Southern Living = Butter

It must be a "southern" thing... butter, buttermilk, fatness. Just like Paula Dean; of course her recipes are delicious. She starts each with two sticks of butter. Every recipe would taste better with two sticks of butter!

For my cookbook of the week I chose Southern Living Quick & Easy. My mother in law gave me this one, and let me tell you; she is a good cook. Sundays are my favorite day of the week because we go to the Gibson's for dinner. Fabulous food and my lovely family!

I decided to go with the Cajun Chicken Pasta for dinner tonight. It was definitely quick and easy but I had to make some adjustments. The recipe asked you to cook the chicken in 1/4 cup butter. Seriously?! That's a lot of butter for a little pound of chicken. I cut it in half. I also halved the amount of Half & Half called for to make the sauce. And I upped the veggies to make it a little healthier. Result: Yummy!

Disclaimer: I am not a photographer. I barely know how to upload photos to this blog. Seriously, it was good. It looks a little bland, but that's my photo skills, nothing to do with my cooking skills.

I fed this concoction to Drew and Brett after their softball game tonight. Hungry Boys verdict: good enough to make again! And after last week's cooking challenge verdict we know its honest! BTW, I have a freezer full of sweet potato biscuits. I just can't bring myself to waste food!

BONUS RECIPE!!!! Sunday dinner was switched from the Gibson's to the Clark's this week because the Clarks just bought a smoker that we HAD to try out. Best ribs I've ever had. Anyways, I was in charge of dessert and made a lovely New Fashioned Banana Pudding which also came from Southern Living Quick & Easy. It was delish!!!

Why? Because Southern Living had you switch out milk in the pudding recipe for Half & Half. I love the south. This time I didn't mess around trying to make the dish healthier. I don't believe in messing with dessert! This was my first time trying anything with a meringue and I was pleased as punch at how it turned out.

And here is a hungry dog. "Please mom can I have a bite of pudding? I'm a good boy."

Oh, and verdict on this one was "make again!" I guess Southern Living will be making another appearance in the kitchen, while Biscuit Love will still be shoved to the back of the cookbook cabinet.