Laura Vegas

At the start of 2018, I decided to challenge myself to work at least 2-3 new recipes into our meals each week. I decided to also share those new recipes here on my blog every Monday. The following recipes made their way into our meals last week.

Creamy Chicken Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Mozzarella Sauce | Julia's Album

Thoughts: I wasn't sure how my family would like this, as they're not always big on pasta dishes. And both Joe and Sarah aren't huge fans of chicken (unless it's chicken nuggets for Sarah). But this looked really good to me, and I wanted to give it a try. It was an easy dish to make, which is always a plus in my book. I was a little worried, once I added the pasta into the chicken and cheese sauce mix, as I totally forgot to reserve some of the cooking water from the pasta. I had even set a cup to the side of the pot, to remind myself to do it. I have another dish I make that requires some of the cooking water, and I can't tell you how often I forget. But it turned out that the sauce wasn't too thick at all, so I didn't really end up needing that cooking water to thin it out. This was super good, and Joe even commented on how good it tasted. Will keep this recipe in my book to use again.

Spicy Brown Sugar Bacon-Wrapped Little Smokies | The Chunky Chef

Thoughts: You can't go wrong with Little Smokies, can you? I needed something to make for the Super Bowl party that my brother and sister-in-law host every year, and I knew that Little Smokies would go over well with all of the kids/teens. And who doesn't love bacon! They take a little time to prep, since you're wrapping each smokie in a piece of bacon. But once you get that part done, they're easy to coat in the brown sugar mix and pop in the oven. They were a huge hit, as I knew they would be. 

Easy Mexican Sour Cream Dip | The Weary Chef

Thoughts: Confession time. I've made this before, so it's not actually a new-to-me recipe. But since I did try two new recipes, and my challenge to myself was to try 2-3 new ones each week – I figured I would just toss this one in too, since it's a good one. I love a good dip, and I also love corn chips. This dip can easily be served with another type of cracker/chip. I think the corn chips in the photo was part of what caught my eye when I found this on Pinterest though 😉 And this is a really tasty dip! I brought this to the Super Bowl party last year, and I brought it again this year.