Springtime Asparagus Pasta Toss

Walmart had asparagus on sale this week for 1.88 per lb. I absolutely LOVE asparagus, and thankfully so does my husband. So I decided I wanted to try something I haven't ever tried for dinner tonight. I was just browsing and found a recipe that I thought sounded really yummy. I'll have to let you know how it goes. Click on the picture above for the link to the recipe on the Kraft Foods site.

Spaghetti Sauce From Scratch

This isn't a picture of mine because I was dumb and didn't take one. It is the closest to what mine looked like though. I got it here :

One time, I was really wanting pasta, but I didn't have any sauce in the cupboard, so I decided to try to make my own. It turned out pretty good I thought. I was even smart ish enough to write down what I did.

• 1c. hot water
• 1 boullion cube
• 1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
• 1 tsp. dried onion
• 2 tsp. garlic salt
• 1 Tbs. basil
• 1 tsp. dried parsley
• 3 Tbs. brown sugar
• 2 cans diced tomatoes (14 ish oz.)
• 1 can tomato sauce (14 ish oz.)
  

It's easy. Disolve the boullion in the water, pour in a pot, or crockpot, add all the other ingredients and cook till it boils. You can let it simmer for a while or use it as soon as it heats up. I like mine to simmer for a while, because the flavors mix together better. When it is done, pour it over your favorite pasta. If you want to add a pound of browned hamburger or shredded chicken you can. I didn't this time because I didn't have any left, but usually I do put meat in.

Chicken Parmesan

I've made breaded fried chicken a couple of times in the last little while and it turned out really good both times, so last week I decided to give it an Italian twist and see how it turned out. It turned out really good. I was dumb and didn't write down what I did and measurements or anything and was kicking myself afterward. So of course I had to make it again and write it down this time. It was easy, and really didn't take a long time.

3-4 c. cornflakes

4-5 chicken breasts (depending on size)

1/2 c. pancake mix

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. season salt

1/2 tsp. sage

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

1 pinch black pepper

1/4 c. parmesan cheese

1 egg

1/4 c. milk

3/4-1c. oil (depending on the size of the pan)

Pour cornflakes in a large ziplock bag. Use a rolling pin to smash them till they are almost powder, but there are still some pieces. Add all other ingredients to the bag except the chicken, milk and egg. Shake bag till everything is evenly mixed together. Put the egg and the milk in a container large enough for the largest piece of chicken to fit in. Put each piece of chicken in the egg mixture and cover evenly, then immediately place it in the ziplock and shake until the chicken is evenly covered with the mixture, then place each piece of chicken in a hot frying pan with about a 1/4 in. of oil in the bottom. Cook on Medium till each side is golden brown and crispy and the inside is fully cooked. If the chicken is frozen when you put it in, it will take longer to finish the middle so you might want to put it on a lower heat so it won't burn the outside. When fully cooked, you can pour marinara over the top, and sprinkle with parmesan and grated cheese.

We had spaghetti and salad with ours and it was sooooooo good. I know it kind of sounds like a pain, but aside from the chicken cooking, (which took about 15 minutes using thawed chicken breasts) the part that takes the longest is mashing the cornflakes. If you are in a hurry, you can mix all the dry ingredients in the blender or a food processor and then pour in a bag. I promise you won't regret trying it.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

These took like 10 minutes from start to finish no joke! And, they are soooooooooo much better (in my opinion) than store bought ones. You can make a big recipe and then freeze them for up to 6 months, or you can just make a few and then eat them right off the griddle. There is not a special technic or anything. I don't think I'll buy tortillas from the store again. Ok. Here's the recipe:

2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 c. oil

2/3 warm water

Mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl, then separate into the portion sizes you want, (you can make them as big or as small as you want). Roll each one out to the desired thickness, then place on a hot frying pan over medium heat sprayed with cooking spray one tortilla at a time. Heat each side for about a minute to a minute and a half (depending on thickness). This recipe makes about twelve thin 10 in. tortillas. (I halved mine and made six).

I used mine for a chicken twist of this recipe: http://deliciousezdishes.blogspot.com/2009/06/best-beefy-melty-cheesy-enchiladas-ever.html

I did everything the same, except I used pulled chicken instead of beef and instead of baking it in a casserole dish, I broiled it on a cookie sheet on low for about 6 minutes. It was to die for good. It is totally worth a try and well worth the time and effort to make. Grace even gobbled one up herself.

Breakfast Casserole

Sunday mornings are always so crazy when we have the 9:00 schedule for church. It is so hard to make breakfast along while getting ready. Unfortunately cereal doesn't even work because none of us are really fans of cold cereal. So last Saturday night, I decided to try something different. I mixed this casserole, covered it and put it in the fridge. When we got up all I had to do was stick it in the oven and push the button. I was able to get ready while it cooked and then when it was done, we ate and finished getting ready. It worked perfectly and we were on time to church. So I thought I would share the super easy recipe.

Breakfast Casserole
6-8 eggs
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. ham, bacon, or sausage
1/2 package of hashbrowns
1/2 tsp. dehidrated onion
1 c. cheese (1/2 for mixing in and 1/2 to sprinkle on top)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix everything up (remember to only put in half the cheese and save the rest to sprinkle on top) and pour it in a small greased baking pan. Cook on 350 for about 30 minutes or till toothpick in center comes out clean and the top becomes slightly golden brown. Enjoy.

Peach Crepes

Crepes:
1/2 c. flour

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. cinnamon

1 large egg

3/4 c. milk

1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
cooking spray

Combine flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a medium sized mixing bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the egg. While whisking, pour in the milk and vanilla. Continue to whisk until the batter is smooth and free of lumps. Cover and let stand 15-20 minutes.

Preheat small frying pan for 1 minute over medium heat. Spray twice with cooking spray. Spoon just enough batter in the pan to form a layer at the bottom (about 3 Tbs.) and tilt the pan to spread batter evenly.

Cook for 1-2 minutes until edges are firm and begin to separate from the bottom. Flip crepe with a spatula and cook the other side for 1-2 minutes more on the other side until golden brown and remove from pan.

Filling:
1 (29 oz.) can of peaches
1 1/4 c. peach juice (the juice from the can of peaches)
1/4 c. lemon juice
3/4 c. sugar
2 Tbs. corn starch
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. orange zest

Combine sugar, cinnamon and corn starch in a small mixing bowl. Drain the can of peaches and set aside the juice. Dice the peaches. Put the drained peach juice, lemon juice, peaches and orange zest in a large frying pan. Add dry mixture and mix well. Cook for about 10 minutes until syrup thickens. Roll up an even amount of filling in each crepe. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

Easy Cheesy Chicken Quesadillas and Sweet Rice

I had a sudden craving for mexican food tonight, so I decided to make some quesadillas, beans and rice. When ever we eat at Bajio, I always get their sweet rice. It is so good. So I decided to try making it. It turned out really good. So here's the recipe for the rice and quesadillas. The meal took about 15 minutes total from start to finish.

Quesadillas for two:

3 chicken breasts

2-3 c. shredded colby, pepper, or monterey jack cheese

2 flour tortillas

Boil and shred chicken breasts. Lay the tortillas flat on a cookie sheet (if desired brush the bottom of the tortillas with butter or margarine.) Sprinkle each with about one cup of cheese. spread shredded chicken over cheese on half of each tortilla. Broil on High for 2-3 minutes (or until cheese is melted). Remove from oven and fold each tortilla in half. Sprinkle with desired toppings (tomatoes, sour cream, salsa, cheese, lettuce, green onions, onions, olives, guacamole, etc.)

Instant Sweet Rice

1 1/4 c. water

1 chicken boullion cube

2 1/2 tsp. white sugar

1 tsp. dehidrated onion

1 tsp. cilantro

1c. instant rice

Put first 5 ingredients in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. (Make sure boullion cube is completely dissolved.) Remove from heat and add rice. Cover and let stand for 5-7 minutes.

It's a soup day!

Today is definitely a soup day. I can't believe it dropped thirty degrees between yesterday and today. Anyway since I'm freezing and very much in the mood for some soup, here are some of my favorite soup recipes.

Baked Potato Soup

(I can't take any credit for this recipe or the picture. I found them here. http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/2008/10/baked-potato-soup.html)

But it is my very favorite soup ever and I always use this recipe. When I make it I either bake the potatoes in the microwave, or I cut them up when they are raw and boil them. It doesn't change the flavor, just the amount of time it takes to have the soup ready to eat. All the time spent no matter how you make it, will be well worth it. Put it in a bread bowl and it's to die for! Hope you enjoy it.

Holly's Amazingly Famous Taco Soup

My sister Holly makes a killer taco soup. It is seriously soooo good. She gave me permission to post the recipe on here.

1 lb. browned hamburger seasoned with taco seasoning, or chilli powder and cumin, salt and pepper to taste.
1/2 diced onion sauted
1 qt. bottled tomatoes (pureed with juice)
1 can corn with juice (16 oz.)
1 can chilli (16 oz.)
1 can diced stewed tomatoes
1 can chillies (4 oz.)
sugar to taste (until it isn't bitter)

Cook meat. Add onion and saute with meat. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer for 10-20 minutes, stir occasionally. Serve with tortilla, chips, sour cream, shredded cheese, and or any other taco ingredients.

Clam Chowder

This recipe is my mom's. It is way better in my opinion than any other clam chowder in the world. It makes a lot, so I always half it for just me and my little family.

2 (6-oz.) cans minced clams

1 c. chopped onions (or 1 Tbs dehidrated onion)

1 c. diced celery (or 1/2 tsp. celery salt)

3 c. diced potatoes

1 c. diced carrots

1/2 c. butter or margarine

1/2 c. flour

1 qt. milk

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. sugar

Drain clam juice into a large pot. Add onions, celery, potatoes, and enough water to cover. Cook until vegetables are tender. Mash a little with a potato masher. Mix butter, flour, milk, salt, pepper, and sugar in blender until smooth. Add white sauce and 1/2 of the clams to the cooked veggies in the pot. Boil until it thickens and add the remaining clams.

If you don't like clam chowder, it is a delicious creamy potato chowder if you omit the clams. Will doesn't like onions or celery, so I use dehidrated onions and celery salt to keep those flavors. He doesn't seem to mind and I don't notice too much of a difference. Throw some oister crackers on top and you are good to go!

Vegetable Beef Soup

I always have leftover roast after sunday dinner, so I try to find recipes that I can use the leftover meat and even potatoes and carrots. this is one that I made up just by throwing stuff together. It isn't really hard, and doesn't take long, and you can pretty much throw in whatever veggies you want with the meat and it tastes great.

1c. cubed, or shredded roast beef

1c. cubed potatoes

1c. chopped carrots

1/2 c. chopped onions

1 qt. water

3-4 boullion cubes (or to taste)

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Throw it all in until the veggies are cooked tender, and serve. I find it the easiest to throw everything into a crockpot in the morning and let it cook for four to eight hours just in time to be done for dinner. But it can be cooked over the stove in about a half hour also. You can add green beans, peas, corn, mixed veggies, broccoli, zucchini, etc. just whatever you have that you want to throw in. It all tastes great.

Easy Chicken Caesar Salad

This meal seriously only took me 15 minutes. I took 3 smallish chicken breasts and seasoned them with garlic powder, and lemon pepper and cooked them in a frying pan on the burner about 5 minutes on both sides (frozen). Then while it was cooking I put together some lettuce, croutons, parmesan, shredded cheese, and a little caesar salad dressing. Then I just cut the chicken in cubes and added it to the salad. It was delicious, very inexpensive, and sooooo easy. Did I mention delicious?

The Best Beefy Melty Cheesy Enchiladas Ever

This is a great way to use leftover roast from Sunday dinner. We always have a lot of leftover roast since it's just the three of us and grace doesn't eat much. So I like to come up with yummy dinners that I can use the leftover meat in. This one is one of my favorites. It is pretty easy and doesn't take long since the meat is already cooked.

Sweet Enchilada Sauce:

1 can tomato sauce or paste

1 Tbs. bbq sauce

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 Tbs. chili powder

1 Tbs dehidrated onions

1 tsp. cilantro

1/2 tsp. vinegar

combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Mix till smoothish bring to a boil over midium high heat. Reduce heat and simmer till you are ready to use.

Meat:

4-5 c. cooked shredded roast beef

1/4 c. salsa

1/4 c. brown sugar

1 Tbs. bbq sauce

1 Tbs. chili powder

1 tsp. cilantro

combine and mix all ingredients in a medium saucepan bring to boil. Remove from heat and spoon mixture equallyish into 6-8 small flour tortilla shells and sprinkle with abount 1/4 c. shredded cheese (I like colby jack best) each, roll them up and place them in a greased casserole dish. Pour sauce over top and sprinkle with shredded cheese. cover with foil and Bake in oven at 400 for about 15 minutes then eat and enjoy!!!

Total prep and cook time is about a half hour tops! Its great. Enjoy!!!

Broccolli Alfredo Pasta

I made this for the first time a few weeks ago when my sister Holly came to my house to visit. I didn't have chicken, but I had alfredo and pasta and a bag of frozen broccolli. Tonight I made it again, but I used fresh broccolli because I had a bundle in the fridge that I needed to use before it went bad since it has been there for a week. So, here is a fantastic, very fast, very easy, delicious meal for any night of the week.

1/2 box of any kind of pasta (I used Rotini)

1 jar of alfredo sauce

1/2 bag frozen broccolli, or a bundle of fresh broccolli

Bring some water to a boil in a sauce pot. Add pasta and boil for about 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile in another pot put broccolli and just enough water to cover about half of it. Boil till the broccolli is tender. (It took me about 8 minutes with the fresh broccolli and some salt) Drain whatever water remains, add alfredo sauce and heat to desired temperature to serve over pasta. When pasta is finished, just drain, rinse and serve with the broccolli alfredo sauce.

I also sprinkled mozerella and parmesan cheeses on top. It was delicious.

The 2 Step Breadsticks:

1. I take 4-12 Rhodes frozen dough rolls, out of the freezer and put them on a plate sprayed with cooking spray. Then I cover them with plastic wrap, also sprayed. Then I let them thaw and rise for about 4-5 hours on the plate.

2. When they are done rising, I roll them till they are about 9 inches long, move them to a cookie sheet, spread melted butter with parmesan and garlic salt, and if you want, parsley, and or italian seasoning on them and bake them for 8-10 minutes at 350.

Sweet and Sour Barbeque Shish Kabobs

For dinner tonight we had these. They were SO good. I started yesterday by making the marinade and cutting all the veggies and meat. I took a recipe that I got from my sister Jill for teriyaki flavored shishkabobs and adapted it to sweet and sour BBQ flavored. Even though it takes some planning and preparing a head of time, let me tell you it is soooo worth it. Will gave it a 10 out of 10. That is hard to do. Okay here is the recipe.

1/2 c. oil
1/4 c. vinegar
2 cloves garlic
2/3 c. brown sugar
1/2 bottle BBQ sauce (about 9 oz.)
1 can of chunk pineapple
1/2 green pepper
1/2 red onion
1 lb. mushrooms
3-4 cups raw chicken thawed and cubed
20 ish skewers
2 or 4 large ziplock baggies (depending on the quality. You don't want them to leak)

combine the oil, vinegar, garlic, brown sugar, BBQ sauce, and the juice from the can of pineapple in a bowl or pitcher. Chop the mushrooms, onions, and peppers into the shape and size you want. (Easy enough right?) Put the chicken in one ziplock and all the chopped onions, mushrooms, peppers, and pineapple in another. Add enough sauce to the chicken to cover it and the rest of the sauce to the veggies, (and fruit). Remove as much air from both bags as possible and seal. Double bag each so they don't leak if neccessary. Marinate in fridge for atleast 24 hours. Then put together the kabobs however you would like place on cookie sheets and bake in oven at 375 degrees F until edges are golden. Or on the grill if you prefer and have one. I don't, so I don't know what temperature or how long to cook them that way. If you try them on the grill let me know. Enjoy!

Creamy Italian Crockpot Chicken

I made this for dinner last night. I didn't know if it would turn out good or not, because I just threw a few things that I had together without a recipe. It turned out really good I thought. I made some instant rice and put in a couple tsp. of parsley. Okay here's the recipe for the chicken:
1/3 bottle of Italian dressing
3/4 c. sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
4-5 chicken breasts
Throw everything in the crockpot on high for 4 hours serve and enjoy

Pretty easy right? Well, it was pretty good. Will even liked it a lot. Enough to eat it as leftovers for lunch. It was pretty good.

Cheesy Baked Lasagna

Last night for dinner we had lasagna. I have never made lasagna before and it surprised me how easy it is to make. It turned out so well. I was very proud of the finished product. Here is the recipe I used.

1 box lasagna pasta
1 30 oz. container of ricotta cheese
2 c. mozerella cheese separated into two 1 cup portions
1/4 c. parmesan
2 partially beaten eggs
1 tsp. dried basil
1 Tbs. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
1 jar of spaghetti sauce

In a large pot bring to boil about 6-8 cups of water. Add pasta and boil for 8-10 minutes stirring gently every so often so the pasta doesn't stick together or to the pot. While the pasta cooks, mix the ricotta, 1 cup mozerella, parmesan, eggs, basil, parsley, garlic salt, salt, and pepper in a medium mixing bowl. When pasta is done boiling drain in a collander. In a 9x13 casserole dish pour a thin layer of the spaghetti sauce, just enough to cover the bottom. Then cover with a layer of the pasta, then cheese mixture on top of that, then repeat beginning with another layer of sauce, pasta, cheese, sauce, pasta, then sauce again, and sprinkle top with the remaining one cup of mozerella and sprinkle slightly with parmesan cheese. Bake in oven for 60 minutes at 450 degrees F. The whole process only took me about an hour and a half from start to finish. Easy and worth every second. Enjoy and let me know what you think. I'd love some feedback.