Feliz Año Nuevo!!!!

Ok three things... Thing 1 is spinach and artichoke dip that was really damn good... Thing 2 is some awesome pasta I just made and ate.... Thing 3 is that both I can't take any credit for the goodness of the recipe {but I can take credit for making it and it turning out totally awesome as per what the recipe and their bloggers said would occur}

For New Years Eve I made up this spinach and artichoke dip from Annie's Eats.... I'm really sure it would have been totally devoured if there had been less food around and we weren't all so busy drinking... The plus to it not being totally devoured means leftovers for me! and well Scott too...

Tonight we decided to do a beer can chicken and I remembered this lovely pasta from The Pioneer Woman that we could do as a side to go with the chicken! And that was one smart decision made by me! Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelish!!!!

In short, Happy New Year and Happy Cooking everyone!

My wife is crazy

My wife is crazy is pretty much what Scott thought when I first suggested this idea of Chicken Enchilada Pasta that I had found on Pinterest which led me to Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour who made up this delicious crazy sounding idea.  Now because of my Lima limitations, I had to come up with my own modified version. I had to take some items out and replace them with what was available... This seriously was going to go one of two ways, "This is really good Anne, I really like it" or "What the fuck Annie? This is the worst thing I've ever had.". I had high hopes since the original blog was titled "Five Stars and Then Some!" and that husband had raved about it. So let's get started!

 YOU WILL NEED

2 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded

 a smidge of olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 medium onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

2 green chilis, minced or diced {your choice}

Green Tabasco sauce to taste

1 packet enchilada sauce {prepared according to package directions}

1 cup sour cream

Penne pasta

OPTIONAL TOPPINGS
Shredded Cheese {cheddar, monteray jack, or a blend}

Avocado

Green Onions

Black Olives

Tomatoes

Sour Cream

I started off by boiling those chicken breasts and chopping up everything that needs to be chopped up. I also made up the enchilada sauce according to the packet directions during this time too. When the chicken was done cooking, I reserved it's water to cook up the penne pasta. 

Let's really get cooking now! Like usual I just do a little splishity splash of the olive oil and get it heating up. Then I tossed in the garlic, onion, red pepper and chili and stirred that up. This part only takes about 3 to 5 minutes.

Mmmmmmm... Looking tasty already! Now I threw in the shredded chicken, enchilada sauce, and started throwing in some dashes of the green tabasco. The first time I made it I used like 3/4 of a small bottle. Might have been slightly on the excessive side because it was spicy but good. This time I used significantly less and it was still amazaballs good.  I let this stuff simmer for about 10 minutes to get a nice good happy marriage of flavors.

Now right before serving I stirred in the sour cream then dished some on up.  The first time my optional topping choices were cheese, green onion, tomato and sour cream. This time I swapped out the tomato for some avocado and both ways were good.

So in the end, it turns out that I am not crazy. Well at least when it came to this dinner idea I wasn't. Other times could be debatable. This dish is a must if you want to do a little something offbeat but amazing!