Pesto Pasta

This is so painfully easy that I hate to post it because I've gotten many compliments over the years. But since I've been sharing all my little secrets on here, guess you get this one too.

Interesting little piece of information too...my son, the non pasta loving kid who doesn't like anything green, liked it...until I added the cheese. Oh well, can't win them all and next time I'll take some out before I add the cheese.

The bonus of this recipe. It tastes good freshly mixed up, it tastes good right out of the fridge and it tastes good at room temperature. That's MY kind of recipe. I hope you like it.

What you will need
Box of Bowtie Pasta
2 Chicken or Vegi Bouillon Cubes
7 oz Container of Refrigerator Pesto Sauce ~ I've used the jar and it wasn't good
4 oz Container of Feta
Container of Grape or Baby Tomatoes
Chopped cooked Chicken ~ Optional

Cook your pasta in water that you've dropped a couple of bouillon cubes in. Drain and toss with Pesto sauce. Add tomatoes, chicken and couple cranks of pepper, toss again. Add cheese and toss once last time. Serve.
Your ingredients
Chop your cooked chicken. This was left over salsa chicken but you can use anything or even rotisserie.
Drain your cooked pasta and mix in pesto sauce.
Add your chicken, tomatoes and a couple cranks of pepper.
Cheese goes in last.
Dinner is served.

Green Beans

Green beans don't excite me much. I eat them because they are green and I know I should but I tried something a little different this time. Something I don't know why I didn't do before. My nephew said they were the best green beans he has ever eaten?? Super easy, so I thought I'd share.

1 lb fresh green beans
1 T butter
1 t Garlic Powder

Snap the ends off of your green beans. Bring a pot of water to a hard boil. Lots of bubbles going on. Throw your green beans in and cook for only about 3-5 minutes. I like a crunch and this is enough to just heat them through and leave that crunch. Drain. Add 1 t Garlic Powder, 1 T butter, toss and serve. If I had been making them for just "me", I would have added 1-2 T fresh Parmesan and tossed again but my family aren't big cheese people.
Toss them in the boiling water and give them a stir. Watch the bright green POP. Drain, toss with butter and garlic Powder...and some fresh Parmesan if you want to be really crazy.
Put in a pretty bowl and serve.

Chocolate Fondue

Want to know how to get your kids to eat fruit they normally turn their noses up at? Dip it in some chocolate. In case you were wondering, NO, I'm not above bribery.

We had a rare evening home, I mean home after school and for the ENTIRE evening...ahhhh, I forgot what those felt like. It was especially nice because it's been a long week at work for me and the kids had MCA testing. I decided to do something fun to shrug off the icky and bring on the yum. Chocolate Fondue is one of my favorite desserts and I happened to have just gone to the store so I had lots of stuff for dipping and all the ingredients. It was meant to be I tell you, chocolate fondue here we come.

3/4 C Whipping Cream
2 t Vanilla
1/2 C Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 1/2 C Milk Chocolate Chips

Heat Whipping cream to a soft boil. That means when it starts to bubble, add your chips and 1/2 C at a time. Stir kind of in a zig zag so the chips don't clump up in a ball. Transfer the chocolate to a fondue pot or a small crock. Serve with cubed angel food cake, marshmallows, orange slices, pineapple, strawberries...anything you like dipped in chocolate.
Let's get the party started. Whipping cream and vanilla heating up. Bring to a soft bubbly boil.
Your chips
Liquid gold...um I mean chocolate.
MMMMM, can you taste it!! Pure heaven. The week just got so much better.

Snickerdoodles

This cookie has some memories for me. The boy I liked in 8th grade broke his leg. He told me his favorite cookies were Snickerdoodles, so I made him some and brought them over to his house. YES, I realize that is probably a strange thing for an 8th grade girl to do, but I have been baking forever and it's what we did when someone was hurt or sick. We brought them food. We took care of them and tried to do something to make them feel better.

I personally didn't care for the way they tasted but he claimed they were good?? That boy and I never made a good couple, were the cookies to blame?? I wasn't sure but I never made Snickerdoodles again.

Flash forward more years than you need to know about and my daughter wanted to bring cookies for her skating show buddies. Couldn't do anything with chocolate, can't have the girls getting messy faces or making their outfits dirty. Couldn't bring anything with a nut product because there could be a child near by that we could send into some kind of allergic fit. My traditional sugar cookies are too much work since I already had cupcakes and birthday cake on the agenda today SO that's how the Snickerdoodles were given another chance.

I remembered what I didn't like about Snickerdoodles the first time around...the taste. The texture was good but it had this taste, this funky flavor that I didn't care for. I have super sensitive taste buds and clearly my buds don't like cream of tartar since everything else is in any other cookie I like, so I decided to leave it out and add another teaspoon of baking powder.

The result...Max said, "Well I know what I want for my birthday" (he doesn't eat cake..yeah, I know..strange kid but we've established that his eating habits aren't normal.) I had to restrict the amount of cookies both he and his sister ate and I never have to do that. I also had to put the lid on the cookie jar and WALK away, something I don't have to typically do either. Yes, they were a hit and SO much easier than traditional sugar cookies. DANGER..yes, these cookies are straight up danger to the diet because you can't eat just one.

1 C Butter softened
2 Eggs
2 t Vanilla
2 3/4 C Flour
1/4 t Salt
2 T Baking Powder
1 1/2 C Sugar

Cinnamon/Sugar Mixture
1/2 C Sugar
1 T Cinnamon

Mix together in a bowl or ziploc.

Preheat oven to 375

Mix butter, eggs and vanilla. Add your dry ingredients and mix up (I did it with an old fashioned SPOON, no mixer today). You'll get a soft dough that kind of forms itself into a ball. Roll into balls, about the size of those quarter gum balls. Roll in cinnamon/sugar mixture. Put on ungreased cookie sheet and press down with your fingers or palm of your hand. Bake for 8-10 minutes. 8 minutes leaves them a bit softer with just the edges lightly browned and crunchy. 10 makes them a little crunchier with just a little soft...my personal favorite. Makes 5 dozen
Here is your butter, eggs and vanilla mixed together.
Add your dry and this is what you get. Kind of forms its own ball. I'm sure if you wanted to use a mixer, it would all be fine but why drag out extra stuff when a spoon does the trick.
Cinnamon and Sugar mixture. I was trying to be green and not use a ziploc. It would have made the job just a bit faster if I had. Just use a bowl that is big enough to either roll them or you to be able to grab and sprinkle because the whole ball needs to be covered.
Roll into balls about the size of those quarter gum balls.
Give them a good roll in the sugar mix.
Press them down with two fingers. Don't squish them, just press them down. Max thought I should use the palm of my hand so people wouldn't know I used my fingers..silly boy..who cares if I used my fingers?!? What he should have said, is that they look prettier. That I agreed with and ended up doing most of the cookies with my palm and not my fingers;)
See I didn't squish the life out of them.
They actually look like they could cook another minute or two but this is them at 8 minutes and they are cooked plenty. My kids preferred 8 over 10 minutes but they ate them either way without complaint.

Lemon Muffins

I found a recipe for Lemon Bread on a baking website that I've been wanting to try. Bread is kind of hard to share with people at work so I decided to make the bread into muffins. I was a little worried because I had to poke the muffins and pour a syrup over them but it was all good. People at work LOVED them. I "liked" them, they felt like they were missing something. BUT I'm a tough sell on muffins because they aren't my favorite bread product. I would make them again just maybe with some blueberries next time.

1 1/2 C Flour
1 C Sugar
1 t Baking Powder
1/2 t Salt
2 Eggs
2/3 c Evaporated Milk
1/3 c Vegetable Oil
1 1/2 t grated lemon peel (about 1 lemon - reserve lemon for later use)

PREHEAT oven to 350°

Mix eggs, evaporated milk, oil and lemon zest together in medium bowl. Add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir until just combined. Pour into sprayed muffin tins about 3/4 full. Makes 12 muffins.

BAKE for about 20 minutes (if you want to make as a loaf of bread, I think the directions said to cook for about 50 minutes) or until wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean. Using the skewer, poke numerous holes in the hot muffins, piercing all the way to the bottom, making what looks like a five dice on the top. Slowly drizzle the hot Lemon Syrup over the muffins, it was a little over under a Tablespoon per muffin. (Syrup will soak into the bread). Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cool in pan for 15 minutes; Remove muffins to wire rack to cool completely.

LEMON SYRUP:
COMBINE 1/3 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 cup lemon juice (1 lemon or lemon juice) in small, heavy-duty saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes or until sugar is dissolved and a light syrup is formed.
Mix your eggs, milk and oil.
Add your dry ingredients and your zested peel. Remember not to go deep when you're zesting, meaning you don't want any of the white, just the yellow peel.
Spray your muffin pan well and fill with about 3/4 full, it uses all of the batter to make a dozen.
Kind of hard to see but I poked 5 holes that looked like a dice on top when they are fresh from the oven.
Here is the syrup you made with sugar and lemon juice. I'll be honest and tell you that I didn't stir constantly. I mixed it up and stirred occasionally until it came to a foamy boil.
Slowly pour a couple of spoonfuls over muffins trying to get into the holes. It's probably about a scant tablespoon for each muffin.
I sprinkled with powdered sugar just because I thought it made them look prettier. Cool for about 10-15 minutes. Remove from tins and cool on wire rack. Enjoy.

Shrimp Sauce

I love having people over for dinner because I get to cook things that "I" like to eat. I get to make things a little fancier, a little spicier or I just get to make stuff that adults like to eat. Since I'm not much of a left over person, although I'm getting better..having dinner guests is the best thing ever because I can try new recipes and won't be eating it for a week after.

So, that brings me to the next 5 posts...If you've ever eaten at Benihana, I'm sure you've left there with some empty pockets and wishing you could make some of it at home. Well, I made my attempt the other night and the kids and my guests enjoyed it. My son who has NEVER in his life eaten a leftover, ate the leftover Teriyaki beef and rice with shrimp sauce.

The shrimp sauce, in our opinion, makes the meal. So, I've been looking for the recipe for years. Tried a few and they were ok but not spot on. This recipe is as close as I've found when I took out the extra salt. My kids were THRILLED. So, I'll start with my favorite and then post each part of the meal separately.

2 C Mayonnaise
1/2 C Water
2 t Sugar
1 T garlic juice ~ found by the spices
3/4 t Ketchup
1 t ground Ginger
1 t Hot Sauce
1 t dry Mustard
1 t Paprika
3/4 t White Pepper

Whisk together and chill.
Sorry, the photo is dark because when I took it with a flash, it was too white..can't win. It's a very light salmon color.
Here is a photo of all the meats and vegetables done and ready to serve. Follow the posts below to learn how to make this fun dinner or just pick and choose the ones you want to try, it's all good. AND, did I mention that all of the prep work can be done hours before so all you need to do is cook it up when you're ready. You'll need a few pans but if you have to or you can rinse and go. Start with the rice, when it's done, cover and move to the steak and chicken. You can cook those at the same time, I have faith, start your vegetables. Now, go to the shrimp. Take a deep breath and enjoy your dinner.

Zucchini and Onions

And, you've gotta have the vegetables. When my son saw me chopping up the onion he said, "Mom, you forgot to leave them in rings so you could do the volcano". I love that my son has that much confidence in me but had to remind him that I don't have a full size grill to make that happen at home.

You're gonna need
4 Zucchini sliced into strips
1 large Onion cut into rings and then cut into fourths
1 T Butter
1 t Garlic Powder
Sprinkle of Salt and Pepper

Get the pan hot, throw in your zucchini, let them sear a bit on the edges. Saute those around a minute or so. Add your onions and butter. Throw on your seasoning and stir the vegetables around until they are cooked through. Serve with shrimp sauce of course;)
Wash and cut the ends off of your zucchini.
Cut in half, then cut each half into three strips. Cut strips in half.
Peel and cut your onion in half. Cut into thin pieces.
This is what your onion should look like when you've got it all chopped up.
Get your pan HOT, throw in the zucchini, give it a bit of a saute, browning some of the edges.

SIDEBAR..The photo shows the onion in the pan right away. That was a mistake because the onion cooked faster and I wasn't thinking. So, do what I say and not what I do;)

Throw in the butter and the onions. Saute a couple of minutes and you're done.