A Lasagna I will eat!! Creamy White Chicken & Artichoke Lasagna

If you have read my past post, you will know that lasagna and I have a long standing history. I don't like it, it keeps trying to rejoin my life. After I made a lasagna last year with no ricotta, I just decided to give up. A few months go I joined Pinterest and found a recipe for Creamy White Chicken and Artichoke Lasagna. It seemed more like artichoke dip than lasagna. A couple weeks ago I made it for the fam and it was a big hit! I forgot to take pictures but I will make it again and take some pics. I made a few changes from the original recipe. Here you go!

Creamy White Chicken & Artichoke Lasagna

• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts
• 1 medium onion quartered
• 2 celery stalks
• 2 cups of chicken broth 
• 1 14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1 8 oz package of reduced fat mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 packages of cream cheese, softened 
• 1 cup of milk 
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 cup basil 
• 12 lasagna noodles 

Place the chicken, onion and celery in a crock pot. Cover with chicken broth and cook on high for 4 hours. Shred the chicken and cool. Combine chicken, artichokes, 1 cup mozzarella, Parmesan and tomatoes. Beat cream cheese, milk and garlic powder with mixer until well blended; stir in 2 Tbsp. basil. Mix half with the chicken mixture. Spread half the remaining cream cheese mixture onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; cover with 3 noodles and 1/3 of the chicken mixture. Repeat layers of noodles and chicken mixture twice. Top with remaining noodles, cream cheese mixture and mozzarella; cover with tin foil sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 min. or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining basil. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting to serve.

Quick update

Quick update...

We had a lot of life changes in the last few months. Rob graduated and got a new job in Massachusetts and we moved to Kingston within three weeks. I turn 30 in just about a month and a half, so some of these are not going to be completed...but I'll keep working on them! 

Jackie's 30 Before 30 List:

1. Visit a zoo in New York
2. Run a 5K
3. Hold my son’s hand as he walks by himself
4. Make a lasagna
5. Cheer on my husband as he receives his MBA
6. Visit the Met
7. Drink a Long Island Iced Tea on Long Island
8. Take a tour of the Brooklyn brewery
9. Walk on the beach in the Hamptons
10. Create a new blog to record memories
11. Try 30 new recipes and blog about each one (10/30 completed)
12. Eat real sushi
13. Watch all the Harry Potter movies again in order (1/8 completed)
14. Complete 100 consecutive push ups
15. Watch “Casablanca” and “Gone with the Wind”
16. Ride the carousel in Central Park
17. Ride the feris wheel at Coney Island
18. Try a wine from each of the 50 states (15/50 completed - CA, CT, GA, MA, MD, NC, NM, NH, NY, OR, PA, RI, SC, VA, WA)
19. Complete a crossword puzzle
20. Take a tour of Fenway Park
21. Listen to all of Pearl Jam’s studio albums in entirety
22. See at least 3 more Broadway shows (Wicked, Book of Mormon, Once)
23. Complete 3 scrapbooks (2/3 completed)
24. Sample cupcakes from Sprinkles, Magnolias and Carlo’s bakeries (1/3 complete)
25. Ride on a motorcycle
26. Buy myself a pair of kickass heels
27. Try a spinning class
28. See a plastic surgeon about the age spot on my cheek
29. Go to dinner with all my siblings, just the 4 of us
30. Read/reread 3 novels from high school English class (1/3 Completed - A Separate Peace)

When You Smile, I Smile...

I continuously feel this way....but Matthew just keeps getting cuter, sweeter and funnier every single day. He makes me smile so much whenever I am with him, and I love weekends with no plans so we can enjoy him and his humor even more. This weekend, there were a couple of stand out moments.

My little boy making a MESS out of dinner

Saturday morning as I was getting Matthew's breakfast ready, he let out a big "toot" and started laughing. I think I rolled my eyes and said something like "oh nice" and Rob asked me "Do you feel like a princess?" because I like to joke around that being the only girl in the house makes me the princess. I think any mom of only boys knows that this is not the case :). Matthew proceeded to pretend to do more toots and continue to laugh about it. As I picked him up to put him in his high chair, he patted me on the back and said "good luck Mama." Where in the world does he come up with these things?! 

Ready to go outside!

On Sunday, we went to a street fair that was right up the street from us. It was really fun and a great way to spend a sunny June day. We walked around the fair and took a detour on the way home to a playground. Matthew, who was once scared of the swings and the big turtle there, was fearless. We spent over an hour swinging, climbing, jumping, sliding and playing. He was his adorable self, waving and saying "hi" and "bye" to people (and objects). At one point, I went over and gave Rob a hug and said "I love our life" as we watched Matthew play. At that exact moment, Matthew came running over, arms wide open and gave us a big hug, one arm around Rob and one around me. It was the sweetest thing.

I know there will be a time when him "tooting" and making an insane mess out of dinner won't be so cute. And as much as I don't want to admit it, there will probably come a time when he won't hug us out of the blue (especially in public), so I'm going to enjoy every second of it now while I can. Because Matthew, when you smile, I smile! 

(Thank you to Justin Bieber for the song lyric).

Recipe #11 - Avocado chicken salad!

I found this recipe on Pinterest and thought it sounded great. I have made shredded chicken in the crock pot twice in the last couple weeks and decided to try it today. The original recipe didn't have measurements, and I would adjust them a bit next time. I would use an additional avocado and chop the cilantro a little finer, but for the first try - I was very impressed! You could make and shred the chicken another way, but this is a SUPER easy recipe.


Avocado Chicken Salad

• 5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs 
• 1 medium onion quartered 
• 2 celery stalks 
• 2 cups of chicken broth 
• 1 avocado 
• juice of one lime
• 1 TBSP mayonaise
• 1/4 cup of cilantro 
• sprinkle of salt and pepper

Place the chicken, onion and celery in a crock pot. Cover with chicken broth and cook on high for 4 hours. Shred the chicken and cool. Combine chicken, avocado, lime juice, mayo and cilantro and sprinkle in salt and pepper. Mix together to combine. I served on a multigrain sandwich thin and american cheese and a side salad. Definitely a great, easy and healthy summer recipe I would try again! (Sorry, I forgot to take pictures...) This amount of chicken made enough for four - five sandwiches. 

"One More" Time

"one more" in use in the bath

Matthew does and says the cutest things and he is learning so many new words every day. He is also learning how to wrap Mommy and Daddy right around those tiny little fingers of his. With one simple phrase....he can get pretty get much whatever he wants. That phrase is "one more". It works in many different situations, but the most common uses are at bath time, bed time and drop off in the morning. It started with saying it after one round of "Itsy Bitsy Spider". He puts his index finger to make the one sign and puts it near his mouth and quietly says "one more". We melt and sing it again...every time. I think the record has been five times singing it. For a while, this was the only time he used the "one more" trick. Then he learned if he said it after our nightly I love you/tickle routine, he would get more tickles. In the bath he loves to fill his blue bucket up from the running water and pour it over himself. Last week, I refilled the bath three times because it's just so darn cute when the bath has drained and he's sitting there with his empty bowl and he says "one more" and looks at the faucet. He got ten extra bath minutes from Daddy this week too using his "one more" trick. 


It comes in handy at storytime too. "One more" has worked in Matthew's favor and I think the record is eight stories at bedtime. Yesterday morning he climbed into bed with me in the morning and after one reading of "Baseball 1,2,3", we read it "one more" time twice. I have to say my favorite "one more" moments come when I drop him off at school. After I get his things settled and give a big hug and kiss, he walks away for a minute then comes running back shouting "one more" and we hug again...and usually again...and again...


I just can't help it...I will give in every time to those two tiny words coming out of that adorable little mouth!

"One More Time"

"Call Me Maybe" - 30 Before 30 List Update

So with less than six months until the big 3-0, I thought it was time to do a 30 Before 30 Update

Jackie's 30 Before 30 List:

1. Visit a zoo in New York
2. Run a 5K
3. Hold my son’s hand as he walks by himself
4. Make a lasagna
5. Cheer on my husband as he receives his MBA
6. Visit the Met
7. Drink a Long Island Iced Tea on Long Island
8. Take a tour of the Brooklyn brewery
9. Walk on the beach in the Hamptons
10. Create a new blog to record memories
11. Try 30 new recipes and blog about each one (10/30 completed)
12. Eat real sushi
13. Watch all the Harry Potter movies again in order (1/8 completed)
14. Complete 100 consecutive push ups
15. Watch “Casablanca” and “Gone with the Wind”
16. Ride the carousel in Central Park
17. Ride the feris wheel at Coney Island
18. Try a wine from each of the 50 states (9/50 completed - CA, CT, MA, NC, NY, OR, SC, VA, WA)
19. Complete a crossword puzzle
20. Take a tour of Fenway Park
21. Listen to all of Pearl Jam’s studio albums in entirety
22. See at least 3 more Broadway shows (2/3 completed - Wicked, Book of Mormon)
23. Complete 3 scrapbooks (2/3 completed)
24. Sample cupcakes from Sprinkles, Magnolias and Carlo’s bakeries (1/3 complete)
25. Ride on a motorcycle
26. Buy myself a pair of kickass heels
27. Try a spinning class
28. See a plastic surgeon about the age spot on my cheek
29. Go to dinner with all my siblings, just the 4 of us
30. Read/reread 3 novels from high school English class (1/3 Completed - A Separate Peace)

I still think the wine list will be the hardest to complete, but I've checked off a few cool things since my last update in January. 

#9 - Walk on the beach in the Hamptons

In January, I completed two scrapbooks. One for my best friend Danielle's wedding - which was in October of 2010. I also completed our Honeymoon album. I am happy with the way they come out and I'm currently working on the 2009 one. I'm a little behind!

In February for our 3 Year anniversary, Rob and I walked on the beach in the Hamptons and I even dipped my feet in!

#25 - Ride on a motorcycle

In April, during a wonderful visit to South Carolina, I took a motorcycle ride with Russ! It was pretty scary and we didn't even go that fast! It was fun and I'm glad I experienced it though!

In the next month, I will check off #5 and will have to make time for #7 too! I'm also up to 72 pushups, so #14 may be complete too.

If you want to join/help me in any list items,  Call Me, Maybe! 

It's Late on a February night...

<3 Love <3

February is one of my favorite months -and this one has been one of the best. February 2009 is still my favorite February though <3

I feel like this month has been a perfect mix of balancing fun dates with Rob and fun family time with both the boys. For Father's Day, I bought Rob tickets to Book of Mormon and the first show we could get was the first weekend in February. My parents came down and spent the day with Matthew and Rob and I went to the show and then dinner at Chez Jacqueline - (yay Groupon!). It was unseasonably warm for a February in New York, so we walked all over the city. It was very fun and wonderful to spend the whole day with Rob. The day also made us excited to take Matthew in for more trips to the city in the spring and summer!

Valentine's Day 2012

For Valentine's Day, for the 9th year in a row, we celebrated with dinner at Friendly's. I understand that Friendly's is not the most traditional "romantic" Valentine's Day restaurant, but our tradition started in 2004, after we celebrated Valentine's Day the night before at a fancy restaurant. We figured that all the other restaurants would be crowded on Valentine's Day night and we had no wait at Friendly's :). We decided to make it a tradition, and this year we brought Matthew with us too. He sat in the highchair like a big boy, ate off the kids menu and even got a balloon when we left. I'm so lucky to have had two handsome dates on Valentine's Day!

Brrrr!

To celebrate our third anniversary, we took the day off to spend together. We drove out to the "East End", hit up two vineyards, had lunch in East Hampton and even walked on the beach (I was able to check another item off my "30 Before 30 list"). We picked Matthew up and went for a family dinner to Cheesecake Factory. Matthew wore his tuxedo shirt and it was adorable! He was very well behaved and we had a nice dinner. It was the perfect anniversary!! Rob also made a slideshow of photos for me...needless to say, lots of tears were shed<3.

3 Year Anniversary

I've loved this month, and there is lots to look forward to in the coming months too! Life is SO good! :)

PS - very few people will understand the title of this post but a big shout out to the Becky Make Believe boys :)

Three New (unrelated) Recipes!

I've made a few blog-worthy recipes recently but haven't had a chance to write about them...so here goes!January 28th I made Sausage and Caramelized Onion Bread Pudding for dinner. I served it with a side salad, and it was a perfect dinner. 

It was easy, very yummy and a good basic recipe that can easily be adapted for breakfast, brunch or dinner! I even made it for brunch the next weekend when my parents came down and used ham instead of sausage and served with homefries and fruit salad. Came out just as good! :)


Sausage and Caramelized Onion Bread Pudding
1 1/3 cups 1% low-fat milk 

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 large egg white
8 slices day-old French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 cups chopped yellow onion
1/4 cup apple juice
4 ounces turkey Italian sausage
3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add bread; toss gently to coat. Let bread mixture stand 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add juice; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove casings from sausage. Crumble sausage into pan; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes.
Add sausage mixture and cheese to bread mixture; stir well to combine. Spoon into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until set and lightly browned. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.


February 11 - I made "California Style" Potato Skins
I planned a "date night in" for Rob for Valentine's Day and as an appetizer, I made potato skins. The recipe came from an insert from a past issue of The Food Network Magazine that was football themed. Each team had a potato skin recipe, and Rob chose the San Diego Chargers - but I changed it to "california style" and made a few changes. Here is my take, which made 8 which was more than enough for both us: 


"California Style" Potato Skins
2 all purpose potatoes 

melted butter or butter spread
Mrs Dash or other seasoning (or just use salt and pepper)
shredded cheddar cheese
quacamole 
sprouts
shredded monterey jack cheese


Pierce potatoes and cook in 350 degree oven for about an hour. Let cool, quarter lengthwise and spoon out the potatoes, leaving a 1/4 inch shell. Brush both sides of skins with butter and season with seasoning or salt and pepper. Bake with the skins up for 15 minutes in 450 degree oven. Take skins out, flip over and sprinkle each with cheddar cheese and bake for 5 more minutes. Remove form oven and top with guacamole, sprouts and monterey jack cheese. Enjoy! 

Burgers, onion rings and beer! 

After the appetizer, we had porterhouse (our new favorite!) bacon cheddar burgers and homemade onion rings with brownie sundaes for dessert! We also got our hands on a bottle of Dogfish Head's Faithfull Ale which they made to celebrate Pearl Jam's 20th Anniversary. After Matthew went to bed, we had a yummy dinner and started watching Season 1 of "The League."  














And last night, I made a very good, very healthy and fairly easy weeknight meal of Two Bean Soup. I made a few modifications, below is my version. I used escarole instead of kale, because that's all they had at the grocery store. I also used kidney beans instead of black beans and didn't drain them. The extra bean juice added flavor to the soup. I also had this for lunch today and it was even better today once the flavors had a chance to blend together. Matthew loves beans and enjoyed when I picked some out of the soup to give to him!

· Olive oil
· 1 medium sized onion chopped
· 1/2 cup chopped carrot
· 1/2 cup chopped celery
· 2 garlic cloves, minced
· 4 cups low sodium chicken broth – divided
· About 1 bunch escarole
· 2 cans cannellini beans, rinsed, drained, and divided
· 1 can kidney beans (undrained)
· 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
· 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
· Mrs Dash seasoning
Heat oil in pan; swirl to coat. Add onion, carrot, and celery, and sauté 6 minutes or until tender. Stir in garlic; cook 1 minute. Stir in 3 cups broth and escarole. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 3 minutes. Place half of cannellini beans and remaining 1 cup broth in a blender or food processor; process until smooth. Add pureed bean mixture, remaining cannellini beans, kidny beans, and pepper to soup. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in seasoning.

Yum, Yum and Yum. :) 

"I Love You This Big"

It's crazy to me that one year ago yesterday, Matthew started at daycare and I was back to work full time. It was one of the hardest weeks of my life, many tears were shed at my desk as I thought about what he was doing, how much I missed him and counting down the minutes until I could see him again. In the past year, I have watched him grow from that tiny baby I left on the playmat in the morning and picked up in pretty much the same spot in the afternoon to the toddler who runs to play when I drop him off, comes back to give me a hug goodbye and comes running over to me when I pick him up with his arms open.  I still have some days where I am very sad wishing I could be home with him, and I still count down the minutes until I get to see him again, but watching him grow into a big boy has brought me so much joy, the tears I shed now are of happiness. 

Three things in the past two days have had me tearing up at my desk at work. First is this photo that a co-worker sent to me.

Second is Scotty McCreery's song "I Love You This Big", which I happened to be listening to when I looked at the photo. The lyrics are about a young boy in love but many of them remind me of Matthew, especially "I'll love you to the moon and back. I'll love you all the time. Deeper than the ocean. And higher than the pines." The third thing that made me cry today was this blog list of "25 Rules for Mothers of Sons" that someone posted. 

To be completely honest, I always pictured myself with daughters. My mom had two girls, I just thought I would follow. When I was pregnant with Matthew, I thought he was a girl pretty much the whole time. I had a few boy dreams and sometimes I wavered, but I had a pretty strong "girl" feeling. When the nurse told me it was a boy in the delivery room, I could not have been happier. I loved that little 11 pound baby from the first cry he let out, before I could even see him. I could not picture life with a baby girl right now (maybe one day...), I know that I was meant to have a son. Not any son, but specifically Matthew James Carlson.

Every day there seems to be something new that Matthew does or says and I try to enjoy every minute of our time together each day. I am learning how much patience I have (don't get me wrong...it gets tested, especially when a sippy cup that he thinks should be a bottle is thrown at me first thing in the morning or the little squirmster somehow frees himself on the changing table and things that should be kept in a diaper are not in a diaper anymore)...but I know that it's important for Matthew to express himself and it's all part of his healthy development. And at the end of the day when those big huge, beautiful eyes look up from his crib and he points back at me when I say "I love you" and point to him, I forget about all the "not so good" things he may have done that day and just take in that this sweet baby boy is mine.

He even reads in the car...but
being so cute is sometimes too tiring to stay awake!

He is learning a lot of new words such as apple, purple, duck, ball, book and cookie and he tries to repeat a lot of what we say or he hears from the kids at school (note to self...no bad words), but my favorite word he says is "Mama". He's been saying "Dada" for awhile and started saying "Mama" but not at me but now he knows I am "Mama" and it's awesome. This morning, Rob was "on duty" so I got to sleep in a bit. When it was getting time for Rob to leave, he opened the bedroom door and from down the hall, I could hear the pitter patter of Matthew's snowman pajamas and him yelling "Mama Mama". He ran in, came over to the bed with his baseball book and I scooped him up and he laid with me as we read the whole thing and then went back to look at the pictures again. I love that he loves to read and I love reading to him. I love our nighttime routine of reading all together before bedtime and I'm so happy that we starting this habit at such a young age! I hope that his love of reading continues and we'll do everything we can to help him with his good habits!

This is probably one of many "love filled" blog entries this month. It is February... one of my favorite months! Lots of special dates/date nights in are planned for Valentine's Day and our three year anniversary with both my loves! <3

"And we call it Bella Notte" - new recipe #7 and Matthew's first haircut!

A little blurry - but an action shot of Matthew
strutting in his snow boots

After a crazy long weekend last week and not feeling 100% all week – I was looking forward to a quiet weekend this past weekend. We made a big decision mid-week to take Matthew for his first haircut on Saturday! We were waiting until after his first birthday to cut those adorable little locks and then whenever we had some free time, I chickened out. This was one of the last milestones in his baby book that I had to fill in, and he’s growing so fast, I wanted to hold out as long as I could. The back was really starting to get long and curly and the front was just crazy somedays so I knew it was time. We found a place online – Zippity Doo’s and made an appointment for Saturday morning. We got a mini snow storm over night but nothing big so we bundled Matthew up in his snowjacket and boots and “I Love Snow Days” Tshirt and we braved the roads (they were 100% fine) to make his appointment. 

Still a little groggy

It worked out perfectly that he fell asleep on the 20 minute ride there because he woke up and was a little groggy and not quite sure of exactly what was going on. He sat like an angel while she trimmed the back, sides and front and then started to get a little scared but after he was given a school bus toy, he was fine again. He did so well that she even used the electric trimmer to cut the back “like Daddys”. We were so proud of him and he looked SO handsome with his new haircut. He was even given a red balloon for being so brave! Matthew also was given a certificate and some locks of hair for his baby book! All in all, pretty smooth for his first haircut. 

So proud with his red balloon!

After his haircut!

On the way home, we stopped and picked up everything for dinner (and a FREE fribble from Friendly's!) so that we wouldn’t have to go back out in the snowy weather again. Much like Twitter, I have joined Pinterest and don’t fully understand it yet but I had seen a pin (is that what they are called?!?) with an interesting recipe I thought we would like: Red-wine spaghetti with Parsley and Walnuts. You COOK the pasta in wine! Sounded right up our alley and it was pretty easy as well. We bought a big bottle of chianti to use in the recipe and then to have some and it turned out wonderful. I also made homemade garlic bread and crumbled some Stilton cheese left over from the glorious burgers from a few weeks ago. Amazing! We had a nice romantic dinner after Matthew went to sleep and then played some more 2012 bonanza games. A wonderful way to spend a snowy Saturday!! <3 

Red-Wine Spaghetti with Parsley and Walnuts (I made a few adjustments to original recipe)  

5 cups water
3 1/4 cups dry red wine
Salt
1 box of linguine
4 tablespoons olive oil divided
2 teaspoons jarred minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
1 cup walnuts (4 ounces), toasted and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving

In a saucepan, combine the water with 3 cups of the wine and a large pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook, stirring, until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. While spaghetti is cooking, lightly toast walnuts in a skillet and chop the nuts and parsley. In a skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the garlic and red pepper. Cook over moderate heat for 1 minute. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of wine and the reserved cooking liquid and bring to a simmer. Stir in the pasta and cook until the liquid is nearly absorbed, 2 minutes. Add the parsley, nuts, the 1/2 cup of cheese and the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and toss. 

For  garlic bread - but loaf in half and spread melted butter (I used I can't Believe it's not butter spread) on each side and sprinkle with garlic salt and minced garlic. Crumble cheese on top and put halves together and wrap in foil.  Heat in 400 degree oven for five minutes and then take out and lay the halves on the foil for a few minutes to melt the cheese.

Today's song title comes from Lady and the Tramp! :)

"International Love" : New Recipe #6 - Bacon Pierogi Bake

I made this a couple of weeks ago, but forgot to blog about it. Sometimes life gets a little busy...but even though it's late, it's worth sharing! 

Matthew won the wrestling match with Barry

I've recently been trying to lessen my stack of cooking magazines so I've been going through and pulling out recipes that I would like to try. I found this recipe for Bacon Pierogi Bake in the December 2010 Cooking Light. It was in the "Dinner Tonight" section which features quick and easy meals. This definitely fit the bill - I was able to prep while Rob fed Matthew his dinner and then while it baked, we read and sung to Matthew and then we ate after Matthew was snuggling with his buddies in bed.

I had never had a pierogi before my mother-in-law introduced them to me and boy am I happy she did! The Mrs. T brand is OK...not as good as homemade though. I had the wonderful opporutnity to attend a "pierogi party" a few years ago at Rob's aunt's home where we made hundreds of homemade pierogis - potato, onion, cheese, sauerkraut - and the best part, the homemade noodles from the leftover dough! I hope I am able to attend one again in the future, it was so much fun (and yummy!). In the meantime, I would try this dish again. It's filling enough to have with just a side salad and be full! 

Bacon Pierogi Bake

Bacon Pierogi Bake

• 1 (16-ounce) package frozen potato and onion pierogies (such as Mrs. T's)
• Cooking spray
• 2 bacon slices, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3 cup of 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
• 1/2 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 1/4 cup chopped seeded plum tomato
• freshly ground black pepper

 Preheat oven to 400°. Arrange the pierogies in an 11 x 7-inch glass baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cook bacon in a saucepan over medium heat until crisp; remove from pan. Set aside. Add garlic to drippings in pan, and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add 1/3 cup cream cheese to pan, and cook for 1 minute or until cream cheese begins to melt, stirring frequently. Gradually add chicken broth to pan, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Pour the cream cheese mixture evenly over pierogies. Top evenly with 1/2 cup cheddar cheese. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until bubbly and thoroughly heated. Remove from oven, and sprinkle with bacon, green onions, tomato, and pepper.