Beef Stroganoff

This recipe is surprisingly fast. All my kids ate it up too so I will definitely make this more often.

BEEF STROGANOFF

1 pound top sirloin steak
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Pepper
3 T butter, divided
8 oz. mushrooms
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup water
1 tsp. Beef bouillon granules or one bouillon cube
2 T flour
1 T Worcestershire sauce
rounded 1/2 cup sour cream

Slice steak into strips about 2 inches long and 1/4 inch thick. Generously salt and pepper both sides. Use more in needed. Set aside.

Melt 2 T. butter in large skillet over med heat and add mushrooms, onion. Saute 4-5 min or until mushrooms are tender. Add garlic Saute for about 30 seconds. Remove mushrooms, onions and garlic from pan and set aside.

Increase heat to med-high and add one more T of butter to pan. Add beef and saute while stirring for about 3-5 minutes or until pink is no longer visible.

Whisk water, bouillon, flour and Worcestershire sauce together until smooth. Add this mixture to the beef and then add mushroom mixture in as well. Bring to simmer and cook about 2 minutes so sauce will thicken. Remove pan from heat and stir in sour cream. Serve over egg noodles or rice.

Ziti with eggplant sauce

Sorry about this blue plate. It is so bright in this picture. This recipe is a great one for kids because they don't know there is eggplant in the sauce. You get an amazing flavor from roasting the eggplant before pureeing it. Plus it doesn't take too long so try it out!

Ziti with eggplant sauce


1 med to large eggplant, peeled and chopped
about 1/4 cup olive oil to use at different steps in directions
salt and pepper to taste
1 box ziti noodles
2 tablespoons dried rosemary
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried parsley
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
shredded provolone OR parmigiano cheese for garnish 

Heat oven to 500 degrees. Get water boiling for pasta. Cook as directed on box to al dente. Spread the chopped eggplant on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil all over the eggplant. Generously salt and pepper. Roast eggplant in oven for about 20 min. The last few minutes in the oven, switch oven to broil to get some color on the eggplant. Watch it so it doesn't burn. While that is in the oven, place a large skillet over med heat on the stove. Add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil to skillet. Add garlic and cook for a few minutes. Add tomatoes, rosemary, red pepper flakes,  parsley and some salt. Stir to combine. When eggplant is done, scrape off pieces into a blender or food processor. Add a little water so it's moist and puree until it's thick and smooth. Add the puree to the tomato sauce. Stir to combine. To serve, combine cooked and drained noodles with the tomato eggplant sauce. Sprinkle cheese on top.

Mac n Cheese

This recipe is a twist on the Deceptively Delicious mac n cheese recipe. I love the idea of hiding the cauliflower in the cheese sauce plus I think it tastes better with it! I have added a few spices to give it more flavor.

Mac N Cheese **you can use reduced fat dairy products to cut back on fat content**


2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cup milk
1 cup cauliflower puree
2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
4 oz. cream cheese
16 oz. elbow macaroni
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp mustard powder
dash cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Cook your pasta in salted water according to the directions on the box. Drain and set aside if cheese sauce isn't ready yet.

Spray large saucepan with cooking spray bring to medium heat. Add oil, then flour and cook, stirring until mixture is a thick paste but not really brown. About 1-2 min. Add the milk and stir with whisk for about 3-4 minutes until mixture begins to thicken. Add puree, cheese, cream cheese and seasonings and stir until thick bubbly and smooth. Pour over noodles when ready to serve.

Linguine with Garlic Shrimp

This is one of my favorite dishes. It's easy you just have to prep the veggies and bake the garlic for about 40 minutes. If you plan ahead it's a great dish to make for guests just make sure they like garlic!

Linguine with garlic shrimp


2 large bulbs garlic
12 oz fresh or frozen peeled, deveined medium shrimp
8 oz plain linguine
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 medium yellow sweet pepper
1 medium green pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
2 tsp cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
1/2 tsp instant chicken bouillon granules
pepper to taste
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

The key to this recipe is to read through the whole thing first and plan each step to sort of happen simultaneously. Do any all prep work first.

Cut a 1/2 inch off the pointed top of the garlic bulbs. Remove as much of the papery layers and cover with foil to form a pouch. Bake in oven set at 375 degrees for 35 to 40 min or until very soft. When cooled, use your fingers to press garlic pulp from each clove. Put pulp into bowl. Mash the pulp with a fork. Set aside

While that's going on make sure your shrimp is thawing if frozen. Rinse your shrimp and pat dry with paper towel. Set aside. Cook your linguine as directed, drain. Keep warm while cooking shrimp and veggies.

In a large saucepan, cook mushrooms and peppers in hot oil until peppers are tender. In the garlic paste bowl, stir in, water, basil, cornstarch, oregano, bouillon granules and pepper. Add to mushrooms in pan. Cook ans stir until thick and bubbly. Add shrimp to pan. Cover and cook for about 3 min until shrimp is cooked through. Stir in tomatoes. Heat through. 

To serve, toss shrimp mixture with the linguine and then sprinkle Parmesan on top.

Simple. Fresh. Pasta

This pasta is super easy and so refreshing. It's not too heavy like many pasta dinners can be. This recipe comes from my aunt Diane. Thank You! For the kids I like to season up the plain, cooked noodles and serve them that with broccoli on the side. They don't like mixed food:) Then I add everything together for the adults.

Pasta with Broccoli and Tomatoes


1 box angel hair pasta (you can but the whole grain pasta. My hubby won't eat it:)
2 heads of broccoli, chopped. About 3 cups
3-4 good sized tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 lemons
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste 

Cook pasta as directed. While that's cooking, steam chopped broccoli until tender. Seed and dice tomatoes so they are ready when the pasta is finished. Once the pasta is done, drain and put in large bowl.  Pour olive oil on pasta and toss. Season with salt and pepper. Add tomatoes and broccoli. Squeeze juice from 1 1/2 lemons over pasta (add more if needed). Toss. Serve.

White Chicken Lasagna

I swam in college and every year the team would go to Long Beach, CA for a swim meet. My awesome Aunt lives there and would make dinner for the whole team! I have wanted to get this recipe from her for a while. My aunt made it for so many people that she used penne pasta instead of lasagna noodles. Either way this is a winning dish.  I am so excited to share this recipe. If you only try one recipe from my blog it should be this one. My Dad was nice enough to take pictures of this recipe for the blog. Thanks Diane and Dad!

White Chicken Lasagna

Fresh Lasagna Noodles (recipe on this blog)

½ cup margarine

8 oz. Fresh Mushrooms, Sliced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon Green onion, chopped

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Lemon juice

¼ cup flour

2 tsp instant chicken bullion

3 cups Milk

2 cups cooked chicken, cubed (about 3 breasts)

½ cup parsley, chopped (reserve some for garnish)

15 oz Ricotta cheese

8 oz shredded mozzarella

½ cup fresh Parmesan

Cook, drain and set noodles on paper towels. In a large sauce pan melt margarine (doesn't burn as easy as butter). Add Mushrooms, lemon juice, salt, garlic, green onion. Saute until tender. Stir in Flour and bullion to make the rue. Add milk slowly. Stir constantly until think and bubbly. This will take time. Be patient.  Add chicken and some a portion of the parsley.

Layer in dish as follows

1. sauce
2. noodles
3. ricotta* alternate cheeses between layers
4. mozzarella
   

   Repeat until you run out if noodles. Top with left over cheese and parsley.I like the Mozzarella on top, and the Parmesan. 
   
   Bake at 325 degrees for 45 min. After baking, I turn on the broiler (high) to get a nice golden brown top. The Parmesan browns up nicely. This recipe made one large lasagna and one smaller one.

   
    

Fresh Pasta

This is a great easy recipe for homemade pasta. You can't beat homemade pasta. This recipe maybe used in a few of my other recipes.

Basic Pasta


2 cups Semolina Flour
2 cups all purpose flour
6 eggs plus one extra yolk
2 tablespoons olive oil

Mix together until dough forms. Wrap in plastic wrap and let sit on counter for 30 min.Then use roller or pasta roller to roll out to desired thickness. Then use as lasagna noodles or ravioli. If you have a pasta cutter you can make any kind of noodle you like. Drop in boiling water for a few minutes and it's ready!

Penne Pasta

This pasta is done in 10 min and keeps well in the fridge for days. My kids love it because of the cheese. I have been making it for years and I don't really measure anything so here is roughly what I do. You can change it up how you want. It's good with chicken or shrimp added as well.

1 16oz. box penne pasta. Cook as directed on the box.
6 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 pound fresh mozzarella, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
5-6 fresh Basil leaves, chopped
1/2-3/4 cups olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt and Pepper to taste

While pasta is cooking in salted water, put your olive oil and garlic in a small skillet and set to low. This is to infuse the oil with the garlic flavor. Don't burn the garlic. While that's heating and your pasta is cooking, chop the tomatoes, cheese and basil. Put them in a large bowl. Once the pasta is done and your oil is heated add everything together and mix. Salt and pepper.