Chicken Florentine Casserole and Spinach Artichoke Pasta

New month.  New recipes.  New commitment.

For the month of February I am continuing to stick with the anti-inflammatory diet because well...it worked.  So no-sugars or sweeteners, no preservatives, no MSG, no alcohol, very little dairy, and red meat sparingly.  Tom is eagerly awaiting my full reintroduction of red meat.  But, this month I am introducing enriched flour back into my diet. I just love those little oyster crackers and tortellini.  I love tortellini...and I have yet to find a whole wheat version.  So my experiment continues.  I will keep you up to date concerning my battle against migraines. 

Currently...for the month of February

Laura : 1  Migraines : 0

YES!

So last night my big mouth got me into commiting to yet another lifestyle change.  I was complaining to Tom that I didn't feel like exercising when I got home from work because by the time you work all day, commute home, fix dinner, do the dishes, the last thing you want to do is go sweat.  I want to lay around in my pjs and watch "How I Met Your Mother" on tv.  So he said, "Well, what if you got up with me in the mornings and exercised?  You'd have plenty of time to workout, shower, eat breakfast and get to work if you got up by 6."  Groan.  That was me groaning by the way, not him.  He knows I'm not a morning person but he knows that it's probably the best thing for me.  He's such a good husband.  So I think, okay I can do this.  Plenty of people have the energy to work out in the morning and work full time too. 

So I say okay...I'm commiting the month of February to getting up at 6 to work out before I leave for work.  I did it.  It was hard.  It felt like the longest workout of my life.  My body hates me when I get up early.  It doesn't like to stand up straight, be in any sort of light, let alone move quickly enough to actually burn any calories.  BUT, I didn't think I could go an entire month without chocolate either and I did. 

So here I am making the commitment. 

Let's look on the bright side.  Maybe there's a morning person inside of me just waiting to bust out.  Maybe I will get used to it and even....gasp....look forward to it! 

I was feeling all sorry for myself today at work and then a co-worker who teaches exercise classes was talking to me about her having to get up at 4:30AM...to teach her class.  4:30.  Okay I'm a huge wuss.  I get to sleep in an hour and a half more than she does AND I don't have to lead the exercise either.  AND I'm not a mom.  Wow.  Props to her.

Anyway, let's talk about food.  A topic I always love to think, write about, and of course taste test. 

On Monday I made Chicken Florentine Casserole.  It was pretty delicious.  I really like spiral pasta.  It's cute and it makes me happy. :)

Mmm....my photography is slowly getting better.  Photographing food is hard.  Tricky to capture the texture.  Don't worry. I'll keep making food so I can keep practicing ;)

Here's the recipe adapted from Pinterest:

Chicken Florentine Pasta

Ingredients

·         4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pre-cooked, cut into cubes

·         1 box frozen spinach, thawed & squeezed to remove excess liquid

·         2 Tbsp minced garlic

·         1 Tbsp olive oil

·         2 Tbsp flour (I used whole wheat flour) 

·         1 Tbsp lemon juice

·         1 1/2 cups no-salt added chicken broth

·         1 tsp dried oregano

·         1/2 tsp black pepper

·         1 cup low fat cottage cheese or ricotta ( I used ricotta)

·         2/3 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

·         1/2 pound whole grain pasta (I used brown rice spirals)   

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mist a 9 x 11 baking dish with oil. Cook pasta according to package directions. In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add flour and whisk for 30 seconds. Add chicken broth and stir until thickened. Add lemon juice, oregano & pepper. Bring to simmer. Remove from heat and add blended cottage cheese, spinach, chicken, Parmesan cheese & pasta. Stir to combine. Place in casserole dish. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden & bubbly.

This morning I forgot to thaw out meat (imagine that??  I was probably so tired from working out that my brain didn't work...just kidding)  :)

So tonight's dinner was Spinach Artichoke Pasta

I had HIGH expectations for this meal because I love, love, love spinach artichoke dip.  It was good.  It wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be, but the same thing happened to me with the movie, The Titanic.  Everybody raved about the movie, they said it was the greatest movie of all time.  They said you wouldn't even realize you were sitting there for 3 hours. 

I saw it.  I did not rave about it.  I left to pee while Jack was handcuffed to the pole.  It seemed like it would never end.  I know what you are thinking....is she CRAZY?  That was an awesome movie.  You loved that movie.  It's history for heaven's sake.  I know I know.  But these are the things that happen when your expectations are set too high. 

Hence, tonight's dinner.

It is a very good dinner and I should not put you off in saying it was "good" instead of fantastic. 

You should definitely try it.  Here it is.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. olive oil

4 Tbsp. minced garlic

4 oz. cream cheese

1/2 c. sour cream

1/4 c. white wine or chicken broth

1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. grated parmesan

1 can quartered artichoke hearts (chop finely)

1 pkg chopped spinach (thawed and drained)

1/2 Tbsp. hot sauce

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

Dash salt and pepper

13.5 oz. pasta ( I used whole wheat penne)

Directions:

STEP 1: Cook pasta.

STEP 2: While you are cooking the pasta, start making the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Mince the garlic and cook it in the oil until it is slightly tender (1-2 minutes).

STEP 3: Add cream cheese, sour cream and white wine. Stir until everything is evenly incorporated. Reduce the heat to medium/low.

STEP 4: Add milk and parmesan cheese. Stir it in until the parmesan has melted in and is evenly incorporated. Stir in the hot sauce and thawed/drained spinach.

STEP 5: Drain the can of artichoke hearts. Chop them and add to the sauce. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes if desired.

STEP 6: Add the cooked and drained pasta and stir to coat. Serve warm.