Lemon-Butter Chicken Meatballs with Tomatoes over Angel hair

Thought of doing something completely different, and although the original intention was something lower-fat… the sauce became a nice butter reduction… I had something in mind, and then at the grocery store saw Roma tomatoes in PERFECT ripeness (surprisingly around this time of year too…) so I started changing things as I went.

Ingredients

Chicken Meatballs:

• 1LB ground chicken
• ~1cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• ~1cup Parmesan-Romano blend
• 1 egg
• Italian Seasoning
• Crushed red pepper
• salt-n-pep

Lemon-Butter Sauce:

• 1/2 stick butter
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 3-4 cups chicken broth
• 2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 Roma tomatoes, cubed
• handful fresh basil
• 1/2LB Shrimp -  Uncooked, de-veined and tails removed
• 1LB pasta (any long noodle)

Directions:

1. Heat a large saute pan, on Med-Low, Add butter and chicken broth. Once Butter-Broth mixture is melted, add garlic and bring to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, mix all meatball ingredients and roll into golf ball sized meatballs, Fry in another large saucepan on High heat with Oil. Char the outsides and cook about 75% through, then drop into boiled Sauce mixture.
   • Can also Bake the meatballs at 350F for 15-20mins, but do this ahead of time.
3. Let the meatballs finish cooking in the sauce mixture while you cut-up and add the tomatoes and basil. Let cook together an additional 5-8mins.
4. Add uncooked shrimp and juice from 1 lemon (I like to throw the halves in there as well to get some more flavor) Cook until shrimp is done, ~5 mins
5. Serve over pasta, and enjoy!!

Fettuccine Shrimp & Chicken Alfredo

I made this for a Holiday party to feed 16 girls. It’s definitely a splurge because of the amount of BUTTER in it, but it’s soooo creamy & delicious you just cannot RESIST!!

For some extra holiday flair, I died the noodles while they were boiling. All you do is add some drops of food coloring to the water when you throw in the pasta, and VOILA!!! Adds a nice extra touch and is super easy. For the red and green intensity, I added about 10 drops/pound of pasta.

This might become an addiction… Blue pasta HERE I COME!!

This recipe makes a LOTTT so adjust your quantities as needed.

Ingredients:

• 2LB Fettuccine Noodles
• 1LB Shrimp (uncooked, peeled and deveined, 41-50 count/lb)
• 1/2 LB Chicken (uncooked, tenders or breasts, cubed)
• 4oz Milk
• 1 Qt heavy Cream
• 8oz Butter
• +2 TB Flour
• 12-14oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese, Romano, Fontina blend (ratio is totally flexible)
• 2 TB minced garlic
• salt-n-pep to taste

Directions:

1. On medium heat, melt down butter and garlic, add flour. Make sure the garlic doesn’t burn!
2. Whisk in the heavy cream and milk until hot.
3. Slowly add the freshly grated cheese and stir around (I used my whisk to help stir). Add some salt-n-pep and turn heat down to low. Continue to stir to make sure everything melds together.
4. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, start cooking the chicken with a little garlic, salt-n-pep and some olive oil.
5. When chicken is about half cooked (still has pink in the center) Add the shrimp.
6. Keep moving this around and add a ladle of the sauce to it.
7. Once your sauce is consistent and has reach your desired thickness, you can either serve individually with adding the sauce and shrimp mix separately, or toss some the sauce with the pasta and add the shrimp and chicken.
8. There will be more sauce than pasta, so don’t mix it all in together at once!
9. ENJOY!!!

Spinach Lasagna Roll-ups

This dish was SOOOO fun and really enjoyable to make. It’s super easy and I think this is a great base, so it can easily be doctored up a bit!

I like how it’s a ‘stuffed’ theme, but not the extent of work that stuffed shells requires. I’m already crafting my next dish as we speak….

It did get a little tight in the kitchen with the counter space needed for the noodles to lie-out/cool down… I have a few stools for the eating area that I used as little tables haha. But I can’t complain because my Condo is the most counter space I’ve EVER had (and bless the Lord for the garbage disposal…)

Ingredients:

• 1LB lasagna noodles (stay away from the ‘no boil versions’)
• 15-23oz Ricotta
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 1 egg
• 12oz fresh spinach
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1-2tsp crushed red pepper
• salt-n-pep t.t.
• 24oz marinara sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Cook lasagna noodles till al dente, prep your counter area with wax/parchment paper and cooking spray. When noodles are done, drain and lay flat, make sure none of the noodles overlap (they’ll stick like crazy!)
3. Saute the spinach and garlic with olive oil over Med. heat, add salt-n-pep.
4. Meanwhile, mix the ricotta, egg, parm, crushed red pep and more salt-n-pep to taste.
5. The spinach will be ready when it’s wilted, yet still bright green in color (once it starts darkening too much it’s been overcooked) pull the spinach out, and strain slightly if there is a lot of oil on it. Then mix it in with the ricotta blend.
6. Prepare a casserole dish/pan with 4-6oz of sauce spread evenly on the bottom.
7. Now’s the FUN part!! Scoop a few spoonfuls of ricotta mixture onto the lasagna noodles and spread to cover from edge to edge. (Make sure you don’t put a TON on, it’ll start to ooze out the sides!) then roll up the noodle and place seam down in the casserole dish. repeat.repeat.repeat….
8. Pour remaining sauce over noodles, sprinkle the mozz over top, cover the dish with aluminum foil and back ~30 mins.
9. In the last 5 mins of baking, you can remove the foil to make some of the edges crispy.
10. Buon Appetito!!

Peanut Butter Brownie Bomb

Thank you for helping me come up with a name for this dense, fudgey and irresistible brownie!!

This is a brownie recipe from scratch, with a Peanut Butter-Cream cheese THICK topping with goodies thrown in… like you need anything more, but still!

Couple things to note… this is ‘wet’ and rich… not for ‘cake-like’ brownie lovers… AND it’s not for anyone that’s trying to be on a New Year’s Diet… (SORRY!) everything is fine in moderation!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 bag Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips
• 1/2 cup creamy Peanut Butter
• 4oz Softened cream cheese
• 1/4 – 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• Glazed Pecans (Emerald Pecan Pie Glazed Pecan’s)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 inch square pan.
2. In a large bowl, melt 1/2 cup butter. Blend in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
3. Then Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Fold in PB Chips and spread into the prepared pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. Do not overcook.
5. In the meantime, Beat PB, Cream cheese and powdered sugar (it won’t be super smooth, don’t worry)
6. Spread over top brownies when they slightly cool (~10 mins) out of oven. Top with glazed Pecans
7. You will need Milk!! Enjoy!!

Overnight Blueberry French Toast

Merry Christmas!!!

This was sooo incredibly delicious and flavorful! Definitely would be awesome as a bread dessert as well!

We were especially blessed (and spoiled!) this year with gifts, but the best of all was having our little Bobby with us! My nephew was in great spirits with his smiles, laughs and baby talk

Mom, Dad, Toree, myself and Bobby went on a nice long walk along the shore of the lake. The weather was PERFECT, and the lil one definitely enjoyed the fresh air!

Ingredients:

• 2 slices day-old bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 12 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup maple syrup

Next Morning Topping:

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions:

1. Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish. Arrange half the bread cubes in the dish, and top with cream cheese cubes. Sprinkle 1 cup blueberries over the cream cheese, and top with remaining bread cubes.
2. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and syrup. Pour over the bread cubes. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.
3. In the morning, remove the bread cube mixture from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
4. Cover, and bake 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking 25 to 30 minutes, until center is firm and surface is lightly browned.
5. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, mix the sugar, and water. Bring to a boil. Stirring constantly, cook 3 to 4 minutes. Mix in the remaining 1 cup blueberries. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, until the blueberries burst. Then pour over the baked French toast –> (We did this individually on our plates)

 

Western Omelet – Slow Cooker

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

I helped Mom make 2 dishes for Brunch, both were SO easy and so delicious! We prepared them last night so we could just turn on the crock in the morning, and throw the other one in the oven. We didn’t want anything taking us away from the morning festivities!!

Ingredients:

• 1LB frozen shredded hash browns
• 1LB hot sausage
• 1 onion – chopped
• 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 12 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• salt-n-pep to taste

Directions:

1. In a medium frying pan, cook crumbled sausage and onion. Set aside.
2. Lightly grease a 4 quart or larger slow cooker. Place 1/3 of the hash brown potatoes in a layer on the bottom. Layer 1/3 of the sausage/onion mix then Cheddar cheese. Repeat layers two more times.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and milk, and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the contents of the slow cooker.
4. Cover, and cook on Low for 7 hours.

Note: May have to use a turkey baster to remove the cheese juices/sweat on top before serving.