Vanilla Pudding Fruit Salad

I got this recipe a couple years ago from a work potluck. This is seriously healthy, with all of the sugar-free and light ingredients.  Another great summer recipe.

16 oz plain lowfat yogurt
8 oz lite cool whip (thawed)
1 large box sugar/fat free instant vanilla pudding
1 large can mandarin oranges in juice (drained)
1 regular can pineapple tidbits in juice (drained)
1 cup to 1 1/2 cups grapes

Mix yogurt, cool wihp, and pudding together. Mix in fruit and chill.

Ejoy!

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

I got this recipe from Jeremy's aunt Kim a couple years ago. It's a delicious summer recipe.

1 head broccoli
1 head cauliflower
Real bacon pieces (as much as you want)
1/2 cup shredded chedar cheese
1/4 cup chopped onion (optional)
1 cup Miracle whip
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup sugar

Mix sour cream, mayo, and sugar in a bowl

Cut broccoli and cauliflower into bite sized pieces.  Add bacon pieces, onion, and cheese in large bowl.  Add mayo, sour cream, and sugar mixture and stir together.

Enjoy!

Lasagna Soup

I made this lasagna soup courtesy of Baked Bree a few weeks ago.  Didn't get a single picture, apologies for that.  It was delicious! I took a few shortcuts based on what I had in the pantry, so please go to Baked Bree's site and get the original version as well.

Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds sweet Italian sausage
3 cups chopped onion
garlic powder
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 (28-ounce) can tomatoes
6 cups chicken stock (I made mine with chicken boullion cubes)
1/2 pound cooked fusilli noodles
dried basil
salt and pepper


Cheese topping:
Parmesan & mozzarella cheese to taste
Instructions
Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Add the sausage and brown for 5 minutes.

Add the onions and cook until soft.
Add the garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes.
Add the tomato paste.
Let the tomato paste cook for a few minutes.
Add the tomatoes, chicken stock (or water and boullion cubes).
Bring the soup to a boil, and then turn down to a simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes. At the end, season with salt and pepper and add the basil.
When you are ready to serve your soup, add a good handful of pasta to the bottom of the bowl.
Add the soup to the bowl. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese.

Chocolate Eclair Cake

I forgot to take a picture! But I did make this last weekend. Every time I make this, I get compliments, and it is SO EASY to make it is ridiculous. Here it is (also linked at allrecipes.com, although I got the recipe years ago from my grandmother):

Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) package graham crackers
2 (3.5 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups milk
1 (9 ounce) package frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (16 ounce) package prepared chocolate frosting

Directions
Line the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan with graham crackers.
In a large bowl, combine the milk and vanilla pudding according to directions on box.
Fold in the whipped topping. Spread a layer of the pudding mixture over the graham crackers.
Alternate the graham cracker and pudding layers up to the top of the pan.
Cook the container of prepared frosting, uncovered in the microwave for 1 minute on half power.
Pour over the top of the cake. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours before serving.

Pioneer Woman Fettucine Alfredo

This alfredo sauce was very good and easy!  And, I am sure, so bad for you!  Make it, you will not regret it (although you may have to make salads the rest of the week to make up for it)!  We made half a batch and stuffed ourselves on it - way more than enough for the two of us (plus a toddler).

By the way, who knew that freshly grated parmesan cheese is so good? This week is the first time in my life I've actually bought REAL parmesan cheese and grated it on a grater, and we've all been munching on it before it made its way into the alfredo sauce. It's SO GOOD!  No more parmesan powder in this household! And none of that nasty pre-packaged parmesan either!

Recipe courtesy of my current favorite: Pioneer Woman

Ingredients
1 pound Fettuccine Noodles
1 stick Butter
1 cup Heavy Cream
Salt and Pepper, to taste
2 cups Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese

Preparation Instructions
Cook pasta according to package directions.

In a saucepan or skillet, warm butter and cream. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Grate Parmesan cheese and place half of it into a large serving bowl. Pour warm butter/cream mixture over the top.

Drain pasta and immediately pour it into the bowl.
Toss a couple of times, then sprinkle in the other half of the Parmesan.

Toss to combine, thinning with pasta water if necessary.
Serve immediately as a main course or accompaniment to meat or salad.

Delicious!

Penne a la Betsy

Penne a la Betsy

From the Pioneer Woman

It is delicious - even though my husband is not a shrimp and tomato sauce fan, I made it and LOVED it. He didn't even try it - what a punk;-)

Ingredients
¾ pounds Penne Pasta
1 pound Shrimp
3 Tablespoons Butter
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 whole Onion (small)
2 cloves Garlic
½ cups White Wine (or To Taste)
1 can Tomato Sauce (8 Oz)
1 cup Heavy Cream
Fresh Parsley, to taste
Fresh Basil - To Taste
Salt To Taste
Pepper To Taste
Preparation Instructions
Cook the penne pasta until tender-firm, also known as al dente.
Peel, devein and rinse (under cool water) 1 pound of extra large shrimp. Heat about 1 tbsp. butter and olive oil in a skillet. Add the shrimp and cook for a couple minutes until just opaque. Do not overcook them. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. Now, put the cooked shrimp on the cutting board and pull off the tails. Chop the shrimp into bite –sized pieces and set aside.
Finely dice one small onion. Mince two cloves of garlic.
In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the garlic and onion and sauté, stirring occasionally. After the garlic and onions have cooked a bit add your white wine. Let the wine evaporate for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. If you would rather not use wine, you can use low-sodium chicken broth instead (about ½ cup).
Now add an 8-ounce can of plain tomato sauce. Stir well until combined. Then add 1 cup of heavy cream. Continue stirring. Turn heat down to low and let simmer.
Now chop your herbs, about a tablespoon of chopped parsley and about the same amount of chopped basil, or if you’re feeling very proper, chiffonaded.
Now add your chopped shrimp back into the tomato cream sauce. Give it a stir and add salt and pepper to taste. Throw in your herbs and stir until combined. Finally add your cooked penne pasta and give it a good stir.

Cocktail Meatballs

From Allrecipes.com

I made these for my son's birthday party and received lots of compliments on them.  I also triped the recipe and it fit in my big crockpot. 

Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef
1 egg
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup bread crumbs
3 tablespoons minced onion

1 (8 ounce) can jellied cranberry sauce
3/4 cup chili sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef, egg, water, bread crumbs, and minced onion. Roll into small meatballs.
3.Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, turning once.
4.In a slow cooker or large saucepan over low heat, blend the cranberry sauce, chili sauce, brown sugar, and lemon juice. Add meatballs, and simmer for 1 hour before serving.

Butterfinger Dessert Cake

I've had this at a few family functions. Here is the basic idea - I put it together on a Thursday night for a Saturday function. Hoping it doesn't get too soggy!!

Angel food cake
1 lg. Cool Whip (I used 1 1/2 regular packages)
6 Butterfinger candy bars (I used 16 fun size)
French vanilla pudding
2 c cold milk for pudding

Make vanilla pudding according to directions. Mix in cool whip. Tear angel food cake into small pieces and layer into dish or trifle bowl. Add layer of Cool Whip mixture and follow with a layer of crushed Butterfinger candy bars. Repeat ending with candy bar pieces. Must be kept refrigerated.

Vanilla Cupcakes

From the Joy of Baking

The buttercream icing is fantastic... the cupcakes were pretty dry.  I'm going to look for a better cupcake recipe, but the icing recipe is here:

Buttercream Frosting (for 12 cupcakes):

2 cups (230 grams) confectioners sugar (icing or powdered sugar), sifted
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk or light cream
Assorted food colors (if desired)

For the Frosting: In an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter until smooth and well blended. Add the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the milk and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes). Add a little more milk or sugar, if needed. Tint the frosting with desired food color (I use the paste food coloring that is available at cake decorating stores and party stores).

Twice Baked Potatoes

Courtesy of Allrecipes.com

Ingredients
4 large baking potatoes
8 slices bacon
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
8 green onions, sliced, divided

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.Bake potatoes in preheated oven for 1 hour.
3.Meanwhile, place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
4.When potatoes are done allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; save skins. To the potato flesh add sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 the green onions. Mix with a hand mixer until well blended and creamy. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins. Top each with remaining cheese, green onions and bacon.
5.Bake for another 15 minutes.

Modifications:  We made a half batch, turned out great. Also make sure you coat the outside of the potatoes with kosher salt (use a little water to make it stick).  This would be delicious!

Quick Crustless Quiche

This turned out pretty well!  I need to figure out how to incorporate the flour a little better - I had some crunchy flour spots in the crust, but otherwise seemed to be a cross between a quiche and a breakfast casserole (sans potatoes/bread).  I got it from Allrecipes.com and make my own modifications (ham, mushrooms, peppers, green onions).  Delicious.

Ingredients
8 slices bacon
4 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk

Directions

1.Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.

2.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.

3.Line bottom of pie plate with cheese and crumbled bacon. Combine eggs, butter, onion, salt, flour and milk; whisk together until smooth; pour into pie pan.

4.Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, until set. Serve hot or cold.

Baked Ziti

From The Way the Cookie Crumbles.

Delicious.  Here's the recipe - it took much longer than I expected at the beginning.

Baked Ziti (from Cooks Illustrated)


Serves 8-10

Healthy tricks: Use 1% cottage cheese, whole wheat pasta, part-skim mozzarella, and 2 teaspoons cornstarch plus 1 cup milk instead of ¾ teaspoon cornstarch with 1 cup heavy cream.

1 pound whole milk or 1% cottage cheese (I used FF)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 ounces parmesan cheese (about 1½ cups), grated
table salt
1 pound ziti pasta
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
5 medium garlic cloves, minced (about 5 teaspoons)
1 (28 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon sugar (ha - I used 1 cup instead of tsp! Oops)
black pepper
¾ teaspoon cornstarch (2 tsp)
1 cup heavy cream (I used skim)
8 ounces low-moisture mozzarella cheese, cut into ¼ inch pieces (about 1½ cups)

I also added diced onions to the sauce, 1 pound Italian sausage & 8 ounces fresh sliced mushrooms.  I made 2 dishes - one meatless, and added the mushrooms and sausage on top of the pasta, topping it with sauce.

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350°F. Whisk cottage cheese, eggs and 1 cup Parmesan together in medium bowl; set aside. Bring 4 quarts of water to boil in large Dutch oven over high heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon salt and pasta; cook, stirring occasionally, until pasta begins to soften but is not yet cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain pasta and leave in colander.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil and garlic in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until garlic is fragrant but not brown. Stir in tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and oregano; simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Off heat, stir in ½ cup basil and sugar, then season with salt and pepper.

3. Stir cornstarch into heavy cream in small bowl, transfer mixture to Dutch oven set over medium heat. Bring to simmer and cook until thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove pot from heat and add cottage cheese mixture, 1 cup tomato sauce and ¾ cup mozzarella, then stir to combine. Add pasta and stir to coat thoroughly with sauce.

4. Transfer pasta mixture to 13- by 9-inch baking dish and spread remaining tomato sauce evenly over pasta. Sprinkle with remaining ¾ cup mozzarella and remaining ½ cup Parmesan over top. Cover baking dish tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

5. Remove foil and continue to cook until cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown, about 30 minutes longer. Cool for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining 3 tablespoons basil and serve.

Creamy Orzo served with Herb-Rubbed Grilled Chicken

I was confused by Giada's recipe, from Smells Like Home, so I made it a little differently. For some reason, I thought that the chicken was cooked in the same pan as the orzo. Next time, I'll do it right! Also, it calls for shallots, but I have no idea what those are and couldn't find them in the store anyway, so I omitted those. I used half of the orzo that it calls for, and I didn't have a garlic clove or fresh parmesan, so I did my best without those (garlic powder and mozzarella/canned parmesan seemed to work just fine).

1 pound orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, juices drained
1 1/4 cups whipping cream
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
reserved pasta water
2 tsp herbes de provence
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2″

Bring a heavy large saucepan of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the orzo and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring often, about 10-11 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

Season pounded chicken on both sides with herbes de provence (1 tsp per breast), salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium heat and pre-heat the grill to medium-high heat. Add the shallot and garlic, and saute until tender, about 2 minutes. Put chicken on grill, turning after 4-5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook until they are tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in the cream and peas*. Add the orzo and toss to coat. Remove the skillet from the heat. Add the Parmesan to the pasta mixture and toss to coat. Stir the pasta mixture until the sauce coats the pasta thickly, adding enough reserved cooking liquid to maintain a creamy consistency. Season the orzo generously with salt and pepper, and serve.

Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Serves: 6-8

Chicken Scallopine

I tried Chicken Scallopine from Lauren's Kitchen last night. It was fantastic! I didn't get a picture, but here is the recipe. I only used four chicken breasts, omitted the capers, and used chicken broth instead of dry white wine. I felt like such a professional, deglazing the pan and reducing the sauce! I'm excited to try this again with white wine next time.

Ingredients:
1 pound linguine
6 boneless, skinless, trimmed chicken breasts
Flour
Salt & Pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
12 ounces white mushrooms, sliced thin
1 cup dry white wine
Chicken broth (optional)
1 lemon
1/2 cup heavy cream (can use half & half)
1 heaping tablespoon capers
chopped fresh Italian parsley

Cook pasta according to package directions.Flatten chicken breasts to uniform thickness. Salt and pepper both sides, then dredge in flour.Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry chicken breasts until golden brown. Remove to a plate and set aside.Throw mushrooms into the pan and stir. Immediately pour in wine, then squeeze juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon. Stir to deglaze the pan, then cook vigorously for 1 minute, until sauce reduces.Pour in cream and stir, then add capers and parsley and stir. Turn off heat. Stir and add salt and pepper to taste. Don’t undersalt!Place pasta and chicken on a platter and top with every last drop of sauce. Generously sprinkle Parmesan Cheese over the top.