Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo

One of my favorite food blogs is Our Best Bites. They have a recipe that I use all the time, even when I'm on a diet. (which is why I haven't been posting a lot lately...food at my house has been kinda boring!)

It's called Guiltless Alfredo Sauce. It's super easy to make, always turns out great, is pretty close to guiltless, and tastes wonderful! Oh, and it may even taste better as leftovers! What more could you ask for? I love those girls!

My favorite thing to make with this sauce is Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo. If you don't like shrimp, don't stop reading now! It's also great with chicken or veggies or whatever! My 4 year olds scarf this down like they haven't eaten for days.

Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo

1 recipe of Guiltless Alfredo Sauce
1 pound Shrimp, raw, de-veined and shelled (or substitute chicken chopped into small pieces)
1 clove garlic, chopped or pressed
12 oz Fettuccine or other pasta
1 Tbs. Butter

Make the Alfredo sauce, and while the Parmesan cheese is melting in, cook your pasta according to package directions. In a large frying pan, melt the butter and add your garlic. Saute garlic for 30 seconds or so, just until fragrant. Add shrimp and cook until no longer pink, 3-4 minutes on each side. Drain your pasta and combine sauce, pasta and shrimp (including any juices from the shrimp). Toss and serve immediately!

If you choose to make this with chicken, saute your chicken in the butter and garlic (along with some salt and pepper) until the chicken is no longer pink. Add a dash of nutmeg to your sauce, then toss pasta, sauce and chicken together. Try adding some steamed broccoli at the end...it's soooo yummy!

Italian Stuff

For some strange reason, I had a lot of time to cook while I was in college. Some of my favorite recipes come from the time that I used to cook for my room mates and my...uh... boyfriends. (shhhhh...don't mention this to my husband) This recipe came from that time in my life. I always just called it "Italian Stuff", and I've never officially named it. Anyone have a good idea for a real name?

Baked pasta has a tendency to be dry, so don't be afraid if it looks a bit saucy. In my opinion, it needs more than one jar of sauce, so you can use a jar and a half of sauce, or add some tomato sauce and Italian seasoning to a jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce.

1 lb Mostaccoli, Rigatoni or Penne noodles
1 lb Italian Sausage, bulk or removed from casings (I always use pork sausage)
36 oz Spaghetti Sauce (or a 24 oz jar plus 2 8 oz cans of tomato sauce and 1 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning)
2 cloves Garlic
1 Medium Onion, chopped
1 Zucchini, thinly sliced
1 small Yellow Squash, thinly sliced
8 oz Mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
2 medium Tomatoes, thinly sliced
3 Cups Mozzarella Cheese, grated
1-2 tsp. Olive Oil
Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Saute onion and sausage together in a large frying pan until brown. Drain sausage if needed. Add spaghetti (and tomato sauce plus Italian seasoning if using) to the sausage mixture. Simmer on low for 5 minutes to let flavors come together. Boil noodles according to package directions. I usually cook the noodles for the minimum time on the package because they're going to be baked, and you don't want soggy noodles! Combine cooked noodles, sauce, and 1 1/2 cups grated cheese. Spoon mixture into an 11x15 pan or deep casserole dish and bake, covered, for 20 minutes, or until it's a little brown around the edges.

Add 1-2 tsp of olive oil to a frying pan and add 2 cloves of minced or pressed garlic. Saute for 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Add squash and mushrooms and cook, just until softened.

Remove pasta from oven and cover with remaining cheese, sauteed veggies, and sliced tomatoes. Sprinkle tomatoes with a couple of tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. Return the pan back to the oven for 5-10 minutes or until tomatoes are softened. Serve hot with garlic bread and a green salad!

Oh, by the way...this makes probably about 10 servings. It's pretty large, so feel free to freeze half of it, but I would freeze it without the veggies on top because I can imagine that they would get pretty soggy. Enjoy!


(the yellow squash didn't look great, so this time, I used 2 zucchinis)

Creamy White Bean and Apple Chili

I am not a huge fan of chili, but this recipe and I are more than just friends. I just might love it. My husband on the other hand just "likes" it...so there are two reviews for you.

This is a super easy crock pot recipe. I originally found it on the "Year of Crockpotting" blog...the one where she was making a recipe in her crock pot every day for a year. Brave soul. You can find the original recipe here. Anyway, I modified it a bit so that it's a rich, creamy, kinda sweet, yummy soup.

Creamy White Bean and Apple Chili

3 cans of white beans, drained and rinsed (I used Great Northern Beans)
1 onion, chopped
2 apples, cut in tiny chunks, no need to peel
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 T butter
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground thyme
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup plain non fat yogurt
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (optional)
sour cream (optional)

Put the butter into the bottom of a warmed crockpot. Dump in 2 cans of drained and rinsed beans. Add the onion, apples, garlic and spices, and pour in the broth. Stir in the yogurt. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4-5. This is done when the onion has reached desired tenderness and the flavors have melded. Slightly blend or puree soup, not until smooth, so that there are still some small chunks. (You can do this with a hand blender, or do 2-3 batches in a regular blender.) Then, stir in the last can of drained and rinsed beans. Heat until the beans are warmed through. Serve with corn chips, grated cheese, and sour cream….and/or corn bread…yum.

Cap'n Crunch French Toast

You may have noticed that I have an obsession with breakfast foods. What can I say? I just love breakfast. Well, over the holidays I was watching a lot of Food Network, and on the show "Diners, Drive-in's and Dives", they showed this little diner/shack that made french toast covered in Cap'n Crunch. My first thought was..."that's going to be too sweet". But, my next thought was "I'm totally making that for my husband's birthday breakfast!!". (see how happy he is? The way to a man's heart is through his stomach, right? he he!)

Well, I can honestly say that I liked it even more than the Frosted Flake French Toast. But, let me tell you the secret...lots of butter. Sometimes I try to cut out a few calories by just spraying the pan when I make french toast, but this needs to be cooked in butter. The butter kinda softens and caramelizes the cereal, so don't skimp on the butter!

Cap'n Crunch French Toast

2 beaten eggs
½ C milk
¼ tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
5-6 slices French bread
2-3 C crushed Cap’n Crunch cereal
Butter
Maple Syrup

Whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Pour into a shallow bowl or pie plate. Heat your frying pan or griddle to medium low heat, and melt a tablespoon or two of butter. Dip bread into the egg mixture, and coat the bread according to your preference. I like my french toast really...uh...frenchy? Anyway, I like it kinda soaked in the egg mixture, so I let it sit for a few seconds. THEN, toss it into a bowl of crushed Cap n' Crunch. Kinda press the cereal into the bread. Cook the toast according to your desired doneness. Just be careful not to burn the cereal on the outside of the toast. A little brown is good, black is, uh, burned! Top with maple syrup, and enjoy!

Back!

Sorry it's been SO LONG since I posted anything. I was pregnant and sick, then sick of being pregnant, and now I'm busy chasing around two three year olds and holding, kissing, snuggling and loving this little guy...

But, I have been cooking a bit, and have a few fun things up my sleeve to share soon.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!


P.S. Happy Birthday Jay-Dub! :)

Easy Creamy Fresh Fruit Pie

I'm not much of a fruit pie fan, (am I crazy?) and I think that some of it has to do with the fact that I like most fruits fresh, not cooked. This is a pie that my mom made a few times as I was growing up, and I've always really enjoyed it. I got a great deal on peaches last week, and decided that I NEEDED this for Sunday dessert. It really hit the spot...nice and fresh! (and did I mention easy??) I personally think that a home made crust tastes best, but you could use a store-bought crust as well.

This would be so cute with sliced strawberries and blueberries for the 4th! Enjoy!

Easy Creamy Fresh Fruit Pie

8 inch graham cracker crust:
½ package of graham crackers, crushed
2 Tbs. Butter, melted
1 Tbs. Brown Sugar

Filling:
1 8 oz package cream cheese (I used lite cream cheese, and it worked great!) at room temp.
1 8 oz package frozen whipped topping (cool whip), thawed
2-3 Tbs. Sugar

Fresh Fruit of your choice: Peaches, Nectarines, Strawberries, Blueberries, Mix 'em...whatever!

Prepare graham cracker crust by mixing the crushed crackers, sugar and butter. Press into an 8 inch pie plate. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Let crust cool completely.

With an electric mixer, whip cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add sugar and cool whip and whip just until incorporated. Spread mixture carefully into cooled crust and chill for 4 hours or overnight.

Top with fresh fruit. You can sweeten the fruit to desired sweetness, or purchase a fruit glaze in the produce section of the grocery store. I just added a little sugar to my peaches and topped the pie as I served it so that the crust didn't get soggy. If you want a nice presentation, I would gently mix the fruit with a glaze and lay it out nicely on the pie.

Sloppy BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Sorry for being such a slacker. I'm not doing very well at posting on this blog! I'm going to give you two easy recipes today, both of which would be super yummy to make for the upcoming 4th of July holiday!

My mother-in-law made these sandwiches a few weeks ago for Sunday dinner, and I really enjoyed them. So, I put them on the menu the next week. They were really easy to make, and we enjoyed them. I don't know where this whole putting Cole Slaw on your sandwich thing comes from, but I'm definitely a fan!

Sloppy BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or this would be fab with pork too!)
1/2 bottle of BBQ Sauce

1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 package Cole Slaw mix (just the kind with shredded cabbage and carrot)
Cole Slaw Dressing
2 green onions (optional)
Buns

Place chicken, onion and BBQ Sauce in a slow cooker and cook on low for 3-4 hours, or until chicken is tender enough to shred. Shred chicken and return to sauces for about another 1/2 hour on low. When you're just about ready to eat, chop up the green onions and stir them into the cole slaw mix with enough dressing to make the cole slaw look creamy (do this to taste...how your family likes cole slaw). When you're ready to serve, place shredded chicken on a bun and top with a spoon full of cole slaw. Serve immediately. Makes about 4-5 large sandwiches