Creamy Tuscan Chicken... thanks Dolmio

This week has been very boring on the cooking front. The real estate still has not had my oven fixed so no baking. Which means I have been trying to use up all the mince and vegie's I bought for a meatloaf. So that means a lot of spaghetti bolognese. I have also had two nights of no cooking, so for blogging, it would have been far too boring. 

Bolognese is a very easy meals to make and maybe one day I will make note of the basic recipe. It is also a favourite of all three sons and one meal I know they will eat and will not notice all the vegies I have grated up very finely.

So now onto tonight dinner... a cheat meal that is easy to make, even with screaming kids in the background and a gorgeous pirate on TV... yep that's right, Captain Jack Sparrow... I was able to watch the movie, while cook and not burn anything.

I also want to make this clear, As a mum I am always trying new products, products to help make my life easier and that are great for my kids. I am not being paid by any company, I am not given anything by any company and as far as I know, they dont know I exist. Anytime I write about a product, it is because I choose to and because I either think its a fantastic product, or a 'stay away' product. Now on saying that... here we go for tonights meal... yiiipppppeeeeee :)

CREAMY TUSCAN CHICKEN

Out of all of their range, I would have to say, this is by far the best, yummiest and one I could eat all the time. Tonight I used San Remo Fresh Pasta Fettuccine, which is also GM Free.

As one of my sons has a dairy allergy I used passata instead of cream and he enjoys that, however he does look at our meal and notices that he has something different, so then wants ours. Trying to explain to a 1 year old that if he has our food with dairy in it, will lead to a sore tummy and very very yucky poos, is a hard thing as he does not understand..

So lets get down to the meal.

Ingredients:
500g Chicken Breast
1 Red Capsicum (cubed)
1 Zucchini (Sliced)
2/3 cup Cream
200g pasta (I normally use alot more pasta as we are pasta lovers)

1. Cook pasta according to packet instructions

2. Heat oil in pan and cook diced chicken until brown

3. Add sliced capsicum, sliced zucchini, Italian Meal Base and thickened Cream, stir and cook for 3 minutes

4. Add Cooked pasta to pan and stir through

ENJOY :)

As mentioned, this is such an easy meal, costs less than $15, and its delicious.

This is all that is left from my eldest sons dinner. He does not like Zucchini. This is why, when I make Bolognese, or anything else with mince, I grate up Zucchini as finely as possible and he will eat it.

First post of many

Well here I am.... in front of my laptop with the timer of my oven going in the back ground. As well as the noise of my two older sons hitting each other with pool noodles, while somehow managing to not hurt each other or break anything and most of all...... not waking their 1 year old brother up.

A little bit about me... I am a stay at home mum of three sons, and before my youngest was born I was a swimming teacher of 3-5 year old. I grew up in foster care, which I believe, is the reason I am so family orientated. I do spoil my sons, but not with possessions, with love, hugs, and memories. I sacrifice alot for my sons and their happiness, but what I refuse to sacrifice is my cooking, or my coffee and tea :)

My gorgeous cup with a hot cup of tea. The cup is from a Maxwell & Williams 2012 collection to raise money for the Breast Cancer foundation. I had bought this cup at the beginning of last year for a dear friend who had cancer, unfortunately before I could give her the cup she passed away. So I cherish every hot cup of tea or coffee. Now I try and buy each collection and end up giving them to friends, as too many of us know others that have been affected by Breast Cancer, as well as other cancers. 

I cook most meals for my sons, apart from the once a week dinner at their Grandparents. I prefer to bake than buy cakes and biscuits, and I love that my sons want to help. I also have the challenge that my little one has a dairy allergy, which means, that even when I bake cakes, I cant use butter or milk. So I replace each with Rice Milk and Nutleg Marg.

I try make things from scratch, but sometime its far too chaotic, or I am far too tired and cheat. Yes that is right I cheat, but by cheating I mean, I buy a recipe base sauce, that all I have to do is add meat and vegies and its a meal.... quick, easy and I can get distracted and not have to worry about measurements.... easy.

These are three of the recipe bases, and I normally but them when they are on special.... $5 for 3. The Creamy Tuscan Chicken is my favourite, however with a child with a dairy allergy I dont cook it too often and when I do, I replace the chream with passata for my little on. Also the Beef Stroganoff and the Honey mustard ones are delicious, however they also involve cream. They have also just release Oven Easy Bake ones as well.

My cupboards are chaotic, my pantry of unorganised and the cupboard where my pots, pans, and machines are is over flowing with chaos... dont believe me.... have a look:

Yep, my Pantry, no order and when I try and look for something, I can never find it, or everything falls out.. I think my aim for this coming week will be to tidy up this mess...aaahhhhh

And my unorganised cupboard.... and yes everything fall out. I have too many machines, and my dream machine would get rid of all of them... a Thermomix....aaaahhhhhh. However it is far too expensive for me, so I must make do with what I have.

So by now, you maybe asking... why has she started this blog? Well the truth is, my oven died last night, and it most likely wont get fixed for about a week. It is Sunday, I have $5 to last till Thursday, and everything I was supposed to cook/bake today, involved the use of the oven.

So I have gone on the hunt for recipes where I can use my slow cooker or bread maker, and for sweat things, such as cakes, I did not come up with hardly anything and all the ones I have found required a cake tin. Which would be fantastic, however my slow cooker is too small to fit any of my tins. And as I have recipes scattered everywhere, with this, if I blog everyday about what I have been cooking, Its a great way for me to store these recipes, as well as share with others.

So enjoy... my first recipe will be a no bake Jelly Slice... hence the 'oven timer' comment earlier.

If anyone has any recipes they would love to share with me, let me know. I love trying new recipes, especially those for my slow cooker.