Todd's Dill Pickle Salad

Ingredients 

1 box rotini pasta- cooked, drained, and cooled

5 dill pickles

1 ½ cups cheddar, cubed

1-2 tbsp fresh dill

½ cup mayonnaise

½ cup sour cream

1 tbsp dried dill

½ tsp onion powder

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp dried parsley

2 tbsp dill pickle juice

Method

Cook one box pasta. While pasta is cooking, cut pickles and cheese. When pasta is done rinse with cold water and drain. Combine mayo, sour cream, dill juice, and spices. Then add to pasta and mix. Add dill pickle chunks and mix carefully. Put in fridge and chill. Put cheese chunks in just before serving! This has become a family favorite. 

Tristi's Instant Pot Mac N Cheese

 

Ingredients

• I Box (16 oz) Elbow Macaroni 
• 1 C Heavy Whipping Cream OR 1 can of evaporated milk (12 ounce) 
  
• 3 Tb of butter
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
• 4 cups of water
• 
  
• Inside the instant pot, place the macaroni, water, salt and butter. Set instant pot on 4 minutes manual, manual release pressure(quick release). After that is done, take lid off and set pot on saute and add cream, and stir. Then slowly add cheese as it melts! enjoy!

Momma Roe's Lasagna

 

Ingredients:

1 lbs Ground Beef browned

15 oz HUNTS Tomato Sauce (this is the only kind mom likes)

1/2 Can Water

1 Box Lasagna Noodles (cooked and drained)

Grated Mild Cheddar Cheese

Grated Mozzerella Cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

carrot (optional)

Method:

Brown and drain hamburger. Add tomato sauce to hamburger, if you are going to boil, add half of a can of water, and one carrot (Nonna Renna believed that the carrot took off some of the acidity of the tomato sauce). Boil for 2-6 hours, or put into IP for 15 minutes (sans water). In a 9x13 baking dish add enough sauce mixture to just barely cover the bottom of the dish, then layer lasagna noodles, sauce, then each cheese for three to four layers. Remove carrot when you come to it. Cover with tinfoil, Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, then remove tinfoil and bake again for 15 or so minutes, until cheese is brown and bubbly! Mom's is the best! 

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Chicken Cordon Blue Casserole

 

Ingredients 

10oz cooked Bowtie Pasta

1 pkg frozen broccoli (or 3 C cooked fresh)

4 oz cooked cubed Ham

1-1 1/2 lbs cooked cubed Chicken

For the Rue:

3 TBsp Butter

4 TBsp Flour

1/2 TBsp Garlic Salt 

1 1/2 C low fat Milk

1 1/2 Chicken Broth

1 C low fat Sour Cream 

2-3 TB Dijon mustard (I added 1 TB of regular mustard)

1 tsp Paprika (I only added a few shakes)

6 slices of lite Baby Swiss Cheese

Method:

{reheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Be sure your chicken, ham, pasta, and broccoli are cooked/ prepared as per instructions.*

To make your rue melt butter, add flour until they form a paste, after they form a paste slowly add the milk followed by the chicken broth. The liquid should be a thicker consistency. Then add your garlic salt, sour cream,** mustard and paprika. 

Add chicken, ham, bowtie pasta, broccoli, to a casserole dish*** pour rue liquid over, add baby Swiss cheese to the top, cover with tinfoil and bake for 15-20 minutes, then remove foil and cook for another 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is slightly browned and bubbly. Enjoy! 

Notes:

*I cooked the pasta and the broccoli together

** I think next time I will skip the sour cream and see what it tastes like without it. 

***I used a 9x13 dish 

Momma Roe's Spaghetti Sauce

The joy of getting a recipe from an Italian is there are rarely exact measurements and each time you make the dish, it turns out different. Kaleen and I had mom tell us what she puts in her sauce. Her sauce is still always better than anything I have ever made, but my kids will eat it when I make it her way so I consider that a win.

Ingredients:
1 lbs Ground Beef
1/4 Onion chopped (optional, I don't put this in as my kids don't like the sauce when I do)
1 Can TRADITIONAL HUNTS Tomato Sauce
1/2 Cup Water (more as needed)
1 tsp Sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste


Method:
* Brown ground beef and onion together, drain
* Empty can of tomato sauce and water into medium size pot, add ground beef mixture
* add sugar and salt and pepper to taste, I am a pretty firm believer in people seasoning their own food, because I like my food pretty bland and Todd likes it really flavorful. So I add two or three shakes of the salt and pepper and then I let Todd add his own spices (aka hot sauce)
* Cook it all day on the stove OR
* Put it in the Instant Pot for 15 minutes

Karie's Lasagna Soup

FOR THE SOUP:
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1-1/2 lbs. Italian sausage
• 3 c. chopped onions
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 T. tomato paste
• 1 28-oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 c. chicken stock
• 8 oz. mafalda or fusilli pasta
• 1/2 c. finely chopped fresh basil leaves
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

FOR THE CHEESY YUM:
• 8 oz. ricotta
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• pinch of freshly ground pepper
additional cheesy yum:
• 2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS:
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add sausage, breaking up into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes. Add onions and cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and stir well to incorporate. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the tomato paste turns a rusty brown color.
Add diced tomatoes, bay leaves, and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add uncooked pasta and cook until al dente. Do not over cook or let soup simmer for a long period of time at this point, as the pasta will get mushy and absorb all the soup broth. You may even want to consider cooking the noodles separately, and then adding some to individual bowls before ladling the soup over them. This would be an especially smart move if you are anticipating any leftovers. Right before serving, stir in the basil and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
While the pasta is cooking, prepare the cheesy yum. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, salt, and pepper.
To serve, place a dollop of the cheesy yum in each soup bowl, sprinkle some of the mozzarella on top and ladle the hot soup over the cheese

This is SO good! All of the kids ate it up!

Chicken Tetrazzini

This makes a lot!!! So make sure you are either feeding an army or prepare to freeze it into thirds. The author of this claims it is freezer friendly I have a couple in the freezer to eat after baby boy #4 gets here, I will let you know.

Ingredients

·         1 (12 oz) pkg. spaghetti pasta

·         1 (14.5) oz can chicken broth

·         5-6 cups cooked chicken (I crockpot cook mine)

·         seasoning salt or garlic salt (to season chicken)

·         2 cans cream of chicken soup

·         2 cups sour cream

·         one carton fresh mushrooms, washed and sliced

·         ½ stick butter

·         2 TB Extra Virgin Olive Oil

·         3 cups grated cheddar (sharp is recommended)

·         ¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

·         freshly ground pepper

·         sea salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

·         paprika

Instructions

1.    Cook chicken. Chop and set aside.

2.    Slice and sauté mushrooms in Extra Virgin Olive Oil and butter until soft. Season with salt & pepper.

3.    Cook pasta until al dente. Drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside.

4.    Put soups and sour cream in large bowl; stir in can of chicken broth.

5.    Stir in mushrooms to the soup mixture, blending well.

6.    Add chicken, pasta, and cheddar cheeses. Stir until well combined and evenly blended.

7.    Spray aluminum pan(s) with Pam; spread tetrazzini in pan.

8.    Sprinkle parmesan and paprika on top of casserole.

9.    DO AHEAD: If freezing, stop here and freeze before cooking. If cooking, go to next step.

10. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour, or until edges begin to bubble.

11. AFTER FREEZING, thaw overnight then place in the oven at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes checking on it.

Olive Garden Chicken

'Megan from Burley' as she is known in my phone, 'told' this recipe to me and as with all things I am not sure if I remembered everything once all was said and done,All of us but Corbyn ate it... so another win... when will that boy (or any of my boys) eat?! We have made it a few times and I haven't put it on the blog because it isn't the 'prettiest' dish. You could probably make it happier with colored noodles or something, but as it is it isn't super pretty

2-4 Chicken Breasts
1/2 Bottle of Olive Garden Dressing
8 oz Cream Cheese
Rice or Noodles (cooked)

Cut up chicken into cubes, place chicken and dressing in a large ziplock bag overnight or for a few hours. When ready to cook, place all contents of the bag into a large skillet. Then cut up cream cheese into chunks and add to skillet. Cook until cream cheese is melted and incorporated into the 'sauce' and chicken is no longer pink. Be sure to heat to 165 so that chicken is fully cooked. Spread over rice or noodles and enjoy.

Lasagna Soup

Anyone who knows me, knows that my absolute favorite dish is my Momma's Lasagna. When I saw that there was such a thing as 'Lasagna Soup' I knew I had to try it! We were not disappointed! I should probably only make this in the Fall/Winter but I know I will probably make it year round! Enjoy!

One of the blogs I read started with ‘here is what you need', instead of ingredients... I liked it! If I remember to I am going to use that from here on out

Here is what you need: Serves 6-8
1 lb ground beef (raw)
3 cups of beef broth
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 TB dried parsley
1 TB dried basil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1, 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1, 6oz can of tomato paste
1 cup V8 (or any vegetable drink)
2 cups uncooked shell pasta
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup of water
top with shredded cheese if wanted

1. First mix together the can of tomatoes, and tomato paste in crockpot.

2. Next add broth, beef, garlic, parsley, basil, onion, V8 and salt/pepper.

3. Cover and cook on LOW for 7-8 hours or on HIGH for 4-5 hours.

4. When 30 minutes are left of cook time, add in the 1 cup of water and noodles. Stir to combine. Put lid back on and continue cooking for 30 minutes.

NOTE: If you brown your hamburger you can whip this up in a couple of hours if wanted. Just make sure everything in the crockpot is nice and hot, half hour before you want to eat add your noodles.

Skinny Broccoli and Chicken Alfredo

My boys LOVED this! Todd was neither yay or nay on it, so all in all this one is a winner! I really liked it, and I loved that it is a lower calorie dish than the original I make. This one could be served often and not make you roll down the hall! 

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts, seasoned with salt & pepper then cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces

2 cups cooked broccoli

8oz rotini

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 Tablespoons flour

1 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup milk (any kind)

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

salt & pepper

3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

Cook pasta according to package directions, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking water before draining. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes. Sprinkle in flour then whisk to incorporate and cook for 1 additional minute.

Slowly whisk in chicken broth, then milk. Whisk in Greek yogurt, salt and pepper, then turn the heat down to low and let the mixture simmer until thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Mine was already really thick so I added some more chicken broth, I was worried it might be too salty, but it still tasted great! Turn the heat off then stir in parmesan cheese, then chicken. Pour over cooked pasta then add broccoli and stir well. Add a little reserved pasta cooking water if sauce is too thick. Serve.

Beef Stroganoff

1 (12 ounce) package egg noodles

 1 pound lean ground beef

 1 packet dry brown gravy mix

 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

2 (4 ounce) can chopped mushrooms, with liquid

 1/2 cup milk

 1/2 sour cream container (8 ounce) 

 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add egg noodles and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

In a skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef until no pink shows; drain.

Mix brown gravy, cream cheese and mushrooms with hamburger until cream cheese has given the mixture a whitish look. Add milk, sour cream, and mushroom soup to cooked pasta. Blend hamburger mixture with pasta.

Nonna Renna's Pasta

I was missing my Nonna this last week, so I rallied the kids, watched a few youtube videos, and we started making home made pasta. So good! I miss Nonna, but this helped me feel a little bit closer to her.

2 Cups All Purpose Flour
3 Eggs

Place flour in food processor (I used my blender) pulse a few times to aerate the flour. Place eggs in a separate bowl and lightly mix, just so that when you mix the flour and egg it wont have chunks of yoke, it will be well blended. Add egg mixture to flour. Pulse in a food processor for no more than 30 seconds, until dough is formed. If the dough is too dry add water a tsp at a time. Take out of the processor and knead until dough is formed and uniform. Cover with plastic and let 'rest' for 15-30 minutes. When dough is rested cut it into manageable pieces, I cut mine into six. Work with one manageable piece at a time. Form into a circle and put it through the largest setting on the pasta machine, roll it through. Fold the dough (like an envelope) and place through the largest setting again. Fold the dough one last time and roll it through the largest setting. Then start rolling it through setting the machine smaller and smaller. When dough gets to desired thickness (mine was 5 or 6 out of 9) roll it through the linguine cutter or cut into desired pasta. Let dry, or eat fresh 3-5 minutes cooking time.

Place flour in food processor (I used my blender) pulse a few times to aerate the flour.

  Place eggs in a separate bowl and lightly mix, just so that when you mix the flour and egg it wont have chunks of yoke, it will be well blended.

Add egg mixture to flour

 Pulse in a food processor for no more than 30 seconds, until dough is formed. If the dough is too dry add water a tsp at a time.

 Take out of the processor and knead until dough is formed and uniform. Cover with plastic and let 'rest' for 15-30 minutes

When dough is rested cut it into manageable pieces, I cut mine into six. Work with one manageable piece at a time

 Work with one manageable piece at a time. Form into a circle and put it through the largest setting on the pasta machine, roll it through.

Fold the dough (like an envelope) and place through the largest setting again. Fold the dough one last time and roll it through the largest setting.

  When dough gets to desired thickness (mine was 5 or 6 out of 9) roll it through the linguine cutter or cut into desired pasta. I would cut this long piece in half just to make it even more manageable for me!

roll it through the linguine cutter

dry in bunches or hang to dry.

 enjoy

If  you are like me, here are a couple Youtube videos I watched to help me! 

Video 1

Video 2

Momma Roe's Delicious Meatballs

Pastina: A Kelson Favorite

I love my baby brother, every time we have this for dinner I think of my baby brother, Kelson! Corbyn also LOVES this dish, he will want it everyday for weeks!

Leigh Ann's Yummy Stirfry

1 lbs Ground Beef (I add more)

1 C Chopped Onion

2 Beef Flavored Ichi Ban

2 C Broccoli

1 C Shredded Carrots

Brown ground beef and one cup of chopped onion in a large skillet. Add 2 ½ cups of water and bring to a boil. Place two beef flavored ramen noodles and seasoning packets into the boiling mixture. Add two cups of chopped broccoli, 1 cup of shredded carrots, stir to mix and coat noodles. Cover and simmer 7 minutes or until most of the liquid is gone and noodles are tender.

Taco Pasta Bake

Ingredients:

• 1/2 - 3/4 of a bag of large noodle pasta like Ziti or Rigatoni
  
• 1lb of ground beef
• 1 pkg/envelope of taco seasoning or 1 1/2 Tbsp taco seasoning
  
• 1C water
• 1/2 pkg of cream cheese (about 4oz)
• 1 1/2C shredded cheese (I used marble/Colby)

1. Boil pasta, don't over cook it as you will be baking it later.
2. While pasta is cooking, brown ground beef.
3. When ground beef is cooked through add taco seasoning mixed with 1C water and let simmer.
4. When ground beef is ready add approx. half a pkg of cream cheese and stir until melted and mixed in.
5. When pasta is ready drain. 
6. In a casserole dish add cooked pasta, stir in some shredded cheese, the ground beef mixture, top with more cheese, and bake covered at 350 for about 30 minutes (the last few minutes you can take off cover so that the top browns).

Mac N Cheese

Usually the recipes I find online for Macaroni and Cheese have egg in them. I do not like the egg and cheese custard together, I think it is nasty. This recipe didn't call for egg and it turned out beautifully! Mmmmm so good!

1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) grated extra-sharp cheddar 
1 cup (4 ounces) grated Monterey Jack 
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated Parmesan or Gruyere 
2 1/2 cups milk 
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the dish 
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon ground mustard 
1 teaspoon kosher salt 
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic (optional) 
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
Dash of cayenne 
3/4  pound (8 ounces) elbow macaroni 
Hot sauce (optional)

• Preheat the oven to 375.  Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Set a baking rack in the top-third of the oven.
• Combine the cheddar, monterey jack and Parmesan cheeses in a medium bowl. Transfer 1 cup of cheese to a small bowl; reserve for topping.
• Start your macaroni cooking, fill a large saucepan with water cook macaroni as directed on package instructions.
• In a medium saucepan, warm the milk over medium heat or I did it in the micro wave in small bursts and mixing in between.
• In a Dutch oven or saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter. Add flour immediately; whisk to combine for about 1 minute. Raise the temperature to medium, and slowly whisk in the milk. Bring it to a boil to thicken, whisking the entire time. (You might need to raise the temperature slightly to get things going.)
• Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the mustard (I didn't use mustard), salt, garlic, pepper, cayenne and the 2 cups of mixed cheeses (from the larger bowl). Set the cheese sauce aside.
•  Drain pasta well, and add pasta to the cheese sauce. Stir to combine. Taste, adjust the seasonings, and add hot sauce, if you wish.
• Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top with reserved cheese, and bake in the top-third of the oven for about 25 minutes, until the top is golden brown and bubbly, but the inside is still creamy.

Kashin'a Favorite: Country Club Chicken

1 pound spaghetti
4 chicken breasts
1/2 onion (diced)
7 oz mushrooms (Sliced)
1 apple (diced)
2 cans (10.5 oz.) Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
4 or 5 slices bacon
1/4 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup sharp cheddar

butter or oil
salt & pepper




Mince the onion.
Clean and slice the mushrooms.

Mince the apple

Season the chicken breasts with a generous amount of salt and pepper.

Cook the bacon and don’t clean out the pan. (if you can help it)

Drain the bacon on a paper napkin.

Add a bit of butter and quickly brown the chicken breasts on both sides. 2-3 minutes each side. Transfer them to a casserole.

Cook the onion for a minute or three.

Add the mushrooms, cook for an other couple of minutes.

Add the minced apple and cook it all for another 3 to 4 minutes

Crumble the bacon and place in mixture. 

Pour in the chicken broth.

Add the soup.

Sharp Cheddar. You just can’t go wrong with cheese. Never.

And pour it all over the chicken breasts.
Put the casserole in a preheated oven at 350F (175C) for 25 to 30 minutes. Until the chicken is super tender and the sauce is all hot and bubbly.

This gives you 25 minutes to cook the spaghetti according to the directions on your package.

Place spaghetti on plate, then chicken, then drizzle with sauce.

Bon Appetit!