Summer Pasta | Creamy Pesto & Rigatoni with Tomatoes, Grilled Chicken & Fresh Mozzarella

I love a good summertime pasta.  Or really, anytime pasta.  This recipe uses pesto in two ways - first, as a marinade for the chicken (which is great even without the pasta - so make an extra batch of the chicken, or make this pasta from leftover grilled pesto chicken) and second as the pasta sauce, paired with some cream to make a creamy pesto.  

This pasta comes together in 20 minutes (+ pesto making time, 5-10 min) making it a great quick summer dinner.  

The key to this pasta is adding plenty of pasta water from cooking the pasta to the creamy pesto sauce, and cooking the rigatoni in the sauce for a couple of minutes.  This method makes the pasta and the sauce become one - and so delicious.  

We made a big batch of Herb Garden Pesto last week.  Our herbs in the garden were going a little crazy, so we picked as much as we could and put it all into a yummy pesto.  Instead of just basil, we also used Italian parsley and chives, hence the name Herb Garden Pesto.  It was so delicious.  

Chives Hair

Herb Garden Pesto

4 cups of fresh basil
2 cups of fresh Italian parsley
2 cups of fresh chives
6 cloves of garlic
1 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon of sea salt
1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

In a large food processor, start by chopping 6 cloves of garlic.  Add fresh herbs and whirl until finely chopped.  Add olive oil and blend.  Add parmesan, salt and red pepper.

Store in the refrigerator or freezer in Kitchen Containers.

Creamy Pesto & Rigatoni with Tomatoes Grilled Chicken & Fresh Mozzarella

1 box of rigatoni pasta
1 tablespoon of sea salt
.....
2 chicken breasts
1/4 cup of pesto (for marinate)
....
3/4 cup of pesto (for sauce)
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup of cream
1/2 cup - 1 cup of pasta cooking water*
1 teaspoon of sea salt
4 ounces of fresh mozzarella

Here is a timeline instruction list to help with the timing.  I know it can be a tricky thing to time everything perfectly, so you can see exactly how this dinner takes about 20 minutes to make if the pesto is made ahead of time.  If not, allow about 5-10 minutes to make the pesto.

0 : Turn on the grill.

1 : Start pot of water for pasta.

3 : Brush chicken with pesto.

4-5 : Cut cherry tomatoes in half.

  6 : Put chicken on the grill.  (set timer for 5 minutes)

7: Add pasta to boiling water.

8-10 : Put pesto in the saute pan, add cherry tomatoes.  Cook for just a couple of minutes on medium.  Add cream and let simmer on medium.

11 : Flip chicken breasts.  (set timer for 5 minutes, again)

13-15 : When the pasta is ready, transfer it directly from the water to the sauce by using a Spider Skimmer   You can also dump it into a colander, but *be sure to reserve some of the pasta cooking water to add to the sauce.  Toss the pasta with the sauce.  Add about 1/2 cup of pasta water to the sauce and pasta.  Cook on medium/low heat for a couple of minutes.

16: Check chicken on the grill with meat thermometer.  Should read 145-150 degrees.

17-18 : Chop fresh mozzarella into cubes.  Slice chicken into thin strips.

19-20 : Add last bit of fresh pesto into the pasta and toss.  Spoon pasta into shallow bowls, top with slices of chicken and mozzarella.

Brush on chicken breasts as a marinade before grilling.

Start with a big dollop of pesto in a saute pan (reserve a coupe of tablespoons to add at the end), then add halved cherry tomatoes.  Cook on low for a couple of minutes.  

Add 1/2 cup of cream.

Add rigatoni directly from the water to the saute pan.  The Spider Skimmer is especially helpful for this.

Toss the pasta and the sauce.  The Tongs are especially helpful with this.

Cook the pasta in the sauce for 3-5 minutes on low heat.  By finishing the pasta cooking in the sauce with a little pasta water, the sauce will be absorbed into the pasta, and it will become one.  

Add a dollop of pesto at the end to add a little brightness.  Toss with tongs.

Slice the grilled chicken.

Cube fresh mozzarella.

Top pasta with chicken and fresh mozzarella.

The Biggest Summer Sale! 15-35% off entire order + Free Shipping

Did you notice how much I "worked" last week?  Lots of new blog posts!  I have a couple of more planned of recent dinners and parties, so stay tuned for those in the next couple of weeks.  However, this week, I'm done for a bit and ready to relax the summer away... so, its time for a sale.  Everybody wins!  

Be sure to look around, many items that were previously out of stock we have restocked with "finds" while we were sorting out our inventory.  There is still stock of kitchen and laundry room bottles, gold frames, botanical prints, wraps, candles, baking supplies, tablets, kitchen essentials and home decor items.  It is a great time to stock up on these essentials we have each season.

15% off orders over $50, code : Summer-15
25% off orders over $100, code : Summer-25
35% off orders over $150, code : Summer-35
+ FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $50 (automatically applied)

Shop away!  The Everyday Occasions Store >

Cooking with Emma | Lemon Thyme Chicken, Green Beans & Mashed Potatoes

Emma and I were at Williams-Sonoma a couple of weeks ago when she spotted the American Girl Cooking cookbook.  She was convinced she needed it.  It was the first week of summer, so I thought the little investment might help us fill some of the summer evening dinners with something other than burgers and caprese salads.

It probably comes to no surprise to all of you that Emma and I spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen together.  She knows a lot of recipes and has her "specialties" that she's in charge of, like making marinades, dressings, chopping soft things (like mushrooms and cherry tomatoes) and of course baking.  

While I would never want to force her to love my passions, she seems to be interested in making and doing as much as I am.  It is our goal for her to be capable of helping herself and others, and these kitchen skills will go along way for her.  I think parents can get caught up in making sure their kids are very competent at many different swimming strokes, soccer skills, ballet positions and gymnastic tricks, but forget about life skills like being capable of making their own breakfast, lunch, or bed!  Sorry, off my soapbox.  I'll continue : )

She had her heart set on making the Rosemary Roast Chicken with Mashed Potatoes & Green Beans.

Like her mother, she does not like to follow a recipe to a "T."  She decided to omit the grain mustard from the chicken and almonds from the green beans.

We also changed it from Lemon Rosemary Chicken to Lemon Thyme Chicken when we discovered our rosemary had been uprooted and shriveled up.

A little lesson in being resourceful instead of running (back) to the store : )  Thyme it is.

I try to let her do as mush as possible all by herself.  Here she is using the tongs to squeeze the juice out of a lemon.  A little thing she learned on YouTube, she told me.  (insert eye roll emoji)

We used frozen green beans that were already blanched and just needed sautéing in butter and tossed with balsamic.  Pretty good, actually!

I find that if I put the heat on very low in the middle burner, it is far enough away so she can't hurt herself, but she can still reach it.  I cut and boiled the potatoes (on the back burner), but everything else was up to her -

Including setting the table, which is something she is always in charge of.

 Very proud!

My Roasted Lemon & Thyme Chicken (recipe here)

Mashed Potatoes!

A black and white close-up so time can stand still, just for a moment.

Banana Nut Muffins | Homemade Banana Nut Muffin Recipe

I shared this Banana Nut Muffin Recipe 7 years ago when I had started to blog more "seriously."  I still use this recipe all of the time - nothing better than warm banana muffins with coffee in the morning, especially when you can bake them fresh every morning with this little secret...



One of my favorite shortcuts that I use almost every week, is to make a large batch of muffin batter and keep it in the fridge or freezer in a Disposable Piping Bag.  If we want fresh baked muffins, I just get the bag out of the fridge in the morning, snip off the end, squeeze the batter into muffin papers, and in 15 minutes we have warm, buttery Banana Muffins.

If you keep the batter in the freezer, just put the bag of batter in the fridge the night before and it should be perfectly thawed in the morning.

I mentioned that we've been hosting a lot of guests this summer and this is one of my favorite tricks to an easy help-yourself-breakfast.  Just another way I like to pretend that I own a bed & breakfast : )

I always keep a couple bags of Muffin batter and unbaked Scones in the freezer.

These are the Large 18" Disposable Bags (100 for $16) and hold enough batter for about 8 large muffins baked in my Brown Jumbo Cupcake Papers.  I use the Large Scoop to portion them as I put them in the bag.  I scoop = 1 muffin

A double batch of the recipe below will make about 3 bags or 24 muffins.

We've been having warm muffins a couple of times a week this summer - one of my favorite shortcuts of all time!

The original post & recipe is below :

Muffins are completely underrated.  Or should I say, homemade, really good muffins are completely underrated.  My muffin perspective had been tainted by the bad muffins I would grab at the coffee shop or the airport.  These muffins, baked weeks (or months!) ago are too sweet, too dense, too greasy and too heavy.  They made me forget how incredibly moist, buttery and delicious a fresh, baked-from-scratch muffin can be.

Treat yourself to a real treat tomorrow morning and whip up these muffins.  It won't take you more than 10 minutes to stir them together and 20 minutes to bake.  If you're really organized, you can make the batter the night before and bake them in the morning.  Your house will be brimming with the best Banana Nut aroma as it bakes - the smell is almost as good as eating the actual muffins... a great way to wake up.

I suggest making these muffins and your own "Pumpkin Spice" latte (recipe coming tomorrow!) on a Saturday morning - your house will feel cozier than the most charming coffee shop... and the muffins will be much better.

Banana Nut Muffins
better than the bakery...

New! Printable Recipes, here.

4 overripe bananas
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup nuts, finely chopped

Peel the bananas.  Mash them roughly with a fork - leaving some chunky pieces for texture.  Place half of them in a KitchenAid fitted with the whisk attachment.  Set aside the other half of the bananas.

Add sugar to the KitchenAid, whip them together for 3 minutes until a frothy mixture forms.  Add butter, eggs and vanilla.  Mix together until combined.  Add flour, soda, salt, remaining bananas and nuts.  Stir until just combined.  Do not over mix.

Scoop the mixture into Brown Jumbo Cupcake Papers in a muffin tin with a Large Scoop.  Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes until baked through.  Serve with soften butter.

Products Used :

Large 18" Disposable Bags (100 for $16)
Brown Jumbo Cupcake Papers
Large Scoop



Can't you just taste them now - look at that melting butter!

I used mixed nuts, because that is what I had.  You can use any combination you like.

Mash the bananas with a fork - leaving it a little chunky for texture.

Whipped Banana Sugar mixture... yum.



See more Breakfast & Brunch Recipes, here>

Our Little Laundry Room | Creative Tips for Organizing

When we built our home, we had to make some sacrifices.  Thankfully, none of these sacrifices even come to mind anymore, so I guess we made the right choices.  One of the big ones was squeezing in a laundry room upstairs.  To make this happen, we had to forgo a large walk-in closet in our master bedroom.  Instead of a walk-in closet we have french door his and hers closets, which we love.  Win, win.

This space, at 6ft wide x 6ft deep, is small, but works very hard.  There wasn't room for a washtub or sink, but there is one across the hall that I can easily use if something needs an extra soak.  I didn't want to install upper cabinets because I thought it might close in the space and make it feel cramped.  Instead, we opted for open shelves with basket storage that peek through the glass lite doors, which makes this little nook in our upstairs hallway feel charming.

You'll notice there is not a lot of color or clutter - both probably do not surprise you.  I think the secret in this space to being clutter-free is that I don't have very much stuff, only what I need.  I also do not buy things that are brightly colored or have obnoxious packaging.  The items that are bright (like OxiClean) go in my Clear Bottles.  I only have to refill them about every 6 months, so it is not a hassle and so worth it for the clean aesthetic that I have in here.

I love the warmth that the baskets bring to what could seem like a cold utilitarian space.

I use the pegs for hanging clothes to dry, either just as they are or on hangers, if needed.  I've also thought about hanging a tote bag on the pegs to keep single socks and other items that seem to turn up in here.

The pegs also hold up the ironing board (that usually gets carried into the guest room for ironing, but will also fit in here in a pinch).

If I have a lot of ironing to do (hardly ever), I really enjoy spending time in our soft blue guest room (tour here) that is right next door to the laundry - not a bad spot for chores.



Here is what I keep in our laundry room.  I haven't needed anything else in here in two years, so I guess I have everything I need.  I can't say it enough, the secret to staying organized is having less stuff : )   I will not claim that this space always looks this tidy, but it is easily put back together after a busy day of laundry.  Also, when clothes come out of the dryer they get dumped on the guest bed for folding, so that helps keep things from piling up.

After seeing these Scalloped Lined Basket from Ballard in Tessa's office, I had to find a place for them in our home.  I bought two sets and am using 1 small + 2 medium here in the laundry room.  They are holding extra pillow inserts, out of season items and extra bed linens.  In the hallway, we have a linen closet that houses cleaning supplies, paper towels, suitcases, etc. and linen hutch to store our pillow covers (you know I have a lot of those!), towels and blankets.

In the center basket I keep a stack of dryer sheets (that I take out of the box because I find it ugly and cumbersome), a container for change, my Laundry Bottles (set of 3 for $14), and a lint roller.  I moved the scissors to the next basket over, along with a steamer and sewing kit.  Those are less used items, so I put them in a different basket to keep this one organized.

Shop my Clear Bottle Collection

To the right of the door, I keep a hamper.  And YES, sometimes it is overflowing and not quite as tidy looking.  I have a few laundry tips I'll share soon, too, that help me keep on top of it.  

Notice how the pegs wrap all the way around the room - one of my favorite touches.  If I have something I don't want to look at that needs to hang dry, I can hang it on these pegs and it is out of view from the hallway.  For instance, this summer our swimsuits are all hanging in this area.

I'll post the DIY for the Pegs in just a bit.  They are so easy to make.  Emma and I made them without Mike's help - they take an hour, tops.

If you'd like to tour the rest of our home, visit here : Our Home Tour Page