Chicken and Spinach Manicotti with Spicy Sauce

 

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 cups packed spinach

8 oz cream cheese, cottage cheese, or ricotta (I used cream cheese because I had it on hand)

cloves of garlic

1 jar HEB Roasted Poblano Pasta sauce (Could us an alfredo sauce for no spice)

1 jar Tomato Basil Sauce (Classico or I make my own)

12 oz box of manicotti

8 oz mozzarella

parmesan cheese and/or pecorino romano

Boil chicken and cut into bite size pieces.  Place chicken and spinach into large frying pan and cook on medium heat until spinach is just wilted.  Add cream cheese until melted and garlic and either parmesan or pecorino romano to taste (I used 1Tbsp and 4 oz mixed).  Add jar of poblano sauce and stir until well mixed.

 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  Cook manicotti and drain.  Stuff manicotti with chicken and spinach mixture and place in 9 x 13 inch baking dish. I spread any chicken and spinach mixture left on top of the manicotti.  Cover with jar of tomato basil sauce.  Sprinkle mozzarella on top and bake for 20 minutes or slightly longer.

Mexican Rice with Quinoa in the Instant Pot

 So I'm only half Mexican so if you don't feel this rice is authentic, you can call it half-Mexican Rice.  I've had a hard time making my engineer happy with my rice at home and this one made her really happy so I'm recording what I did so I can repeat it since normally, I just throw it together.

Saute in the pot until soft.

    2 Tablespoons of olive oil

    1 small red onion chopped 

    1 small poblano chopped

Add 1 Tbsp garlic and turn off the heat.  Stir for a minute or so.

Add 2 cups of long grain white rice and stir for a few minutes (while the pot is still hot).

Add

    1 cup of quinoa

    4 cups of chicken stock

    1 Tbsp of cilantro lime seasoning

    1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes with liquid

    1 Tbsp of tomato paste

Steam for 7 minutes.  Quick release the pressure.  

 

More of Ottobre 1/2021-30

 Neither my husband nor I are much into plaid, but for some reason the nerdlet completely loves it.  I bought 3 different plaid knits from califabrics.com this week and they sent it out right away.  Two of them were double brushed knit but the 3rd was a cotton jersey knit without near the softness or stretch.  The nerdlet wasn't sure of those and I decided to use that one first so that I didn't decide not to use it at all.  I am not even sure if my reasoning made sense. This is the fabric.  I actually bought the last of their inventory.

                                

I used the pattern Ottobre 1/2021 - 30 in size 140 that I used for her school uniform pants last year.  She wears those pants all the time, for school and home.  I turned the pattern into long shorts.  I actually aligned the pants where I thought the straight of her leg would lie and it was a mistake.  The next pair, which I will post after I get a picture of her in, I aligned the horizontal along the bottom of the leg so the hem was straight around.  Here is the pair I finished before she went to bed.  She says they are super comfortable and loves them, but because they are tight like leggings, I made the next pair an inch wider, which I think still might be too snug for acceptable school clothes, but I will see when she tries them on tomorrow.  I also ended up cutting off half of her uniform pants into capris like these since she doesn't have to wear a uniform for high school (I don't think anyway).  

                                

I am considering making her a raglan top with the sleeves with the same plaid, but matching is really not the nerdlet's style so if she wears such a top, it is highly unlikely she would wear it with these capris.

The next pair which I just finished is from this double brushed knit.  I actually bought 2 yards of this and so I have a fair bit left over.  I'm thinking of making a super simple shirred dress for the grandbaby with what I have left over, but I haven't decided yet.

                        

This is the last fabric I bought in this batch, and I'm waiting to see how the extra inch fits the nerdlet before I cut out another pair.  But she will be getting capris out of this also.  If she would wear a skort, I'd make a skort from it and I might anyway since the bear cub can wear the same size, even though she is much shorter, but I haven't quite decided yet.