Crab, ricotta and chive parcels

So we're finally back on track with the cooking/blogging. Over the past month I've done little else except make failed batches of macarons - although I did revisit some of the old favourites including Portuguese coffee tarts and roast pork with my mum visiting for a few weeks. I did finally conquer the macarons - well, sorta. I ended up with some great tasting macarons that stayed up (instead of being flat as a coin) using a recipe from Tartelette. (Shout to to Julie Mak for the heads up - she has an awesome food blog btw that you should all check out - http://idreaminchocolate.wordpress.com)

The only thing was - that my macarons still didn't have the little feet. :(


Anyone with any more suggestions??

Meanwhile, I of course, a long with the many MasterChef fans out there - have been eagerly following the launch of the pint-sized version, Junior MasterChef. I really have to say I am amazed at how mature and inspiring these kids are when it comes to cooking. You can really see the depth of their passion - and how disciplined and process driven one has to be to achieve.

I do hope that these kids remember that every now and then - it's just as important to get into a mud pie!!

One of the little darlings had a great idea for making ravioli in wonton wrappers. "I use the wonton wrappers so the skin gets crispy," she says. (I'm paraphrasing here - sorry). But it is a great idea - and really easy! I served these with some rice noodles, coriander and sprouts with a dressing of fish sauce, lime juice and rice wine vinegar

Crab, ricotta and chive parcels (in wonton wrappers)

Ingredients:

1 cup shredded crab meat (in a pinch I used tinned crab meat)

150 grams ricotta

1/4 cup chives, finely chopped

wonton wrappers

Method:

Preheat over to 180 degrees Celsius. Mix crab meat, ricotta and chives in a bowl. Put about a heaping teaspoon of filling in the centre of a wonton wrapper and gather up the corners, using a bit of water to seal.

Line the parcels up on a greased baking tray. Bake for about 20 minutes or until edges are just about crispy.

Chicken Enchilada Pasta

I stumbled across this gem of a recipe several months ago (my picture file says June) on a website called My Kitchen Cafe. I was frantically searching through my files trying to find a recipe to post. I stumbled across this one and can't believe I've neglected it before now! It's so super good. I was skeptical when I first read it because I thought, "Enchiladas and pasta? Together? Really?" But the combination is a perfect marriage of texture and flavor. It's just perfection.

This dish has the potential to be super spicy, depending on what kind of enchilada sauce you use. I use mild because I'm a wimp.....er, I mean, because my kids don't love spicy food. I made it once using medium enchilada sauce, and even that was a bit much for us. So if you're not big into spicy, make sure you use mild.

Ingredients:
2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed or shredded
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
4-ounce can diced green chilies
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
2 (10-oz) cans green chili enchilada sauce
2/3 cup red enchilada sauce
1 can large black olives, cut in half
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
16-20 oz. penne pasta

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and cook the pasta until tender. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet and cook the onion for 2-3 minutes, or until translucent. Add the garlic and red pepper and cook for another 2 minutes, until pepper is barely tender. Add the cooked chicken, green chilies, spices, enchilada sauces and olives. Let the sauce simmer for about 8-10 minutes. Add the sour cream and cheese and heat through, until the cheese is melted. Be careful not to boil the sauce, otherwise your dairy will curdle. Pour the sauce over the hot pasta. Garnish with extra sour cream, cheese, diced tomatoes, green onions, crushed tortilla chips, diced avocado, shredded lettuce, etc.

Have you ever tried something that originally sounded weird, but you ended up loving it?

Baked Spaghetti

This is another recipe I found on Full Bellies, Happy Kids. And oh. my. goodness. It was GOOD! Super good. I might need to get the cookbook she keeps referencing!

This is definitely not healthy food. But man alive, it is delish! It's totally worth the 5 hour workout you'll need after consumption to burn all those calories! ;-)

Ingredients:
6 slices bacon
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped bell pepper
3 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes with liquid
1 2.25-ounce can sliced ripe black olives, drained
1–2 tablespoons dried oregano, according to taste
1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
12 ounces thin spaghetti, cooked and drained
2 cups grated cheddar cheese (5 ounces)
1 10-ounce can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease a 9x13 baking dish.

In a large skillet, cook the bacon until slightly crisp, then chop into smaller pieces. Remove bacon from pan, then saute onion, garlic, and bell pepper in the bacon drippings until tender. Add the tomatoes, olives, oregano, bacon, and cooked ground beef. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.

Place half of prepared spaghetti in the prepared baking dish. Top spaghetti with half of the meat mixture, then sprinkle with 1 cup of cheese. Repeat layers.

Mix the canned soup and water until smooth, then pour evenly over the top of the spaghetti. Sprinkle the top with Parmesan.

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes, or until heated through.

Try not to eat it all in one sitting!

What's your favorite pasta recipe?

Homemade gnocchi with garganzola spinach sauce

Garganzola is an amazing cheese - succulent and packed with taste. We had some great homemade gnocchi at il baretto last week - again a great italian joint in Surry Hills. It came with a delightful garganzola sauce. In this version, I've spruced up the sauce with a bit of spinach for colour.

Ingredients:

1 kg potatoes, washed but not peeled
1 egg
250 mL flour plus more to flour surface
2 tbs grated parmesan
Pinch of salt

Sauce:
125 g garganzola cheese
1/2 cup milk
20 g butter
100 mL cream
100 g spinach, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

To make the gnocchi:
Place the potatoes in a saucepan with cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes until the potatoes are cooked. Insert a skewer to test.

Peel the potatoes and mash well - I used a stick blender. Combine with flour, egg and cheese and mix well.

Flour surface and lay out small amount of potato dough. Carefully roll in flour to create a 1.5 cm roll. Cut into 1 cm pieces and lay out on a baking sheet. Continue with the rest of the potato dough, then set aside. Put a saucepan with water on the range to boil while you make the sauce.

To make the sauce:
In a large frying pan, combine garganzola, milk and butter until creamy. Reduce heat and add cream and spinach and simmer for 5 minutes.

While the sauce is simmering and once the water boiling, you're ready to cook the gnocchi. I cooked it in small batches, adding about 10 pieces at a time. Scoop them out as soon as they start floating - think of it as rescuing survivors from a ship wreck (ok - maybe that's just me. =P)

Stir the gnocchi through the garganzola sauce and serve immediately.

Spaghetti a la Philly

First off, I'm sorry about the lack of posting (again with the lack of posting!). It's finals for me right now, and it's just been a bit crazy. One week left! Woo!

A few weeks ago, I told you about the hot corn dip I found from Full Bellies, Happy Kids. Well, since then, I have tried many of her recipes and have really enjoyed them all! Today's is also from her site. She said she originally found it from Love My Philly. I have yet to check out that site, but I'm going to. We always have cream cheese on hand, and I'd love to come up with new ways to use it!

So this recipe was super simple and tasty. It's a perfect quick weeknight meal. It really intrigued my kids that their spaghetti had cream cheese in it. My kids love spaghetti anyway, but this made it even more kid-friendly. Admittedly, my husband was very skeptical ("Cream cheese in spaghetti? Are you sure about that?"), but he even said it was yummy after we were finished.

Ingredients:
3/4 pound spaghetti
1 pound ground beef
1 jar spaghetti sauce
4 ounces cream cheese, cubed
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Cook noodles according to package directions. While noodles cook, brown ground beef in a saute pan; drain. Add spaghetti sauce and cream cheese, and cook until cream cheese is melted.

Drain spaghetti, and toss with sauce. Serve topped with Parmesan.

Rigatoni with Bacon and Asparagus

My husband randomly bought a bunch of asparagus a few days ago when he saw it on sale. I didn't have it on the menu for the week and wasn't sure what to do with it. Until I got my newest Healthy Cooking magazine, that is! This was yummy and came together in a flash.

Ingredients:
1 package (16 ounces) rigatoni or large tube pasta
1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and coarsely chopped
8 bacon strips
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2/3 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, saute asparagus in butter. Remove from pan. In the same pan, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. When bacon is done, put on paper towels to drain, then crumble. Saute garlic in the oil until fragrant. Stir in cream and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 3-4 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Stir in mozzarella. Drain pasta and add it to the sauce. Then add salt, asparagus and bacon. Sprinkle with Parmesan and parsley before serving.

Do you like asparagus?
Do your kids like asparagus?

Squid Ink Pasta with Oyster Mushrooms

One of the beauties of making pasta is that you really don't need to worry too much about proportions and measurements. By having a general understanding of cooking (ie knowing things like a pinch of garlic goes a long way) you can really just throw everything together however much you have!

I came across a book the other day, called "Relaxed Eating" - food from a bowl. Pasta is definitely one of those foods where you can feel good about indulging in a hearty serving straight from the bowl.

Here's our recipe for a delicious squid ink pasta dish (note the lack of measurements. Just throw it altogether):
Ingredients

Pre made Squid Ink Pasta (you can make your own if you're feeling daring!)
Semi dried tomatoes
Oyster mushrooms (cut into hearty chunks)
Anchovies (anchovies are strong so we just added about 1 small jar)
Minced Garlic
Chilli (Our first chilli harvested from our chilli plant!)
Olive oil (plenty of it)
Oregano - finely chopped
Method

Boil the pasta to cook and drain. In a medium sauce pan add the oil and garlic and chili and saute to release the flavours. Add mushrooms and semi dried tomatoes and saute for about 1-2 minutes to soften

Add pasta and stir through to combine well. Stir through the anchovies and oregano so that they break completely apart and the pasta is evenly coated. Serve in large bowls for a relaxed meal.

Duck Ragu

More duck delight!

I love being able to buy duck at most gourmet shops now and even Coles! I had to get Confit Duck legs from Premium Quality Meats in North Sydney, but I think the salt curing just gave the ragu and the duck more flavour. I heart duck no matter what, so I think any duck would have done.

This is another il barretto inspired dish – yum!

Ingredients:

2 duck legs

1 can whole peeled tomatoes

200 g porcini mushrooms (surprisingly I couldn’t find any, so I used oyster mushrooms instead)

½ cup chicken stock

½ cup red wine

1 onion, diced

1/3 cup cream

400 g fresh paperdelle pasta (enough for 2 people)

Method

Heat olive oil in a deep fry pan and sauté onions until flavours are released. Add duck and quickly brown the sides.

Add canned tomatoes, red wine, chicken stock and mushrooms. Let simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes to reduce the liquid.

Add cream and stir through. Let cook for an additional 15-20 minutes, during which you can prepare the pasta.

Stir through pasta in the sauce, coating well. Serve, garnished with parsley.

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

K, the more recipes I try from my new cookbook, the more I love it. It is so awesome! Seriously, go get a copy! Are you sick of me raving about it yet? Go get a copy and I'll stop! ;-)

A couple of days ago, I was so busy that my day flew by, and it was dinner time before I knew what was happening or had anything planned. I had the bare minimum in the fridge and pantry, so I scoured my cookbook to see what I could possibly make. I found this recipe and decided to give it a try. I saw a cooking show years ago (Rachael Ray, I think?) where the chef made this dish, but I've never tried it. It was so easy and really yummy! Perfect quick, weeknight supper!

A word about the cheese. Just buy a bag of the pre-shredded Parmesan blend, which has the Pecorino and Parmesan already. It'll save you a lot of time and money, rather than buying a block of each.

Ingredients:
3 large eggs
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup Pecorino Romano cheese
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 slices bacon, chopped
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken stock
salt and pepper
1 pound spaghetti

Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, cheeses and garlic together. Set aside. Then cook the bacon and olive oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium heat until the bacon is crisp, about 8 minutes. Add the wine (or chicken stock).

Simmer until it is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and cover.

Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water before draining the pasta. Toss the pasta with the bacon mixture and the cheese mixture. If needed, add additional pasta water to loosen the sauce before serving.

My kids inhaled this. My 4 year old literally had 4 helpings. Not kidding. Spaghetti and bacon? Yes, please!

What do you think of our new blinkie? Have you added one to your blog?
Let us know if you have!

Seafood Spaghetti with clam sauce - and how it all started

My boyfriend had recently taken me to a Surry Hills restaurant favourite, Il Baretto on Bourke Street where we were served an excellent dish of spaghetti and clams that was to die for (apparently called Spaghetti al vongole - thanks George!)

The next week, with $10 in my pocket, I trudged up to the local Coles thinking of how to scrounge up some decent ingredients for dinner – but all I could think about was that spectacular Il Baretto pasta. Clams of course, were not at Coles and would have cost too much if they were even there. But I did happen upon a tin of baby clams for $3.68. After some more considered thinking and smart buying, I went home and threw together a “gourmet inspired” seafood spaghetti with clam sauce.

And unlike at the restaurant, my boyfriend could help himself to seconds.

Seafood Spaghetti with clam sauce (inspired by Il Baretto’s that started it all)

Note: final ingredients and proportions are still being tried, but I would love your comments and feedback! Thanks

A Gourmet Inspired Tip: The clams in the original dish tasted amazing and fresh, but the perfectly cooked pasta stirred through what was a very simple sauce with the strong flavour of clams was what won me over.

The tin clams obviously don’t compare to the taste of fresh clams but they do manage to give the pasta that delicious clam flavour. To give the dish some substance and a “seafood feel”, basa fillets are cheap but they taste like nothing. A little bit of paprika married with the basa fish texture helps flush out the essence of the dish. Top with a couple of prawns if you feel like splurging. :)

Ingredients

- 250grams spaghetti
- 1/2 brown onion, finely sliced
- 1/2 red capsicum, finely sliced
- 1 basa fillets, cut into chunks
- 2 tbs paprika
- 1 tin baby clams
- Parsley to taste, finely chopped
- 3 tbs olive oil
- ½ cup white wine (cheap chardonnay works fine)
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 5 cooked peeled Tiger prawns (optional)

Method

- Follow instructions to cook pasta. Try and get it as “al dente” as possible, do not overcook.\
- Add the paprika and basa chunks into a small baggie and shake to lightly dust fish with paprika
- In a non stick pan, lightly fry the pieces of fish until they are slightly charred on the outside and almost cooked through. Remove from heat.
- In a sauce pan over medium heat, add the olive oil garlic and fry until garlic brown on the edges. Add onions and capsicum, cook until onions become translucent. Add baby clams and white wine. Turn down heat, cover and let simmer for 5-10 minutes. Use the clam tin to add water if the liquid level gets low.
- Add cooked pasta and parsley and stir through, cooking it for another 1-2 minutes to ensure eveness of temperature. Remove from heat. Add the cooked basa chunks and tiger prawns if desired, cover and let sit for 1-2 minutes before serving.

HINT: Oil and salt in the water before it boils will help keep your pasta from sticking. (Thanks Kez!)

Thoughts? Comments? Am I completely insane? All feedback much appreciated thanks! x

Pasta Salad

This is similar to the Italian Pasta Salad recipe I posted a while ago. It's just more Americanized, and I think it's more kid-friendly. And it uses fewer, cheaper ingredients. It's great to take to a BBQ or a potluck because it doesn't have any mayo in it. I make a big batch and eat it all week for lunch. It makes a great side dish for burgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken, sandwiches, even steak. You could even throw in some leftover diced up chicken to make it a meal-in-one.

You can throw lots of things into this to change it up -- peas, bell pepper, green onions, red onion. It's a great way to use up lots of leftover things in your fridge.

Ingredients:
16 ounces tri-colored rotini
3/4 cup olives, chopped
1 cup sharp cheddar, cubed
2 tomatoes, diced
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
1/2 bottle Italian dressing
Grated Parmesan

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain. Put into a large bowl and cool completely (or you can do an ice bath if you're in a hurry). You really need the noodles thoroughly cooled, otherwise your cheese will melt.

When noodles are cool, add cheese cubes, olives, parsley and tomatoes. Stir until well combined. Then add Italian dressing, to taste. You might not need the full half bottle -- you don't want it runny, but you do want enough to make the noodles wet and give flavor. **Side Note: If you make this ahead and store in the fridge, the noodles will absorb most, if not all, of the dressing. So make sure you have extra on hand to re-wet the pasta.**

Before serving, sprinkle with Parmesan.

Is there anybody out there?
Leave us some comments!
It's no fun talking to ourselves all the time! ;)

Lasagna

I'm back! Did ya miss me? ;) Like April said, we bought our first house 2.5 weeks ago, and things have been a bit crazy since then! But we're officially unpacked now, and once our %*&!@ couch finally arrives at the furniture store for us to pick up (it was supposed to be in on Saturday, but no), we'll be good to go.

I've had tons of fun in my new kitchen already. The inspiration for this recipe (I only changed a few things) was another one I found out of a cooking magazine I got recently, and it's extremely delicious. I made it for dinner one night, then we ate it for dinner again the next night, and I'm eating more leftovers for lunch today. My kids normally love lasagna at restaurants, but of course when *I* spend an hour slaving away in a hot kitchen to make them a fantastic lasagna from scratch, not one of them will touch it. Punks.

Making lasagna isn't quick. It's not difficult, by any means, but it's a process. It took me a good hour to do. But it's so worth it! It's definitely one of my ultimate comfort foods.

Ingredients:
9 uncooked lasagna noodles
12 ounces ground beef
1/2 pound bulk hot sausage
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 onion, diced
1 6 ounce can tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons parsley
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 15 ounce container ricotta
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups mozzarella, shredded
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, cook sausage, beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Drain any excess fat. When meat is done, add tomatoes, tomato paste, water, sugar, basil and pepper. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a small bowl, combine egg, ricotta, parsley and salt.

Drain noodles. Spread 1 cup meat sauce in the bottom of a greased (I used butter, but you can use cooking spray if you want) 9x13 baking dish. Top with 3 noodles, then 2 cups meat sauce, 2/3 cup ricotta mixture, 2/3 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Repeat twice. (The ricotta won't spread extremely well without messing up the layer of meat sauce you already have down. So what I did is just "dot" the ricotta around evenly with my fingers, if that makes sense.)

Sprinkle any extra parsley on the very top.

Then cover and bake at 375 for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 minutes longer, or until the cheese gets a little golden brown tint to it. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

I was tiiiiiired after standing in the kitchen for that long, so I served mine simply with some frozen Texas cheese toast. But if you're really motivated, serve it with these breadsticks and a green salad!

What's your favorite comfort food?

Garlic Chicken Spaghetti

Yet another shout out to my awesome cooking magazines! I'm not sure I'll ever have time to go back to my cookbooks if I keep finding yummy recipes like this. My husband said this was "amazing", and my kids all ate it up. My 7 year old picked at it a bit, but she's going through a doesn't-like-anything-but-chicken-nuggets phase, so we'll just pretend she thanked me profusely and asked for another plate. :)

This one was pretty easy and is pretty versatile. You could take out the chicken for a meatless meal. You can use any tomatoes you have on hand -- I used stewed tomatoes that I diced up, but you could use reconstituted sun-dried tomatoes, canned diced tomatoes or even fresh tomatoes. You could substitute 1/2 cup white wine for the broth (so use 1/4 cup chicken broth and 1/2 cup wine).

Ingredients:
1 pound spaghetti
1/2 cup tomatoes
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 pound chicken, cubed (I used 3 breasts, which was the perfect amount)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 ounces mushrooms, sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup parsley, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup Parmesan, grated

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. While spaghetti cooks, place flour and garlic salt in a large bag, add chicken and shake to coat. Saute chicken in 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet until browned.

Remove chicken from pan. Saute mushrooms and garlic in remaining olive oil until tender.

Add broth, parsley, basil, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes. Stir in chicken and tomatoes. Add spaghetti and toss to coat evenly. Top with cheese before serving.

Do you like sun-dried tomatoes?

Zucchini Pasta

While I'm on a low-fat kick, I might as well share another delicious, low-fat recipe. Again, this came from one of my magazines. I thought it was a really great, easy, meatless meal. My kids even gobbled it up. I've grown a new appreciation for cooking with plain yogurt. It really does make things very creamy without adding tons of extra fat and calories. And, really, you can't tell a difference -- I told my 7 year old it was Fettuccini Alfredo, and she totally bought it! :)

I did change a few things to this one. First of all, I used less zucchini. The original recipe calls for 4 cups of zucchini, which I thought would be too much. My kids scoff at anything even remotely healthy-looking, so I have to disguise it a bit better than 4 cups worth. I used about 2.5 cups, which was perfect. Another thing I changed was I used regular sharp cheddar. I don't really care for the taste of low-fat cheddar cheese.

Also, the sliced garlic may freak you out a bit, but biting into them in this dish is amazing. It really gives a perfectly glorious punch of flavor in your mouth. I don't think the dish would be the same with minced garlic, but you can certainly do it that way if sliced isn't your thing.

Ingredients:
8 ounces uncooked linguine
2-3 cups coarsely shredded zucchini (about 3 medium)
4 teaspoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fat-free plain yogurt
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Cook linguine according to package directions. Shred your zucchini, then remove excess moisture (squeeze in a kitchen towel, like you would with spinach, or just put it in a colander and press down). Pat dry.

In a large, non-stick skillet, saute zucchini in oil for 2 minutes. Add garlic, and saute for 1-2 minutes longer, or until zucchini is tender.

Transfer to a large bowl. Add yogurt, cheese, salt and pepper. Drain linguine and add to zucchini mixture. Toss to coat and serve.

Do you use fresh garlic much?
Or are you more of a garlic powder/salt person?

Italian Cream Cheese Chicken

I got this recipe probably about 2-3 years ago from an online forum called Cooking For Your Family. It is so yummy! It's so creamy and delicious. I just love recipes that have very few ingredients but can still turn out so tasty. Add to that the fact that it's also a crock pot recipe, and you've got yourself a serious winner!

Now, I've mentioned before that I really prefer chicken thighs to breasts. However, this recipe is one of the few times where I actually prefer chicken breasts. So definitely use breasts for this one.

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
6 ounces cream cheese, brought to room temperature and cubed
1 package dry Italian seasoning

Put your chicken breasts in your crock pot. Mix soup and Italian seasoning and pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3 hours. Add your cubed cream cheese. I just scatter the pieces over the top of everything, put the lid back on and then let it cook and get really soft for another hour.

After that hour is up, remove chicken from crock pot and shred. Then whisk the cream cheese into the sauce. Return chicken to crock pot and mix well to combine. Then serve over noodles. You could also serve over rice, but I like it over noodles best.

Skillet Spaghetti

This is another of my mom's recipes. She makes it all the time and it's so good. Isn't it funny how everything tastes better when your mom makes it :P This recipe is very easy and very versatile. It is also great for sneaking in extra veggies when certain people *ahem, my husband* don't like them. I've put in carrots, fresh tomatoes, zucchini, etc. The possibilities are endless as long as you disguise it well :)

Skillet Spaghetti

1 lb ground beef
2 tsp chili powder
1 ½ tsp. oregano
1 tsp garlic salt
2 cloves chopped/minced garlic
1 small can tomato paste
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 ½ c. water
2 cans tomato juice or V8 (again, more veggies)
2 T minced onion
7 oz uncooked spaghetti


Brown ground beef.



Stir in chili powder, oregano, sugar, salt, garlic salt, garlic.

Blend in tomato paste.



Stir in tomato juice, onion and water.
Bring to boiling.



Carefully add spaghetti, (one of these scales is great to measure the amount of spaghetti you need)
Stir to separate strands.
Cover and simmer; stirring frequently for 30 min.



Serve with Parmesan cheese.
Enjoy!!

Italian Pasta Salad

I have a few different versions of pasta salad that I like to make. Pasta salad is so easy and so versatile. It's a very easy way to use up ingredients from your fridge. You can throw in anything you want really - leftover diced chicken, artichoke hearts, bell peppers, green onions, diced red or yellow onion, tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, anything. This isn't so much a recipe as it is a method.

Ingredients:
16 ounces of tri-colored rotini
2 avocados, diced
1 cup cheese (I used mozzarella, but I don't think it had enough sharpness to it, so next time I think I'll try feta. If you do use feta, please don't use an entire cup of it! :) )
2 tomatoes, diced (or you can use a can of petite diced tomatoes)
olives (either 3/4 can of whole pitted olives that you cut in half or 2 small cans of the pre-chopped kind)
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/2 bottle of Italian dressing
salt and pepper, to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions. Run cold water over pasta to cool it off. Or, if you're in a hurry, fill a large bowl with water and ice and submerge your colander into the ice bath. Combine cooled pasta, Italian dressing, cheeses, olives and tomatoes in a large bowl until well combined. Taste for seasonings, adding salt and pepper, if needed. Gently fold in avocado. Chill for about an hour before serving.

Alfredo Sauce

Who doesn't love alfredo? Is there anyone out there? I certainly hope not. It's one of my very favorite meals and is pretty much the epitome of comfort food. Pasta smothered in a cheese sauce that is oh-so-bad-for-your-arteries. It's everything I love all in one dish! :)

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter (NOT margarine)
2 tablespoons flour
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 ounces freshly shredded Parmesan (sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on the brand of cheese and how sharp the taste is)
2 cups heavy cream (if you're in a pinch, you can use whole milk)
extra shredded Parmesan

Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Saute garlic until you can smell it, about a minute or two. Whisk in flour, stirring constantly for about a minute (HERE is a refresher on the basics of a roux). Whisk in heavy cream. Stir frequently until sauce is thickened and sticks to the back of a wooden spoon.

When sauce is thickened, stir in cheese. Serve over your favorite pasta (pasta pictured below is homemade and will be posted sometime soon!). Or use it to dip veggies or breadsticks in. Or you can use it as a fondue for all kinds of things. If you're using it for pasta, top with the extra shredded Parmesan. Because you can never have enough cheese.