Hello readers and fellow travel lovers! I know it's been a long time since you've seen a new post from me. I apologize for the unexpected gap in sharing about our travels. I was incredibly touched when I came back to the blog today to see the amazing amount of new and returning readers that visited during my absence. Thank you for all the interest and love as my heart has been needing that hug!
We had three great cruise itineraries booked between my last post and now. In March, my dad and travel buddy had to undergo surgery and because all of those cruises were within a couple months of each other, they all got postponed. Thankfully we always purchase travel insurance and were able to get refunded minus the cost of the insurance. I am happy to announce that Dad has healed well and has been working hard all summer to improve his strength. I look forward to sharing all about our future travel plans in the coming months. Be sure to keep an eye here and on my social media for live sharing and updates.
To whet your appetite until I have more travel content to share, here is a rundown of a new recipe I made for Dad and I tonight. This recipe for Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole came from Pillsbury's website. Disclaimer: I omitted the bacon since I didn't have any.
This recipe is a bit time consuming to cook since you have to cook the pasta before adding it to the casserole. Who remembers those Pasta Bake kits where you could add uncooked pasta to the casserole dish and have it bake in the oven with the sauce and melted cheese?
My list of ingredients - I am partial to Sargento cheese because I find it melts better. Hidden Valley Ranch just tastes better than other brands to me. We use it for everything from salad dressing to dips. Kroger had a great sale on Barilla pasta the other week so I got several kinds for 99 cents a box. Kroger also had lots of flavored alfredo sauces so you can experiment and add a unique taste to the dish if you like a little more garlic or a little more spice. Note: The Kroger brand "cooked" chicken I used had no sauce. I did follow the package directions to microwave it for four minutes and shredded the chicken between two forks before adding it to the mixture.
Above: The cooked and drained pasta was returned to the pot where I added the alfredo sauce, ranch dressing, and shredded chicken before stirring it all together.
I then poured the coated mixture into a 13x9 glass casserole dish. Next step was to sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese on top before it went in the oven. This is also where you would sprinkle on top the cooked bacon. Wasn't really missed so this would be a great option if you wanted to save some calories or you refrain from consuming pork products.
Below: The finished product after 15 minutes in the oven and 5 minutes resting on the counter. The noodles remain loose aside from the melted cheese so it's best to scoop this out with a spoon versus a flat spatula. I added some grated parmesan cheese to the plates and it made the taste even better!
I was a little surprised that the ranch flavor wasn't more noticeable in the finished dish. It did seem though to lessen the heaviness of the alfredo sauce. We had plenty of leftovers so this would be a great option to feed a group or take to your next potluck. Most importantly, Mr. Picky Eater gave it two thumbs up!
