Hello friends! I recently tried a new recipe based off of one I saw online, and it was delicious (the picture does not do it justice!). I changed it up a bit, so here's my take on an easy weeknight dinner.
The Lineup:
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
Approx. 2 cups chicken, cooked and diced or shredded
Pasta (the original says 8 ounces, but I used as much as I needed and didn't measure)
2 tbsp. butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp. ranch dressing/dip powdered mix
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup mozzarella
Salt and pepper, to taste
Fresh chopped parsley or chives, optional
The Play-by-Play:
1. Start cooking pasta in liberally salted water for directed amount of time.
2. In a saucepan, melt butter and whisk in garlic, stirring until fragrant.
3. Add cream slowly to garlic butter, whisking until combined.
4. Add ranch mix and Parmesan to cream, whisk together. Add salt and pepper. Cover
over low heat.
5. When pasta is draining, add mozzarella to cream mixture to thicken and mix well.
6. Return pasta to pot, add in bacon, chicken, and sauce. Top with herbs, if desired.
Enjoy!
Quick Play: The original recipe is a casserole, but I decided to make it more like stovetop mac and cheese. To make things easier, I highly suggest using a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store (I used half for this and am using half for another recipe), and I always slice the bacon before it's cooked so it's ready to go as soon as it's done.
The Playmaker: http://damndelicious.net/2016/01/03/chicken-bacon-ranch-casserole/
I wish you all the best,
Erin
Hello friends! As I've mentioned before, I commute to school, so I'm constantly spending time waiting around in train stations, coffee shops, campus buildings, etc., and it can be really tedious and boring if I'm not careful. Here are the things I love to make my commute better:
- Music- I' surprised my earbuds aren't stuck in my ears forever for the amount I use them. I have music on all the time, so I made sure I have a long playlist(s) with music I love and that keeps me energized. I'll list my absolute favorites as well as the albums they belong to (I'm an album kind of girl- I have to have it all).
- Tori Kelly // Unbreakable Smile // "Nobody Love" "Should've Been Us" "City Dove" "Art of Letting You Go" "Something Beautiful
- Tori Kelly // Foreword-EP // "Rocket" "Dear No One"
- Tori Kelly // Handmade Songs by Tori Kelly-EP // "Celestial" "Confetti (Remastered)"
- Avalon Young // Redline-EP // "Atmosphere"
- Avalon Young // Drowning in You-EP // all four are great
- Matt Kearney // Young Love // "Ships in the Night"
- MacKenzie Bourg // Everyone's Got a Story-Single
- MacKenzie Bourg // Heartbeat-Single
- Bea Miller // Not an Apology // "Fire N Gold" "Young Blood" "Force of Nature" "I Dare You"
- Pentatonix // Pentatonix // "Misbehavin'" "Ref" "Cracked" "New Year's Day"
- Pentatonix // PTX Vol. I // "Show You How to Love" "Love You Long Time"
- Pentatonix // PTX Vol. II // "Natural Disaster" "Love Again" "I Need Your Love"
- Pentatonix // PTX Vol. III // "On My Way Home" "See Through"
- Apps- I do everything from the apps on my phone; one has my train tickets, I have two for coffee shops, and I also live for BuzzFeed articles to kill time because they're so diverse and entertaining.
- Aslo wifi. I live for wifi.
- Coffee shops- I joke all the time that my new favorite hobby is sitting in coffee shops, but sitting in the same one can be dull. I love that big cities have coffee shops around every corner, so I like to pick different ones to just sit, read, or people watch. Changing up the environment can be a huge help in varying the commuter routine.
- I've made a challenge for myself- I see which is the best coffee shop by ordering the same things at every one I go to; I get hot chocolate in the colder months and an iced mocha in the warmer months. It's just something else to do.
- Books- Holy guacamole, have I gone through more books in the past two months that I think I have in the past five years. I definitely have a certain style that I gravitate toward, that being light-hearted YA books that I can completely lose myself in, and I specifically love John Green. After I finished his books, I looked up authors similar to him, and I'm just making my way through them. I'll leave my favorites below.
- John Green & David Levithan Will Grayson, Will Grayson
- Robyn Schneider The Beginning of Everything
- A.J. Betts Zac & Mia
- Layers- Spring weather is ridiculously unpredictable, so I dress for all seasons. I typically wear jeans or leggings that I can roll, a light sweater with a scarf for easy options, and I constantly have an umbrella, tough-screen gloves, and ear muffs on me at all times. You just never know, and nothing makes a commute more miserable than not being ready for the weather.
I wish you all the best,
Erin
