Italian Baked Chicken

Wow it has been a while!  I accidentally deleted all of my recipe/food photos, so they will be Instagram photos for a while. [oopsy]

Today I have a recipe for baked Italian chicken, but the REAL star of this dish is the pasta sauce you create at the same time.  This was THE best sauce I've ever eaten [and my uber picky husband loved it too!].

3-4 chicken breasts
1 can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp minced garlic from jar [or 2 cloves minced fresh]
1 can artichoke hearts
1 tbsp olive oil
dash salt & pepper
2 tbsp flour
2 cups shredded mozzarella
basil [a sprinkling is a measurement right?]

Drain the artichokes and combine all of the ingredients except cheese in a 9x13 baking dish.  I baked this dish at 400 degrees for about an hour because I was cooking something else at the same time, but I baked it with a meat thermometer inserted to make sure I took it out at the right time.  My chicken was also really thick.  I kind of hate baking chicken because I never know how long is too long, but I digress.  The true star is the sauce anyway.  When the chicken is done, take out and top each piece with a generous handful of cheese and sprinkle with basil.  I served the chicken and sauce over linguine [which is my new favorite].  You WILL enjoy this dish.

Easy as [mini] Pie | Mini Ham Pie Recipe

I [Ashley] am supposed to post during the first half of the week, but it has been one of those crazy weeks as a teacher and photographer, so I'm just happy that I'm posting at all this week!  I have a wedding to shoot tomorrow, so I might not be heard from for a week or 2 ;).  Tonight I'm sharing a super easy recipe that only has 4 ingredients.  I found a recipe like this on Pinterest here, and it was SO easy.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp Butter
1 uncooked pie crust
5 pieces of deli ham
1 cup shredded cheese [I used cheddar]

First, chop the ham into tiny pieces and mix with cheese in a bowl.  Then, use a biscuit cutter to cut the crust into circles.  Put a spoonful of ham and cheese onto each mini pie.

Fold over the crust and pinch the edges closed.  Melt the butter, and spread it over the top of each pie.  Follow the pie crust's baking directions.  Mine cooked at 450 for 15 minutes.

Enjoy with some green beans and mashed potatoes, or be weird like me and eat them with spinach and grapes ;).