Copy Cat Goodness

      Here's a delicious copycat recipe that I found the other day from a fellow blogger, "The Recipe Critic",  via Pintrest. The hubs and I both agreed it was pretty sensational and it will be making a regular appearance on our weekly menus. I've never had this dish from Chili's, where the original recipe is from, but if it's anything near as good as this copycat it's got to be stellar! I hope you guys enjoy it as much as we did :) I also served it with a side of asparagus since I had some left over in the fridge and it went very nicely with it once it was seasoned with olive oil, salt, and pepper and put in the oven for about 20 minutes at 350! The best part is...it tastes even better heated up the next day. Doesn't that just make any recipe 10x better?

Chili's Cajun Chicken Pasta

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, boneless skinless
4 teaspoons cajun seasoning
4 tablespoons butter or 4 tablespoons margarine
3 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
8 ounces penne pasta, cooked and drained
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, fresh shredded, to taste

1.  Rinse the chicken in water and put in a Tupperware container or large resealable bag. Add the cajun seasoning and shake to coat thoroughly.

2. In a large skillet, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat.  Add the chicken and turn when needed. Make sure to check with a knife to make sure it is no longer pink.

3.  When the chicken is almost done, in a saucepan combine the heavy cream, 2 Tbs butter, lemon pepper, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder.  When the cream mixture begins to bubble, add the pasta and remove from heat stirring well.  

4.  Once chicken is cooked, cut thin strips on cutting board.  

5.  Spoon the pasta onto a plate and top chicken, diced tomatoes and parmesan.  Sprinkle with more cajun seasoning if desired!  Best when served with a side of texas garlic toast.

     In other news, not much has been going on in The Etheridge household. The hubs has been in limbo as he transitions out of UPT and starts his first phase of many trainings. I'm still plugging away at the coffee shop, where I will stay until we head out of Del Rio in the late spring! I will tell you that this whole "not having school" thing is pretty awesome. It's nice not to have to wake up every morning and worry about what assignments I have to get done that day or fret about getting everything out of the way during the week so I can spend time with my sweet husband and friends on the weekend. 

Our days around here pretty much consist of researching things about our next home in Florida (aka the nearest and best dog-parks, cinemas, and vacation spots) and spending some much needed down time together between and after our working hours. We also got our welcome packet, pictured below, from Tyndall! It seems that I'm still having a hard time grasping that it's really happening and that it's our next assignment, but getting this in the mail made it seem slightly more real ;) 

Not a day goes by that these two don't crack us up!

Sleepy kitten

Our welcome packet, which
was accompanied by two sweet pins ;) 

Love,

The Etheridges