Alfredo Sauce

Today is day six of my unintentional meat strike. It started on Tuesday when I saw a photo of mechanically separated chicken (that at first looked deliciously like raspberry soft serve ice cream, but I later realized totally was NOT)...and since, the thought of any kind of meat makes my stomach turn. I'm really hoping this is a pregnancy thing because I love buffalo chicken dip, fresh grilled burgers, fettuccine carbonara, and all sorts of other meaty dishes. But, for now, I'm sticking to fish and veggies. It's making for a monstrous inconvenience as far as meals - making one thing for myself, another for the boy and Linds who want "real" food, and Luke not eating anything but mac-n-cheese or some sort of PB and [fill in the blank].

Anyhoo, I decided to do a big pot of alfredo pasta tonight and make things simple. I hadn't tried this exact recipe before, but it's a pretty basic alfredo recipe, so I knew it would be fine. The original calls for heavy cream, which I don't keep on hand just because of the ridiculous amount of calories, cholesterol and saturated fat contents, so I use a 1% millk/flour roux. I saved 700 calories in the dish AND it tastes just as delicious!

Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) package pasta of your choice
1 cup milk
1 T flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
A few shakes of parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Meanwhile, combine milk, flour and butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Heat until butter melts, stirring occasionally; be careful not to bring mixture to a boil. Stir in Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, pepper and garlic powder. 
3. Toss with cooked pasta and serve immediately.

Spaghetti w/ Meat Sauce

Grocery shopping is way overdue. I got a little lazy with Thanksgiving and all the running around we've been doing and haven't done much cooking. With all the rain we had today, it seemed like the perfect day to throw together some meat sauce and let it simmer all afternoon. The house smells great, there will be a home-cooked meal on the table, and it's something everyone will eat - I'm pretty sure that qualifies as a success! I always double this recipe so I can freeze a bunch of the sauce and have it on hand for quick meals down the road. And this one is so easy - really only takes about 15 minutes of active prep time for the sauce, and then you can make the pasta while it's simmering.

Spaghetti Tomato/Meat Sauce
Ingredients
1 (28 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 pound lean ground beef
2 yellow onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Blend the stewed tomatoes and crushed tomatoes in a blender.
2. In a large pot, brown the ground beef with the onions and garlic. 
3. Pour in tomatoes, and reduce heat. 
4. Add sugar, basil, oregano, salt and pepper, and cover. 
5. Simmer about 45 minutes. Serve warm over pasta of your choice.

Lasagna

Yesterday was the first day of college football - whoo hoo! I love watching the games...but not nearly as much as the boy. I can sit still for at least one game...*sometimes* two, depending on who is playing. He could sit there for an entire day and watch?! With yesterday being the first week, that's what he did. When the kids were napping, I was already getting antsy, so I decided to make lasagna. This recipe takes awhile and has lots of steps, but is worth it. The cold leftovers for breakfast are pretty darn delicious, too!

Lasagna
Ingredients
1 pound ground sausage
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup minced onion
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
1 (15 ounce) can canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
18 lasagna noodles
15 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Fill a pan with hot water and soak lasagna noodles while sauce is cooking (sounds strange, but it works AND saves you from cleaning another pan). 
3. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
5. To assemble, layer 6 noodles along bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce on top. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella. 
6. Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 40 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving. 

Baked Ziti

When a good friend of mine has a baby, loses a loved one, falls ill, moves, or otherwise is in need of an extra hand, the first thing that comes to mind is, "let me make you dinner!" I'm not sure why food is ingrained in my mind as the solution to any need...my guess is that it is my mom's influence (she's the same way - show someone you care with a big ol' casserole or dish of pasta!). Regardless, all of the people in my life know that when the going gets tough, Erica gets cooking :)

When a new, but dear pal suffered with some health issues, I insisted on bringing her and her men some food (she's married with two of the kindest, most respectful sons I've ever met). Rachele is a wonderfully special person to me and has, on several occasions, made me realize how much more capable of things I really am. Food still doesn't seem like enough, but it's what I do.

I decided to put together my baked ziti and tossed in some salad, garlic crescent rolls and an Oreo pudding pie. I'm not gonna lie - I *almost* "forgot" that pie when I went to her place ;-) It looked SO good! Sorry to my veggie friends...this is definitely not a recipe I can adapt and still give the same effect. The meat is what makes it!

Baked Ziti
Ingredients
1 lb ziti noodles
1 lb ground sausage
1/2 lb ground beef
3 cups mozzarella cheese
3 cups marinara/spaghetti sauce
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Cook ziti in boiling water; drain.
3. Brown meats; drain off fat.
4. In a large baking dish, layer ziti, meat, cheese and sauce; repeat until everything has been used.
5. Top with Parmesan cheese.
6. Bake about 30 - 40 minutes until bubbly.

Cooking Extravaganza!

A wonderful friend of mine, Katie (yes, the one who gave us the hit dish Cornbread Chicken Enchiladas), is having a little baby girl in February. In her ever-so-responsible nature, she decided she wanted to freeze a whole bunch of meals so that when she and baby return home, her husband wouldn't be burdened with all the cooking and she wouldn't be even more overwhelmed with cooking on top of all the other new tasks. What better way to spend a Thursday than cooking with a great friend?!

Naturally, it's important to cook on a full stomach, so we swung to Qdobas and picked up some burritos for lunch. We also needed to get some storage containers for her food, so we hit the Target attached to the Springfield Mall. Let me tell you what - it's a two-story store (which I've never seen before) AND the coolest part was that in between the escalators in the middle, there was one for the cart?!? I was so amused watching the carts go up and down alongside the people. It's the little things that amuse me...

Anyways, we got home, scarfed down food and then went to work (oh, right, and we took a chocolate fondue break...yummmm!). We made a black bean pie (thanks to Barb C. for that recipe!), a chicken pot pie (not traditional PA Dutch...the stereotypical kind), a chicken-noodle bake, meatloaf and lasagna. When it was all said and done we had enough food for at least 15 days worth of dinners! I'd say it was a resounding success. We're hoping to get one more all-day session in so she has a  good month's worth of food.

Here's our prep area:

Here are recipes for everything we did and some photos recapping our fun :)

Black Bean Pie
Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
2/3 cup salsa
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 (9 inch) unbaked 9 inch pie crusts
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). 
2. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Sauté onion and green pepper until tender. Sir in beans, salsa, red bell pepper, chili powder, cayenne and black pepper. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. 
3. Spoon half of the mixture into one of the pie crusts and cover with half of the cheese. Repeat with remaining beans and cheese. Top with remaining crust. 
4. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. 
5. Let it sit for about 5 or 10 minutes before cutting into it so that it has a chance to firm up. 

Pre-cooked pie:

Me in my cooking glory:

Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
1 cup sliced carrots
3/4 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup sliced celery
3 medium potatoes
1 bullion cube
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 (9 inch) unbaked deep-dish pie crusts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, potatoes and celery. Add bullion cube and water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.
3. In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust (making a dome on top), seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.  

Chicken Noodle Bake
Ingredients
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
6 ounces egg noodles
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
1 cup crumbled buttery round crackers
1/2 cup butter

Directions

1. Poach chicken in a large pot of simmering water. Cook until no longer pink in center, about 12 minutes. Remove from pot and set aside. Bring chicken cooking water to a boil and cook pasta in it. Drain. Cut chicken into small pieces, and mix with noodles.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together mushroom soup, chicken soup, and sour cream. Season with salt and pepper. Gently stir together cream soup mixture with the chicken mixture. Place in a 2 quart baking dish.
3. Melt butter in a small saucepan, and remove from heat. Stir in crumbled crackers. Top casserole with the buttery crackers.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 30 minutes, until heated through and browned on top. 

Katie's chicken-noodle bake:

Our finished pies and the bake:

All stored up:

I don't have the meatloaf recipe (forgot to write it down, but I know I can still get it from Katie!), and her lasagna was simple...layers of ground beef, mozzarella cheese, marinara sauce and noodles.

Everything turned out deliciously (we, of course, had to sample!). If you have any recommendations for good freezable meals for us to make on our second go-round, post it in the comment section. We plan to make baked potato soup and her husband's going to make shepherd's pie, but we need a few more suggestions. Oh, and next time, Katie - we need a photo together!!

December 14 - Meals for Mamas

Two more of our MOMS Club members had babies recently and it was my turn to bring them dinner on Tuesday night. I didn't have a chance to make it to Wegmans to get all the fixings for baked potato pizza, so I decided to make them rigatoni with sausage and peas instead. I had forgotten about this recipe until I glanced through my saved dishes on allrecipes.com. I made a triple batch - one for each mama and one for us. Both my kids ate it happily, so I was stoked about that! I got more pictures of Luke, too, while he played with his rigatoni. Normally I don't encourage playing with food, but there was something uber cute about him putting the rigatoni around his fingers and gnawing it off.

Rigatoni w/ Sausage & Peas
Ingredients
1 16-ounce box rigatoni pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound ground sausage
2 cups frozen green peas
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a large skillet, heat oil and sauté garlic over medium heat. Add sausage and brown.
2. Once brown, add frozen peas and simmer for 5 minutes.

3.  In the meantime, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. 
4. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain. 

5. Slowly add heavy cream and butter to sausage skillet; bring to a slight boil. 
6. Cook for 5 minutes. 
7. Toss with cooked pasta and top with Parmesan cheese. 

December 6 - Fettuccine Carbonara

Food funk be damned! I'm sick of feeling blah, so I'm breaking out of it and forcing an upswing in my mood. For ages I've found cooking to be comforting and a great stress-relief, so what better way to beat the blues than by going back to preparing real meals?

I have a pretty exciting list of meals that I grocery shopped for, so there were a bunch I could have made that sounded good (spicy Mongolian beef, Valerie's chicken, jambalaya). I also had a recipe for fettuccine carbonara and all the fixins, so what the hell? It felt like a pasta night anyways.

It turned out so incredibly well, the boy loved it (it had bacon, how could he not?), Linds ate two bowls (alright!), and Luke even took a bite or two before collapsing into hysteria (overtired and ready for bed). I loved it, too, so a hit all around. This was the *perfect* way to get back into the swing of things.

Fettuccine Carbonara
Ingredients
5 teaspoons olive oil
4 shallots, diced
1 large onion, cut into thin strips
1 pound bacon, cut into strips
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 (16 ounce) package fettuccini pasta
3 egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Sauté shallots until softened. Stir in onion and bacon, and cook until bacon is evenly browned. Drain grease and then stir in garlic when bacon is about half done. Remove from heat.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain pasta, then return it to the pot.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks, cream, and shredded Parmesan. Pour the bacon mixture over the pasta, then stir in the cream mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

October 20 - Rigatoni w/ sausage and peas

I'm actually glad that the photo uploader was down on Blogger yesterday because my review would have been a lot different! I made this dinner and *loved* it last night - it was quick and delicious (albeit high in calories); I reheated it for lunch and it did not reheat well. It lost the alfredo-ish texture of the sauce and was pretty much dripping with oil...not at all like the night before. So if you do decide to make it (and I highly recommend you do!), eat it all in one sitting.

Rigatoni w/ Sausage & Peas
Ingredients
1 16-ounce box rigatoni pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound ground sausage
2 cups frozen green peas
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a large skillet, heat oil and sauté garlic over medium heat. Add sausage and brown.
2. Once brown, add frozen peas and simmer for 5 minutes.

3.  In the meantime, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. 
4. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain. 

5. Slowly add heavy cream and butter to sausage skillet; bring to a slight boil. 
6. Cook for 5 minutes. 
7. Toss with cooked pasta and top with Parmesan cheese. 

The whole process should take just about half an hour. The estimated calories per serving is 611 (and this is an 8-serving dish). You can probably make some substitutions to get that number down (anything from cutting back on the amount of sausage to substituting ingredients in the sauce). The end result, however, is tasty...so try it on a splurge night (if you are food obsessed like me and count calories/fat/etc.!)

September 16 - Baked Ziti

Our MOMS Club has been growing exponentially lately - not just with new members, but with so many new babies! We have this program called "Helping Hands" so that when one of the mamas has a new baby, she can sign up for meal delivery. This is such a huge success that after I had Luke, I had 6 weeks of meals coming in 3 days a week. And all of them were big enough for leftovers on the off-days. It's so amazing how this group of women comes together to lend support to each other - and I'm grateful to not only be a recipient of their efforts, but also a participant!

My good friend, Jody (a fellow Munchin Mama), just had her second little girl, so I signed up to bring her dinner. Her family loves pasta, so even though I try not to make it (such an easy, go-to meal...I like to try to give something that others won't bring, too), I decided to go with the baked ziti staple.

I've posted this recipe a thousand times, I'm sure, but honestly, it's so easy and delicious, I'll post it again. It came from my mother-in-law...and even though I love to alter recipes to my taste, I've never had to touch this one. It's just perfect as is! I usually serve it up with salad and garlic crescent rolls (or some other bread).

Baked Ziti
Ingredients
1 lb ziti noodles
1 lb ground sausage
1/2 lb ground beef
3 cups mozzarella cheese
3 cups marinara/spaghetti sauce
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Cook ziti in boiling water; drain.
3. Brown meats; drain off fat.
4. In a large baking dish, layer ziti, meat, cheese and sauce; repeat until everything has been used.
5. Top with Parmesan cheese.
6. Bake about 30 - 40 minutes until bubbly.

June 18-20 - Weekend Eats

We had yet another jam-packed weekend! It started on Friday with an evening with Critter (my friend, Sarah's son). Since I was on my own with three kids over dinnertime (just until the boy got home), I ordered some Domino's and figured the cooking wouldn't get done anyways.

On Saturday, Linds had her dance recital in the morning - she did such a fantastic job! I am so proud! After the recital, my parents, the boy's parents, and the four of us all went to the Winner's Circle for lunch. I got a gigantic burger and fries, and my god, did it taste good. Here's a photo of the four of us after the recital:

And of course I have to show off Lindsay by herself!

We just snacked for dinner since we ate a later lunch, so no cooking Saturday either.

For Father's Day, we did absolutely nothing! I kept after the boy and he honestly just wanted to have a lazy day at home with no frills or fancy stuff. I decided to make a stromboli for dinner since the boy enjoys that and I don't frequently repeat my dishes - LOL. I've posted it before, but here's the recipe again - simple and delicious!

Stromboli
Ingredients
1 can Pillsbury refrigerated pizza dough
Ham
Salami
Sandwich pepperoni
Heidi Ann swiss cheese
Dijon mustard
Cheddar cheese
Marinara sauce (for dipping)

Directions

1. Unroll the pizza dough and lay flat.
2. Layer meats and cheeses alternately, adding mustard in between a layer.
3. Roll length-wise, pinching the seam and ends closed.
4. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.
5. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

June 5 - Happy Anniversary to us!

Today was the boy's and my 6-year anniversary! To celebrate, we went out to dinner at the Olive Tree (a great Mediterranean restaurant in Downingtown) and then saw Get Him to the Greek. Dinner was fantastic...the movie? Not so much. But it didn't matter - we had 5 uninterrupted hours of adult time and were able to reconnect as partners instead of parents.

We've been hearing rave reviews of the Olive Tree for some time now - it's a BYOB favorite around here, but haven't taken the time to go. We had a Restaurant.com gift certificate, so we stocked up on a couple bottles of wine and headed over. We split a calamari appetizer (it's grilled, not deep-fried...absolutely delicious!), the boy got a pork chop, potatoes and veggies, and I got the shrimp and scallop kabobs, potatoes and veggies. I toyed with the idea of dessert, but was just too full.

Before dinner, though, we decided to have a small lunch, so I made mini-pita hamburgers and pasta salad. It was so yummy! The burgers were about a 1/2 portion of a normal one and the pitas are a much lighter bread than a roll. The pasta salad is also pretty light...it's my mom's recipe and a summer favorite of everyone in our family. Here's the pasta salad recipe:

Italian Pasta Salad
Ingredients
16-oz box of rotini pasta
1.5 cups cubed swiss or provolone cheese
1 cup fresh broccoli florets
1 bag of mini-pepperoni
1/2 cup chopped pepper (you can use any type - I like to use orange or yellow to give the salad more color)
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup wine vinegar
2 cloves minced garlic
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Cook pasta; drain and rinse with cold water. Drain again.
2. For salad, mix pasta, cheeses, broccoli, pepperoni, peppers, onions and parsley.
3. For dressing, combine olive oil, vinegar, garlic, basil, oregano and pepper.
4. Shake dressing and pour over pasta.
5. Cover and chill 4-24 hours.
6. Mix before serving.

And here's the burger recipe again...our friends Sarah and Michael watched the kiddos, so I left a bunch of burgers for them to eat. When we came home, they couldn't stop raving about how delicious they were! They are beyond simple and easy to make in bulk. Give 'em a try!

Hamburgers
Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs (equiv. to about 2 slices of bread if you want to make the effort to grate it - I always do)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
minced onion and garlic powder to taste

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients until well-formed.
2. Split into 6 even patties

May 24 - Spaghetti with meat sauce

We're back, but almost completely without food?! I dug around in the freezer for a little yesterday and uncovered a frozen bag of the spaghetti meat sauce I made a few weeks ago...so pasta it was! The cupboards are so barren I didn't even have anything to serve with it. With Luke's birthday tomorrow, I know I won't get to the store until at least Wednesday. Sounds like it's pizza for Tuesday!

Spaghetti Tomato/Meat Sauce
Ingredients
1 (28 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 pound lean ground beef
2 yellow onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Blend the stewed tomatoes and crushed tomatoes in a blender.
2. In a large pot, brown the ground beef with the onions and garlic. 
3. Pour in tomatoes, and reduce heat. 
4. Add sugar, basil, oregano, salt and pepper, and cover. 
5. Simmer about 45 minutes. Serve warm over pasta of your choice.

May 11 - Spaghetti w/ Meat Sauce

We're slowly working our way through the freezer as we get ready for vacation (5 days and counting!). Today I let Linds choose what to have (chicken or spaghetti) and she picked spaghetti. I had made this sauce two and a half weeks ago and absolutely loved it! The batch was enough for four meals, and makes a quick, homemade, delicious sauce...boiling water and heating it up is just too easy. Go ahead - give it a shot...I promise you'll like it!

Spaghetti Tomato/Meat Sauce
Ingredients
1 (28 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 pound lean ground beef
2 yellow onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Blend the stewed tomatoes and crushed tomatoes in a blender.
2. In a large pot, brown the ground beef with the onions and garlic. 
3. Pour in tomatoes, and reduce heat. 
4. Add sugar, basil, oregano, salt and pepper, and cover. 
5. Simmer about 45 minutes. Serve warm over pasta of your choice.

The prep time was about 15 minutes - that included chopping the onion and garlic, as well as browning it and mixing the sauce together. This would be simple to toss together and put in the crockpot on low for those of you who work. And like I mentioned before, next time I make it, I'm going to substitute 1/2 lb. of sausage for 1/2 lb. of the beef. I think that will give it a nice kick! If you want to make it vegetarian, however, delete the meat out of the recipe and substitute in two tablespoons of olive oil.

Playing catch-up...busy weekend!

WOW! Let me just say it was a SUPER busy weekend! We were gone all day Friday (MOMS Club activity and happy hour play-date at Julia's house), all day Saturday (sunning while the kiddos played at Christy's and then a visit from Lynzy and Conor who we haven't seen since New Year's!), and then the boy helped install cabinets at casa de Kurzeja on Sunday, so Sarah and Critter spent the day with us. By the time Monday rolled around, I was wiped out!

As for dinners...let's see. On Friday we did some quick pasta with jarred sauce (I used Bertolli's Four Cheese Rosa sauce - alfredo sauce mixed with tomatoes...pretty good!).

On Saturday we ordered out since we had company. Scott had stained part of the deck and we didn't know if it would be dry or not, so I didn't defrost anything. We got some Venice pizza and wraps...always a good meal and they deliver, which is nice (and a rarity for us out here!).

On Sunday, we dined at the Kurzeja's and let me tell you, they never disappoint in the food department! Sarah grilled skewers of chicken satay and fillets of salmon, put together a salad with some incredible homemade dressing, and I braised a bag of baby carrots. Topped off with wine and Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches, it was an incredible dinner! I still need to get her satay recipe, but here's the braised carrrot recipe:

Braised Carrots
Ingredients
1 lb. bag of baby carrots
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water (or chicken broth)
Parsley

Directions

1. Place carrots, butter, brown sugar, salt and water (or chicken broth) in pan over medium-high heat. 
2. Bring to boil. 
3. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes or until carrots are tender and liquid evaporates. 
4. Sear slightly for color and top with parsley.

I don't have any pictures, but suffice it to say - FANTASTIC!!

Apr. 25 - Spaghetti & Meat Sauce

It was a cool, rainy day - just absolutely miserable, with screaming kids, a bored mommy, and a daddy who wound up working a solid 6 hours out of the day (after traveling Thursday and Friday and not coming home until late). What better comfort food than spaghetti?

I used Ronzoni Smart Taste's spaghetti (which I "bought" seven boxes of and paid NOTHING using this deal and buying them at Giant where they're priced at $1 each. Thanks, Deal Finding Chik for the tip! I'm also not big into jarred sauce lately - I've eaten it so much that it just doesn't taste good anymore, so I made a tomato meat sauce to go with it. It was the *best* recipe I've tasted! The sauce was fantastic, albeit a tad bit runny, and it made enough for four separate meals. I divided the rest into three freezer bags and tossed it in the freezer - three meals ready to go! I definitely recommend trying this out. Next time, though, I might half and half it with sausage meat instead of all ground beef. We paired it with salads since we have 3 lbs. that I bought at BJ's and need to finish ASAP!

Oh, and I almost forgot - since it was Luke's 11-month birthday (can you believe it?!?), we ate special "butterscotch birthday pudding" that was topped with Cool Whip. Yum!

Spaghetti Tomato/Meat Sauce
Ingredients
1 (28 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 pound lean ground beef
2 yellow onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Blend the stewed tomatoes and crushed tomatoes in a blender.
2. In a large pot, brown the ground beef with the onions and garlic. 
3. Pour in tomatoes, and reduce heat. 
4. Add sugar, basil, oregano, salt and pepper, and cover. 
5. Simmer about 45 minutes. Serve warm over pasta of your choice.

The prep time was about 15 minutes - that included chopping the onion and garlic, as well as browning it and mixing the sauce together. This would be simple to toss together and put in the crockpot on low for those of you who work. It's also a great sauce to make ahead and freeze, pulling out each individual serving when you need it (when I say there were four servings, I meant there was enough for four meals for 2 adults and 1 child). And like I mentioned before, next time I make it, I'm going to substitute 1/2 lb. of sausage for 1/2 lb. of the beef. I think that will give it a nice kick! If you want to make it vegetarian, however, delete the meat out of the recipe and substitute in two tablespoons of olive oil.

Apr. 21 - Pasta Alfredo & Salad

It was a craaaazy day - we did a tour of the firehouse with the MOMS Club, had dance class, went to lunch and then Luke had his 2+ hour doctor's appointment. Luckily, my friend Christy offered to let Linds stay with her during the doctor's appointment, which worked out perfectly. She would have never endured the doctor's, and she and Christy painted nails and toenails, ate ice cream, colored pictures and watched Yo Gabba Gabba! She kept talking about how much fun she had all the way up to bedtime...thank you SO much Christy! :-)

We were home around 5:30ish, so we needed something quick and easy for dinner. I ended up throwing together some spaghetti noodles and a homemade alfredo sauce. The recipe is from a diabetic cookbook and not only is it quick to make, it's super easy!

Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
3 tablespoons margarine/butter
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup skim milk
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Melt butter over low heat.
2. Once melted, mix in flour over medium heat until smooth.
3. Add milk and stir until thickened.
4. Add Parmesan cheese and stir until cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

I like to toss a little oregano on top, and sometimes do grilled shrimp or broccoli on top. Today I was lazy and just served a salad with it.

Guest Blog!

My sister-in-law, Jen, wrote the first guest blog for Dining with the Rissers! She is married to the boy's brother and has two sons - Ryan (7 years old) and Brett (almost 5 years old). I don't envy her grocery bills - I know her boys can eat her out of house and home! She wanted to share her recipe for Penne alla Vodka...it's quick and easy (and has vodka in it - how could it be bad?!).

Penne alla vodka
Ingredients
2 Tablespoons butter
1/3 cup Vodka
1/2 cup cream
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium to medium-low heat. 
2. Add the vodka and reduce by half (about 4 to 5 minutes). 
3. Add the cream and tomato sauce. 
4. Simmer uncovered over low heat 10 to 12 minutes. 
5. Serve over cooked Penne pasta. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese prior to serving (optional).

*I will also add cooked chicken breasts to this sometimes. Sauté up some chicken breasts that have been pounded thin, coated with flour, and browned in butter. Add the chicken breasts to the sauce as it is simmering to allow the chicken to finish cooking and give the chicken flavor. You can also add some shrimp to this as another option. Add the shrimp at the last bit to cook. This recipe is quick and easy. My kids like it. I serve with bread and some vegetable.

Thanks so much for sharing, Jen! Here's a photo of her with Miss L when Linds was born.

If anyone else has a recipe they'd like to share and guest blog on Dining with the Rissers, please let me know!

Apr. 14 - Spaghetti

The boy didn't get home until after 7 p.m., the kids desperately needed baths, and some of the mamas were over at my place hanging out until almost 6 p.m., so the chicken, potatoes and veggies I was going to make just flew out the window. Instead, I made spaghetti and jarred sauce - nothing fancy or special, so I'm not going to waste room with a lengthier post. Rather, look for my post about all the Jello shots I made for tomorrow night's Mom's Night Out! Woot!

Apr. 10 - Pizza

I needed to run some errands yesterday and was feeling particularly lazy after I finished up, so we ordered pizza. We got two mediums from Joey's in Thorndale (one half-cheese/half-sausage and a white with broccoli). I always make this mistake there, going for two mediums, but for some reason their pizza is one of those kinds that just doesn't fill you up. I swear I ate 3/4 of the thing and still had room. It sure tasted good, though!

Mar. 26 - Leftovers

We spent the day at the library and ACAC in West Chester (MOMS Club activity - they have a moonbounce, giant inflatable slides, and an inflatable obstacle course set up for an hour of running around and playing, and then we swim in their indoor kiddie pool for an hour - SO FUN!). Afterwards, we had our new friends, Christy and Logan, over to hang out and kill the rest of the afternoon so we wouldn't sit at home bored, staring at the clock. Needless to say, by the time dinner rolled around, the last thing I felt like doing was cooking!

I reheated the black bean pie for dinner and I must say - it is even better the next day. There are certain foods that just taste better reheated, and this is definitely one of them. The boy and Miss L had ziti leftovers, which they both scarfed down. I forgot to repost the ziti recipe yesterday, so I'll repost it now:

Baked Ziti
Ingredients
1 lb ziti noodles
1 lb ground sausage
1/2 lb ground beef
3 cups mozzarella cheese
3 cups marinara/spaghetti sauce
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Cook ziti in boiling water; drain.
3. Brown meats; drain off fat.
4. In a large baking dish, layer ziti, meat, cheese and sauce; repeat until everything has been used.
5. Top with Parmesan cheese.
6. Bake about 30 - 40 minutes until bubbly.