Tomato Cream Pasta

Let's take a moment to acknowledge the greatness of the Pioneer Woman. 

Seriously, never a bad recipe.

Photo & recipe from The Pioneer Woman.

This pasta is SO good, we all love it & it's especially delish when covered in freshly grated Parmesan.

Click HERE for recipe.

Lemon Butter Chicken

This recipe come from Damndelicious.net and that is a great description of this recipe.

I made it for Father's Day for my parents and they loved it as much as my husband and kids. It's SOOOO good and really good served with rice because the sauce is so flavorful. I always double it because the leftovers taste just as good.

Click HERE for recipe

Shrimp Tacos

*Photo and recipe from closetcooking.com

This was the BEST shrimp taco I've ever had. Even better then one I had in San Diego which I LOVED. These are SO delish!! We loved this recipe & I will me making it over & over & over again.

Click HERE for recipe.

Bacon Wrapped Rosemary Chicken

2 Chicken breasts (I cut mine in half)

Bacon

2 T Fresh Rosemary, chopped (I have a plant in my garden)

2 garlic cloves, chopped

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

Balsamic Vinegar

 

in a shallow dish combine Olive Oil, garlic, and rosemary then add chicken to marinade for about 10 minutes.

Remove chicken and wrap with one or two pieces of bacon.

Season with salt & pepper.

Bake on baking sheet lined with foil for 40 minutes at 375*

When done serve with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

My husband and kids really liked this :)

Meatball Grilled Cheese

This is one of the best sandwiches my husband and I have EVER had!

My kids are picky so I just made them a regular grilled cheese.

Here is the recipe for this masterpiece

*photo & recipe from tastespotting.com*

White Chicken Chili

Photo and recipe from http://www.roomag.com/simple-and-healthy-white-chicken-chili/

 

Seriously this is the BEST chili & the fact that it's healthy too is pretty awesome.

Now the cherry on top is that my kids liked it too--sweet!

Honey Lime Enchiladas

These are SOOOOO good! They have the sweetest taste and are very filling. The chicken would even be good in tacos.

Click HERE for recipe

Beef with snow peas

*Photo from The Pioneer Woman

I made this last night....I did not have sherry so I substituted beef broth. It was delicious! The kids really liked it too.

Seriously the Pioneer Woman can do no wrong.

Click HERE for the recipe.

Vegetarian Lasagna

This is hands down one of the easiest and yummiest lasagnas I've ever made. I leave the pine nuts out and I use cottage cheese instead of ricotta.

*photo from bethenny.com

Click here for the recipe

Chicken chow mein

*photo from Light & Tasty

Kali and Kai LOVE chicken chow mein.

I found a recipe in a Light and Tasty cookbook and made it a little more kid friendly.

Chicken Chow Mein

1 box of spaghetti noodles, cooked

2 chicken breasts, cut in bite size pieces

1 large handful of sugar snap peas or snow peas

1 large handful of baby carrots, sliced diagonally in bite size pieces

1/4 sweet onion, chopped

2 T veg oil, divided

Sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 T brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon of sesame seed oil

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 T vinegar

Heat 1 T oil in wok or skillet on Med heat. Cook chicken, remove from pan and drain on paper towel. Add 1 T oil to pan and cook carrots & onions until easily pierced with fork and add peas. I do not like peas mushy so I only cook a few more minutes. Put chicken back in pan and mix sauce ingredients. Add sauce to pan and heat through. Turn heat off and add (drained) noodles to pan and toss & serve!

My very best lasagna!

I have been tweaking lasagna recipes for about 5 years now and I made my best yet this week. Mr. Becker said it was his favorite....and its great because it's is full of spinach, you don't even need a side salad.

So here you go:

1 box lasagna noodles

2 T Olive Oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 sweet onion, chopped

1 pack of sweet Italian sausage

1 28 oz (I think, whatever the biggest can is) of crushed tomatoes

2 T Italian seasoning

salt & pepper

3 cups fresh spinach leaves, chopped

4 cups grated mozzarella

Boil lasagna noddles with a pinch of salt in the water so they don't stick together.

While noodles are boiling add oil to skillet, cook garlic and onions for 1 minute.

Add sausage to pan, break it up and cook on Med heat. Cook until no longer pink, in fact I even like my a little crispy on the outside. Then add the tomatoes and boil for a few minutes, stirring often. Reduce to simmer and add seasoning and about 2 T of salt (taste and add more if needed) and a little pepper (about a teaspoon)

Add the chopped spinach leaves and turn off heat.

Now get a large pan and add a layer of noodles. (my kids and dog love the noodles so they each get one)

Spoon a layer of sauce over the noodles.

top with a large handful of motz (I LOVE motz)

repeat! End with a thick layer of cheese and sprinkle the top with a little Italian seasoning for a nice finish.

Cook at 350* for 25 minutes and enjoy!!

Grilled Sage Chicken

7 drumsticks

2 heaping tablespoons of sage
4 T olive oil
salt & pepper

In large plastic ziplock bag combine olive oil and sage. Add chicken drumsticks and toss....sprinkle with salt & pepper.

Grill until golden brown & enjoy!

Steak Tacos with Grilled Pineapple Salsa

Steak

Olive Oil

Paprika

Chili Powder

Ground Cumin

S & P

2 limes

1/2 Red onion, diced

cilantro, chopped (about 1/2 a bunch)

One whole pineapple

jalapeno

tortillas

I used to large top sirloin steaks & brushed both sides with olive oil & sprinkled with about 1/2 tsp of paprika, chili powder, cumin, salt & pepper. Squeeze juice of one lime on top of steaks & let marinate for at least 1 hour.

Cut fresh pineapple into four long pieces

Grill steak & pineapple

to make salsa cut pineapple into small bite sized pieces, add onion, cilantro and 1/2 of a jalapeno pepper diced & NO seeds, squeeze juice of one lime on salsa. Mix.

Thinly slice steaks and serve on tortilla with salsa on top--YUM!

*recipe adapted from Cat Cora

Tacos

1 lb ground beef

1 T veg oil

1/2 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 T chili powder

2 t ground cumin

1 T salt

1 12 oz can diced tomatoes & green chilis

1 can pinto beans, rinsed

Heat oil in skillet and cook onions until tender. Add beef & brown, add garlic cloves, chili, cumin, salt, tomatoes/chilis and pinto beans. Heat through and serve!

Chicken Gyros with Tzatziki

I have never had Greek food before so when I saw this recipe for Chicken Gyros I thought I would give it a try and I am SOOOO glad I did. I also made the homemade pitas rather than using store bought. And, instead of using the tzatziki recipe on the same website I made it the way my friend, Monika showed me.

Tzatziki

1/2 large cucumber or 1 whole small cucumber, peeled & grated into bowl

cover with 1 tsp. of salt (helps suck moisture out)

add 1 cup plain greek yogurt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 garlic clove minced or pressed

put in fridge at least 1/2 hour before serving

YUM!

It was so nice outside we had to eat al fresco!

and my kids LOVED it!

look at Kai chomp it up!

Kali brought out some blueberries & carrots to jazz hers up a bit.

Bean & turkey burger soup

1 lb ground turkey
1 can corn
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 can Rotele chilie & tomatoes
1 can pinto beans (drained)
1 can black beans (drained)
1 can ranch style beans
1 package taco seasoning
1 package ranch seasoning

Mix all together in crock pot or on stove and heat. Top with grated cheese and sour cream and serve with chips. I made this for our Halloween party and these was only a small amount left. Sooo good and sooo easy!

Tilapia fish tacos

This is a great recipe I made it last week & my husband has been asking for more every day since :) The orange salsa that tops it is delicious!

(click on word recipe)

*photo from CusinNie

Fresh Tomato Sausage Pasta with Garlic Bread

Fresh Tomato Sausage Pasta

8 oz penne pasta, cooked


8 oz sweet Italian sausage


2 t olive oil

1/2 cup sliced yellow onion

2 t minced garlic

5 tomatoes chopped (Roma)

1/2 cup cubed mozzarella

1/4 salt

1/8 pepper

torn basil leaves about 5 large leaves (NO dry basil)

Cook pasta, heat olive oil skillet over med heat. Remove sausage from casings, add to pan. Add onion cook until sausage is browned. Add garlic, cook 2 min. Stir in tomatoes, cook 2 min, remove from heat & stir in penne pasta (drained)add cheese, salt &pepper & basil. Toss & serve!

Garlic Bread

1/2 loaf french bred, sliced

4 T of melted butter

1 T chopped garlic

Heat oven to 375* -slice bread, add garlic to melted butter and pour over bread....making sure to get in between slices. Wrap in foil and cook 15 min until bread is warm through.

Grilled Chicken Paillard

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 lemon)

1 small shallot, chopped

1/4 Olive Oil

1/4 t ground black pepper

salt

4 chicken breasts pounded thinly

Whisk together first 4 ingredients in baking dish. Add chicken, coat & refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat grill to high. Remove chicken from marinade, add salt to both sides and grill until no longer pink in the middle.

Yum! My kids loved it & we ate every bite. I served it with a simple salad, cherries, and roasted potatoes (recipe to come)

Cheesy Corn Chowder

8 oz bacon, chopped & remove as much fat as you can

2 T olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

2 T unsalted butter

1/4 cup flour

1 T salt

1/2 t ground black pepper

6 cups of chicken broth

3 cups golden potatoes unpeeled and diced

4 cups FRESH corn kernals (about 5 ears)

1/2 c half & half

1/2 c skim milk

2 cups grated white cheddar cheese

In large pot over medium heat olive oil and add bacon, cook until crisp. Remove bacon and reserve. Add butter and onions cook until onions are translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken broth and potatoes bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes until potatoes are tender. Cut corn off cob and blanch them for 3 minutes in boiling salted water. Drain, and add to soup. Add half & half and mil and cheddar cheese. Cook for 5 more minutes until cheese is melted and add bacon. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Serve hot!

*I made this for dinner last night & we ate almost the entire pot. The kids loved it too!