Linguine Limone Parmeggiano

Thanks to this site for photo

Summer is pretty much over, though I'm still waiting for the Indian summer to begin, since you know it will.  I did collect some new cookbooks over the summer.  I spent much of the summer cooking from websites. And I will try to make a better effort to blog the yummy stuff I try. Photos, however, those  I will not promise to include.  One of the books I bought was "my father's daughter" - Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook. The book was highlighted in an article I read in Self. I tried this recipe for her dad's pancakes.  I totally recommend this recipe as well. Awesome pancakes, and I like the idea of making the batter the night before.

The recipe I tried tonight was for her spaghetti limone parmeggiano.  I used linguine noodles tonight, thus the name of the entry.   Ready in 15 minutes, it is so yummy!  Here's the recipe:

1lb pasta noodles
1 lemon
1 1/2 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 t freshly ground pepper
2 1/2 T olive oil
3-5 T pasta water
A handful of basil leaves

Instructions:
While you bring the water to a boil and you cook the pasta, make the sauce.

Use a bowl large enough to hold a pound of cooked pasta and mix it with the sauce. Zest the whole lemon into the bowl (I roll my lemons before I zest and juice them, not sure if it really helps, but it always makes for yummy lemon flavor.) Cut the lemon in half and juice each half. Paltrow recommends using the hand grater used to grate the zest as the strainer when juicing the lemon to save on dirty dishes. I gave it a try, it worked great.

Add cheese, pepper and olive oil to bowl. Tear the basil leaves (I used about 15 nice sized leaves) and stir into the sauce.  Once the pasta is cooked, I added 1/4 c pasta water to the sauce and stirred it in.

Drain pasta and add to bowl, and mix with sauce.  Serve right away.

Delish!

Chocolate Parfait.....YUM

This stuff is DELISH. It will fulfill your chocolate cravings! The best thing about it is it is SO easy to make.

For the crust:
1 cup chopped nuts (can be almonds or walnuts)
1 square of butter
1 cup of flour

Melt butter and add nuts and flour. Mix well and press into a lightly greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Let cool.

Cheese filling:
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz cool whip
1 cup powdered sugar

Beat until creamy. Spread carefully onto crust.

Pudding filling:
1 3 1/2 oz instant vanilla pudding
1 3 1/2 oz instant chocolate pudding
3 cups milk

Use a whisk to mix well until pudding thickens and spread on top of cheese filling.

Topping: top with another container of 8 oz cool whip. Garnish with Hershey's chocolate bar-grated.

ENJOY!!

Scottish Eggs

Would anyone dare try this unusual food? I dare ya! I was SO skeptical to try until my husband made me try it. After coaxing and begging me to "just take one bite", I did and I instantly fell in love. We, or he did, came across this recipe from a friend and knowing my talented cook of a husband, he came up with his own recipe for this stuff. It is SO SO good!

Ingredients:
12 hard-boiled eggs
2 tubes mild sausage
1 5 oz bag shredded parmesan cheese
1 box Chicken in a Biskut crackers
2 T Italian seasoning

Grind down 1 bag of shredded parmesan cheese (it will make one cup), then grind down 3/4 of the box of crackers. Then grind the parmesan and the crackers together to make a fine texture. I use the Magic Bullet to do this.

In a large bowl, add sausage. Pour about 3/4 of parmesan/crackers mixture, then add italian seasoning. Mix thoroughly.

Peel shells off eggs. Wrap each eggs with sausage mixture until whole egg is covered completely. Try not to make the sausage layer too thick or they won't cook evenly. The egg with sausage ball should be smaller than a tennis ball. Use the remaining parmesan/cracker mixture to lightly coat each ball.

Place aluminum foil on a cookie sheet and lightly grease. Place the balls on the sheet and bake at 400 for 25 minutes or until well cooked.

You may have leftover sausage and you can just cook those just like a sausage patty. They are good!

Braided Spaghetti Bread

* 1 loaf Rhodes Bread Dough or 12 Rhodes Dinner Rolls, thawed to room temperature
* 6 oz spaghetti, cooked
* 1 cup thick spaghetti sauce
* 1/2 pound brown ground beef or 1/2 pound cooked Italian Sausage
* 8 oz mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
* 1 egg white
* shredded Parmesan cheese
*Parsley flakes

Spray counter lightly with non-stick cooking spray or sprinkle counter with flour. Roll loaf or combined dinner rolls into a 12x16 inch rectangle. Carefully place onto greased baking sheet. Cover dough with plastic wrap and let it rest. Cook spaghetti according to package. Drain and let cool slightly. Mix spaghetti sauce and ground beef with the spaghetti. Remove wrap from dough. Place spaghetti mixture lengthwise in a 4-inch strip down the center of dough. Add cubed mozzarella cheese on top of mixture. Make cuts 1 1/2 inches apart on long sides of dough to within 1/2 inch of filling. Begin braid by folding top and bottom strips toward filling. Then braid strips left over right, right over left. Finish by pulling last strip over and tucking under braid. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and parsley. You can also add garlic powder. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly and slice to serve.

Bacon Ranch Chicken

I made this beyond DELICIOUS Crock Pot dinner last night and lo and behold, I forgot to take a picture! Hopefully the name of it will draw attention and make you want to try it. It is really good. And this is coming from someone who doesn't like bacon (me!) but it gives it a really good flavor. Here's the recipe!

3-4 chicken breasts...

Mix together:
1 small can cream of chicken
1 cup sour cream
2 slices of raw bacon, cut up
less than half of dry ranch dressing (a lot makes it really salty)
a little bit of minced garlic or garlic powder

Pour over raw chicken and make sure you get the sauce in between chicken. Cook on high for 2-2 1/2 hours. (Mine cooks it fast) So watch it and make sure it is thoroughly cooked. When done, cut up chicken in cubes or shred it and put back in crock pot. Cook about 2-3 cups of wide eggs noodles and pour in crock pot and mix.

Easy smeasy right? And SO, SO good. Enjoy!!

Rachel Ray's Lazy Sister Ria's Chicken

So I've been cooking a lot again, so posting has been delayed. I've moved on to a Rachel Ray cook book I received for Christmas a few years ago. These are NOT thirty minute recipe (they are not even labeled as such.)

We all really liked this. I had been gone most of the week and didn't go shopping. I needed to make something for Sunday dinner and this recipe was made up of things I had in the house. I will, as usual, put the changes I made in italics.

My Sister Ria's Lazy Chicken,
or My Lazy Sister Ria's Chicken

Ingredients:
1&1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast cutlets - thinly sliced or pounded breast meat (I used 2 chicken breasts, I thinly sliced the chicken into pieces.)

Balsamic vinegar
2 T olive oil
2 medium white potatoes, thinly sliced (I used russet because it is what we had in the house. I used 4, I did not skin them, only washed them and sliced them.)
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced (I used 1/2 of a large red onion, because that is what I had.)Montreal Steak Seasoning, to taste (I used quite a bit)
1/2 c white wine or chicken broth (I ended up using chicken broth and 2 cups - a whole can)
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced (I didn't have a zucchini)
1 can (28oz) crushed tomatoes
10 leaves fresh basil (I used more like 20 leaves)
2 sprigs fresh oregano, chopped
1/2 to 2/3 c shredded Italian-type cheese (I used mozzarella)

Instructions
Coat the chicken with balsamic vinegar. Heat 1 T olive oil in a deep skillet (you'll use the same pan for all the preparations.)
Brown the chicken for two minutes on each side. I cooked it longer, I cooked it until the chicken was fully cooked.
Remove chicken from pan.

Add 1T olive oil to pan and lay potatoes and onions in the pan. Sprinkle the veggies with the steak seasoning and pour about half of the broth over the veggies. Cook until veggies are soft, but not fully cooked. Add the chicken and pour the tomatoes on top. And finally sprinkle the basil and oregano atop. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes, until veggies are fully cooked.

Sprinkle with cheese. The recipe says to set the pan under the broiler for a minute to melt the cheese. I just put the lid back on the pan and set it on the table. It was melted be the time we sat down to eat.

Yum, yum!


Enjoy!

Simple & Healthy Kids Lunch II

Hard Boiled Eggs & Toast Fingers

This lunch was so easy and simple, but most importantly: my kids loved it.  They loved the idea of having a hard boiled egg for lunch.  And the Toast Fingers were a hit.  I think just calling them Toast Fingers and cutting them into little bite-sized 'fingers' made them cool.  Sometimes giving something very ordinary a cool twist will make kids super excited to eat it.  Like Ants On a Log or this yummy treat I discovered a while ago.  We'll definitely be having this lunch again. (And did I mention I loved it too?)

Cottage Cheese salad

One of my go-to lunches that I prepare for myself and my daughter on a weekly basis is so simply, yet so incredibly delicious {assuming you like the two major ingredients}

 ingredients:

cottage cheese 

avocado

• I usually do about one cup low-fat cottage cheese and then dice or mash up one half of a large avocado.

Trust me, it is really divine, and quite filling. When it's for my daughter I usually give her a banana or some mandarin oranges on the side, when they're on hand.

When I make it for myself I also add in some diced tomatoes and then grind pepper over it, and if I am feeling adventurous, I warm up a whole wheat pita pocket and eat that with it as well.

It is really simple, but believe me when I say it is really yummy. And proof that kids will eat this:

Hot Parmesan Artichoke Dip & Pizza Dip

Now that I am living with other people, I find I am not taking pictures of what I am cooking. With an audience, there is more pressure to serve the food right away, and not pause to take a series of photos. So I am sorry that I’m not posting much these days. I resolve to do better.

While at my parents’ house for Christmas, we decided, since my brother’s family was flying out that afternoon, to just do a bunch of hors d'oeuvres on Christmas Day. Here are two of the ones I made. Of course, I forgot to take photos of the finished dishes, but I did remember and took a photo of one of my bites. Everyone seemed to eat them pretty quickly, I guess they liked ‘em?

Hot Parmesan Artichoke Dip

Ingredients
14 oz artichoke hearts
1 c grated Parmesan cheese
1 c mayonnaise
1 garlic clove
1-2 Roma tomatoes, diced
3-4 green onions, sliced
Instructions
Mix all the ingredients but tomatoes and onions.
Spoon into a pie dish.
Bake at 350° for 25 minutes.
Sprinkle with the tomatoes and onions.
Serve with chips or bread pieces or crackers or whatever.

Pizza Dip

Ingredients
1 cube cream cheese
2 c spaghetti or pizza sauce*
1-2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
Instructions
Spread the cream cheese evenly into the bottom of a pie dish. **I set the cream cheese out for a few hours beforehand so that it is room temperature, aka: easier to spread.**
Pour the sauce over the cream cheese.
Sprinkle the cheese on top.
Bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes (until the mozzarella is melted).
Serve with crackers or bread, etc.

*I usually just make my own quick sauce combining tomatoes and spices, instead of using a jar sauce.

Enjoy!

Tomato-Pesto Pasta Salad

This recipe is so easy, it's almost embarrassing, but easy and fast is the best way to go when it comes to cooking for me.



Ingredients:

• 1 packet pesto mix {you could easily substitute for fresh pesto sauce or from a jar}

• 1 package noodles {I used half a box of whole wheat rotini and half a box of bow-tie}

• 2 cups cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• fresh basil
• 1 TBS white vinegar

How To:

• Prepare your pesto according to directions {I used McCormack's brand and I believe it called for water and olive oil}
• Boil noodles according to instructions
• Once noodles are cooked, let them chill in the fridge for a little while
• Slice cherry tomatoes in half
• Put noodles in serving dish and add your tomatoes, basil and cheese {for this salad to taste good you really need fresh basil and the freshly grated Parmesan cheese, I wouldn't substitute}
• Pour your pesto sauce over the salad along with your vinegar and stir together
• Let it chill in the fridge until serving, it is best served as a cold salad

Now wasn't that easy! You could also add chicken to the salad, or basically anything you want, but this was how I made mine, and it was pretty tasty!

Cheesy Potato Broccoli Soup [FAVE!]

So the picture isn't that great (I took this picture in the winter, so I had no natural light...hate that). However, this soup is AMAZING. My family yums this up. Probably in the top five favorites for my husband (and me). Super easy, super cheesy. Super delicious. You've got to try it.

ingredients

*for soup:

2 quarts water (8 cups)

8 chicken bullion cubes

1 bag frozen broccoli

Handful of peeled and diced potatoes

1 1/2 squares of butter

3/4 cup flour

1 bottle of cheese whiz (sounds gross . . . but it adds amazing flavor)

*for bread bowl:

1 bag of frozen Rhodes loaves (3 come in a bag - you can make as many as 9 bowls from this!)

1 egg, beaten
{from this fabulous cook book}

instructions:

*Soup: Boil potatoes and bullion in water. Meanwhile, thicken the butter and flour in a sauce pan. Once potatoes are tender, add butter and flour mixture to thicken. Then add frozen broccoli (you can even toss in shredded carrots!) and cheese whiz. I use the tall glass bottle of cheese whiz and almost use the entire thing, but not quite. Add as much or as little as you like. Simmer until veggies are cooked through.

SERVES: a lot! Probably 5-6. Be prepared for fabulous leftovers.

*Bread bowl: Cut thawed loaf into thirds. From each third into a ball. Place on baking sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Brush with egg. Cover with sprayed plastic wrap. Let rise until double in size. Remove wrap and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool and slice off top. Hollow out bread and fill with soup. (For larger bowls, cut loaf in half.)

Enjoy this family favorite. You'll love it.

easy bean salsa

2 cans black beans drained
2 cans white corn drained
2 avocados diced
2 Roma tomatoes diced (i don't like tomatoes so i don't put them in)
zesty Italian dressing to taste. about a 1/2 bottle.

enjoy with tortillia chips... YUM!!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

4 boneless chicken breasts
Swiss cheese slices
Ham slices
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
Saltine crackers
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp parsley

Place chicken in a skillet and cook for 4 minutes on each side. (You can cook the chicken with Red Flame Seasoning Salt) Cut into bite-size pieces and place in a 9x13 inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.

Layer Swiss cheese on top of chicken followed by a layer of ham.

Mix soup and sour cream together and spread on top of ham.

Crush saltine crackers and add the spices. Sprinkle on top of soup mixture.

Bake at 350* for 45 minutes.

Alexander's Meatloaf

Now that we have heard of the Red Flame Seasoning salt, I thought I could share a recipe that will taste great with it. I know we all have recipes for meatloaf but to me, the seasoning brings out the flavor of it. This recipe is from my side of the family. I had my sister over with us for dinner and she noticed my meatloaf tasted different. I asked, "How so?" And she said that it has a lot more flavor in it and tastes better and that was when I told her it was the Seasoning Salt. It is an option if you want to try my recipe with this Seasoning Salt.

1 lb extra lean ground beef
2 slices bread, in pieces (I use wheat)
1 egg
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
1/2 onion, diced
Seasoning Salt

Mix all together and put in loaf pan. Sprinkle some more Seasoning salt on top. Cook at 400* for one hour.

The Red Flame Seasoning Salt is made by my husband's family catering business, The Red Flame, and not too long ago, we decided to market it. You can use it in almost anything. We LOVE it in our mashed potatoes, or even in buttered mushrooms. It can go on any meat. Fish, poultry, red meat, etc. You can put it in some vegetables. I've heard some people put it in popcorn. I've never tried it and don't know why we haven't yet. Haha. The container is pretty big and it last a long time, but it also depends on how often you use it. You can buy it for just $5. If you would like, you can email me at icats77@yahoo.com if you're interested in it and I'll be happy to get it for you. Or, you can go online at http://www.redflameseasoningsalt.com/index.html and click on the Prices and Contact and email or call them from there. Don't hesitate to email me with any questions. It goes straight to my phone and I usually respond right back. I guarantee you, this is a must have in your kitchen!!!

Yummy Sweet Peppers, Garlic, Onion and Olive Oil [Cook Challenge: Rediscovering the Lost Art of Cooking]

Sorry, I don't actually know the actual name for this dish. So I called it what it is. Four ingredients, that's it. I recently visited my cousin's family in the DC area. Her husband is a born and bred Italian. So she's picked up the yummiest recipes over the years when she visits his family in Italy. Our challenge was to cook from scratch. I'll admit, it's an easy one for me because that's really all I do. But here's what I've been making for my lunches since I returned from vacation. (Leftovers store well.)

A while back Gina posted the Catenzaro Italian Spaghetti & Sausage recipe. In her words, "don't be surprised by how easy the recipe is, and how few ingredients there are." The same goes here folks. Really, everything I've learned from my cousin's mother-in-law, via my cousin, has only a couple ingredients and it is SO good and flavorful. So here's how you make this one.

Ingredients:
One bag of mini sweet peppers from Costco (of course you can get them anywhere)
One onion (I've used regular yellow or white or sweet Walla Walla - they all work)
3 bulbs Garlic (that's the full bulb, not a little clove - but put in what you are comfortable with)
Olive Oil

Instructions:
I slice the onion first, do the painful thing and get any possible tears out of the way first. Slice, don't chop. Place in the pan.

(I figure you don't need an image of a sliced onion...)

I clean off the garlic skins, cut off the ends and then cut each bulb in half (the really big ones in three maybe.) But you want big pieces of garlic. This isn't really the seasoning, it's part of the dish. You'll cook it so long, the garlic chunks will be soft and sweet - SO good. This one you do chop so to say. Add to the pan.

Big chunks of garlic

Cut of the tops and bottoms of the peppers, slice 'em in half and clean out the guts (you know, the seeds and the white stuff) and slice the long way (top to bottom). They are mini peppers so you won't have terribly long slices, but again, slice, don't chop. Add to pan.

Lots of peppers
Get a good mix of yellow, orange and red

Now I eyeball the olive oil. This isn't Rachel Ray adding a couple swigs of EVOO to the pan. You need to coat the veggies. I add enough to make the veggies shine. (To quote Cristian, my cousin's hubbie, "the best part is the sauce.") I'd say the more sauce the better but this is oil, so you don't want pools on the bottom of the pan. Remember as the veggies cook down, they do add some of their own juices to the sauce.

Hopefully you can kind of see the glistening of the olive oil coated veggies

I simmer in the covered pan (don't want to lose any liquids... sauce...) at medium heat for about 20 minutes, and then I allow it to cook, still covered, at low heat for at least 40 minutes. At first, you'll really smell the garlic and the onion, but about 40 minutes in, the sweet smell starts to really come out. Cook for about an hour in all or longer if you want, stirring or tossing the veggies every ten minutes or so.

I added extra sauce to this plate, just so you could see it.

You should get enough extra sauce if served with a spoon.
Hopefully you get the idea.
Serve with bread (you need something to dip in the sauce.)

Enjoy.

ps: if you can think of a better name, I'm open for suggestions.

Taco Soup

2 lbs ground beef
One medium onion
(brown and drain)

1 can corn (use juice from can)
1 can kidney beans (use juice from can)
1 can pinto beans (use juice from can)
1 can black beans (use juice from can)
46 oz tomato juice (Note: Don't get the concentrate kind. I once made the mistake of buying one)
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 pkg dry ranch dressing

Put all ingredients in Crock Pot. Cook on low for 6 hours.
Serve with cheese, Fritos or sour cream.

Easy Goulash

Thanks Lisa for this recipe! My family loved this easy, nothing-to-it dish called Goulash. Many of you may have your own Goulash recipe. This one is pretty straight forward and easy. I wanted to add things to it, but my husband wouldn't let me. And in the end my family yummed it up. But out of curiosity: how do you make your Goulash?

ingredients
elbow macaroni
ground beef
can of diced tomatoes
can of corn
ketchup

I wasn't given amounts, so I just did as much as I felt necessary when I made it.

instructions
Brown meat while cooking elbow macaroni. Combine cooked meat and macaroni, then add in rest of ingredients. Add ketchup to flavor.

Parmesan Ranch Chicken

1/2 cup cornflake crumbs
1/2 cup grate Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 ounces dry ranch dressing mix
5-6 boneless chicken breasts


In a shallow bowl, combine cornflake crumbs, Parmesan cheese and ranch mix. Coat both sides of chicken in mix. Place in 9x13-inch pan sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes.

I'm not much of a photographer but believe me, it is better than it looks!

Low Calorie Banana Muffins

1 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1\2 teaspoon baking soda
1\8 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed banana
1\4 cup sugar
1\4 cup applesauce
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon


Combine all the dry ingredients together

In a separate bowl add the remaining ingredients

Slowly pour the dry mixture in with the wet ingredients and mix well

Pour into a greased muffin tin and bake at 350 for 15 mintues

{each muffin has approximately 75 calories and .5 grams of fat}

{I doubled this recipe and it made about 18 large muffins}

{I didn't have regular applesauce, only raspberry flavored, I used that and it still worked out okay, and added a sweeter flavor. After my first dozen muffins, I threw in a handful of chocolate chips to the batter, and I loved how the chocolate chip versions turned out!}

Splendid Spanish Rice

This Spanish Rice recipe is so easy and quick, it's hard to believe it would be delicious, too.

I made a batch of this last night to pair with our taco ring we had for dinner, and it was a great addition to the meal.

Enjoy!

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion
• 2 cups cooked white rice
• 2 cups chicken broth

• 1 cup chunky salsa

Cook your rice before hand, we have a rice maker and I love cooking my rice with it

After rice is cooked set aside for the time being

In a large skillet, heat oil on medium heat. Stir in onions and cook until they are tender

Add your rice to the skillet and mix together with onions for about 20 minutes, or until your rice starts to brown slightly (stir often)

Pour in chicken broth and salsa, stir everything together and cover.

Simmer for about 20 minutes on low until liquid has been absorbed