Hummus

A couple of years ago, I posted a recipe for wanna-be hummus. This is another version that is even easier. It's super yummy and has tons of flavor. You could use it as a dip for veggies or pita bread, or you could put it on a sandwich or wrap. I used it on Middle Eastern Pita Pizzas (recipe coming soon!).

Ingredients:
1 can great northern beans
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
parsley

Drain beans, but reserve 2 tablespoons of the liquid. Then, in a food processor, blend all ingredients (including reserved bean liquid) until smooth. Spoon dip into a serving dish, and enjoy!

What's your favorite dip?

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Chicken Enchilada Pasta

I stumbled across this gem of a recipe several months ago (my picture file says June) on a website called My Kitchen Cafe. I was frantically searching through my files trying to find a recipe to post. I stumbled across this one and can't believe I've neglected it before now! It's so super good. I was skeptical when I first read it because I thought, "Enchiladas and pasta? Together? Really?" But the combination is a perfect marriage of texture and flavor. It's just perfection.

This dish has the potential to be super spicy, depending on what kind of enchilada sauce you use. I use mild because I'm a wimp.....er, I mean, because my kids don't love spicy food. I made it once using medium enchilada sauce, and even that was a bit much for us. So if you're not big into spicy, make sure you use mild.

Ingredients:
2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed or shredded
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
4-ounce can diced green chilies
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
2 (10-oz) cans green chili enchilada sauce
2/3 cup red enchilada sauce
1 can large black olives, cut in half
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
16-20 oz. penne pasta

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and cook the pasta until tender. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet and cook the onion for 2-3 minutes, or until translucent. Add the garlic and red pepper and cook for another 2 minutes, until pepper is barely tender. Add the cooked chicken, green chilies, spices, enchilada sauces and olives. Let the sauce simmer for about 8-10 minutes. Add the sour cream and cheese and heat through, until the cheese is melted. Be careful not to boil the sauce, otherwise your dairy will curdle. Pour the sauce over the hot pasta. Garnish with extra sour cream, cheese, diced tomatoes, green onions, crushed tortilla chips, diced avocado, shredded lettuce, etc.

Have you ever tried something that originally sounded weird, but you ended up loving it?

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Crunchy Onion Barbecue Chicken

This is another recipe that I got from Full Bellies, Happy Kids. She said she got it from Taste of Home. I don't remember seeing it in any of the recent magazines, so I'm glad I saw it on her blog. It was really tasty! My kids devoured it, and it was super easy and quick. I always have all the ingredients on hand, so it's a perfect go-to meal. I served mine with buttermilk mashed potatoes. It would go great with anything you'd serve at a barbecue -- corn on the cob, potato salad, etc -- or serve it with green bean casserole to use up more of the French's french fried onions.

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1 1/3 cups French's french fried onions, crushed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Combine onions, cheese and pepper in a shallow dish or bowl. Put barbecue sauce into separate shallow dish or bowl. Coat both sides of chicken breast halves into barbecue sauce, then dip one side into onion mixture. Place chicken onion side up on a foil lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400* for about 25 minutes, or until cooked through.

Do you have any yummy recipes that use French's french fried onions (besides green bean casserole)?

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Spaghetti a la Philly

First off, I'm sorry about the lack of posting (again with the lack of posting!). It's finals for me right now, and it's just been a bit crazy. One week left! Woo!

A few weeks ago, I told you about the hot corn dip I found from Full Bellies, Happy Kids. Well, since then, I have tried many of her recipes and have really enjoyed them all! Today's is also from her site. She said she originally found it from Love My Philly. I have yet to check out that site, but I'm going to. We always have cream cheese on hand, and I'd love to come up with new ways to use it!

So this recipe was super simple and tasty. It's a perfect quick weeknight meal. It really intrigued my kids that their spaghetti had cream cheese in it. My kids love spaghetti anyway, but this made it even more kid-friendly. Admittedly, my husband was very skeptical ("Cream cheese in spaghetti? Are you sure about that?"), but he even said it was yummy after we were finished.

Ingredients:
3/4 pound spaghetti
1 pound ground beef
1 jar spaghetti sauce
4 ounces cream cheese, cubed
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Cook noodles according to package directions. While noodles cook, brown ground beef in a saute pan; drain. Add spaghetti sauce and cream cheese, and cook until cream cheese is melted.

Drain spaghetti, and toss with sauce. Serve topped with Parmesan.

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Cream Biscuits

Christmas is coming! I can't believe it's this Friday. Crazy how fast this year has gone! In honor of Christmas being this week, I thought I'd post recipes that will make your holiday entertaining easier. There's almost nothing worse than having a house full of guests and not knowing what to feed them that is quick, easy and cheap!

These cream biscuits are quick, easy AND cheap. They come together in a flash and are really tasty. I love biscuits but never thought I could make them. My mom always told me it's tricky to make biscuits, so now I'm wondering what recipe she uses because this is seriously easy!

There are only 2 things to remember when making biscuits. First, don't over-knead the dough. Knead it as little as possible, otherwise the biscuits will be tough. And secondly, if you use a biscuit cutter, DO NOT (I repeat DO NOT!) twist the cutter. Just push it straight down, then pull it straight up. If you twist it, your biscuits will rise all wonky and will look really lopsided.

If you want to make these ahead, you can. But they'll only be good in the fridge for up to 2 hours. Just prepare the dough, cut out the biscuits, put them on the parchment-lined baking sheet and then cover with plastic wrap before refrigerating.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

**This recipe will make about 10 biscuits.**

Adjust an oven rack to the upper-middle position and preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in the cream with a wooden spoon until the dough forms, about 30 seconds. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and gather into a ball. Knead until the dough becomes smooth, about 30 seconds.

Roll the dough into a 3/4 inch circle. Cut the biscuits into rounds using a biscuit cutter or into wedges using a knife.

Place the biscuits on the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Then bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Serve with butter, jam, honey butter or sausage gravy!

Do you have company coming for Christmas?
Any special holiday meals you like to make?

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Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

K, the more recipes I try from my new cookbook, the more I love it. It is so awesome! Seriously, go get a copy! Are you sick of me raving about it yet? Go get a copy and I'll stop! ;-)

A couple of days ago, I was so busy that my day flew by, and it was dinner time before I knew what was happening or had anything planned. I had the bare minimum in the fridge and pantry, so I scoured my cookbook to see what I could possibly make. I found this recipe and decided to give it a try. I saw a cooking show years ago (Rachael Ray, I think?) where the chef made this dish, but I've never tried it. It was so easy and really yummy! Perfect quick, weeknight supper!

A word about the cheese. Just buy a bag of the pre-shredded Parmesan blend, which has the Pecorino and Parmesan already. It'll save you a lot of time and money, rather than buying a block of each.

Ingredients:
3 large eggs
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup Pecorino Romano cheese
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 slices bacon, chopped
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken stock
salt and pepper
1 pound spaghetti

Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, cheeses and garlic together. Set aside. Then cook the bacon and olive oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium heat until the bacon is crisp, about 8 minutes. Add the wine (or chicken stock).

Simmer until it is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and cover.

Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water before draining the pasta. Toss the pasta with the bacon mixture and the cheese mixture. If needed, add additional pasta water to loosen the sauce before serving.

My kids inhaled this. My 4 year old literally had 4 helpings. Not kidding. Spaghetti and bacon? Yes, please!

What do you think of our new blinkie? Have you added one to your blog?
Let us know if you have!

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Pasta Salad

This is similar to the Italian Pasta Salad recipe I posted a while ago. It's just more Americanized, and I think it's more kid-friendly. And it uses fewer, cheaper ingredients. It's great to take to a BBQ or a potluck because it doesn't have any mayo in it. I make a big batch and eat it all week for lunch. It makes a great side dish for burgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken, sandwiches, even steak. You could even throw in some leftover diced up chicken to make it a meal-in-one.

You can throw lots of things into this to change it up -- peas, bell pepper, green onions, red onion. It's a great way to use up lots of leftover things in your fridge.

Ingredients:
16 ounces tri-colored rotini
3/4 cup olives, chopped
1 cup sharp cheddar, cubed
2 tomatoes, diced
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
1/2 bottle Italian dressing
Grated Parmesan

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain. Put into a large bowl and cool completely (or you can do an ice bath if you're in a hurry). You really need the noodles thoroughly cooled, otherwise your cheese will melt.

When noodles are cool, add cheese cubes, olives, parsley and tomatoes. Stir until well combined. Then add Italian dressing, to taste. You might not need the full half bottle -- you don't want it runny, but you do want enough to make the noodles wet and give flavor. **Side Note: If you make this ahead and store in the fridge, the noodles will absorb most, if not all, of the dressing. So make sure you have extra on hand to re-wet the pasta.**

Before serving, sprinkle with Parmesan.

Is there anybody out there?
Leave us some comments!
It's no fun talking to ourselves all the time! ;)

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Gnocchi

Every time I make this, it always makes me miss having cable. I got this recipe from the Food Network channel years ago. Good ol' Giada. I used to love Everyday Italian. I'd never tried gnocchi before and always assumed it took a painstakingly long time to make. Boy, was I wrong.

Normally, when I'm in the mood for Italian food, my brain automatically wants fettuccine Alfredo. I loooove me some Alfredo sauce. Considering my hips/waist/thighs/rear don't love Alfredo sauce as much as I do, it's great that I found a yummy alternative. Speaking of Alfredo, I'm going to try topping my gnocchi with it next time I eat it!

This is super kid-friendly, too. My kids gobbled this up. And had second helpings. Second helpings!! We ate it plain the first night (with just butter and shredded Parmesan), but then my husband and I ate more for a late dinner last night, and we topped it with tomato sauce (spaghetti sauce works, or you can use tomato sauce that you season with oregano, thyme, etc). Either way, it's delish.

It would be a big hit at a party! Perfect finger food (well, skewered with toothpicks). It's great as a main dish (which is how we ate it this time) or as a side dish.

ALSO (did you know there was so much to say about gnocchi?!), since it's made from potatoes (starch), it's super filling. And it's a meatless meal. I'm always on the lookout for meatless meals, so that's another reason why I love this dish. Cheap, meatless, yummy, easy, perfect.

Ingredients:
3 pounds potatoes (mine were on the smaller side, so I used about 8 potatoes)
3-4 cups flour
1 egg
salt

Put whole potatoes in a large pot of water (you won't be eating the skins, so you don't *have* to wash them, but I do anyway). Boil for 45 minutes.

While still warm, peel the skins off (they're so soft that you can just use your fingers -- after letting them cool a bit first!).

Place in your mixer and whip with your whisk attachment. If you don't have a mixer, you can just use a large bowl (or the pot) and a potato masher. But when I first did it that way, it was too chunky, so I used my mixer instead. Perfect consistency that way. After it's blended, make a well in the center. Crack the egg into the well and then sprinkle with flour (start with 3 cups and add more if you need it).

Then you knead. Knead until it all comes together. Add more flour if you need to. Now, this next part you can do one of two ways (i.e. the traditional way or my made up way). The traditional way is to take softball size balls of the dough and roll them out into long strips (like as snake). Then you cut them into 3/4" size pieces. I didn't really like doing that, so what I do is just take a portion of dough and roll them into balls in my hands (probably 1-1.5" balls). Much bigger than the traditional size, but I like them better that way. Plus, I have young kids, so it's easier for them to stab their forks into that way.

Next, you drop them into a few inches of simmering water. Do it in batches so you don't overload your pan (which will lower the cooking temperature of your water and make the process take longer). Swish them around a bit while they cook so they don't stick together. When they float, they're done.

Drain, and then brown them in a couple tablespoons of butter until lightly browned.

Sprinkle with shredded Parmesan (or tomato/spaghetti sauce) and serve!

What's your favorite starch?

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Spanish Spirals

I can't remember exactly where I got this recipe but I am thinking it's from one of the more recent cookbooks my mom has acquired. It is very simple and tastes great.

Spanish Spirals

1 lb ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

2 cups uncooked rotini

2 tsp salt

1 tsp chili powder

¼ tsp garlic powder

In a skillet, cook the beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.

Stir in the tomatoes, rotini, salt, sugar, chili powder, and garlic powder. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until rotini is tender.

Serves 4-6

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Cinnamon Raisin Bites

It's spring break this week and next, so I've had to come up with some activities to keep my 7 year old busy during the day. She loves to help me in the kitchen, so I was really excited to find this recipe because it was perfect for us to do together. And all these ingredients are things we always have on hand, so I wasn't rushing out to buy forgotten ingredients.

She did the whole thing almost entirely by herself. The only tricky thing was that the dough for this recipe is super sticky, so she had some trouble spooning it onto the baking sheets. Some of them ended up without any raisins and they pretty much look like little gerbils after being baked, but hey, she had a great time, and I had a great time watching her. :)

This is another one from Taste of Home. I don't think I've ever come across an easier recipe than this one. These are really tasty. They're like a cross between a scone and a muffin in texture, I'd say. My kids have been eating them by the handful. I keep finding crumbs all over the house. :)

I didn't really change anything this time. Surprise, surprise. All I did was to use parchment paper on my baking sheets to avoid using extra oil for greasing the pans. Next time I make them, I think I'll throw in some chopped nuts, though -- walnuts, peanuts or pecans.

These are perfect to make for quick breakfasts throughout the week, and they make wonderful, healthy snacks throughout the day, too.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup raisins

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

In a small bowl, combine the milk, oil and honey. Then add to the dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Gently fold in raisins. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray (or parchment lined).

Bake at 425 for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Place on wire racks to completely cool. Or don't. They're really yummy when they're warm, so you may not have any left over.
See, I told you they look like gerbils (or some type of rodent). :)

What are your favorite things to make with your kids?

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Chuck Wagon Bean Bake

This is another recipe from my mom's collection. And since I'm living with her at this time you can just assume they come from her collection unless I specify otherwise :) This was so super easy and quick. It is one of those *make from the pantry* meals. Most of this is stuff I would always keep in my pantry so that makes it cheap as well. You could do several things with this. It is very hearty and yummy. It would go wonderfully with cornbread!

Chuck Wagon Bean Bake

Ingredients:

-- 1 lb lean or extra lean ground beef

-- ½ cup chopped onion

-- ½ cup chopped green bell pepper

-- 1 can (15 oz) baked beans, undrained

-- 1 can (15 oz) dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

-- 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed

-- 1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce

-- 1/3 cup barbecue sauce

-- ½ tsp salt (opt)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine ground beef, onion and green pepper in a large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until beef if browned and crumbly, about 8 minutes; drain.
2. Combine cooked beef mixture, baked beans, kidney beans, black beans, tomato sauce, barbecue sauce and salt in a 3-qt casserole dish.
3. Cover dish. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover dish; bake until mixture is bubbly and slightly thickened, 15-20 minutes longer.

Makes 6 servings

Variations:

You could omit the ground beef and serve as a side at a bbq.

You could even serve on buns like sloppy joes.

Enjoy!

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April's Fabulous Crock Pot Chili

Alright, I know you've all been waiting on the edge of your seats for this one. :) I came up with this one day while I was trying to think of something to cook for dinner that wouldn't take much time on my part. Then.... DING.... the light bulb turned on. I have everything to make chili and I could just throw it in the crock pot and not touch it again until dinner time. Well, it was perfect. You can do many variations with it as well. Different beans, veggies, tomatoes, spices, etc. It is also extremely budget friendly. If you are really tight just leave out the ground beef and you have a lot of dinner for just a couple dollars.

April's Fabulous Crock Pot Chili

1 lb ground beef
3 - 15 oz cans of beans (Any combination works great. My favorite is chili beans, kidney beans, and black beans.)
2 - 15 oz cans of tomatoes (any variety, if you like your chili chunky then use diced, if you like it smoother then use crushed)
1 - 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 small can diced green chilies
onion
garlic

Spices to taste:
chili powder
cumin
salt
pepper
paprika
oregano

Optional Veggies:
green bell pepper, chopped
red bell pepper, chopped
tomatoes, diced

• Brown ground beef with onion and garlic. I threw in the diced peppers and diced tomatoes when it was almost browned.
• While beef is browning, throw everything else in the crock pot.
  
• I put the tomato sauce into a small bowl and mix in all my spices into that and then I add it to the crock pot.
  
• I also added some chili powder to my beef mixture.
  
• When beef is done, add to crock pot and mix well.
• Cook on low until dinner time
• Serve with corn bread

This recipe completely fills my crock pot. I'm not sure the size but I'm guessing it's about 3 qt.


Enjoy!!

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