Tonight I just whipped up something I had some ingredients for, so I ended up making Chicken Pesto with tomatoes and pasta! It was pretty easy and a delicious combo. (My family is very Italian, so I love some Italian food!) 


Chicken Pesto: makes two servings  
5 tbsp pesto (you can buy at grocery store) 
3 cloves garlic
3 tbsp olive oil 
4 small chicken breasts 
2 cups of pasta of choice 
1/2 cup halved grape tomatoes 
Parmesan Cheese


First bring a pot of water to a boil for your pasta. I used Trader Joe's whole wheat organic Fusilli Pasta. 

In a separate pan, put 1 tbsp olive oil and 3 minced cloves of garlic and bring to medium heat. Once garlic is browning, add tomatoes to pan - let this heat on medium until tomato juices start running, then just bring to simmer. When simmering, add 1 tbsp of pesto. 

Meanwhile, cook chicken to your liking (I used a George Foreman grill which is quick and easy!). Once water is boiling, add the pasta with salt and a little bit of olive oil, and let cook until noodles are tender. 

Once all three separate portions are cooked, drain noodles and put back into original pot.  Add tomato mixture, and also cut up chicken into small pieces and add into mixture.  Add remaining pesto and olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.  You can put on low heat to make sure everything is mixed up!

And to top off this meal I ended up making Nestle chocolate chip cookies, my weakness (: 

I made this recipe the other night for my roommates and it turned out amazingly! Such an easy and delicious dinner, with so much taste. The creamy insides of cheese and spinach (yes, there is spinach in there, I bet some of them didn't even know) was perfect with tomato sauce and mozzarella on top! 


Spinach Lasagna Rolls
Source: adapted slightly from Skinny Taste
1 Roll = 224 calories and 6 WW Points Plus (adjust if you add chicken)

9 lasagna noodles, cooked 
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained (*I used fresh spinach, which I just ended up getting a bag of fresh spinach and cutting up) 
1 (15 ounce) container fat free ricotta cheese (*instead, I used cottage cheese) 
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 
1 egg 
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasonings
salt and fresh pepper 
(optional) 1 chicken breast, cooked and diced 
32 oz tomato sauce (I used spaghetti sauce from Cosco, delish)
9 Tablespoons part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded (*instead of shredded I used fresh mozzarella) 

Preheat oven to 350°. Make sure you drain the spinach well (if you use frozen). Combine spinach, ricotta (or cottage cheese), Parmesan cheese, egg, garlic, Italian seasonings, chicken, and salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Pour about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles. Make sure noodles are dry by patting them with a paper towel. Take 1/3 cup of  mixture and spread evenly over a noodle. Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.

 Ladle sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 Tablespoon of mozzarella cheese. Cover baking dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes, or until cheese melts. Makes 9 rolls.

 

To serve, ladle a little sauce on the plate and top with lasagna roll.


These are how they turned out, and they were amazing! 

Hello my name is Sara and I am a college student at East Carolina University, aspiring to become a physician. Despite that dream, I have many other interests, especially in photography and food! I really enjoy making new dishes, cooking with my roommates, and coming up with new recipes on my own. I work for a catering company where I am able to see many amazing entrees and food that I would never be able to enjoy unless I was there. I love to cook and I am beginning this blog in hopes to share my ideas and passion for food! Hope you all enjoy!