Cheesy Chicken Alfredo Pasta - Dairy Free

Lately I have been wanting some delicious Alfredo pasta. I whipped this together after getting some inspiration from Desert Now Dinner Later and Mel's Kitchen Cafe. Combining these two recipes, adding some of my own flavors, and converting it to dairy free resulted in a very satisfying dinner.

This was easy to prep and there was a lot leftover for me to eat later in the week. Yum :). This would probably even make a good freezer meal for those who like to plan ahead. So grab your apron and lets get cooking!

Ingredients Alfredo Sauce (makes about 2 cups):

• 2 Tbls dairy free butter
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 4 oz GoVeggie cream cheese
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup GoVeggie Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 2 Tbls flour

Ingredients Pasta:

• 8 oz box pasta
• 2 1/2 cups broccoli
• 2 cups shredded chicken
• 1 1/2 cups shredded GoVeggie Cheddar cheese
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Directions:

1. Set oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Fill medium sauce pan with water and bring to a boil. Cook pasta as directed on box. Usually around 7-9 minutes.
3. In separate sauce pan or skillet melt butter over medium heat. Add minced garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes stirring constantly.
4. Add in the cream cheese and whisk until smooth and creamy.
5. Slowly pour in almond milk, continuing to stir. 
6. Add flour and Parmesan cheese, stirring until thickened.
7. Stir in pepper, salt, and nutmeg. Remove from heat and set aside.
8. Steam broccoli either in microwave or on the stove top. 
9. Combine Pasta, Alfredo sauce and brocolli. Season with pepper and garlic powder.
10. Pour pasta mixture into 9x13 foil lined pan and top with shredded cheese.
11. Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly and heated in center.

This recipe is more on the drier side so if you like your pasta very creamy double the Alfredo sauce. Me and my boyfriend loved this recipe and I will be making it again soon. It took me about 20 minutes of prep and I paired it with some simple homemade garlic bread. It was a perfect meal for a nice summer evening. Hope you enjoy!

DIY Bar Stool

For the past two years, ever since I moved to Indianapolis, I have been wanting bar stools for my kitchen. I looked all over the internet and at pretty much every store in the area and all I could find were overpriced generic stools. I wanted something fun, unique and sturdy. Eventually I found a plan for these vintage bar stools on Ana White's website. I immediately new those were what I wanted to make. 

Many of my friends and family thought I was crazy in thinking I could make my own bar stools but I was determined. I got out my kreg jig and got to work. Lowe's cut all of the wood for me, since I did not have a saw yet, and all the measurements turned out perfect!

After building the bar stool I painted it with some teal paint. I used the chalk paint recipe: 1/3 cup plaster of Paris, 1/3 cup water, 1 cup paint. I lightly distressed it with some sand paper and sealed it with some wax. Overall, I love how it turned out and it looks great at the counter. The color matches perfectly with the bookcase I have in my living room and now I have a nice place to eat my breakfast every morning when I get home from work! :)

I am still shocked at how well this turned out. If I can do this anyone can! Let me know what you think!

Wreath Embellishment

As I had mentioned in an earlier post my future sister-in law's bridal shower for my side of the family was this weekend. Early this year I had made this Spring Rose Wreath for my door. Amy had really liked it and wanted me to make one for her. The pink in it matched perfectly with her wedding colors and I thought it would be wonderful to use this as decoration for the bridal shower, especially since I knew she already liked it. Most of the bridal shower was a surprise. I did not want her to worry about any of the details so I made sure to keep all of the planning on the DL. 

Lots of people were coming from out of town and had not been to my parents house in a while so I decided the wreath would be perfect as a welcome decoration on the front door. All it needed was some embellishment! That's when I came up with this simple project to update the wreath.

Supplies:

• Round piece of wood (I found this at Hobby Lobby near all the wooden letters)
• White paint
• Pink paint
• Paint brush
• Letter stamps
• Tape
• Hot glue
• Ribbon

Directions:

1. Paint wooden circle with white paint and let dry.
2. Paint each letter stamp and stamp phrase onto wooden circle.
3. Attach ribbon to back of wooden circle with hot glue gun. To finish, tie around or hot glue to top of wreath.

I love how it turned out and it was the perfect decoration for the front door to welcome everyone to the party. This project was quick and simple making it the perfect project for any party! Hope you all enjoyed!

Bridal Shower Recap

This last weekend was my future-sister-in-law's bridal shower. Lots of planning went into this and it went amazingly well. Lots of people showed up, the decorations turned out great, and the food was fantastic. Over the next week or so I am going to be posting some recipes and tutorials on some of the things we did for the shower so make sure to keep an eye out!

Here is a list of some of the food we had at the party:

• Pulled pork slider sandwiches
• Mini ham sandwiches
• Mini turkey sandwiches
• Buffalo chicken cheese dip
• Mom's homemade potato salad
• Veggie tray
• Fruit trays
• Dairy-free homemade ranch dip
• Homemade fruit dip
• Chocolate chip cookie bars
• Pink party punch
• Soda
• Iced tea
• Catered cake from Hall's Catering Services

Of course we had to have some games too! I made some gift baskets for prizes and the winner got to choose which one they wanted. Here are some of the games we played:

• He Said, She Said
• Memory

I will be writing a post telling you more about these games and the awesome prizes. They were so simple and take only a little bit of planning a preparation!

People really enjoyed the games and the food. My sister did the party favors and she got a lot of compliments. It was nice seeing family and while there was a lot of preparation that went into this party it was all worth it!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

One of my favorite go-to recipes when I'm wanting chocolaty-goodness is chocolate chip cookies. Nothing beats an American classic such as the wholesome chocolate chip cookie. The other night, I had one of those cravings and decided to treat myself with my own personal batch. I did not want to spend a lot of time on them since it was one in the morning (stupid night shift schedule causing insomnia) and I am the only one in my apartment who will eat chocolate... I know. Crazy... So my solution was to turn those good old traditional cookies into cookie bars. Here's my version and I hope you like it! If not more for me ;)

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup dairy-free butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate morsels
• 1/2 cup oatmeal

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit
2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in medium mixing bowl.
3. Beat softened butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla in large mixing bowl.
4. Add eggs to butter mixture one at a time. Combining thoroughly.
5. Slowly stir in flour mixture to butter mixture.
6. Add chocolate morsels and oatmeal until well combined.
7. Spread in 10x10 baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

This recipe is simple and easy and definitely hits the spot when I'm craving some gooey chocolate.

Love You Forever Artwork + Free Printable

My cousin had her baby shower this weekend and it was a lot of fun. The food was great and we all cannot wait until her baby has arrived! I was in charge of picking out the gift and while I got several things on her registry I also wanted to do something unique just for her.

As part of her registry she mentioned that the nursery is going to be decorated in an owl theme. I later found out that the reason she chose this is because the first appointment where she heard the baby's heartbeat the office recorded it and put it in a stuffed owl. I thought that was really sweet. I decided to make her some artwork that could go into the new nursery.

One of my favorite books growing up was Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. This book is about a mother and her baby. She sings to him every night and the book shows the progression of the baby growing up. My mom cannot read the book without tearing up. The song the mother sings was the quote I decided to use for the artwork:

"I'll love you forever. I'll like you for always.

As long as I'm living. My baby you'll be."

Since my cousin was doing an owl theme with blue, yellow, and grey I decided to incorporate that into the artwork. Also, at the party we all got these amazing necklaces as party favors. My aunt sells jewelry and this necklace is very versatile. As you can see below, the owl charm can be taken off and replaced with another charm to fit any occasion. Visit her Facebook page Glammy Girls to see more!

Go check out Glammy Girls!

I had so much fun making this artwork and going to the baby shower. My cousin seemed to really like it and her husband said he already knows where he wants to put it in the nursery. I cannot wait to see what their nursery looks like :) Hope you all enjoy and I am putting a link down bellow so you can make your very own Love You Forever artwork!

Love You Forever - PDF

Mini Meat Lover's Quiche

I love breakfast food and for me, quiche, is a perfect way to get breakfast during any part of the day. This was one of the recipes I made for my freezer cooking and it was delicious. I made them into mini quiches so that I could heat one up at a time and not worry about having a lot of leftovers. I had made this quiche before with a pre-made crust but this time I wanted to make everything from scratch. I found a crust recipe in my Joy of Cooking cookbook, made the filling, and froze it for a rainy day.

Ingredients Crust:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup dairy-free butter
• 6 Tbls ice water

Ingredients Filling:

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/4 tsp dried mustard
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 3 smoked sausages, cooked and diced
• 5 pieces bacon, cooked and diced
• 1 Roma tomato, diced
• 1 cup dairy-free mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup dairy-free cheddar cheese
• pinch of salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. To make the crust, combine flour and salt in medium bowl.
2. Add butter and cut into flour mixture with fingers until dough is in pea-sized pieces.
3. Sprinkle dough with ice water and gently blend until dough just holds firm. 
4. Press dough into pie pan or quiche pan (I used mini foil pie pans).
5. Next, make the filling by whisking eggs and almond milk together.
6. Add seasonings and whisk until combined.
7. Add meat, tomatoes and most of the cheese.
8. Pour mixture into pie pan and sprinkle top with remaining cheese.
9. Either place in freezer for later use or cook in oven for about 1 hour at 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

This recipe as always turned out delicious. The cook time is about the same whether you make one big pie or three smaller ones. This is because the three small ones I made were deeper than if I made the one big one. Either cook it right away or freeze for later, both ways turn out amazing. Feel free to experiment with your quiche. Add some ham to make it a true meat lover's delight or switch up the types of cheese. I think I make it a little different every time. Enjoy!