I found this pretty cheesy recipe from Pinterest and gave it a try last night. I've got no real cute anecdote to go with it so onward:

Two Timin' Pasta

Recipe can be found at the original source here or transcribed below.

Ingredients

• 1 Box Penne Pasta
• 1 15-oz jar Alfredo Sauce
• 1 24-oz jar Marinara Sauce
• 2 cups Shredded Mozzarella
• 1 cup Parmesan

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350.

Cook pasta according to directions and drain.

Mix the Alfredo and Marinara sauces together in a large bowl (ok - I did the lazy way and just mixed them in the 9x13 casserole.  Didn't think it was worth dirtying another bowl).  Add the mozzarella and stir to combine.

Add in the penne and toss to coat.

Pour into 9x13 baking dish (unless you're already there like I was) and cook for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.  Remove from oven, sprinkle with shredded parmesan, and bake for another 5.

Notes

Look at all that cheesy goodness.

So I picked this recipe because the pin on Pinterest said "just like Olive Garden 4 cheese Ziti al Forna!!!!!".  I was skeptical, particularly when I opened the link and saw that it's just mozzarella and parmesan cheeses rather than the 4 used by Olive Garden. And the original post itself doesn't mention Ziti al Forna at all so not sure where that comment came from.

Skepticism aside, I figured either way, why not - particularly when I saw I had ShopRite 3 cheese tomoto sauce and Classico 4 cheese alfredo on hand to boost up the cheesy factor.

Well definitely not like the 4 Cheese Ziti al Forna - but definitely good nonetheless.

The recipe gave Boyfriend and I enough for dinner, seconds at dinnertime for both of us, and leftovers for both to bring to work for lunch.  For those who're better at portion control than either of us are, this could go a long way.

Only criticism I have is with the parmesan on top.  A full cup was too much for my taste.  Next time I would probably just take it out and sprinkle whatever cheese we each want on top after it's been scooped to bowls.

I think I'll definitely be adding this as an alternative for when we're bored of either marinara or alfredo, both together is different and pretty tasty.

Chicken Tortilla Bake

When wondering around Pinterest and the like, I try really hard to only save things I can in some way replicate.  What good is the picture of someone's dinner if there's no instructions on how to make it myself?

This recipe came from one that fell through the cracks.  The description explains that it's a 5 item recipe using only chicken, tortilla, rotel, cream of chicken soup and cheese.  The link gives me a recipe that doesn't really match the description. Same concept of dinner but loads more ingredients and such.  So here's my attempt just using the 5 items listed and trying to make the best of it.

Chicken Tortilla Bake

Ingredients

4 Tortillas - I used Mission Carb Balance Soft Taco flour tortillas, 8 ct to a package so I used half.

1 Can Rotel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chiles

1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup

2 Cups "Fiesta Blend" cheese - This is a mix of Monterey Jack, Cheddar, Queso Quesadilla, and Asadero cheeses but I'm sure any cheese will work.

1 lb of Chicken

Bonus Ingredient: Few tablespoons of Sour Cream

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350.

Cut the Chicken and Tortillas into bite sized pieces. Layer in a 9 x 13 casserole dish.

Pour the Rotel Tomatoes and Chiles and the Soup into the dish.

Sprinkle cheese on top.

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Serve with Sour Cream on top (if desired).

Pre-Oven, it didn't last long enough once cooked to have a photo shoot.

Notes

The amount of cheese is approximate.  I had about 1/2 of an open cheese blend in the refrigerator and used the rest of that.  It probably could've used just a bit more.

That's really my only comment, I'm really please with how it came out.

Boyfriend specifically requested this and was pleased with the results so hazzah!

Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole

A couple of weeks ago, I shared with you this post about Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta.  While I thought it was a win, Boyfriend enjoyed it but was under the impression it was more of a casserole than just pasta and sauce.  As a result, I took to twitter and found this recipe to try.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole

The link Pinterest connected to can be found here.

Ingredients

1 lb. bacon, fried and crumbled (The blog I found it from used bacon bits)

2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken 

2 tablespoons of ranch seasoning

1 lb. bow tie pasta

2 jars of Alfredo sauce

1/3 cup of evaporated milk or regular milk

4 cups shredded Italian cheese blend

Directions

Cut chicken into cubes. Mix in ranch mix, evaporated milk and half a jar of alfredo sauce. 

Cook pasta al dente. Drain and return to pan. 

Pour half of a jar of Alfredo sauce into bottom of 9x13 baking dish. Spread evenly. 

Begin layering casserole starting with half of noodles, then half the chicken mix, half of the second jar of Alfredo sauce, half the bacon, and half the cheese. 

Repeat layers with remaining ingredients.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. 

Notes

This was a fairly last minute idea.  I had most of the ingredients on hand but not quite the same amounts as what was called for.  I used a bit less than 1.5 lbs of chicken, 6 slices of bacon, 1 jar of Alfredo (I actually had 2 I could've used but didn't, mainly because it looked like 1 jar was plenty and when it was all said and done - 1 jar tasted like plenty), and 2 cups of cheese (I had 1 cup of cheddar from my previous Chicken Bacon Ranch adventure and used 1 cup of mozzarella).

Even with the lesser amount of ingredients, 30 minutes wasn't a long enough bake time.  The chicken was not cooked all the way through when I took it out.

All things considered, it tasted pretty good.  Boyfriend liked this better than the first chicken bacon ranch pasta.  I think I disagree. I'm not sure if it was the Classico Alfredo I used or what but something in the creamy sauce wasn't working for me personally. It's not that I didn't like it, I just didn't like it as much.

It worked out to feeding both of us Sunday night - two larger portions for him, 2 smaller for me.  Also gave a lunch portion for me and a slightly larger lunch portion for him.

I think next time, I'm going to try to take the previous pasta recipe and add more cheese and bake it like a casserole to kinda give the best of both.  We'll see how that works out.

Here, have a picture:

I forgot to take a picture Sunday night but it was as tasty as leftovers Monday.