I've been experimenting in the kitchen a lot lately, and a friend said I should file away all the recipes I've been testing out. I figured this was as good of a place as any. Last night I made a fabulous soup. It was one of those toss it in a pot and call it soup moments, and it turned out great.

I took 1 pkg of keilbasa and sliced it thin. Then put it into my crockpot with 2 cans of pinto beans, a can of diced tomatoes, about 6 cups of water (guessing, I filled up my tea kettle, heated it and poured most of it into the crock pot), 1 bay leaf, a capful of Mrs. Dash garlic and herb seasoning, and 2 tbsp of Knorr's chicken bouillion. I cooked up 4 handfuls of farfella (bowtie) pasta and tossed that in too. Oh, and a healthy sprinkle of cayenne pepper. It was so delicious. It was kind of a variation of a sausage and lentil soup that I've made before, which is what I was planning to make until I discovered I had forgotten to buy lentils. So I rummaged through the pantry and this is what I came up with.

Another day I'll have to compile all of my Amish Friendship Bread experiments from the past few weeks. I'm having company over for an American Idol night and need to get into the kitchen and work on our dinner.

The plan is to fry up a slice of bacon, and sautee diced chicken breast tenders in with it and 1 clove of garlic. I will then toss in a bag of fresh spinach and a can of diced tomatoes. I haven't decided what seasonings I will use quite yet, I'll go sift through the spice cabinet as I get started and wing it. Anyways, the chicken/spinach/tomato combo will get tossed with some rigatoni and topped with some grated parmesan. I'm serving it with some garlic and cheese bread. I hope it all turns out good.

*adding in the results from dinner* I thought I had a full box of rigatoni, but alas it was only a half of a box, so I used some bowtie pasta as well. I chose to use some Mrs. Dash tomato basil garlic seasoning and a tiny bit of sea salt. I didn't realize I had thawed out chicken thighs (boneless and skinless) by accident but that's what I used. I ended up choosing mozzarella cheese (I had more of it) and shredded that up to put on top. I made some garlic/cheese bread (french bread, sliced down the middle, buttered and sprinkled with Lawry's Garlic Salt, and topped with mozz cheese then broiled til melted and browned) to go with it. I loved the results, and my guests seemed to enjoy it as well. I wish I had taken a picture of it before devouring it. I will try to remember to snap pictures of things in the future.