Cheesey Chicken Penne with Shrimp aka Chicken Alfredo From Scratch

Yum. This recipe was a HUGE hit in this house. Every single kid ate it up! 

First, I must warn you busy mamas... this meal isn't the quick slap together in half an hour kind. It takes some planning and some work in advance but it is SO worth it. Seriously. Try it.

I made the garlic confit and the super moist chicken ahead of time, so that helped speed things up during meal prep. I could have made the bruschetta earlier in the day too.

Oh, and grate some mozzarella and fresh parmesan in advance too!

If you do all that prep work before hand, you might be able to throw it all together in half an hour... ok maybe 45 min... at dinner time!

Anyways, enough chit chat, here's the recipe(s)...

Cheesy Chicken Penne with Shrimp

Ingredients:

1 16oz Box Penne Pasta

1 cup Whipping Cream 

4 oz Cream Cheese

1/2 cup Shredded Mozzarella

1/3 cup Shredded Parmesan (+ more for topping)

1/2 tsp Sea Salt

1/4 tsp Black Pepper

4 tsp oil from Garlic Confit

1.5 cups Bruschetta (recipe below)

3 Chicken Breasts, fully cooked

Shrimp; shelled and de-veined (Probably about 1 lb)

1/4 cup butter 

Directions:

*It is helpful to prepare the chicken beforehand, to shorten your meal prep time!

For the Bruschetta:

Dice two vine ripened tomatoes. Add 2-3 mashed cloves of garlic from your garlic confit. Stir in 3 tsp confit oil, 1 tsp dried basil, and salt and pepper to taste. 

In a pinch, you could use fresh minced garlic, and straight olive oil if you don't have time to make confit. But oh man, if you have time, just make confit! :)

In a frying pan over medium heat, melt the butter and then add the shrimp. Add a dash of salt and pepper. Cover and let simmer.

Start your pasta boiling according to package instructions while you make your sauce.

For the Alfredo sauce:

In a medium saucepan, whisk together confit oil and cream cheese, over medium heat. Once the cheese has softened into the oil, whisk in the cream, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat to low. Add the shredded cheeses, and stir until melted in. (If you do not have time to make garlic confit, you can replace it with plain olive oil and some minced garlic.)

If you prepared your chicken ahead of time, add it to the sauce over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until heated through. If your chicken is still hot, you can serve it separately.  

To Serve:

Pile up some pasta on your plate, then add chicken and shrimp, then pour sauce over top, and then sprinkle with fresh grated parmesan.

Enjoy!

Sylv

Girls Princess Wedding Dress Upcycle Redo Recycle From Vintage Dress DIY

Remaking large dresses into little dresses is one of the most rewarding projects ever! Hardly any work for stellar results!

The adult size vintage wedding dress was one that was in my dress up bin when I was young. I used it in my tween years. It was too big for my little girls, and was just sitting there gathering dust in the bottom of the dress up bin. So one night I decided to tackle it and make it work for them right now...

I cut the bodice into a smaller bodice, using a girls shirt as a guide.

I cut chunks of the middle of the sleeves out of the dress, gathered them on one side, and then sewed the gathered side onto the shoulders. Then I serged the ends of the new sleeves and gathered them using elastic.

Lastly, I cut the bottom of the dress off, all the way across (using an existing girls dress as a guide for length), gathered the top of the new skirt, and then sewed it into the bodice waist.  

I may or may not have busted three needles while sewing the skirt on... it was that thick with the gathers! I finally just used a denim needle. Should have put one on right away! :)

The little ladies around here are just thrilled! They wear it constantly- even to bed! 

I have to say I'm pretty thrilled too. I mean whats not to love about a free and quick project!

Thanks for stopping by!