Garlic Alfredo Tortellini

It's been awhile, but I have been busy trying out new recipes. Unfortunately, I keep forgetting to take pictures. My most recent one was the Christmas girls party that I had at my house. Every finger food was a new recipe. I will have to make again to get some pictures!

Last night Kyle was home and I wanted to make him a new recipe, but I also was craving Tortellini.

Thanks to Damn Delicious for this great & easy recipe.  

The sauce

Ingredients:

1 package Tortellini (I choose Cheese & Prosciutto) 

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 Tbsp. all purpose flour

1 cup milk

1/2 cup half and half

2 oz. cream cheese, cubed

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

2 Tbsp. chopped parsley

What To Do:

• In a large pot of boiling water, cook Tortellini according to package directions
• In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat
• Add in garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute
• Whisk in flour until lightly browned
• Gradually whisk in milk and half and half (constantly) until sauce lightly thickens
• Stir in cream cheese and Parmesan cheese until melted
• *If sauce is too thick, you can add a little bit of milk to make it thinner
• When all cheese is melted, add in tortellini and toss until coated
• Top with parsley & serve

Chicken Parmesan Roll Ups

In our household, we love Chicken Parmesan and there are so many ways to cook it. The one thing I love about these is that you have the cheesy goeyness all rolled up in the center.

I started my 12 week shred yesterday so Sunday was my last meal to be able to eat breads, pastas, processed food, etc. so why not make my last dinner full of things I will miss for awhile. I served ours over garlic and butter noodles. I also made my own marinara sauce instead of using the canned tomatoes and all that listed below.

Thanks to "The Girl Who Ate Everything" for posting this wonderful recipe.

Rolled up and topped with tomato sauce

Top with cheese/basil mixture

Top with breadcrumbs and bake

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 onion, chopped fine

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 can Italian style diced tomatoes, canned

1/2 cup fresh chopped basil

1-1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

6 thin cut boneless chicken cutlets (I used chicken breasts and cut them in half and pounded them out)

salt and pepper

1/2 cup Italian seasoned Panko breadcrumbs

*I used my own marinara sauce that I make instead of making a tomato mixture

What To Do:

1. Preheat oven to 475F
2. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a cooking pan
3. Add onion and cook until it has softened
4. Add garlic and cook until fragrant
5. Add tomatoes and cook until it has thickened (about 5 minutes)
6. Remove from heat and stir in basil
7. Transfer half of the sauce into a baking dish to coat the bottom
8. Combine mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, and basil in a bowl. Make sure you save half of the cheese mixture
9. Season chicken with salt and pepper
10. Top chicken with cheese mixture, leaving about 1 inch from the bottom of the chicken
11. Roll up tightly and place seam side down into the baking dish
12. Toss breadcrumbs with remaining oil
13. Top the chicken that is rolled up with the remaining sauce mixture, cheese mixture, and the breadcrumbs
14. Bake for about 15-20 minutes. If your chicken is thick, it might take a little bit longer. If the breadcrumbs start to get too brown, cover with foil and continue cooking

Taco Pasta

As I was going back through my recipes to see what I needed to add on here, I realized that I am missing a lot of my pasta dishes. Be ready...the next 3 or 4 posts are pasta recipes.

This one is called Taco Pasta. After making it, it is basically like making hamburger helper. We weren't to keen on this recipe, but maybe I can change it up and have it fit our taste.

Found on Plain Chicken.

 

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

8 oz. small dry pasta shapes

1 small onion; chopped

1 clove garlic; minced

1 cup salsa

1 packet taco seasoning mix

3 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

salt and pepper

shredded cheese for topping

 

 

What To Do:

• Start cooking pasta according to directions
• When you get ready to drain, reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water
• In a skillet, cook the ground beef and onion until beef is no longer pink
• Drain the fat
• Add in minced garlic and cook for about 30 seconds
• Mix in the salsa and taco seasoning mix
• Let simmer for about 5 minutes
• Stir in cooked pasta, cream cheese, sour cream and reserved pasta water
• Continue cooking until all the cheese is melted and blended in together
• Season with salt and pepper
• Top with shredded cheese and serve!



Taco Empandas/Melts

I think that I could make Mexican or Italian dishes every night of the week, but then I would really be having to workout hard in the gym. There are some nights that I don't feel like doing much in the kitchen so I need something quick, but also something that my almost 2 year old will eat.

Have you ever looked Pillsbury recipes? I never have until recently, which is probably a mistake because it's bread and carbs.

 

Ingredients:

1 can Pillsbury biscuits

1 lb. ground beef

taco seasoning packet

1/2 cup salsa

shredded cheese

 

What To Do:

• Preheat oven to 375F
• In a skillet, start cooking hamburger meat
• Add in taco seasoning, water, and 1/2 cup salsa before hamburger meat is fully cooked
• Mix and cook until mixture is thickened
• Press each biscuit flat into 6" rounds
• Spoon 1/3 of mixture onto the biscuit
• Top with shredded cheese
• Fold 1 side over to make a half
• Press to seal with either your fingers or with a fork
• Place on a greased cookie sheet
• Bake for 9-14 minutes or until golden brown
• Serve with any dipping sauce you like

 



 





Halloween Apps.

Yes, I am posting this way late, but like I said, I am trying to get caught up :)

Now that we are in Lubbock with my sister and a bunch of people that have known me since I was really little, we are getting to do some fun parties. What's better than a couple's Halloween Progressive Dinner party?! Not much!!!

We are started at my sister, Brooke's, house for Apps & drinks. We saw some really cute ideas for food on Pinterest. Here is what I ended up making, not counting all the yummy jello shots that were gone way too fast.

 

 

I can't exactly tell you our recipe for guacamole because I throw stuff in, but have no measurements to give. I will save that for another post. Below is the recipe for the Pumpkin Cheese Ball!

 

 

Ingredients:

16 oz. cream cheese; room temperature

2 cups cheddar cheese

3 tbsp. minced onion

3 tbsp. salsa

1 tsp. cumin

2 cups nacho cheese chips; crushed

top of 1 bell pepper for garnish

*I also added in garlic salt & creole

 

 

What To Do:

• With a mixer, combine cream cheese, shredded cheese, onion, salsa and cumin (garlic salt and creole if you decide to use like I did)
• Mix until creamy
• Scoop mixture into plastic wrap
• Wrap to form a ball and chill for 2 hours in the fridge
• When ready to serve, roll cheese ball in the crushed nacho cheese chips
• Place bell pepper stem on top to make it look like a pumpkin
• Serve with chips, crackers or anything that you like!!



Ranch Chicken Roll-Ups

I came across a blog called Life with the Crust Cut-Off. This recipe was posted on there and sounded good....so why not.

This was basically like a homemade Hot Pocket. Simple, easy and delish. Coyt ate a whole one so I knew that it would be a keeper.

Since things have been busy at our house, please excuse the pictures. I hurry to take them so that I can feed the family.

 

Ingredients:

8 chicken tenders (pre-cooked)

16 slices bacon

8 slices of Colby Jack cheese

2 cans Crescent roll dough

Ranch dressing (preferably homemade)

 

 

What To Do:

• Preheat oven to 375F
• Unroll crescent rolls and form into rectangles
• Spread a little bit of ranch on each rectangle (I ended up making homemade ranch dressing and added spices to make a spicy ranch
• Place a slice of Colby Jack cheese
• Add 2 slices of bacon
• Add one chicken strip on top
• Roll up and place on a cookie sheet- seem side down
• Bake for 15-20 minutes

 



Cheesy Beef Enchiladas

When it comes to Enchiladas, I am not really a beef enchilada person. I like either shredded chicken or just plain cheese.

Thanks to Damn Delicious for this recipe. I tweaked it a little bit and called it Cheesy Beef Enchiladas since our family really LIKES cheese!! Below is how I made them! Plus my 11 month old son absolutely LOVED these and almost ate an entire enchilada by himself.

Sorry the pictures are a little blurry & not the best. If you multitask, this recipe can be done in 30 minutes or less!

Ingredients:

2 (10 oz) cans enchilada sauce (I used 1 1/2 cans)

1 lb. ground beef

1 (4.5 oz) can diced green chiles

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup corn kernels (a little less)

1/2 cup black beans (a little less)

Monterey Jack cheese

Cheddar cheese

6 flour tortillas, warmed

*I added Chili powder

*Cilantro and avocado for topping (For my enchilada)

What To Do:

• Preheat oven to 375F
• Pour 1 can (I used a little less) enchilada sauce in the bottom of a baking dish
• In a skillet, brown your beef along with the green chiles, salt and pepper (chili powder if desired); drain excess fat
• In a large bowl, combine your corn, black beans, preferred amount of both cheeses, and beef
• After tortillas are warmed up, spoon mixture into the center or each tortilla (we topped with a little bit more cheese)
• Roll the tortilla and place seam side down into your baking dish
• Repeat with remaining tortillas
• Top with remaining enchilada sauce and additional cheese
• Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is bubbly
• Serve immediately with your favorite toppings

Homemade Pizza

Yes, this really is a NO NEED TO POST dinner recipe. I just don't think about making homemade pizza when we have this delicious New York Style Pizza down the street from us. It does work to keep all the ingredients for a night where you just don't want to get out.

I can't really give you any sort of directions except for, use the Pillsbury Pizza Dough....I love it way better than the pre-made pizza dough because you can get it really crunchy and crispy, plus you can season it yourself!!!

We decided to go with what we really like...Pepperoni & Jalapeno Pizza!!

Simply preheat your oven, roll out the dough, cook for 8 minutes, top with marinara or pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, any toppings you prefer and bake for another 6-8 minutes!!!

Tomato Basil Soup

It has been a very long time since I last made homemade tomato basil soup, so long that my husband hasn't had mine yet. It is a longer process since I hand crush all the tomatoes, etc. (I will have to make that one soon and put it on here.) Until I can do that, I came up with this simple version that will tide me over.

What goes best with Tomato Basil Soup, yup that's right, grilled cheese sandwiches!!! (A craving with this 2nd baby)

Ingredients:

1/2 onion; diced

3 cloves of garlic; diced

Container of fresh basil leaves

2 large cans of crushed tomatoes

32 oz. tomato juice

1/2 stick of butter

1 cup Half and Half

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

What To Do:

• In a sauce pan, cook onion and garlic until translucent and soft
• Add in tomatoes and tomato juice and let simmer for about 15 minutes
• In a blender, add your sauce from the sauce pan along with the basil and puree until smooth (Unless you like chunky tomato soup)
• Pour back in sauce pan and add in your butter along with half and half
• Cook over low heat until butter is melted and soup is hot
• Garnish with fresh basil leaves
• ENJOY!!! 

Cheeseburger Casserole

Another recipe down and another picture forgotten. We had friends over so I was in a hurry to serve it when I got it out of the oven. 

Very simple recipe and had good flavor! Thanks to The Diary of a Real Housewife for this recipe!

Ingredients:

Rotini noodles

1 lb. ground beef

1/3 cup ketchup

2 Tbsp. mustard (I left it out)

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1/4 cup onion; diced

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

28 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 tsp. garlic; diced

2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

What To Do:

• Preheat oven to 350F
• Start by boiling your noodles
• In a large skillet, brown your beef
• Add garlic, salt, pepper, worcestershire, ketchup and mustard to beef
• Drain noodles and place in a casserole dish
• Mix in diced tomatoes, ground beef, and 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
• Pace the other 1/2 cup cheese on top of casserole
• Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is fully melted!!

Spinach Dip

So I know most people have their own spinach dip recipe that they use, but I have actually never made spinach dip before. When we have different parties or go to family holidays, my mother in law always makes hers, which is very good. This year for Superbowl, I was asked to bring spinach dip since my mother in law was out of town.

I guess this was a good time as ever to experiment. I just added what I thought goes in there along with some other seasonings. It seemed to be a good hit when there was nothing left in the dip bowl. Only thing is I didn't measure seasonings (I never do) so I can't really tell you how much of everything went into it.

I forgot to take a picture, but we all know what spinach dip looks like anyways.

Ingredients:

16 oz. sour cream

1 ranch dressing packet 

1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1/2 onion, chopped

carrots, chopped

1/2 bell pepper, chopped

basil

oregano

garlic powder

salt & pepper

Cayenne pepper & Chili powder for heat

Bread and crackers for serving

What To Do:

• Make sure your spinach is thawed
• Squeeze out any juices with paper towels
• Chop up your veggies and onion
• Mix everything together in a bowl & serve

Jalapeno Ranch Chicken Tenders (Spicy Ranch Chicken Tenders)

I know it's not always the healthiest of choices when you bread food, but I just can't get enough of Panko bread crumbs. This recipe called for it so how could I not try it!! 

Simple and easy chicken tenders that were so tender & juicy! Thanks to Real HouseMoms for this recipe. She called hers Jalapeno Ranch Chicken Tenders. I took the easy way out and instead of making my own jalapeno ranch (which I will next time), I decided to use bottle (I am not a big fan of ranch from a bottle..I usually will not eat it). I couldn't find the Jalapeno that I have seen before so I decided to go with Spicy Ranch instead.

I also decided to bake mine in the oven instead of using the stove top!

Ingredients:

3-4 boneless chicken breasts

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 cups Panko bread crumbs

Italian seasoning to taste

1 cup jalapeno ranch dressing

oil for cooking (rack & pan if you use the oven)

What To Do:

• Pour oil to cover the bottom of your skillet & set to medium-high heat
• **If you decide to use the oven, preheat oven to 400F
• Pour some jalapeno ranch dressing on a plate
• Mix bread crumbs, cheese and seasonings in a shallow bowl
• Dip chicken in the dressing and then coat in the bread crumbs (I also sprinkled kosher salt on the chicken before hand to give some more flavor and to help keep chicken juicy)
• Place in pre-heated skillet
• Turn halfway through cooking & cook until no longer pink in the middle
• **Place on a wire rack on top of a pan (Spray the wire rack)
• Cook for 25 minutes in the oven, flipping chicken halfway through
• 
  

Pumpkin Fluff Dip

I absolutely LOVE this dip & I do not like pumpkin flavored foods. Thanks to my friend Angie for making this one b/c now I am hooked on it!!

Plus, who doesn't like graham crackers!!

Ingredients:

16 oz. Cool Whip

Small instant vanilla pudding package

1 can pumpkin

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

*Graham crackers for dipping

What To Do:

• Mix all ingredients together
• Dip with graham crackers & ENJOY!!

Cheesy Jalapeno Cornbread

As I mentioned in the last post, I love watching Ree and her episodes of Pioneer Woman. I used this recipe, but took out some of the ingredients to make a simple cheesy cornbread. I loved this jalapeno cornbread and will be making it again. 

I am thinking about adding in 1 more small jalapeno to the batch next time I make it.

Ingredients:

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

pinch of salt

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup milk

1 whole egg

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

1/4 cup shortening

2 Tbsp. butter
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 fresh jalapeno, seeded and diced
1/2 onion, diced

What To Do:

Preheat oven to 425F

Combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Stir together.

Measure the buttermilk and milk in a measuring cup and add the egg. Stir together. Add the baking soda and stir. Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir together until combined. Fold in the cheese. Set aside.

In a small bowl, melt the shortening in the microwave. Slowly add the melted shortening to the batter, stirring until just combined.

In a skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Saute the peppers and onions until soft. Pour the batter into the skillet with the veggies. Spread to even out the surface. Batter should sizzle. Cook for 1 minute then transfer to the oven.
**If you don't have a skillet that you can put in the oven, just mix the veggies into the cornbread mixture and pour into a baking dish.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Cheesy Cornbread

I love watching and recording episodes of Pioneer Woman. Ree is just a down to earth cook and has tons of really good recipes. 

My addition to Thanksgiving was making cornbread. I remember watching one of her episodes where she made Cheesy Jalapeno Cornbread so I knew that I had  to make it. I made her original recipe along with taking out some ingredients to make just the cheesy part of the cornbread for those who don't like onions, jalapenos, etc. 

The Cheesy Jalapeno recipe is up next on the blog.

Ingredients:

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

pinch of salt

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup milk

1 whole egg

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

1/4 cup shortening

Stick of butter (used for greasing the pan)

What To Do:

Preheat oven to 425F

Combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Stir together.

Measure the buttermilk and milk in a measuring cup and add the egg. Stir together. Add the baking soda and stir. Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir together until combined. Fold in the cheese. Set aside.

In a small bowl, melt the shortening in the microwave. Slowly add the melted shortening to the batter, stirring until just combined.

In a baking dish, use the stick of butter to grease the bottom and sides of the pan.

Pour the cornbread mixture into the baking dish and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.

Peanut Butter Oreo Brownies

This was the perfect treat to make for me to take for Thanksgiving and then to a friends house for them to try. I could have eaten so many of these because they were amazing (yup, im addicted). Thanks to Pinterest for this recipe.

  

Ingredients:

24 Oreos (I stuck with just the original ones)

Peanut Butter

Brownie Mix

What To Do:

• Preheat oven to 350F
• Prepare brownies according to box directions and set aside
• Place a spoonful of peanut butter on top of each oreo
• Then stack an oreo on top of another oreo to make an oreo sandwich (you should have a layer of peanut butter in between the 2 oreos and then peanut butter on top of the top oreo)
• Place sandwich oreo in a muffin liner in your cupcake pan
• Spoon brownie batter over the oreos until they are covered (you will have brownie mix leftover)
• Bake for 20-25 minutes until brownies are cooked through

*Mine weren't completely done at 20 minutes so I baked mine for 24 minutes and they were perfect.

Glazed Pork Chops

Yum...once I saw a picture of these glazed pork chops, my mouth was watering. They had really good flavor and were extremely simple to make. 

Thanks to Budget Bytes.

 Ingredients:

4 thick cut pork chops

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. paprika

salt and pepper to taste

What To Do:

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a bowl combine the brown sugar and all the spices.

Remove the pork chops and season them by rubbing all the spices to fully cover each chop.

Heat 2 Tbsp. of olive oil in the skillet. When nice and hot, add the chops and cook for about 5 minutes on each side or until brown.

If your skillet is oven safe, place in the oven for an additional 5 minutes to finish cooking through. If your skillet is not oven safe, remove chops and place in a baking dish lined with foil.

After cooking for 5 minutes in the oven, remove the chops. Drag each side around in the glaze and serve.

Roasted Broccoli

Sorry, I have been bad about taking pictures of the food lately. I make our plates and we sit down to eat. Next thing you know my plate doesn't look too appetizing to capture a picture of.

I haven't cooked broccoli in who knows when. I am not a huge fan b/c it gets cold so fast and then I felt like it only had good flavor when soaked in butter. Since I was experimenting with my honey & herb chicken, I decided to go ahead and just add a few things to the broccoli and roast in the oven to get it a little crunchy. 

I don't ever really measure ingredients when I cook. I just go based off of the look of the amount so below is about my estimation. 

Ingredients:

1 bunch of broccoli cut into pieces

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4-1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (depending on how much broccoli you use and how spicy you want it)

salt and pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced (unless you like thicker pieces)

What To Do:

• Preheat oven to 400F
• In a small bowl, mix together the garlic, salt and pepper, red pepper flakes and olive oil
• Once mixed, toss in your broccoli and mix to coat all of it
• Spread the broccoli out on a foil covered cookie sheet
• Cook for about 15 minutes (this makes the broccoli soft with a little bit of crunch to it. Cook longer if you want it more soft or cook less for more of a crunch.

Cinnamon Roll Waffles

I think that my sweet tooth lately has been cinnamon rolls.(No, I am not pregnant again haha) Plus they are easy to just throw in the oven and make. 

Well once I saw this idea on Pinterest and then made them for breakfast this past weekend, this is by far the way to go on making cinnamon rolls!!! And hey, we get to use our flip waffle maker. (Best gift we registered for for our wedding) The only thing you have to be careful of, is how fast they go. I usually eat 2 cinnamon rolls. Well after this, I can easily eat 3 :/ ...I'm in trouble.

Kyle and I like our waffles a little on the crispy side so the pictures of ours are a little dark.

Easy peasy...Spray waffle maker with nonstick cooking spray, place 3 rolls (or however many you would like) onto the center, close your waffle maker and flip. It will beep when it's ready :)

This definitely beats having to wait for the oven to preheat and then cooking them for like 10 minutes.

Cinnamon & Sugar Crescent Rolls (Cinnamon Rolls)

Looking for a quick and easy breakfast or dessert....these are just a simple version of cinnamon rolls.

My mom and I cooked these this past weekend for breakfast and they were so good. We just kept eating them because they were addicting. There was just something different about them that made them so good. I love crescent rolls and the flakiness of them :)

Of course we doubled the icing mix so that we had more 

Ingredients:

1 can of flaky crescent rolls

butter

cinnamon sugar

1 1/3 cup powdered sugar

2 Tbsp. milk

What To Do:

• Preheat oven to 375 F
• Spray cooking spray onto cookie sheet
• Lay out crescent rolls
• Spread some butter on each one
• Sprinkle with as much cinnamon sugar as you would like
• Roll the crescent rolls up
• Bake for 11-13 minutes
• While they are baking, mix the powdered sugar and milk together to make the icing
• Once the rolls are ready, pull out of oven and pour icing over them
• ENJOY!!