Stuffed Shells

My mother made these for us growing up and I completely forgot how GOOD they really are until I whipped them up last week. We are trying to have at least one MEATLESS night a week and this was surely one that DID NOT DISSAPOINT! They seemed to just MELT IN OUR MOUTHS! Magic!!!

*If you have not noticed by now, I am by no means a great photographer. I finally came to the conclusion that I am in need of a better camera (preferably one that was not bought by my hubby while on his foreign mission, because local repair stores do not carry the parts). Please do not let my bad camera skills fool you. I promise that all recipes I post are DELICIOUS! :)

Ingredients:

18 jumbo pasta shells, uncooked
1 package frozen chopped spinach
1 container ricotta cheese (15 oz)
2 cups Italian blend cheese, shredded
1/4 cup milk OR 3/4 cup half and half, divided
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 garlic clove (pressed or minced)
1/2 tsp basil leaves
1/2 tsp oregano
dash of salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Homemade Spaghetti Sauce OR 1 Jar spaghetti sauce (26 oz)

Directions:

Thaw, drain, and sqeeze-dry the spinach and place in large mixing bowl. Cook pasta shells accoriding to the package directions and drain well. While the pasta is cooking add the ricotta cheese to the spinach in the bowl. Add only 1 1/2 cups of the Italian cheese blend and the 1/4 cup milk OR 1/4 cup half and half. Fold in the Paremsan cheese and add the garlic and seasonings. Mix well and set aside. In another bowl, wisk the spaghetti sauce and remaining 1/2 cup half and half. Save 1 cup of sauce for later and spread the remaining sauce into a large baking dish. Fill each cooked shell with some of the spinach-cheese mixture and place into baking dish. Top each shell evenly with the reserved sauce and cover. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Take off the cover and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup Italian cheese blend. Bake again for 5-10 minutes and remove from oven. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Roasted Potatoes

This is my FAVORITE way to make potatoes lately!  The onion soup mix adds so much FLAVOR and color to the potatoes.  This recipe is really super EASY but tastes like it was much harder to prepare because of the YUMMY flavor!  

Ingredients:

2-3lbs potatoes (I like using red)

1/3 C oil

1 envelope of dry onion soup mix

Fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Wash and cut the potatoes into chunks.

Place potatoes in a zip lock bag.

Add the oil and soup mix.

Close the bag and mix until potatoes are fully coated in mixture.

Place on lightly greased pan (either 9x13 or jelly roll).

Bake in oven for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from pan and top with fresh parsley.

 

Garlic Bread on the Grill

This is my ABSOLUTE favorite way to make garlic bread!  My hubby even claims that it is the BEST garlic bread he has EVER had. I don't know what it is but EVERYTHING seems to taste so much better off the barbeque.  Grilling the bread gives it more of a sweeter flavor. Anyways, this would make for a perfect accompaniment if you are ever grilling chicken, steaks, shish-kabobs, pizza or really anything on the barbeque.  

Ingredients:

1 loaf of french bread

1/2 C buttered, softened

1/2 t garlic powder

Rosemary (fresh or dried)

Parsley (fresh or dried)

Directions:

Mix the butter, garlic powder and seasonings in a bowl.

Without cutting through the bottom, cut the french bread loaf into 1 inch slices.

Spread butter mixture on both sides of slices.

Wrap in foil and place on top shelf of grill.

Grill about 10-15 minutes.   

Christie's Chicken Curry Casserole

I am posting this recipe for my sister Christie.  This is one of her FAVORITE casseroles and is super QUICK to make.  Now, if you are a curry lover, use the whole amount the recipe calls for.  But if you are like me and only like it sparingly, cut the amount in half or even one fourths of what is recommended.  Pair this up with Mama Taylor's Homemade Rolls and the Yummy Salad, and you have a total COMFORT meal!  

Ingredients:

1 C steamed/blanched broccoli, chopped

1 chicken breast, cooked and cubed (small)

1 1/2 C cooked rice

1/2 C mayo

1 T lemon juice

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 t curry powder

2 C shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix all ingredients, reserving 1 C cheese on the side, in a large bowl.

Pour into a lightly greased pie dish.

Top with the reserved 1 C cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.

Serve in pie wedges.

Twice Baked Potatoes

I love mashed potatoes and enjoy jazzing them up a bit! Yesterday I made a roasted whole chicken (recipe will be coming soon) and served these as a side dish. Not only do they taste delish, they look quite tasty too! This picture is courtesy of Kraft Foods because I completely forgot to take a pic before we ate...we were starving! :)

Ingredients:

baking potatoes

butter

milk

garlic salt

pepper

sour cream

parmesan cheese (or whatever you have on hand)

Directions:

Clean the potatoes and bake in preheated oven (350 degrees) for an hour. (you want to bake them just until a knife can slide thru them...try not to overbake) Remove them from the oven and slice lengthwise. Carefully scoop out the inside of the potatoes leaving about 1/4 of an inch still intact to the skin. Place all the scoopings in a bowl and add some butter, milk, garlic salt, pepper, cheese, and a dallop of sour cream. I don't do measurements with these ingredients so just add what you think. If you like other things in your potatoes, add those too....whatever you like! Mix until all smooth with a hand mixer and carefully scoop back into the potato skins. At this point you can place them in the fridge covered, and wait until you are ready to serve. About 30 minutes before serving, place them in the oven at 350 for about 30-40 minutes, or until warmed and browned. This also works well with red potatoes.

Amish White Bread

This recipe makes super DELICIOUS white bread.  I found this recipe on the allrecipes website while visiting my in-laws who happen to live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  No, they are not Amish but they are basically next door neighbors! It's so neat to see the Amish lifestyle while driving alongside their horse and buggies and passing by all of the laundry lines filled with clothes waiting to dry.  

This makes a sweeter dough and would be great to use as rolls or cinnamon rolls if you choose not to make loaves.     

Ingredients:

2 C warm water

2/3 C white sugar

1 1/2 T active dry yeast

1 1/2 t salt

1/4 C vegetable oil

6 C flour

Directions:

In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in the warm water, then add the yeast.  Allow yeast to activate and foam.

Add salt and oil into the yeast mixture.  Add flour, one cup at a time, to the mixture.  

Knead dough until smooth.  

Spray another large bowl with cooking spray.

Place the dough in the oiled bowl and cover with cloth or plastic wrap.

Allow to rise until dough doubles.

Punch down dough and knead for a few minutes; divide in half.

Shape into loaves and place in two greased 9x5 loaf pans.

Cover with cloth and allow to rise until double.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. 

Lemon Zucchini Cupcakes

I have been on a lemon kick lately and last weekend I decided to make these FABULOUS cupcakes!  I found the recipe on Grouprecipes.com and absolutely love it.  These are super SIMPLE and QUICK to make.  Don't let the zucchini scare you at all!  It actually takes the place of the oil and water you would typically add to any cake mix recipe and provides ALL of the moisture and even a bit of color.  

Now this is actually a cake recipe, but since I have a smaller family, I prefer to make cupcakes so I can freeze any leftovers.  First, I place the leftover frosted cupcakes on a cookie sheet. Then I put them in the freezer for the next couple of hours.  Once frozen, I place them all in a container or Ziploc bag.  That way when we feel like something sweet, we just pull out a cupcake and allow it to sit out for about 15 minutes.  It tastes just as FRESH and MOIST as it did the day you made it!  

Lemon Zucchini Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 box lemon cake mix

1 (4oz) pkg instant lemon pudding

4 eggs, slightly beaten

2 C zucchini, peeled and grated

1-2 t grated lemon zest (depending on your taste)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix all cake ingredients for about 3 minutes.

Pour into muffin cups.

Bake for 25-30 minutes (depending on oven), or until tops are light brown.

Remove cupcakes and allow to completely cool.

Once cooled, frost with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

4 T butter, room temperature

4 oz cream cheese, softened

2 C powdered sugar (more or less)

1-2 t grated lemon zest (depending on taste)

1-2 t fresh lemon juice (depending on taste)

*A little milk

Directions:

Cream together butter and cream cheese.

Add powdered sugar, lemon zest and juice and mix well.

*Depending on your preference when it comes to the consistency of the frosting, you may want to add about 1-2 T of milk to the frosting.  

Root Beer Cookies

I love making a fun dessert for FHE's and when I saw these on my friend's blog, I knew I had to give them a try yesterday! I am a HUGE (and I mean H-U-G-E) fan of both root beer AND cookies and thought this would make a great combo! The cookies turned out SUPER SOFT AND MOIST! This recipe does make a ton of small cookies so be prepared to share some with neighbors or half the recipe. My husband claims that these are a cross between gingerbread and sugar cookies...you be the judge!

Ingredients:

2 cups brown sugar

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

2 eggs

1/2 cup water

2 tsp. root beer concentrate

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together brown sugar and butter. Add the eggs, water, and root beer concentrate and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir dry ingredients into the large bowl with the sugar and eggs and mix well. The dough will be sticky though. Drop teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes making sure to not over bake. Frost with Root Beer Frosting, below. (My oven gets hotter than normal so I only baked mine for 9 minutes and they turned out perfectly cooked)

Root Beer Frosting

Ingredients:

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened

1/2 Tbls. root beer concentrate

1 Tbls hot water

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except water. Slowly add half the water and mix well. If needed, add the remaining half of the water. Frost on cooled cookies.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

It seems that my cravings for food are becoming more and more specific now that I am further along in my pregnancy.  Last week, I was REALLY craving fajitas with homemade tortillas and was finally able to fulfill my pregnancy need last night.  This was my very first time actually making homemade tortillas and, like bread, I will NEVER go back to store bought.  These are more FLAVORFUL, super SOFT and just melt in your mouth with every bite!  

A full batch of these makes about 60 tortillas so I had to freeze most of mine.  If you don't need or want to make as many, just half the recipe.  I got this recipe from one of my mom's old ward cookbooks and I have to say that the lady who submitted it was known for her Mexican fare.  Again, these are SUPER YUMMY and definitely well worth the effort! 

Ingredients:

11 C regular flour

1 C shortening

2 T salt

2 T baking powder

5 C boiling water

1 C extra flour

Directions:

Mix first 4 ingredients.  When all is mixed, add water gradually and knead until smooth.

Line cookie sheets with wax paper.  Make small balls (all the same size); flatten with fist so they will take on a round shape.

Place on cookie sheet and cover with another piece of wax paper; then cover with cotton towel.

Let cool 2-3 hours, dough has to be cold (do not refrigerate though).

Pat well into extra flour and start rolling from center of dough.

Roll up and down evenly; do not over press.

The first few times all you are trying to do is shape the tortilla, when tortilla is the size start applying pressure.  This dough is very pliable and easy to handle.

In hot skillet (medium-high), cook tortillas only for a few seconds on each side.  (Do not use an electric skillet as it does not get hot enough.)

Place cooked tortillas on a cotton towel to cool, not touching each other.

After they are completely cool, you can stack and freeze them.

 

Yummy Salad

I am not quite sure where this recipe originated from, but this salad is a MUST when my big family gathers together for a meal. It is VERY, VERY YUMMY and light! Even the youngsters love this dish and if you aren't fast, it tends to vanish very quickly! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 bag iceburg lettuce

1/2 bag baby spinach

1 small can of drained mandarin oranges (not pictured...I forgot to add those)

1/2 red onion sliced

1 cup craisins

1/4 cup sliced honey-glazed almonds

1 package sliced swiss cheese (cut into chunks)

1 bottle poppyseed dressing (our favorite is Brianna's)

Directions:

Add all the ingredients and toss together. Serve immediately. If you want to prepare this the day before, mix everything together minus the oranges and dressing. Right before serving, toss in the dressing and oranges.

Grandmother Taylor's Peanut Butter Cornflake Bars

Whenever our Grandmother Taylor would come to visit us she would ALWAYS bring these super YUMMY treats!  They didn't last long, and since our family was so BIG, I remember there only being enough for each of us to only have one.  Now, her original recipe does not include the chocolate butterscotch topping, but I am the type of girl who ALWAYS likes a little chocolate with her peanut butter treats.  Whichever way you decide to make these, you won't be disappointed!

Ingredients:

1/2 C corn syrup

1/2 C sugar

1 C peanut butter

2 C cornflakes

Directions:

Dissolve sugar and corn syrup in a saucepan and bring to BARELY a boil.

Remove from heat.

Stir in peanut butter and cornflakes.

Press into buttered 8x8 square pan.

Pour over Chocolate Butterscotch Topping.

Let cool completely and cut into bars.

Chocolate Butterscotch Topping

Ingredients:

1/2 C chocolate chips

1/2 C butterscotch chips

Directions:

Place in microwave safe bowl and melt together in microwave.

Pour over Peanut Butter Cornflake Bars.