Pasta Goodness!

My boss gave me a recipe last week that she had made over the weekend and said that is was phenomenal. She had brought in leftovers for us on Monday, but unfortunately I was sick with the flu, so I didn't get to try any of it. I'm so glad that she shared the recipe with me though. :)

I finally got around to making it last night, and it was AMAZING!!!!! I didn't have one of the ingredients, but I substituted and I will tell you what I did as well.

SMOKEHOUSE BACON ZITI

INGREDIENTS:
1 Lb. Ziti; cooked el dente
6 Slices of Bacon (I used the precooked in the box, and used the whole box)
8-10 Oz. Fresh Mushrooms; cleaned and sliced (I bought already sliced mushrooms)
3 Cloves Garlic; minced (I had minced in my fridge and used about 1/2 tsp. of that)
1-2 C. Fresh Baby Spinach (I used a little more)
3 Tbs. Butter
3 Tbs. Olive Oil
2 C. Heavy Whipping Cream
1 C. Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 C. Mozzarella Cheese
1 tsp. Smoky Paprika (I couldn't find this, so you could use regular Paprika. I used a Smoky BBQ Rub from Pampered Chef)
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper

Cook Pasta according to package directions. Cook the Bacon in a large skillet. Remove. (If you buy the pre-cooked you can skip this step.) In the large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp. Oil over medium heat. Cook Mushrooms until tender. When Mushrooms are just about done, add in the Garlic and cook for 1 minute. Remove the Garlic and Mushrooms from the pan and set aside. Melt 3 Tbs. Butter in the skillet. When melted, add in 2 Tbs. Oil. Whisk in Heavy Whipping Cream and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently. Stir in the Parmesan Cheese and simmer for 8-10 minutes, making sure to stir frequently. After 8-10 minutes, the sauce will start to thicken. Reduce to low. Add in Mozzarella Cheese, Smokey Paprika, and Black Pepper. Stir in Bacon, Fresh Spinach, then add in the Cooked Mushrooms and Garlic. Stir in the cooked Pasta and serve immediately with additional Parmesan Cheese.

I also made up some Garlic Knots, and they were so good with this! This recipe will make a lot of food. I am planning on taking a large dish to my Mom and Bro at their house tonight for their dinner. It's date night for me, so I get to have dinner out with my guy! :) I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend. Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think!

Another Great Christmas Cookie

I was able to whip these up in about 20 minutes or so, and get them chilling in the fridge. The thing that takes the longest is melting the chocolate for dipping and letting them harden back up in the fridge again. Other than that, easy-peasy! :)

PEANUT BUTTER BALLS

INGREDIENTS:
2 C. Creamy Peanut Butter
3 C. Rice Krispies
3 C. Powdered Sugar
1/4 C. Butter; melted
3 Pkgs. Chocolate Chips; melted

Mix together all except the Chocolate Chips. Shape into balls and refrigerate to firm up. Melt Chocolate and dip each ball. Place on wax paper covered cookie sheets in the fridge to harden chocolate. Store in airtight container in the fridge. (I also have these in my freezer right now.)

I'm looking forward to breaking out all of the treats and making cookie platters this year. I have a few more items left to bake, as I do so I will post the recipes!

A Girl & Her Kitchen!

It's that time of year again. The time when I start to bake for Christmas! I LOVE this time of year, but each time I start on a new task I have to ask myself why I love it so much! I love to see all of the lights and trees, I love to shop for my loved ones, and I love to bake. I often give away a lot of baked goods as presents, and this year will be no different.

Almost all of my Christmas shopping is done and wrapped beneath my glowing Christmas Tree! I admire them all each night when I'm in my living room. There's something about the magic and wonder of Christmas. I love the Christmas story about Christ's birth, and I especially LOVE the wonderment in my 4-year-old Sunday Schools kiddos eyes when we talked about this yesterday!

This weekend I spent Saturday baking and making Rock Candy. Ten different flavors of Rock Candy to be exact! And WOW was that very time consuming, but of so worth the rewards. I also made my Mom and Bro dinner on Saturday night, which turned out very good. I will share that recipe in my next post.

In this post I am going to share my recipe for the Cookie Dough Truffles I made. :)

COOKIE DOUGH TRUFFLES

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 C. Butter; softened
3/4 C. Brown Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 C. Flour
1 (14 oz.) Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 C. Mini Chocolate Chips (I probably used closer to 1 C.)
1 1/2 lbs. Chocolate Bark; melted

In a large bowl, cream Butter & Brown Sugar until creamy. Add Vanilla. Gradually beat in Flour & add Sweetened Condensed Milk. Add Chocolate Chips; mix well. Shape into 1-inch balls and place on waxed paper covered cookie sheets. Chill for 2 hours. Melt Chocolate Bark in Double Boiler and dip Cookie Balls. Place back on cookie sheets and chill until set. Store in fridge. (I have mine in the freezer. They freeze very well.)

These are a favorite of mine, and are so easy to make.

A Sweet Meal

Have I mentioned lately how much I adore my Crockpot? Well, I do. It's a wonderful invention. Made even more wonderful by the fact that I was able to just throw all the ingredients in yesterday before I left for work and when I came home, with minimal fuss, supper was on the table! It's a beautiful thing really.

This pork was sweet, and something different. I'm used to a more BBQ flavor, but this was a good change. I hope that you will like it as well.

CROCKPOT PULLED PORK SANDWICHES

INGREDIENTS:
4 Lbs. Boneless Pork Ribs
1 Bottle BBQ Sauce
1 tsp. Dry Mustard
1 tsp. Garlic Powder 
1 C. Brown Sugar

Pour 1/2 of the BBQ Sauce in the bottom of the crock. Add all of the Pork Ribs. Add seasoning and Brown Sugar. Mix to cover the Ribs. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours. Shred with a fork and add remaining 1/2 of the BBQ Sauce.

I served this on buns with cheese. But it really could be eaten plain as well. It was delicious!

Yummy In The Tummy!

I made this casserole this weekend and it was a winner! Thanks again to Pinterest for giving me so many wonderful new ideas to try. I have so many more to make this week and I'm excited to try them!

UNFORGETTABLE CHICKEN CASSEROLE

INGREDIENTS:

3 C. Chicken; cooked & cubed
1 (10.75 oz.) Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 C. Sour Cream
1 C. Mayo
3/4 C. Celery; diced
1 Small Can Diced Water Chestnuts
1/2 C. Slivered Almonds
8 Oz. Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 Can French Fried Onions

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl combine the Chicken, Soup, Sour Cream, Mayo, Celery, Water Chestnuts, Almonds and the Cheese. Stir together. Pour into the baking dish and bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with the French Fried Onions, return to the oven for 5 more minutes.

So easy, and oh so tasty!

Baked Yumminess

My boss and I at work go back and forth with recipes, sometimes on a daily basis! She'll give me a stack and I'll give her a stack and then we let eachother know what we thought after we've tried them. She gave me the recipe that I used to make supper with last night. Although, as per my usual, I added a few more items to it, to kind of make it my own and add a few more flavors. It turned out great and my family LOVED it. Definitely an easy one, and one to make again.

OVEN BAKED CHIMICHANGAS

INGREDIENTS:
8 oz. Cream Cheese; softened
8 oz. Cheddar Jack Shredded Cheese
1 1/2 Tbsp. Taco Seasoning
1 Lb. Shredded Chicken (I used 2 Large Chicken Breasts that I had cooked for an hour in the oven)
8 Flour Tortillas
Sour Cream
Salsa
What I added:
1 Lg. Can Mushrooms
1/2 Lg. Green Pepper
1/3 Onion; chopped

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a 9x13 pan with Cooking Spray. In a large bowl combine the Cream Cheese, Shredded Cheese and Taco Seasoning. Add the Chicken, Mushrooms, Green Pepper and Onion. Stir to combine. Spoon generous amounts into the Tortillas. Roll up Tortillas; tucking in the sides and place in baking dish. Spray the tops of Tortillas with Cooking Spray. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove and flip over Chimi's and bake for an additional 15 minutes. (I only baked them for 15 minutes and didn't flip them and they turned out great)

This is also one that you could 1/2 the recipe and it would make plenty. Or if you made the whole thing and froze some of them before baking, I'm sure that they would turn out great as well!

Give them a try! I would love to know what you think of them.

A Mexican Dish To Please

This recipe comes from Live Better America. It was quite good...The bro liked it, but requested that I add the Green Chiles that I omitted the next time I make this! :)

HEALTHY CHICKEN TORTILLA CASSEROLE

INGREDIENTS:
1 Can (10 3/4 oz.) Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can (4.5 oz.) Green Chiles
1 (8 oz.) Sour Cream
1/2 C. Milk
1 1/2 tsp. Chili Powder
1/2 tsp. Cumin
2 1/2 C. Shredded, Cooked, Chicken Breast
8 Yellow Corn Tortillas, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 Green Pepper, chopped
1 Large Tomato; chopped
1 1/2 C. Shredded Taco Cheese

Heat oven to 350. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix Soup, Chiles, Sour Cream, Milk, Chili Powder and Cumin until blended. Stir in the Chicken, Tortillas, Green Pepper. Stir in the Tomatoes and 1 C. of the Cheese. Spoon and spread into pan. Cover with Foil and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with remaining Cheese and bake for an additional 5 minutes.

If my Chili Powder would have been a little more fresh I think that this would've had a ton more flavor. I do, however, plan on making this again!!! This would even be a good one to make and freeze.

What can you do in an hour?

I know what I can do! Make homemade Cinnamon Rolls! One of my friends had pinned this recipe on Pinterest yesterday, and when I saw it I knew that I had to try them since we were going to be having Chili for supper last night! :) She was a little skeptical of Cinnamon Rolls that only took an hour to make. Well, I'm here to tell you that they turned out great and seriously, they only did take an hour to make!

1-HOUR CINNAMON ROLLS

INGREDIENTS:

Mix and let sit for 15 minutes:

3 1/2 c. warm water

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. oil

6 T. yeast (4 1/2 Saf-Instant)

Then add:

1 T. salt

3 eggs

10 1/2 c. flour

Mix together for 10 minutes, then sit for 10 minutes. Oil cupboard, dump out dough. Divide in half. Roll one half out into rectangle. Spread with ¼ c. melted butter and then with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Roll up tight, but not too tight. Divide into 12 rolls and place on greased cookie sheet. Repeat with other half of dough. Let rise. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 400.

Cinnamon-Sugar

1c. sugar

1 T. cinnamon

 

Frosting

1 cube butter

2 dashes salt

2 t. vanilla

6 c. powdered sugar

milk

***NOTE*** I halved this recipe so that it would only make 12 rolls. Otherwise it will make 24.

The bro really enjoyed them, and I put some away in the freezer for another day! 

A Meal Worth A Million Dollars!

What? It's what the recipe said...Million Dollar Spaghetti! I may not pay a million dollars for it, but it sure was delicious, and not to mention easy to prepare! :) I love recipes that don't take much effort, but taste as if they did! :) Makes me happy!

This was a HUGE success, and one that I will definitely make again...next time for my family to see what they think. It's definitely a new twist on the same old, same old spaghetti you are used to. If you are looking for something different with some new flavors, then you MUST put this on your recipe list! The recipe also says that you can put together all of the steps; up to the baking part and place in the freezer and pull it out when you're ready to bake it, and it will still taste just as good.

This would be the perfect meal to take to a family who just had a new baby, death in the family, illness, etc.

MILLION DOLLAR SPAGHETTI

INGREDIENTS:
1 Stick of Butter; sliced
1 Lb. Spaghetti Noodles; cooked el dente
1 Jar Spaghetti Sauce
1 Lb. Ground Beef; browned and drained
8 oz. Cream Cheese; softened
8 oz. Sour Cream
1/2 Lb. Cottage Cheese (I used 1/2 of the 1 Lb. small curd)
1 Pkg. (2 C.) Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Boil the Noodles and brown the Ground Beef. Pour the Spaghetti Sauce over the Beef in the pan and mix together. Place half of the Butter slices in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. With a mixer, mix together the Sour Cream, Cream Cheese, and Cottage Cheese; until well mixed. Top the Butter with half of the Spaghetti Noodles. Pour all of the Cream Cheese mixture over the Noodles and spread. Top with remaining half of Noodles. Place rest of Butter slices on top of Noodles. Pour the Ground Beef Mixture over the top and spread. Place in the oven for 30 minutes. Pull out of of the oven and top with 2 C. Shredded Cheddar Cheese. Place back in the oven for 15 minutes; or until the Cheese is melted. Enjoy! 

I served this with Garlic Toast; just as I would regular ol' spaghetti. It was a HUGE hit here, for which I am happy. I never want someone to not like what I've made for them. The only change that I might make is to use a little more Spaghetti Sauce, but I like mine saucy...if you don't, then I would follow this recipe to a T! Give it a try, I would love to know what you think of it.

Once again, Thanks Pinterest! :)

A Well Stocked Freezer!

Today I went to a local Farmer's Market and got an AWESOME deal on sweet corn! I decided to load up and use a recipe from my Aunt B. to make freezer corn. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE frozen sweet corn, and thought what better way to stock my freezer for winter than this? I have watched my Mom do this in the past and thought that it was a lot of work....You know, having to shuck all the corn, remove all the silks, then precariously use a VERY sharp knife to kernel the corn. Turns out it was easier than I thought! Especially with the Corn Kerneler from Pampered Chef that I have! This handy-dandy little tool is MAGIC I tell ya...It literally took 2 seconds to get all of the corn off the cob and into the pan. I'm LOVING it! Needless to say, I have more corn than I do freezer room so I'm sharing my harvest with those closest to me...It's always nice to share ya know?!?!!!!

FREEZER CORN

INGREDIENTS:
8 C. Sweet Corn
1 C. Water
1 Stick Butter
1 Tbsp. Sugar
1 tsp. Salt

Place Corn in large pot. Cut up Butter and add to pot. Add Water, Sugar and Salt; stir to combine. Heat to a boiling and allow to boil for 1 minute. Turn off burner and allow corn to cool to room temperature. Place into freezing recepticles (I used Ziploc Freezer Quart Bags); seal and allow to cool before placing in the freezer.

See, I told you that it was easy-peasey!