Discovering New At-Home Recipes for Two People
I will be the first to admit that I have eaten McDonald's more in 2020 than I have in my entire lifetime. And I was getting very tired of eating fast food more than food I could make at home, so I turned to Pinterest! I always save delicious dinner ideas to my Pinterest food boards, but I never look back on them to actually reference the recipe. The inspiration struck this week, and this blog post is going to be all about my husband & I discovering new at-home recipes for two people.
Italian Chicken, Green Beans, and Potatoes (graceandgoodeats.com)
PC: graceandgoodeats.com on Pinterest
This dish was such a hit, I had my husband happy dancing! And that never happens to him! I loved making this dish because it took only 10 minutes of prep and 1 hour to cook at 350F. This dish had enough food for 3 servings, which I loved because it gave me leftovers for lunch the next day.
We decided to mix up the seasonings that went across all the ingredients, since we don't really like Italian dressing mix in the packet.
Here is what you will need for this recipe:
chicken breast, or chicken breast tenderloins
small butter potatoes
frozen green beans
seasonings (listed below)
1 stick of butter (8 tbsp)
The seasonings we used included:
light brown sugar
tarragon
cilantro
chipotle red pepper
oregano
basil
parsley
salt & pepper
From the grocery store, we purchased a package of chicken breast tenders instead of chicken breast, a bag of frozen green beans, and a bag of small butter potatoes. I made sure to cut the potatoes into quarters, so they would cook through & be nice and soft when everything was cooked. Also, I liked using the 8 tbsp of butter all over the ingredients, as it gave it a nice sauce to dip the food into during the meal.
Before going into the oven & wrapped with foil
End result after being in the oven for 1 hour with foil wrapped over
Please try this recipe out! And thank you to graceandgoodeats.com for the great recipe!
Smoky BBQ Slow-Cooked Pulled Chicken Sandwiches (seekinggoodeats.com)
PC: seekinggoodeats.com on Pinterest
I am not lying when I tell you that I have made this recipe 3 times within the last month. It is so easy to make and the leftovers are great! Depending on how many chicken breasts you put into the slow cooker, you can have 2-5 servings.
Here is what you will need for this recipe:
chicken breast
liquid smoke
BBQ sauce (we use Stubb's)
seasonings (onion powder, garlic powder, salt & pepper)
Here is how we made this recipe a little more of our own:
we butterfly-cut the chicken to ensure proper cook through
after we put the seasoned chicken breast in the slow cooker (seasoned with even amounts of salt, pepper, garlic & onion powder), we covered the chicken with water until it was just about covered
we cooked the chicken on low for 4.5 hours
after the chicken is cooked, we drain out the remaining water in the slow cooker & put the cooked chicken in a mixing bowl to be pulled via forks
in the slow cooker, we used about half of a Stubb's BBQ sauce & 1 tsp of liquid smoke, to provide that cooked-all-day taste with a smoky flavor
we pour the pulled chicken over the combined BBQ sauce mixture, and let that sit on KEEP WARM for 30 minutes, or until we are ready to eat it
If you end up trying out this recipe by yourself or with your family, make sure to tag @inspiredbydiane or #inspiredbydiane in the picture! And thanks again to seekinggoodeats.com for providing the recipe.
Dump-and-Bake Creamy Tuscan Chicken Pasta (theseasonedmom.com)
We usually make our pasta on the stove top & then combine it with the sauce, so this recipe was a good change of pace for us! It truly is a dump-and-bake kind of dish. This recipe inspired me to make our own version of this, with different seasonings & pasta shapes, and it still turns out great!
Here is what you will need to make this recipe:
1 (16 ounce) package uncooked rotini pasta
1 (22 ounce) jar Alfredo sauce (about 2.5 cups)
3 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 cups diced rotisserie chicken, or other diced cooked chicken
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 (4 ounce) jar diced roasted red peppers, drained (about 0.5 cup)
0.5 cup minced sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
2 cups fresh baby spinach
1 cup shredded mozzarella or Italian blend cheese
Optional: Parmesan cheese and fresh chopped herbs (such as basil, oregano, and parsley for garnish)
After about 35 minutes of cooking at 425F, the dish is almost done! The moment that the pasta is al dente is when you stir in the spinach & sprinkle mozzarella all over the dish. If this dish is being cooked for only 2 people, instead of a crowd of 3-5 people, you can half the recipe ingredients & cook it in a smaller pan.
Make sure to tag @inspiredbydiane or #inspiredbydiane if you end up trying this recipe. And thank you to theseasonedmom.com for providing the recipe on Pinterest.
Did you find any new recipes in this blog post to share with your significant other?
Do you have any recipe recommendations for me? If so, leave them in the comments!
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