo, I bring you....

Taco Chicken Alfredo.

We both liked it, didn't love it. Next time I would probably use a different pasta than penne though. I think I'm just not a big fan of penne pasta. I did eyeball the taco seasoning too, and I would guess it was probably more like 2 or 3 tsp than 1 tsp. We also bought a whole pre-seasoned rotissierie chicken and used half of it for this recipe and will use the other half for tomorrow's dinner. I'm not sure how much it was exactly so I'll just leave the original measurement of 1 lb chicken.

 

Taco Chicken Alfredo

adapted from Keeley McGuire

• 8 oz pasta of choice (1/2 of a 16 oz box)
• 1 lb cooked chicken, cubed
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 a medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 jar of Heinz Classico Light Creamy Alfredo Pasta Sauce
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese + more for topping
• 1/8 cup milk
• 2 or 3 tsp homemade taco mix

Cook pasta according to package directions. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, cook the onion in butter, seasoning with salt and pepper. Cook until tender. Add in cooked chicken and alfredo sauce; bring to a boil. Stir in the parmesan cheese, milk and taco mix. 

Drain the pasta and then toss with the chicken mixture. Pour in a greased square baking dish. Cover and bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle with additional parmesan cheese when serving.

Printable Recipe

Try it with the salsa if you can. Next time I may try it with canned or fresh tomatoes, or jalapenos for more spice.


Disclosure: As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received a free sample jar of Classico Light Creamy Alfredo Pasta Sauce. All opinions and thoughts are my own and I was not compensated in any way for my opinions.

Peace, and bacon grease!

The Crazy Cooking Challenge - and Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese

I'm very happy to be participating in a fun monthly linky party hosted by Tina from Mom's Crazy Cooking, called Crazy Cooking Challenge, where each month there is a different food item featured and we each make a recipe using that featured food item and blog about it on the same day. But it's gotta come from a fellow blogger, which is totally fine by me because I have tons of mac and cheese recipes bookmarked from blogs that I stalk visit. Kinda like the Secret Recipe Club that I'm in, except that it's not a secret, and it's a personal challenge instead of being tied to someone else's blog. Either way, I'm game!

The first month, we are all making macaroni and cheese recipes. I couldn't pass that up, as I'm definitely a mac and cheese kinda gurl. Like, I'll try pretty much any kind of mac and cheese. And I'll expect it to be good, because it's mac and cheese for crying out loud! :) I chose a wonderful mac and cheese recipe from Christy's blog, The Girl Who Ate Everything. Have you guys checked out her blog? If you have, I'm sure you've fallen in love with all of her creations like I have. I love her food, I love her photography, I just love her site! So it was no surprise when I found this delectable mac and cheese dish on her site.

Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese

slightly adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

• 3.5 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
• 1/2 lb (8 oz) elbow macaroni
• 1/2 of a small Vidalia onion, finely chopped
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3/8 cup hot sauce, divided
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp ground mustard
• 1 and 1/4 cup half and half
• 1/2 lb sharp cheddar, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4 oz pepper jack cheese, shredded
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 inch dish with cooking spray.


In a large pot, cook pasta according to directions on package. Drain. Return pasta to the large pot.


Melt 1.5 tbsp butter in a skillet on medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the cooked chicken and garlic and cook for 2 minuets. Add 1/4 cup hot sauce and simmer until thickened for about a minute.


Melt 1 tbsp butter in a medium pot on medium heat. Add flour and mustard, stir. Add half and half, and remaining 1/8 cup hot sauce and stir for 2 minutes. Add cheddar and pepper jack cheese, then sour cream and whisk.


In the large pasta pot, add the the chicken mixture and cheese sauce in with the pasta and toss to combine well. Pour into the 9x13 greased baking dish.


Melt remaining 1 tbsp butter in a bowl and microwave until melted. Add panko bread crumbs, blue cheese, and parsley and stir. Pour over the mac and cheese and bake for 30-40 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes.

Printable Recipe

The only change we made was to half the original recipe, as well as up the chicken amount by a bit. We halved it, and we still got a casserole dish-worth out of it! So it was plenty for the both of us. We loved this macaroni and cheese so much. I love the addition of the blue cheese and panko topping - I always enjoy blue cheese to my buffalo anything, and the panko added a nice texture. I was surprised how much I loved the crunch from the celery, because usually I'm not too keen on celery. But it worked great in this dish. I've tried a different buffalo macaroni and cheese recipe also which I still need to blog about, and this one is my favorite so far. Definitely a keeper!

Won't you come join me at the Crazy Cooking Challenge? October is Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes!  

I'm linking up to a new linky that I was just told about - Simply Delish Saturday. Thanks for inviting me over, KB and Whitesnake! I'm also adding this to Miranda's Mac and Cheese Quest.

Oh, and don't forget to visit these other awesome blogs and click "Like" to vote for the Ultimate Macaroni and Cheese Recipe! I'd appreciate a vote.... I'm #16 on the blog hop below :)

Peace, and bacon grease!

 

Chicken and Mushroom Fettuccine Alfredo

I'll take any excuse to use some delicious but fatty alfredo sauce.

And this recipe was a great reason.

We just kinda came up with this recipe because we had chicken, leftover alfredo sauce, and we love mushrooms. No other explanation needed, eh?

I like to buy the Miller Brand Amish Chicken from our local grocery store. They have way less fatty extra skin on them and I don't have to cut off much fat. Plus they  just make me feel better about myself that I'm getting healthier chicken.

Chicken and Mushroom Fettuccine Alfredo

from the kitchen of SteakNPotatoesKindaGurl

• 1 lb fettuccine
• 4 oz mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tbsp butter, divided
• 2 or 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, rinsed and diced
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• garlic powder
• 1 garlic clove, minced 
• leftover Alfredo Sauce
• 3 tbsp green onions, chopped

In a large pot, cook pasta according to directions on package.

Saute mushrooms in 1 tbsp butter. Season with salt while mushrooms are cooking, stir.

Season chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. In a skillet, melt the other 1 tbsp butter and minced garlic and saute the chicken until done.

Reheat the alfredo sauce in a small pot.

Serve by topping the pasta with alfredo sauce, chicken, mushroom, and green onions. Or you can mix the alfredo sauce in with the pasta, or mix it all together.

Printable Recipe

I could eat this very often. But I probably shouldn't... that danged high-calorie alfredo sauce! But please indulge once in awhile and make this delicious meal. The extra calories are well worth it.

Peace, and bacon grease!

Three Cheese and Chicken Stuffed Shells

I feel like I haven't been posting many recipes lately. Not as many as I want to, I guess. Hey, it's a busy life. I have been trying to work out more after work, and also have had many errands and things that need to be done lately, so I haven't had much time for blogging about recipes. It takes time to upload the pictures and edit them and write the posts! But I hope to get on it!

This here is a recipe that I found over at Deborah's Taste and Tell blog. Her blog is so nicely laid out, with a recipe archive for easy access to all of her recipes. Her pictures are beautiful, which I always look for! And she has an abundance of recipes to offer! This is just one of her many recipes which I have either tried or plan to try in the future.

I boiled a pot of water and cooked the large pasta shells according to the package instructions. While that was cooking, I combined the diced chicken, all of the ricotta cheese, only 2 ounces of the mozzarella cheese, all of the Monterey cheese, sour cream, bread crumbs, parsley, and salt and pepper - all in a large bowl. I mixed them all together well. I took this picture before I added the diced chicken... oops! But add that in too and mix it!

Then I sprayed my beloved casserole dish with some non-stick cooking spray and then  spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce covering the bottom of the dish.  I stuffed that wonderful filling inside all of the cooked pasta shells and then placed the shells inside of the dish. You will need to stack them on top of each other because obviously just one layer isn't going to be enough! 

Then pour some of that spaghetti sauce over top of all of the stuffed pasta shells. And don't forget to top with the remaining mozzarella!

Then bake that bad boy at 350° F for 40 minutes. Try it, you won't be sorry.

Three Cheese and Chicken Stuffed Shells adapted from Taste and Tell

Printable recipe

*Serves 4

• 6 ounces large shell pasta
• 1 chicken breast half, cooked and diced (we used chicken thighs with the skin-on because that's what we had)
• 8 ounces ricotta cheese
• 3 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 3 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 tablespoon sour cream
• 3 tablespoons dried bread crumbs (I used Progresso's Italian style)
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup spaghetti sauce

Preheat oven to 350° F. 

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt water, then add pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside

In a large bowl, combine chicken, ricotta cheese, 2 ounces of mozzarella cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, sour cream, bread crumbs, parsley and salt and pepper. Mix well.

Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray and cover the bottom of the dish with a thin layer of spaghetti sauce. Fill each large shell with the chicken/cheese mixture and place in the dish. Cover with the remaining sauce and then sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese on top.

Bake at 350° F uncovered for 40 minutes. Serve warm.


I am linking this recipe to Foodie Friday.