Chili's Copycat Cajun Chicken Pasta

I'm not one of those people who blogs about food all that often. I'll instagram my meals just like everyone else, but rarely do I ever think that the recipes I make are worth blogging about. Plus, I don't have one of those savvy food blogs that I stalk for new recipes. I just have a half-hearted attempt at a blog. But I'm hoping to become better now that it's the summer (pfft, yeah right!).

But this recipe was SO easy, SO delicious and SO pretty that I couldn't resist sharing with my fellow family members and friends! This recipe was taken initially from Six Sisters' Stuff blog, but I've made a few adjustments based on my experience cooking it, which I've done about 3 times since discovering it in early April.

Chili's Copycat Cajun Chicken Pasta (Makes 4 servings)
Ingredients
8 ounces of Penne pasta (or your favorite kind of pasta), cooked and drained
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thawed
4 tsp cajun seasoning
4 TBS butter
2 cups half and half (it was originally 3 cups, but that was WAY too much. 2 cups is still a bit generous...)
1/2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 tomatoes, diced (I used roma tomatoes which worked well)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded

Directions
Cook pasta according to directions and set aside for later. Place thawed chicken breasts in a large ziploc bag and sprinkle in cajun seasoning. Seal the bag and shake it until all the breasts are evenly coated in seasoning. In a large skillet, melt 2 TBS of butter and sauté the chicken breasts over medium high heat, turning occasionally until cooked through. Set the chicken breasts on a cutting board and set aside. In a separate skillet, combine half and half, 2 TBS butter, lemon pepper, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When it starts to bubble, remove from heat and pour it over the cooked noodles. Slice the chicken breasts into long strips and serve over the pasta. Sprinkle shredded parmesan and diced tomatoes on top, and there you go!

When I cook this, I am juggling a lot of things at once to cut down on the prep time, but often Ryan will come in and help out, usually with the chicken. So it's a fun recipe to do with a friend or a spouse because it really is super easy. And good. Trust me.

Alright, I've gotta get back to my day, but I absolutely had to share this with you all. Enjoy!

Spring is here!

It's the beginning of May, which means that school is out for us, work is in full-swing (Ryan is doing full-time, and I'm doing part-time while also kindasorta looking for another summer gig to get me extra dough), and our lives are taking on a different rhythm. It's the kind of rhythm I definitely don't mind seeing as it's slower paced, less urgent and overall a lovely shift from the chaos that is winter into the mellow sunshine of Spring. 

Since the beginning of last week, we've been living this easier life: my days consist of work from 8-noon as always and spending the afternoons working out, eating lunch, showering, running errands, really cleaning the rooms in our small apartment, and reading. Part of me really doesn't want to find that second summer job because my afternoons have been such a breath of relief for me. I can finally focus on improving myself in different ways than just furthering my education (which, don't get me wrong, is important and wonderful). Ryan's days are slightly less exciting: he works from 8-4:30 every day, comes home and eats whatever food I've prepared for him and then caters to my ever-present neediness (in a good way).

It's a simple life around here during the months we don't have school, but you know what? I'm okay with that. School is so rapid, crazy and stressful that I NEED these months to recuperate.

Those of you who are on Facebook have already seen the pictures I took when Ryan and I attended the Tulip Festival last week in Thanksgiving Point. But in case you don't do Facebook, allow me to shower this blog with the colors of all the pretty flowers we saw. The gardens at Thanksgiving Point are a little pricey ($10 a person, but for the WHOLE day), but I am always glad I splurged. They are quite amazing.

The following pictures are of some sculptures of stories of Christ that are in the process of being made by Angela Johnson. The full article of how they came about is here. But they were amazing to see!

Anyways, these photos make me so happy and full of joy for Springtime. I wish I had something more to blog about...but I don't as of right now. Saturday, I'm going to be trying to do a "Photo an Hour" type thing and blog about it. Lets hope it's an interesting day!

Introducing the Apartment

Ryan and I have lived in our current apartment for almost a year and because many of you haven't traveled to Provo in the last year, the likelihood that you've seen the apartment is slim. And I've had people ask to see pictures (and I wanted an excuse to play around with my still relatively new camera), so this blog is basically dedicated to the nooks and crannies of our humble apartment. Nothing was cleaned up when I took these pictures, so excuse the clutter at times.

Our shoe pile by the front door.

My water bottle sitting on the coffee table.

Our dinner table with a first aid kit on it and my portable speaker that I got for Christmas from Ryan.

The living room in whole (behind me is the dinner table). We're gonna be replacing that couch really soon.

The shelf in the corner of the room. Notice all the lanterns?

Our microwave/bread and fruit snack corner. Ryan installed the platform when we first moved in. Best thing we did for our kitchen and saving counter space.

The sink with an executed idea from Pinterest: using a cake platter as a place to hold soap and dish things.

 The fridge and where we keep cereal. 

 The bulletin board that hangs in the walkway between the living room and kitchen.

The dishes on the dish mat in the corner of the kitchen and the canisters that hold all my baking ingredients.

 Taking a selfie in the bathroom. I still love our shower curtain!

 We got a fake bush as a wedding present and currently it sits in the bathroom window sill. 

 Our bedroom isn't the most interesting thing. It will be undergoing a makeover this summer.

 Ryan's bedside table. The picture in the the front is of him and his Grandpa (who has since passed away). Behind it is the picture of the two of us I gave him for our 2-month-aversary.

 Ryan's dresser that sits across from the bed and the clock in our bedroom. We only use the little fan during the summer.

 The computer room/Ryan's desk. We inherited that desk from my grandma. And our bubble-sheet calendar from last year is STILL on our wall. Whoops!

 The bookshelf in our bedroom that's next to my desk. At the bottom you can see my sewing machine with it's cover on it.

This is hanging above Ryan's desk. Nothing like Japanese characters to add personality to a room!

 This is MY desk. Hopelessly cluttered but I know where EVERYTHING is. The book stack is all my textbooks. 

The keyboard that I use to practice hymns. Check out Ryan's rump next to it, HA!

That's the gist of my apartment. Now that spring is here, I have some major plans for reinventing the place and making it our own since we really like it here and plan on living here for the duration of our school years. Maybe paint the walls, sew some curtains, definitely getting some new furniture/new bedding. Who knows? But this is it as of right now. Hope you enjoyed the tour!