Sloppy Joe Mac

Casseroles aren't really dishes that are meant for two people.  A 9 by 13 pan of something plus a side dishe usually turns into a week of leftovers.  Therefore, I don't really put casseroles on the menu very often. 

Since I'm going through my sloppy joe phase, which I think by now I've exhausted all my sloppy joe recipes, when I saw this, I figured I'd make it.  I considered cutting the recipe down to bake into a 9 by 9, but then ended up dumping the entire box of macaroni into the boiling water.  Oops, more leftovers for me.


Sloppy Joe Mac
from FoodNetwork
Ingredients
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

One 15-ounce can tomato sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
Salt and pepper to taste

3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 green pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

1 cup beef broth

12 ounces elbow macaroni with ridges

2 cups shredded yellow Cheddar

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2) Combine the brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and tomato sauce in a small bowl.
3) Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook until well browned. Season with salt and pepper.
4) Add the garlic, bell peppers and onions and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.
5) Pour the tomato mixture over the beef, add the beef broth and stir until well combined. Simmer until thickened, 5 to 10 minutes.
6) Meanwhile, cook the macaroni in a large pot of salted boiling water until not quite tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and add to the sauce. Pour the mixture into a casserole dish and top with the cheese.
7) Bake until the casserole is bubbling and the top is browned.

 

 

This was a really easy dish and was really tasty too.  I was surprised at how much it tasted like a sloppy joe.  We really didn't have many leftovers.  By the end of the first night, there was only half a pan left.  I think this would be a great potluck dish.  Kids would love it because of the mac and cheese part and it is simple to put together. 

 



Tomato Tortellini Soup

In Wyoming, the wind was crazy.  I don't think that there was really ever a wind-free day.  My husband told me when we moved to New Jersey that it was never windy...but I think he just forgot what it was like since he lived in Wyoming for awhile.  For a couple days, not too long ago, the wind here rivaled the Wyoming wind.  During these few days, I went through a soup phase.  Soup warms every part of your body and during really cold temperatures with really high winds, it is even more delicious.

Tomato Tortellini Soup
adapted from Mrs. Scwartz's Kitchen using PreventionRD's tomato soup
Ingredients
Tomato Soup
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
pinch of Kosher salt
4 cloves minced garlic
28 oz can crushed tomatoes (no added salt)
1 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves, chopped

Directions
1) Heat the olive oil in a 4-quart pot over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion and salt and sweat for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to sweat for 2 more minutes.
2) Add the tomato, broth, and oregano and bring to a simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
3) Blend soup in a blender or by using an immersion blender (you can also omit this step for a slightly chunky soup).

Additions to the soup
1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated cheese tortellini
2 cups vegetable/chicken broth
2 cups fat free half and half
1/2 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions
1) To the tomato soup, add the half and half, chicken broth, sundried tomatoes, and spices.  Bring to a simmer. 
2) Once simmering, drop tortellini into the soup.  Cook according to package directions (about 8 to 10 minutes).
3) Scoop into bowls and serve topped with parmesan cheese.

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This is a mixture of two recipes. I cannot eat canned tomato soup like the original recipe calls for, so I made the tomato soup from scratch using another recipe that my husband and I love and then followed the original recipe from there.  The soup from scratch doesn't take too long, but if you're in a hurry, the canned soup will work fine.

I loved the tortellini in the soup since it made it a little heartier and filling.  The tomato soup was delicious, the flavor developed really well on the stove and was even better the next day for lunch.  The leftovers didn't make it very long in our house.  This was great with garlic bread. 

Lamb & Eggplant with Chiles over Orzo

The one thing that I haven't ever been able to get Jacob to try is eggplant.  I find this extremely saddening because eggplant is one of my favorite things to eat.  Apparently one time when he was overseas, the chow hall fed him some eggplant that turned him off of it for awhile.  I've always been suggesting dishes that use eggplant, and he always turns them down and makes a face.

For this recipe, I figured the lamb and tomato sauce might be just enough to hide the eggplant taste so that I could sneak it in.  When I mentioned it was a lamb stew dish over orzo, he quickly agreed to trying it...not even caring about the eggplant.  So, I threw it on the menu excited that I finally whittled down his campaign against eggplant.

Lamb and Eggplant with Chiles over Orzo
slightly adapted from EveryDay with Rachel Ray January/February 2013
Ingredients
3/4 pound of orzo or small penne rigate
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound ground lamb or lamb stew meat
1 small, firm eggplant, peeled and chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
2 jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 can (15 ounces) crushed tomatos
1 cup chicken or beef stock
1 cup feta crumbles
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and Pepper

Directions
1) Bring a large pot of water to boil, salt it, and add the orzo, cooking until al dente.  Drain and return to the pot.
2) While the pasta is working, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil, over medium-high heat.  Add the lamb and cook until well browned, about 10 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper.
3)  Stir the eggplant, chiles, onion, garlic and rosemary into the lamb.  Partially cover and cook until the vegetables are softened, about five minutes.  Stir in the tomatoes, chicken or beef stock and lower the heat and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes.
4) Toss the pasta with the feta and butter, and top with the lamb.

This dish was so different and tasty.  It developed a lot more flavors than I expected it to in the short amount of time that it was on the stove.  The lamb didn't have a gamy taste, because it absorbed all the tomato mixture.   The only thing that I regret doing was that I only used one jalapeno instead of the two that it called for.  I didn't get much heat, and was kind of looking for that element in this dish.  You could also use a red fresno, which is on the same heat scale as a jalapeno.  For people that like lamb...or even don't like lamb, this is a fantastic different lamb dish.

Gnocchi Mac and Cheese

It's time for another Recipe Swap! The theme for this swap was Blogger's Choice, so I received Tasty Treats by Tina, and I could choose any recipe from her blog that I wanted to make.

It's getting cooler here in New Jersey.  To me, it feels like the humidity has left the air, and it has been hitting the low to mid-70s everyday instead of the low to mid-90s.  I thought I'd try to make something a little more comforting and fall-like, and landed on this Gnocchi Mac and Cheese.

I've only had gnocchi twice, and both times were at Olive Garden.  I thought the dishes were very good, and my favorite is their Chicken and Gnocchi soup.  I'm going to try to re-create that dish from A Taste of Home Cooking sometime this fall too. Can't wait.

Check out Tina's blog for other tasty creations.

Gnocchi Mac and Cheese
barely adapted from Tasty Treats by Tina
Ingredients
6 slices bacon  
1 sweet onion, diced
2 tablespoons white cooking wine
1 pound gnocchi
2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried sage
1 tablespoon flour
1 Cup milk
1/2 Cup Gruyere Cheese, shredded
1/2 Cup Fontina Cheese, shredded
1/2 Cup Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese, shredded

Directions 
1) Preheat oven to 375.
2) Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium low heat, turning frequently until crisp. Transfer bacon to a paper towel lined plate, chop and set aside. 
3) Add onion and cooking wine to the skillet with the bacon grease and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden and caramelized, anywhere from about 30 minutes.
4) Drop the gnocchi into a pot of salted boiling water and cook until they float to the top, 2-3 minutes. Drain in a colander then return gnocchi to the pot.
5) Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the garlic and sage and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. 
6) Add the flour and whisk until it bubbles, then add the milk. Cook until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes.
7) Add the Gruyere and Fontina and stir until melted. Mix in the bacon and caramelized onions. Pour over the gnocchi and stir until combined.
8) Transfer the gnocchi and sauce to a lightly oiled baking dish and cover with the Parmesan cheese.  
9) Bake until the cheese is golden and bubbly, about 25 minutes.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

I appologize for the picture.  It isn't the best.  However, this mac and cheese is fantastic.  The bacon and the caramelized onion add such flavor to the gnocchi, which are soft and amazing.  This was the perfect fall-type dish, and I can't wait to make more things with gnocchi.

BBQ Chicken Pasta

One of the first meals that I ever made for my husband was this BBQ Chicken pasta recipe.  He absolutely loved it, but then again, he loves BBQ Chicken.  This is my go-to dish for coworkers that have just had babies or are on bed rest and can't cook.  It is easy, yet something good and filling.

BBQ Chicken Pasta
slightly adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size chunks
1 red onion, diced
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
2 cups water
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 ounces penne pasta
2/3 cup barbecue sauce
1/3 cup greek yogurt
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions
1) In a large nonstick skillet heat the olive oil over medium heat. When hot, add the chicken, onions, and seasonings and saute, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is browned and cooked through. Remove the chicken and onions to a plate and set aside.
2) In the same skillet, add the water, chicken broth, penne and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes, until the liquid is almost absorbed and the pasta is tender.
3) Stir in the barbecue sauce and greek yogurt. Once mixed, add in the reserved chicken, onions and shredded cheese. Stir to combine and cook until everything is heated through.

I love the smokey flavor of the barbeque sauce mixed with the creaminess of the sour cream.  It is a delicious weeknight meal that is satisfying for everyone. 

Ravioli With Mushroom Wine Sauce

There are some foods that just seem to get better the longer they have a chance to sit.  This seemed to be one.  The first night we ate it, it was good, but nothing fancy.  I took it for lunch to work two days after I made it, and it was fantastic.  All the flavors had time to become even more developed and great together.

Ravioli with Mushroom Wine Sauce
adapted from Yummly                   
Ingredients

1 container baby portabella mushrooms, sliced  

15 ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes  

15 ounce can tomato sauce                                

1/3 cup dry red wine

4 cloves minced garlic

1 white onion, sliced

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp dried rosemary

 9 ozs ravioli of choice (refrigerated type if you use the dry you will have to boil)

Directions
1) Combine mushrooms, rosemary, onions, tomatoes (undrained), garlic, tomato sauce, salt, and wine in the crock pot.
2) Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.
3) Boil ravioli in a pot of water.
4) Serve topped with parmesan cheese.

The original recipe calls for water in the "sauce", which you can see in the picture, makes for a super runny ravioli sauce.  I switched it from water to tomato sauce because I think it'd give the raviolis a better sauce, instead of a watery mess.  I haven't tried the tomato sauce though, it is just a guess that it would make it better.  The mushrooms and onions taste so good with the ravioli though.  We served our sauce with a spinach and cheese filled ravioli, which turned out to be a great flavor pairing. 

Baked Ziti with Ground Turkey

Sometimes I fear my husband was severely deprived from some really good food growing up.  When I announced that I had found a ziti recipe during my Blogger's Choice swap, he said, "What's ziti?".   I was surprised that he didn't know what the delicious cheesy dish was, so I threw it on our menu plan for the next week to prove to him that it was super delicious. 

Baked Ziti with Ground Turkey

adapted from DeLish

Ingredients

1/2 lb ground turkey

2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning

2 teaspoons Garlic Powder

1 lb. (16 oz.) ziti or ziti rigati
3 cups tomato sauce
15 oz. Ricotta Cheese
2 cups shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1/4 cup fresh Basil, chiffonade
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 13x9" baking pan.
2) Brown turkey in skillet, seasoning with garlic powder and Italian seasoning.
3) While the meat is browning, cook the pasta very al dente. Drain.
4) In a large bowl, mix in a tiny bit of the sauce with the noodles & set aside.
5) In a separate bowl, stir together remaining sauce, ricotta cheese, 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella, basil salt and pepper.
6) Fold the sauce mixture completely into the pasta.
7) Poor into the greased baking pan. Top with remaining cup of shredded mozzarella, parmesan cheese.  Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly & browned.

  

While I loved this dish, a 9 by 13 pan makes a TON of ziti.  It fed us 2 dinners each and multiple lunches, so if you have a small family, I'd cut it in half and make an 8 by 8 or 9 by 9 pan instead.

My husband loved how this smelled in the oven.  He kept asking if it was done and ready to eat because he said it smelled so good.  At my grocery store, I could only find a tube of basil, and used a quarter of a cup of that, and the basil definitely was a prominent flavor.  If you're using the tube, I'd reduce it to 1/8 of a cup instead.  This dish turned out exactly like I was hoping though, and brought back many memories of my childhood.  It is such a great comfort dish.  You could definitely omit the meat (like DeLish did) to make it vegetarian as well, it would still be very flavorful.

Farfalle with Carbonara and Spring Peas

It is time for another Recipe Swap time and this time the theme was a recipe from your favorite Celebrity Chef.  This recipe came from Nicole at Cookies on Friday.

I received a recipe from Jamie Oliver and was really excited.  My husband and I watched his shows about trying to revolutionize school lunches.  We really like the show and learned a lot about things like pink slime and the nutrition of things that they did serve in the schools.  So, when I got the recipe for the swap, I was excited because I've never thought of looking up anything about Jamie Oliver outside the show that I saw.

Farfalle with Carbonara and Spring Peas
barely modified from Jamie Oliver
Ingredients
lb farfalle
1 egg, preferably free-range or organic
3½ ounces heavy cream
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
8 slices smoked streaky bacon, roughly sliced
2 handfuls of fresh podded or frozen peas
2 handfuls of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1) Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the farfalle, and cook according to the packet instructions.

2) Whisk the egg in a bowl with the cream, salt and pepper.

3)  Put the bacon into a skillet and cook until crispy and golden.
4) When the farfalle is nearly cooked, add the peas for the last minute and a half. 

5) When cooked, drain in a colander, saving a little of the cooking water.

6) Add the pasta to the bacon.
7) Now you need to add the egg and cream mix to the pasta. What's important here is that you add it while the pasta is still hot. This way, the residual heat of the pasta will cook the eggs, but not so that they resemble scrambled eggs. The pasta will actually cook the egg enough to give you a silky smooth sauce.

8) Toss together and loosen with a little of the reserved cooking water if necessary. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with the Parmesan, and serve as soon as possible.

I have to say that I thought this dish was just okay.  I used the original recipe, which called for mint, and that is all that I could taste in the dish.  I guess I think of mint as a dessert type thing lately, and so it doesn't seem like it works in savory dishes for me.  So, I edited my version not to have mint in it.  I also felt that the flavor profiles in the dish were inconsistent.  The bites with the cheese, pasta, peas and bacon were amazing.  However, if you didn't grab all of the components, the dish just tasted kind of bland.

Chicken with Balsamic, Mushroom cream sauce

I'll be honest, I have never stepped out on a limb and come up with an original recipe.  I am strictly from the tried and true recipes, changing a few minor things as I go along.  When I received my latest recipe for the Recipe Swap, I have to admit that I didn't think it sounded like the ingredients went together in my mind.  I love balsamic vinegar, but adding that to cream just sounded like it wouldn't work.

I read Carrie's blog every time she has a new post though, so I figured if she described the dish as "A-M-A-Z-I-N-G", that I would have to trust that everything would work out.  Because being on a cooking journey, you learn that sometimes leaving your comfort zone pays off and you get to eat something great.

Chicken with a Balsamic, Mushroom Cream Sauce
slightly adapted from Carrie's Sweet Life
Ingredients
2 teaspoons of olive oil
2 chicken breasts
Salt and Pepper
2 tablespoons of butter
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 package baby bella mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 cups of cream

Directions
1) Warm large pan with olive oil. Salt and Pepper chicken breasts both sides, put into olive oil and brown on both sides until cooked through.
2) Once chicken is done set aside on a plate covering with foil to keep warm or in a very low temperature oven in an ovenproof dish.
3) Drain oil from the pan, but leaving what is “stuck” to the bottom, add butter and let melt.
4) Once melted add garlic, mushrooms, and green pepper. Salt and pepper to your liking, let simmer for a 2-3 minutes then add balsamic vinegar. Cook until desired tenderness.
5) Pour in heavy cream and bring to a boil, boil for 3-5. Add chicken breasts and coat in sauce cook until desired thickness. Serve over pasta of your choice.

I dipped my finger in the sauce while it was on the stove to taste it, and when I tasted it, I couldn't believe how well the balsamic vinegar went with the cream sauce.  The only problem I had with this dish is how long our chicken took to cook on the stovetop.  I would suggest pounding the chicken, or butterflying it like Carrie did, so that it will cook faster.

I put a pepper in with the mushrooms, just because I had an extra one, but the dish wouldn't be any less awesome without the pepper.  I don't think the macaroni noodles worked because they were sliding everywhere, but it was the pasta I had at my house.  I think we'll definitely make this again, without the hesitation of whether or not the ingredients go together. :)

To see all the other great pasta posts, visit A Taste of Home Cooking.

Tortellini Primavera

In an attempt to bring our grocery bill down, I'm trying to find recipes that are either meatless, or use most of the ingredients in our house.  We have a lot of pasta in our cupboards, and when I saw this recipe on Annie's Eats, I decided it would be perfect to put on the menu.

Tortellini Primavera

barely modified from Annie's Eats
Ingredients
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
8 oz. cream cheese
3/4 cup grape tomatoes, halfed
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
salt and pepper, to taste
family size cheese-filled tortellini, cooked and drained

Directions
1) Heat oil in a skillet. Add mushrooms, onion and garlic and sautee.
2) Add all remaining ingredients except tortellini. Heat until all have melted together and are well blended. Cook until the mixture just begins to boil, stirring occasionally.
3) Stir in tortellini.

The sauce in this recipe is amazing.  It develops so much flavor in such a little amount of time.  I think that the flavored tortellinis that I used overwhelmed the flavors in the sauce a little bit, but it was still an amazing dish.  My husband went for seconds and didn't even complain that the dish was meatless or that it had spinach in it.  I think this dish will definitely go on the meal plan again for a meatless day.

Oriecchiette with Sausage, Spinach and White Beans

Last week, I meal planned partially from cookbooks instead of just finding all my recipes from blogs.  I have a ton of cookbooks that sit on my shelves collecting dust.  I justify every week why I can't use one or the other: "I'm not in the mood for casseroles." "All the slow cooker recipes in that book are super unhealthy."  So usually my go to cookbooks are my healthier ones, which is where I got this recipe from.  I've seen a version of this floating around the blogs with mascarpone cheese in it.  I thought this might be a healthier version.
 
Oriecchiette with Sausage, Spinach and White Beans
adapted from Cook this, Not that
Ingredients
1 1/2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 pound Turkey Sausage
1/2 pound spinach
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning divided
1/2 pound orecchiette, or any shell type pasta (I couldn't find orecchiette in my store)
3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/2 can white beans
Parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions
1) Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add the oil, then the sausage. Break the sausage into small pieces and cook until it browns, about 10-12 minutes. Add the garlic and one teaspoon of the Italian Seasonings, and saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
2) About 5 minutes into the cooking time of the sausage, return the large pot of water to high heat to boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Cooking time varies from brand to brand, 8 minutes is about average, check after 6.
3) When the sausage is cooked all the way through, add the spinach and cook until wilted.  Add the chicken broth, white beans, and the rest of the Italian Seasonings.  Cook until broth and beans get hot.

The chicken broth was very flavorful and everything was very tasty in this dish.  I really liked the beans and the pasta because it made for a meal with more substance.  I liked the broth as the sauce, but I think next time, I'd make more, because it doesn't really stick to the pasta as well as normal pasta sauce does.  I have to say my husband missed the pasta sauce on this dish, so I guess it isn't really a "guy dish".  But I think overall, it was a good dish.

Chicken Fettuccine with Broccoli

The theme for this recipe swap was Healthy Recipes.  This was the perfect swap to ring in the New Year since we're all looking to fulfil New Years Resolutions, well at least my husband and I are.  I received Hezzi D's Books and Cooks version of Fettuccine Alfredo with Bacon.  I have to admit that we're not really big fans of bacon, so I rarely keep it in the house.  I decided that I was going to try to make a healthy version of fettuccine with a different meat.

When going through my cabinets, I had a defrosted chicken breast from another meal and a bunch of broccoli leftover from snacks, so I thought I'd try to make it with the ingredients that I had on hand.

Grilled Chicken Fettuccine with Broccoli

adapted from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks

Ingredients

1 pound fettuccine

1 chicken breast, grilled and chopped
1 bunch of broccoli, chopped into florets
2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon flour

1 ¼ cup 2% milk

¾ cup Parmesan cheese

2 ounces gruyere

1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon nutmeg

Directions
1) Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain, and set aside.
2) Start the grill.  Season chicken with salt and pepper and grill until done.
3)  Steam broccoli florets until tender.

4)  Heat a skillet with a little bit of oil and add garlic, cook for 1 minute, stirring. Add in the flour and stir constantly for 1 minute. Slowly stir in the milk. Cook until it starts to thicken and bubble.

5) Reduce heat to low. Add in half the Parmesan cheese and half the gruyere. Stir until cheese is melted. Add in the remaining cheese and stir until it is all incorporated into the sauce.

6) Stir in salt, pepper. Cook 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in chicken, broccoli, and nutmeg. Serve over top of cooked fettuccine.

Note: The original recipe calls for reserving the some of the liquid from the pasta and adding that to the sauce.  My sauce was the right consistancy, and tasted good, so I didn't add the water to the sauce.

I liked this meal.  It was a pretty classic combination, but with a much lighter taste.  It was a lot of the same textures, so I'd definitely serve it with a salad or crunchy garlic bread.  The chicken came off the grill super moist and flavorful, and the grill flavor worked great with the sauce and the broccoli.  Good meal, and easy on the hips, can't beat that.

Salmon Pesto Pasta

I stumbled across Bridget's blog, The Way the Cookie Crumbles, when I first started blogging. I saw her post things like Fig-Glazed Burgers and Onion Jam, Tourtely apple tarts, and other recipes that blew my mind.  At this stage, I was totally cooking the same things all the time, and these recipes seemed so too complicated for my cooking ability.

Now here it is, 9 months later, and I just got around to taking a chance and looking at her blog again. I found the Salmon Pesto Pasta, and this seemed like a great breakthrough into making something from her blog.  I think next week I'm going to try making Chicken Broth from scratch using another recipe of hers.

Salmon Pesto Pasta
barely modified from The Way the Cookie Crumbles
Ingredients
8 ounces pasta
2 salmon filets
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice
5 ounces evaporated milk
½ cup pesto
grated parmesan, for serving

Directions
1)  Bring a large pot of water to a boil. When water is boiling, add 1 tablespoon salt and pasta; stir to separate pasta. Cook pasta until al dente; drain. Pour evaporated milk into empty pot and simmer over medium-high heat until reduced to ¼ cup. Add cooked pasta to pot and stir to combine.
2) Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat broiler. Line a baking sheet or pan with aluminum foil. Season skinless side of salmon liberally with salt and pepper and Italian Seasoning, then rub with olive oil. Broil until salmon is no longer translucent and is firm when pressed, about 10 minutes.
3) Remove from broiler and sprinkle with lemon juice. Use fork to flake into bite-sized pieces. Skin will stick to foil and can be discarded.
4) Add salmon to pasta mixture and stir over medium heat until hot. Remove from heat and stir in basil. Top with parmesan.

I used two salmon filets instead of measuring it out in ounces.  I also couldn't find basil at my grocery store, so we used the store bought pesto.  Using two salmon filets gave us pretty large salmon to pasta ratio, but my husband liked it.  We both really liked this dish.  I love how you could still taste all the individual ingredients, but they came together in an amazing bite.  It was also a really fast dish, I made it and had it onto the table in under a half an hour.  I'll definitely be perusing Bridget's blog for more awesome finds similar to this one.

Mexican Stuffed Shells

I realized the other day that I am making recipes from the same people over and over again.  While I love the food from those sites and almost everything I have tried has been awesome, it definitely pays to stray from the normal.

I ran across this recipe while I was looking for something new.  I have to admit that the pasta shells with Mexican flavors sounded interesting, but also didn't sound like they would work.  However, since we eat a lot of Mexican flavors, I decided to throw it into the meal plan.

Mexican Stuffed Shells
slightly adapted from The Way to His Heart...
Ingredients
1 lb. ground turkey
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon cilantro
4 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
14-16 jumbo pasta shells
2 cups salsa
1.5 cups taco sauce
2 cup monterey jack cheese
3 green onions

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350°.
2) In a frying pan cook ground turkey; add taco seasoning and cook until you no longer see any pink sections in the meat. 
3) Add cream cheese, cover and simmer until all the cream cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and cool completely. 
4) While ground beef is cooking, cook the pasta shells according to directions; drain. Set shells out individually on cutting board/baking sheet so that they don’t stick together.
5) Pour salsa on bottom of 9×13 baking dish.  Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place shells in 9×13 pan open side up. Cover shells with taco sauce. 
6) Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
7) After 30 minutes, add shredded cheese and bake for 10-15 more minutes, with the foil removed. 

Top with any condiments you’d like (green onions, black olives, etc.) Serve with sour cream and/or more salsa.

The result was very good.  The flavors were interesting, but they went together very well. The taco sauce was the main player in the sauce department, and had a lot of flavor.  We used both Taco Bell salsa and Taco Bell Sauce so they complimented each other well.  The inside was creamy and provided a lot of flavor.  I loved the green onions with this dish and went back and added more.  The onion added crunch and an extra pop of flavor in each bite.  This meal was a great addition to our meal plan.

Homemade Alfredo Sauce

Last night I had the problem where nothing I had meal planned for the week sounded good at all.  I was talking about just grabbing a box of macaroni and cheese when homemade alfredo with pepper steak popped into my mind out of nowhere.

I have never made alfredo sauce before.  It has always seemed so much easier to plop the pre-made stuff from a jar onto some noodles and voila, easy meal.  But, lately I've been finding that I feel a lot better when I don't use grocery items with a lot of preservatives in them.  The list of ingredients on the back of the jarred alfredo sauce in my cupboard is outrageous.  When I went grocery shopping this weekend, I got less things for a whole week of meals then the ingredients listed on the back of that jar.

I had a friend recommend the alfredo sauce from Allrecipes.com not too long ago, and I have always put it in the back of my mind to try.  I figured pairing it with pepper steak would be the perfect combination.

Homemade Alfredo Sauce
adapted from Allrecipes.com
Ingredients

1/4 cup butter

1 cup fat free half and half

1 tablespoon white cooking wine

1 clove garlic, crushed

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup freshly grated Gruyere

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1) Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Add cream and wine and simmer for 5 minutes, then add garlic and cheese and whisk quickly, heating through. Stir in parsley and pepper and serve.

I thought this recipe had too much butter.  I spent forever trying to incorporate it into the sauce by whisking it and letting it simmer, but the butter just kept coming to the top of the sauce and wouldn't incorporate.  I think that it'd be better with maybe a tablespoon of butter instead of a quarter of a cup.  Just enough to add flavor and coat the saucepan, but not enough to feel as though you are drowning in butter.

I think that it turned out great though.  I loved the mixture of the cheeses in the sauce.  The gruyere gave it a little more complexity then parmesan alone would.  I thought it was great with the pepper steak too.  I reduced the amount of pepper I put into the sauce because I knew there would be enough on the steak, but I think I'd increase the amount if we weren't having such a heavily flavored meat with the dish.

It wasn't as easy as plopping jarred sauce into a pan, and heating it up, but it was pretty close, and much more delicious.

Chicken, Sausage and Capers

A few weeks ago, my husband and I bought some pasta from a vendor at our Farmer's Market.  I let him choose the flavor (toasted garlic and onion fettucine), and then got home and was stumped as to what to do with it.

I looked all over online and through most of my cookbooks in order to find something that I thought would work.  I stumbled across this recipe in my Weight Watchers cookbook that I thought had potential. 

I don't usually cook a lot of pasta because I'm allergic to most tomato based sauces.  But I recently have found that there are a few that I can eat through some food trials.  This to me is the closest thing to spaghetti that I've been able to eat since I was a little kid.

Chicken, Sausage and Capers
adapted from the Weight Watchers recipe

¾ lb skinless boneless chicken breasts
¼ lb Italian turkey sausage
2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips
1 onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ cups canned crushed tomators
½ cup low sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
pasta of your choice

Directions:

1) In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, heat the oil. Saute the chicken until golden and cooked through, 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a bowel with a slotted spoon.  (We grilled both the chicken and the sausage since it was really nice outside).
2) In the skillet, cook the sausage, stirring frequently, until cooked through and browned, 8-10 minutes. Pour in the vinegar; cook until the liquid evaporates, 1-2 minutes. Add the bell peppers, onion, garlic and oregano; cook, stirring, until the peppers are tender, 4-5 minutes.
3) Start boiling pasta.
4) Stir in the tomatoes, broth and capers; bring to a boil. Return the chicken to the skillet and sprinkle in the cheese. Reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly. (If it doesn't thicken as much as you want, add some cornstarch to the skiillet)
5) Slice chicken and sausage into bit sized pieces and then return to the pan to simmer in the sauce for a few minutes.
6) Garnish with a little extra cheese when serving.

I thought the pasta was amazing.  The pasta was a little weird, but all the ingredients worked together to make a great meal.  The chicken and the sausage had absorbed some of the tomato sauce.  The green bell pepper retained it's crunch and provided a different texture in a soft dish.  My husband said that the canned tomatoes drown out some of the flavors in the dish, but I thought they all worked together great.  We agreed that next time I'll make it with fresh tomatoes instead of the canned ones. 

Bruschetta Chicken Pasta

We were eating at Applebee's a couple of weeks ago and my husband found a dish called Bruschetta Chicken Pasta.  I thought it looked amazing, but I still went towards my safe choice of a wrap.  Something I knew that Applebee's couldn't really mess up. 

I have been on the hunt for a knockoff recipe ever since that day though.  I found a recipes for TGI Friday's recipe for their Bruschetta Chicken but didn't find one for the Applebee's version.  So, I decided to improvise and make up my own version.

Bruschetta Chicken Pasta
adapted from Life With Elizabeth
Ingredients
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 fresh tomatoes, diced
3 Tbsp basil
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
fettucine
3 slices of mozzarella

Directions
1)  Combine tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and let the mixture sit in the fridge for at least two hours.

2)  Grill or pan fry chicken.  Right before it is done, spoon some of tomato mixture onto each piece of chicken and topp with a piece of mozzarella.  Cook until the chicken is done and the cheese is melted.
3) While chicken is cooking, boil the pasta of your choice until it is done.  When it is done, mix some of the tomato mixture in it as well as some additional chunks of mozzarella.  Let the mixture and cheese heat up in the pasta. 
4) Serve the chicken over the pasta. 

This meal turned out a lot better than I thought it would.  The tomato mixture was amazing with the balsamic vinegar kick.  I think the whole mixture just worked really well together.  I think that putting the tomato mixture both on the chicken and in the pasta reinforces the flavors.  It could easily be served over pasta with tomato sauce as well, but I wouldn't put too much sauce on the pasta, it may detract from the chicken flavors. 

Garlic Lime Shrimp Pasta

The theme to the recipe swap this time around was Seafood/Fish.  I received Garlic Lime Shrimp Pasta from Gourmet: Day to Day's Kevinslady. 

Jacob and I have been trying to eat more seafood/shrimp, but it is still a work in progress since seafood/shrimp have very fine lines between underdone and overdone.  I was excited about this recipe though because everything was already in my cabinets at home.  I didn't have to buy anything.

Garlic Lime Shrimp
adapted from Gourmet: Day to Day
Ingredients
Garlic lime shrimp:
1.5 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter (original recipe calls for 1/2 cup)
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 lb Hot cooked pasta (I used fusilli pasta instead of spaghetti noodles)

Flavored butter “finishing” sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 tablespoon feta cheese crumbled
1 clove of garlic minced
1/2 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon olive oil

Directions
1)  Combine all ingredients for the flavored butter finishing sauce and whisk well to combine. The softer the butter is, the easier it will be to combine the ingredients.  Cover and put in the fridge.
2) Start boiling the pasta you're using.
3) In a large skillet, saute the shrimp, garlic, salt in butter until the shrimp turn pink, about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat once they become pink, so they don't overcook. Once shrimp are cooked add the flavored butter, coat shrimp. Next, stir in lime juice and parsley. Serve with pasta.

I liked this recipe a lot.  I love that the lime juice didn't seep into the shrimp and override the buttery shrimp flavor too.  I think that the flavored butter was good, but I definitely thought the dish needed some kind of cheese.  I think that sprinkling parmesean on the top may bump the dish up to the next level. 

My husband liked it a lot too, but said that the pasta wasn't right for this dish, which I agree.  I just feel that spaghetti gets way too messy and complicated and wanted something smaller.  But, looking back I think fettucine noodles may be the best choice since they are more substantial.  The fettucine noodles would probably hold up to the ingredients much better. 

Tofu Parmesean

My parents were vegan from the time I was in third grade to the time that I was in sixth grade, so I ate a lot of tofu when I was a kid.  I remember having an issue with the texture, so I was a little afraid when I got the Vegetarian recipe (Tofu Parmesean) from the Recipe Swap.

Another problem I have is that I'm allergic to red sauces.  So, a recipe with red sauce and tofu seemed to be a double whammy.

So, I went through all of my cookbooks to try to find a recipe for a sauce that I thought would not make me sick.  I finally found this one and adapted it from Fix-It and Forget It Recipes for Entertaining: Slow Cooker Favorites for All the Year Round.

Stewed Tomatoes

2 qts of tomatoes cut into chunks

1/3 cup of sugar
1.5 tsp salt
dash of pepper
3 Tbsp butter 
2 cups bread crumbs
3 dashes of white cooking whine
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup water

Place tomatoes in the slow cooker, sprinkle with sugar, salt and pepper.  Lightly toast the bread and spread with butter.  Cube the bread pieces and then put in with tomatoes.  Cover with the wet ingredients.  Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours. 

I then put the ingredients in the blender with Italian spices and garlic and pureed it until it was the right consistency.

The Tofu Parmesean recipe was from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks. 
1 package extra-firm tofu
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
4 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons of oregano
1 teaspoon parsley
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons of olive oil
16 oz tomato sauce used from the recipe above
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c. dry red wine
1/4 c. green pepper, chopped
1/4 c. red pepper, chopped
1/4 c. onion, chopped
6 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
Salt and Pepper

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a baking dish with cooking spray.

2.  In a shallow bowl combine bread crumbs, half the Parmesan cheese, oregano, parsley, salt, and pepper.  Slice the tofu into 1/4 inch thick slices.  Press into the bread crumb mixture and set on a plate.

3.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Place tofu in the pan and cook 7-8 minutes or until crisp and brown.  Drizzle with additional olive oil then flip and cook 5 minutes on the opposite side.  Remove from heat and place tofu on a plate.

4. Meanwhile, in a saucepan heat the tomato sauce, garlic, wine, peppers, and onion.  Simmer for 10 minutes then remove from heat. 

5.  Pour 3/4 c.  sauce in the bottom of the baking dish.  Put pan fried tofu on top of the sauce.  Top each slice of tofu with sauce then sprinkle it all with mozzarella cheese.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Serve over pasta.
I had one problem with this recipe.  One was that the breading didn't stick to the tofu.  I think that is just due to the consistancy of the tofu, so I'm not sure how to fix that. 

The finished product was good.  I really liked the onion and the green pepper in the sauce.  I still have a tofu texture problem, but the dish tasted good. 

Other recipes from this swap can be found at Vegetarian Recipe Swap Roundup


Finished Product



Fresh out of the oven





Linguine with Clams

I decided to be a part of a recipe swap to add more new things to our menu.  Growing up, it seems like we lived off the same staples over and over again, and I think it is often fun to branch out.  Thought the recipe swap was a great place to start off. :)

This week was pasta week.  I made Linguine and Clams from Hezzi-D's food blog.

I have to admit that I don't cook with seafood that often and so when I saw this recipe in the swap e-mail, I was a little scared. 

But, I rounded up all of the ingredients and started cooking.  Halfway through the cooking process, the kitchen smelled so good.  I couldn't wait to eat it, and J made several comments about how good it smelled too.

When I served it, J examined it like it was a dish from a foreign country.  I just told him to eat it and not worry about the ingredients.  I sat down and swirled my first bite up onto my fork and was in pasta heaven when I put it in my mouth.  It tasted like something I'd expect to get at Olive Garden and the flavors were complex but not overwhelming.  It was such a great dish and so easy to make.  I'm excited to put this into my regularly made recipe list.