Cheddar Chicken Bacon Ranch

Pinterest is a wonderful thing. I get so many ideas for things on there. Whenever I tell Zach about some cool idea, he always says, "Did you get that from Pinterest?" and I nod. Mostly he does it to tease me a little. But there are a few times when he gives Pinterest the thumbs up - usually after I've found a cool new meal to try and last week I cooked up one of those great recipe finds!!!

Behold: Cheddar Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta!!!

All of Zach's favorite things in one dish.

It was SUPER easy and had GREAT flavor. The only thing I would do differently next time is to double the amount of sauce (liquids). There wasn't quite enough to make it creamy and cheesey. It was slightly dry and even drier when we reheated. I've adjusted the recipe to make sure there's enough sauce.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb pasta, approx. half a box (I used cavatappi noodles just because they look cool)
• 4 slices bacon, (now you can make this with only 4 slices... but I used about 1/2lb of it)
• 1 TBSP butter
• 2 large chicken breasts, cut into pieces and cooked
• 2 TBSP all-purpose flour
• 1 package Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix (I used the "Fiesta Ranch" packet, so if you want to give this dish a Mexican flair, use that!)
• 2 cups milk (I used 2%)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• salt & pepper, added to your taste

Here's what I did:

1. Cook bacon (Feel free to drain the grease; but save the pan and don't clean it out -you're going to need about 1 tsp. of it to cook the chicken). Let it cool. Chop it into pieces. Set aside.

2. Put a pot of water on to cook the noodles. Follow package directions.

3. Melt butter in large skillet with leftover bacon grease.

4. Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Put chicken into hot butter & grease. Cook until tender, no more pink in the center, and slightly browned.

5. Sprinkle the flour and Ranch Dressing mix over the chicken, stirring to coat evenly.

6. Stir in the milk. Cook and stir occasionally until thick and bubbly.

7. Stir in the cheddar cheese and most of the bacon. Stir around until cheese is melted.

8. Add hot, cooked noodles to the cheesy, chicken mixture.

9. Top with any additional bacon and serve hot :)

I served this with garlic bacon green beans and zucchini tots. There will be another post about each of these on another day.

Lots of Bacon-y Love,

Sarah

What's My Middle Name?

Toward the end of the school year, most of the kids in my class had figured out that they all have middle names. Some could tell me what it was, some could even write it down, and some could even spell it right. :) During the last week of school, I told the class that my middle name started with the letter "R."

(Now, my dad gave away my first name when he came into my classroom to visit for the first time. He walked in the door and said, "Hi, Sarah!"

And all the kids turned and stared at me and said, "Your name is SARAH?!" They seemed shocked to learn that I had a name other than "Mrs. Cook." )

After telling them the first letter, there came a barrage of names shouted at me. They kept guessing all day long and I started writing them down -mostly because a bunch of them kept asking the same name and mostly because I didn't want to forget some of their outrageous guesses!

Guess Mrs. Cook's Middle Name:

Renee
Riley
Rye
Rhonda
Rhondo
Ron
Rodney
Robin Hood -hmmmm
Romo
Read Meat - Really?!
Rock
Rose
Rosebush
Rocketship - somebody must have had outer space on the brain
Red Cardinal
Red
Rudolph - apparently my nose is a little red...
Rhona
Rommate
Reccos (because that's soccer spelled backwards)
Reese
Reginald - very handsome, don't you think?
Roger
Razor
Rex
Rosabelle
Robery
Robby
Rocko
Droid - yes, I know this one doesn't start with an R but if you knew the boy, you would understand :)


Any more guesses out there?


Love,

Sarah R.

June

Our puppy is looking more and more like a dog every day. She turned 4 months old on August 1st.

Junie, Juniper, Junebug

There's some things about her that crack me up: she chases butterflies, she eats plays with then eats bugs that she finds in the garage, she eats veggies from the garden (specifically beans and zucchini). She jumps in and out of the pool playing with anything that falls in there (sticks, bugs, toys) and every now and then she chases her tail.

When I go outside to play with her, she gets SO EXCITED that she jumps up and down at the end of her yard leash - except she can't go anywhere because she's tied down so she looks like a caught fish on the end of a fishing line!

She is also getting pretty good at playing fetch. I can throw her rope or toy and she actually brings it back! :) Woo! Progress! She has also dug two holes in the yard.... she got swatted on the behind for those so we're hoping she got the message as to what NO means!

I was gone for a long weekend to visit my best friend in Minneapolis and go to a childhood friend's wedding --- and I missed the pup! Plus, I think she grew about 2 inches in those 4 days! However, she got to spend lots of quality time with "Grandpa" Cook. Zach's dad LOVES to bring her down to the farm and play with her... and spoil her. :) Did you know there is such a thing as "Doggie Donuts"? I didn't either until Dad got her some. Ha ha! She's gonna be a good farm dog!

June is so goofy and too smart for her own good most of the time. I'm so glad we got her as a puppy, but I think Zach's more excited for the time when she will be a calm, adult dog.

Love,

Sarah

Secret Code Answers!

A few of you made some guesses as to what you thought my 1st graders were trying to write.

Here's the answers:

1. chramplen = trampoline

2. kinpeootr = computer

3. captin amarcu = Captain America

4. osum = awesome

5. gamekewb = game cube

6. deradid = decorated

7. crismis = Christmas

8. froo = threw

9. pedes = puppies    (this was a tough one!!!)

10. ceewt = cute

11. meezoom = museum

12. froup = threw up



As the school year is about to kick off, I'm sure I'll have many more of these to come!




Love,


Sarah

Secret Code

I came across a stack of papers at my house from this last school year... yeah, yeah the papers were still at my house. Oh well.

As I went through some of their writing, there were some words that jumped out at me and made me laugh. Then I laughed even harder when I asked my sister to try to read them.

Here they are. Leave a comment and see if you can crack the code!!!

1. chramplen

2. kinpeootr

3. captin amracu

4. osum

5. gamekewb

6. deradid

7. crismis

8. froo

9. pedes

10. ceewt

11. meezoom

12. froup


I'll post answers next time. :) Happy reading --- or should I say deciphering.


Love,
Sarah