new recipes

I have been spending lots of time looking for new recipes lately. I have found a few flops, like really, really bad dishes... and I found a few keepers, everyone (including picky kids) ate them. My mom recently asked me for some recipes, so I figured I would post them here in case anyone else was looking for something good too. I don't have the original websites any of these are from, and I have made alterations to each of them anyway.

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Our favorite is this one, we call it asparagus lemon chicken. Guess whats in it? Asparagus, lemon, and chicken. :) Baked in the oven.
Ingredients:
2-ish pounds of fancy potatoes (I use the small white, yellow and purple potatoes in a bag) cut in half or quartered
2 chicken breasts, cut into pieces
coarse salt and pepper
2 bunches of asparagus (chopped into 2 inch pieces)
4 Tablespoons butter
1 large lemon sliced into 8 slices
6 sprigs of thyme

1. Oven at 475
2. Cut up butter into tiny pieces, put 1/2 in a glass baking dish with all potatoes (cut), sprinkle with salt and pepper (as much as you like) for 20 minutes in oven. Stir at 10 minutes.
3. Add chicken (cut) to potatoes in oven for another 20 minutes.
4. Add asparagus, remaining 1/2 of butter, lemon (sliced), and thyme. Stir and bake another 10-15 minutes.

This turns out REALLY good every time. I have experimented with the amount of butter, asparagus, lemon and thyme, and I think this is the best combination for us.

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The next recipe is called asparagus pasta. Again, clever title. Cooked on the stove top.
Ingredients:
1 box penne pasta (we use whole grain)
1 or 2 bunches of asparagus (chopped into 2 inch pieces)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 or 2 red bell peppers (chopped into small pieces)
2 garlic cloves - minced
1-ish teaspoon of salt
1/2-ish teaspoon of pepper
3/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
2 Tablespoon butter
1 cup pecans
1 cup chicken broth (could use vegetable broth if you're going for vegetarian)

1. cook, drain pasta according to directions on box.
2. Saute asparagus in oil for 4 minutes.
3. Stir in bell pepper and garlic for 2 minutes.
4. Add chicken broth, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer for 2 minutes.
5. Toss veggies with pasta, add pecans, cheese, salt and pepper, stir it up and eat.

This recipe is close to the original, but again tweaked for our families tastes. This one looks the prettiest while making it. the green and red of the vegetables look so good together. Yum!

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Spinach Pasta
Ingredients:
1 box penne pasta (we use whole grain)
1 cup chicken broth
2 chicken breasts (cut)
2 garlic cloves
1/2 box of cream cheese
3/4 of box of spinach (you know the washed and ready to eat in a clear box kind?) chopped
10-15 cherry tomatoes cut in half
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese - grated

1. cook drain pasta according to directions.
2. 1/2 chicken broth to boil then add chicken for 10 minutes.
3. add garlic and cream cheese (in cubes) until it melts. Stirring the whole time.
4. Add second half of broth, spinach, and tomatoes for 10 minutes.
5. Pour over pasta, toss with cheese, eat. YUM.

This one is very rich and heavy. This isn't a meal you want to eat if you're going to want dessert. This is a stand alone, eat and snuggle up with the family for an evening movie, kind of a meal.

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One pot chicken lo mein.
This one I DO have the original website still, follow this link to read it. The only thing I would change in this recipe is the amount of vegetables. I would double them. It was a lot of noodles, and not very much other.  But it was SO nice to do it all in one pot all at the same time. Easy.

Hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we have!