Chicken Florentine

I had a bunch of bacon and spinach left over from this recipe so I was happy to find this recipe from You Got Served. After reading the ingredients it sounded pretty tasty! Something that I learned that I love are things that come pre-prepared, like minced garlic, bacon bits, shredded cheese. All were things used in this recipe which saved tons of time. I'm not a fan of mincing garlic, it seems like it takes me forever. And I really don't like cooking bacon, the smell is way too overpowering. It's pretty much the best when it's grilled outside, at Bear Lake. This would be a great recipe to use if you have left over grilled chicken, saving you about 20-30 minutes. Anyway, here is my take on this recipe.

2 large chicken breasts, cut into 3rds or 4ths

1 big bag of fresh spinach

4 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced

1/4 c butter

1 T Italian Seasoning

1/2 c half-and-half

3 t minced garlic

1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese

1 T lemon juice

1 can cream of mushroom soup (can also use cream of chicken or cream of roasted garlic)

1 c shredded mozzarella cheese

2/3 c bacon, crumbled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the chicken breast halves on a baking sheet; bake 20 to 30 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

While chicken is baking, sautee spinach and mushrooms in 1 1/2 T olive oil, until it becomes fragrant and spinach withers. Set aside. Then, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stirring constantly, mix the garlic, lemon juice, cream of mushroom soup, Italian seasoning, half-and-half, and Parmesan cheese in with the melted butter. Be careful not to let mixture bubble or it will thicken, just heat long enough to melt cheese.

When chicken is through baking, increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees.

Arrange the sauteed spinach and mushrooms over the bottom of a 9x13 inch (or 2- 8x8, baking 1 now, freezing the other for later) baking dish. Pour half the mixture from the saucepan over the spinach and mushrooms. Arrange chicken breasts in the dish, and cover with the remaining sauce mixture. Sprinkle with bacon bits, and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake 20 to 25 minutes in the 400 degree oven, until bubbly and lightly browned. Serve over pasta.

Serves 4.

Spinach Stuffed Shells

Only 17 more days until baby boy is here! It's hard to find motivation to cook when all I want to do is lie down and rest when Whitney is sleeping, but when I know I can get a freezer meal out of a recipe (meaning, I can slack off later when #2 gets here) it's not so bad! This recipe was found on Sister's Cafe, surprise surprise!

1 pkg jumbo pasta shells

1 jar favorite spaghetti sauce

1 pkg chopped spinach, thawed

2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded

1 lg carton cottage cheese

1 egg white

Thaw spinach and drain well. Cook shells according to package directions (I always slightly undercook them by a minute). Mix in a large bowl; cottage cheese, mozzarella, parmesan, spinach and egg white. Stuff mixture into shells and place in 9x13 baking dish Or use 2 smaller sized ones, baking one and freezing the other one for later. Spray the baking dish with cooking spray and pour a little bit of sauce in the bottom. Stuff mixture into shells and place into prepared dish (or dishes). Pour spaghetti sauce over shells. Cover and freeze or you can bake it at 350 for 30-45 minutes until heated thru. If you freeze it, plan on adding an additional hour to your baking time.This is also a great recipe to make earlier in the day and keep in the fridge. Then all you have to do it throw it in the oven for dinner.

*I just read one of the comments from this post on Sister's Cafe, and someone recommended adding sausage. Sounds yummy that way and what a good way to use left over meat!

Shredded Beef Taquitos

This recipe was inspired by Mel the beloved's baked chicken taquitos.  I had cooked a two pound roast in the crockpot (I believe it was tri-tip roast, though I don't know that it would really matter), and we ALWAYS have a ton of left overs when I make a roast.  The night after the roast (which was cooked with cream of mushroom soup and dry onion soup mix and was perfectly wonderful and tender), I reheated the meat with a packet of taco seasonings and we ate tacos.  And we still had at least 2 cups of perfectly taco-tasty shredded beef.  I thought...."self, I wonder if mel has a beef taquito recipe?" Oh no she didn't!  But, she DID have baked CHICKEN taquitos and that's where our story continues....anyway here's the recipe.  It was SO GOOD.  I never EVER have used corn tortillas, but this was absolutely delicious and made me think, hey, I should find more recipes that call for corn tortillas.  AND I LOVE that this recipe was made from left over meat!  I love when you can make something new from something that would probably be thrown out in a couple of days!

2 C shredded beef previously taco seasoned
1/4 C green salsa
4 ounces softened cream cheese
1 T fresh lime juice
1 green onion finely sliced
1 C grated monterey jack cheese
small yellow or white corn tortillas
sea salt
cooking spray

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.
In a medium-sized bowl, mix softened cream cheese, green salsa and lime juice. Stir to combine and then add green onions. Add beef and cheese and combine well.
<You can prepare this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.>
Working with a few tortillas at a time, place 3-4 between two damp paper towels and microwave for 30-45 seconds, until tortillas are soft and pliable and don’t crack while rolling. Place 2-3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture on the lower third of a soft tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges. Then roll it up as tight as you can. It totally makes a difference when you microwave them with the damp paper towels.  Don't skip that step. 
Place filled taquitos seam side down on the baking sheet, making sure they don’t touch each other. When ready to bake, spray the tops lightly with cooking spray and lightly sprinkle some sea (coarse) salt on top.
Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown. Serve immediately. Taquitos can be dipped in anything you like.  I mixed some of the left over green salsa with sour cream and it was dreamy.  Brian tried it dipped in regular salsa and liked that too!  It made plenty for a delicious lunch the next day too!

If you want, you can bake them for about ten minutes, take them out and cool them, then freeze them on a baking sheet for an hour, bag them, and you have insta-taquitos at your fingertips!

Sarah's Salad

I was craving this salad for a while so luckily I was assigned to bring a salad to my nephew Ben's blessing today! I knew just what I wanted to do, AND I already had the precooked bacon from the wraps over the weekend :) This recipe was taken from the Nelson Family Cookbook.

1 head iceberg lettuce

3 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled

5 oz frozen peas

1/4 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese

2/3 c chopped green onion

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup miracle whip

Wash and drain lettuce. DRY THOUROUGHLY. Run hot water over frozen peas and drain. Tear lettuce into bite sized pieces into salad bowl. Sprinkle with sugar, salt and pepper. Add peas, cheese, onion, mayonnaise and miracle whip in layers. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight. Toss when ready to serve and garnish with bacon. Serves 8

Sweet and Salty Salad Wraps

This is the meal that Lara and I were in charge of. We had the lunch for Saturday and this was a really quick and light meal, which was perfect as we were all in the middle of our projects so no one really wanted to stop for a big lunch. Here is the original link from Our Best Bites:

Spinach

Cooked Chicken

Craisins

Crumbled bacon (Sam's and Costco both sell big bags of precooked bacon that keep for about 6-9 months in the fridge once opened. Saves SO much prep time, I'm sold.)

Cheese

Poppyseed dressing

Curly Italian Pasta

We had our Webster girl's Weekend this last weekend and had a blast. There are enough of us that go so we split up meal preparations. I like doing it this way because we get to try something new to add to our recipes. For dinner Friday night, Laura made this Curly Italian Pasta from a new blog she found, Missygrub.blogspot.com. It was so yummy and I liked all the tasty extras in it. It looked pretty easy and made PLENTY for all 11 of us.

Cavatappi pasta (I usually cook half the box for my family of 5)
1 package Italian Ground Sausage
1/3 cup diced green bell pepper
1/3 cup diced onion
1-2 cloves garlic
1 can of Italian diced tomatoes
1-1 1/2 cups of Heavy Whipping Cream
Salt and Pepper to taste
Fresh grated Parmesan and Romano Cheese (I use Sargentos shredded cheese)

Bring water to boil for noodles. Cook sausage until cooked through, drain, return to pan and add green bell pepper, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Continue browning meat, and cooking veggies. Add Pasta to water, and cook according to package. Add tomatoes to meat mixture, continue cooking for 5 more minutes. Then add Heavy Whipping Cream to meat mixture, low-mid heat. Drain pasta, return to pan. Add about a cup of cheese in the meat mixture and stir till combined, then add to pasta. Top with more cheese.

Yogurt Parmesan Baked Chicken

Combine and set aside:

2 cups Ritz crackers, crushed

3 tablespoons parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons garlic salt

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

8 chicken breasts

Plain yogurt

Cut chicken in half, lengthwise. Cover each piece with yogurt and coat in crumb mixture. Arrange in a buttered 9x13-inch dish. Drizzle with ¼ cup melted butter. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Spaghetti with Artichoke Hearts and Tomatoes

Spaghetti (or silly noodles) is one of the few things that Whitney will eat so I was excited to find a new twist on it. This is the first thing that I've tried from Pioneer Woman and we love, love, loved it! I liked the creamy-ness of it and that there was just a hint of tomato to it. It was a really light, but filling meal, if that is at all possible. Here is my adaptation for the 3 of us: (with enough left over for 2 or 3 more servings. We LOVE spaghetti leftovers)

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 Tablespoons butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 onion, finely diced

1/2 (14.5 oz) can artichoke hearts, quartered or whole, drained

1 can diced tomatoes with juice (14.5 oz)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup chicken broth

dash of nutmeg

1/2 pound of spaghetti

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Melt olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes.

In a separate pan, boil water for spaghetti. Cook spaghetti till al dente (10 minutes)

Add artichoke hearts and tomatoes to the skillet. Stir and cook for 8-10 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Stir in cream and chicken broth. Cook over low heat until heated through, then turn off heat.

Drain spaghetti and place drained pasta in a large bowl. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Pour sauce over the top. Toss lightly to combine and coat.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

YUM. You know it's going to be good when your 2 year old wont stop eating the dough, even before all of the ingredients are added. I love that they learn the essentials in life at such an early age. Yet another hit from Mrs. Mel.

*Makes 2 1/2 dozen

1 stick butter, softened to room temperature

1 cup of smooth or chunky peanut butter

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 sup granulated sugar

1 large egg

3/4 Tablespoon milk

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In electric mixer bowl, combine the butter and peanut butter and beat the mixture until it is light and fluffy.

Add the brown and white sugars and mix until well combined.

Add eggs and mix for 1-2 minutes, until the mixture is combined and light in color.

Add the milk and vanilla and mix.

Add the dry ingredients and mix just briefly. While there are still large spots of flour, add the chocolate chips and mix until the flour is completely mixed in and the mixture is well combined. Let the cookie dough sit for 15 minutes before scooping onto the baking sheets. It will firm up as it sits.

When ready to bake, scoop tablespoon sized balls of dough onto baking sheets about 1-2 inches apart to allow for spreading as they bake. Bake for 10-11 minutes, do not over bake. Leave cookies on the sheet for 2-3 minutes after baking before removing them to a cooling rack. This will help them to set up and be firm enough to transfer without having them over bake in the oven.

Buttermilk Pancakes and White Syrup

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup oil

In mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and baking soda.

IN another bowl, mix milk, egg and oil. Add to flour mixture and stir just until blended. (It's normal for some small lumps to remain in batter. Batter should be slightly thick, but pourable. Add an additional tablespoon of milk, if needed.

Preheat griddle or skillet to medium-high and spray lightly with cooking spray.

With ladle, pour approximately 1/4 cup batter onto hot griddle for each pancake.

Flip each pancake over when bubbles form and edges are set. Flip only once and do not flatten pancake while cooking.

Cook until golden brown. Serve with homemade syrup.

*Makes 6 (5") pancakes.

This syrup recipe was one in the New Nelson Family Cookbook. After I tried this for the first time, I definitely prefer it to regular maple syrup. It makes quite a bit, but keeps for quite a while covered in the fridge.

Famous White Syrup

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Do NOT boil. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Place in blender and blend on low until well blended. Serve over waffles of pancakes. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

Here is another favorite from my cousin Heidi at Tasty Sensations. This is one of the recipes I make more frequently because it is super easy (when using the frozen meatballs) and I LOVE Jake's reaction while he's eating them :)

1 can (20 ounces) pineapple chunks
1/3 cup water
3 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
½ cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1 batch of 30 meatballs
1 large green or red pepper, cut into pieces
Hot cooked rice

Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Set aside. Add water to juice if needed to measure 1 cup. Pour into large skillet. Add 1/3 cup water, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, and cornstarch. Stir until smooth. Cook over medium heat until thick, stirring constantly. Add pineapple, meatballs, and green pepper. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes or until heated through. Serve over rice.

I've also included her home-made meatball recipe if you're feeling adventurous and want to make your own.

Meatballs

4 eggs
2 cups dried bread crumbs
½ cup finely chopped onion
1 Tbsp salt
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp pepper
4 lbs lean ground beef

Beat eggs in a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients, but meat. When everything is mixed together then add beef and mix again. Roll in to 1-inch balls. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 400 degrees, 10-15 minutes, turning once. Once meat balls cool, put on clean cookie sheet and put in freezer until they are frozen. Once they are frozen you can put them in a Ziploc freezer bag, and just pull them out of the freezer when you want them. They are also really good in spaghetti sauce.

Baked French Toast

The Winegar side all headed town for our annual trip to St. George to see the parade of homes. Mama Winegar assigned each couple a meal and I was in charge of breakfast one day. I liked this one off of Mel's Kitchen Cafe because it takes hardly any preparation and you can do all of it the night before so the morning of all you have to do it throw it in the oven. Be aware that the bread needs to soak in the egg/milk/brown sugar mixture up to 8 hours so plan ahead!

1 French bread baguette
6 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup packed brown sugar, divided
1 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 stick plus 1 teaspoon butter
2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained (I used a bag of frozen mixed berries and it turned out great. I'll bet fruit that is in season would be even more awesome though)

Butter a 9×13 baking dish. Cut 1 1/2 inch slices from the baguette and arrange in one layer in the dish (about 6-8 slices). Whisk together eggs, milk, nutmeg, vanilla, and 1/2 cup brown sugar in a large bowl and pour evenly over the bread. Refrigerate mixture, covered, until all liquid is absorbed by the bread, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.

When you are ready to bake and serve, preheat oven to 350 F. Spread pecans evenly in a shallow baking pan and toast in middle of oven until fragrant, about 4 minutes. Toss pecans with 1 teaspoon butter. OR you can toast the pecans in a skillet in one layer over medium heat, stirring often. Toss with 1 teaspoon butter. (I did this the night before to save time the morning of.)

Sprinkle pecans and blueberries evenly over bread mixture. Cut remaining 1/2 stick butter into pieces and heat with remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar in a small saucepan, stirring, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Drizzle butter mixture over bread and bake mixture
30 – 40 minutes or until any liquid from blueberries is bubbling.

Makes 6 generous servings.

Poor Man's Stroganoff

I had my regular stroganoff on the menu for tonight but Mel's Kitchen Cafe posted this recipe so I had to try it. I'm glad I didn't wuss out and stick with what I was used to. According to Jake, bacon....good. Mushrooms.....good. He even helped out by chopping the onions and garlic and boiling the noodles. I love that man-o-mine.

1-2 teaspoons olive oil
6 ounces turkey bacon, diced
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 ½ pounds lean ground beef or ground turkey
1 medium red or yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
¼ cup flour
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 or 1 1/2 cup low-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
½ teaspoon paprika
1 cup sour cream, light or regular
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or 1 tablespoon dried

Cooked egg noodles or rice, for serving

In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat 1-2 teaspoons olive oil and saute diced bacon over medium heat until crispy. Transfer bacon to a paper-towel lined plate and set aside, leaving any grease/oil in the pan. Add sliced mushrooms to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, for about one minute (if the pan is too dry, add a teaspoon of oil as needed). Add salt. Continue cooking until the mushrooms are softened and have given up most of their juices. Transfer them to the same plate as the bacon.

In the same skillet, brown the ground beef or turkey with the onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until the meat is no longer pink. Drain the grease.

Stir in the flour and tomato paste to the meat mixture and mix to combine well. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 1 minute. Add the beef broth and bring the mixture to a simmer, whisking to combine all the ingredients. Simmer vigorously for 3-5 minutes until the mixture is slightly reduced and thickened. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and paprika. Cook until flavors blend, about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add sautéed mushrooms and bacon back to the skillet. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the sour cream, mixing well to avoid lumps. Stir in the parsley. Serve over egg noodles or hot, cooked rice.

Super Soft Sour Cream Sugar Cookies & Powdered Sugar Glaze

Yet another Sisters Cafe hit.... It's really too bad that Jake doesn't like sugar cookies, too bad for HIM! (I make them anyway)

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
4 cups flour

Cream together softened butter with sugar, sour cream and eggs. Add vanilla, almond extract, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Slowly add flour, 1 cup at a time. Dough should be sticky. Refrigerate one hour. Knead dough on floured board. Roll out and cut with cookie cutters. Bake for 9 to 12 minutes at 350.

Powdered Sugar Glaze

This frosting will harden upon standing, giving cookies a glazed surface.
Ingredients
2½ cups powdered sugar
3 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp butter, softened
½ tsp almond extract
Food coloring optional

Directions
In small mixer bowl, combine the powdered sugar, milk, butter, and extract. Beat at medium speed until smooth, adding additional milk, if necessary, to reach the desired spreading or "flooding" consistency. Color with food coloring, if desired.

Mock Lasagna

• 1 8-oz. cream cheese
• ¼ cup sour cream
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1-1 ½ lbs. ground beef with chopped onion
• ½ lb. lasagna noodles*
• Can of Hunt’s spaghetti sauce (+ 8 oz. tomato sauce for more sauce)
• Mozzarella cheese
• Parmesan cheese

Combine cream cheese, sour cream, and cottage cheese in mixing bowl. Heat beef with onion in saucepan until cooked. Boil lasagna noodles until cooked. Layer half of the noodles in a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Top noodles with all of cheese mixture. Top cheese mixture with remaining half of noodles. Top with meat mixture. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and then bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Top with mozzarella and parmesan cheese to taste. Pairs well with French Peasant Bread

*To cut out 1 preparation step, oven ready lasagna noodles can be substituted. Just add 1 cup of water to the spaghetti sauce mixture so the noodles can cook the same time as the lasagna. I still like it a little better with regular noodles, however.

French Peasant Bread

• 1 pkg. dry yeast
• 2 cups warm water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups flour
• Oil
• Corn Meal
• Melted Butter

Place yeast, water, sugar and salt in warm bowl and stir until dissolved. Add flour and stir until doubled in size (about an hour). Flour hands, remove dough from the bowl and place in 2 rounds on a lightly oiled cookie sheet sprinkled with corn meal. Let rise an additional hour. Brush the top with melted butter and bake at 425 for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 and cook an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven and brush again with butter. Serve warm!

Crunch Almond Chicken

I love when I find ridiculously easy dishes like this one that are a hit. Makes me happy :) I found the original over at You Got Served, but here is my adaptation.

1 c fresh bread crumbs (I used seasoned stuffing mix)

1 c blanched slivered (sliced works too) almonds, toasted and finely chopped

2 T chopped parsley

1/2 t ground ginger

1/4 t salt

1/8 t pepper

2 large chicken breasts, cut in to thirds.

1 c italian dressing

Instructions

Marinate chicken in italian dressing over night or for at least 4 hours. (I only did the 4 hours, I bet it would be even better if it was marinated longer)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium bowl, combine bread crumbs, almonds, parsly, ginger, salt and pepper. Dip chicken in bread crumb mixture, coating well.

Arrange chicken in a large shallow baking dish. Bake uncovered 30 minutes or until done.

Serve with rice pilaf and steamed broccoli. Serves 4.

Baked Potato Soup

Oh this soup. So so so yummy. This recipe comes from my sister-in-law Laurie who is a FABULOUS cook. Everything she makes is a winner. I love this recipe because it is made with left over baked potatoes and everything else I seem to always have on hand. It's a keeper!

2/3 cups butter

1/3 cup flour

7 cups milk

4-5 large baked potatoes

4-8 green onions, sliced (to taste)

12 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

1 ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup sour cream

¾ tablespoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

In a large kettle, melt butter. Stir in flour; heat and stir until smooth. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly. Add potatoes and onions. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add bacon, cheese, sour cream, salt and pepper. Stir until cheese is melted.

*serves 8-10 people easily. Half the recipe for 4 servings

Meatloaf

Dinner tonight was courtesy of my Cousin's wife, Heidi, over at Tasty Sensations. The first time I made this was back in our first few months of wedded bliss and Jake still loves when he sees it coming up on our menu.

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1.5 pound lean, ground beef
1 c. oats (quick or regular)
1/2 c. plain bread crumbs
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 TBS. dried parsley
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 finely chopped onion

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix above ingredients well.
Place meat in loaf pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Remove from oven and baste with:

Savory Topping (mix all below ingredients until smooth)
6 TBS. brown sugar
1/2 c. catsup
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. prepared mustard

Place pan back in oven for 15 minutes. Serve with baked potatoes.

Ravioli Bake

I was in the mood for something easy tonight since I knew I would be working and it also served as a pretty good Super Bowl dinner (with the breadsticks). I adapted it a little from this recipe with the stuff I had on hand. I liked the sausage as opposed to the ground beef I normally use in recipes like this because it gave it a little more flavor.

1/2 lb turkey sausage

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh basil

1/8 c heavy cream

salt and ground black pepper

1 (9 ounce) package fresh cheese ravioli

1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Bring 2 quarts water to boil in large pot.

Cook sausage in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, breaking meat up with wooden spoon until lightly browned and no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Drain meat and set aside.

Add oil and garlic to skillet and return to medium heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and reserved sausage and cook until slightly thickened, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in basil and cream and continue to simmer until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove skillet from heat, cover, and set aside.

Add 1 T salt and ravioli to boiling water and cook, stirring often, until tender. Drain ravioli and return to pot.

Stir sauce into ravioli and season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread mixture into 8 x 8-inch baking dish and sprinkle evenly with mozzarella. Bake until cheese is melted and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Serve warm with breadsticks.

Quick and easy breadsticks

I was drawn to these breadsticks I found over at Mel's Kitchen Cafe because she said that:

1)they are fast (no long rising times!),

2)they are versatile (use what spices you have on hand!) and

3)they are really hard to mess up.

Can't go wrong there! Here's my adaptation for my little family.

*Makes about 10 breadsticks*

3/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 Tablespoons butter, melted (for the baking sheet)

Mix all ingredients (except melted butter) in a large bowl or electric mixer and knead for three minutes. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spread melted butter onto an 11X17-inch baking sheet. Roll out the breadstick dough about 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick and cut into strips with a pizza cutter. Twist slightly if desired and place about 1/2-inch apart on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with garlic salt, herbs of choice and parmesan cheese. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes. Bake 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees until golden brown.

French Dip Sandwiches

The first time I ever had this was while going to school and my roommate Katie introduced me. I LOVE French Dip Subs. I've tried other versions that took much longer (slow cooker all day) that aren't much better than this one. I had to work today and got off right at dinner time. This is such an easy recipe that comes together really quickly.

1/2 lb sliced deli roast beef

Green Pepper (1/2 pepper)

Onion (1/4 onion)

Butter (1 T)

Deli Rolls

Sliced Swiss or Provolone Cheese

Au Jus Envelope

Saute sliced green pepper and onions in the butter. Meanwhile, prepare the rolls open-faced with cheese and meat. Top with sauted veggies and put under the broiler (set to low) for about 5 minutes. While it's in the oven, make the Au Jus according to directions on the envelope. Keep an eye on your sandwiches though, oven temps vary. Easy Peasy.

Shepherds Pie

Brown 1 pound ground beef with onion. Mix meat with 2 large cans of vegetable beef soup in a 9 x 13-inch glass pan. Put mashed potatoes on top and top with grated cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

A super easy go-to recipe for when you can't think of anything else, such as tonight at our house. :)

Chicken Pillows

2 packages crescent rolls

Diced, cooked chicken (1 large chicken breast or 2 smaller)

8 oz cream cheese or cream cheese w/chives

4 tablespoons butter, melted

Herb Stuffing Mix

Take 2 crescent roll triangles, seal perforations and roll out so that it makes one larger rectangle. Combine chicken and cream cheese and spoon mixture into the crescent rolls. Seal edges, dip in butter, roll in crushed Pepperidge farm herb stuffing mix. Bake at 400 for 20 min. Top with gravy. (Canned or envelope gravy mix).

*Freezer Adaptation*

Make as directed, freeze before baking. Let thaw in fridge the morning of.

Chicken Cream Cheese Enchiladas

I saw this recipe over at Sister's Cafe and knew I had to try it because Jake loves anything with cream cheese, and this was no exception. I believe his exact review was that this was "freakin' amazing". I love reviews like that. Makes the hard work worth it! What's even bette,r is that this makes a good freezer meal which I am slowly building up a supply of in preparation for baby #2 due in April. Gotta love freezer meals for those days when you just don't feel like cooking or have no idea what to make. It makes me SO glad for the nesting instinct that is in full force right now so I can get stuff like this done.

Ingredients:

1 c. diced bell pepper, whatever color you like or a mixture of what you may have on hand

¾ c. onion, chopped (can also add celery to complete the ¾ c.)

2 Tb butter

ENCHILADA SAUCE:

1 15-oz can tomato sauce

1 c. chicken stock (water and 1 tsp bouillon granules (or 1 cube) works great)

1-2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp each cumin, sugar, and salt

¼ tsp pepper

FILLING:

1/3 c. half and half (or milk, for a lighter version)

1 (8-oz) pkg cream cheese (I always use Neufchatel cheese)

3 c. cooked chicken, diced

½ tsp salt

1 c. grated cheese

8-12 flour tortillas (I use 10)

Sauté onion and pepper in butter. Remove to a bowl and set aside. Heat tomato sauce, chicken stock, chili powder, cumin, sugar, salt and pepper; simmer 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare filling: Add half and half & cream cheese to the cooked chicken, sautéed onion and bell pepper (and celery, if desired), and salt. Dip tortilla in enchilada sauce mixture and spoon ¼ c. chicken filling into each tortilla. Roll up and place seam side down in a lightly greased 9x13 pan. Cover with remaining tomato sauce. Cover with foil. At this point you may freeze the pan. Otherwise, bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Bake 5 more minutes.

Would be really yummy with some guac on top too!

(Instead of putting all ten of the tortillas in a 9x13 dish, put five in a 8x8 pan and the other five in another 8x8 pan. Freeze one of them for a later dinner.

When baking a frozen pan of enchiladas, remove the pan from the freezer, leave one layer of foil on top, and place in the oven (no need to preheat). Set the oven to 350° and bake for about 40-45 minutes or so, or until it is hot in the middle. Then add cheese and bake until it is melted on top.)

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

Ingredients:

4-5 frozen or thawed chicken breasts
1 jar salsa (any kind - use what you like)
1 can green enchilada sauce
1 can black beans, drained
1 can corn, drained

Cook in Crockpot for 4-5 hours on low. You can put in taco shells or on top of rice.

Cinnamon Rolls (Cousin Heidi's version)

I don't know why, but I am on a cinnamon kick lately! I've been craving it for the past week, made Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread a few days ago and my mom and I made this today at our mini Mantua Getaway. My cousin's wife Heidi shared this link to her blog, Tasty Sensations, with me and I'm glad I tried it! Thanks Heidi!

Cinnamon Rolls

INGREDIENTS
1 cup warm milk

2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter (slightly salted), melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 tsp yeast

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 3/4 TBS ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

1 (4 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS
Put warm milk and yeast in bowl to bubble for 5 min. Scramble eggs. Place in bowl with remaining ingredients, add yeast mixture. Mix all together, knead well (5-10 min) and let rise in bowl once. After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.

Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls - we suggest using floss to make 12 equal rolls . Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes - we suggest covering them with tin foil halfway through to prevent overbrowning. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Mexican Meat Cups

This is one of the recipes that was a favorite growing up. I remember always LOVING when my mom would make these. Now that I'm married, I'm glad Jake likes them just as much as I do. The meat filling makes kind of a lot for our family of 3, so I can either half the recipe or freeze the other half that we don't eat. (I love finding good freezer meals, too. :)

Ingredients:

1 can flaky refrigerator biscuits

1 cup shredded cheese

1 lb. ground beef, brown and drain

½ cup ketchup & ½ cup barbeque sauce, mixed together

1 can corn (opt.)

Place each biscuit in a muffin cup. Press dough to cover bottom and sides, forming a ½ inch rim. Put about 1 T. of cheese into each cup. Combine ground beef, ketchup-barbeque sauce mixture and corn. Spoon into biscuit. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until biscuits are deep golden brown. Cover tops with shredded cheese during the last 5 minutes.

*Freezer option: Freeze the filling separate from the biscuits. Take out the night before, or the morning of, to thaw. Then assemble and bake as normal.

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

Here is yet another one of the Sisters Cafe recipes. Whitney is getting to be such a fun age and she was so cute helping me make this today. Her favorite part about baking is adding the "eggies", so she was a little bummed that we didn't add any to this recipe, but she liked checking on the dough to watch how big it was getting.

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

1 cup warm milk
1 Tbsp of instant yeast
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp shortening
1 cup warm water
Flour (approx 5 cups total)

2/3 cup raisins

Mix powdered milk, yeast, salt, sugar, and shortening in the bowl of a mixer. Add warm water. Add about 1.5 to 2 cups flour and beat until well mixed. Add flour slowly until dough comes away clean from the edge of the mixing bowl. Add one cup raisins. Allow to knead for 5 more minutes. Do not add too much flour. Cover with greased plastic and allow dough to rise. Once it has doubled in size, divide into 2 parts. Roll out each half of dough into a small rectangle and spray lightly with water (or get hands wet and lightly rub surface of dough - the idea is to barely moisten the dough.) Sprinkle with cinnamon - depending on how much you like! Roll up lengthwise, pinching together seam and tucking in the ends to form a log. Place each log into a greased loaf pan and raise until the size of a bread loaf. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 2 loaves.

Chicken Pot Pie

2 cans cream of potato soup

1 can Veg-all (I also add some frozen mixed veggies. The more veggies, the better in my opinion)

2 cups diced chicken (1 large breast or 2 smaller)

1/2 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Pour into frozen pie crust*. Stab with fork several times. Bake at 350 for about 40-45 minutes, or until crust turns golden brown.

*Can use 2 regular pie crusts to fill 2 smaller pies, or deep dish on the bottom topped with the regular size for 1 larger pie. The filling recipe is enough for 2 smaller pies or 1 large pie.

**Freezing directions: prepare filling as directed but freeze separately from the crusts. Take out of the freezer to thaw the night before or the morning of then pour into crusts and bake as directed.

Lemon Carrots

This is another winner from Momma Winegar's Recipes. I was assigned the vegetable for this weeks Sunday dinner (main course, Swiss Chicken....mmmmmm :) )and remembered this gem. Even the babies liked them!

Cook a 3 lb bag of carrots, steamed or boiled in about an inch of water for 20 minutes or until tender.

In a sauce pan, melt:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (i just used the zest of 1 whole lemon)

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Add glaze to the cooked carrots. Cook on low heat, turning until carrots are glazed.

Taco Soup

Oh, bless this soup. It is so easy! All you have to do is brown some beef, open a bunch of cans, and turn on a crockpot in the morning and you have a yummy yummy dinner 6-8 hours later that makes a lot, and is great as leftovers too! It came in real handy today too because what I had originally planned for dinner tonight (Cranberry Pork with Red Potatoes) wasn't happening because it turns out you need pork for that recipe. Weird. I was SO glad that I had halved the Sloppy Joe recipe on Wednesday because then I already had a 1/2 lb of ground beef browned and all ready to go this morning when plan A didn't work out. It's like it was meant to be!

TACO SOUP

1 lb hamburger
chopped onion (brown with hamburger)
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can beef broth
2 cans cream of potato soup
2 cans kidney or chili beans, drained and rinsed
1 can or 2 small cans tomato sauce
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
1 1/2 cup chopped celery*
1 1/2 cup chopped carrots*
1 can corn

Cook all day on low in a large crock pot or until vegetables are tender. Serve with grated cheese, tortilla chips, and sour cream. A really easy recipe to cut in half if you are only serving up to 4 people.

*a lot of times I have this meal as a backup plan so I might not have these ingredients on hand so sometimes these ingredients are omitted. The soup is just as good without them, just more healthy with the extra veggies!

Schuyler's Sloppy Joes

I got this recipe from my college roommate, and it's one of Jake's very favorite things that I make. Good thing, because they are so easy! Thanks Schoop!

1 lb ground beef

1 T. dried minced onion

2 T. chopped celery

1 can tomato soup

2 T. Worchestershire sauce

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1 T. prepared mustard

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup brown sugar.

Brown beef and onion and drain fat. Mix the rest of the ingredients and cook until hot. Serve on a bun.

Baked Potatoes, the fast method

I have had a lot of bad luck with baking potatoes. I know, how hard can it be? Stick them in the oven for an hour and you're done. But mine always came out hard as rocks in the middle, no matter what the size or how many times I poked them. SO frustrating after you've been waiting an hour+ for them. So I did a little homework and put together a couple of tips from random people on allrecipes.com and came up with this method. Cuts baking time in half and every time I've done it this way, they have turned out great! This is also handy if your main dish requires some time in the oven, too. Then your entree and potatoes cook together for the last 20 minutes of entree cooking time.

*I have only tried this with 3-8 potatoes at a time. Cooking times may be different if you need to make more

• Wash and scrub potatoes
• Poke with a fork several times, turn on oven to 375 degrees.
• Microwave potatoes for 10 minutes, turning potatoes after 5 minutes
• Remove, sprinkle with your favorite seasoning or kosher salt, cover with foil
• Bake in oven for an additional 20 minutes

Homemade Double Chocolate Oreos

Cookies:

1 pkg Devils Food cake mix

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened to room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 cup chocolate chips

Beat half of cake mix with butter, vanilla, and eggs on medium until smooth. Stir in remaining mix and chips. Dough will be very dry at first, so you may need to hand-mix it. Drop quarter-sized balls on ungreased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, the less the better if you want softer cookies. Cool on sheet for 1 minute then transfer to cooling rack. Cool completely.

Cream cheese filling:

1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature

8 oz cream cheese, softened

3/4 - 1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Cream butter and add cream cheese and vanilla. Mix well. Gradually add sugar until you reach the desired consistency and flavor.

*You might even be able to get away with halfing this filling recipe and will still have enough for 1 batch of cookies.

To assemble the cookies, add about a tablespoon of filling into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie similar in size on top of the filling. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.

Chicken Divan

4 large chicken breasts

2 packages frozen broccoli

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon curry powder

Simmer chicken until tender and cool. Cook broccoli according to directions on package and cool. Cut chicken and broccoli into serving pieces and place in a large 9x13 dish. Mix soup with mayonnaise, cheese, lemon juice and curry powder. Pour over chicken and broccoli. Cover with foil and bake 1 hour at 350 until bubbly.