Chicken Crostina

Got this from the Olive Garden website per my friend LeeAnne:) I think it made way too much crust and dredging mixture, but it was yummy:)

http://www.olivegarden.com/Connections-to-Italy/Recipes/Main-Dishes/Chicken-Crostina/

Ingredients

1. 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2. 2 cups & 1 Tbsp flour
3. 1 Tbsp salt
4. 1 Tbsp pepper
5. 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
6. 1 Tbsp roasted garlic, minced
7. 1 cup white wine
8. 1 ½ cups heavy cream
9. 5 Tbsp Colavita® Extra Virgin Olive Oil
10. 1 lb linguine
11. 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
12. 1 cup roma tomatoes, cored & diced
13. 2 Tbsp parsley, chopped
14. POTATO CRUST
15. 1 ½ cups seasoned breadcrumbs
16. ¼ cup melted butter
17. ½ tsp garlic powder
18. ¼ cup parsley, chopped
19. 1 small potato, peeled & grated
20. ¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated
21. Salt & pepper to taste

Procedures

1. MIX all ingredients for Potato Crust in a bowl and set aside.
2. MIX 1 ½ cups flour, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken in the mixture, shaking off any excess. Heat 3 Tbsp oil in a large skillet. Cook chicken breasts 2 at a time over medium-high heat until golden brown and crisp, or until internal temperature reaches 165°F. Add more oil for each batch as necessary.
3. PLACE cooked chicken breasts on a baking sheet or dish and top with potato crust mixture. Transfer baking sheet to a pre-heated broiler until golden brown (1-2 minutes).
4. COOK pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
5. HEAT 2 Tbsp oil in a sauce pan. Add roasted garlic, cook for 1 minute.
Stir in 1 Tbsp of flour and wine and bring to a boil. Add cream, parmesan cheese, 1 Tbsp parsley, and tomatoes. Sauce is done when it is bubbling throughout and has started to thicken.
6. COAT pasta with sauce, then top with chicken and remaining sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Baked Ziti

Picture to follow...

Original recipe: (the only thing I added was a pound of ground beef to the top before baking)

http://www.food.com/recipe/baked-ziti-from-cooks-illustrated-354885

Ingredients:

• 1 lb 1% fat cottage cheese
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 ounces parmesan cheese, grated
• salt
• 1 lb ziti pasta
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 5 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (28 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 cup heavy cream
  

  Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350°F Whisk cottage cheese, eggs and 1 cup Parmesan together in medium bowl; set aside. Bring 4 quarts of water to boil in large Dutch oven over high heat. Stir in 1 Tablespoon salt and pasta; cook, stirring occasionally, until pasta begins to soften but is not yet cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain pasta and leave in colander.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil and garlic in 12 inch skillet over medium heat until garlic is fragrant but not brown. Stir in tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and oregano; simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Off heat, stir in 1/2 cup basil and sugar, then season with salt and pepper.
3. Stir cornstarch into heavy cream in small bowl, transfer mixture to Dutch oven set over medium heat. Bring to simmer and cook until thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove pot from heat and add cottage cheese mixture, 1 cup tomato sauce and 3/4 cup mozzarella, then stir to combine. Add pasta and stir to coat.
4. Transfer pasta mixture to 13 x 9 inch baking dish and spread remaining tomato sauce evenly over pasta. Sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup mozzarella and remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan over top. Cover baking dish tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
5. Remove foil and continue to cook until cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown, about 30 minutes longer. Cool for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining 3 Tablespoons basil and serve.

Chicken Spaghetti

A pioneer woman classic:)

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/chicken_spaghet/

Ingredients

• 2 cups Cooked Chicken
• 3 cups Dry Spaghetti, Broken Into Two Inch Pieces
• 2 cans Cream Of Mushroom Soup
• 2 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• ¼ cups Finely Diced Green Pepper
• ¼ cups Finely Diced Onion
• 1 jar (4 Ounce) Diced Pimentos, Drained
• 2 cups Reserved Chicken Broth From Pot
• 1 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt
• ⅛ teaspoons (to 1/4 Teaspoon) Cayenne Pepper
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 1 cup Additional Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Preparation Instructions

Cook 1 cut up fryer and pick out the meat to make two cups. Cook spaghetti in same chicken broth until al dente. Do not overcook. When spaghetti is cooked, combine with remaining ingredients except additional 1 cup sharp cheddar.

Place mixture in casserole pan and top with remaining sharp cheddar. Cover and freeze up to six months, cover and refrigerate up to two days, or bake immediately: 350 degrees for 45 minutes until bubbly. (If the cheese on top starts to get too cooked, cover with foil).

Caesar Spaghetti

I was excited to try this one, because I love Caesar salad...:) We had it with the Pesto Chicken posted...here is the original recipe http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/caesar-style-spaghetti/.

Pretty good!

Ingredients

• Salt
• 1 pound spaghetti or while wheat/grain spaghetti
• 1/4 cup EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil, plus some for drizzling
• 6-8 anchovy filets, drained
• 4 large cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, eyeball the amount
• 2 medium heads of escarole, washed and dried
• 1 lemon
• Lots of coarse black pepper
• Freshly grated nutmeg, about 1/4 teaspoon, or to your taste
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 1/2 cups grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Directions

Place a large pot of water over high heat to boil for pasta. Once boiling, salt water and cook pasta to just shy of al dente, according to package directions or about 6-7 minutes. Heads up: you need to reserve some starchy cooking water just before draining, about 1 cup. Pasta will continue to cook as you toss it with the greens.

While the pasta is cooking, place a large skillet over medium-high heat with the EVOO. Add anchovies to the pan and cook until they've melted into the oil, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and add garlic, stir 1 minute then add in Worcestershire. Shred the escarole and add several handfuls at a time, wilting greens into garlic oil. Dress greens with lots of pepper and a little nutmeg then squeeze the juice of 1 lemon over the pan. Add starchy cooking water to eggs and beat together to temper them. Turn off pan heat and toss drained pasta with greens and eggs and half of the cheese to coat evenly; toss vigorously 1 minute. Dress pasta with an extra drizzle of EVOO and serve, pass remaining cheese at table.

Prosciutto, Spinach, and Pasta Casserole

I had wanted to use Prosciutto in something sooner than later, so when I came across this casserole, I thought it might be good! It was. I enjoy spinach in things like this too. You can find the recipe here. I made some changes which you can see below. No time for blogging-have to go enjoy this perfect weather! LOVE IT.

Ingredients
2-1/2 cups dried bow ties
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups half and half
1-1/4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 a bag of fresh baby spinach or so...
4 ounces prosciutto, cut into thin bite-size strips
1 can of Italian style diced tomatoes

Directions
Cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain; rinse pasta with cold water. Drain again.

In a large saucepan cook onion and garlic, covered, in hot butter about 5 minutes or until onion is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in flour and anise seeds. Add the milk and chicken broth all at once. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Stir in Parmesan cheese. Stir in the cooked pasta, spinach, and prosciutto. Spoon the mixture into a 2-quart casserole.Top with the drained diced tomatoes and top with some more Parmesan cheese.

Bake, UN-covered, in a 350°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until heated through. Let stand about 5 minutes. I then broiled for a few minutes to melt the top all wonderful:)

Finished product!


Dinner...

Pork Piccata

I saw this post on the Serendipity Bistro blog I read...it sounded just delicious. And it was. The flavors were amazing. I will definitely be making this one again soon. I have a lots of new recipes to try this week, and if they all turn out like this. Its going to be a great week for food in this household. The only thing I did different was added more of everything to the sauce, oh and I topped with a little fresh grated Parmesan cheese (I have to have cheese on my pasta) Oh, and I added some fresh spinach to the pasta after it cooked just to feel more healthy after I put large amounts of butter in the sauce...I like a lot of sauce. A LOT. It was perfect! I could go eat another helping now, but instead I am enjoying a piece of fruit pizza while getting my recipes in! Tomorrow I am trying a new casserole:) Stay tuned for a week of new recipes!

Ingredients
1 pork tenderloin (I use peppercorn-well she did, but so did I)
1/2 c. flour
salt & pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tbsp butter, divided
2 Tbsp capers
2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. dry white wine or white cooking wine
1/4 c. lemon juice
Hot cooked linguine noodles

Directions
Cut tenderloin into 1/2"thick medallions
Combine flour, salt & pepper in a shallow dish
Coat pork in flour mixture, shake off excess
Heat olive oil & 2 tbsp of butter over med-high heat
Cook pork until golden brown on both sides
Remove from pan & keep warm
Return pan to heat.
Add capers & garlic, cook for 1 minute
Add broth, wine & lemon juice, cook for 4 minutes, stirring frequently
Add 2 tbsp butter, cook & stir until butter has melted & sauce has thickened slightly, about 1 minute
Remove from heat

Pour half of sauce over linguine & toss gently
Place pork back in pan & serve with sauce

Don't let the picture fool you, this was only my first helping...


Mmmm mmmmmm!

Chicken Parmesan

So, my dad has been here since Thursday-YAY! :) I love having my family coming visit. We ate at Biemer's BBQ in Lawrence on Thursday night, which was really delicious. I had the pulled pork. We had Mr. Goodcents (my favorite sandwich place in Lawrence) for lunch on Friday, and Friday night, my dad made Chicken Parmesan with Spaghetti, Garlic Bread, and some salad. Delish! We all ate too much, watched a ton of basketball games, and I lost horribly playing cards. Anyway...here is the recipe my dad made us:)

Ingredients
(I am not putting specific amounts, you can determine how much you want to make-like last night we used 6 huge chicken breasts....to feed an army-US!)
Seasoned Bread Crumbs
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
Olive Oil
Spaghetti Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Spaghetti

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat chicken breasts with bread crumbs and brown each side in olive oil. Pour a good amount of spaghetti sauce to cover 9x13 dish and put browned chicken in the pan. Pour remaining sauce on top of chicken, followed by a good amount of mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese. Bake for 35-40 minutes until chicken is no longer pink. Serve with spaghetti and extra sauce if needed. My dad had a bunch of sauce in with the chicken which had even more flavor with the cheese, etc...Delicious.

Thanks Dad!! Love you!

After we had already served some up-one of 2 dishes of the chicken...


My very large plateful:)

Lasagna Stoup

Sooooo I copied this from one of my favorite blogs...http://serendipitybistro.blogspot.com/...I saw this and had to try it. I really like Rachael Ray recipes, and it seems that is where this recipe originated. It was really good. We had garlic bread and Caesar salad with it!

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1# ground chuck
Salt & pepper
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled & grated
3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
One 32-ounce container (4 cups) chicken broth-I used only about 3 cups...
One 28-ounce can Italian crushed tomatoes
1 pound lasagna noodles, broken into jagged pieces-I only used a half pound of noodles
1 c basil leaves, torn
1 c whole-milk ricotta
Grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, to pass around the table

Directions
In a soup pot, heat the EVOO over medium-high heat. Add the beef, season with salt & pepper & cook until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the onion, carrots & garlic and cook until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in 2 cups water (I used 1), the chicken broth & tomatoes; cover and bring to a boil. Add the pasta & cook until al dente about 15 minutes. Stir in the basil & season with salt & pepper. Serve the stoup in bowls & dollop with the ricotta. Pass the parmigiano-reggiano at the table. Enjoy!

The whole meal! Notice the large amount of cheese....:)


Lasagna Stoup!

Easy Beef Strogonoff

This is probably one of my all-time favorite meals. YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I tweaked the recipe out of my elementary school cookbook. When I make this, I eat WAY too much:) DEEEEEEEEEELISH. I threw in a couple pictures of our babies too...

Ingredients
Beef-I change it up...I have been using breakfast steaks and cutting them into thin strips, or if I have tons of time I will cut up stew meat small and use that, you need something tender!!!
A tad of oil to brown the beef with
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
A touch of water
1 package of dry onion soup mix
16 oz sour cream
Wide egg noodles
Butter

Directions
Brown beef in oil in electric skillet, after beef is cooked through, mix in mushroom soup, onion soup, and a little water-maybe a 1/2 can or so. Stir until all combined and bring to a boil. Let simmer until tender (cover and turn temp down)-the longer the better, I try for at least an hour, even with already tender meat. When close to serving time, cook noodles according to package, and when done, drain and add some butter to them. Right before serving add the sour cream to the beef mixture, and stir in. Once its all warm, serve over the noodles. Then eat a very large serving until you feel sick. (Hahaha)YUMMMMMMMMMMM!

Here it is:)


Kevin enjoying his strogonoff with Olly:)


My babies....


Brett was holding them against their will!

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese Ham Bake

I am still going strong on my casserole kick, although I am thinking tomorrow I might mix it up a little:) Kevin really likes ham, and one of my favorite foods when I was a kid was mac n' cheese, and I still love to this day, so when I saw this casserole, I thought it might be a good fit! You can find the original recipe here http://www.bhg.com/recipe/pork/creamy-macaroni-and-cheese-ham-bake/. It turned out really delicious! It was a 2-serving meal each:)

Ingredients
1 7.25-ounce package macaroni and cheese dinner mix
1-1/2 cups cubed cooked ham or chopped cooked chicken
1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, I used sharp cheddar(6 ounces)
1 cup cream-style cottage cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped onion-I used minced onion/onion powder from my spice cabinet to make it easier...
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup soft bread crumbs-I mixed them with a bunch of seasonings for more flavor
1 tablespoon snipped fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes (optional)
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare macaroni and cheese mix according to package directions, except do not add salt to water. Stir in ham, 1 cup of the cheddar cheese, the cottage cheese, sour cream, onion, and pepper. Transfer mixture to an ungreased 1-1/2-quart baking dish.

In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs and, if desired, parsley; stir in melted butter. Sprinkle over macaroni mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese.

Bake, uncovered, about 30 minutes or until mixture is heated through and crumbs are golden. Makes 4 servings.

It looks a little weird in color-but it was really good!

Ta-Da!

Baked Beef Ravioli

Tonight for dinner I tried another new casserole recipe...my obsession. Since Spring is on its way, I have taken it upon myself to start tanning (I really don't need any comments on this, thanks though!) and start going back to the gym (which I hate every minute of). So dinner is getting later and later at night, which I HATE! I like a nice early dinner so my food can settle before my early bedtime of 10pm. You can find the original recipe here http://www.bhg.com/recipe/beef/baked-beef-ravioli/. I only made a few small changes....and I just put the ravioli in the pan, and poured the sauce over top, because my skillet ran out of room! Get ready for another new casserole recipe tomorrow! I am off to bed:)

Ingredients
2-9-ounce packages refrigerated cheese-filled ravioli
1-1/2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 10.75-ounce can condensed tomato soup
4 oz cream cheese
1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (6 ounces)
1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese (2 ounces)
salt and pepper to taste
EVOO

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cook ravioli according to package directions; drain. Return to pan; cover and keep warm.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook ground meat, onion, and garlic over medium heat until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain off fat. Stir in tomatoes, cream cheese soup, basil, and oregano. Gently stir in cooked ravioli.

Transfer mixture to an ungreased-I drizzled EVOO in the bottom- 3-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, about 20 minutes or until heated through. Makes 8 to 10 servings.I wish I would have cut this in half-whoops:)

Finished Casserole...


Not too bad!

Chicken Noodle Casserole

Tonight for dinner I made a new casserole-I seem to be obsessed with casseroles....it was some good comfort food! I enjoyed it, although I think it could have been spiced up some more...not sure how. I will definitely eat the leftovers though! Can't go wrong with noodles of any sort! I looked up a bunch of recipes online and just mixed them all together..it worked out well:)

Ingredients
12oz wide egg noodles-cooked according to pkg. (I use a mix of whole wheat and white)
3 tablespoons butter
3-5 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
2 chicken breasts
1 small onion
4 cloves of garlic
Parmesan Cheese
salt, pepper

For topping
2 tablespoons butter
Seasoned bread crumbs (I seasoned my own with a BUNCH of spices, just anything I grabbed out of the pantry!)

Directions
Cook pasta according to package and set aside. In a large skillet cook chicken until done. Season with salt and pepper, etc...Pull chicken out of the skillet and set aside (after cool enough cut into small pieces). In same skillet melt 3 tablespoons of butter and add diced up onion and garlic, cook until soft. Add flour and whisk together and let it brown, and the flour to cook. Slowly add the milk, chicken broth, chicken soup, sour cream, and salt and pepper to taste. Let the mixture thicken and combine well. After bubbly, add the chopped chicken to the mixture.

Butter a 9x13 pan and put the noodles in the bottom. Pour the sauce over the top. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on casserole.Then mix butter and breadcrumbs and sprinkle that on top. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes until breadcrumbs are toasted!


Finished Casserole


Delish!

Homemade Tomato Soup with Tortellini

My dad loves to cook too-and he has made some really delicious things, like this soup I am about to post about. But I will never forget when he made this Minnesota Hot Dish recipe when my mom was gone and he made me eat it. At that time, I thought it was SO GROSS, onions, peppers, ew, all things I hated when I was younger. Plus I was a picky eater. I hope he never makes that again.... You might ask him about his ULTRA lemon chicken he once made, that was also interesting. He is a good cook though and I like when he gives me recipe ideas, I think he found this one, made some changes, gave it to me, and I changed some things too. So I will tell you how I made it, with just a few changes from what he gave me. It was perfect for this FREEZING day and I loved it. I love all tomato soup, but I never made it myself-a can of Campbell's has always been my easy way out. Kevin liked it too, and I will definitely make it again. I will even eat the leftovers that are in the fridge! Love you Dad and miss you too!

Perfect for a cold day!


Ingredients
1 large onion (I used yellow-I always use yellow)
2 tablespoons of butter
A little EVOO
1-28oz can whole tomatoes
3 cups chicken broth
1-15oz can tomato sauce
Sage to taste (I like a lot of flavor so I used a lot of spices!)
Basil to taste
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
A touch of garlic salt, and a few red pepper flakes
9oz package of refrigerated tortellini (I used Buitoni cheese and garlic, and this was a bit different dad:))
Parmesan cheese to top

Directions
In a large saucepan cook onion in butter/EVOO mixture until tender. Add tomatoes, chicken broth, tomato sauce, all the spices, and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and cover and simmer for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

After 30 minutes, use an immersion blender to smooth the soup out as smooth as possible-I never had used our immersion blender until today-that thing is AWESOME, saves so much time than having to take it out and put it in the blender/food processor. Continue to blend until all lumps are gone. Then, add refrigerated tortellini to the soup and boil for 10-12 minutes until pasta is cooked through. I kept it at all low boil and stirred it so I didn't make a huge mess of tomatoes everywhere.

Spoon soup into bowls and top with the Parmesan cheese. It was perfect! Yummy:) Time to get my dad an immersion blender!!

Finished Product!

Peppered Bacon and Tomato Linguine

I feel like we eat pasta A LOT. But this one is a little different, and has bacon in it, which Kevin will always eat:) It is pretty tasty.

Ingredients
1/2 pound peppered bacon, diced
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic-or a bit more, in my case!!
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes-I use the garlic and onion diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper to taste
1 (16 ounce) package linguine pasta
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese-I use more, duh.

Directions
Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, reserving drippings, and set aside.

Saute green onion and garlic in bacon drippings over medium heat for one minute. Stir in tomatoes, basil, salt and ground black pepper; simmer for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

Toss hot pasta with sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

For the original recipe on my favorite recipe website click here:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Peppered-Bacon-and-Tomato-Linguine/Detail.aspx

Easy Taco Bake Casserole

For some reason, I am obsessed with this Taco Bake...it has cream cheese and sour cream so that is probably why. I can't remember where I found this one, but I remember I did cut it in half, which is more than enough for us, with lots of leftovers, and I added refried beans to the recipe. Kevin would rather it be made with rice, which I bet is possible, and you could add salsa or rotel in place of the tomato sauce, but I like it just the way I make it. Maybe I will get adventurous and try some new ideas next time I make it!

Ingredients
8 oz/half bag or box of shell pasta
1/2 pound of ground beef or turkey (mine is never a perfect amount)
1 8oz can of tomato sauce
8 oz brick of cream cheese
1/2 cup to 1 cup of sour cream
1 package taco seasoning
1 can refried beans
Shredded cheese for top-I use sharp cheddar or mexican blend

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta as directed and drain. While pasta is cooking, brown ground beef and add taco seasoning and tomato sauce, then simmer until combined and pasta is done cooking. Also soften and combine cream cheese and sour cream mixture. I microwave the beans as well during this time which makes them easier to spread. Spray a 9x9 pan or larger if you are making a bigger batch. Put drained pasta in the dish first, then layer beans on top, then cream cheese/sour cream mixture, then pour ground beef/tomato sauce/taco seasoning mixture on top of that, then cover in shredded cheese and bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes when cheese is nice and melty! Yummy, and super easy.