Baked Ziti

Ingredients:
1 (16 ounce) package dry ziti pasta
1 pound lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 jars spaghetti sauce
2 bags mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped dried basil

Directions:
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain.

In a large skillet, brown beef over medium heat. Add onions saute until tender. Drain off fat and add spaghetti sauce. Simmer for about 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a lightly sprayed 13X9 baking dish, place some of the sauce in the pan. Place half the pasta in. Add the spaghetti sauce and spread mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and sour cream on. Repeat layers till mozzarella cheese is on top.Sprinkle with basil.

Bake in preheated oven Covered for about 30 minutes or until cheese and sauce are bubbly.

The Results:

This was so simple to make. I've never made ziti with sour cream and thought I would give it a try. It gave the pasta a different kick then ricotta and was really good. I served this with salad and garlic bread. Oh and my pasta wasn't ziti but I can't remember what it is called. Any round noodle should work. Enjoy! :)

Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo

Ingredients:

20 Jumbo Shrimp

1 box Fettuccine noodles

Alfredo Sauce:

1 cup butter
3/4 pint heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 dash garlic salt
3/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese



Directions:

Bring your water to a boil and add the fettuccine noodles. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until al dente. Drain.

In a large pan put heavy whipping cream in and then add your butter and let your butter melt into the cream. Do this over low heat. Then add salt, pepper and garlic salt.

Stir in your cheeses over medium heat. Let the sauce thicken.

Then add your noodles and shrimp. Coat the noodles and shrimp with sauce. Serve hot.

The Results:

I love this alfredo sauce. The last time I made it though. I just used all Parmesan cheese. It was still good. This sauce is so easy to make and it is totally worth it. I found this alfredo sauce off of allrecipes.

Deep Dish Lasagna

Sorry, I didn't clean up the picture. The sauce draining down the plate makes it more real, right?

So as you can tell by most of my pictures they are quick and in a hurry. With no background or anything. What can I say my family can not wait for the dinner. My husband sighs every time I break out the camera. We had company the night I made this lasagna and they asked "Why are you taking a picture of the food?" I just laughed because I know it looks kinda weird. Oh well, I do it for the viewing pleasures of you guys. I just wish my family didn't have to starve an extra 5 minutes longer.

INGREDIENTS :
12 uncooked lasagna noodles
1 pound sweet Italian sausage (I used half ground beef and half sausage)
2/3 cup chopped onions
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
2/3 cup chopped fresh parsley, divided
3 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
1 pound part-skim ricotta cheese
1 (10 ounce) package chopped spinach, thawed and squeeze dried
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 eggs
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add lasagna and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
In skillet over medium heat, brown the sausage with the onions, garlic and 1/2 the parsley; drain. Add tomato paste, tomato sauce, water, Italian seasoning, oregano, and basil; mix well. Simmer, covered, for 5 minutes; stirring occasionally.
In a bowl, combine remaining parsley and Ricotta, spinach, Parmesan, eggs, garlic salt, and pepper; mix well.
In lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish, spread 2 cups sauce mix. Begin layering with 4 noodles, 1/2 cheese mix, 1/3 remaining sauce, and 1 cup mozzarella. Repeat this layer again and the last layer will be noodles, sauce and mozzarella cheese.
Bake covered in a preheated oven at for 45 minutes. Bake uncovered an additional 10 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

The Results:
I made this for company a couple days ago. It was really good. I did change a couple things. I did half ground beef and half sausage and I added about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of salt to the sauce. Also you only need 10 noodles. Everything else was just perfect. Yummy! I served it with a salad and garlic bread. Also if you wanted just use your own spaghetti sauce. You can make it or pour it out of your favorite bottle of sauce. I won't judge you.:) I got this recipe from allrecipes.

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

I wish I had a better picture because this was so good. But everyone was just too hungry to wait for a plated perfect picture.

Ingredients:
2 boneless chicken breasts
salt and pepper or use Mrs. Dash original blend seasoning

Directions:
Grill, stove top or bake the chicken. I grilled it and it turned out great.

Ingredients:

10 ounces fettuccine pasta
1/2 cup butter

1 cup heavy cream
2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons dried parsley

Pepper

Directions:

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add fettuccine pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente, drain. In a large skillet melt the butter. After the butter is melted add the heavy cream and whisk for 2 minutes. Then add in the freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Whisk till it all comes together. Add the parsley and pepper. Enjoy!

The Results:

This was awesome. There are a couple things to know though. I used Imperial stick butter which is 65% vegetable oil spread. A lot of the Alfredo sauce recipe ask for unsalted butter. If you do choose to use unsalted butter put salt into your Alfredo sauce. If you choose to use butter with vegetable oil in it just use pepper. I served this to company and it was just so good. Who would have thunk that a couple little ingredients could be so good together. I will have a better picture for you next time. Also I would say that if you don't have heavy cream you could use 2% percent milk.

Pepita Crusted Cheddar Jack Southwest Chicken Mac

Ingredients:

1 pound dry elbow pasta noodles

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup finely chopped white onion

1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1 tablespoon finely chopped jalapeno, seeds and membrane removed

2 cups cooked shredded rotisserie chicken

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 (14-ounce) can tomatoes with green chiles, mild version

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

5 cups whole milk

2 1/2 cups shredded medium Cheddar

2 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack

1/2 cup shredded smoked Cheddar

1/2 cup cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup plain panko bread crumbs

1 cup coarsely ground roasted salted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

Directions:
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add dry elbow pasta to boiling water and cook for about 10 minutes or until al dente, drain and reserve.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add onion, bell pepper and jalapeno. Saute for 4 to 5 minutes or until tender. Add chicken, cilantro, salt, cumin, pepper and tomatoes; saute for 3 to 4 more minutes, remove from heat and set aside.

In a separate large pot over medium heat, melt butter. Remove from heat and whisk in flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Place back on medium-high heat, slowly whisk in milk and bring to a boil while continuously whisking. Reduce heat and stir in Cheddar, Monterey Jack, smoked Cheddar and cream cheese until melted and smooth.

Stir in cooked elbow noodles and chicken mixture. Pour mac and cheese mixture into a greased 3 quart casserole dish. In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter and bread crumbs. Toss to coat and sprinkle crumbs and pepitas over top of mac and cheese. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and crumbs browned. Enjoy!

The Results:

Ok, so I really wanted to try something new. I really do get scared when I try something new because I hate to fail at something. I have made the chicken filler to this meal before and it was super good. I thought this mac and cheese was a total twist on mac and cheese and it was really good. It makes SOO much though. You would definitely have to feed a crowd with this. I got the recipe from http://pickypalate.blogspot.com/search/label/mac%20and%20cheese. I love trying out recipes from Jenny's blog. She makes everything look so good. It was creamy and a total comfort food. Thanks Jenny!