Spinach and Artichoke Mac and Cheese

I can't always find frozen artichoke hearts, so I used canned. Yummy!

Salt

1 pound regular or whole wheat penne

2 TB extra virgin olive oil

3 TB butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated

3 TB flour

1/2 cup white wine (optional)

2 cups milk

1 box frozen chopped spinach (10 oz), defrosted and wrung dry in a kitchen towel

1 box frozen chopped artichokes (10 oz), defrosted and wrung dry in a kitchen towel

Ground pepper

1 1/4 cups shredded fontina cheese, plus additional for sprinkling on top

1 1/4 cups Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, plus additional for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 350.

Place a large pot of water over high heat to cook the pasta. When the water is boiling, salt it well and drop in the pasta. Cook to al dente, according to package directions. Drain the pasta and reserve.

While the pasta is cooking, place a medium pot over medium-low heat with about 2 tablespoons of EVOO and the butter. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and cook the veggies until very soft, about 10 minutes.

Turn the heat up to medium-high and sprinkle the flour into the pan. Cook for about 1 minute, then whisk the wine into the pan, cooking for another minute to burn off the alcohol. Whisk the milk into the pan and bring up to a bubble. Add the veggies and salt and pepper to the sauce and simmer until thickened, 2-3 minutes. Add the cheeses to the sauce and stir until melted.

Toss the prepared sauce with the cooked pasta and transfer to a casserole dish. Sprinkle some more of the fontina and Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses over the top and bake until the cheese has melted and the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Recipe Source: www.rachaelray.com

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

I needed some easy cookies for Christmas, so I tried these. They're not fancy, but they're moist and yummy. I used low-fat cream cheese instead of regular.



1 (8-oz) brick cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick butter, room temperature
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 (18-oz) box moist chocolate cake mix
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then beat in the vanilla. Beat in the cake mix. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so you can roll into balls. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon-sized balls then roll them in confectioners' sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and "gooey." Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

Recipe Source: Paula Deen (www.foodtv.com)

Easy Crockpot Lasagna

This was pretty quick and tasty. I substituted ground turkey for the ground beef and it was good. I think it would be yummy with Italian sausage, so I'll try that next time.

1 pound (16 oz) ground beef
1/2 cup diced white onion
1 tsp minced garlic
1 (24 oz) jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup water
1 (15 oz) container ricotta cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese, divided
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 egg
2 TB fresh parsley or 2 tsp dried parsley
6 uncooked lasagna noodles

In a large skillet, brown the beef with the onion. Add garlic and cook for one minute. Drain. Add spaghetti sauce and water and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Mix ricotta, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, 2 TB Parmesan, egg, and parsley.

Pour 1 cup of meat sauce into a 4-6 quart slow cooker. Place half of the noodles and half of the ricotta mixture on top of the sauce. Cover with 2 cups meat sauce. Top with remaining noodles, cheese mixture, and meat sauce. (If the noodles don't fit exactly, break them to fit.)

Cook on low for 4-5 hours or until noodles are soft. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella and remaining Parmesan. Cover with the lid to melt the cheese and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe Source: www.tablespoon.com

Sticky Coconut Chicken

Okay, nobody is probably going to try this recipe once they're done reading my introduction, but we honestly liked it and are definitely going to make it again. There were just a couple of bumps in the road on the way to liking it.

#1 When I saw the recipe, it looked really good so I tried it as written below. I ended up throwing it all out before Nate got home. I HATED the chicken thighs and the glaze was too spicy for me. So I tried it again this week and substituted chicken tenderloins for the thighs and cut the red pepper flakes in the glaze down to a couple of sprinkles. By the time it reduced down to a glaze, it still had quite a bit of heat.

#2 It smelled really strange before it all came together. Something about the coconut milk marinade on the grill and the vinegar-based sauce simmering on the stove made for a weird smell combination and I wasn't sure how things were going to go. But once it was off the grill and the glaze was on the chicken, it was so delicious. I know, I'm really selling this recipe, huh? But try it--it was delicious.

Chicken and Marinade:
6-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (see note above)
1 cup canned coconut milk
1 TB minced fresh ginger
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp red pepper flakes

Marinate the chicken in coconut milk, ginger, black pepper, and red pepper flakes at least one hour (I did mine overnight). Grill.

Glaze:
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
3 TB soy sauce
1 tsp red pepper flakes (see note above)

While the chicken is grilling, bring glaze ingredients to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until mixture is reduced and thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Be patient because it takes a little while. Once it starts getting really thick, remove from heat. Glaze both sides of chicken the last couple of minutes of grilling, or wait and glaze it after removing from the grill to prevent a sticky grill grate. Serve over rice.

Recipe Source: www.melskitchencafe.com

Chicken with Boursin Mushroom Sauce

I couldn't find Boursin brand cheese at my market so I used Rondele brand instead. It is available with reduced-fat so that's what I used. I also skipped the parsley since Nate doesn't care for raw parsley. Next time I will not reduce the wine quite as much so the sauce will be a little looser. It was really delicious and took under 30 minutes to prepare.


4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 TB vegetable oil
1 cup sliced cremini mushrooms
1 TB butter
1 minced shallot
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup crumbled Boursin cheese (garlic and herb flavor)
2 TB chopped parsley

Dry your chicken breasts with paper towels and season both sides with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until browned on each side. Reduce heat to medium and cover. Continue cooking for about 15 minutes, or until the chicken reaches 160 degrees. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.

Add mushrooms and butter to the pan. Cook till slightly soft then add the shallot. Cook until it begins to soften, about one minute. Add the wine to the pan and scrape up all the bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until the wine cooks almost all of the way out.

Take the pan off of the heat and whisk in the Boursin cheese and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

Plate each breast with some sauce poured over the top.

Recipe Source: www.bakedbree.com

Pretzel Turtles

These are super easy and really yummy! I made about 300 of them this week for gifts.

Rectangular pretzels
Bag of Rolos
Pecan halves
White chocolate (for drizzling on top)

Preheat oven to 300. Place pretzels in a single layer on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Put one Rolo candy on top of each pretzel. Place in the oven for 4 minutes. Remove from oven and gently press one pecan half into each piece of candy. Drizzle with melted white chocolate.

Recipe Source: www.allrecipes.com

Caramel Apple Cake

This recipe is actually called Fresh Apple Cake, but it has a yummy caramel sauce that makes Caramel Apple Cake a more fitting name. I always bake the cake in a bundt pan, let it cool for a while in the pan, then put on a cake plate before pouring the caramel sauce over the top. The recipe actually says that you pour the topping over the cake THEN remove it from the pan so the sauce soaks into the bottom of the cake. I believe my sister has done it that way (which makes a really moist cake) then has extra caramel sauce to pour over the top. That was really yummy! I just think the caramel sauce on the top of the cake is visually appealing.

Cake:

1 cup oil

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 ¼ cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

3 cups apples, peeled and chopped

1 cup nuts, chopped

1 tsp vanilla

Caramel Sauce:

1 stick butter or margarine

1 cup brown sugar

¼ cup evaporated milk

Combine oil and sugar. Add eggs and beat well. Stir dry ingredients into mixture and mix well. Stir in apples, nuts, and vanilla. Blend well. Bake in greased and floured tube pan at 350 for 1 ½ hours. Makes a large cake that freezes well.

Blend sauce ingredients in a saucepan. Boil for 2 minutes. Pour over cake while hot. Let sauce soak into cake while pouring. Remove from pan when cool.