Recipes I've Recently Tried

I got behind and haven't posted many recipes I've tried, so I will post a few and try to catch up over the next few weeks.
First, my oldest daughter had seen this, where else, on Pinterest and sent me the link so we could try it. It turned out to be easy and delicious!
One Pot Cheesy Chicken Pasta
I followed the "tip" in the recipe and cubed the chicken...

One Pot Cheesy Chicken Pasta

Ingredients

• 2 cups shredded or diced chicken
• 2 Tbsp minced green onion
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 can Manwich Bold + 1 can water
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 pound of small dry pasta (I used penne)
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. 1. Heat a small amount of oil in a large pot. Add onion and garlic and saute for one minute, then add cooked chicken* and saute for a couple of minutes.
2. (*Tip: I happened to have cooked, shredded chicken on hand so I used that, but I think I would start with raw chicken next time and cook the diced chicken and in the pot).
3. 2. Add chicken broth, Manwich Bold Sloppy Joe Sauce, water and pasta to the pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer for about 25-25 minutes.
4. 3. Remove from heat and stir in shredded cheddar until well incorporated, reserving a handful to sprinkle on the top. Cover for a few minutes to allow the cheese to melt, and stir.
5. 4. Serve.

One other recipe for today: 

Soft Almond Sugar Cookies

Once my oldest daughter came home, both girls requested we make cookies for the holidays. We usually do, and we usually use our traditional list. However, this time, we strayed from our list. I had never made these cookies before, but my family declared they must be used again the future because they were some of the best ever. :) Yay! :) I found the tip at the end about the baking time also true-they seemed underdone, but I followed her advice and it worked out great!

Soft Almond Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 C white sugar 2/3 C butter (cold) 2/3 C shortening (room temp) 2 eggs 2 tsp almond extract 2 3/4 C cake flour 1 C all purpose flour 1 Tbsp cornstarch 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt sugar in the raw (I like raw sugar for this, but any coarse sugar would work) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare baking sheet. Cream sugar, butter and shortening.  Stir in eggs and almond extract.  Combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt and add to butter/egg mixture.  Use electric mixer to ensure dough is thoroughly combined. Chill dough in fridge for 30 minutes. Roll 2 tsp of dough (I used a small cookie scoop) into a ball and roll in raw sugar.  Place on prepared pan. Bake cookies for 7 minutes.  Remove from oven and gently press rounded tops of cookies flat with the back of a spoon while the cookies are still warm and pliable.  The cornstarch will keep the dough from spreading, so this step just makes them look better! Return remaining dough to fridge in between baking each batch. Allow to cool on pan for 1 minute. Remove to cooling rack.  Allow to cool completely. A tip: ~DO NOT bake longer than 8 minutes!!  They may seem under-baked, but when they cool they will firm up.