Meatballs with Alfredo Sauce over Egg Noodles

Simple ingredients... unbelievable results!

Ingredients: egg noodles, meatballs and Alfredo sauce.

*My egg noodles ($5 for 6 pounds) and meatballs ($9 for 5 pounds) were from Gordon Food Service. The Alfredo is homemade... straight from the freezer!

First of all, I should mention that I'm using my 1.6 quart crock pot... so cute, and such a perfect size! We were having friends over for dinner (hence serving the yummy but not overly healthy Alfredo sauce!) and so I placed 40 meatballs into the crock pot (more than enough for 4 adults and a toddler).

Next, I warmed my batch of Alfredo sauce, and poured it over the meatballs.

I made sure to coat each meatball really well, since the meatballs were frozen, the Alfredo began to chill again, but after turning in my crock pot on warm for two hours, the melded together perfectly!

Lastly, just before serving dinner, I boiled enough egg noodles for our dinner. I placed several meatballs on top of the noodles and then ladled out enough Alfredo sauce to coat the noodles.

Yum.

Recipe Recap:
Egg noodle, 1 pound
Meatballs, 40
Alfredo sauce, 1 jar or 1.5 cups of homemade

Red Beans & Rice

Red Beans & Rice is an easy and inexpensive meal that is surprisingly yummy and quick to make. (Thanks Beth for this recipe!)

The ingredients are simple and easy to find:

1 can of kidney beans, drained

1 large can of seasoned diced tomatoes

1/8 C. bacon crumbles

2 boil in the bag rice packets (1/2 box)

1 pkg kielbasa (I used turkey kielbasa)

While my rice was boiling, I placed my beans, tomatoes and bacon on medium heat.

Then I sliced and quartered the kielbasa, and added it to the mix.

I raised the cooking temperature a bit and allowed the kielbasa to heat thoroughly while everything bubbled together at a slow boil.

Finally, I added the rice. Honestly, this dish may not be pretty to look at, but it is yummy!

Pizza & Dough

I found this recipe through momadvice.com.

I feel that I have 'cheated' a little bit since this recipe calls for the use of a bread machine and some of my readers will not have bread machines. My advice, if you are looking for a bread machine, is to first look for one at a thrift store, they should have outlets available for you to plug in a try out the machine. Otherwise you can look for a local Italian grocery store who may sell fresh dough (locally, Cantoro's Market, 7 and Middlebelt), or you could pick up frozen pizza dough at any grocery store.

Most of the ingredients you should already have in your cupboards.
Ingredients: water, corn meal, olive oil, flour, onion powder, garlic powder, yeast, salt, baking powder and sugar (in the blue lidded container).

First I placed all of the dry ingredients into my bread maker.

Followed by the water and the olive oil.

The dough setting on my machine takes an hour and forty minutes... so plan well in advance.

This dough recipe claims to be a knock off of Pizza Hut's... I haven't eaten at Pizza Hut in years (and I didn't order one for a side by side comparison) but my husband (who prefers Jett's) said that this pizza had "great taste!"

The dough batch is enough for two medium pizzas, or a large pizza and bread sticks.

Toppings Side Note: I've made a few home-baked pizzas in my day, and so I've learned that a single (15-ish oz) can of pizza sauce can cover 3 pizzas. When I first open my can of sauce, I divide it into thirds and freeze the two remaining thirds for later date pizzas.

I also decided to shred my Mozzarella on the larger shred side of the grater. I used 2 cups of shredded Mozzarella cheese on my pizza- and trust me, it was plenty!!!

We have purchased pre-made pizza dough from Cantoro's Market (really yummy) and just spread our toppings on top and baked the pizza. This Pizza Hut clone's recipe calls for parbaking the crust for 10 minutes BEFORE adding the sauce an toppings. PARBAKE: to prebake. Who knew?

Side Note: When rolling out/stretching out your dough, use floured hands and a floured surface... and if your dough is sticky, coat it will more flour.

I decided to only bake a single medium sized pizza (since it is just the three of us) and I packed the second half for the freezer! (We'll see how that turns out... my plan is to let it thaw in the fridge over night before I make my next pizza.)

This is what parbaking did to my crust. (If you peek at the upper right section of my crust you can see my 'crust band-aid,' my husband found a You Tube video on pizza dough tossing (as if...) and you are supposed to spread the dough out on the backs of your hands with your knuckles... again, who knew?)

Then I layered on our toppings, 'his and hers' style (I'm the Feta and tomato half :) ).

After baking our pizza for 10-15 minutes, this is what was pulled from the oven. Delicious!

Thick and crusty! The only thing that I'd do differently next time, is I would butter the crust edges a little bit before the final baking!

Recipe Recap: (baking temperature: 450*)
1 1/3 cups of water
2 teaspoons of sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons of salt
2 tablespoons of olive oil (+ additional for parbaking step)
2 tablespoons of cornmeal
3 1/4 cups of flour (not bread flour, just regular flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon of onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of yeast

Chicken Parmesan Tutorial

Every once in a while I get in the mood for Chicken Parmesan... it is such a yummy and beautiful dish.

Ingredients: Chicken breasts, bread crumbs, Ranch salad dressing,* tomato sauce, pasta and sliced deli cheese (I prefer Provolone). *You can substitute a whipped egg with a little bit of milk instead of the Ranch salad dressing... but I don't recommend it (wink!!!).

TIP: If you are pulling your chicken breasts from the freezer, you can either allow them to thaw for 24-ish hours in your fridge, or you can place them in a Ziploc bag in a bowl of COLD water. Change the water every 15 minutes, and your chicken should be thawed within an hour. *Place a heavy object on top of the chicken to keep it submerged and equally thawed.

Place a healthy portion of bread crumbs and Ranch salad dressing in separate bowls. Keep in mind that there will be waste from both of these ingredients.

First, dip the chicken breast in the Ranch salad dressing- make sure to coat the entire breast well!

Then immediately dip the dripping with Ranch piece of chicken into the bread crumbs, and again, coat well.

Over low to medium heat, melt a little bit of butter or olive oil, and then add your crumbed chicken breasts. I place them top side down FIRST, since I only plan to flip them once.

Add a lid, and allow the breasts to cook for about 10 minutes. When the edges of the chicken breasts begin to turn white, carefully flip your chicken. *It may be tempting to flip the chicken with tongs- but I'd advise flipping gently with a spatula since the crusting can easily come off of the chicken. If you do happen to lose some of the crusting, don't worry! Cheese will cover any 'bald spots!'

Cheese! Glorious cheese!

Place a slice of cheese over each chicken breast after cooking for an additional 10-ish minutes after flipping. *Always check to see if your chicken is thoroughly cooked by cutting into a piece- and again, don't worry about the slice- the cheese will cover that too!

Serve over pasta mixed with tomato sauce and drizzle with an additional stripe of sauce!

Recipe Recap:
1 box of pasta
1 jar's worth of sauce
1 chicken breast per person being served
1-2 cups of bread crumbs
1-2 cups of Ranch salad dressing
1 slice of deli cheese per person being served
butter or olive oil to place in the pan

Alfredo Lasagna

Ingredients for Sauce (Tutorial)
1/2 C. Butter (aka: 1 stick)
2 Cloves Garlic (I use about 8)
2 C. Heavy Cream (16 ounces)
1/4 t. Pepper
1/2 C. Parmesan Cheese
3/4 C. Mozzarella Cheese (I use the fine shred variety for quicker melting!)

To Prepare:
Melt butter on medium heat. Add garlic, cream and pepper- simmer (5 min.). Stir often. Add Parmesan cheese and simmer 10 minutes. When sauce seems thick, slowly add Mozzarella cheese and stir until smooth.

Ingredients for the lasagna:
3-4 chicken breasts worth of shredded chicken
1 (16 oz) container of cottage cheese
1 (2c.) package of shredded mozzarella
9 cooked lasagna noodles
1 small package of fresh spinach leaves
1 batch of homemade Alfredo sauce (I actually use 1/2 a batch).

For the layering:
I spread a little bit of sauce on the bottom of the pan, then I layer lasagna noodles (cooked), then I mix 1/3 of the Alfredo sauce with 1/3 the container of cottage cheese, and I spread that over the noodles.

Next I spread a layer of shredded chicken across the Alfredo/cottage cheese mix. Then I place a thin layer of fresh spinach leaves on top of the chicken.

I finish out the layer but sprinkling 1/3 of the package of mozzarella cheese. Triple the layers and add Italian bread crumbs on top of the final layer.

Bake at 350* for 45 minutes covered and 15 minutes uncovered.

Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting and serving! Enjoy!

Faux Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients: Ground beef, potatoes, mixed veggies, cream of chicken soup, milk and corn starch... how could you go wrong? Simple. Inexpensive. Yummy.

*Note: I'm pretty sure that I have never used corn starch before- so I had to make a mad dash last minute run to get some... don't worry if you need to purchase some too, mine was only $1.29!

I decided to start with the potatoes. I peeled and boiled 5 good sized potatoes. I did have a bit left over- but I'm OK with that... wink!

The recipe calls for STIFF mashed potatoes, which means NO milk or butter can be added. So I decided to whip out my Kitchen-Aid stand mixer and let it do the hard work of mashing for me! (I WILL NEVER HAND MASH AGAIN...EVER!)

Bonus features from using a mixer (just in time for Thanksgiving... you're welcome!)
1. Perfectly smooth mashed potatoes!
2. All of the swirling helped to cool the potatoes more quickly.
3. I could attend to making the rest of the recipe- I simply just walked away!
4. No muscle fatigue or cranky attitude flare up mid-mashing!

I added one pound of my previously cooked ground beef. It is important NOT to drain the beef, as this adds to the flavoring of the dish. I used Angus, which left me with less 'juices' than other varieties may have.

Once the ground beef has been thoroughly cooked, I added the contents of one can of cream of chicken soup. Mix well and heat thoroughly.

While my meat and soup were melding together on the stove top, I stirred one cup of milk and one tablespoon of cornstarch together.

It is important not to have any cornstarch lumps - so I made sure to smash the back of my spoon into the side of the measuring cup while stirring to break apart any lumps that I found.

TIP: Once you are satisfied that your contents are thoroughly mixed, pour immediately into the pot on the stove. The cornstarch will settle to the bottom of the container when you stop stirring.

Next add a package of frozen mixed veggies (I LOVE adding my FREE after doubled coupon veggies into meals!!!).

Keep stirring until all of your ingredients are heated thoroughly and are combined well.

I lightly sprayed the bottom of my casserole dish and poured my beef and veggie mixture inside.

Next, I loaded up a piping bag with an extra large decorating tip (I knew these would come in handy someday...) and I squeezed little dollops of mashed potatoes, coating the top. In truth, you could just spread a thin layer of potatoes on top with a spatula... but where is the fun in that? AND... I loved cutting perfect pieces between the potato dollops...

TIP: The warmer the mashed potatoes, the easier the squeezing and the better the presentation. I actually made a second Shepherd's Pie to freeze, and the time between piping the two batches allowed my potatoes to cool significantly. I also noticed that the first pie was far more attractively piped, so next time I will microwave my potatoes if necessary.

Bake at 400* for 15-20 minutes, or until thoroughly warmed!

And let me say, this is delicious!!!

Recipe Recap: serves 4
1 pound of undrained ground beef
4-5 medium/large potatoes
1 package of mixed vegetables
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon of cornstarch

This recipe *may* be the perfect answer to what to do with your leftover potatoes after Thanksgiving...

Chicken Chili

I have been serving this Chicken Chili to guests for years! Each time I make this recipe for a new audience I am asked for the recipe, but I have dodged and evaded actually sharing the recipe since my Chicken Chili is embarrassingly easy (and inexpensive) to make!!!

Simple, yet healthy ingredients allow my Chicken Chili to be quick to make, filling and delicious!

Ingredients:
2 cups shredded chicken.
2 cups of homemade chicken stock (or 2 cans)
3 cans of Great Northern beans (do not drain)
2 packages of mixed vegetables (or 3 cans- do not drain)
3 tablespoons of taco seasoning mix (or 3 packets)
6-8 cups of water (dependant on canned vegetable liquid)

Open and pour in the 3 cans of undrained Great Northern beans.

Add either fresh or frozen shredded chicken to the crock pot.

See how easy this is? Embarrassing!!! Add the vegetables.

Add the taco seasoning- you'll be amazed at how yummy this soup is!

Finally, pour your chicken stock and the 6-8 cups of water on top and give all of the ingredients a good stirring.

Keeping your crock pot on the low setting, cook your soup for 3-6 hours before serving.

Surprise, surprise... I LOVE to add shredded Cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream on top of my soup!

This soup wonderfully compliments a crusty bread and side salad! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how filling this easy Chicken Chili is!

NOTE: The shredded chicken and the chicken stock for this recipe are from the chicken that I used for my Chicken Stock post. Half of the shredded chicken was used to make this Chicken Chili recipe.

Quiche

Cheddar and Bacon Quiche
3oz bacon bits
6oz shredded cheddar cheese
1 uncooked pie crust
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1c. half and half, although we will use whole milk

Preheat oven to 400*

Mix all ingredients (sans crust) well and place into the pie crust and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350* and continue baking for 35 more minutes. Let your quiche cool for about 5 minutes before serving.

Mashed Potato Soup

Each time that I make this soup, I break the process into two days. On the first day I prepare the potatoes. Normally I purchase 10 pounds of potatoes(the variety isn't really all that important, but I find the bigger the potatoes the less time it takes to peel them!), but this time I peeled 15 pounds because I was taking this soup to a party!

After I have rinsed and peeled my potatoes, I like to cut them into chunks so that they boil and cook faster. Large potatoes I slice into six sections and the smaller ones just into quarters.

Boiling potatoes is very easy, just fill the pot with water until your potatoes are completely covered with water. Keep in mind that the potato water likes to bubble over, so keep a close eye (I prefer to keep within ear shot) on your pot. I usually keep the lid offset enough to let a little bit of steam escape, and somehow this keeps my pot from boiling over.

While my potatoes were cooking, I peeled and shredded my 1 pound bag or carrots. It is FAR easier to shred long carrots than chubby/short baby carrots. And long carrots are less expensive too. ($.79/bag for long carrots vs. $1.39/bag for baby carrots.)

I was pleasantly surprised to receive nearly 4 cups of shredded carrot from just a single pound bag. I popped both of these containers into the freezer, even though one would be used the next day!

When my potatoes were done cooking (you can test their 'doneness' with a fork, if a fork easily pierces a potato they are done!) I drained all of the 'potato' water out of the stock pot. I reserved about 8 cups for use in the soup stock. (I let the potato water cool completely on my counter before I let it refrigerate overnight.)

Here are my two secret weapons for supremely yummy mashed potatoes... a block of cream cheese and a stick of butter!!! YUMM-O! I cut my cream cheese and butter into squares and then I mash them into my potatoes (hint: I mash my potatoes with the pot in the kitchen sink so that it can't accidentally slip off of the counter when I'm furiously mashing!)

I fill a 9x13 pan with mashed potatoes, and I will use the rest of the mashed potatoes as the base to my soup! (And yes, I like my mashed potatoes lumpy!)

After filling my 9x13, I still had 8 cups of mashed potatoes left over for the soup. I allowed both of these containers of potatoes to cool before I set them into the refrigerator overnight.

The following afternoon (day of serving) I put together the rest of my ingredients for the soup. On the far left is the 8 cups of potato water, I used 1 bag (even though 2 were pictured) of frozen corn, 2 jars of bacon crumbles(you could crumble your own), the small container of liquid is home made chicken stock, 8 cups of mashed potatoes, and 2-ish cups of shredded carrots.

I also shredded a block of cheddar cheese to use as a topping!

After your soup has had a chance to meld together (either on the stove top or in your crock pot) for about 2 hours, warm your mashed potatoes in the oven (30 min. at 350*).

Place a large scoop of mashed potatoes into the bottom of your bowl and add a ladle or two of your mashed potato soup on top. Add shredded cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream and... enjoy!