An Olive Garden classic without the Olive Garden cost!

This is a rich and creamy Italian classic. So good and so filling and pretty easy to prepare. A dish you might find at Olive Garden but for half the cost....Tuscan Chicken!
(The leftovers are just as good too!)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips or chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth
6 ounces fresh or frozen spinach
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 cup milk
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 pound fettuccine

Preheat oven to 350.

In a shallow dish, combine the flour, salt, pepper, basil and oregano. Dip each chicken piece in the flour mixture until both sides are well coated.

In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat until the oil is hot. Carefully place the chicken breasts in the pan, cooking them for 2-3 minutes on each side, until they are golden and browned but not cooked all the way through (they’ll finish up in the oven).

Gently remove the chicken to a foil-lined, lightly greased baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

While the chicken is cooking, heat a large pot of water to a boil and add the noodles.

Wipe out the skillet with a couple paper towels and return it to medium heat, adding the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and bell pepper, sauteing for 2-3 minutes.

Stir in one tablespoon flour and stir constantly while cooking for another minute. Add the chicken broth to the skillet and bring the mixture to a low simmer, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 3-4 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and cream. Add the spinach, milk and cream mixture to the skillet. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the spinach is wilted and sauce is slightly thickened, about 2-4 minutes.

 Stir in the Parmesan cheese. Simmer on low for 5 minutes until you have a creamy sauce.

When the pasta has finished cooking, drain and return it to the pot. Toss the pasta with half of the cheese sauce. Place some of the coated pasta on each plate. Top with a breaded chicken breast and spoon some of the sauce over the top of the chicken and pasta. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!!

"Life is a combination of magic and pasta." - Federico Fellini



Taco Soup

I think I could eat soup everyday during the fall and winter. I love throwing a bunch of ingredients into the crockpot in the morning and having a yummy dinner in the evening and not having to think of "What's for dinner?" all day long. I wanted to try out my new crockpot last night and this recipe is one of my favorites (I'm a sucker for any sort of Mexican dish). It's super easy and full of flavor and you can garnish it any way you like!



Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1/2 red onion, chopped

1 (16 ounce) can chili beans, with liquid (not pictured)

1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans with liquid

1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, with liquid (I like the Southwestern style)

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

2 cups water

2 (14.5 ounce) cans peeled and diced petite tomatoes

1 (4 ounce) can diced green chile peppers or diced jalapeno peppers

1 package taco seasoning mix





Brown ground beef and saute chopped onions. Drain.

Add browned ground beef & onion and remaining ingredients to crockpot. Stir together.

Cook on high for 4 hours then switch to low for another 2-4 hours.

Serve and garnish however you like. I like a little sour cream, shredded cheese and avocados on mine!

Frito chips and shredded cheese is awesome too.

Enjoy!

The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of mankind than the discovery of a star. ~ Anthelme Brillat-Savarin



The cutest little snacks...

We're going to a Halloween party with our little friends today! I'm not gonna lie...these parties with my mommy friends and their kids is mostly about the food (as least for the moms ;0) We love a good potluck!  I'm sure the kids are only thinking about the candy! I found this recipe for pizza muffins. Perfect for little fingers (and little tummys) and they were soooo easy to make. I'm also bringing along these little white chocolate dipped ghost strawberries.

How cute are these!!

PIZZA MUFFINS

Ingredients

3/4 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
3/4 cup whole milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup mini pepperonis
1/2 cup store-bought pizza sauce

Sift together flour, baking powder, and Italian seasoning. Stir in milk and egg until smooth. Mix in the cheeses and pepperoni.

I used a mini muffin tin. Fill muffins about 3/4 full. It makes about 24 muffins.

Bake at 375 degree for about 15 mins.

Transfer to wire rack to cool. Serve with some pizza dipping sauce. Enjoy!!

The belly rules the mind. ~Spanish Proverb

The LAST Banana Bread Recipe You Will EVER Need

Don't throw out those "too ripe" bananas!! Throw them in the freezer. They make the BEST banana bread. At our house we rarely eat the last one or two bananas on the bunches we buy. We like bananas when they are still a little green. So needless to say, I have a freezer full of frozen bananas! My husband loves banana bread...so I pulled out my bananas from the freezer the other day and let them thaw on the counter. (Warning...this process is disgusting looking!) Went to get my banana bread recipe and couldn't find it!! So I began my internet search for a new one and found this one (with a few of my own adjustments) that sounded interesting since it had sour cream in it instead of milk. Now I'm glad I lost my recipe...this is seriously the best banana bread I have ever had!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• dash of vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• 3-4 medium bananas, (or about 1 cup mashed)

Directions

Preheat over to 350. Grease 3 mini loaf pans (which I prefer) or one 9 x 5 loaf pan. In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar. Add the eggs, vanilla and vinegar and mix well. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. Stir into the butter mixture until smooth. Fold in the sour cream and mashed bananas. Spread evenly into pan(s). Bake in preheated over for about 1 hour or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!!

Never work before breakfast; if you have to work before breakfast, eat your breakfast first. ~Unknown

 

 

 



My New Favorite Soup...Loaded Baked Potato!

Have I mentioned how much I love my crockpot?! So much so that the knob has fallen off and the handle is broken...still does the job though! A new one is on my Christmas list for Santa ;0)
I tried out this new soup recipe last night and it is AMAZING! It is super filling though so don't make the mistake I did and eat too much...you will have a stomach ache!

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs. pototoes, NOT peeled

1/2 large yellow onion

5 whole garlic cloves

3 cups chicken stock

1 can cream of chicken soup (sorry...forgot to put in the picture)

8 oz. cream cheese

salt & pepper (to your liking)

Garnish:

shredded cheese

bacon

anything else you like to put on your baked potatoes (I wouldn't recommend sour cream...this is already creamy enough)

Dice the potatoes into about 1/2 in. cubes

Chop up the onion...I let my Pampered Chef chopper do the dirty work

Add potatoes, onion, WHOLE garlic cloves, chicken stock, cream of chicken soup & salt and pepper to the crockpot. Cook on high for about 3 hours then switch it to low for another 2 hours.

After about 5 hours fish out the whole garlic cloves and about 1/3 of the soup and puree. I LOVE my Magic Bullet...this thing is so handy!

Add the puree back to the crockpot and stir in the cream cheese. Cook on low for about another hour, stiring occasionally.

Dish up and garnish with your favorite toppings. Serve it with a nice crisp salad and a crunchy baguette.

Good manners: The noise you don't make when you're eating soup ~ Bennett Cerf

Pumpkin Cake!!

I LOVE baking with Pumpkin in the Fall. Pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread, cookies...anything...I love it! Today I decided to make pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting. I think I'll need to make my husband take some to work or deliver some to neighbors, otherwise I might sit here and eat the whole pan!

For the Pumpkin Cake:

• 4 eggs
• 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 15-ounce can pumpkin
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (Pampered Chef Cinnamon Plus!!)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

(and one little "helper" if you so desire)

Preheat the over to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking pan.

Combine eggs, sugar, oil & pumpkin in large mixing bowl. Beat until smooth.

Hand mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt & baking soda.

Cream together the wet and dry ingrediants until just mixed. Do not overmix.

Pour in baking pan and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes (until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean)

Let cool completely.

While the cake is cooling cream together softened cream cheese, butter & vanilla.

Sift in confectioners’ sugar and stir until smooth.

For the heck of it I added a little bit of orange food coloring!

Don't forget to lick the spoon ;0)

Spread frosting on to cooled cake.

Or garnish with a few walnuts and enjoy!!

Bittersweet October. The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter. ~Carol Bishop Hipps

Recipe adapted from Paula Deen

Apples, Apples, Apples....

What could be more fun on the first day of Fall than apple picking?! Well...we ended up with way more than I anticipated (mostly thanks to one little pair of hands ;0) 35 lbs.total to be exact!! That's alot of apples!! I have literally been cooking with apples for the past 5 days and STILL have a paper grocery sack full left.
Saturday I made baked apples in the slow cooker. Delish...especially with vanilla ice cream!

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 apples (I used Fuji)
1/2 cup apple juice or apple cider
Preheat a large crock-pot on high heat. In a large bowl, mix brown sugar, walnuts,butter, and cinnamon. Fill the apples with the filling and place them in the crock-pot. Pour in the apple juice or cider.  Cover and cook 2 1/2 to 3 hours on high heat until the apples are soft and begin to collapse. Be careful not to over cook...they will explode!

We've ate our fair share of apples the last few days as well! (I've been finding lots of half eaten apples throughout the house.)

Monday I made Apple Butter. I like apple butter that is thick and full of spice so this was an all day process.
I used 11 Fuji apples, peeled & cored

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (I used Pampered Chef Cinnamon Plus...this stuff is fabulous!)

Place the apples in a slow cooker. In a medium bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon. Pour the mixture over the apples in the slow cooker and mix well. Cover and cook on high 1 hour. Reduce heat to low and cook 8 to 10 hours, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened and dark brown. The longer you cook it the thicker it becomes. To test, take a spoon full out and let sit for a few minutes. Uncover and continue cooking on low 1 hour. Stir with a whisk or masher, if desired, to increase smoothness. Spoon the mixture into sterile containers, cover and refrigerate or freeze.

                Today we made Caramel Apples. M&M's and butterscotch chips were the preferred topping of choice.

And at an attempt to dwindle our apple supply I made homemade applesauce today as well. I definately need to invest in a peeler corer stand for next year! I started with 12 apples peeled and cored (again using Fuji apples). You will also need brown sugar, cinnamon (Pamperd Chef Cinnamon Plus!) and water.

Finely chop the apples. Smaller you dice them the easier it will be to get smooth applesauce.

Add the diced apples, 2/3 cup water, 3/4 cup brown sugar and 2 teaspoons Cinnamon Plus

Cook on high for about 2 hours then reduce to low. Let it slowcook for about 6 or 7 hours, stirring occasionally.

When the apples have softened enough, mash them up. I used my Pamperd Chef pastry blender. You may have to mash for awhile to get the consistancy you want.

After it has cooled a bit, jar it up and freeze it or refridgerate it or enjoy warm! This is about the amount of applesauce it makes. Enjoy!!

Avoid fruit and nuts. You are what you eat. ~Jim Davis

Why am I blogging?!

Welcome to my blog!! So...why did I decide to blog? Good question...I need more to do than just sit and watch soap operas and eat bon bons is the answer ;0) Just kidding!
One of the few things that has stayed constant in my life is my love for cooking and baking. I remember baking Christmas cookies and candies every year with my Grandma and I'm sure that is when my passion started. I have always enjoyed peoples reaction to a good meal. Luckily, I married a man who likes to eat and isn't picky, so for the most part I am free to cook and bake as much as I like.
I guess this blog is a way for me to virtual share my recipes and reviews for some of the meals I prepare and desserts I try. I am anxious to hear your reactions and get inspiration for some new things to try!

One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. ~Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story