Bacon Ranch Chicken Alfredo

The ultimate comfort pasta dish is made into a quick and easy weeknight meal, bursting with gooey cheese and bacon!

Yum

This creamy Bacon Ranch Chicken Alfredo is a dish for all those weeknight days when nothing but a creamy pasta will do. It’s totally indulgent, and loaded with all the goodness you can get from food– gooey cheese, Alfredo sauce (cream=yum!),  chicken and BACON. With very little prep, this can be on the table in less than 30 minutes!

BACON RANCH CHICKEN ALFREDO

This is a great dish to make when you have some leftover cooked chicken and you want some comfort food to fill your tummy on a cold autumn evening.  With the help of a pre-made sauce and your leftover chicken this comes together in a flash.  All you need to do is cook the pasta and throw this in a pan and bake until hot, bubbly and gooey!

The flavors of ranch and BACON give this chicken Alfredo pasta bake some extra zip.  This is a dish you can really sink you teeth into and one the whole family will love!  It's the perfect weeknight meal.

Enjoy!

Bacon Ranch Chicken Alfredo



Serves: 4


4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat penne noodles (cook according to directions)
2 cups Alfredo sauce
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 Tablespoons ranch dressing mix
5 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 9 x 9 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. 

Add the shredded chicken and penne pasta to the baking dish. Mix together to evenly distribute the pasta and chicken.  In a medium bowl combine the Alfredo sauce, yogurt and ranch dressing mix.  Stir until combined.  Pour over the chicken and past and spread so that everything is covered.  Sprinkle with cheese and bacon.  

Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted.  Switch oven to broil and broil for about 1 minute or until the cheese starts to brown.  Remove from the oven and serve warm.   

Orange Spice Muffins

Warm and toasty spices mixed with vibrant orange bring in the flavors of fall to your morning meal!

I have to admit, although I sort of resisting it, the weather is changing and fall is coming.  Summer is my true season and I dare say I didn't get enough of the long warm days and the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables.  But Mother Nature is telling me to look toward the cool crisp air, leaves, and warm cozy nights.

So while I may still bring you a few fresh "summer-ish" recipes over the next few weeks today I'm all about fall baking!

ORANGE SPICE MUFFINS

One bite and your suddenly in a mountain cabin, with a nice low fire going to take the chill off, leaves falling outside, and the smell of warm spices filling the air.  Boy, this muffin is all that and more! 

I took the warm notes of pumpkin pie spice and the vibrancy of orange juice and added it to my Basic Muffin Recipe which makes a small batch of 6 that you can easily whip up on a crisp fall morning.  The spices bring you that warm cozy feeling and the orange mixed in brings a light citrus pop to the muffin.  To add a little more of an earthy flavor I used coconut palm sugar but you can certainly use plain white sugar.  Add a little chopped pecans to the top and the end result is a fabulously comforting fall flavored muffin!  

Be sure to make some soon and....

Enjoy!




Orange Spice Muffins

yield:  6 muffins

1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 canola oil
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl add the egg, milk, orange juice, and canola oil and whisk until light.  Add in all the dry ingredients with the exception of the nuts.  Mix batter just until incorporated.  Do not over mix.  Batter should be thick.

Using a large ice cream scoop, divide batter among the wells of a muffin pan sprayed with cooking spray.  Top with chopped pecans.

Bake for 15-18 minutes until tops are brown.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Serve warm.

Basic Scone Recipe

Yum

I have to say that baking runs in my blood.  While I cook just about everything baking is a secret passion of mine.  (As if you couldn't tell by the dozens of muffin recipes I have!) I come from a long line of "home bakers" as it was just a matter of course in feeding their family.  Making homemade breads, pies, cakes, biscuits, and quick breads were all just part of the makeup of what they ate.  

I remember my grandma making pies and cakes in her little kitchen and the anticipation of eating her "Red Cake" as we called it.  Grandma was one of those "a little of this, a little of that" cooks.  My mom, was the "Pie Queen".  She would whip up all kinds of pies in nothing flat.  My dad's favorite was her blueberry pie, but mine was her chocolate meringue pie.  It was so chocolaty it was like having a piece of heaven!  On most weekends we include something baked for breakfast such as muffins or biscuits.  And as Dad said "there's nothing better than Mom's biscuits and gravy."  In later years we started branching out into other baked goods, namely, scones. 

BASIC SCONE RECIPE

We had never really eaten a scone when I was young.  They were just a more crumbly form of an English biscuit to us.  When I first tasted them I didn't think much of them.  They were very slightly sweet and very crumbly.  Certainly not as good as our Southern biscuits!  I think I didn't get a very good one because they started popping up all over in bakeries and Starbucks, gaining in popularity so we decided to add this to our baking repertoire.  Once we made them and tasted a really good scone, oh boy, did my viewpoint change!  Scones are really really good!

What is a scone?  Originating in Britain, this is a baked good that used flour along with baking powder as the leavening agent.  Scones can be made savory or sweet containing dried fruit such as currants.  Some scones are made with cream instead of butter and milk which produces ultra-tender and cake-like scones that are softer than the butter version. We are going to make the butter version in this recipe which is worth learning as it uses ingredients that you will most likely always have on hand.  They produce a sturdier scone with crisper edges, and are super delicious.

So while I have a few scone recipes already on my blog such as these fabulous Lemon Scones made with yogurt, or these luscious Strawberry Shortcake Scones. I noticed that I haven't posted a Basic Scone Recipe.  So here we are!  This is your basic "start here" recipe.  This is the perfect vehicle for your favorite ad-ins from cranberries to cheddar and chives.  

It's so worth it to bake your own scones!  A cold scone is something that's tolerable and better than no scone at all.  But having a hot scone, split open and spread with butter or jelly so it's ooooozing out the sides and dripping on your fingers as you eat it.  Boy! THAT’S the way to enjoy a scone.

Enjoy!

Basic Scone Recipe

Yield: 12 scones

3 cups all purpose flour

3 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

4 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup butter (cold)

1 egg

1 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl and combine.

Using a pastry cutter cut cold butter into flour mixture until there are pea-sized pieces of butter throughout.  Add the milk and egg and mix just until combined. 

Remove the dough to a generously floured work surface and knead just til it comes together. Pat the dough out to 3/4 - 1 inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter.  

Place the scones on a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown on top.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for several minutes.  Serve warm.