Grilled Scallops with Angel Hair Pasta

Ingredients:

-1lb angel hair pasta

-1lb bay scallops (or 16 sea scallops)

-6 cloves garlic, minced

-1/2 cp flat leaf parsley, chopped

-1/4 cp extra virgin olive oil

-1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

-1/2 dry white wine

-zest & juice of 1 lemon

-5 tbsp cold unsealed butter

-salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

-cook pasta according to box to al dente (when done, reserve a cup of starchy water before draining)

-in a bowl, combine the garlic, salt & pepper and olive oil

-in another bowl, toss scallops in half of the oil mixture (above), toss to coat then grill (in a pan) 2-3 minutes until firm and opaque

-in large skillet, cook other half of the oil mixture with the pepper flakes until the garlic browns.

-add wine, cook for 2 minutes

-add lemon zest & juice, cook 2 minutes

-add butter, cook until melted

-add scallops and drained pasta, combine together, add salt & pepper to taste (add starchy water if needed)

Serve Hot

This dish is quite popular in our house. We've used it for dinner guests as well and it always goes over well (except with very picky eaters). It is referred to simply as "the pasta" and that says a lot considering I make quite a few pasta dishes :)

Hope you try and hope you like.

(Crockpot) Creamy Ranch Chicken

In an effort to save $$$ this week, we did an entire menu with boneless, skinless chicken breast, which can get pretty boring pretty quickly so this was very easy and came out pretty tasty. DH actually said: "delicious"

3-4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch dessing seasoning

Cook on high 5-6 hours (closer to 5)

I served with white rice and broccoli, but you can use any sides.

(Crockpot) Chicken & Dumplings

Slow-Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

adapted from Bubble Crumb

Ingredients:

1lb of Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (3-5)

2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter

2 cans (10.5oz) Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

1 can (14oz) Chicken Broth

1 medium White Onion, diced

4 Large Flaky Refrigerator Biscuits

Place chicken in crock pot and top with butter. Add cream of chicken soup, chicken broth and diced onions. Cook on High for 4-6 hours.

Remove chicken from crock pot and use a fork to shred. Return chicken to the crock pot. Cut each uncooked biscuit into 9 pieces and stir into the chicken mixture. Continue to cook on High for 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Makes about 6-8 servings.

--I got this from (where else???) Pinterest. DH surprisingly liked it. He's no big on soup as a meal. He's more of a protein, vegetable, starch guy (sometimes just the protein and starch). I did like the way it came out, it was super easy, but a little too onion-y for me. So next time I'm either going to use less onion or only use onion powder. I also cooked it on low for 10 hours (from when I went to work to when DH got home).