Linguine with Asparagus, Parmesan, and Bacon

By far, my FAVORITE dinner meal!!

This is a recipe I got from my Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2007 cook book. It is so delicious and not too bad for you either. 360 calories for a 2 cup serving with 2 Tbs of Parmesan cheese isn't too bad for a dinner meal.

The light sauce is perfect with the fresh linguine. I love the flavor the bacon gives as well.

It comes together very fast so be prepared. 20 minutes is all.

I'm a more is always better kind of gal. I used more asparagus and bacon than it calls for so my calorie intake is more but you can follow the recipe and have a healthier meal :)

See here. Lots of asparagus. It calls for 1 lb but I didn't weigh it. I just picked up  2 bunches and used all of it!

You start off boiling a large pot of water and cooking the linguine according to package directions throwing in the asparagus in with it. Drain and set aside.

This is the brand I use. It says to cook it for 2 - 3 min is all.

Next, cook up 4 strips of bacon (I cooked up 6). Drain bacon grease, leaving 2 tsp in pan. Cool bacon and crumble.

Here's the next group of ingredients. From top left, chicken broth, lemon juice and oregano. From bottom left, cherry tomatoes, 1/2 onion, 2 cloves garlic.

Add onion, garlic, and oregano to pan with bacon drippings and saute for 4 minutes or until onion is lightly browned. Add tomatoes and saute for 2 more min.

Add broth and bring to boil, then add 1 Tbs butter, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper and remove from heat.

 Place asparagus mixture in a large bowl, add tomato mixture and lemon juice, tossing well.

Top with bacon and Parmesan.

My hubby always needs more protein than any recipe calls for so I cooked up some chicken breasts for him to throw on top. He loves this dish and so do my boys. Very family friendly and so fast to prepare, it's great for busy mom's.

So good and good for you!!! I hope you all enjoy this!!

Here is a link to the recipe from My Recipes

Have a great day and thanx for stopping by!!!!

Aunt D's Brownies

This is the best thing you'll ever put in your mouth!!! My Mom called them brownies but they are more like a cake with the best frosting ever!!! This was my Aunt D's recipe, actually my mom's cousin, and this is another recipe that if my mom was alive she would have a come apart knowing I put this out there for the world to see. She did not like sharing her recipes much :) Sorry mom but it's way too good to keep to myself.

Brownie Ingredients:

2 Cups Flour

2 Cups Sugar

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

2 Sticks Butter

4 Tbs Cocoa Powder

1 cup Water

1 tsp Vanilla 2 Eggs

1/2 cup Buttermilk

Directions:

Stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. In a med sauce pan, bring to a boil butter, cocoa powder, and water. Pour this over dry ingredients and stir well. Add vanilla, eggs, and buttermilk. Stir well and pour into well greased jelly roll pan. Bake at 350º for 15/20 min.

** Let brownies cool before frosting**

Frosting Ingredients:

1 Stick of Butter

3 Tbs cocoa powder

1 lb Powdered Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla

5-6 Tbs Buttermilk

Melt all this on stove on med heat until it starts to bubble, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and pour immediately onto cooled brownies.

I hope you enjoy these as much as my family does. I made them for my hubby's B-day recently. Always a hit. I even texted a pic to my sister Tammy to make her jealous. :) I stole my mom's recipe book from her awhile back so she doesn't have any of these recipes. ha ha. She'll just have to follow my blog to get it huh! Love ya Tammy!!!

Have a great day my friends!!!



Dutch Oven - Braised Beef and Summer Vegetables

This is how we roll!!!!

We love to go camping and Cast Iron cooking is usually on the menu at least one if not more of the nights we go. This is the Dutch Oven - Braised Beef and Summer Vegetables recipe I got from the August 2011 Sunset magazine. I have saved it all year cuz I knew we would try it. If you are familiar with dutch oven cooking, then this recipe is easy. If not, it does take a bit of time. This took 3 hours start to finish. So worth it though!!!

Cast of characters: chicken broth, vegis and beef (already in the dutch oven at this point)

My hubby likes to dig a hole in the ground to do this whole thing. It keeps the heat contained and the coals last longer. You can use coals form a camp fire or briquettes. Chris started with 50 briquettes and added wood as he went along. Put your dutch oven on the coals and get it smokin hot!! Then add the beef and brown it on all sides and add the broth. The rub for the beef was amazing!!! I put the rub on and kept it in a ziplock bag for a few days and man did it turn out tender and flavorful!

You begin to add coals to the top of the dutch oven at this point. Cook for an hour adding coals after 30 min

Add first set of vegis, potatoes, cherry tomatoes, corn on the cob, and onions. Cook for another hour adding coals after 30 min.

Add last set of vegis, green beans, and zucchini, & more broth. We added a bit of beer too at this point just for flavor. Cook for 15 - 30 min.

Delish!!! So flavorful and fun to do out in the woods. Here's the link to the recipe

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/dutch-oven-braised-beef-50400000114486/

 I hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend!!!

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN!!!

Green Mountain Grill

We got a new Green Mountain Grill this weekend and can't be more thrilled!!

For anyone who has never heard of Green Mountain Grills, they are pellet grills that make the most amazing food ever!!! We had a Traeger (another pellet grill) for many years but it finally died on us. Chris heard about the Green Mountain Grills and at first I didn't want to betray Traeger cuz I loved mine so much. But, after going to the Sportmans Show, and talking to the guy at the Green Mountain booth, I was sold. I also got online and googled Traeger vs Green Mountain Grills and found that for us, Green Mountain was the way to go. So we did it!!

First thing we cooked was Chicken Thighs and grilled Asparagus. I just seasoned the chicken thighs with salt, pepper, and The Pampered Chef's Jamacian Jerk Rub. Turned to grill onto 450° and waited fot it to heat up (about 15-20 min)

Meanwhile, I put the asparagus in a zip top bag with some soy sauce (as much as you like) and seasoned it with The Pampered Chef Asian Seasoning. Then I put it in the fridge until it was time to put on the grill.

When the grill reached the correct temp, I put it all on.

Now, This grill cooks much hotter than the Traeger we had and I found out the hard way.

Kinda fried the asparagus. Didn't SOAR on this one  ☺

But the thighs turned out great!!! I added BBQ sause at the last minute or two. YUM!!!! I sure missed the flavor of a pellet grilled dinner!!! Can't wait to get some ribs, or a pork butt, or do beer can chicken, or smoke a whole bird ............

Green Mountain Grills

Sausage-Cauliflower Spaghetti

I got this recipe from the Food Network website. I logged on to get a recipe out of my recipe box and saw it on the home page. I had all but 1 of the ingredients so I printed it out to make the following night and I'm glad I did. It was very good. My cauliflower didn't brown up as much as theirs did and I didn't have the scallions but it was still very delish! Here's a link to the recipe on Food Network

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/sausage-cauliflower-spaghetti-recipe/index.html

Chicken Piccata Pasta

This was our valentines dinner and boy was it good. It's a Pampered Chef recipe and I love it not only because it's delicious, but I can make it dairy free for my youngest boy. It comes together quick and has easy to find ingredients.

Chicken Piccata Pasta

Ingredients:
1 1/4 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1 1/2 Tbs Lemon Pepper Rub
3 cans (14.5 oz each) chicken broth (about 6 cups)
1/2 medium onion chopped
12 oz uncooked angel hair pasta
1 lemon
2 oz cream cheese, softened (I used dairy free cream cheese)
1 can (14 oz) quartered artichoke hearts in water, drained
1/4 cup capers, drained and rinsed
Chopped fresh parsley and grated fresh Parmesan cheese (optional) (I did not use)

Directions:
1: Cut chicken into 1 in pieces. Combine chicken, 1 Tbs olive oil and Rub in mixing bowl; toss to coat. Heat remaining oil in skillet over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until shimmering. Add chicken to skillet; cook and stir 10 min or until chicken is golden brown and centers are no longer pink. Remove chicken from skillet; set aside.

2: Meanwhile, pour broth into microwave safe bowl; (I used my Micro-Cooker from PC) microwave, covered, on HIGH 8-10 minutes or until broth comes to a boil. Add onions to skillet; cook 10-20 seconds or until onion is fragrant. Carefully add broth and pasta to skillet; cook, uncovered, 7-8 min or until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally.

3: Zest lemon to measure 1 Tbs. Juice lemon to measure 2 Tbs. Add zest, juice and cream cheese to skillet; stir until cream cheese is fully incorporated. Add chicken and artichokes to skillet. Cook, covered, 1-2 min or until heated through. Remove skillet from heat; stir in capers. Garnish with parsley and Parmesan cheese, if desired.

I was out of the Lemon Pepper Rub so I used their Citrus Basil Rub instead and increased the lemon juice to 3 Tbs. You can just use salt and pepper if you'd rather or any seasoning you want ☺


*Bold items indicate exclusive Pampered Chef items but you do not need to use them*

My take on a good thing

Pesto pasta with chicken sausage and roasted brussel sprouts

http://pinterest.com/pin/224194887669867269/

This was such a yummy dinner and it was the first time trying brusssel sprouts for me and the hubs. Loved them BTW!!! I didn't have any chicken sausage but I did have mild Italian sausage links that I cooked up and used instead. I also couldn't find the orecchiette pasta at my trusty Winco so I got shell pasta instead thinking the shape would hold the pesto just a good. We hogged out on this and so did the kids!! Gus didn't like the brussel sprouts, he said they taste like broccoli. Colton loved them though. You'll have to try it!

Pesto pasta with chicken sausage and roasted brussel sprouts

Ingredients:

• 1 lb fresh brussel sprouts, ends trimmed and any yellowed/browned outer leaves removed, then sliced in half
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
• 1 lb (16 oz.) orecchiette (or any pasta)
• 4 chicken sausage links (I used spicy Italian), sliced into 1/4″ thick coins
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup pesto
• Parmesan cheese, for serving

Method:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, mix together brussel sprouts, 2 Tbsp. olive oil, salt and pepper. Gently stir until well-combined.
Prepare a baking sheet with aluminum foil, then spread the brussel sprouts on it evenly. Roast for about 20-30 minutes, stirring once partway through, or until they are crispy on the outside and cooked on the inside. (My batch of tiny sprouts only took about 12 minutes to cook.) Remove from oven and set aside.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, turning occasionally, until nearly-browned, about 6-8 minutes. Add the garlic, and continue cooking for another 1-2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant and the sausage is browned.
Cook the pasta according to the package directions. (I begin heating my water while preparing the brussel sprouts, and added the pasta to the boiling water just after beginning to cook the sausage.) Once the pasta is cooked, drain the water (reserving 1/4 cup pasta water), and then toss together the pasta, pesto, cooked sausage and garlic, and brussel sprouts. Add in some of the reserved pasta water if needed for extra moisture.
Serve warm, and sprinkle with freshly-grated Parmesan cheese.

Crispy Potato Roast

http://pinterest.com/pin/145241156702529072/

This was super delish too. It's like scalloped potatoes with out the fatty sauce. The crispy edges were a nice touch. I might add garlic to it next time  :)

Crispy Potato RoastServes 8

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled
4 shallots, thickly sliced lengthwise
Coarse salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes (optional)
8 sprigs thyme

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, combine butter and oil. Brush bottom of a round 9-inch baking dish with some butter mixture. With a sharp knife or mandolin, slice potatoes very thinly crosswise.

2. Arrange potato slices vertically in dish. Wedge shallots throughout. Sprinkle with salt and red-pepper flakes (if using); brush with remaining butter mixture. Bake 1 1/4 hours. Add thyme and bake until potatoes are cooked through with a crisp top, about 35 minutes more.

♦I got both of these off Pinterest and have put a link to my pins below the pics♦

Bean dip to die for

My mom would freak show on me if she was alive to see me post one of her recipes. But it's one of her best and I just had to share!

Bean Dip

This is actually the small version of my mom's bean dip if you can believe that. It weighs in at about 8-10 lbs and I'm not joking, so make it for a bunch of people.

Ingredients

1 large can on refried beans

1 large bottle of hot sauce

10-13 shakes of Tabasco

lots & lots of grated cheddar cheese

2 8oz pkg cream cheese softened

1/2 cup sour cream

6-8 Tbs mayo

1/2 tsp garlic powder

3 large avocados

3 Tbs lemon juice

1-2 Tbs minced onions

3 can sliced olives

lots & lots more grated cheddar cheese

4-6 roma tomatoes

Mix beans, hot sauce, & Tabasco together and spread on bottom of large dish with at least 2 inch sides. My mom never measured so I can't even tell you how much cheese goes on next.

Just put enough cheese on top of the beans so you can't see any of the beans through the cheese. You are going to want to press the cheese down a bit and make sure you tuck it into the sides somewhat if that makes sence.

Next, mix the cream cheese, sour cream, mayo, & garlic powder in a stand mixer or a hand mixer and spread on top of cheese

This part is tricky cuz the cream cheese mixture sticks to the grated cheese so I plop some down like this and then use a spreader to spread it around.

Once it's all spread out, I take a spatula and scrap the edges down and pull to the center to smooth out

Now you'll need to cut the avocados in half, remove the seed and scoop out the flesh into a mixing bowl. Add lemon juice and minced onions and mix until smooth. (1 Tbs lemon juice for every avocado)

Spread avocado mixture on top of cream cheese mixture and spread out in the same way, using the spatula to scrap edges down and pulling to the center to smooth

Now comes the fun part!! Garnishing!! De-seed the tomatoes and chop. Drain the olives and yep you guessed it, grate more cheese (my mom's recipe called for 2 lbs of cheese but that was for the larger version and this is the small one so maybe 3/4 lb total)

I do this part different every time because I can never remember how I did it last time. After I finished I wish I would've switched the tomato and cheese part at the edges just because I think it would've looked better but oh well. And, no I didn't try to make it look like a football. I have noticed that the tomato part doesn't get eaten as much as the rest so I use more olives and cheese. Have fun with this and put the cheese, olives, & tomatos on as you wish.

Spaghetti Aglio

Yummo!!! I had to share. I think I'm having this for lunch everyday. Sooo Delish!

I got it from pinterest. It's so simple and you have all the ingredients in your pantry already.

http://www.yumsugar.com/Spaghetti-Garlic-Olive-Oil-Chili-Flakes-21398824

I made just enough for 1 serving so I used 1 garlic clove and 1/4 tsp of the crushed red pepper. I eyeballed the pasta and  olive oil.  LOVE THIS!!!

Here's the link to my Pinterest board:

http://pinterest.com/pin/224194887669834630/

Gypsy Eye's

I made the fam Gypsy Eye's for breakfast this morning and had to share. My Joy (Stepmom) made these for us all the time when I was younger and they are soooo goood!!! Very easy to make too!

First you need to cut a hole in the bread. I used a glass. Grease up a skillet with lots of butter and but the bread and cut out hole on it. When they are golden brown, flip over and crack an egg in the hole. Salt & pepper to taste and cook to desired degree of doneness.

So yummy and good!! Enjoy!

Kahlua Cake Trifle

I just had to share this cuz it's so yummy!!!!

Ingredients:

2 - 10.75 oz pound cake cut into 1 inch cubes

2 box instant vanilla pudding

Kahlua

12 oz whip topping thawed

8-9 Heath bars crushed

Layer: pound cake, pudding, Kahlua, Heath bar, whip topping. Repeat 3-4 times. top with whip topping and sprinkle Heath on top.

'

I used too much pudding in my layers in this pic so I didn't have any left for the last layer but oh well. It still tasted great!!!!

Chicken and Dumplings

I feel like a real cook after making this!!

I have been buying a rotisserie chicken every week for Chris to use for lunch meat. I decided to make stock out of what was left from pulling the meat off the bone. I put the bones in a large pot and covered with water. Added 1 onion, 2 carrots, and 4-5 garlic cloves. I would've added celery too but I didn't have it. The first time I did it, I kept only the liquid but the second time I kept the vegis and pulled more meat form the bones and added them to the stock as well. It froze very well.

My mom was an amazing cook. I mean A-MAZE-ING!!! She loved savory dishes, like shrimp scampi, BBQ spare ribs, and she made a mean prime rib which she encased in rock salt to cook. I didn't spend a lot of time in the kitchen with her when I was young which is something I regret now. I really didn't get into cooking until I was older and that's when I started asking my mom a ton of questions. Her recipes were always kept secret and no one was allowed to read her recipe book. But being the baby of the family, I stole it from my sister after mom passed and you'll have to pry it from my hands when I'm go.

Chicken and Dumplings isn't something I remember her making so this was a stretch for me to make. The hubs loves these down home cooked meals and it totally hit the spot with the cold winter day's we've been having lately.

Ingredients:
1 pkg chicken breasts, chopped into bite size pieces
1 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs butter
1 stalk celery
1 potato chopped
1 bay leaf
salt & pepper
1 tsp poultry seasoning
2 Tbs flour
1 cup frozen peas

Dumplings:
2 cups Bisquick
2/3 cup milk (my youngest son is dairy intolerant so I used So Delicious Coconut Milk. It made the dough pretty thick so I added a tiny bit of water until it came together)
1/2 tsp salt (didn't add this this time but will next time. It needs it)

Heat large pot over med high heat. Add oil and butter. Add potatoes, celery, and bay leaf. Cook 5 min, stirring frequently. Season with salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Add flour and cook for 2 min. Stir in stock and bring to boil. Add chicken and stir. (I cooked for 10 min but was too long) mix ingredients for dumplings and drop spoonful of it into the pot. Cook uncovered for 10 min, Add peas, cover and cook an additional 10 min.

OMG!!! So yummy!!! I believed I SOARED on this one!
Hope you enjoy!!

Chicken Fried Rice

Yummy Chicken Fried Rice!!! I tend to make this about once a week. It's easy to prepare and I usually have the ingredients on hand. Sometimes I leave the chicken off and cook it in teriyaki sauce but this time I added it to the fried rice. Yum!! Soooo good! Hope you enjoy.

Chicken Fried Rice

2 chicken breast halves

2 Tbs corn starch

2 Tbs soy sauce

salt & pepper

Asian seasoning (I used Pampered Chef)

canola oil

1/2 onion chopped

1 carrot chopped

3/4 cup frozen peas

2 eggs

sesame oil

3 cups cooked rice (I cooked 1 cup brown rice so I think it ended up 3 cups cooked)

2 garlic cloves chopped

1-2 Tbs chopped ginger

sesame seeds

soy sauce

3-4 green onions

Chop chicken in small bite size pieces and place in a bowl. Sprinkle with cornstarch, toss to coat. Add soy sauce and stir well. Season with salt, pepper and Asian seasoning. Heat a wok or large skillet between high and medium high heat. You want the pan really hot. Add canola oil to hot pan then add chicken. Cook until chicken is done then set aside and keep warm.

Saute onion, carrot, and peas until onions are translucent. Spread vegis to sides of pan so there is a spot in the middle to scramble up the eggs. Crack eggs into center of pan and break yokes and scramble them. when almost cooked stir all together and let eggs cook rest of the way. 

Push everything to the side of pan and add a small amount of sesame oil. Add cooked rice, garlic, ginger, sesame seeds, and soy sauce to pan. Stir well. Cook together for about 3-5 min. Add half green onions and stir. Pour into a large bowl and top with remaining green onions.

Well today's the day!

Wow!! How exciting!! I started a blog!! Not at all sure of what I'm doing but so what right!?!?
 The first thing I'm going to post is a recipe I made the other night. I was at the grocery store the other day and the cashier noticed the Rhodes Rolls I was getting and turned to the cashier behind her and said "I need to make those things you make with these rolls" and the other gal said " Oh the Kraut Lassen's"  Let me just say that peeked my interest right away so I butted in (which is my M.O.) and asked what that was. She proceeded to tell me that she cooks up hamburger, onions, and cabbage and wraps the roll around it and bakes them. I just happened to have cabbage in my fridge from another amazing recipe (I'll post that next time I make it) so I made it and loved it!!!! Actually I googled it first and found Kraut Bierocks is what they are called. I couldn't really hear the gal when I asked what they were called but thought I heard Lassen's. Apparently I didnt' :) They turned out so delish.

Here's the recipe and pics

Kraut Bierocks

Rhodes Rolls (as many as you think you'll eat, I did 16) thawed and risen

1 lb ground meat (I used ground turkey)

1 head cabbage chopped ( I had purple cabbage on hand but most recipes call for green)

1 onion chopped

2 garlic cloves chopped

2 tsp Thyme, divided

2 tsp Rosemary, divided

1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper

salt (lots) and pepper

Follow directions on the Rhodes package to thaw and rise rolls.

 When rolls are ready, Heat a large pot or dutch oven on medium high heat. Add olive oil to coat pan and add onions. I always throw some salt and pepper on them and let them sweat a bit. Add ground meat and season with salt, pepper, 1 tsp Thyme, and 1 tsp Rosemary. When meat is browned, add cabbage, more salt (I know, lots of salt right? but it needs it), pepper, rest of the Thyme and Rosemary, and the Cayenne pepper. Stir and cook until meat is done and cabbage is somewhat wilted.

Take a roll and use your fingers to flatten it out.

Put a heaping spoonful of cabbage mixture on it.

Close it up around it. Sounds hard but you'll get the hang of it promise!

Place on a jelly roll pan and brush with melted butter and cut a tiny slit in it.

Bake at 350 for 15-20 min until golden brown.