Oven Roasted Red Potatoes

Usually when I make potatoes as a side dish, I make instant mashed potatoes. Sad? Yes. It's just so much easier, and they actually don't taste half bad. The one exception to this is when I make a roast- I will usually throw some potatoes in there because it takes minimal effort. Anyway, I decided I need some potato recipes, so I found this one online:

Ingredients

• 1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix
• 2 pounds red potatoes, halved
• 1/3 cup olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2. In a large plastic bag, combine the soup mix, red potatoes and olive oil. Close bag, and shake until potatoes are fully covered.
3. Pour potatoes into a medium baking dish; bake 40 minutes in the preheated oven, stirring occasionally.

This recipe was easy and took minimal effort, which was great. It didn't taste half bad, either. I have definitely had better oven roasted potatoes, but I don't have those recipes, so this is a good substitute for now. My husband liked it a lot, and I think he was happy to have a break from the instant mashed potatoes. :-)

A lot of the reviewers of this recipe said that they followed the directions but added their own choice of spices to the bag instead of the soup mix. (garlic, oregano, salt and pepper, rosemary.... personally I think rosemary sounds yummy) I might have to experiment with different spices. Oh, and if anyone has a really great oven roasted potatoes recipe, please share!

Caramel Apple Pork Chops

So I actually used two of my new Pinterest recipes to make dinner tonight... but I'm going to make two separate posts so that I can look up each one separately. :) The first-- caramel apple pork chops! I have SUCH a sweet tooth, so this recipe looked good to me. The only other pork chop recipe I have is okay, but it involves a lot of soy sauce and is SO salty that I really have to be in the right mood for it.

Here's the recipe:

Caramel Apple Pork Chops

4 pork loin chops, 3/4 inch thick (bone-in or boneless)
canola oil
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tart apples (ex: Granny Smith)
4 Tb butter
4 Tb pecans, chopped

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Pour a small amount of oil in skillet (1-2 tsp) and place pork chops in skillet. Salt and pepper each side, as much as desired. Cook for 5-6 minutes on each side, or until evenly browned. Remove from heat and keep warm.

In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Peel and core apples and slice into 1/2 inch thick wedges. Add butter to the skillet and stir in the apples and brown sugar mixture. Cover and cook over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes or until apples are just tender. Remove the apples with a slotted spoon and arrange on top of pork chops; keep warm.

Continue cooking sauce in skillet until thickened slightly (1-2 minutes more). Spoon the sauce over the apples and chops. Sprinkle with pecans.

As it turns out, I really have to be in the right mood for this one too. I enjoyed it, but it is definitely sweet, so if you're not a fan of dessert-ish type dinners, this may not be the recipe for you. I actually AM a fan of super sweet things, and I still didn't absolutely love it. It's definitely different, and I'm glad I tried it.... and I might even make it again once or twice in the future, but I think I'll keep looking for another pork chop recipe that I like more. I'm pretty sure my husband didn't love it either- he sort of looked at me like, "Why in the world are there apples on my pork chops?" :-) The biggest upside is that this recipe really is easy. Oh, and that you really don't feel the need for dessert after eating it. That's never a bad thing, right?

Also, I didn't have nutmeg (and that stuff is super expensive, so I didn't buy it since I never use it) so I left it out. I also left off the pecans. Maybe the nutmeg would've made a huge difference in taste??? Doubtful.....

Buffalo Chicken Nachos

In our house, we love anything buffalo flavored. I seriously always have at least two or three bottles of buffalo wing sauce in my kitchen cabinet. I usually use it to make wings or sandwiches, but then I saw this recipe and knew that I had found a new, awesome use for the sauce. Here it is:


Buffalo Chicken Nachos

8 cups Ranch flavored tortilla chips (I used Cool Ranch Doritos)
4 cups cooked chicken shredded
1 1/2 cups Frank's Buffalo Wing sauce
water
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
4 ounces blue cheese crumbles
1 cup chopped celery

Note: All these measurements are approximate. As with any nachos, adjust ingredients to your personal preference.


Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Spread tortilla chips on a rimmed baking sheet or in a shallow dish.

Bring wing sauce and 1/2 cup water to a simmer. Add shredded cooked chicken; heat through. Strain the chicken (reserving the sauce) and spread over ranch-flavored tortilla chips. Top with shredded cheddar.

Bake in the upper third portion of the oven until cheese is melted for about 5-7 minutes. After nachos are baked top with blue cheese, chopped celery and the reserved wing sauce.


I didn't really follow this recipe- I mostly used it as a guide. I've actually made nachos several times so it's one of the few things that I have confidence in making without following a recipe perfectly. In my opinion, my way was much easier. I threw in 3 or 4 small-ish boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a crock pot with Frank's buffalo wing sauce. After a few hours I shredded the chicken and put it on top of Cool Ranch Doritos. Then I loaded on mozzarella cheese (the chef used cheddar, which is probably also good) and some tomatoes. That's it! The celery didn't sound good to me. I'm unhealthy, I know. Oh, and of course I threw it in the oven for 5 minutes. Easy and super delicious.

Since we're such buffalo-flavored fans in this house, we actually ate this as our main course for dinner. (There are only two of us, and that's a heck of a lot of nachos!) However, it's probably more of an appetizer or party food type thing. It's up to you.

Chicken Parmesan Bake

Until this recipe, I have never had much luck making chicken parmesan. My chicken always turns out bland, dry, or both. And this recipe is seriously SO easy. The instructions for making it is actually a short video, which you can watch here, but here are the ingredients:


Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
hot red pepper flakes, to taste
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cups marinara sauce
1/4 cup chopped basil
8 oz mozzarella, shredded
4 oz Parmesan, grated
1 (5-oz) package garlic croutons


So the chef says to cook it for 35 minutes, but the first time I made this, my chicken wasn't done for closer to an hour. By then, a lot of the croutons were burned. LAME, because garlic croutons are so yummy. So, the second time I made this, (which was tonight for dinner) I put in the olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, and chicken, and cooked just those for about 20 minutes..... and then added the rest of the ingredients and cooked it for another 15 minutes. I also used thin chicken breasts, which helped cut down the cooking time. It turned out much better tonight. By the way, my oven is old and ghetto, so if you have a nice one, you could probably cook this dish the way the chef does it and have it turn out just fine.

Anyway, if you are already a pro at making chicken parmesan, stick with it. However, if you're looking for a new chicken parmesan recipe, definitely give this one a try. It isn't the best chicken parmesan I've ever tasted, but it's certainly not the worst, and it's the best that I've ever made- by far. I'll probably put this into our regular dinner rotation.

Cobb Salad Sandwich

Oh my goodness, I love a good cobb salad. The only problem is that I usually eat everything in the salad except for the actual lettuce.... because why waste stomach room on the lettuce when there are so many more delicious things in there? This sandwich recipe is perfect because it's just like a cobb salad, except that's it's not an actual salad, it's a croissant sandwich. Yep, definitely perfect. Here's the recipe (except that it's hardly a recipe, more like "assembly instructions"):

Makes: 4 sandwiches
Ingredients

4 croissants, cut in half lengthwise
4 lettuce leaves
1 tomato, sliced
4 slices of crisply cooked bacon, halved
8 slices of deli ham, turkey, or chicken
4 slices of red onion
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
1 ripe avocado, sliced
1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles, mayonnaise, blue cheese dressing, or ranch dressing

Directions

1. Spread your choice of mayonnaise, blue cheese dressing, or ranch dressing on both halves of the croissant.

2. Layer one half of each croissant with lettuce, tomato, bacon, 2 slices of ham (or turkey\chicken), onion, sliced egg, 2 avocado slices, and a tablespoon of blue cheese crumbles. Place other croissant half on top and enjoy!


Basically, I just piled on little mayo, lettuce, tomato, bacon, smoked deli turkey, swiss cheese, (my husband doesn't like blue cheese) Ranch dressing, onion, and plenty of avocado onto a buttery croissant. I would've loved some hard boiled egg on it too, but again, my husband doesn't like those either, (picky!) :-) and I was too lazy to hard boil an egg for just me. It was super good, and the cleanup was a piece of cake. I enjoyed every bite, and my husband's exact words were, "Now that's a flippin sandwich." Yes it is.

Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches

My husband once asked me to tell him my top favorite foods, and I listed a Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich as one of my favorites. Steak, cheese, and a little spice? Mmmm.... that's right down my alley. And guess what? My husband can make a mean Philly Cheesesteak! Yes, he cooked tonight. He is just awesome like that. The inspiration for our sandwiches came from here. Their recipe is:

Cheesesteaks

1 lb. steak (you really can use any cut; since you’re going to slice it up and season it heavily, there’s really no need to splurge on a fillet mignon.)
2 Tbsp. butter
1 green bell pepper
1 medium yellow onion
Provolone
Kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Hot sauce (like Tabasco or Cholula; optional, I suppose, but super yummy!)
4-6 Hoagie rolls

Okay, your job here will be made infinitely easier if you have a food processor.
THIS recipe is what food processors were made for. One reason some people may not like steak sandwiches is that the steak is cut too thickly. If you have a food processor, you can fit it with the slicing blade, partially/mostly freeze your steak, and get paper-thin slices of steak for your sandwiches. Also, you can slice your onion and green peppers, making this recipe a breeze! As always, you should consult the manufacturer’s instructions to make sure it’s okay to use the food processor to slice meat, but, generally speaking, the rule of thumb is that if you can pierce the meat with the tip of a sharp knife, it’s okay to put it in your food processor.

All righty then, onto the recipe. Slice bell peppers and onions (preferably in the food processor). Set aside. Slice frozen meat (again, food processor). Set aside. Heat 2 Tbsp. butter over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add steak and stir-fry. Season heavily with salt and lots of freshly-ground pepper. When meat is about half-cooked, add peppers and onions. Stir occasionally, cooking until most of the liquid is evaporated and meat is cooked through. Season with hot sauce to taste. For me, I don’t want them super spicy. But I like a little bite. As far as hot sauce goes, Tabasco is not my favorite. Shhhh. Don’t tell my dad or the hot sauce police in my state of residence; I may be shunned forever. I prefer Cholula–it’s not quite as hot, so I can actually taste the flavor of the sauce, not just the heat. I also love that it has a nice smokey flavor to it. And the fact that if I get a little crazy with the hot sauce and add more than 3 drops, I haven’t ruined everything. But I’m also a wuss, so take that into your hot sauce considerations.

Anyway, enough hot sauce yammering. Slice buns and spoon steak mixture inside. Top with cheese and place under broiler for 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted and bread is slightly toasty. Enjoy!


Okay, so even though this looks like a great recipe, and got great reviews, my husband changed it quite a bit. He cut up the steak into tiny pieces (the chef is right about the steak needing to not be too thick) and then threw it into a buttered pan on the stove. He then added the onion, salt and pepper, and jalapeno peppers to the pan.... (We like some spice, but he's allergic to bell peppers so we substituted jalapeno peppers instead). Then he put pepperjack cheese on both sides of the rolls (he says that lots of cheese is the way to go .... oh, and we love pepperjack for these) and added the steak mixture. Pop it into the broiler for less than a minute and you have a delicious cheesesteak sandwich. It was amazing. I just might have to ask my husband to make them quite often.... and not just so I can get out of cooking. ;-)

Spicy Chicken Rigatoni

Ever heard of the restaurant Buca Di Beppo? I don't think I've eaten there since high school, when me and a couple friends sometimes went there and ordered their pizza. I've never had anything else there, but apparently this recipe is from off their menu.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/2 Tbs crushed red pepper
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 Tbs chopped garlic
• 6 oz chicken, sliced
• 3/4 cup. Marinara sauce
• 1/2 cup Alfredo sauce
• 2 tsp butter
• 1/4 cup peas
• 1 lb Rigatoni pasta, cooked according to package directions
• additional 1/2 t crushed red pepper (for garnish)

DIRECTIONS

• 1

  In a sauté pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add crushed red pepper, salt, black pepper and garlic and sauté just long enough for garlic to caramelize and red pepper to release flavor into the oil. Add sliced chicken and sauté briefly to coat in spices and garlic.

• 2

  Add Marinara Sauce first and then Alfredo Sauce and bring to a simmer. Cook until sauce thickens slightly and chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165°. Turn off flame, add butter and peas and incorporate into sauce.

• 3

  Drop cooked pasta in boiling water for 3 seconds. Let drain for 15 seconds. Toss with the sauce. Place pasta and sauce in pasta bowl, reserving the majority of the chicken to be placed on top of the pasta. Using a rubber spatula, scrape any remaining sauce from the pan to the pasta. Garnish with crushed red pepper and serve.

NOTES

Instead of buying alfredo and marinara sauce separately, Bertolli makes a Parm Rosa sauce you can use instead. Use 1 1/2 cups of it when the recipe tells you to add the marinara and alfredo sauces.

Source: Buca Di Beppo

So I pretty much doubled the recipe because we have big appetites around here, plus my husband likes to take the leftovers from dinner for lunch the next day. I also made lots and lots of chicken, and shredded it instead of slicing it. (Again, I'm a fan of shredded chicken). I thought this pasta was delicious. It's not something I'll eat very often though because it was SUPER strong, flavorful, and spicy. Not that anything is wrong with that, since I'm a fan of all three of those things, but it's just a bit much too have too often. Does that make sense? My husband felt the same way. Great dinner to eat, but maybe only a couple times a year. Of course, you could always cut down on the red pepper. That would probably help a lot.

Oh, and I left off the peas. Too sophisticated for me. ;-)

Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches

When I saw this recipe, I immediately thought, "Oh my goodness, I HAVE to try this one. Tonight." It looked that good. And not only good, but different! A chicken caesar.... sandwich?? So strange.... in a good way. Unlike me, my husband didn't think it sounded that good. When I told him what I was making, he kind of scrunched up his nose but said that he'd try anything. Ha. Thanks a lot.

Here's the recipe:


Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches
Source: Sweet Treats and More

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/2 to 1 cup of your favorite Caesar dressing (I like Cardini's and Brianna's Asiago Caesar)
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley (if you don't have fresh use around 2 teaspoons of dried parsley)
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
12 slider buns or 4-6 regular sized hamburger buns

1. Place chicken in a 3-4 quart slow cooker with 1-2 cups of water, cover and cook on low heat for 4-6 hours.

2. Remove chicken from cooker using a slotted spoon and drain the water from the slow cooker. Place chicken on a cutting board and pull chicken into shreds, discarding any fat.

3. Place chicken back in the cooker and pour dressing, Parmesan cheese, parsley, and pepper over the top. I really make sure that I discard any fat pieces so by the time I was done I only used about 1/2 cup of dressing but you make need more if you have more chicken. Stir until mixed evenly. Cover and cook on high heat for 30 minutes or until mixture is hot.

4. Spoon 1/4 cup mixture onto each slider bun if you are making sliders or more for regular sized buns. Top with extra shredded Parmesan cheese and lettuce to serve.


I made this using boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of thighs because I am a huge chicken breast fan, I always have a stash of them in my freezer, and I think that they're just easier to work with. The chef swears that thighs are better for this, but let me tell you, mine turned out GREAT. So, if you're a chicken thigh fan, go for it. However, if you're like me and you usually use chicken breasts, it'll still turn out fabulous.

I seriously love these sandwiches. I use maybe only half of the parsley because too much of any spice is not ever a good thing, and I like to be on the safe side. I am also super generous with the dressing, putting in maybe a little more than the recipe calls for. And it's super delicious! My husband was genuinely shocked at how much he liked it. ;-) So so good. And easy!

Cafe Rio Pork

Mmmm... Cafe Rio. It makes me miss Provo. There's only one Cafe Rio in the Phoenix area, and it's a bit too far to go there much... especially with a baby that doesn't like the car. I love their burritos and their amazing pork salad. Making the pork is pretty expensive, so I don't do it much, but the huge upside of making my own is that I make a lot of it and then eat it in quesadillas, tacos, burritos, on a salad, etc. I also throw it in some tupperware with rice, beans, and cheese and let Michael take that to work for lunch. This pork has many uses.

There are lots of recipes out there for Cafe Rio pork, and I think they're all pretty good. I most often use one similar to this one. Here's the recipe:
Café Rio Pork
(a mix between Sheri Denney and Martha McMullin's recipes)

7-8 lbs. pork roast (Do a 3-4 lb pork roast if you are just doing your family)
4 cups root beer
5 (8oz) cans tomato sauce
4 T molasses or honey
3 tsp. minced garlic
½ tsp. salt
2 - 3 cups brown sugar
pepper to taste
4 tsp. cumin

Recipe Note: The above sauce makes a ton! So if you have a 3-4 lb pork roast, half the sauce.

Salt and pepper roast and cook in crock pot 8 hours or overnight on low in water. In the morning remove the roast from the crockpot and pull apart with fork, removing fat. Drain all the water in the crockpot. Don't overshred the pork or it will turn mushy. Add the rest of the ingredients to the crockpot and add shredded pork. Cook another 4 hours in crockpot on low.


I don't really cook it the way this recipe calls for.... I just throw all the ingredients together in the crock pot around 10 or 11 a.m., (I don't let the roast cook by itself in water for several hours) turn the crock pot on high, and it's ready by dinner. And it's delicious! Maybe it would be MORE delicious if I cooked it overnight like this chef recommends, but whatever. I'm not usually thinking about the next day's dinner at nighttime, so that's not really practical for me. Also, I know that the real Cafe Rio people use Dr. Pepper instead of Root Beer to cook the pork. I've tried both and they both taste good, so I usually use Root Beer because I'll actually drink the leftover soda if I use that.

Anyway, this pork is awesome. I usually throw it together with romaine lettuce, rice, (I use long grain wild rice, but any rice is fine) tomatoes, cheese, beans, and ranch dressing. (I am too lazy to make the special dressing, although you can find that recipe too in the link above). You can throw on whatever else on this salad too. (tortilla strips, guacamole....) This pork is great because I can get my salad fix without my husband complaining about eating a salad. :-) And, like I mentioned, you can also throw it in burritos, tacos, or whatever else. Make lots of it and enjoy it slowly- it's worth it!

Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken Barbecue

I love some good BBQ. I love some good, easy BBQ even more. I tried this recipe for the first time about 6 months ago and have used it several times since. It's different from the usual chicken/BBQ sauce combo and sooo yummy. Here it is:

Ingredients

• 6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 (12 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce
• 1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1. Place chicken in a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the barbecue sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.
2. Cover, and cook 3 to 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on Low.

Sometimes I leave out the Worcestershire sauce and I can't tell a difference, so if you don't have it and don't normally cook with it, save the money. However, every other ingredient is necessary for this recipe in order to fully appreciate it. The brown sugar makes it just a little sweet, and the Italian dressing is what really makes this recipe different from the others.

I just realized that I cook with Italian dressing/dry Italian dressing a lot. At least lately I do. Hmmm. No idea if that's coincidence, or if I gravitate towards recipes with that ingredient? Weird.

Anyway, this recipe is easy and super good. I usually serve it in hamburger buns, with a side of chips. However, you could serve it with veggies or fruit if you're more health-conscious.

Oh, and we love BBQ sauce a lot around here, so I bust out our favorite BBQ sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's) and we add even more of it to our sandwiches. I don't use that brand to actually cook the chicken in though- I usually use the cheapest BBQ sauce I can find for the crock pot, and then add the good stuff to the sandwich later. Saves money.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Would you believe that the first time I made this cake was the first time I'd ever made a cake from scratch? Sad, I know. I've also only made brownies from scratch once in my life. It was on a date in college... and the guy actually did most of the work. They were dang good though, as was this cake. Luckily, my sister made it first and told me that she accidentally overcooked it by a few minutes... and that it ended up being a good thing because it wouldn't have been done otherwise. She also said that it was pretty good, but that she'd rather have a cinnamon roll. I adore cinnamon rolls, but I am very lazy and impatient when it comes to all that kneading and waiting for the dough to rise. So, I gave this recipe a go.

Cake:
3 c. flour
1/4 tsp.salt
1 c. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. butter, melted

Topping:
1 c. butter, softened
1 c. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. cinnamon

Mix everything together except for the butter. Slowly stir in the melted butter and pour into a greased 9x13 pan. For the topping, mix all the ingredients together until well combined. Drop evenly over the batter and swirl with a knife. Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes.

Glaze:
2 c. powdered sugar
5 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla


While warm drizzle the glaze over the cake.


At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about the cake. It was good, but it was weird having something that tasted so much like a cinnamon roll be a cake instead. However, by the end of my piece of cake, I wanted another piece. And then I wanted another. Luckily I stopped myself before I made myself sick. :-) And my husband? He absolutely loved it, so much so that he brought a huge slice over to his friend. And I'm pretty sure his friend also loved it.

Anyway, I think that if you stuck a cinnamon roll and a slice of this cake in front of me, I'd choose the cinnamon roll, (cinnamon rolls are just so freaking delicious) but if I had to make one or the other, most times I'd make this. It's easier, and still way good. So yes, I highly recommend it.

Oh! And I cooked mine about a minute or two longer than the recipe calls for because of what my sister said about accidentally leaving it in the oven too long and that being a good thing, and it ended up perfect. However, watch it closely if you do this! You definitely don't want to overcook it.

Pizza Bread

My husband's favorite food has been pizza since as early as he can remember. He loves pizza in all forms, so he was super excited for me to try this pizza bread recipe. I was excited too - I had never made pizza bread before, and this recipe seemed pretty easy. Here it is:

Bloomin' Pizza Bread

Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything; inspired from the Changing Table

1 unsliced round loaf sourdough bread

12-16 ounces mozzarella or Provolone cheese, thinly sliced
1 (3.5 ounce) package pepperoni, halved
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasonings
2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese
pizza/marinara sauce for dipping

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the bread lengthwise and widthwise without cutting through the bottom crust. This can be a little tricky going the second way but the bread is very forgiving.

Place bread on a foil-lined baking sheet and insert cheese slices and pepperoni between cuts. Combine butter, garlic powder, and Italian seasonings. Drizzle or brush over bread with a pastry brush. Sprinkle bread with Parmesan cheese.

Wrap bread completely in foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Unwrap the bread and bake 10 more minutes, or until cheese is melted and pepperoni is a little crispy.


I loved how cheap this was for me to make. I already had all of the ingredients in my fridge except for the pepperoni and the bread, and Walmart had the perfect loaf of sourdough bread for super cheap. (I have a love/hate relationship with Walmart, but on this day, I loved Walmart).

Anyway, my one mistake with this recipe was putting in extra cheese. I thought that more cheese would be awesome (who doesn't love more cheese?) but in this case it really was just too cheesy in some parts. It's my own dang fault for not following the recipe.... sometimes I forget that I really have no idea what I'm doing in the kitchen, hence me being an avid recipe-follower, not recipe-maker. :-) Other than that, this bread was yummy. The Italian seasonings made it taste like an appetizer from a restaurant. I served mine with pizza sauce, but I'm sure marinara sauce would have been just as great. (They taste the same to me). If you love pizza, you'll love this pizza bread.

Crockpot Italian Chicken

There are a lot of crock pot chicken recipes out there. At first glance, this one seemed similar to a lot that I've seen before, but then I noticed that it called for both cream cheese and Zesty Italian dressing. Both delicious, and not two ingredients that I would have ever thought to combine. So I tried it out. Here's the recipe:

Crockpot Italian Chicken

4 chicken breasts

1 packet dry Zesty Italian dressing (Regular is fine but I like zesty better. Sometimes I use a packet and a half.)

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1-2 cans cream of chicken soup (depending how cream cheesy you want it)

Place the chicken in a crock pot and sprinkle Italian dressing over it. Combine cream cheese and cream of chicken soup in a small pot over low heat and pour over chicken. Cook on low in the crock pot for at least 4 hours. You can leave it in there all day. Once chicken is done you can leave the chicken breasts whole, cube it, or even shred it. I always cut the breasts into tenderloin size strips. Once you have cut up the chicken, throw it back in the crock pot and stir into the sauce. If you feel the sauce is too thick you can thin it to your preferred consistency with a little milk. Serve over pasta or rice.

The verdict? It was super easy to make, and I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. I shredded the chicken (in my opinion, shredded is usually the way to go) and served it over bowtie pasta. It's not super amazingly party-in-your-mouth-good, but I enjoyed it and so did my husband. The packet of Italian dressing gave it an extra kick that a lot of crock pot chicken/cream of chicken recipes don't have. If you want to add even more variety, I think chopped tomatoes would be good on it as well.

World's Best (and easiest) Salmon

I love salmon, so it is unfortunate that I've never been very good at making it. My mom makes excellent salmon, and even though she insists that her recipe is easy, (and it probably is) mine never turns out like hers. So when I saw this recipe, I figured that if it really was the world's "easiest" salmon, that I would have a pretty good chance of not screwing it up. Here's the recipe:

Minutes to Prepare: 5

Minutes to Cook: 15

Number of Servings: 4

Ingredients

1/4 cup pure maple syrup (NOT pancake syrup!) or honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
2-3 cloves minced garlic
12 ounces fresh or thawed salmon

Directions

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a gallon-size ziploc bag, shake it up, and then add the salmon. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for an hour, turning after half an hour. Pour the salmon and the marinade into a baking dish and bake in a 350 degree oven, covered with foil, for 15 minutes. The salmon is done when it flakes easily at the thickest part. Enjoy! Makes (4) 3 ounce servings.


I used honey instead of the syrup, and low sodium soy sauce because sometimes soy sauce is just too salty for me. And it was so delicious! I didn't think it looked that great when I pulled it out of the oven, but both me and my husband were pleasantly surprised. My husband doesn't love salmon, and it has to be cooked really well for him to enjoy it, and he liked it too! I think the key ingredient for me was the honey. I am a sucker for sweet things. The world's best salmon? Probably not, but it was pretty dang good, and pretty dang easy. I'm sure I'll use this recipe again.

Tuscan Pasta With Tomato-Basil Cream

This recipe looked super yummy to me from the second I saw it, but it took me a while to make because my husband is a total carnivore and the recipe doesn't actually call for any form of meat. Then my sister told me that she had made it and just added chicken to it. Right. Duh. Easy enough. Anyway, here's the recipe- (also found here)

Ingredients

• 1 (20-oz.) package refrigerated four-cheese ravioli*
• 1 (16-oz.) jar sun-dried tomato Alfredo sauce
• 2 tablespoons white wine
• 2 medium-size fresh tomatoes, chopped**
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Garnish: fresh basil strips

Preparation

1. 1. Prepare pasta according to package directions.
2. 2. Meanwhile, pour Alfredo sauce into a medium saucepan. Pour wine into sauce jar; cover tightly, and shake well. Stir wine mixture into saucepan. Stir in chopped tomatoes and 1/2 cup chopped basil, and cook over medium-low heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Toss with pasta, and top evenly with 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese. Garnish, if desired.
3. *1 (13-oz.) package three-cheese tortellini may be substituted.
4. **1 (14.5-oz.) can petite diced tomatoes, fully drained, may be substituted.
5. Note: For testing purposes only, we used Buitoni Four Cheese Ravioli and Classico Sun-dried Tomato Alfredo Pasta Sauce.

I took the advice of my sister and added chicken to it to make it more hearty - I just lightly seasoned a couple chicken breasts (with Montreal Steak Seasoning, but I'm sure whatever seasoning you choose would work fine.... you really don't even need to season the chicken if you don't want to- the sauce has plenty of flavor) and baked them. Then I cut it up into little pieces and added it to the sauce mixture while it was on the stove.

Super yummy!!! I LOVED the sauce. (I used the Classico Sun-dried Tomato Alfredo Pasta Sauce that they recommended in the recipe). I made a lot, and there wasn't much left over. The chicken definitely made it more 'man-friendly,' so if you're cooking for a hungry male, (or a few of them) or if you like meat yourself, I think that that's the way to go. This recipe is a keeper.

*I know I'm not a very good food photographer. This looks kind of gross, but I promise it wasn't! :-)