Recipe: Cheesy Baked Ziti

I am always looking for new recipes to try especially if it’s Italian.  I love Italian food. I think I must have been Italian in a previous life or maybe preparing to be one in my next one – hehe!

I recently made this delicious baked ziti. I don’t really have a recipe to follow and just pretty much threw it all together and if I do say so myself, it came out super awesome and super cheesy.

Ingredients:

1 Package of ground beef

1 Package of pasta – I used bow tie this time

1 Can/Jar Spaghetti Sauce

1 Small onion

2-3 Spoonfuls of minced garlic

1 Cup of Parmesan cheese

1 Package of shredded cheese-divided

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to directions
2. Heat up onions and garlic in your skillet and add ground beef & seasonings
3. Line baking sheet with foil –optional
4. Coat the bottom of the tray with sauce
5. Pour pasta into baking dish
6. Mix in your beef, spaghetti sauce, parmesan cheese and shredded cheese
7. Make sure it’s well blended
8. Add remaining shredded cheese to the top layer and cover with non-stick foil
9. Bake 350°F for about 30 minutes

Voila! A quick and easy dinner for the family.

Pumpkin Muffins With Cream Cheese Frosting

I love Fall. It’s my favorite season. The cool weather, the changing of the leaves and best of all it’s pumpkin season. I love pumpkin anything and will try as many recipes as I can.

I’m not exactly sure where I found this recipe since I ripped it out of a magazine some time ago – maybe Parent’s magazine-but not sure. Anyway, the girls and I made these cupcakes a few days ago and they were a big hit. They came out super moist and were so good you couldn’t eat just one. I topped them off with cream cheese frosting but you can use any kind or just leave them plain.  Make sure you save a few for breakfast. They are just as delicious the second time around with a nice hot cup of coffee.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 2 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 1 1/2 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
• 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
• 1 Cup Pumpkin Puree
• 1 Large Egg
• 1/4 Cup Milk
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Allow butter to soften
2. Place the FIRST FIVE ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the butter and remaining ingredients
4. Add the dry ingredients into the wet and whisk until just combined
5. Pour into greased muffin cups 3/4 full
6. Bake for 20 minutes
7. Cool, Frost and Serve

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine the four ingredients, beat for 1 to 2 minutes until fluffy

Now admit it, you’re dying to try these cupcakes aren’t you?

Irene

Taco Bites

I got this recipe from my neighbor. I am not even sure what the real name of this recipe is but I’m calling it Taco bites because you can just pop one of these scoops into your mouth like you were taking a bite out of a taco. It is so easy to make and makes a great snack for the kids or as an appetizer. The best part is you only need 3-4 ingredients. 

 

 

Ingredients:

1 Package of Tostitos Scoops

1 Package of Ground Beef or Turkey

1 Package of Shredded Cheese

1 Packet of Taco Seasoning 

Directions:

• Pace scoops on cookie sheet and heat for 2-3 minutes at 325 degrees (just warming up the scoops)
• Season ground beef and spoon desired amount into scoops
• Top with shredded cheese and bake until cheese is melted

That’s it – super simple. My neighbor made it for us as a snack when the kids were taking a break from the pool. It was a big hit.

Hope you like it.

Irene

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

I found this recipe in a coupon book from the supermarket. This was such an easy recipe to make and absolutely delicious. You can serve it with your favorite side dish and vegetables.

 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup Mayonnaise
• 1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 4 Tsp Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs
  • 2 Tablespoons Italian dressing – this was not included in the recipe but I added it for a bit more flavor

Directions:

1. Combine mayonnaise, Cheese and Italian dressing and arrange chicken in baking dish
2. Top chicken with mayonnaise mixture and sprinkle with bread crumbs
3. Bake 20 minutes at 425°F or until heated all the way through

ENJOY!

Irene

Banana Bread With Cream Cheese Frosting

I love baking and I’m always looking for new recipes to try especially since I take the yummy baked goods to my vets office- I like to use them as my guinea pigs and they very happily volunteer their services plus they love it so much that sometimes they don’t charge me for my visits-they totally rock!

Here is a recipe for Banana Bread that I found. It was super simple to do. The cream cheese frosting isn’t part of the recipe but since I had some left over from the cupcakes I made I threw it on one of the loaves and it was delicious! I used my cell phone to take the picture so it’s kinda dark.

The recipe is for two loaves and it came out super moist and delicious. I practically ate one loaf myself. I absolutely love banana bread. The recipe suggested adding some chocolate chips into the batter and I did that to one of the loaves but to be honest I didn’t care for it much because it took away from the banana flavor, after all, it is banana bread-right. But if you try the recipe let me know what you think. 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (3 to 4 medium)
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottoms only of 2 loaf pans, 8 1/2x4 1/2x2 1/2 inches, or 1 loaf pan, 9x5x3 inches.
2. Mix sugar and butter in large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. Add bananas, buttermilk and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt just until moistened. Stir in nuts. Pour into pans.
3. Bake 8-inch loaves about 1 hour, 9-inch loaf about 1 1/4 hours, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans and place top side up on wire rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days.

Makes 2 loaves (12 slices each). Here is the original Banana Bread recipe.

Enjoy!

Irene

Homemade Lasagna

Italian food is my absolute favorite. I especially love anything that has a cream sauce – yea I know fattening but mmmmm so good. One thing that I love to make is lasagna. I love, love, love it. I generally make it when hubby is away because I can get a few meals out of it. Here is how I make it. Bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 1 box Barilla No Boil Pasta
• 1 pkg ground beef
• 1 Can/Jar of Spaghetti Sauce
• Minced Garlic
• 1-2 Packages of Shredded Cheese
• Adobo / Sasson
• Sofrito – you can get this at the store but I use home made.
  • you can substitute the sofrito with 1 onion and 1-2 peppers chopped

Directions:

1. Brown ground beef. Season with Adobo & Sasson or whatever you want to use and add the minced garlic, onions and peppers OR just add sofrito. While the meat is cooking soak 3-4 pasta noodles in a pan of water for about a minute (I learned this on Rachel Ray) and coat the bottom of your lasagna tray with sauce.

2. Place one layer of noodles in your tray and coat noodles with sauce

3. Add some ground beef

4. Add some shredded cheese (I add more sauce here)

5. Add another layer of noodles (they should be soaking while you are adding the cheese, meat and sauce)

Repeat

Hope you like it!

Irene

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes

Recipe & Photo courtesy of TheChew.com

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups Cake Flour (spooned and leveled)
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup water (hot)
• 4 tablespoons Unsalted Butter (softened)
• 2/3 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/3 cup Canola  oil
• 3 Large Eggs (slightly beaten)
• 1/2 cup sour cream

For the Frosting:

• 3 cups Confectioners Sugar
• 1 cup Butter
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 tablespoon Heavy Cream
• 1/4 cup Strawberry Puree

Strawberry Puree:

• 1 Pint Strawberries

 

Step 1:   Combine flour and baking powder in a bowl. Set aside.

Step 2:   In bowl of standing mixer, combine brown sugar and hot water. Mix on low for a few seconds to dissolve sugar.  Add butter, peanut butter, vanilla, and salt to combine. Add in oil.

Step 3:  On low “stir” in flour gradually. Remove bowl from mixer.  Mix eggs and sour cream. Stir mix into batter. Pour into muffin cups.

Step 4:  Bake at 350 for 18 – 20 minutes until middle of cupcakes spring back. Don’t overcook.

Step 5:  For Strawberry Puree:  Put strawberries in a food processor and pulse until pureed. Strain out the liquid and reserve for frosting.

Step 6:  For the Frosting: In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the sugar and butter until well blended, beginning on low and gradually increasing the speed. Add the strawberries, cream, and vanilla and continue to beat until frosting is a spreadable consistency.

Step 7:  Frost the peanut butter cupcakes with the strawberry buttercream frosting.

Delicious Bananas Fosters

This is one of my favorite desserts ever. Hubby loves dessert. He always gets ice cream, no matter where we are he wants his ice cream. My daughter is exactly the same way. She wants ice cream morning, noon and night. I never eat dessert but when I see bananas fosters on the menu- well I’m all over it. But lately it seems we haven’t been going to the right places because I have not had bananas fosters in soooooo long.

Yesterday while Buggy was eating her lunch I was watching The Chew while I was piddling around in the kitchen and the show started with Mario Batali making bananas fosters. I was so excited. Now this recipe includes rum but if you are making it for breakfast then you can use orange juice.

Prep time: 1-30 min ~ Serves 5

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup Butter
• 2/3 cup Brown Sugar
• 2 teaspoon Vanilla
• 2 Cinnamon sticks
• 1/4 cup Dark Rum or Orange Juice
• 4 Bananas (cut in half lengthwise then halved)
• 1/2 cup cereal (we used Chex)
• 1 1/4 cups Greek yogurt
• Zest of 1 orange

Instructions

• Melt butter, and then stir in sugar, vanilla extract and cinnamon sticks.
• Once it is melted and combined add rum and little pinch of salt.
• Using a long stemmed lighter, flambé the mixture. As the mixture is boiling add the bananas. Cook until bananas are warmed through, about 1 to 2 minutes
• Serve over greek yogurt topped with cereal or if you live in my house – ICE CREAM!!

As Buggy would say, nuuuum nuuuum (yum yum) as she’s rubbing her little belly.

Do you have a favorite dessert?

Photo credt: TheChew.com

Irene

Asparagus And Cheddar Stuffed Chicken Breast

This is an amazing and simple recipe to do. I actually saw this at the store and thought it looked delicious. Once I got home and prepared to put it in the oven I realized I could totally do this myself. My picture doesn’t look as appetizing but trust me, it was good.

So last night I made it myself and like I said-amazing and simple. I love Asparagus and just about any baked stuffed chicken.

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts
12 trimmed asparagus spears
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided or use Cheddar single slices
lemon pepper seasoning – or any type you prefer

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. If you prefer, you can pound chicken breasts with a meat mallet to flatten but I just left them as they were. Depending on the size of your chicken breast, place 2-3 trimmed asparagus spears in the center of each breast and top each with Cheddar cheese. Bring in sides of chicken and tie using a toothpick. Season to taste with lemon pepper seasoning and place in a baking dish. Add 1/4-inch of water to dish; cover and cook for 20 minutes. Remove cover and cook for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Serve with your favorite side dish!

Makes 4 servings.

Turkey Pot Pie

Now that Thanksgiving is over you are probably wondering what to do with all that turkey.  It seems like the side dishes go a lot faster than the turkey does and you probably don’t have as much left over. 

One thing we love to make here is Chicken Pot Pie. It is so easy to make. When I had the baby two years ago friends of ours made us a Chicken Pot Pie and it was so delicious. I’ve always loved it but never knew how to make it.  One day I decided to make my own and looked up an easy to make recipe. I honestly cannot say which site I got this from since its been a few years so I cannot give credit and I’m going from memory here. So with all this turkey left over I made a Turkey Pot Pie. I just used the same ingredients I use when I’m making a Chicken pot pie.

Ingredients:

• 2-4 cups of Turkey (You can use more or less depending how much you want)
• 1 pkg of Pillsbury Pie crust (or any brand of pie crust – there should be 2)
• 1 can condensed Cream of Chicken Soup 
• 1 Potatoes peeled and cut up (optional)
• 1  cup of Swanson Chicken broth
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1 cup peas & carrots
• 4 tblspn flour (I use whole wheat)
• Adobo for seasoning (You can use Salt & Pepper or any type of seasoning)

Directions:

1. Roll out your pie crust and place one of them in your pie shell and place aside and Heat oven to 425°F.
2. In 2-quart saucepan, heat up all your ingredients - soup, turkey, broth and peas & carrots. While that is warming cut up your potatoes and season them a bit. Stir in potatoes and add your flour. Stir until everything is mixed well until bubbly and it thickens
3. Spoon everything into crust lined pie plate. Top with second crust; seal edges. Cut slits in several places in top crust.
4. I spray a bit of Pam on top of the crust but that’s up to you. If your edges start to burn quickly you can put tin foil around the edge. I use a pie shield so my edges don’t burn.
5. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown and potatoes are cooked.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Chicken Broccoli And Ziti

I saw this recipe on one of our local news stations when they do their weekly visits to restaurants. I have tried it a few times and it is mmmm absolutely delish! I have to say that this is definitely one of my favorite meals. I generally love anything with cream sauce in it and when we got out to eat and this is on the menu then its for me. I have to admit that I am not a broccoli fan and I generally pick it out or eat very little of it but with this recipe I eat every single bite!




Ingredients:
* 1/4 cup oil
* 1/4 Stick Butter
* 1/4 Cup chopped garlic (less if using fresh)
* 1 qt heavy cream
* 8 Cups Broccoli Florets (frozen)
* 10-12 pieces of chicken tenders (I used a pkg of grilled Perdue Short Cuts)
* 3 cups of artichoke hearts (I passed on this ingredient)
* Pinch of Salt & Pepper (I used Goya Adobo All Seasoning instead)
* Pinch of granulated garlic
* 3 Cups Parmesan
* 7 Cups of ziti cooked aldente

Directions:

1. Start out using an 8qt sauce pan/pot
2. Make sure your veggies are strained of excess water
3. On low/medium heat, add your oil and butter and heat until the butter melts
4. Add your garlic and saute until it (just starts) to turn light brown (about 2 min)
5. Add your cream and heat until it just starts to slightly boil
6. Add your broccoli florets and stir for about 2 min
7. Add your chicken and keep stirring about 2 min ( I sprinkled Adobo on chicken to season)
8. Add your Artichoke hearts, salt, pepper, granulated garlic and let simmer about 2 min.
9. Next put in your ziti and stir into the pot followed by the Parmesan and shut off
10. Continue stirring for a couple minutes so the cream and Parmesan do not stick or burn in the pot