Oh, My Restless Soul

Book Review: The Book Thief

2009-10-11T20:36:00.005-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, I joined a book club! I am so excited about this and I was practically waiting on my tip-toes the 5 days that it took my first three books to get here from Amazon.com. I had never heard of any of the books that I was about to read, but I was sure that it was going to be enjoyable.

I am used to reading fantasy books and I really enjoy them. Some of my favorite books are The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Harry Potter, The Wheel of Time, and the Mistborn Trilogy. Those are usually the type of books that I seek out.

When I heard the title of this, The Book Thief, I imagined a story about a mischievious child that goes about stealing books, which is kind of what this book is, but I imagined it to be much more mischievious and much more lighthearted. I wondered to myself while waiting for the book what we could possibly talk about in our book club if the book was so basic. I opened the book and with the first couple of words, I was enticed, captivated, and very reluctant to set it down. Usually I can read through books really fast, and I was decently fast with this one, but I needed to make sure that each word sunk in.

About The Book:

Liesel Meminger is only nine years old when she is taken to live with the Hubermanns, a foster family, on Himmel Street in Molching, germany, in the late 1930s. She arrives with few possessions, but among them is The Grave Digger's Handbook, a book she stole from her brother's burial place. During the years that Liesel lives with the Hubermanns, Hitler becomes more powerful, life on Himmel Street becomes more fearful, and Liesel becomes a full-fledged book thief. She rescues books from Nazi book-burnings and steals from the library of the mayor. Liesel is illiterate when she steals her first book, but Hans Hubermann uses her prized books to teach her to read. This is a story of courage, friendship, love, survival, death, and grief. This is Liesel's life on Himmel Street, told from Dealth's point of view.

This is my favorite excerpt.

They say that war is death's best friend, but I must offer you a different point of view on that one. To me, war is like the new boss who expects the impossible. He stands over your shoulder repeating one thing incessantly: "Get it done, get it done." So you work harder. You get the job done. The boss, however, does not thank you. He asks for more.

Read it. You won't be sorry that you did.

GREAT NEWS!

2009-08-06T10:03:00.002-06:00

After 5 months of looking and 4 miserable months working at Walmart.... I got a job!!!!

You are now reading from a Health Unit Coordinator for Intermountain Healthcare. I'm working in the Medical/Surgical unit. No, this isn't EXACTLY what I wanted since I trained to be a Medical Transcriptionist, but in this day where everybody is looking for experience and I couldn't get anyone to hire a new graduate... I thought it couldn't hurt to apply for a position that required knowledge of Medical Terminology and organizational skills. ALL THE MAKINGS OF A GOOD MT.

I may not be there yet, but I know I'm one BIG step closer.

YAY!

I spent all morning yesterday getting poked and prodded. Drug tests, blood draws to check my immunizations, and a Tetanus shot. BUT I'M SO HAPPY.

Look at me go! :-P

My Very First

2009-08-03T19:03:00.002-06:00

I have decided that I need to start my transformation into a Homemaker now before I have kids so that when I have a little tot cruising around that I'll be able to keep up with it then too. I have 3 projects so far that I want to show you guys and I'm really excited because 2 of them were taken from something I saw and I tweaked them a bit and made them mine!

My sister-in-law, Maria just moved out-of-state with her husband and baby so her husband could start law school. I wanted to make something that would be fashionable and remind her that Emi and I care and that we think about them all the time. I decided that I wanted to make them a throw blanket and 4 pillows. I mulled over this for about a month before I finally bought the fabric. You see, I've sewn once in my life. It was in a Home-Ec class in 7th grade. I made a drawstring bag and I obviously couldn't sew a straight line to save my life. UNFORTUNATELY, this is still a work in progress.

My mom is an amazing sewer. She made all of my formals for High School dances and my bridesmaid dresses for my wedding. Not to mention the countless things she has fixed or hemmed for me. In short, she is amazing. She is teaching me how to sew and is helping me to make sure I don't screw up these projects too badly... :-D. She is also letting me use her 41-year-old sewing machine! I am going to be buying one here shortly though. I promise to post pics of that momentous moment. :-P

Here are the action shots from our sewing and the finished project. Pretty homey, if I do say so myself... and I DO!

Gianina

I used to be sane, but I got better.

2009-07-31T20:38:00.003-06:00

Hello everyone!

I know this abrupt change came as a surprise to a lot of people and it will probably take awhile for people to trickle over and I'll probably have to start building my followers all over again, but hey! I am EXCITED about this change. I have been stagnating over in the cooking world for a little while. Don't get me wrong! I still love it and I still hope to play a major part in it, but I think I might have some other things to offer as well.
Like I said in my previous post, I need a creative outlet. I can only post so many craft, painting, sewing projects on my family blog before people start getting bored and wonder why I don't talk about my hubby more. I started writing a journal and that didn't turn out to be enough. My husband is going bonkers because I keep telling him all about blankets, changing pads, curtains, blah blah blah that I want to share so instead YOU (lucky you...) get to hear all about it.
One of the first things I want to change from my previous blog is I want to add a playlist on here. I know some people despise these things and for that, I am terribly sorry. HOWEVER, music is very much a part of my life! So scroll on down to the very bottom and get to know me a bit by looking at my musical choices.

Hope you enjoy!

Gianina

I Need a Creative Outlet.

2009-07-29T22:42:00.003-06:00

I think I am going to change the purpose of this blog. I am interested in so many things and want to do so many things and I would love to share all of these things with many people. (I also consequently am not paying very close attention to my grammar.)
I want to make this blog respresent me. I'm still planning on posting recipes (which I have like 5 I need to post btw) but I would also like to post book reviews, movie reviews, crafts I want to do, crafts I've done... etc. and get feedback on all of it. This may not make a lot of sense to some people, but it makes a lot of sense to me, because that is how my mind works 99% of the time. One big jumbled mess of life.
I don't promise that it will be interesting, but I do promise it will be me.

What do you think?

Greek Potato Salad

2009-06-18T14:16:00.001-06:00

If you ever are wondering what I'm doing on a Friday night when my husband is still at work, you can be sure to find me searching the internet for yet another food blog so that I can expand my cooking horizons. I found this blog a couple of weeks ago and I LOVE it. My brother has been begging me to make her Chicken Pineapple Blackbean Enchiladas for him and I have her another recipe of hers on the menu for this next week. Thanks to Mindi for having such an awesome blog!

I was hesitant and excited to try this greek potato salad. I was unsure of whether or not Emi or I would like it because we are kind of potato salad snobs. :-D I loved cutting up all the vegetables and the delicious smells that came from them. Nothing smells better than fresh cut vegetables... seriously... nothing. However, this recipe wasn't mine and Emi's cup of tea. We weren't sure why exactly. We didn't hate it, and we didn't love it. I wanted to share it though because I'm sure other people would find it to their liking. My mom tried some and she loved it! I gave it to her and she said that she even ate some right before she went to bed! Haha. So if your game, definitely try this recipe. Who knows.... you might like it!

GREEK POTATO SALAD
1 ½ lb. red potatoes, cubed
1 C. cherry tomatoes, halved
1 C. cucumber, seeded, diced
½ C. pitted Calamata olives, sliced
¼ C. red onion, diced
1 T. chopped fresh oregano
1 C. shredded grilled chicken (optional)

VINAIGRETTE
½ C. feta cheese, crumbled
1/3 C. fresh lemon juice
¼ C. olive oil
2 T. plain yogurt (or Greek yogurt)
1 t. sugar
Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Boil potatoes in salted water until tender, 12-15 minutes; drain.
2. Mix all the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a blender.
3. Combine tomatoes, cucumber, olives, onions and oregano.
4. Add potatoes, chicken and vinaigrette.
5. Lightly mix until vinaigrette is evenly distributed.
6. Chill the refrigerator before serving.

Source: Mindika Moments

Steak Kabobs

2009-06-17T13:54:00.003-06:00

I have really been enjoying being able to cook on the grill. This last meal I cooked was completely by myself with no help from Emi and the steak ended up being cooked perfect!!! It still had a bit of red in it and was moist and flavorful. I changed this just a little bit from the orginal recipe. For one thing, I used 2 garlic cloves instead of just the 1 and Emi and I never use hot sauce, so I didn't want to buy any for 1/8 of a tsp. Plus, I was a little afraid that if Emi saw the hot sauce, he wouldn't even try the steak, although I'm sure 1/8 of a teaspoon wouldn't add any heat to it. Instead I added 2 T of teriyaki sauce. It turned out great!!! My vegetables of choice were red onions and green bell peppers.

STEAK KABOBS
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 T oil
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp paprika
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 T teriyaki sauce
3/4 lb steak- cubed
veggies of choice (like onion, mushrooms, peppers)

Combine first 9 ingredients. Pour 1/4 cup in a large zip loc bag. Cover and refrigerate remaining liquid. Add beef to bag and marinate at least 2 hours. Put meat and veggies of choice on skewers (soak skewers in water for 20 minutes before putting meat and veggies on them so they don't burn). Grill until desired doneness brushing with reserved liquid.

Source: Tried and True Cooking With Heidi

Sausage Calzones

2009-06-10T12:19:00.001-06:00

Here is another wonderful recipe from Annie's Eats. My husband just LOVED this and told me to make them again soon! These were really easy to put together and satisfied my pizza craving that I always have! (I always crave pizza or tex-mexican food. :-D) I didn't have all the ingredients that I needed so I played around with it a bit and it turned out great!

However, I'm just going to include Annie's recipe because how I wish I had had everything I needed because I bet it would have been even better. I didn't have mushrooms or spinach so I left out the mushrooms (sad day) and put in some fresh parsley instead of spinach (obviously not as much). I have a little pot of parsley that is growing nicely on our balcony that was just begging me to use it. I also added the tomato sauce to the calzone before I put it in the oven! Yum!

Check out Annie's Eats Sausage Calzone recipe here.

How to Grill Pizza

2009-06-09T09:36:00.008-06:00

Hello Again!

So I'm giving myself 100% for my efforts on blogging this past week. :-D I'm pretty much caught up now and I need to find some more recipes to grace you all with.

Since its pretty much summertime, we are doing most things on the grill. I am not a fan of cooking things over the stove because I always worry that it isn't done, and dislike cooking with oil. Last week, I decided that I wanted to try cooking pizza on the grill. I had never done this before and I was SOOOO nervous. My husband was even more nervous that I was going to ruin his precious grill. :-D

I could not for the life of me find a good tutorial on cooking pizza on the grill. So... I read a couple of different things and just decided to go for it! And here is my tutorial for you. :-D

1. Oil down grill. To do this, pour some olive oil onto a paper towel and rub down the area you will cook on.
2. Turn on grill and put it on high heat. Mine was at 500 degrees by the time I was ready to put the pizza on.
3. Make pizza dough. Lightly brush pizza dough with olive oil. Once dough is ready, place it on the grill. It will start to bubble immediately. Turn grill down to low heat. Once it is puffed up, you know to turn it on it's other side. (You may want to use two spatulas or a pizza turner. I made my pizzas kind of small since I don't have another grill spatula or a special pizza one!)
4. Start adding your pizza sauce and toppings.
5. Close the lid and allow cheese to melt. Once melted, your pizza is done!

SUPER EASY... and I didn't ruin the grill!

Here are some pizza recipes you can try on the grill.

Chicken Barbeque Pizza (This is the one pictured above)
Chicken Garlic Pizza
Ranch Chicken Pizza

...or you could always go for good ol' pepperoni and cheese!

Source: Gianina

Chicken with Lemon Sauce

2009-06-06T11:52:00.000-06:00

This was another meal that me and my mom put together for a get together at my parent's house. My mom did most of the work, but I provided the recipe from Delectable Dining.
This dish turned out amazing and was so creamy. My only advice would be... make sure that you cool the sauce a bit before you taste it. I tasted the sauce and couldn't taste the lemon so I added more and it was a bit overpowering. I will definitely make this again!

CHICKEN WITH LEMON SAUCE
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup all purpose flour, divided
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 teaspoons salt, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons pepper, divided
2 eggs
5 tablespoons butter, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups apple juice
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Flatten chicken to 1/4-inch thickness. In a shallow bowl, combine 3/4 cup flour, Parmesan cheese, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. In another bowl, beat the eggs. Dip chicken into eggs and coat with flour mixture. In a large skillet, cook chicken in 2 tablespoons butter and oil over medium heat for 3-5 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. Remove and keep warm. In a small bowl, combine the remaining flour, salt and pepper; stir in broth until smooth. Add apple juice to the skillet, stirring to loosen any browned bits. Stir broth mixture and add to the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Stir in lemon juice; cook for 1 minute. Add parsley and remaining butter; cook and stir until butter is melted. Serve over chicken.

Source: Delectable Dining

Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Shells

2009-06-05T11:47:00.000-06:00

I am a BIG fan of Annie's blog over at Annie's Eats. I probably have more than half of her blog bookmarked to try. I really think she is an amazing cooker/baker.
I have made stuffed shells before, and while I liked them, I kind of found that I felt they were too much trouble for what their worth. These, however, were not. These were AMAZING! By far my favorite stuffed shell recipe. If you try anything from Annie's blog... TRY THESE.

SAUSAGE AND SPINACH STUFFED SHELLS
1 12-oz. package jumbo pasta shells
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
1 lb. Italian sausage, casings removed
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 15-oz. container ricotta cheese
6-7 oz. fresh spinach, chopped OR 10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 tbsp. chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 28-oz. can chopped tomatoes with herbs, including the liquid

Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook pasta shells according to package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage to the pan, breaking it into smaller pieces as it cooks. Cook until the sausage is completely cooked through and no pink remains, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg, ricotta, spinach, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan, basil, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper. Stir together to combine. Add the cooked sausage mixture to the bowl and stir until evenly mixed.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spread a thin layer of the chopped tomatoes in the baking dishes (either three 8×8″ pans, or one 9×13″ and one 8×8″). Stuff each shell with some of the sausage and cheese mixture, and arrange in the baking dishes, open side up. Spread the remaining tomatoes over the top of the pasta shells.

Cover the pans with foil and bake for 30 minutes, until hot and bubbling. Remove foil and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 10 more minutes.

Source: Annie's Eats

Creamy Ground Turkey Enchiladas

2009-06-04T11:43:00.001-06:00

This is a Gianina original. I had some ground turkey left over from the tacos that I made so I decided to throw together some enchiladas. These turned out great and were simple and easy to make. My husband kept telling EVERYONE how I came up with my own enchilada recipe and that it was SOOOOO good. :-P

GROUND TURKEY ENCHILADAS
2 T olive oil
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 onion, chopped
Garlic powder, to taste
1 can cream of mushroom
8 oz sour cream
1 can green chile enchilada sauce
2 cups medium cheddar cheese
10 flour tortillas
Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat oil in skillet. Add onions and sautee. Brown ground turkey with garlic powder.
3. Put ground turkey in a bowl and set aside.
4. In same skillet, add cream of mushroom, sour cream, and green enchilada sauce. Stir until well mixed.
5. Pour 1/3 of the sauce over the ground turkey.
6. Place meat and cheese inside flour tortillas and roll up. Spray a 9 X 13 baking pan with cooking spray. Place seamside down. Pour remaining sauce over the top of enchiladas. Top with cheese.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 30 - 35 minutes.

We like ours extra crispy so we do the full 35 minutes.

Ground Turkey Tacos

2009-06-03T11:17:00.006-06:00

I am really behind on my blogging so I have quite a few recipes ready to go. My husband has been on vacation and while we have been eating well... I've been too busy spending time with him to post.

I got this recipe from a new site I was referred to by a friend a couple of weeks ago. Gina at Skinny Weight Watcher Recipes has a lot of great recipes and I was so excited to try this one. I have cooked with ground turkey before... and the result was not the greatest, but I'm happy to report that this turned out well! I was also a little afraid they would be too spicy for my husband, but they tasted almost exactly like the store bought packet of taco seasoning minus all the extra sodium!

GROUND TURKEY TACOS

1.3 lbs 99% lean ground turkey
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 small onion, minced
2 tbsp bell pepper, minced
3/4 cup water
1/2 8 oz can tomato sauce
8 large lettuce leaves from Iceberg lettuce

Brown turkey in a large skillet. When no longer pink add dry seasoning and mix well. Add onion, pepper, water and tomato sauce and cover. Simmer on low for about 20 minutes.

We tried these in the lettuce wraps, but despite drying them the end result was pretty messy (as well as tasty) so we decided to go with the traditional tortilla after that.

Source: Skinny Weight Watcher Recipes

Jessica's Italian Pasta Salad

2009-05-21T16:21:00.005-06:00

Hello everyone! I made these awesome 7 Up Chicken Fajitas a couple of nights ago changing them up just a bit with tomatoes and lettuce instead of sauteed green peppers and onions. While thinking of the recipe I suddenly had an epiphany of what I wanted to go with them. Our friend Jessica makes some awesome pasta salad. I immediately texted her to ask her what was in her pasta salad and I anxiously waited for dinnertime to come around. This is a REALLY simple side dish and its SURE not to dissappoint. Perfect for a wonderful Memorial Day BBQ. I'm thinking on Memorial Day I will switch it up a bit and use Cheese-filled Tortellini pasta. Yum!

Emi was so funny as I was making this. I was cutting up the green bell pepper and he wanted me to give him half of it to eat before I ruined it by cooking it. :-P Once I told him I didn't plan on cooking the green bell pepper, he shut right up and just waited for dinner. :-D

JESSICA'S ITALIAN PASTA SALAD

1 lb Rotini Pasta (I used Garden Rotini which had tomato and spinach pasta as well as the regular, it made for a pretty dish.)

1 green bell pepper

4 roma tomatoes

3 stalks green onions

sliced black olives (I use the smallest can possible because I'm not a fan, but it is GOOD in the salad)

Salt to taste

Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing to taste (I probably used about 3/4 to 1 cup)

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. Drain pasta and rinse under cold water.

3. Cut green bell pepper, roma tomatoes, and green onions into small bits. Add these and sliced olives in with pasta. Add salt to taste and coat with Italian dressing.

4. Allow to chill to desired temperature.

Source: Our good friend Jessica.

Sun-dried Tomato Chicken Roll-Ups

2009-05-19T08:43:00.005-06:00

I've made this recipe one other time for my Mom's birthday last year. We really enjoyed it so I thought I'd make it again and include a picture. It turned out great! This looks like a really fancy dish, but I assure you it is quick and easy to throw together... anyone can do it.

I usually have a hard time with chicken breasts that are cooked in the oven coming out dry. It isn't the case with these roll-ups. They always come out nice and moist. I did, however, cook my chicken for about 35 minutes. I love the flavor from the sun-dried tomatoes in this dish and I actually hate sun-dried tomatoes... go figure.

Don't you love that I put things in my food that I hate? I just love experimenting and seeing if I like things different ways... and "they" say that your tastes change every 7 years so its good to always give things a try again.

I served this with Penne Pasta tossed with Garlic, Olive Oil, and Parsley.

SUN-DRIED TOMATO CHICKEN ROLL-UPS
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
8 chicken breast cutlets (1 1/2 pounds)
1/2 lb. deli-sliced provolone cheese
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

DIRECTIONS
Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with foil and grease the foil.
Place the beaten eggs and bread crumbs into separate shallow bowls. In another bowl, mix the ricotta and sun-dried tomatoes. Dip the chicken cutlets into the egg, then coat with the bread crumbs and place on a work surface. Place a slice of provolone and a heaping tbsp. of ricotta mixture on each cutlet. Roll up and secure with toothpicks.
Place the chicken roll-ups side by side on the prepared baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil. Bake until the chicken is golden and the cheese is bubbling, about 20 minutes.

Source: Sugar & Spice

Crockpot: Orange Chicken

2009-05-06T20:13:00.004-06:00

My husband loves almost every recipe that I make. He loves them so much that recently he has began getting upset after a particularly good meal because he doesn't know when he is going to have it again. :-D So I've decided that now at least once a month I will cook something old in with all the new. This month, however, I decided that I wanted to do a whole month of recipes we've ate before... but I just couldn't take it so I did add in 3 new ones. So, you will get a couple of recipes that I have posted about before refreshed in your memory, as well as pictures to go along with them to entice you to try them.
I have been making this dish for about a year and a half now. It is really easy and one of the reasons I like it so much is it is done in the crockpot. This is also a low-cal recipe which makes it extra nice. It's a fantastic dish, so you should definitely give it a try. This dish is from Fix It and Forget It Lightly by Phyllis Pelman Good. I use my rice cooker to make rice while I am mixing up the mandarin sauce so it all goes together so nicely.

ORANGE CHICKEN LEG QUARTERS
170 calories per serving.

4 chicken drumsticks, skin removed*
4 chicken thighs, skin removed
1 c. strips of green and red bell peppers (I just use green)
1/2 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. prepared orange juice
1/2 c. ketchup
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. molasses
1 T. prepared mustard
1/2 t. garlic salt
11-oz can mandarin oranges
2 t. cornstarch
1 c. frozen peas
2 green onions, sliced

1. Place chicken in slow cooker. Top with pepper strips.
2. Combine broth, juice, ketchup, soy sauce, molasses, mustard, and garlic salt. Pour over chicken.
3. Cover. Cook on low 5-6 hours.
4. Remove chicken and vegetables from slow cooker into a ovensafe pan. Heat broiler to high and broil for 4 minutes. Keep warm. (The broiling part is optional, Emi and I just like our chicken's outside to be a bit crispy.)
5. Measure out 1 cup of cooking sauce. Put in saucepan and bring to boil.
6. Drain oranges, reserving 1 Tbsp. juice. Stir cornstarch into reserved juice. Add to boiling sauce in pan.
7. Add peas to sauce and cook, stirring 2-3 minutes until sauce thickens and peas are warm. Stir in oranges.
8. Arrange chicken pieces on platter of cooked white rice, fried cellophane noodles, or lo mein noodles. Pour orange sauce over chicken and rice or noodles. Top with sliced green onions.

Beef Parmesan with Garlic Pasta and Peasant Bread

2009-05-02T20:03:00.003-06:00

I have posted about this recipe before, but I wanted to post about it again since its way back in the archives and I didn't take a picture last time. This dish is DEFINATELY worth making. I have now made this dish 3 times and each time its just been absolutely amazing. I made this for my sister-in-law Maria for her birthday. I gave her a choice of three separate meals and she ended up picking this one. It was a big hit and my husband is especially fond of the garlic pasta.
You can see the original post here.

BEEF PARMESAN WITH GARLIC PASTA
1 1/2 pounds beef cube steak
1 onion, sliced into thin rings
1 green bell pepper, sliced in rings
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 (16 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
12 ounces angel hair pasta
8 garlic cloves
1/4 cup parsley

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.Cut cube steak into serving size pieces. Coat meat with the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan, and saute 4 minced garlic cloves for 3 minutes. Quick fry (brown quickly on both sides) meat. Place meat in a casserole baking dish, slightly overlapping edges. Place onion rings and peppers on top of meat, and pour marinara sauce over all.
3.Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the thickness of the meat. Sprinkle mozzarella over meat and leave in the oven till bubbly.
4. While pasta is boiling, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and saute 4 minced garlic cloves until golden brown. Take off the heat and add parsley to the pan. Set aside until pasta is done.
4.Boil pasta al dente. Drain, and toss in olive oil, parsley, and garlic. Top with grated parmesan. Serve meat and sauce atop a mound of pasta!

HINT: make the meat ahead of time, and refrigerate over night, the acid in the tomato sauce will tenderize the meat even more. If you do this, save the mozzarella till the last minute.

With this I made a recipe that I've had sitting in my favorites probably for the last six months or so. I had never made it before because I was afraid if my husband saw this lump of dough that he would stick up his nose and not want to try it. He LOVED this bread and told me to make it ANYTIME and since it is REALLY easy... maybe I will!

PEASANT BREAD
1 pkg dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
4 cups flour
Cornmeal
Melted butter

Place yeast, water, sugar, and salt in bowl and stir until dissolved. Add flour and stir until well blended. Do not knead. Cover and let rise until double in size (about 1 hour). Remove dough from bowl and place in 2 rounds on a greased cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Let rise an additional hour. Brush top on dough with melted butter and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Chicken Barbeque Pizza

2009-04-27T15:18:00.005-06:00

I made this on Saturday night as an impromptu visit from my parents. I knew Emi wasn't going to be home when I got home from work so I gave them a call and bribed them with food.
I have been planning to make BBQ pizza for the last 3 months and have just never gotten around to it. I've been trying to find a recipe that I thought would be amazing since I love BBQ chicken, but I was afraid that on a pizza it would just be too strong of a taste. I came up with this concoction myself. :-D This is the best BBQ pizza I have ever had. Emi and my parents would agree with me.
You can find the original pizza dough recipe here, but I've made a few changes.

PIZZA DOUGH
1 pkg. Dry yeast (2 tsp. = 1 pkg.)
2 Tbsp. Lukewarm water
Dissolve yeast in warm water.
1 egg
1 tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Sugar
1 Tbsp. Shortening or oil
1 cup boiling water
3 cups flour
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. parsley flakes

Beat egg, add shortening, salt, sugar. Slowly stir in boiling water. Cool to lukewarm and add yeast mixture. Add ½ flour, italian seasoning, and parsley; stir (or beat with electric mixer) until smooth. Add remaining flour. Knead to soft dough. Roll to fit pan. Spread light coating of oil over dough on pan. Let rise 15 minutes. (You can spread on sauce and toppings while waiting for dough to rise.)

Cook at 425 for 15 - 20 minutes. (Check at 15 minutes.)

HINT WHILE BAKING: Turn oven to BROIL for one minute at the very end of pizza cooking time. This gives the cheese a nice brown that is so delicious!

BARBEQUE CHICKEN PIZZA
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cubed
Italian seasoning
Parsley flakes
Worchestershire sauce
Salt
Pepper
1/2 cup Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce (or your preferred)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 red onion, sliced
Mozzarella cheese
1 T. olive oil
1 T. fresh cilantro chopped

Cube chicken breasts and saute over medium-high heat seasoning with italian seasoning, parsley flakes, worchestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Mix BBQ sauce and cream together and spread over crust. Top with chicken, then cheese, then red onion slices.

Creamy Ranch Chicken Enchiladas

2009-04-27T07:44:00.007-06:00

Yesterday was mine and my husband's 2-year anniversary. We had a really great night watching our wedding video and just remembering April 26, 2007. It was just a small celebration, nothing too fancy because we're going to be going out to dinner later in the week. Emi and I both love enchiladas! I have two other enchilada recipes that I swear by and now I'm going to have to add these to the list.
I was very intrigued by this recipe because I just couldn't imagine eating an enchilada with ranch and I was a little scared to even try it, but that is why I ended up trying it anyway! :-D I definitely reccomend these. I made a couple of small changes, which I'll include below. Yum!
I found these on another blog that I found recently (don't you just LOVE finding new food blogs???) called Annie's Eats. I have over 30 recipes marked to try from this blog so be sure to check it out here.

CREAMY RANCH CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used 2 bone-in chicken breasts and had more than enough to fill 10 tortillas.)
8 oz. reduced fat sour cream
8 oz. Ranch salad dressing
2 stalks green onions
1- 7 oz can green chiles
flour tortillas (10-15)
shredded mexican cheese

Directions:
Cook chicken breasts by preferred cooking method until cooked through. Set aside to cool a bit. (I cooked mine by throwing them in the crockpot for 6 hours with the green chiles, salt, and pepper. I love cooking chicken this way for anything I need shredded chicken for. It's much easier to shred than baking, grilling, or boiling.)

While chicken is cooling, mix up the sauce. In a large mixing bowl, combine half of the sour cream and half of the Ranch dressing. In a small bowl, combine the rest of the sour cream and Ranch dressing. Stir both until well combined. Shred or chop the cooked chicken and add to the large mixing bowl. Mix well with sauce.

Preheat the oven to 375°. Grease a 9 x 13″ pan (and possibly another, smaller pan if needed). Add some of the chicken mixture to the center of the each tortilla. Sprinkle with shredded cheese, to taste. Roll up tortilla and place, seam side down, in the prepared baking dish. Use the sauce in the small bowl to top enchiladas, spreading well. Sprinkle on cheese to taste.

Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes (30 for a crispier tortilla). Allow to cool a few minutes before serving.

Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

2009-04-26T11:13:00.003-06:00

I made this dish last Sunday when we went up to my parent's house to have my mom cut Emi's hair. My mom never misses an opportunity for me to cook for them. :-D
I got this recipe from a new blog I found a couple of weeks ago and I have quite a few more recipes to try from her blog. Be sure to check out Norah's blog here. This recipe turned out so good! I will definitely make it again once red peppers go on sale! :-D The only thing I did differently is that I added the parmesan to the sauce and let it melt in instead of just using it as a topping.
Side note on the picture: My mom took this picture and she wanted some "green" on there so she stuck her salad bowl next to the pasta on the plate. I told her it would look goofy, but she is just too cute to listen to me. :-D

ROASTED RED PEPPER PASTA
3 red bell peppers
2 tablespoons pine nuts (optional)
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup heavy cream
Flat leaf parsley, finely minced
Fresh Parmesan, shaved or grated
1/2 to 1 pound pasta: orecchiette, penne, fusilli, etc.

Roast red peppers, then place in a Ziploc bag to allow to sweat. Peel the charred skins from the peppers, then removed seeds. Set aside. (Here are instructions for roasting bell peppers.)
Lightly toast pine nuts in a skillet. Set aside.
Puree peppers with pine nuts. Set aside.
Cook pasta according to package directions.
In a skillet or pot over medium heat, drizzle in olive oil. Add diced onions and garlic and cook until soft. Pour in pepper puree and stir together. Add plenty of salt. Pour in cream and parmesan cheese. Stir to combine. Taste and add more salt, if necessary. Add cooked pasta, then stir together.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken

2009-04-19T10:21:00.003-06:00

This dish turned out amazing! I was a little worried about it since I am not a huge fan of cream of chicken. In fact, I almost used cream of mushroom instead, but I am very glad that I didn't! My husband and his friend Cody said that this dish was better than anything you could ever get at Olive Garden and said that I need to make this again. To me, the chicken actually took a back seat to the sauce this time which is weird in this family of meat lovers. I made a couple of changes to the recipe, which I'll include below. I want to make this again and next time I think I will skip the bacon wrapped chicken all together and do something a little more like this, but definitely keep the same sauce recipe.
One little piece of advice to those who want to try this recipe with the bacon wrapped chicken, you might want to slightly cook the bacon in the microwave or very briefly over the stove. Since the bacon in covered by the sauce, it cooks but it is still really soft when it comes out of the oven.

BACON WRAPPED CHICKEN
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, sliced
1 pkg bacon
3 stalks green onions
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 pound wide egg noodles

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Pound the chicken breasts until flat. Put a slice of cream cheese, 1 teaspoon chopped green onions, and 1 teaspoon minced garlic in the middle of each breast and roll up. Wrap each rolled breast with 2 slices of bacon and secure with toothpicks. Place in a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. In a medium bowl, combine cream of chicken, mayonnaise, heavy cream, lemon juice, leftover green onions, 2 Tablespoons of garlic, pepper and salt. Mix until smooth, then pour over chicken (I also added the cream cheese I had leftover from the slices for the chicken).
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, or until no longer pink and juices run clear. Turn on broiler for 4 minutes to get a nice crispy top.
5. Serve chicken and sauce over egg noodles.

Flautas

2009-04-15T19:30:00.004-06:00

You will have to excuse me for my lack of updating and commenting lately. I just recently started a new job and I will need a little while to get used to the change. Speaking of jobs... I wouldn't usually do this, but I really dislike the place that I am currently working, mostly because I just graduated from a school and I'm not even doing what I went there for. If any of the people that read this site have any connections with Medical Transcription, I'd really appreciate any help that I can get. I have been trying to find a job in that field (since I went to school for it) but it is tough right now because of a lot of graduates and companies aren't hiring because of the economy. Any help/advice would be much appreciated.
Anyway! Back to food. When I saw Real Mom Kitchen's recipe for Chicken Flautas, I knew I needed to give it a try. I hit one little snag in that my deep fryer is too small for the tortillas. I remembered seeing on For the love of cooking that she baked her taquitos in the oven so I combined these forces :-D and came out with an awesome meal!
Immediately following my husband's first bite, he explained to me that he didn't expect to like these, but that he ended up LOVING them and told me I could make them anytime! :-D

FLAUTAS
Please click on the above links to check out the original recipes
3 chicken breasts
1 Tbsp. Fajitas Seasoning
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 small can chopped green chiles
10 flour tortillas
1 cup shredded cheese (whatever you like, I used cheddar)
toppings of your choice to dip them in such as salsa, guacamole, etc. (I used the green enchilada sauce mixed with sour cream. Next time I'd like to dip them in this.)

Place your chicken in a crock pot with the fajita seasoning and garlic salt and cook on low for at least 6 hours. About 1 hour before you want to eat, remove chicken from the crock pot. Shred the chicken and allow to cool for about 30 minutes. Then mix in shredded cheese.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Put flour tortillas for 1-2 minutes in the microwave to soften. Place a bit shredded chicken on the side of the tortilla then roll. Place, seam side down, on a baking sheet that's been coated with cooking spray. Finish rolling the rest of the flautas, then spray each of them with cooking spray and bake for 5-6 minutes then turn over and cook for an additional 5-6 minutes or until crispy and golden brown.

I served this with sour cream rice. This ended up being REALLY good! I changed it slightly to make it a little more tasty. I will definately make it again!

SOUR CREAM RICE
2 cups rice, cooked
1 tsp salt
1/2 T. garlic powder
2 cups sour cream
1 cup grated monterey jack cheese or any soft white cheese
3 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies, no seeds or 1/2 cup chopped fresh chili pepper, no seeds

While cooking rice, season with salt and garlic powder. Mix cooked rice, sour cream and green chiles. Mix grated cheeses together and reserve 1 cup for topping. Stir in cheeses with rice/sour cream mixture. Pour rice mixture into a lightly greased casserole dish. Top with reserved 1 cup grated cheese. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes.

Crispy Herb Baked Chicken

2009-04-08T12:58:00.007-06:00

I made this easy dish last night for Emi and I. It was a quick put together, but tantalizing wait while the smell of the chicken drifted through the house. I added a few things to the original recipe and I'm glad I did. After coating the chicken, I sprinkled the rest of the breadcrumb/potato flake mixture over the top of the chicken for extra crispyness. This was very crispy and the taste was fantastic, almost like fried chicken. Yum.
The only thing I would do differently is next time I will flip the chicken over halfway through the cooking. The bottom of the chicken had a nice crust while the top was still a little flaky. Emi loved this dish and told me I could make it again... anytime.
I chose to serve this with vermicelli and marinara sauce, kind of like a chicken parmesan thing. Like I've said before... I have never made my own marinara sauce and I am SURE that I am missing out. I (guiltily) use the jars from the store, but I usually add additional spices to make it WABAM a little better. Last night I used Prego Roasted Parmesan and to that I added some sugar, italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and little bit of red pepper flakes. Emi likes his sauces creamy so I also added a can of cream of mushroom to the sauce. Yum.

CRISPY HERB BAKED CHICKEN
4-6 bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks
2/3 cup dry potato flakes
1/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease or line with foil a baking sheet or a 13 x 9 inch baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, combine potato flakes, Parmesan cheese, and garlic salt. Stir until well mixed.
3. Dip chicken pieces into melted butter or margarine, and roll in potato flake mixture to coat. Place in prepared pan.
4. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until chicken is tender and golden brown.

Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup

2009-04-06T18:49:00.003-06:00

I have had my eye on this recipe for the past couple of months, but had never gotten around to making it. A couple of months ago, my parents took Emi and I to Zupas. It is a restaurant that serves soups, salads, and sandwiches and they seem to be sprouting up all over the place now. This wasn't my first experience with Zupas, but it was my husband's and he LOVED it.
My dad's favorite soup is the Wisconsin Califlower Soup, so I was really excited when I found this copy cat recipe. I've never tried it so I didn't know whether the taste was right or not, but my family really liked the soup. We had a couple of setbacks since my mom accidently picked up a mild cheddar cheese and monteray jack with jalapenos instead of pepper jack, but it all turned out in the end. :-D
Good thing I made it because *hopefully* (crosses fingers) last night will be one of the last cold days this season, but it is Utah afterall and we all know how Utah's weather can change.

ZUPAS WISCONSIN CAULIFLOWER SOUP
2 tablespoons margarine or butter (1/4 stick)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1 can (13 3/4 to 14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
1 head (2 1/2 pounds) cauliflower, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 cup Sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup Pepper Jack cheese

In 4-quart saucepan, melt margarine or butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until golden, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in flour and salt; cook 2minutes, stirring frequently. Gradually stir in milk, chicken broth, and 1 1/2 cups water; add cauliflower and heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until cauliflower is tender, about 10 minutes. In blender (with center part of blender cover removed to allow steam to escape), blend cauliflower mixture at low speed in small batches until very smooth. Return cauliflower mixture to saucepan; heat over medium heat until hot, stirring occasionally. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in mustard and 1 1/2 cups cheese until melted and smooth. Garnish soup with remaining cheese to serve.

Lemon Cream Pasta & Roasted Parmesan Asparagus

2009-03-30T11:40:00.004-06:00

I think this is my favorite dish that I have ever made. I am not a huge fan of pasta, but rather a huge fan of pasta with sauce. This just turned out so amazing. It had the exact right consistency and flavor. It turned out to be a very creamy pasta with just a little hint of lemon.
I did things a bit differently than the original recipe and I'll include my changes here. As always these measurements serve as a guide rather than what I actually put in.

LEMON CREAM PASTA WITH CHICKEN
3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 lemon, quartered
2 teaspoons garlic powder, divided
1 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
4 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth (or 4 chicken cubes with boiling water)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 (16 ounce) package rotelle pasta
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1. Heat a small amount of oil in a pan. Cut chicken into cubes and sautee over medium-high heat. Squeeze lemon over chicken and season with 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder and 3/4 teaspoon pepper.
2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, season the chicken broth with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil and add lemon juice and pasta. Cook over medium heat until done. Drain, reserving a small amount of liquid.
3. Add cream, lemon zest, and parmesan cheese and cook until cheese has melted and cream has thickened.

I served this with asparagus. This was mine and Emi's first encounter with asparagus other than at a restaurant. Afterwards, Emi told me that if I had told him we were going to have asparagus that he probably wouldn't have eaten it. However, he really liked it and requested that I make more as long as I don't make it any other way. I told him that if he liked it one way that I would definitely try other ways.

ROASTED PARMESAN ASPARAGUS
1/2 - 1 lb asparagus spears
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray cooking spray on a tinfoil lined baking sheet. Trim bottoms from asparagus spears & rinse. Place asparagus on baking sheet, salt and pepper to taste and drizzle with olive oil. Top with shredded Parmesan cheese and roast for about 5 minutes until fork tender. Serve & enjoy.

Lime Chicken Soft Tacos

2009-03-28T14:55:00.004-06:00

My camera's batteries have died again and we're in the works of buying some rechargeable ones so bear with me the next little while. I've been using my cell phone for the last couple of posts but when I went to mail the picture to the computer it decided not to work.
This was a really good meal and I did a couple of things to make it a little easier for me. I painted my office with my mom yesterday so I needed to have a simple meal. I'll include what I did for the instructions because to me, it is much easier. It wasn't your usual taco flavor so it was a nice change!

LIME CHICKEN SOFT TACOS
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast meat, shredded
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
10 (6 inch) flour tortillas
1 tomato, diced
1/4 cup shredded lettuce
1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup salsa
1/4 cup sour cream

1. Put chicken in crockpot (I put them in frozen). Season with salt and pepper. Add water, chicken broth, or white wine to keep the chicken from burning. Cook for 5-6 hours on low.
2. Saute chicken in a medium saucepan over medium high heat for about 5 minutes. Add vinegar, lime juice, sugar, salt, pepper, green onion, garlic and oregano. Simmer for an extra 10 minutes.
3. Heat an iron skillet over medium heat. Place a tortilla in the pan, warm, and turn over to heat the other side. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Serve lime chicken mixture in warm tortillas topped with tomato, lettuce, cheese, salsa, and sour cream.

I served this with a recipe for Cafe Rio's Cilantro Lime rice. The two flavors combined so well!

CILANTRO-LIME RICE
1 c. uncooked rice (long-grain, white rice)
1 tsp. butter or margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp. sugar
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

In rice cooker combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime, chicken broth and water. Let the rice cooker do it's thing. :-D Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.

Also! I received my second award the other day from Nett's Nook! Thank you SOOO much!!!

Along with the award came this little quote:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated."

It also says : "Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

I'd like to give this to:
Lauren at Mixing Bowls and Spatulas
Donna at My Tasty Treasures
Teresa at A Blog About Food
Eniko at It's all about FOOD!

Eclair Torte

2009-03-25T12:12:00.005-06:00

My friend Brooke brought this over when we had dinner with her last week. Emi and I loved it so much that in the days following it, we were craving it. I decided to make it yesterday. It is a pretty easy recipe to make but a little frustrating that it takes so long!!!! :-D Brooke found it on Real Mom Kitchen.
As I've mentioned before, I'm not a huge fan of chocolate so I didn't put chocolate syrup on mine and I think its just as delicious (if not more so) without it! :-D Be sure to give it a try!

ECLAIR TORTE
1 cup water
½ cup butter (no substitutes)
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup all purpose flour
4 eggs
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
2 packages (3.4 ounces each) instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups cold milk (I didn't use all 3 cups. I used more like 2 cups)
1 carton (12 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
Chocolate syrup

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring water, butter, and salt to a boil. Add four all at once; stir until a smooth ball forms. Remove from heat; let stand for 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with a wooden spoon after each addition. Beat until smooth. Spread into a greased 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan. Bake at 400 for 30 to 35 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack. If desired, remove puff from pan and place on a serving platter.

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, pudding mix, and milk until smooth. (Now if you're not careful doing this you can end up with chunks of cream cheese in the pudding mixture. I beat the cream cheese first. Then add the first cup of milk to it a little at a time. Then add the rest and pudding mix) Spread over puff; refrigerate for 20 minutes. Spread with whipped topping; refrigerate. Drizzle with chocolate syrup just before serving. Refrigerate leftovers. 12 servings.

Lasagna with Creamed Spinach

2009-03-23T11:27:00.003-06:00

I got this recipe a couple of weeks ago from my Aunt. My Aunt is a great cook and I remember her cooking all the time growing up. She has a blog that she updates every once in a while that talks about the history behind holidays, usually has some funny stories, and she shares a recipe relating to that holiday. You can check it out here. This turned out great and I will definitely be making it again. For the most part, Emi likes vegetables and doesn't mind when I include them in our dinner, but every once in a while he throws a fuss. He did ask me "what is that green stuff?" when I served him this dish, but he ended up asking when I would make it again by the time he got a mouthful. We had Emi's sister and her husband over for dinner and they really enjoyed it as well. Yum!

CREAMED SPINACH
2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach , thawed, drained and squeezed dry
1 cup cottage cheese
1 8-oz package cream cheese
1/2 cup butter, cubed 3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups cubed process American cheese
1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt

Lightly grease your crockpot. In a large bowl, mix together the spinach, cottage cheese, cream cheese and butter, American cheese, eggs, flour and salt until everything is evenly distributed. Transfer to the greased slow cooker. Cook on high for one hour, then reduce heat to low and continue cooking for 4 - 5 hours. Use for filling in lasagna, or manicotti shells. Can even be eaten by itself.

You'll find my recipe for lasagna here. Just substitute the cottage cheese, cheddar, and eggs for the creamed spinach.

Stuffed London Broil

2009-03-21T11:02:00.005-06:00

I got this idea from My Tasty Treasures. Unfortunately when I went to the store there wasn't any flank steak to be found, so I picked up a London Broil and hoped for the best. :-D We had one of my very best friends over for dinner last night, and she actually follows the food blog world as much as I do. She was planning to make this dish soon so it was fun to have her over to see how it turned out. I must say I had quite a bit of trouble cutting the steak in half, but it turned out great and everyone really liked it. The roasted red peppers really made the dish in my opinion, giving it a very interesting flavor. My only recommendation would be to use more cheese. Oh, and make it with flank steak instead!! :-D

STUFFED FLANK STEAK
1 Flank Steak 1 1/2 to 2 poinds
1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 seven ounce jar roasted red peppers, chopped
2 T. seasoned dry bread crumbs
1 egg yolk
3/4 t. garlic salt
3/4 t. ground black pepper
1 T. olive oil

1. Heat oven to 425.
2. Lay steak on work surface. Holding sharp knife parallel to work surface and starting at long side, slice flank steak in half to opposite side, without cutting all the way through. Open up the steak like a book and flatten slightly to an even thickness.
3. Squeeze liquid from spinach and discard liquid. In a medium sized bowl, combine spinach,cheese, peppers bread crumbs, egg yolk, ¼ teaspoon garlic salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
4. Season steak with an additional ¼ teaspoon pepper and garlic salt. Press filling onto steak, leaving a 1 inch border on all sides. Roll up steak to enclose filling, beginning on a short side. The grain of the meat will be running from left to right. Tuck any loose filling back into ends.
5. Tie steak with cotton twine at 2 inch intervals to secure. Rub outside with oil and sprinkle with remaining ¼ teaspoon pepper and garlic salt.
6. Roast at 425 for 35 minutes, then increase heat to broil for 5 minutes, turning once. Let meat rest for 15 minutes. remove twine, slice and serve.

I served this with Crash Hot Potatoes courtesy of For The Love of Cooking.

Gnocchi Marinara

2009-03-18T10:19:00.004-06:00

My brother works at a really upscale restaurant in Salt Lake City as their accountant. He used to be one of the pickiest eaters, but since starting his job there he seems to like to try almost anything. I've been to the restaurant twice since my brother is so generous (and I mean REALLY generous) and one of the things I tried was Gnocchi. I absolutely loved it. So when I saw a recipe for it on A Catholic Cooks, I knew that I had to give it a try. This didn't turn out quite like a wanted it to but after I got used to the texture, it was at least edible. My brother came down for this momentous occaision and I was really glad because if he hadn't been here, it probably would have turned out worse. He has seen the chefs at the restaurant make this before and has also tried once to make it on his own. So while this wasn't a huge success, I am comforted by the fact that it was better than my brother's attempt so maybe I know a LITTLE more about cooking than he does. :-P

I don't know whether or not I'll try to make this particular recipe again, but I do have a few suggestions for those of you who want to give it a try. First of all, make the gnocchi pretty small. I think part of the reason mine had a gluey texture is because they were so big. Secondly, use a strong sauce. Me, being a little naive, just picked up some Ragu sauce from the store and Gnocchi are pretty bland themselves so you might want to roll out "Your Great Great Great Grandmother's Secret Sauce" for these. ;-) (I'm still in need of some fantastic recipe for marinara sauce, although I admit I've never really tried to make one of the ones I've found.)

GNOCCHI FROM MASHED POTATOES

Leftover Mashed Potatoes

Nutmeg

Sauce of your choice (marinara, alfredo, etc.)

1. To about 4-6 cups of mashed potatoes, add 1 egg, nutmeg as preferred, and 1/2 cup of flour at a time, mix until it has a semi-firm consistency that hold its shape. (About like play dough)
2. Roll out into snakes about 1 inch wide and cut into pieces about 1 inch long.
3. Turn each cut piece onto its side, pressing finger in center to make a well.
4. In a pot of boiling water, with salt and oil added, drop 8-10 gnocchis in. When they float, they are done, drain and serve with your favorite sauce.

I served this with chicken thighs coated in bread crumbs cooked at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

If you're not going to use leftover mashed potatoes, once you have boiled the potatoes let them sit for a little while in a strainer over the sink to get most of the moisture out. Once you make the mashed potatoes (with milk and butter) let it sit again for a while to dry out. One of the problems my brother had when he made Gnocchi is there was too much moisture so he had to add a lot of flour in order to make it the right consistency. If any of you more seasoned cooks out there have some tips to add they would be greatly appreciated because I was pretty bummed that this was the first thing is months that I failed to WOW on.

My next daring attempt will be at Ricotta Gnocchi.

Honey Mustard Chicken

2009-03-15T21:05:00.005-06:00

Here is another great recipe from My Kitchen Cafe. It does take a little while to cook, but its all done in the oven while you could be off saving the world, or painting your living room like I was doing. The flavor was fantastic even though it was a pretty simple dish. The only recommendation that I would make is to turn your chicken over half way through baking. The bottom part of the chicken that had sat in the sauce was much more flavorful and tender than the top. Next week I will be trying this same recipe with some Tilapia that I bought and I'll be sure to let you know how it turned out. I served this with a baked potato and some green beans. The baked potato was an awesome easy choice since I just coated it in olive oil, salt, and pepper before wrapping it and throwing it in the oven for an hour. They were both done at the same time. Talk about EASY.

HONEY MUSTARD CHICKEN
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thawed and tenderized slightly (if they are overly thick, slice them in half)
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
2 Tablespoons mustard (I used the basic yellow mustard since my husband is not a fan of Dijon mustard, but I bet it would be tasty with either)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Pre-heat oven to 350. Place chicken in shallow baking pan. In a small bowl, combine butter, honey, mustard and salt and whisk well. Pour over chicken. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, basting every 15 minutes.

Garlic & Ginger Pork Chops

2009-03-11T18:01:00.005-06:00

I still have a package of boneless pork ribs in the freezer, so I will probably be making this again very soon and I'll be sure to post a picture then. Our friend Cody who is an avid BBQ lover puts BBQ sauce on almost any meat. I've come to realize that regardless of how I cook or season the meat, he'll put BBQ sauce on it. However, with this meal he didn't use ANY BBQ sauce and he told me that this is his favorite dish that I have ever made. Such high compliments! Emi loved this as well. I got the idea from For the love of cooking but I made a couple of changes. Since we were having our friends Cody and Missy for dinner, I substituted the soy sauce for teriyaki since Cody doesn't like the taste of soy sauce. I also made much more food because these boys like to EAT. :-D

GARLIC & GINGER SAUCE
3 t cornstarch
6 T teriyaki sauce
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup of honey
2 tsp grated fresh gingerroot
1/4 c water
Green onion, diced (for garnish)

In a saucepan, combine cornstarch and soy sauce and mix until it's smooth. Add honey, garlic, ginger, and water then bring to a boil while stirring. Reduce heat and let thicken. The measurements are kind of guessed since I felt like there wasn't enough sauce and added more ingredients as I went. My sauce ended up being pretty sweet (but not too sweet) with little bursts of ginger and garlic flavor.

PORK CHOPS
10 boneless pork ribs
Salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
1 tsp olive oil
Cooking spray

Meanwhile, in a skillet over medium high heat add olive oil and cooking spray. Season the pork chops to taste. When the pan is hot, add pork ribs and brown the outsides. Remove to an oven-safe baking dish and cook 25-30 minutes or until pork reaches and internal temperature of 170 degrees F. Drizzle sauce over pork then garnish with green onion and serve.

Lime Meltaways

2009-03-08T21:43:00.005-06:00

I found this recipe on Two Peas and Their Pod a couple of days ago and have been desperately trying to find a reason to make them. I love lime and I also love lemon flavored desserts so I was more than a little eager to try this out. Emi and I went over to his sister's house for a delicious dinner and I volunteered to bring these babies. They were a success and I promised my sister-in-law that I would post the recipe. This was pretty easy, but I was a little confused about the two logs that I was supposed to roll the dough into. I just guessed and since they tasted really good and everyone liked them, I'm guessing I did it right. :-D

LIME MELTAWAYS
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
Grated zest of 2 limes (I used 2 ½)
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups, plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, cream butter and 1/3 cup powdered sugar until fluffy. Add lime zest, juice, and vanilla; beat until fluffy.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt. Add to butter mixture, and beat on low speed until combined.
3. Between two 8 by 12 inch pieces of parchment paper, roll dough into two 1 1/4-inch diameter logs. Chill at least one hour.
4. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place remaining 2/3 cup powdered sugar in a resealable plastic bag. Remove parchment from logs; slice dough into 1/8-inch thick rounds. Place rounds on baking sheets, spaced 1 inch apart.
5. Bake cookies until barely golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool slightly 8 to 10 minutes. While still warm, place cookies in the sugar-filled bag; toss to coat. Bake or freeze remaining dough. Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Creamy Ranch Chicken Pasta

2009-03-07T11:25:00.006-07:00

From În Restaurantul Gianinei

I pulled this out of my archives to add a picture to it. But I thought I'd leave my brother's orginal comment on here to convince you all that you should try it. :-D

"Mad props to your ill cookin' skills." -Eric (My Brother)

This was a relatively quick recipe. It had a lot of flavor and had a taste that I can't quite explain. This time around I did things a little differently since I didn't have very much sauce last time. I grabbed two packets of the dry salad mix and used about a pack and a half. I also used 1/2 cup half and half because I wanted the sauce a bit creamier. The result was fantastic and I was rewarded with another. "Woman, this is the best food you've ever made." :-D

CREAMY RANCH CHICKEN PASTA
6 slices bacon
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite size pieces
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons ranch dry salad dressing mix
1 cup milk
1/2 cup half and half
3 cups egg noodles or fettucini
3 tablespoon finely shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Start your water for your pasta. Cook noodles according to package directions.
2. Cut bacon into narrow strips, then again into tiny pieces. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Drain bacon on paper towels.
3. In the same skillet, cook chicken until no longer pink, turning to brown evenly. 4. Mix flour, salad dressing mix, and milk in a small bowl. Move chicken into saucepan. Pour flour mixture over chicken. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Stir in bacon. Serve over noodles.

Korean-Style Pork Tenderloin and MY FIRST AWARD!

2009-03-02T14:15:00.007-07:00

A little while ago, I found a new food blog that I have just fallen in love with and you will see quite a few of her recipes popping up on here from now on. It's For the love of cooking. This lady seems like a really talented cook and her recipes are pretty healthy, yet they don't necessarily come off that way. What I mean by that is I can shove one of her recipes in my husband's face and he won't recoil because he thinks its healthy. (Yeah, he is one of THOSE guys - the mention of low-fat, low-sodium, low anything is like a death sentence for him. Don't even get him started on fat-free.) Not only are her recipes healthy, but she provides excellent descriptions of what you need to do, as well as pictures.

The only thing I did differently with this recipe was that I don't own an oven-safe skillet so I switched it into a baking pan after browning it in a skillet. This made the outside so yummy with the flavor just seared right in! It also took longer to cook than what the instructions say. It was probably in the oven for about 30 minutes until my thermometer read at a temperature of 160. I took it out once it hit 170 because that's just how my husband likes it.

I served this over fried rice using the extra sauce for flavor. Yum!

KOREAN-STYLE PORK TENDERLOIN

1/3 cup of low sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp dark sesame oil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 lb pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat
Olive oil cooking spray

1. Combine the first 7 ingredients in a large zip lock bag, and add the pork. Seal and marinated in a refrigerator for 8 hours our overnight, turning bag occasionally.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heat a large ovenproof skillet coated with cooking spray over medium high heat. Remove pork from bag, reserving marinade. Add pork to pan, cook 6 minutes, browning on all sides. Place pan in oven, and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until meat thermometer registers 160 degrees (medium) or until desired degree of doneness. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing.
3. Bring reserved marinade to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Cut pork into 1/4 inch thick slices and drizzle with sauce.

I also received my first award today!!! Teresa from A Blog About Food gave it to me and I am just so excited! Teresa has a lot of yummy recipes on her blog so be sure to head over there!

I will pass this on to:

Brooke at Teaspoons and Tablecloths

Melanie at My Kitchen Cafe - I don't think she knows this, but she is the biggest reason I even started my food blog in the first place because of all of her yummy food!

Shayla at Shayla's Kitchen

My Aunt at Tale to Teller - She posts about Holidays and usually includes a yummy recipe to try that follows the current holiday. Check it out!

Eniko at It's All About Food!

Pasta With Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce

2009-03-01T20:29:00.003-07:00

Sorry it has been so long since I posted last. I really haven't been doing a ton of cooking lately (besides good ol' Mac & Cheese), but I'll make up for it this week. We had this meal tonight and it was delicious. I kept the chicken separate rather than mixing it in with the pasta because I was too lazy to de-bone it before I stuck it in the oven. I seasoned the chicken with salt and pepper and drizzled it with Olive oil and some balsamic vinegar. Yum! I didn't really make too many changes because it was really good the way it was. I do, however, think that next time I will add some green onions to the sauce for that little extra punch of flavor. (Can you tell I LOVE green onions?) I had a little bit of trouble with the sauce being a bit too thick but I think that's because I was trying to do too many things at once and let it boil a bit too long. I just added a bit more milk and we were good to go. I also roasted my garlic different than the original recipe. I'll include the instructions, but I got them here.

Here is my altered recipe:

PASTA WITH ROASTED GARLIC CREAM SAUCE
1 head garlic, roasted
Olive oil
1 cup cream or half & half
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks green onion, chopped
salt and pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more at the table
Red pepper flakes, optional
2 broccoli crowns cut into bite-sized pieces (I used frozen broccoli)
2 chicken thighs
1 lb pasta

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice the top of the head off so every clove of garlic is exposed. Place on a small square of tinfoil (easy clean up). Drizzle with olive oil and salt to taste. Fold edges of tinfoil together and twist to make a sealed bundle (See a picture here). Place in oven and bake for 30-40 minutes depending on the size of the garlic. Remove from oven, let sit about 5 minutes, and then open the tin foil to let the garlic cool. Squeeze to remove the roasted cloves.

In a medium pot over medium-high heat, add butter and once melted, add flour and cook 1 minute. Add cream and milk, whisking to break up any lumps. Add minced garlic, salt and pepper. Bring to just boiling, then reduce heat to low. Add cheese and whisk until smooth.

Once the roasted garlic is cool, squeeze the garlic out of the papery skin. Mash with a fork and add to the cream sauce and whisk together. Add chopped green onions. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes.

While the sauce is cooking, cook the pasta according to package directions. About 4 minutes before the pasta is done, add the broccoli. Once cooked, drain and set aside.

Remove skin from chicken thighs. Put in a 9X13 baking dish and drizzle some olive oil and some balsamic vinegar over the top. Season with salt and pepper. Cook at 350 degrees for 45 min -1 hour.

Toss the pasta and broccoli with the sauce. Add more cheese just before serving.

Cupcakes Anyone?

2009-02-22T21:16:00.005-07:00

When I saw this recipe on Sadie's Kitchen, I knew that I had to try it. Now don't throw any stones at me, but I'm actually NOT a huge fan of chocolate, but for some reason this just struck a chord in me and I knew it would be PERFECT for a little get together I had at my home yesterday. Sadie found this recipe at kraftfoods.com and featured it on her blog a couple of days ago. I tried it out for myself and it was a huge success. It was VERY easy to put together and VERY yummy. My only change is I couldn't find mini oreos at the store so I used regular ones, and it worked out just fine. Top them off with some cool whip and you're good to go. Now what am I going to do with all the leftovers?

MINI OREO SURPRISE CUPCAKES
1 pkg. (2-layer size) chocolate cake mix
(for the cake mix you will need vegetable oil and 3 eggs)
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Philadelphia cream cheese, softened (I used Great Value fat free cream cheese)
1 egg
2 Tbsp. sugar
48 Mini Oreo Bite Size Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
1-1/2 cups thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping

1. Heat oven to 350°F.
2. Prepare cake batter as directed on package; set aside. Mix cream cheese, egg and sugar until blended.
3. Spoon 1/2 of cake batter evenly into 24 paper- or foil-lined muffin cups. Top each with about 1-1/2 tsp. cream cheese mixture and 1 cookie; cover with remaining cake batter.
4. Bake 19 to 22 min. or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool 5 min.; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.
5. Frost with cool whip. Top with remaining cookies.

Makes 24 cupcakes.

Roast Chicken with Rosemary & Lemon

2009-02-19T19:33:00.008-07:00

I made this dinner last Sunday when we had my mom and dad over, as well as Emi's sister and her husband. I was very impressed with how well this turned out and am just so surprised at how easy it is to make a whole chicken. I always thought it would be hard and time consuming but this one cooked faster than the recipe said and was so tender and flavorful! After it reached the desired internal temperature I flipped on the broiler for 2 minutes to make the skin nice and crispy. It turned out wonderful! Also, I am not a big fan of potatoes, but these were very good! This recipe is modified from one I found on allrecipes.com. The cooking times are relative to the size of chicken you use. If you use a bigger or smaller chicken you'll need to adjust the time accordingly until it reaches an internal temperature of 180 degrees when you place a thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh. I used the leftovers for BBQ sandwiches the next day. I would like to try this same recipe in the crockpot. I will let you know how it goes.

ROAST CHICKEN WITH ROSEMARY & LEMON
1 (5 pound) whole chicken, rinsed
2 cups chicken broth
1 small onion, quartered
1 lemon
1 garlic clove
4-5 sprigs fresh rosemary
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Garlic Powder, to taste
1/4 cup fresh chopped rosemary
4-5 potatoes, cut into 1 inch sections

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place potatoes in a 9 X 13 baking pan. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
3. Place chicken on top of potatoes. Pour chicken broth and juice from lemon over chicken and potatoes.
4. Season chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and 1/4 cup fresh rosemary.
5. Stuff chicken cavity with onion, lemon halves, garlic clove, and 4-5 sprigs of fresh rosemary.
6. Cook for approximately 2 hours or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 180 degress when taken in the thickest part of the thigh.
7. Turn broiler on for 2 minutes to make the skin extra crisp.

Chicken Cacciatore

2009-02-14T20:57:00.004-07:00

This was a good meal and Emi said it reminded him of something that his mom used to cook at home. His only complaint was that I didn't add enough salt, but that is what he usually says. He can add more salt while my arteries don't shrivel up because I don't use so much salt. I skipped the step where it told me to brown the outsides of the chicken and it still turned out great. The recipe calls for crushed tomatoes, but I couldn't find any so I used 2 cans of italian diced tomatoes. It gave it an excellent flavor. I used 2 cans because I actually had 4 pounds of chicken legs. I also only used green bell peppers since the red ones are so expensive. I didn't use instant rice, but I used my good ol' rice cooker to make regular rice instead. Overall, very easy and the house smelled delicious all day!
Sorry (again!) no picture. My excuse this time is that I was babysitting a friend's children, a 7 month old and a 3 year old to be exact, so I can't say my brain was completely normal by dinner time. Check out the link for a picture.
Haha! Really I think my brain has gone but I can't blame it on the babysitting. It looks like when I made the food in the morning - I completely left out the Italian Dressing, so if you try this let me know how it is with the Italian Dressing added!

Here is the unaltered recipe:

Chicken Cacciatore
1/4 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing
3 lb. chicken thighs and drumsticks
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms (about 10 medium), sliced (about 2 cups)
1-1/2 cups coarsely chopped onions (about 1 medium)
1/2 cup each: red and green pepper strips
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can (14.5 oz.) crushed tomatoes
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
3 cups instant white rice, uncooked

DIRECTIONS
1. HEAT dressing in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken, in batches; cook 2 to 3 min. on each side or until browned on both sides.
2. PLACE mushrooms, onions, peppers and garlic in slow cooker; top with the chicken. Combine tomatoes, salt and thyme; pour over ingredients in slow cooker. Cover with lid. Cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours (or on HIGH for 5 hours).
3. COOK rice as directed on package. Serve chicken mixture over the rice.

Kraft Kitchens Tips: Taking the lid off your slow cooker for even just a minute reduces the heat and extends the cooking time. Lift the lid only if instructed to do so in the recipe.

Chicken, Tortellini, & Spinach in a Balsamic Cream Sauce

2009-02-12T19:14:00.001-07:00

When I made my shopping list for this months' dinners, my plan was to make this recipe from Kraft Foods. Unfortunately I couldn't find all of the ingredients that I needed so I just decided to wing it. I really didn't worry about it until this morning when I realized what was on the menu for tonight. My inspiration was the dressing so I started thinking about the dressings I have in the fridge and landed on my favorite balsamic vinegarette. I did a quick search and instead decided on just balsamic vinegar, which led me to this recipe. I kind of threw the first recipe out the window and did a little bit of my own take on the second. What resulted was amazing! I received another "this is the best food you've ever made" from Emi. I think this would go even better tied with steak for the meat, but it worked well with the chicken.

Chicken, Tortellini, & Spinach in a Balsamic Cream Sauce

3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into cubes
1 pkg mixed cheese tortellini
2 T. olive oil
2 T. butter
1/4 onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. balsamic vinegar
1 c. heavy cream
2 T. dried rosemary leaves
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/2 bag baby spinach leaves

1. Cook pasta per package instructions.
2. Cook chicken over skillet in a little bit of oil. Season with salt and pepper. (I'm going to cook my chicken in the oven for 20-25 minutes.)
3. Heat olive oil and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in onion and garlic and cook until the onion has carmelized to a dark golden brown (approximately 15 minutes).
4. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and cook for 1 minute before adding the cream, dried rosemary, and parmesan cheese.
5. Once the cheese has melted, stir in the baby spinach leaves and cook until wilted, about 1-2 minutes.
6. Stir in chicken and tortellini.

Famous Pork Chops

2009-02-11T08:56:00.004-07:00

I made these for a get together we had a while back and everyone really seemed to enjoy them. I was even asked for the recipe by my wonderful sister-in-law, so this dish is definitely worth a try. I made this after a REALLY busy and hectic day so I didn't make any changes to the recipe, but I am sure there are things you could do to make it stand out a bit more. This is a easy simple dish that doesn't take very much time to put together.
Sorry there is no pic for this one. Sometimes when we have a bunch of people over it is hard to remember that I need a picture! :-D
I used bone-in pork chops so mine cooked for about an hour and 15 minutes.

Famous Pork Chops
INGREDIENTS
1 cup crushed butter crackers
garlic salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
3 eggs, beaten
4 pork chops
1/2 cup butter

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a shallow bowl combine crushed crackers, garlic salt and pepper; mix well. In a separate bowl beat eggs.
3. Dip your pork chops in the egg batter and then in the cracker mixture. Place the pork chops in a casserole dish. Place chunks of the butter around the pork chops. Cover and bake for 45 minutes.

Chicken Enchiladas

2009-02-09T09:42:00.004-07:00

I am pulling this one out of my archives to add a picture of it. This enchilada recipe is wonderful and by far my favorite. It is a little bit sweet and generally just has a good flavor overall. If you are looking for something a little bit more spicy, add some cayenne pepper. I have been making this recipe for the (almost) 2 years that Emi and I have been married.

My recipe differs from the original one with the addition of the tomato sauce. I also recommend making more sauce so you can put a significant amount on the bottom, inside, and on top of the enchiladas.

To make this a little less intense, cook the chicken in the crockpot or use leftover chicken. Cooking it in the crockpot makes it much easier to shred and come dinner time all you need to get ready is the sauce.

Chicken Enchiladas
1 T. butter
3 stalks chopped green onion
1 (7 ounce) can diced green chiles
2 (10.75 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 can tomato sauce*
3/4 c. sour cream
4 shredded cooked chicken breasts
1 c. shredding Cheddar cheese, divided
10 flour tortillas
1/4 cup milk
1 tomato for garnish

(*To make it the way it was originally don't add the tomato sauce and it will leave you with just a creamy sauce. Emi and I liked the taste without the tomato, but not as much as with it. The tomato sauce is what gives it a little bit of sweetness.)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking dish.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium het, melt the butter and saute the green onion until tender (about 3 -4 minutes). Add the garlic powder, then stir in the green chiles, cream of mushroom soup, tomato soup, and sour cream. Mix well. Reserve 1/2 of this sauce and set aside. Take 1/4 of sauce and spread on the bottom of the prepared baking dish. To the remaining 1/4 of the sauce in the saucepan, add the chicken and 1/2 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese. Stir together.
3. Fill each flour tortilla with the chicken mixture and roll up. Place seam side down in the prepared baking dish.
4. In a small bowl, combine the reserved 3/4 of the sauce with the milk. Spoon this mixture over the rolled tortillas and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredding Cheddar cheese. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 - 35 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.

Slow Cooker Italian Beef

2009-02-08T11:19:00.011-07:00

After a week of some pretty intensive recipes, I decided that yesterday I was going to sit back and let my crock pot do the work for me. I did make some french bread to eat this on so I guess I didn't really take a break. You can find the french bread recipe here (or right below this post).

This was a good meal, but the recipe is suited for a bigger roast than I could find and more food than Emi and I could eat before it went bad! :-D So I altered the recipe to reflect a 2 lb roast. It was however, a little too salty for my taste, but Emi loved it! It was very tender and easy to eat. I followed the recipe exactly and only added some mushrooms about 30 minutes before it was done and I also added some sauteed green bell peppers. Yum!

(Sorry about the poor quality of the picture, I am still waiting on new batteries for my new camera! If you want to see a good representation of these yummy sandwiches, check out the link!)

Here is the unaltered recipe for a 5 lb chuck roast.

Slow Cooker Italian Beef
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 bay leaf
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix (such as Good Seasons brand)
1 (5 pound) chuck roast

Combine water and beef broth with salt, ground black pepper, oregano, basil, onion salt, parsley, garlic powder, bay leaf, and salad dressing mix. Whisk to combine.

Place roast in slow cooker, and pour salad dressing mixture over the meat. Cover, and cook on Low for 10 to 12 hours, or on High for 4 to 5 hours. When done, remove bay leaf, and shred meat with a fork (I did this step about 45 minutes before eating so the shredded meat had time to absorb more of the juices in the crockpot). Serve on crusty rolls with cheese, if desired.

French Bread

2009-02-08T11:10:00.006-07:00

I woke up yesterday morning and realized that I wouldn't have any bread for the Italian Beef sandwiches that I was making that night. I have never made french bread before and I was pretty scared to do it. My husband is a BIG lover of bread, so really making any type of bread is nerve wracking to me because of my cute hubby. We really liked this recipe, but Emi says that there should be more salt. It was probably a good thing that there wasn't that extra salt though because come dinner time our meal was pretty salty and the bread saved us.
This was a pretty easy recipe, especially since I have my stand mixer, although I don't think it would be that difficult without it. I just hate touching dough because it always sticks!
You've probably seen that round oven dish in a couple of my pictures. It is stoneware. I now swear by this. Mine isn't a Pampered Chef one and I can't tell you where I got it since it was a Wedding gift, but if you don't have some stoneware, go out and buy some! It bakes everything perfectly!

French Bread

2 ¼ c. warm water
2 T. sugar
1 Tbsp yeast
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp oil
5 ½ -6 cups flour-stirred before measured

Dissolve sugar and yeast in the warm water. Let this proof—or sit for a few minutes until it bubbles. Then add salt, oil and 3 cups of flour and beat well. Add in 2 1/2 -3 more cups of flour. The dough should clean off the sides of the bowl and not be too stick - but be careful not to add too much flour. Knead for a few minutes.

Leave the dough in the mixer to rest for 10 minutes and then stir it down (turn on your mixer for 10 seconds) and then allow to rest another 10 minutes. Repeat for a total of 5 times. Then turn dough onto a floured surface and divide into two equal parts. Roll each part into a 9x13 rectangle. Roll dough up, starting from long edge of loaf to seal. Arrange seam side down on large baking sheet that’s been sprinkled with corn meal, allowing room for both loaves. Repeat with second part of dough. With a sharp knife, cut 3 gashes at an angle on the top of each. Cover lightly; allow to rise 30 minutes. Brush entire surface with egg wash (one egg beaten slightly with 1 Tbsp of water). If desired, sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.

Philly Loaf

2009-02-07T10:11:00.003-07:00

I made this about a week and a half ago, but I'm trying to break up all of the chicken recipes that I have. :-D If anyone has some good recipes that involve beef or pork and doesn't involve beans... let me know. My husband and I aren't big fans of beans. Oh, and preferably isn't a standard dish like spaghetti or lasagna unless its a relatively unique recipe.
Emi and our friends Cody and Missy absolutely loved this meal. I didn't LOVE it, but I didn't hate it either. There is a little deli really close to our home and Emi and Cody swear that this meal tasted exactly like their Philly Cheesesteak so I had to change the name a little bit. Next time I make this I will add some green bell peppers to tie off the whole new Philly outlook on it.

Philly Loaf
(aka Bacon Mushroom Swiss Meatloaf)

12 ounces chopped raw bacon
1 small white onion, chopped
5 button mushrooms, chopped
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 1/2 pounds extra-lean ground beef
1 egg
1/4 cup evaporated milk
6 ounces shredded Swiss cheese, divided
1/2 cup corn flake crumbs

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place bacon in a skillet and cook over medium heat until the pieces are browned. Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of bacon grease. Stir in onions, mushrooms, and green bell peppers, and cook until soft. Remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, stir together beef, egg, and milk. Stir in the onion, mushrooms and green bell peppers. Mix in about 4 ounces of Swiss cheese, and all but 1 tablespoon of bacon. Stir in cornflake crumbs, and mix until well blended. Shape into a loaf, and place in a meatloaf pan.
4. Bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour. Drain fat, and sprinkle with remaining cheese and bacon. Return to oven, and bake until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.

Chicken Garlic Pizza

2009-02-06T09:48:00.008-07:00

Last night we had a little change of plans. Originally I was going to make some BBQ pizza, but I just really didn't feel up to BBQ pizza so I went on the search instead. Where I live, we have an AWESOME pizza chain called Papa Murphy's. They make the pizza for you and then you take it home and bake it. It is a little bit less expensive than the regular pizza chains. I was trying to find a recipe that was like their Chicken Garlic Pizza and I found a couple of different ones, but this one sounded the yummiest so I chose it. It didn't taste exactly like Papa Murphy's but it was close and very good! I only differed from the original recipe in that I used green onions instead of red, more garlic, and more tomatoes.

I used the pizza dough recipe found here. I made one change to the pizza dough. I added Italian Seasoning and some dried Rosemary. I think next time I will add some garlic salt to the olive oil when I brush the crust to add some extra flavor. I always have a hard time eating crust because the lack of flavor.

Chicken Garlic Pizza

Ingredients
4 ounces light cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup nonfat sour cream
6 cloves garlic, mashed
1 cup cooked chicken, diced
3 stalks green onion
2 small tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup mushroom, sliced
1 cup mozzarella cheese, part skim milk,shredded
1 pizza dough
3 tablespoons parmesan cheese

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together the cream cheese, sour cream and mashed garlic until smooth.
3. Spread on the pizza crust.
4. Top with the chicken, onion, tomato, mushrooms and cheese.
5. Bake for 15 minutes or until the crust is done and the cheese is melted.
6. Top with parmesan cheese.

Ranch Chicken Pizza

2009-02-05T09:16:00.008-07:00

Last night I made some more Homemade Pizza. While Emi liked the kind I made last time, he thought the dough was a little bit too crunchy so he wasn't too excited that I wanted to make Homemade Pizza again. This dough came out with a little bit of a crunch to it, but for the most part it was soft. This will be my standard go to Pizza Dough recipe from now on.

Emi LOVED the flavor of this pizza and ending up eating most of the pizza himself. The only change I wanted to make was to add some green onions to the topping, but then I found out that I didn't have any. Next time I will try that for sure. I LOVE green onions. (Side note on the picture: I thought I picked up sliced olives, but instead they were chopped, so that is what those weird clumps of black on the picture are.)

I found both the pizza dough recipe and the sauce and toppings recipe at Shayla's Kitchen (as linked in the recipe title).

Pizza Dough

1 pkg. Dry yeast (2 tsp. = 1 pkg.)
2 Tbsp. Lukewarm water
Dissolve yeast in warm water.
1 egg
1 tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Sugar
1 Tbsp. Shortening or oil
1 cup boiling water
3 cups flour

Beat egg, add shortening, salt, sugar. Slowly stir in boiling water. Cool to lukewarm and add yeast mixture. Add ½ flour; stir (or beat with electric mixer) until smooth. Add remaining flour. Knead to soft dough. Roll to fit pan. Spread light coating of oil over dough on pan. Let rise 15 minutes. (You can spread on sauce and toppings while waiting for dough to rise.)

Cook at 425 for 15 - 20 minutes. (Check at 15 minutes.) HINT WHILE BAKING: Turn oven to BROIL for one minute at the very end of pizza cooking time. This gives the cheese a nice brown that is so delicious!

Ranch Chicken Pizza

1/2 cup Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
*2 chicken breasts, cooked, and cut into strips
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 can olives, sliced
2 stalks green onions

Blend together dressing, cream cheese, and tomato paste. Stir in cooked chicken. Spread on pizza crust. Top with mozzarella cheese and olives.

Chicken & Spinach Stuffed Shells

2009-02-03T16:23:00.004-07:00

I don't know how many times my husband is going to tell me "This is the best food you've ever made." but I have to admit, I really LOVE how much he loves my cooking. He is constantly bragging about it to all of his friends and even new people that he just randomly meets. He is so funny. He also wants me to send pictures of my food to his mom and dad in Romania.
These were amazing, and apparently the best food I've ever made... so I definitely reccomend them. My one complaint is that they are a little time consuming but definitely worth it in the end. I ended up making two 9X13 pans and one 8X8 pan. So that is a lot for just Emi and me, but it would be great for guests or for a party.
I'm sorry I haven't been doing so well with pictures lately. My camera's batteries are dead and my old camera is on the fritz, but I promise to take pictures and repost next time I make this. For a picture just check out the link!

Chicken & Spinach Stuffed Shells

44 uncooked jumbo pasta shells (That’s about one and one-half 12-oz boxes)
2 c chopped cooked chicken
2 c fresh chopped spinach
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (15oz) container ricotta cheese
2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (5oz) package shredded Parmesan cheese (about 1 2/3 c.)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 Tb dried parsley flakes
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 c shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 (26oz) jar prepared spaghetti sauce

Cook shells according to package directions (be sure to stir every once in awhile so they don't stick to the bottom of the pan and tear apart); drain and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease 2 13x9x2inch baking dishes.
In a large bowl, combine chicken and all the rest of the ingredients except mozzarella and spaghetti sauce. Stir in 1 cup mozzarella. Spoon into shells.
Spread half of spaghetti sauce into prepared baking dishes. Arrange shells over sauce; top with remaining sauce. Cover tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil.
Bake, covered, for 40 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella. Bake for 5 to 10 more minutes.
Makes 8-10 servings.

SUPERBOWL SUNDAY APPETIZERS

2009-02-01T10:55:00.005-07:00

Today we are having a little get together with a couple of friends for the superbowl. I personally don't even know the names of who is playing, but I am looking forward to the plethora of good food. We are going to have wings, 7 layer dip, spinach artechoke dip, bacon wrapped sausage, and who knows what else! I am going to be making a new wing recipe I just found, the spinach artechoke dip, and bacon wrapped sausage. I will edit this later with pictures and what everyone thought of the food! Here are the recipes. *WARNING: After eating these you will probably have to spend a week straight on the treadmill (So now you know what next week will be like for me).

Tempura Chicken Wings

Ingredients:
3 lbs. of chicken wings, pre cut
1 cup cornstarch
3 eggs, lightly beaten
Oil for deep-fat frying
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup currant jelly
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Place cornstarch in a large resealable plastic bag; add chicken wings a few at a time, and shake to coat evenly. Dip wings in eggs.
In an electric skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat oil to 250°. Fry wings for 5 minutes or until light golden brown and juices run clear, turning occasionally. Drain on paper towels.
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, vinegar, jelly, soy sauce, ketchup and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
Place chicken wings in a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Pour half of the sauce over wings. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 15 minutes.
Turn wings; top with remaining sauce. Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until chicken juices run clear and coating is set. Yield: 2-1/2 dozen.

Bacon-Wrapped Sausage

Ingredients:
3/4 pound sliced bacon
2 packages (8 ounces each) brown-and-serve sausage links
1 cup plus extra packed brown sugar, divided

Cut bacon strips widthwise in half; cut sausage links in half. Wrap a piece of bacon around each piece of sausage. Place 1 cup brown sugar in a shallow bowl; roll sausages in sugar. Secure each with a toothpick. Place in a foil-lined 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until bacon is crisp. Sprinkle with remaining brown sugar. Yield: about 3-1/2 dozen.

Spinach Artechoke Dip

5 garlic cloves
1 10 oz. bottle store-bought alfredo sauce
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 10 oz. package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 14.5 oz. can artichoke hearts (non-marinated), roughly chopped
1 8 oz. package cream cheese (softened) (At least I got fat free, right?) Haha!

Wrap the garlic cloves in tin foil and bake them at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. When they are cool to the touch, squeeze them out of their skins and finely chop. Mix all the ingredients in a medium bowl. It's ok to have clumps of cream cheese. The mixture won't be completely smooth. Spread the mixture into an 8X8 pan and bake at 350 degrees until bubbly and hot. Serve with chips or baguette slices.

Zuppa Toscana (Tuscan Soup)

2009-01-27T15:42:00.005-07:00

Let me tell you, I was SO excited for this recipe that I could hardly wait to make it. The first time I ever tried this soup was actually when someone else made it at a company party about a year ago. I loved the soup then and was actually a little disappointed when I tried it for the first time at Olive Garden. The taste was the same but there was next to no meat in the soup and I am definitely a meat person.
I LOVED this recipe and I mean ABSOLUTELY LOVED it. It was so good! We got together with some friends when I made this and it was definitely a hit and everyone agreed that the taste was right, but it was even better than Olive Garden's because it actually had some substance.
This wasn't a difficult dish at all. The only thing that I did different was that I couldn't find Italian sausage in the sausage form so instead I used ground Italian sausage. The taste was awesome and substantial! Apparently kale can be a little hard to find but I lucked out and found it at Walmart of all places. Yum!

Zuppa Toscana

1 lb. Italian sausage
1 onion, chopped
2 large baking potatoes, sliced in halves then in 1/4 inch slices
2 cans chicken broth
1 qt. water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 jar bacon bits (or use real bacon)
2 cups kale or Swiss chard, chopped
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Cook sausage, drain on paper towels, and cut into slices. Place onions, potatoes, chicken broth, water, and garlic in a pot. Cook on medium heat until potatoes are done. Add sausage and bacon bits. Salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Turn heat to low. Add kale and cream. Heat through and serve.

Snickerdoodles with Sour Cream

2009-01-25T22:18:00.004-07:00

I LOVE snickerdoodles, but have never made them until about 20 minutes ago. They turned out great, despite my confusion on the cookie dough texture. I will post a picture tomorrow.

Snickerdoodles with Sour Cream

Ingredients
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups plus 1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1 cup sour cream
1 cup unsalted butters
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350ºF.
2. Mix cinnamon and 1/2 cup sugar; taste to make sure the cinnamon is not too strong and add more sugar to taste. Reserve.
3. Combine the remaining 2 cups sugar, vanilla, salt and butter in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy with an electric mixer. Add the eggs one at a time, waiting until the previous egg has been incorporated.
4. Beat in sour cream.
5. Sift flour, baking soda, and baking powder together and beat into the butter until they are just incorporated.
6. Mix in the walnuts.
7. Roll, press or scoop the batter into balls the size of golf balls or large marbles; size isn't too important, just make sure they're all the same size.
8. Place on cookie sheets spaced well apart.
9. Generously butter the flat bottom of a glass or other flat-bottomed object like a measuring cup or small pan. *I used all of my butter for the cookies, so I just used vegetable oil on the bottom of a glass
10. Press the buttered surface into the cinnamon sugar, then use it to flatten each cookie ball. A layer of cinnamon sugar should stick to the cookie. If not, sprinkle some on. Repeat with all cookies.
11. Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until cookies are puffed and golden and their bases lightly browned.
12. Let cool for a few minutes, serve and savor the flavor of awesome snickerdoodles!

Bruschetta 'n Cheese stuffed Chicken Breasts

2009-01-25T17:00:00.007-07:00

This is what I like to call a cheater recipe. This is one of the reasons that I LOVE KraftFoods.com. They have quite a few "cheater recipes" on there. I love it. These are the recipes you make when you "just don't feel like cooking" and you "really don't have money to eat out" (a.k.a. the story of my life). Another great thing about this recipe and about KraftFoods.com is that they have videos that actually show you how to make some of their recipes! Talk about awesome!

I only made changes to this recipe because I couldn't find one of the ingredients at the store, and the other is a little bit too costly and it turned out great and still had a lot of flavor. Although, I'm sure it would have been tastier with the correct dressing. Instead of KRAFT Roasted Red Pepper Italian with Parmesan Dressing, I just used good ol' Zesty Italian and I sprinkled dried basil leaves over the top. I left the basil out of the filling completely because man, is it ever expensive!?!

Here is the unaltered recipe.

Bruschetta 'n Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

What You Need:
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
1-1/4 cups KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese, divided
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken
8 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (2 lb.)
1/3 cup KRAFT Roasted Red Pepper Italian with Parmesan Dressing

DIRECTIONS
HEAT oven to 350°F. Mix tomatoes, 1/2 cup cheese and basil in medium bowl. Add stuffing mix; stir just until moistened.
PLACE 2 chicken breasts in large freezer-weight resealable plastic bag. Pound with meat mallet or side of heavy can until chicken is 1/4 inch thick. Remove from bag; place, top-sides down, on cutting board. Repeat with remaining chicken. Spread chicken with stuffing mixture. Starting at 1 narrow end, tightly roll up each breast. Place, seam-sides down, in 13x9-inch baking dish. Drizzle with dressing.
BAKE 40 min. or until chicken is done (165°F). Sprinkle with remaining cheese; bake 5 min. or until melted.

Kraft Kitchen Tips: For a south-of-the-border-style chicken dish, use diced tomatoes with bell or jalapeno peppers, KRAFT Mexican Style Shredded Cheese instead of the mozzarella cheese and chopped cilantro instead of the basil.

Chicken Carbonara

2009-01-23T09:01:00.011-07:00

As a sneak peak to this recipe let me tell you what my husband's first reaction was. He takes a bite, turns to me with his eyes wide open and says, "Woman, this is the best-tasting food you have ever made."
This was an easy recipe and I went and made it a little bit more complicated, but still not too bad. The original recipe didn't call for any chicken, and well, we just can't do that here in our household. I also added green onions and garlic cloves to give the sauce more flavor and it certainly payed off.

Chicken Carbonara
Here is my edited recipe.

INSTRUCTIONS
1 pound dry fettuccine noodles
8 slices bacon
4 eggs
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
3 stalks chopped green onion
2 (big) chopped garlic cloves
ground black pepper to taste
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
3 T olive oil.

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Cut chicken into strips and coat with bread crumbs. Pour 1 T Olive oil over chicken. Let cook for 10 minutes. Flip chicken over and pour another 1 T Olive oil and continue the rest of the cooking time. Cook for a total of 20-25 minutes. (This will give the baked chicken that pan-seared texture. (Or you could just cook it over the stove, but where is the fun in that?)
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add fettuccine and cook for 11 to 12 minutes or until al dente; drain.
3. Fry bacon in skillet over medium heat until crispy, remove and drain on paper towel. Chop with knife into bits.
4. Chop up garlic and green onions and saute them in 1 T olive oil until soft.
5. Beat the eggs, cheese and cream in a bowl, then add the bacon, garlic, and green onions. Pour over the pasta in the pan and toss gently using tongs.
6. Return the pan to a very low heat and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Don't overheat or the eggs will scramble. Season well with black pepper and serve.

Swedish Meatballs

2009-01-19T11:31:00.002-07:00

I got this while watching the Food Network late one night waiting for Emi to come home. Have you ever watched Good Eats? Man, that guy is annoying!, but the recipe sounded awesome.

It turns out that this recipe WAS awesome. Emi loved it! I wasn't exactly sure what I was supposed to serve it with because on the show, he did it as a type of appetizer. I remembered my other meatball recipe, and decided to serve it over noodles.

With the directions, it may seem really intense, but it was relatively quick and easy to put together and cooked pretty fast. I would just personally like to thank whoever gave me that electric skillet for my wedding. I can't imagine trying to make 2 pounds of pork/beef mixture in one of my tiny sauce pans!

Swedish Meatballs

INGREDIENTS
2 slices fresh white bread
1/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter, divided
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
A pinch plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt (I used regular salt)
1 pound ground chuck
1 pound ground pork
2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups beef broth*
1/4 cup heavy cream (I used closer to 1/2 c.)

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
2. Tear the bread into pieces and place in a small mixing bowl along with the milk. Set aside.
3. In a 12-inch straight sided saute pan over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and sweat until the onions are soft. Remove from the heat and set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the bread and milk mixture, ground chuck, pork, egg yolks, 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, black pepper, allspice, nutmeg, and onions. Beat on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes.
5. Using a scale, weigh meatballs into 1-ounce portions and place on a sheet pan. Using your hands, shape the meatballs into rounds. (I don't have a scale. I just made little meatballs.)
6. Heat the remaining butter in the saute pan over medium-low heat, or in an electric skillet set to 250 degrees F. Add the meatballs and saute until golden brown on all sides, about 7 to 10 minutes. Remove the meatballs to an ovenproof dish using a slotted spoon and place in the warmed oven.
7. Once all of the meatballs are cooked, decrease the heat to low and add the flour to the pan or skillet. Whisk until lightly browned, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually add the beef stock and whisk until sauce begins to thicken. Add the cream and continue to cook until the gravy reaches the desired consistency. Remove the meatballs from the oven, cover with the gravy and serve.

*I must have accidently used the other can of beef broth I had for this recipe. Instead, I used 2 c. beef broth and 1 c. chicken broth. Eh, you do what you can.

Orange Chicken

2009-01-17T11:21:00.002-07:00

I made this the other night when we had some friends over for dinner. It wasn't my favorite recipe that I have ever made, but it was pretty good. Maybe I just wasn't feeling the chinese cuisine that night. Definitely give it a try if you like orange chicken though! My biggest thing was that I REALLY wanted it to taste like Panda Express Orange Chicken, but it didn't. It probably would have if I had fried the chicken, but I'm trying to stay lean!

I tortured my guests and made them do a little "contest" to see who made the prettiest plate. It was pretty funny! Haha, I don't think I'd do that with anyone else though. :-D

Orange Chicken

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2" cubes
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons oil or butter

1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon finely minced ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons green onion
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Heat oven to 350. In a shallow dish combine the flour, garlic powder and pepper. Dip each piece of chicken in flour mixture and coat evenly.

Pour oil (or melt butter and pour) in a shallow baking dish, large enough to accommodate chicken in a single layer. Arrange chicken in pan and bake uncovered for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan combine water, fresh orange juice, rice vinegar, soy sauce, orange zest and whisk over medium heat for a few minutes. Then stir in brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and green onion and let it come to a boil. Combine cornstarch with water and let it dissolve and add it to the sauce until thickened.

After chicken has baked the 30 minutes, turn each piece over and pour 1/2 sauce mixture evenly over chicken. Bake another 30 to 40 minutes basting frequently.

Serve chicken over rice with extra sauce on the side.

7 Up Chicken Fajitas

2009-01-12T19:24:00.008-07:00

This was so GOOD! You can do pretty much anything with this chicken, but I decided to make fajitas. I served it with Mexican Rice, cheddar cheese, sauteed onions, and sauteed green bell peppers in a flour tortilla. The marinade gives the chicken kind of a sweeter taste, but definitely not too sweet. I think this marinade might go well with a sweeter Enchilada like the Honey Lime Enchiladas or even with some Chicken Fried Rice. You should definitely try this out.
Another thing, I don't know about you, but when I grill my chicken, it tends to get a bit harder to chew. This chicken was SO soft to eat, it almost melted in my mouth. Also, I wasn't sure I was going to make this tonight until a bit later in the day so my chicken only marinated for 4 hours and it was FABULOUS! One thing that might have made a difference though is that I cut my chicken into strips before I marinated it. I don't know if this is true or not, but since I didn't have the full 6 hours or overnight to marinate it, I thought it might move a little faster if it didn't have to go through so much chicken. Maybe I'm a dork though, who knows?

7 Up Chicken Marinade

1 can 7Up (or sprite) [I used a 20 oz bottle of 7Up]
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1 Tb horseradish sauce
1 tsp minced garlic
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Blend all ingredients and add chicken. ( I usually do this in a big zip loc bag) Let marinate over night or at least 6 hours, in the fridge.

Creamy Pesto

2009-01-12T00:09:00.007-07:00

Where I live there is a restaurant that Emi and I used to frequent that has a really awesome Creamy Pesto Pasta dish. We have been trying really hard not to eat out too much so I decided I'd try to recreate the dish at home. I think I did pretty good! It wasn't exactly right, but I think next time I'll know what to do to make it better. We had the pesto in a pasta dish with chicken seasoned with garlic, salt, and pepper and pan-fried in a little bit of Sunflower oil. I think next time I make pesto, I will try it on a Homemade Pizza with chicken. Another thing, I'm not a big fan of measuring, so I didn't follow the recipe exactly, but just kind of tasted it as I went and followed the recipe as a guideline. I would definitely use more garlic though.

Creamy Pesto

Ingredients:
2 T olive oil (I used E.V.O.O.)
2 c. fresh basil leaves (pressed) *
1/2 c. fresh parsley
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese. (I probably used closed to 1/2 c.)
2 garlic cloves
1/4 c. walnuts**

4 oz softened cream cheese (I used Fat Free. SHHH! Don't tell Emi!)

1/4 c. heavy cream or half & half
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. About a half hour to an hour before you're going to make the sauce, take the cream cheese out of the refrigerator to soften.

2. In food processor, puree basil, parsley, & garlic with oil until pasty.

3. Add grated cheese & nuts and blend more.

4. Add cream cheese until well blended.

5. Add cream or half/half a little at a time till desired consistency.

6. Pour into a sauce pan to heat, unless you are serving it cold.

* I think basil is hard to find and expensive when you find it. I was only able to find a small package of basil at Walmart and it was pretty pricy, so I asked my friend what I could do instead, but fortunately I was able to find a bigger package of basil at Smiths. Next time though, to save some money and some searching, I will substitute half of the basil with spinach and it will still have a very nice pesto taste.

** In this recipe walnuts and pine nuts are pretty much interchangeable. Infact, I used both walnuts and pinenuts because I didn't have enough of either.

Crockpot: Sweet & Spicy Chicken Tacos

2009-01-07T11:15:00.004-07:00

We had these for dinner last night when some friends came over. These were really easy to make and they tasted so good! Have I mentioned before that I LOVE my crockpot? These were a hit and everyone loved their sweet and spicy flavor, even Emi! Next time, I think I will make Enchiladas with the chicken. You should definitely try this!

Funny note: This picture is of Emi's plate and he LOVES pickles. He eats EVERYTHING with pickles.

Sweet & Spicy Slow-Cooker Chicken
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts*
1 (14 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Approximately 1/4 c. White Cooking Wine**

Coat the inside of your crockpot with non-stick cooking spray. Place all ingredients in the crockpot. Cook on high for 4-6 hours or on low for 8-10 hours, or until chicken shreds very easily with a fork. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Chicken will absorb liquid after it is shredded.) Serve in tacos or however your little heart desires.

Since I am serving this as Chicken Tacos you would need the usual things you would put on a taco. Lettuce, Cheese, Tomatoes, Sour Cream, Avocado, Onions... We also made some Mexican rice (courtesy of Rice-a-roni) and put that in there as well. Just use whatever you like.

*I put my chicken breasts in the crockpot frozen because they seem to come out more tender that way.

**If you use frozen chicken breasts, they seem to require more liquid. I like to use White Cooking Wine because it adds a nice flavor. Or you could just use some water.

I also made some Pico de Gallo to go with this. My friend Jessica makes an awesome Pico de Gallo recipe, and while this isn't her recipe, I am hoping that it will be just as good.

Pico de Gallo
1 large tomato, diced
3 tablespoons red onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
juice of one lime

Mix ingredients together, cover and refrigerate overnight.

*If you use a food proccessor this recipe is VERY easy.

The pico de gallo wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, but everyone did seem to really like it. I think next time I will add more salt and leave out the cumin altogether. Or maybe I will consult Jessica on what she does. If you do use a food processor, if you like your tomatoes more chunky - be sure to cut them up yourself. :-D

Butterscotch Crunch Cookies

2009-01-07T11:02:00.004-07:00

I made this last night when our friends came over for dinner. I'm not sure that everyone liked them because not many of them got eaten, but Emi and I really liked them! It might have been because everyone was WAY too full from the actual dinner though. One thing though, these are not meant to be a soft cookie. They have more of a texture of a rice crispy treat, and that is because... well you use rice crispies in them. Yum!

Butterscotch Crunch Cookies

Ingredients:
½ cup butter (softened)
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 cups crisp rice cereal
1 cup butterscotch chips

Step 1: In a large bowl cream butter and sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Add in vanilla and egg and mix well. Add salt, flour, and baking soda. Mix well. Stir in the crisp rice cereal and butterscotch chips.

Step 2: Drop dough by the rounded teaspoon onto a greased cookie sheet.

Step 3: Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Homemade Pizza

2009-01-03T19:00:00.003-07:00

I got this pizza dough and pizza sauce recipe from MyKitchenCafe. She has another pizza dough recipe on there that I will try next time. To view all of her pizza dough recipes go here. I doubled the pizza dough recipe so I can made two more pizzas tomorrow night when my brother comes over.

This was way easy to make and so good. Emi wasn't particularly looking forward to pizza tonight because he claims he doesn't like homemade pizza. Well, looks like I've squashed another one of Emi's prejudices.

Slow-Rize Pizza Dough
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1 1/3 cup water
3 1/2 to 4 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt.

[The words of Melanie from MyKitchenCafe] The beauty about making this recipe the night before is you can just throw all the ingredients together cold (no warming the water) and stick it covered in the refrigerator. That is all I do - mix the dough to the desired consistency (I like my dough pretty soft) and really try not to overflour it and then place it in a greased bowl covered with saran wrap in the refrigerator. Be sure to take it out of the refrigerator a few hours before you make the pizza so the dough has time to warm and relax. This recipe makes 2 good-sized pizzas. I understand the term "good-size" is very subjective...but just know it feeds our family of two adults and two children and we eat a lot of pizza.

Homemade Pizza Sauce
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1 tablespoon sugar
Oregano
Garlic powder
Italian seasoning
Crushed red pepper (optional)

[Melanie from MyKitchenCafe] Combine all ingredients in food processor or blender and blend until desired consistency. I leave mine slightly chunky. On the seasonings, I just sprinkle them in to taste. If I use crushed red pepper, I only use a few flakes because my kids don't like spicy things, but it definitely adds a nice kick to the sauce to use it. I also substitute for whatever I don't have: basil leaves for oregano, garlic salt for garlic powder, etc. This recipe is open to interpretation. Use what you like and it will be delicious.

Bacon Roasted Chicken

2009-01-01T15:28:00.009-07:00

I made a couple of changes to this recipe after reading the reviews on allrecipes.com. This came out very tender and yummy, but it did take longer to cook then the instructions said. Overall, I was pretty surprised at how easy it was to make! At the end of the hour and 15 minutes it still wasn't at an internal temperature of 180 degrees so I cranked the oven up to 375 for a bit. Will definitely make this again! We still have over half of the meat left on the chicken. This whole dinner costed me a about $5.

Bacon Roasted Chicken

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons butter
1 (4 pound) whole chicken
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 carrots, cut in chunks
paprika to taste
McCormick's Montreal Chicken Seasoning
8 slices bacon
2 cups beef broth
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C).

2. Rub butter over the entire chicken. Season with salt, pepper, thyme, and Montreal Chicken Seasoning. Place the carrots inside the cavity, and tie the legs together. Place the chicken breast side up in a roasting pan. Lay bacon strips across the top of the chicken, and secure with toothpicks. Sprinkle with paprika. Pour the beef broth and balsamic vinegar into the roasting pan - do not pour over the bacon.

3. Roast for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, the reduce the heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Baste with some of the broth. Continue to roast for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature is 180 degrees F (82 degrees C) when taken in the thickest part of the thigh. Baste every 15 minutes with the broth.

4. Remove the bacon and discard toothpicks. Roast the chicken for 15 more minutes to brown the skin. Transfer to a serving platter, and remove the ties. You may eat the bacon, but it is best to discard the carrots.

New Toys = A Whole New Cooking World

2008-12-30T19:49:00.003-07:00

If you have been following this blog from the beginning you should know by now that my new found cooking obsession/hobby is not only supported by my husband, but is also widely accepted with joy by my family and friends. Therefore, this Christmas' gifts to me were mostly about one thing "What can I get her so she will make more food?".

Here are some of the awesome things I got this year, and I am so excited to try out!As you know, I have been hinting for weeks/months that I absolutely NEEDED a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer. This kind of died down for me when I got a hand mixer with dough hooks, but then started up again when I realized that the air cooling off the motor was also making all my flour fly around my kitchen. I did not expect to get a Stand Mixer for Christmas because they are so incredibly expensive. I should never doubt the power of Santa though because about 10 or more years ago, he knew my mom would be worked overtime at an old job and in payment for her overtime they would give her a Stand Mixer. So, it's a little old, but I have already used it to make rolls and mashed potatoes and I couldn't ask for a better one. :-DThis present was actually given to Emi, but lets face it, we all know who is going to end up using it. It is The Lean Mean Spin Frying Machine by George Foreman. It spins the food while it is deep frying leaving it with a nice deep fry that isn't so oil saturated. We both can't wait to try this out on some french fries.This is my new panini grill. I am very excited about this because I'll be able to make some pretty nice and quick lunches/dinners without all the hassle. I have already used this on normal white bread with our sandwich meats, and I don't know that I'll eat sandwiches any other way now. I can also use this to cook fish and chicken. Emi and I haven't been into making smoothies or anything, but Emi decided we had better start when he picked this up for me. I am really excited to use it and LOVE how I can make individual glasses. We thought about taking this back because I already have an awesome blender, but decided to keep it because we can make individual smoothies for different tastes. Yum!

Saved the best for last!

My new Cuisinart food processor! My brother, Eric bought this for me-and Emi's stomach. This thing is amazing. I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but I will this weekend for Pizza dough and again next week for Creamy Pesto sauce. You can do so many different things with a food processor it is just amazing! I highly recommend you get out there and buy one as soon as you can if you don't already have one.

So here are some of my new toys that I will be using to make some of my dinners from now on! Yay for food!

Look forward to my recipe and review of Bacon Roasted Whole Chicken on Thursday.

Cheesy Lasagna Rolls

2008-12-21T12:26:00.002-07:00

Grading scale: A

I actually made these about a week ago. I didn't post it because Shayla had just barely posted it on her blog (that's actually where I got the idea!), but these little lasagna rolls have had such an effect on me that I haven't stopped thinking about them since. I made 13 lasagna rolls and I, like Shayla, added 1 lb of meat into the mixture. As I was sitting watching the food network last night, I was thinking about these lasagna rolls and I think I found the perfect way to make them just PERFECT. While I really loved these, I also thought the filling was a bit dry, kind of pasty texture. I also thought that the meat didn't have a lot of flavor. I've added a small jar of tomato sauce to the filling and suggest while browning the meat to add some Italian Seasoning. I also think it might be good to do a mixture of cottage cheese and ricotta cheese. These made excellent leftovers!

Here is my edited recipe:

Cheesy Lasagna Rolls

12 Lasagna noodles, cooked and cooled (I used 13 because I boiled 14 and only one of them came out cracked)
1 jar spaghetti sauce, divided

Filling:
1 lb ground beef (cooked with a bit of Italian Seasoning to taste)
1 small can tomato sauce (the smallest can you can find because you might not use it all)
1 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp parsley flakes
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic salt
2 cups mozzarella cheese, divided (1 1/2 cup for filling, 1/2 cup on top)

Pour 1/2 of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan, just enough to cover the bottom to prevent sticking. Brown meat. Mix together all ingredients for the filling, using just enough tomato sauce to make it moist, but not runny. Lay noodles flat and spread filling mixture on noodles. Roll up like a sleeping bag and lay in pan. Top with remaining sauce and mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

*Note: Do not over cook noodles. Follow directions on box of noodles.

Potato Salmon Patties

2008-12-18T10:02:00.004-07:00

It is hard to put this meal on a grading scale because most of the meals I have made that are on this site are just so much more fabulous than this. Not to say that this wasn't a good meal because it definitely was. It was really quick and easy to put together and make and Emi loved them. We both agreed that it is a good alternative when there isn't much time to make dinner, or I don't feel like cooking. I think we will probably keep the ingredients on hand from now on for a VERY quick, very easy, and tasty dinner. Next time though, I'll grab some Tartar sauce and I might substitute scallions instead of the onion. I served it with Broccoli Au Gratin rice (courtesy of Rice-a-roni! Haha)

Potato Salmon Patties

INGREDIENTS
1 (14.75 ounce) can salmon, drained and flaked
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup garlic and herb seasoned dry bread crumbs (I used Italian Bread Crumbs)
1/4 cup dry potato flakes
1 medium onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon dried dill weed (I used dried dill seed because I couldn't find the dill weed)
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil

DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, mix salmon, eggs, garlic and herb seasoned dry bread crumbs, dry potato flakes, onion, garlic, dill weed, celery salt, salt, and pepper. Form the mixture into 2 inch balls, and flatten into patties about 1/2 inch thick.
Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. In batches, cook patties about 5 minutes on each side, until lightly browned.

Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff

2008-12-16T14:39:00.005-07:00

We just had some friends pop in from Las Vegas unexpectedly last night so I moved one of our dinners to tonight. This was pretty good, but also pretty salty. I also think I am not a fan of shredded chicken in this type of dish with noodles. It just reminds me too much of a tuna casserole and Emi even asked me if there was tuna in it. Weird. I think if I were to make it again, I would possibly cube the chicken, but I don't know if that would work out because it is SO tender coming out of the crock pot. I have never shredded chicken so easily!

Also, I was a little weirded out by the small amount of liquid in the crockpot (even with my addition of the cooking wine), so I added a little bit of water about 3 hours into cooking because I was afraid the chicken would burn.

Another thing that I had also never done before is start with frozen chicken and I was VERY worried about this, but it turned out great! and that is probably why the chicken was so very tender.

I would probably make this again since Emi and our guests really liked it, but... I don't know. :-D Maybe as a last resort type thing. At least I learned about the frozen chicken trick and I really do hate defrosting chicken.

Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff
Here is my edited version.

INGREDIENTS
4 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/8 cup margarine
1/2 cup white cooking wine
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
4 ounces sliced mushrooms

DIRECTIONS
Put frozen chicken, margarine, white wine, and dressing mix in slow cooker. Mix together and cook on low for 6 hours.
Add cream cheese and soup, mix together and shred chicken. Add mushrooms. Cook on high for another 1/2 hour or until heated through and warm.

Molly's Rolls

2008-12-16T14:36:00.006-07:00

Grading scale: A+

This was another hit roll recipe and relatively easy (especially since I have new dough hooks on a hand mixer!). They were soft and very fluffy! Everyone enjoyed them very much. Emi can't get over how good I am at making rolls.

Molly's Rolls

1 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk (Just heat it in the microwave for 30 seconds and let it sit while the yeast bubbles)
1/3 cup sugar
1 package yeast (2 1/4 teaspoon)
1/3 cup oil
1/2 T salt
1 egg
flour (About 4 1/2 cups)

In mixer combine yeast, sugar, and warm water; let grow until bubbly(about 5 minutes). Add milk and mix. Mix in oil and egg. Slowly add 2 cups flour, mix and then add salt. Add 1/2 cup flour at a time until it comes away from side of bowl. Let rise in mixing bowl for about 30 minutes. Form rolls as desired and place on a greased cookie sheet. Let rise and additional 30 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Brush hot rolls with melted butter.

I'm going to shape these into cresent rolls. If you need instructions on how to shape them go here.

Pasta Tossed With Parsley, Garlic, and Olive Oil.

2008-12-15T18:45:00.005-07:00

I decided that it was time to do another post and since I won't be making any fancy dinners until Wednesday, I thought I would impart some new-found wisdom.

Lately me and Emi have been very much into garlic. Ever since I made the Sun-dried Tomato Chicken Rollups we just can't get enough of pasta tossed with parsley, garlic, and olive oil. It may not sound very tasty, but believe me it is! and I am one of those girls that usually likes very saucy pastas. Since I had to look up a recipe on how to make this pasta, I figure there might be other girls out there, like me that really don't know how to make it.

1 lb box of pasta (lately Emi and I have been favoring short pasta, like penne)
2-4 garlic cloves, minced (depending on your taste for garlic)
4 T. Olive oil
Fresh Parsley, chopped

1. Boil pasta according to directions on the box.
2. In a skillet, heat olive oil and garlic until garlic turns a golden brown color.
3. Remove from heat and add parsley.
4. Combine together with noodles.

It's as easy as that! Yum! I have served this to my family and some of our friends with various dishes and nobody can stop eating it!

Beef Parmesan with Garlic Angel Hair Pasta

2008-12-10T09:57:00.009-07:00

This turned out great!!! I didn't remember to prepare this the night before, so that is probably something that I will do next time. I did take a picture, but it really doesn't look that appetizing, but believe me it was! It did require a little bit of work to put together, but was definitely worth it in the end. Emi has asked me to put this on the list of things that I will make again.

This meal had three things that my husband proclaims that he does not like and will not eat.
1. Marinara sauce.
2. Cooked Onion.
3. Cooked Green Peppers.

Now you are probably wondering why I would even make this since that is pretty much what the meal is. Well, I just kind of ignore the fact that Emi says he doesn't like Marinara sauce considering that he loves my Lasagna, he loved when I made Penne Rosa and I will be making it again next week, and he also loves the Chicken Parmesan that I make. All of which have Marinara sauce in them. Therefore, I ignore #1. As far as the cooked onion and cooked green peppers, I just figured that it would season the meat and he could pull them out since you keep them big. Not only did he love the sauce, he actually ate the onions and green peppers. Talk about a miracle of a dish!

I used Prego Roasted Garlic Parmesan as my marinara sauce. I can't vouch for this by itself since I've never had it on anything else and I'm sure that the green pepper and onion added to the flavor, as well as the garlic that was in the oil when I quick-fried the meat.

Speaking of garlic, I used a lot more than the recipe called for. Probably about 4 cloves to fry the meat in, and then four cloves that I had with the olive oil I put over the noodles. I think I am going to change the recipe to reflect that. I love garlic! (Brooke made me a believer. I hardly ever use garlic powder anymore.)

I found this here. Here is my edited version.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 pounds beef cube steak
1 onion, sliced into thin rings
1 green bell pepper, sliced in rings
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 (16 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce (Prego Roasted Garlic Parmesan)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
12 ounces angel hair pasta (I used penne)
8 garlic cloves (use less if you're not a fan)
1/4 cup parsley

DIRECTIONS
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.Cut cube steak into serving size pieces. Coat meat with the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan, and saute 4 minced garlic cloves for 3 minutes. Quick fry (brown quickly on both sides) meat. Place meat in a casserole baking dish, slightly overlapping edges. Place onion rings and peppers on top of meat, and pour marinara sauce over all.
3.Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the thickness of the meat. Sprinkle mozzarella over meat and leave in the oven till bubbly.
4. While pasta is boiling, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and saute 4 minced garlic cloves until golden brown. Take off the heat and add parsley to the pan. Set aside until pasta is done.
4.Boil pasta al dente. Drain, and toss in olive oil, parsley, and garlic. Top with grated parmesan. Serve meat and sauce atop a mound of pasta!

HINT: make the meat ahead of time, and refrigerate over night, the acid in the tomato sauce will tenderize the meat even more. If you do this, save the mozzarella till the last minute.

Review: Sticky Coconut Chicken

2008-12-09T10:50:00.005-07:00

Grading scale: A!

This was really good, so good, in fact, that even though mine and Emi's mouths were BURNING, we still kept eating it. I knew this recipe has a significant amount of red pepper in it, but since trying the Penne Rosa and seeing how NOT spicy that was, I just didn't have the fear of the red pepper. The rice, however, does cool your mouth quite a bit. If it weren't for that I think we might have had to call the Fire Department! Emi has asked me not to put any red pepper in at all next time I make these (and he REALLY wants there to be a next time), but I am afraid that taking out the red pepper will make it less-tasty. Any suggestions?

And I have a picture for you! I ended up grilling these on the George Forman grill because it was threatening to snow outside. I cut them in half because I didn't want to worry about them not being cooked in the middle. Also, the glaze seemed to take a really long time to thicken, and I was not entirely sure that it HAD thickened when I took it off the heat, but after it sat for like 5 minutes, it was definitely thick.

How do you like my new Christmas plates that Emi got me?

Sticky Coconut Chicken

2008-12-08T11:17:00.006-07:00

Doesn't this look so good??? I will be letting this marinade for about 5 hours and then when Emi gets home he can show me how to turn on the BBQ! :-D Or I might just grill it on my George Foreman. Check out my review here.

I'm excited!

Sticky Coconut Chicken

6-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 cup canned coconut milk
1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 tsp. red pepper flakes

Marinade chicken in coconut milk, ginger, pepper and red pepper flakes at least one hour. Grill on barbecue.

Glaze:
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. red pepper flakes

While the chicken is grilling, bring above ingredients to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until mixture is reduced and thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Be patient because it takes a little while. But once it starts getting really thick, immediately take it off the heat! Glaze both sides of chicken the last few minutes of grilling and serve chicken over rice.

Sidenote: My Kitchen Cafe suggests using the extra coconut milk left in the can as part of the liquid in the rice. It is very mildly sweet and pairs well with the chicken.

Baked Salmon

2008-12-05T16:03:00.003-07:00

This is what's on the menu for tonight. My husband switched with someone at work so I had to come up with 3 more meals this week that weren't planned. Luckily I had some Salmon in the freezer!

Something that I think is way exciting is: Since I've been cooking a lot lately, I haven't had to buy a lot of things because I have already built my pantry! Without planning my meal I had everything I needed for this dish tonight!

This was a really good and simple way to make salmon. I used probably the equivalent of 6 garlic cloves (mine were really big) and I made 4 salmon fillets.

The best thing about this recipe... "Woman, this reminds me of home."

Baked Salmon

INGREDIENTS
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 tablespoons light olive oil
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
2 (6 ounce) fillets salmon

DIRECTIONS
In a medium glass bowl, prepare marinade by mixing garlic, light olive oil, basil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and parsley. Place salmon fillets in a medium glass baking dish, and cover with the marinade. Marinate in the refrigerator about 1 hour, turning occasionally.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Place fillets in aluminum foil, cover with marinade, and seal. Place sealed salmon in the glass dish, and bake 35 to 45 minutes, until easily flaked with a fork.

Review: Sloppy Joes

2008-12-01T20:15:00.004-07:00

Grading scale: A-

These were really good and became one of Emi's favorites. I think once I settle down a bit and not make different dinners every night of the month that it may go into some sort of repeating schedule. I am not the biggest fan of sloppy joes, but these were the best I have ever had. I used more tomato paste than it called for because Emi is a big fan of tomato paste. I didn't really measure out the ingredients but just kind of eyed them. I'll make this again. :-D Very easy and very quick meal.

I also just ate them with your regular old hamburger buns.

"Slappy" Joes

2008-11-30T11:03:00.003-07:00

I will be making this tonight. My husband, who grew up in Romania, had never heard of sloppy joes until I made them about a year ago. He never seems to get the name right, so to us they are "Slappy" Joes . Silly boy!

Apparently this recipe makes a ton so I am going to cut it in half, and hopefully we'll still have plenty for leftovers tomorrow.

Sloppy Joes

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 onions, roughly chopped
2 ½ pounds ground beef
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2/3 cup smoky BBQ sauce (or whatever BBQ sauce is in your fridge)
½ cup ketchup
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup soy sauce
Freshly ground black pepper
8 to 12 potato rolls

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until they start to turn translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the beef and cook, stirring and breaking up the meat, until it is finely crumbled, the liquid boils off and the meat begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, and keep stirring until the meat is coated. Add the BBQ sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire, soy sauce, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Cook until the sauce is slightly thickened, 4 to 5 minutes. You can make the sloppy joe up to 2 days in advance and reheat it over low heat or in the microwave.

Wrap the rolls in aluminum foil and warm in the oven for about 10 minutes. Serve the sloppy joes hot with the warmed rolls.

Cheescake

2008-11-28T09:58:00.007-07:00

Grading scale: A

I made this cheesecake for Thanksgiving yesterday as we always have pumpkin pie and cheesecake on Thanksgiving. Plus I have been telling my dad if he loses any more weight that I will have to stuff him up with cheesecake. Thankfully, he hasn't lost any more weight, but I made the cheesecake anyway.

This was pretty easy to put together and I actually took a shortcut because I don't have the right baking supplies to put this together. The only trouble that I had is I pulled out my hand mixer and lo! and behold, I broke it when I made the bread bowls last time. (JUST MORE EVIDENCE THAT I NEED A KITCHENAID STAND MIXER) I ran over to our friends' house and borrowed theirs. I bought a pre-made graham cracker crust (I know I am horrible aren't I?) and then made the filling and just cooked it in the crust, but I will give the instructions as they are. I think next year I will buy a springform pan and bake it as it says, crust and all, but it still turned out awesome!!! If anything, it was a little too sweet. If you do go the shortcut route, make sure you get as big and as deep as a pre-made graham cracker crust as you can.

The Ultimate Cheesecake

Crust:
3 cups finely ground graham crackers (about 40 squares)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted

Filling:
2 (8-ounce) blocks cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 lemon, zest finely grated
1 pint sour cream

To prepare crumb crust: In a mixing bowl, combine the crust ingredients together with a fork until evenly moistened. Lightly coat the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan (I use a 10-inch springform pan b/c it is all I have and it works great) with non-stick cooking spray. Firmly press the mixture over the bottom and 1-inch up the sides on the pan, use your fingers or the smooth bottom of a glass. Refrigerate the crust while preparing the filling.

To prepare filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese on low speed for 1 minute just until smooth and free of any lumps. Gradually add the sugar and beat until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Periodically scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beaters. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and continue to slowly beat until combined. Stir in the vanilla and lemon zest. Blend in the sour cream. The batter should be well mixed but not overbeaten. Overbeating incorporates too much air and will cause the cake to puff when baking, then fall and crack when cooling. Pour filling into the crust-lined pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 50-55 minutes. The cheesecake should still jiggle slightly, it will firm up after chilling. Be careful not to overcook! Do not do a toothpick test in the cake's center, this will make a crack. Loosen the cheesecake from the sides of the pan by running a thin metal spatula around the inside rim. Let cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Chill in the refrigerator, loosely covered, for at least 4 hours to set up. Demold and transfer to a cake plate. Slice the cheesecake with a thin, nonserrated knife that has been dipped in hot water and wiped dry after each cut.

Knotty Cheese Rolls

2008-11-28T09:51:00.002-07:00

So I guess I lied a little bit about not trying new recipes. I have two new ones that I tried, but in my defense they aren't meals.

I got this recipe from my best friend over at Teaspoons and Tablecloths. You'll find the link below.

Knotty Cheese Rolls
1 packet active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 Tbl sugar
1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, well-beaten
1/2 cup grated cheese (whatever kind you like)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Pour yeast, warm water, and sugar into a medium mixing bowl. Give it a stir and let it sit for a while so the yeast activates. In a separate bowl (or glass measuring cup) mix melted butter, milk, salt, egg, and cheese (reserve a little cheese to sprinkle on the tops of the rolls). Pour milk mixture into yeast mixture and stir. Add flour on cup at a time until the dough no longer sticks to the side of the bowl* Knead in bowl 5-7 times. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

After letting the dough rise, shape the rolls. Flour your hands. Take a ball of dough and roll it between your hands until it forms a long rope (14-16in long). Fold the rope in half and twist it four or five times, keeping your finger in the loop at the end. Fold in half once more and place the loose ends through the loop. Repeat this process until you have no more dough. Place rolls on a baking sheet and let rise another 30 minutes. Sprinkle the tops with cheese and bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

These were absolutely awesome and very easy to make. As I have said time and time again, I am not a baker--and I proved this to you with my bread bowls that I made a couple of weeks ago--but these rolls were an absolute hit with my family and friends. I have made this recipe 3 times in the last 3 days and everybody absolutely LOVED them. My husband's first reaction when he bit into them was "HOLY CRAP!" and I gave some to my friend Cody last night and he was thinking to himself, "I've had these before." then he bit into them and WABAM! He absolutely LOVED them. Yay! Maybe I'll be a baker afterall.

Grading scale: Definitely A+++++++++! :-D

Review: Penne Rosa

2008-11-24T19:19:00.003-07:00

Click on the title for a quick link to the recipe.

Grading scale: A

This was a really good and really quick fancy smancy recipe. I served 5 people with this recipe and my brother had some leftover for him to take home. I'm not sure that it tasted exactly like the recipe from Noodles and Co, but it was still awesome. Eric (the food snob) said that topped with the feta cheese, it might have been the same recipe.

Here are a few pointers if you're planning on making this dish.

I made "Parmesan Crusted Chicken" to go with the pasta and what I did was I cut the chicken into cubes, rolled it in beaten eggs, and tossed it in some Italian Bread Crumbs that I mixed with some parmesan cheese. I cooked this for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. If you want the chicken more like they make it at Noodles and Co, it would be better to fry it in oil. I hate frying things in oil because I always seem to get burned.

Use the full amount of crushed red pepper recommended (or maybe even more). I used half of what it asked for because I was afraid of the spice and we all ended up sprinkling on a bit more. Do no be afraid of this. I couldn't even taste the red pepper before we put on more and Emi and I are both pretty whimpy when it comes to spiciness.

Don't cut the spinach up because it shrinks quite a bit after you add it to the sauce and heat.

I used Classico Traditional Sweet Basil as my spaghetti/marinara sauce.

Your friends will be impressed!

Ranch-Style Stuffed Potatoes

2008-11-21T18:50:00.005-07:00

Ranch-Style Stuffed Potatoes
Grading scale: A

These are an AWESOME variety to the everyday potato, although they do take quite a bit more work, but they are sure to IMPRESS.

INGREDIENTS
4 large potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 (10 ounce) package chopped frozen broccoli, thawed
1/2 cup ranch-style salad dressing
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Pierce the skin of the potatoes with a fork.
Microwave pierced potatoes on HIGH for 12 minutes. Place partially baked potatoes in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Slice off potato tops, scoop out the bulk of the interior of the potato being careful to leave the potato skins intact. In a medium bowl, mash the removed potato interior.
Heat a small skillet over medium heat, stir in butter. Saute onions in the skillet until tender, about 5 minutes.
Combine onions, broccoli, and ranch dressing with the mashed potato. Brush the outside of the potato skins with oil. Spoon potato mixture into the skins. Arrange stuffed potatoes on a cookie sheet.
Bake potatoes for 15 minutes in the preheated 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) oven, or until heated through. Season with salt, pepper, and parsley.

While we are on the subject of potatoes. I would really like to impart some advice to those of you, like me, who never really did a lot of cooking until they moved out of their parent's house. I constantly find myself searching through the internet on a lot of different topics related to cooking. Like what is al dente? How do you use the broiler? Do I need a broiler pan? How do you cook fish? How do you cook potatoes? So here is my advice on potatoes (to save you the searching).

You can bake a potato that is covered in aluminum foil or just right on the oven rack.

You can either bake it at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or at 350 for an hour (times relative to size of potato, but mostly I make small-to-medium potatoes).

A good way to make an awesome baked potato without much hassle is to:
1. Clean potato.
2. Pierce a couple of times with a fork.
3. Roll potato in Sesame oil mixed with a little Olive Oil. Salt and Pepper to taste.
4. Wrap in aluminum foil and place in oven. (Seam side up! THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! The Sesame oil can start a fire in your oven if it drips down to the bottom. You can even put the wrapped potatoes in a baking pan)

The above idea was given to me by my friend Missy.

I have another awesome potato recipe (similar to potato salad) from Romania coming up soon.

Review: Sun-dried Tomato Chicken Rollups!

2008-11-20T20:31:00.006-07:00

Sun-dried Tomato Chicken Rollups
Grading scale: A+++

This was an easy and delectable dinner! Everybody loved it and wants me to make it again. Also, for once my tastebuds seemed to agree with everyone else's. The sun-dried tomatoes were very good in this dish, and I HATE sun-dried tomatoes. I think this dish would be awesome with all the same ingredients and ham thrown in as well, kind of a Chicken Cordon Bleu but with Ricotta, Provolone, and Sun-dried Tomatoes.

I'm going to be taking a break from the recipe world for the next week using recipes I've already tried. Look forward to the Sloppy Joes next Saturday.

BBQ Ribs

2008-11-18T11:06:00.005-07:00

This is one of the easiest dinners you'll ever put together.

BBQ Ribs
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Sweet Baby Ray's Honey or Original BBQ sauce (or your preferred BBQ sauce.)

1. Rub salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder into ribs.
2. Place in crock pot and smother with BBQ sauce. (Fold ribs in half if you have to.)
Cook on low for 8 - 10 hours. (I usually cook mine for 9 hours)

You can use bone-in or boneless, pork or beef, ribs.

I usually serve mine with baked or mashed potatoes and another vegetable of choice.

Next Tried and True Recipe: Ranch-Style Stuffed Potatoes.

The Ultimate Beef Stroganoff

2008-11-17T09:17:00.007-07:00

I got this from here. I think this is my favorite recipe that I have tried so far from My Kitchen Cafe. I just barely ate it and my stomach is SO full and I only ate a small serving. I probably have enough meat and sauce left for two more meals and if you know my husband, you know that is a miracle! Yum! I had one reservation about making this and that was the apple juice, when I read that I thought to myself how gross that must be, but it turned out great and there didn't even seem to be a hint of apple in it. I don't think I would change anything about this recipe. I served my beef stroganoff over fettuccine noodles.

The Ultimate Beef Stroganoff

Put in crock pot:
2-3 pounds stew meat
1 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
1 onion, sliced

Mix in a bowl and pour over meat:
¼ tsp. garlic salt
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ cups beef broth or stock (made up from cubes or granules)
1 tablespoon ketchup

Cook in crockpot on low for 7-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours. When cooked make a simple roux by whisking 1/3 cup flour with enough apple juice (about 5-6 tablespoons) to make a thick but still pourable flour mixture. Whisk the roux into the crockpot and add 4 ounces sliced mushrooms.

Cook on high for 15-30 minutes. Then stir in ½ cup sour cream. Serve over pasta, rice or baked potatoes.

Penne Rosa

2008-11-16T09:40:00.010-07:00

This is on the menu to try sometime soon. I got this recipe from my brother who got it from here.

My brother is a big fan of the Noodles and Co. Penne Rosa, which I tried last night and as far as we can tell this is either a copycat recipe or very close. It is a very yummy dish and on first bite you think to yourself, "I can totally handle the red pepper." but as you keep eating your mouth slowly becomes inflamed! I would recommend less red pepper, but I'm going to give this a try to see if it tastes the same and then make a whole bunch of the sauce for my brother to keep frozen for an easy dinner for him that he will love.

I will be making it with chicken coated with Italian bread crumbs.

PENNE ROSA

1 1 lb box Penne pasta
1 tbsp cooking white wine
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp ground or crushed red pepper* (optional)
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup marinara/spaghetti sauce
1/4 cup sliced mushrooms (canned or fresh, drained)
1/4 cup baby spinach (packed)
1 14 oz. can italian-style diced tomatoes
Freshly grated parmesan (for garnish)
grilled chicken, sauteed shrimp, or asparagus** (for serving)

Boil pasta according to package directions; set aside.

In a large skillet, heat wine, oil, marinara, mushrooms, tomatoes and pepper over medium heat; stir liberally for 4-5 minutes.

Add pasta, mixing well. Add cream, continue stirring. Add spinach last, stirring until wilted.

Serve with fresh parmesan or feta cheese on top.

*For more spice, use white pepper.

**Best served with grilled chicken or sauteed shrimp. (Shrimp or chicken should be fully cooked before blending into pasta.) Also good with asparagus.

Introducing: Reactions!

2008-11-13T14:08:00.001-07:00

You will notice from now on at the end of every post there is a section labeled reactions. This way I can easily hear from my readers how they respond to the recipes I put on here. Let me know what you think! It would be cool if you tried the recipe and then responded, or even if you just read through it and told me what you thought.

You can read about reactions here and how to put them on your blog on the November 6 entry.

Cabbage Casserole

2008-11-13T10:01:00.007-07:00

Cabbage Casserole
Grading scale: A-

This one is a little unusual, and it looks kind of gross, but it is really good. My husband is a big fan of cabbage because he grew up eating a dish called Sarmale (Cabbage rolls, recipe to come soon!). I got this recipe from my mom. When she first made this for us, both my brother and I stuck up our noses at it, but after we tried it - we asked for her to make it again. I have made a couple of changes from her original recipe to suit it more to mine and Emi's liking.

1 lb. Ground Beef
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Head of Cabbage (cut up)
1 Onion (chopped)
1 1/2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
1 1/2 c. frozen corn
Top w/cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place cut up cabbage in a pot of water, bring to boil. Let boil until cabbage is softened (I don't have a time on this, but I would estimate about 8-10 minutes.).
3. Drain.
4. In the meanwhile, place onion and ground beef in a pan and brown.
5. In a casserole dish layer cabbage, beef and onion, tomato sauce, and corn. Top with cheese.
6. Cook for 30 minutes.

Easy Lasagna

2008-11-12T09:48:00.008-07:00

I have been making this lasagna dish since I was about 15 years old. My mom had cancer when I was a little girl, and when I was almost 16 she had to have surgery so I became the cook for about 2 weeks. My next door neighbor Lisa, stepped up to the plate and taught me how to make a couple of dishes, this was one of them.

This is my brother's and my dad's favorite thing that I make. If I were to call them up right now and tell them I was making this both of them would get in their cars and come down right-away. :-D My dad requested that I make this for him as his birthday present, so I need to go up there soon and make it!

Easy Lasagna

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb ground beef
1 16oz carton of cottage cheese
2 1/2 c. of cheddar cheese, grated.
2 eggs
1 jar Classico Traditional Sweet Basil (or the marinara sauce of your choice)
1 box Lasagna noodles*

DIRECTIONS:
1. Boil noodles (or use oven-ready noodles and skip to step 5). Follow directions on the box.
2. In the meanwhile, in a mixing bowl mix together cottage cheese, half of the cheddar cheese, and the eggs.
3. Brown the meat. Drain. Pour the marinara sauce into the same pan.
4. Once noodles are done, lay aluminum foil down on the counter and using prongs pull noodles out and lay them on the foil to dry slightly
5. Put a layer of noodles in a 9x13 baking dish.
6. Layer: 1/2 cup Meat and sauce, 1/2 cup cheese mixture, noodles. Repeat until all noodles are gone. On the top put cheese mixture and remaining half of grated cheddar cheese.
7. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 35 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and bake for 10 minutes.

Baked Pork Chops

2008-11-12T09:22:00.007-07:00

I made these last night for the first time. You will notice as it gets closer and closer to payday that my recipes get less and less fun. It means that I ran out of my ingredients that I bought for the two weeks until we get paid again. :-D But while this recipe may be a little boring, I assure you it was really good! It was very moist and tender. You will also start to notice that my husband is a sucker for BBQ, and since I don't know how to work our grill, I have to find ways to make BBQ inside.

This recipe kind of surprised me though. I thought it would taste very similar to the Oven Baked BBQ Chicken, but this was less BBQ and more tomato-ie. Apparently Emi was raving about this to our friend Cody last night as well as the Chunky Potato Soup I made a couple of days ago.

I got this from Family Oven. A new site I just found. They seem to be kind of like the google of the recipe world. I put in some ingredients I had and this popped out.

Baked Pork Chops

Ingredients
1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 cup ketchup
1 cup water
1 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 1/2 lbs pork chops, cut about 1 1/4-inch thick (Mine were bone-in pork chops.)

Directions
1. Combine mustard, flour, sugar and salt.
2. Add vinegar, ketchup and water and mix thoroughly.
3. Pour over chops in a baking dish covered with heavy aluminum foil.
4. Cover the top tightly with foil as well and bake at 350° for 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

As usual, I topped this off with a baked potato and corn. I am looking forward to trying this out in the crockpot.

My pork cooked for about an hour and 15 minutes. I made 4 bone-in pork pieces.

--UPDATE--

I've now made this in the crockpot and it had quite the different flavor from when I made it in the oven. It was REALLY good and my husband loved it. Here are the instructions.

1. Salt and Pepper pork chops to taste.
2. Place them in the crockpot.
3. Pour mixed ingredients over them.
4. Cook on low for 6-7 hours. (I cooked mine for 8 hours and they were a bit overdone.)

Oven-Baked BBQ Chicken

2008-11-11T10:06:00.005-07:00

I got this recipe off of allrecipes.com only it was meant for wings. My husband and I aren't a big fan of wings because there is so little meat and so much annoying trouble to eat at all. I think this is one of my husband's favorite meals and he requests it almost weekly.

Oven-Baked BBQ Chicken Drumsticks

8-10 chicken drumsticks
3 T. butter
1 T. onion powder
5 T. brown sugar
2 T. worchestershire sauce
1 c. ketchup
1/2 c. water
2 T. prepared mustard

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a small saucepan, melt butter. Add onion powder, brown sugar, and worchestershire sauce.
3. In a small bowl (or I like to use my 2 c. measuring cup), mix together ketchup and water. Pour into sauce pan.
4. Add prepared mustard to saucepan.
5. Stir with a wire whisk and let simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Place chicken in a baking dish covered with heavy aluminum foil. Pour sauce over chicken.
7. Cook for 45 minutes to an hour.

At about 50 minutes, I usually turn the chicken over so that it can get browned on both sides. This is not necessary as it will be cooked though, its just how we like it. I usually tie this recipe off with baked potatoes and a vegetable of choice. It's nice because the chicken and the potatoes can cook at the same time!

If you are cooking for less, you can go to the link above and use their serving calculator to recalculate the ingredients. The ingredients come out kind of funny like 1 T. and 1/2 t. butter, but at least you aren't making as much. :-D

You can also cook this recipe in the crockpot. Cook it on low for 6 hours. This is a good option if you're not going to have time in the evening, but it tastes best baked.

Orange Chicken Leg Quarters

2008-11-11T09:48:00.006-07:00

I don't know about you, but I absolutely love my crock pot and we were particularly lucky to get a really nice one from my sister-in-law and her husband. My favorite thing about the crockpot is that people think you spent all this time putting a recipe together when really you put the ingredient in that morning, and 8 hours later walah! an awesome meal that took you hardly any effort at all! I got this recipe from a book called Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly by Phyllis Pellman Good. I bought this book from Amazon for $5 after shipping and handling and I highly recommend it! My friend Missy was the first to try this recipe and we all LOVE it! It has an extensive list of ingredients, but most of it is stuff you have laying around your kitchen.

Orange Chicken Leg Quarters

4 chicken drumsticks, skin removed*
4 chicken thighs, skin removed
1 c. strips of green and red bell peppers
1/2 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. prepared orange juice
1/2 c. ketchup
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. molasses
1 T. prepared mustard
1/2 t. garlic salt
11-oz can mandarin oranges
2 t. cornstarch
1 c. frozen peas
2 green onions, sliced

1. Place chicken in slow cooker. Top with pepper strips.
2. Combine broth, juice, ketchup, soy sauce, molasses, mustard, and garlic salt. Pour over chicken.
3. Cover. Cook on low 5-6 hours.
4. Remove chicken and vegetables from slow cooker. Keep warm.
5. Measure out 1 cup of cooking sauce. Put in saucepan and bring to boil.
6. Drain oranges, reserving 1 Tbsp. juice. Stir cornstarch into reserved juice. Add to boiling sauce in pan.
7. Add peas to sauce and cook, stirring 2-3 minutes until sauce thickens and peas are warm. Stir in oranges.
8. Arrange chicken pieces on platter of cooked white rice, fried cellophane noodles, or lo mein noodles. Pour orange sauce over chicken and rice or noodles. Top with sliced green onions.

* I usually just use 8-10 drumsticks because I generally don't have drumsticks and thighs lying around. They also recommend that you remove the skin, but I recommend that you DON'T remove the skin until after cooking if you want to remove it at all.

Chicken Puffs

2008-11-11T09:41:00.005-07:00

I was given this recipe by my friend Lacey.

Chicken Puffs

INGREDIENTS
2 c. chicken
1 can mushrooms
2 cans of crescent rolls
2 pkgs cream cheese
2/3 c. butter
1/8 t. ground pepper

Combine the following ingredients in a sauce pan:
2 pkgs cream cheese
2/3 cups butter
⅛ tsp ground pepper

1. Fold in 2 cups cubed chicken and 1 can mushrooms (optional). Heat but don't boil.
2. After melting, roll out 2 cans of crescent rolls. Put about ¼ cup of the mixture in each and roll up.
3. Dip each roll in melted ½ cup of butter and then roll in 1/3 cups of prepared bread crumbs.
4. Bake at 325° for 20 minutes.

Sesame Chicken Strips

2008-11-10T10:11:00.004-07:00

I have made these only twice because of how messy they are, but they are one of my husband's favorite things. They are perfect as an appetizer or eat them with a green salad. I got these from my friend Sara.

Sesame Chicken Strips

SEASONING:
32 fl oz of Mayonnaise (in my experience, I have never used this much)
6 t. dried minced onion
4 t. of dry mustard
3 packets of crushed Ritz Crackers
1 c. of sesame seeds
2 1/2 lbs or 4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts

SAUCE:
1 c. of Mayonnaise
2 T. of Honey
Prepared mustard to taste

CHICKEN: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a ziploc bag, use a rolling pin to cruch Ritz Crackers. In a bowl, combine mayo, minced onion, and dry mustard. In a separate bowl, combine the crackers and sesame seeds. Cut chicken into 1/4 inch strips. Dip strips into mayo mix until coated. Dip into sesame seed mix until chicken is coated. Place in a single layer on a large greased baking sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until juiced run clear and chicken is fully cooked.

SAUCE: In a bowl, combine mayo, honey, and mustard and mix. Let chill for 30 minutes.

Crispy Chicken Parmesan

2008-11-09T16:54:00.002-07:00

Crispy Chicken Parmesan
Grading scale: A
This is adapted from Campbell's Kitchen. I did a couple of things to make it easier and more tasteful to me. This is a good, easy meal and whenever people (including my husband) have tried it, I have gotten rave reviews.

2 cups Italian Bread Crumbs
4 boneless chicken breast halves
1 egg, beaten
1 jar Classico Traditional Sweet Basil (or your preferred spaghetti sauce)
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Sugar, Italian Seasoning, and Garlic powder to taste.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray (or cover baking sheet with aluminum foil -makes for easy clean up!)
2. Dip chicken into egg. Coat with crumbs. Place chicken on prepared baking sheet.
3. Bake 20- 25 minutes or until chicken is done.
4. Meanwhile, pour spaghetti sauce into a small sauce pan. I usually add a pinch of sugar and then sprinkle in Italian Seasoning and garlic powder. It tastes much more flavorful this way to me... Heat through.
5. Spoon pasta suace over chicken and sprinkle with cheese.

Serve with spaghetti or your preferred type of noodle.

Back to School Sloppy Joes

2008-11-09T16:45:00.001-07:00

I got this from Campbell's Kitchen. This is for one of those nights where you don't feel like cooking but you have to eat SOMETHING.

Back to School Sloppy Joes

1 lb ground beef
1 can (10 3/4 oz) Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup
2 T. ketchup
1 tsp. prepared mustard
6 hamburger rolls

Cooke beef in skillet until browned. Drain.
Add soup, ketchup, and mustard and heat throup. Serve on rolls.

I'm sure that you could add some onion powder and some worchestershire sauce and it would give it an even better flavor without adding much work!

Chicken Crepes

2008-11-09T16:32:00.002-07:00

I got this from my friend Aubrey. We used to eat this dish when we were in College. Her mom gave us this recipe and it became a favorite. I have made it a couple of times for Emi and I. It's so good and creamy!!!

Chicken Crepes

CREPES:
4 eggs
1/2 c. chicken stock
2 T. butter
1/2 c. milk
1/2 t. salt
1 c. sifted flour (I have never sifted flour...)

Beat eggs in large mixing bowl. Add milk, chicken stock, melted butter, and salt. Beat on medium speed, gradually adding flour. Let batter stand 1 hour. Heat crepe pan or 5 to 7" skillet until moderately hot, then film with butter. Pour small amount of batter into pan, quickly tilting pan so battr spreads evenly in thinnest possible layer. Cook until lightly browned and edges lift easily from pan. Turn crepe over to finish cooking, then removed to plate. Repeat.

FILLING:
3 c. cooked cubed chicken
Broccoli (or you can substitute one 4 oz. can sliced mushrooms if you'd prefer)
1/4 c. minced onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 c. sour cream
1 1/2 c. graded swiss cheese (or medium chedder)

Combine chicken broccoli (mushrooms), onions, soup, and sour cream. Fill each crepe evenly with filling. Sprinkle each with cheese. Roll crepes and place in baking pan seam side down. (3 cups chicken mixture fills 6 crepes)

TOPPING:
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cup medium or sharp grated cheddar cheese

Combine soupe and sour cream together and spoon over crepes. Top with grated cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes.

Chicken Green Bean Casserole

2008-11-07T23:00:00.002-07:00

I got this here.

This was pretty good, but I don't think I put enough chicken in it. Emi LOVED the sauce and said that it tasted like cavier. I think next time I might serve this over noodles or rice. I think because I didn't put enough chicken in it, it seemed like there wasn't enough to it, but the taste was awesome!!!

Chicken Green Bean Casserole

3-4 chicken breasts
1 c. mayonnaise
2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 cans green beans
Grated cheese

Cook and cut up chicken. Mix together mayonnaise, soup, and lemon juice. Layer: chicken, beans, sauce, and cheese. Cook at 350 for 30 minutes.

Meatballs with Cream Sauce

2008-11-05T20:50:00.002-07:00

This was really good. My friend Jessica's birthday was on Monday and she was working so we couldn't get together so instead we packed up all the ingredients and went to her house last night (As well as our friends' two children! :-D). Jessica paired up the dish nicely with some garlic bread and a salad.

I did a couple of things different and then Emi did something typical of him that probably made the dish taste a bit different. First of all, I put cheddar cheese in the meatball mixture and I also used all dried ingredients. Not on purpose, but because Walmart was slacking (as usual) in the produce department. The dried ingredients are a little more potent so I think that was part of the reason the meatballs were SOOOO flavorful. If you use fresh, use more than recommended.

Now on to Emi.... haha. Jessica was feeding the baby, and I was watching the sauce, so I asked Emi to take care of the noodles. He asked us if he should put salt in the water and we said yes. Well come time to taste the noodles to find out if they were done, we realized just how much salt Emi put in the water. Emi LOVES salt. It worked out though, because the sauce wasn't salty at all so what we got in the end was a perfect dish. Only next time I think that I will put the salt in the sauce instead.

If you're going to make this dish, I recommend tasting the sauce every once in a while and adding things to it if you think it is not so flavorful. I think some parmesan cheese would have gone perfectly inside the sauce. As for the thickness, of the sauce, I thought it had a pretty good thickness, but Emi would have perferred it a bit thicker. Also, I would use and did use equal portions butter and flour when making the sauce because I tried it the other way and it didn't work out for me.

I WILL MAKE THIS AGAIN! :-D

I got this here.

Meatballs with Cream Sauce

MEATBALLS:
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
2 T. ketchup
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup quick oats
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
3 T. flour

CREAM SAUCE:
2 T. butter
3 1/2 T. flour
1/4 t. dried thyme
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
14 oz. can chicken broth (If you want your sauce thicker, cut down the chicken broth to 1 cup)
2/3 cup milk
2 T. minced fresh parsley

In a bowl, combine all of the meatball ingredients EXCEPT the beef and flour. Add beef and mix well. Shape into balls. Roll in flour, shaking off excess. Place 1 inch apart on cookie sheet and bake, uncovered, at 400 for 10 minutes.
Turn meatballs, bake 8-10 minutes longer or until no longer pink.
Meanwhile, for the sauce, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour, thyme, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add broth and milk; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes, until slightly thickened.
If using the full can of chicken broth, the sauce doesn't thicken overly much, but it is delicious that way. If you want it slightly thicker, cut down the chicken broth to 1 cup.
Drain meatballs on paper towels; transfer to a serving dish. Top with sauce and parsley. Serve over rice or egg noodles.

Review: Chunky Potato Soup and Italian Bread Bowls

2008-11-05T18:08:00.000-07:00

Chunky Potato Soup

My Grading scale: B+

My Husband's Grading Scale: A+

"Emi, if you had to give a grade from A to F what grade would you give?"

"A+ Woman, it's really good. You can make this anytime that you want."

I followed the directions exactly and found that I didn't have enough liquid to boil the potatoes and such in, so I added another can of Chicken broth, and then maybe about a half cup of water. Maybe my idea of medium potatoes isn't so medium... but I actually thought they were kind of small... Also, since I added the extra Chicken broth and water, I used 4 T butter and 4 T flour as a thickening agent.

As you can tell from my husband's response, I will be making this again.

Italian Bread Bowls

Grading scale: A-

My husband's grading scale: A

Let me start out by telling you that I am not a baker. I LOVE to cook, but have never been very good at baking. I also do not own a electric mixer, but I do have a hand mixer. Not quite the same thing, huh. My poor hand mixer's motor couldn't take the density of the dough (He'll be alright though after some much needed rest), so I don't think that they were as mixed as they COULD be. It was still really good and I ate my soup in the breadbowl. Emi, who doesn't like "mushy" bread, ate his in a normal bowl and ate the bread along with it.

As you can tell, I had about 5 really good bowls and the other ones were a little strange... oh well. :-D

Can I just say that I am very proud of myself for how good the bread turned out even though I don't have a mixer and I had never made bread bread outside of a breadmaker before.. I'd say I did myself good.

Chunky Potato Soup & Italian Bread Bowls

2008-11-05T11:00:00.001-07:00

I got this here.

I have actually had this recipe before at my sister-in-law, Maria's house for Tayler's birthday. Maria did a WONDERFUL job with this and Emi made me promise that I would make it ASAP. Walmart didn't have any parsley when I went shopping so I will be using dried parsley (boooooh!), which I'm sure will make is less-tasty than Maria's, but here's hoping that it's still good! I am also going to use cheddar cheese instead of swiss because that is what I have in my fridge!

Read my review on this here.

Chunky Potato Soup

INGREDIENTS
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 small carrot, chopped
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons butter, cubed
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

DIRECTIONS
In a large saucepan, combine the potatoes, onion, carrot, celery and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until vegetables are tender; lightly mash.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt butter; stir in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir into potato mixture. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Add parsley, salt and pepper. Remove from the heat; stir in cheese until melted.

EDIT: I am going to try and make these with it.

Italian Bread Bowls
adapted from allrecipes.com

1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
2 1/2 cups warm water
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
7 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water

In a large bowl (or bowl of an electric mixer), dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

Add salt, oil and 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture; beat well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with an electric mixer at medium speed after each addition until a soft but not sticky dough is formed (you may not need to use all 7 cups).

When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes (or let knead in an electric mixer). Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Punch dough down, and divide into 6-8 equal portions. Shape each portion into a round ball. Place loaves on lightly greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal (or use silpat liners or parchment paper). Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk, about 35 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, beat together egg white and 1 tablespoon water; lightly brush the loaves with half of this egg wash. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Brush with remaining egg mixture, and bake 10 to 15 more minutes or until golden. Cool on wire racks.

Mustard Salmon

2008-11-04T17:54:00.002-07:00

This is one of my own creation, although it is not very creative. I'm also not sure of quantities because I just kind of threw it together by taste.

Grading scale: A+

Oh boy how I LOVE salmon! Right now my whole house smells like salmon and it is wonderful! The only thing I will change about this recipe is that I orginally wanted a Honey Mustard Salmon, but my train fell off the track and I forgot to add the honey. I think if I had added the honey this recipe would have gotten an A++! I still like my other salmon recipe better, but this will make for a good variety.

Mayonaise
Ground Mustard
Prepared Mustard
Dried Basil Leaves
Dried Thyme Leaves
Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper

I threw this all together in a small bowl, tasting it every so often until I got the desired taste. Using a spatula, I smothered 3 salmon fillets with the mixture on both sides. I cooked it at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. This made the salmon still moist but more well done. The cooking time is relative to how big your salmon fillet is. Mine were about 6 in x 3 in. The best I can tell you is to cook the salmon until it flakes easily with a fork.

I usually serve all fish with rice and my choice of vegetable (which is usally corn, but sometimes peas). Tonight was Italian Creamy Garlic rice (Rice-a-roni is a life saver because I am inept at making rice).

Review: Enchilada Casserole

2008-10-31T18:08:00.000-06:00

Grading scale: A-

I just took this down to Emi's work and we sat in the office and ate this together. We both liked in a lot, and I don't think that I would make any changes to the ingredients themselves. It had a lot of flavor!!! Also, my husband eats a TON and he only had 2 square sections and ended up being very full. We have leftovers that we're actually planning on eating (We're not a leftover family, but we are trying to be for poorness sake...) The other good thing about this recipe for us is that we hardly ever eat Ground Beef and it was a good recipe that I will definitely use again. This was a very easy dish to make.

I did do a couple of things different from the original recipe.

First off, I used Mild Green Chile Enchilada Sauce because I didn't know which kind I was supposed to use. I assume it was probably meant for "normal" red sauce. Mild, because Emi is a wuss. :-D Emi and I are fans of the Green Chile sauce and it was absolutely delish... so my recommendation goes with that.
The second thing I did, and this didn't make a difference as far as taste goes (or maybe it did), but it soothed the laziness in me. I added the olives to the sauce instead of putting a layer of them as I went. I am not a fan of olives so I only got a small 2.25 oz can of sliced olives. I put about 3/4 of them in the sauce and then used the rest to decorate the top. I couldn't even taste the olives in the dish which gives it an extra point for me!

I will also be referring to this as Enchilada Lasagna from now on so that it will be easy for Emi to remember and differentiate. :-D

Enchilada Casserole

2008-10-31T15:50:00.003-06:00

I got this here.

ENCHILADA CASSEROLE

4-5 flour tortillas
1 lb. hamburger
Onion powder to taste
1 can enchilada sauce
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 can chopped green chilies
6 tsp. milk mixed with soup
1 can sliced black olives
Grated cheese
Sour cream, lettuce, and tomatoes as desired

Fry hamburger with onion powder until brown. Drain. Add enchilada sauce, soup with milk, and green chilies. Simmer while preparing the rest.

Tear tortillas into fourths. Put a thin layer of meat sauce on the bottom of a 9 X 13 pan (to avoid sticking). Layer ingredients: tortillas, grated cheese, chopped olives, sauce, then repeat until all the sauce is gone. (Usually 2 layers of each). Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Top as desired.

Review: Gourmet Chicken Sandwiches

2008-10-30T12:04:00.000-06:00

Grading scale: A-

These were really good and I was right about having veggies on them. Brooke was the mastermind behind these so the props go to her. I liked the foccacia bread, but it was kind of hard to eat and I think I would have preferred it toasted. I wouldn't make these on a regular basis, as the recipe suggests, because I think its too much work for a normal everyday lunchtime meal.