Recipe #328: Open-Faced Caprese sandwiches (on #329: Basil Feta Bread)

Another Real Simple recipe. No picture though because my camera battery died!)

First the bread:
Follow the recipe found here, but after resting the bread for a bit fold in some fresh, cut basil and feta cheese!

Now the sandwich:
You need:
bread
1 chicken breast
1 roma tomato
munster cheese (technically you should use mozzarella, but i didn't feel like it!)
basil leaves

• cut chicken in half long ways to create thinner pieces
• heat pan with a little olive oil then cook chicken
• slice bread and top with chicken, basil, tomato slices, then cheese
• broil until cheese is melted!

Recipe #304: Spinach Manicotti

This is a recipe from a wonderful missionary friend! She added it to a cookbook I made for my sister. I am finally trying some of them out too! :) I actually doubled this recipe, but I will just share the measurements for one! :)

You need:

1 small carton of ricotta cheese (15 oz)

1/4-1/2 bag of fresh spinach, cut up into small pieces

1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

3/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 egg

1/2 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1 jar spaghetti sauce (28 oz)

1 cup of water

1 package of manicotti shells

• in a large bowl, combine ricotta, spinach, 1 cup mozzarella, 1/4 cup parmesean, egg, garlic, and pepper
• in the bottom of a 9x13 dish spread a little bit of spaghetti sauce and 1/4 cup of water
• stuff uncooked manicotti shells with spinach mixture and place each in 9x13 dish
• pour the rest of the spaghetti sauce and water over manicotti shells 
• sprinkle the top with the remaining cheese
• bake uncovered at 350 for 40-50 minutes

enjoy!

Recipe #294: Focaccia

A great recipe from none other than Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day! I love the fact that with one recipe you can make so many different things (be on the lookout for more delicious flatbreads!)

You need:
1 small grapefruit size of pizza dough
1/4 onion, sauteed
2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
olive oil

• heat oven to 450
• spread olive oil on the bottom of a pie pan
• roll out the dough into a circle that it the size of your pan
• place dough in pan, flip to cover both sides with the oil.
• indent the dough with your finger to keep it from puffing up so much.
• add onion and rosemary 
• let it rest for about 20 minutes
• push down into dough so rosemary and onion doesn't slide off when baking.
• bake for 15 minutes or until done
• remove from pie tin and allow to cool 
• then eat!

Recipe #261: Chicken Parmesan

Or "chicky chicky parm parm" as our friend on Parks and Rec loves to say! :)

I made another version found here but this was actually crusted.

You need:
2 chicken breasts cut into three pieces
2 eggs
1/4 cup parmesan
1/2 cup italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
oil
garlic
noodles
pasta sauce
1 cup mozzarella

• mix together parmesan and bread crumbs
• coat chicken in flour, then egg, and finally bread crumb mixture
• heat oil and garlic in pan then start to add chicken
• fry until both sides are brown
• place on rack when done
• in at 9x13 dish, layer bottom of pan with pasta sauce
• top with chicken and sprinkle cheese on top
• bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted.
• while baking, cook noodles and enjoy!

Recipe #261: Chicken Parmesan

Or "chicky chicky parm parm" as our friend on Parks and Rec loves to say! :)

I made another version found here but this was actually crusted.

You need:
2 chicken breasts cut into three pieces
2 eggs
1/4 cup parmesan
1/2 cup italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
oil
garlic
noodles
pasta sauce
1 cup mozzarella

• mix together parmesan and bread crumbs
• coat chicken in flour, then egg, and finally bread crumb mixture
• heat oil and garlic in pan then start to add chicken
• fry until both sides are brown
• place on rack when done
• in at 9x13 dish, layer bottom of pan with pasta sauce
• top with chicken and sprinkle cheese on top
• bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted.
• while baking, cook noodles and enjoy!

Recipe #253: Roasted Corn and Bacon Pizza

Some good recipes develop as you go and this was one of them! :)

You need:
1 cup corn
8 slices of turkey bacon
paprika
red pepper flakes
1/8 cup cilantro leaves
mozzarella
pizza sauce
pizza dough

• fry bacon and put to the side
• in same fry pan, add corn and mix until it heats up. add paprika and red pepper flakes (sprinkle it in and add more if you like! )
• crumble up bacon and add to corn.
• roll out pizza dough to make a thin layer (it was still not as thin as I wanted, but that is something to keep working on!)
• add sauce, corn/bacon mixture, cilantro leaves and then cheese
• grill on high for about 15 minutes (or bake, which ever is easier for you!) or until done!

we need to get a bigger pizza stone because I always make the crust too big! hence the curled up corners on the right side! :)

Recipe #229: Low Fat Fettuccine Alfredo

Today was one of those days. 

It was foggy, a long day at school, and Alex was testing me big time (he knows I have trouble resisting that twinkle in his eye). So when Will came home I pretty much handed dinner prep off to him saying that I wanted pasta but not with spaghetti sauce. Well, of course that is not much help. So i googled alfredo recipes that only used milk because that is all we had, and i found a decent one here for him to make. In the end it was quite delicious and Will couldn't believe how easy it was to make! (so I am hoping he is willing to make it again!)

You need:
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp salt
pinch of nutmeg
3 cups 1% milk
parmesan
fettuccine
broccoli

• melt butter in medium sized sauce pan (will started off with one too small and it overflowed)
• add in flour and stir for one minute
• add milk, salt and nutmeg
• stir constantly until thickened, about 10 minutes add in a couple shakes of parmesan
• while that is going boil water for noodles
• cook noodles according to package directions. In last couple minutes add broccoli in to heat up.
• drain water
• add noodles and broccoli to a bowl then mix in alfredo sauce
• sprinkle on some shredded mozzarella cheese if you want! :)

It was perfect!

Recipe #227: Supli

Supli is that wonderful italian food that didn't make it out of Italy the way pizza did. Often you will eat them together--perfect street food. You pay for pizza by the kilo and have a supli on the side. It is Italian version of the Japanese Onigiri. Just great food to eat on the go...wish the US had more of that!

You need: (these measurements are all estimates)

2 cups rice

1 cup spaghetti sauce

2 Tbsp parmesan 

9 cubes of mozzarella

2 eggs

bread crumbs

oil

• once your rice is done cooking, mix it with spaghetti sauce and parmesan
• take a handful of rice and form it into a ball (I used a piece of plastic wrap to help form it quicker and it wasn't so hot then
• stick a cube of cheese in the middle of the rice and reform ball around it. 
• dip in egg to coat then in the bread crumbs. 
• Deep fry in hot oil. I used a small pot to use less oil and put two in at a time. 
• makes about 9 supli

It was so delicious!

Recipe #217: Pizza Ring

You need:

1 tube of crescent ring
ground beef, browned
tomato sauce
cheese
veggies

• unroll crescent rolls, make an overlap them in a circle on a baking sheet
• layer sauce, beef, cheese, and veggies on thick part of ring
• roll up small points and tuck under the ring
• bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until rolls are golden brown

Recipe #216: Messed Up Stromboli! :)

Yeah, everyone makes mistakes! :)
My Stromboli didn't turn out as planned but it still tasted fine!

You need:
1 lb pizza dough
ground beef
tomato sauce
green pepper
tomatoes
cheese

• brown beef
• roll out dough
• top with sauce, hamburger, veggies, and cheese
• roll back up
• place seam side down on the baking sheet
• bake at 450 for about 20 minutes
• hopefully yours will turn out better than mine! :)

Recipe #209: Arrabiatta

A delicious Italian dish that literally means "angry"! Love it. It is angry because of the heat! It is a quick meal that I was fortunate enough to have all of the ingredients on hand!

You need:
pasta of your choice
can of diced tomatoes
8-10 strips of turkey bacon
1 onion, diced
hot sauce
crushed red pepper

• start water for pasta and boil according to package directions
• in a pan fry the bacon
• after taking out bacon add a little olive oil to pan and saute onions
• break up bacon into small pieces and add back to onion
• add can of diced tomatoes 
• once pasta is ready, drain and put back in pot. 
• add bacon mixture to pasta and mix up
• add as much hot sauce and crushed red pepper as you want!

Recipes #190 & #191: Lasagna Soup in a Bread Bowl

I found the Lasagna recipe on pinterest, but is originally found here, thanks to the Deen brothers it is a lighter version of Paula Deen's recipe. However, I don't know how many calories we actually saved by using a bread bowl.
Anyways. First up, the bread bowl.
You need:
boule bread dough found here

• tear off smaller sections of dough then normal--a little bigger then a fist size
• allow to rest for 45 minutes
• bake for about 30 minutes
• cool for several minutes then cut off the top of the bread. scoop out some of the bread inside and leave on the plate to use to dip in soup

once bread is resting start the soup. 

For the Lasagna Soup you need:

1 Tbsp olive oil

3 italian sausages, casing removed

1/2 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped up

sprinkle of red pepper flakes

16 oz of chicken broth (i used water and chicken bullion) 

1 can (8 oz) of tomato sauce

1 can of petite diced tomatoes with green chilies

4 whole wheat lasagna noodles, broken up

3/4 cup mozzarella cheese

sprinkle of parmesan and basil

• heat olive oil up in a pot. Add in chopped up onion and garlic
• Add sausages (casings removed) and mix up until sausage is crumbled and browned.
• add in chicken broth, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes
• stir. sprinkle in red pepper flakes.
• bring to a boil and the reduce heat to simmer.
• add in noodles and cook for 12-15 more minutes
• remove from heat and add cheeses

pour a some into the bread bowls and wish it was colder outside to really enjoy the nice warm, hearty soup! :)

Recipe #124: Italian Apple Cake

I found this recipe on Pinterest, but it is originally found here.
I had apples and Will grew up in Italy so it seemed like a great combination...
however, when baking a new recipe on a night when your husband is gone and your child is not sleeping well...not always a good idea! Lets just say the cake was a little drier than it should be, but I would definitely make it again. It was not the American "sweet" kind of cake, but was very delicious!

You need:
2 Cups of flour

4 Eggs

1 Cup of canola oil

1 Cup sugar

2 Teaspoons baking powder

6 apples peeled and sliced

• mix together flour, eggs, oil, sugar, and baking powder in a bowl.
• pour into a buttered springform pan 
• cut up apples and stick into the batter, making big circles all the way into the middle
• bake at 325 for 60-70 minutes or until golden brown.

the original recipe suggested tossing the apples in lemon, i wonder if that would probably make them not brown so much when baked...i guess we will find out next time!

Recipe #123: Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo

Easy, but delicious meal. How? Use a jar of alfredo sauce! :)

You need:
2 cups chicken, boiled and shredded
2 cups broccoli
1 jar alfredo sauce
pasta of your choice. I used rigatoni

• Boil water and then add pasta
• After you have cooked your chicken (grilled would be great too, I just always have some cooked, shredded chicken on hand now for Alex) put it in a pan with broccoli.
• Add the alfredo to it. mix well and allow to heat up.
• Serve separate or mix with noodles!

Recipe #110: Grilled White Pizza

Tonight I think I had the best pizza we have ever made! White pizza doesn't use tomato based sauces...and I am totally not a sauce person, so white pizza is perfect for me and with the hint of garlic, it was WONDERFUL! Plus something about white pizza with chicken and garlic just screams fall...I don't know why, but if the weather would like to oblige I would be most grateful!

You need:

Pizza Dough (I used our bread dough)

olive oil

cooked, shredded chicken

mozzarella

2 cloves garlic, crushed

pepper

• heat up grill
• roll out pizza dough
• drizzle some olive oil around the top of the pizza.
• spread the chicken and garlic top
• top with cheese
• add a titch more olive oil and some pepper
• grill for about 15 minutes or until it looks done.
• be prepared for absolute deliciousness!

Recipe #105: Easy Chicken Parmesan

When I was thinking about what to make tonight, I checked back several times to make sure I hadn't already made this. It has been one of my staples, I was sure I had already made it! But I didn't so I get to share the recipe tonight!
This is about as easy and delicious as it can get!

You need:
About 4 chicken breasts, cut up into smaller pieces
1 jar of spaghetti sauce (I used a spinach and cheese one that added a nice flavor)
6 Tbsp Parmesan (I actually didn't have any, but normally put it in)
1 1/2 cups mozzarella

• pour sauce into a 9x13 baking dish (I was used a 8x8 dish because I didn't use as much chicken
• add 4 Tbsp of parmesan
• add chicken and mix to coat with sauce
• bake at 375 for about 30 minutes
• top with remaining parmesan and mozzarella for about 5 more minutes.
• enjoy with your choice or noodles or rice!

hot out of the oven! 

delicious with homemade bread!

Recipe #88: Grilled Pizza

Well, I have made pizza before, but it was such a mess in the house, I decided we would tried grilled next. And Grilled Pizza was good. Easy, and fast too!

You need:
grapefruit sized ball of dough
spaghetti sauce
ham, cut up
mozzarella cheese

• Take out dough and let it rest for about 40 minutes
• With ten minutes to go, put pizza stone in grill and heat up
• roll out dough into a thin circle
• top with sauce, ham and cheese
• put on grill for about 15 minutes

A delicious Sunday night dinner!

Recipe #82: Carbonara

I must say, mine never seem's to turn out as good as Will's mom, but it still is good!
I used different noodles to make it more interesting!

you need:
one box of spaghetti noodles, or a bag of Farfalle (bowtie) noodles
start that boiling

in a fry pan, fry up at least half a package of bacon (I used turkey bacon) do not drain all the grease. Use that to saute 1/2 of an onion. Put onion and bacon to the side.

In a small bowl mix about 3 eggs and parmesan in a bowl.

Once noodles are done, drain. add onion and bacon mix and egg mixture. Mix together over a very low heat just to make sure the egg cooks!
Enjoy!

Recipe #81: Calzones

Sunday night I made a calzone that Will and I split. I was in the mood for pizza and it was perfect! For the crust we used some bread dough that I had made a day or two before. I made a Hawaiian Calzone because that is one of the only pizzas that Will and I both like! :)

You need:
pizza dough (or bread dough)
tomato sauce
mozzarella cheese
bacon
crushed pineapple
(can you tell I never measure anything?! just add to your liking or depending on how much crust you have.)
olive oil, parsley, and parmesan for the top of the crust.

• Take the dough and roll it into a flat circle. I was using my bread dough so let it sit for about 40 minutes first. This dough rolled out so much easier then the dough i used for pizza before!
• on one half of dough, spread some tomato sauce.
• Top with bacon, mozzarella, and pineapple. I kind of mixed those together then with a spoon.
• Fold the empty side on top of the mixture. pinch the ends together. 
• Baste the top of the calzone with some olive oil, parsley and parmesan (or wait towards end to add parmesan)
• put on a heated pizza stone. add 1 cup of boiling water to boil pan.
• Bake for about 25-30 mins at 450 or until top is golden brown.

 just out of the oven!

I was worried about all the stuff that might go wrong with the crust, but it was perfect--not too thin and crunchy on the outside! 

Recipe #31: Pizza!

Well, I took a little break because I was ahead, spending my time reorganizing and cleaning my, only to completely mess it up again in the process of making pizza. Which, after today's experience, I think we will do grilled pizza instead!!
If you have not made the boule bread dough yet, I suggest you try it soon because you can use it for so much. Including pizza dough! So go off and make that recipe first, you can find it here. Remember it makes 4 loaves, or 4 crusts.
That was my first mistake. I think i used way too much dough, making it pretty difficult to manipulate.

Anyways, this is another recipe from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

• Preheat oven to 500 with pizza stone inside. be sure to turn on the exhaust fan!!
• Prepare your ingredients so that as soon as the dough is ready you can put them on and get it in the oven
• Take a pound of dough (about the size of a grapefruit) using some flour to keep it from sticking, roll it out with a rolling pin or form it into a circle with your hands. (this is where it would have been great to have my brother-in-law Eric next door because he used to work at a pizza place! :) )
• Transfer dough to a pizza peel that is covered with corn meal (a lot of corn meal, or it won't slide off easily).
• Add the tomato sauce, and other toppings of your choice. On one we used basil, tomatoes, and mozzarella, the other was half ham and pineapple, the other half salami! but we did one pizza at a time of course, there is only one stone...
• once oven is preheated, transfer from pizza peel to the stone. Bake for 8-10 minutes

Because the oven is so hot, the corn meal burns pretty quickly and makes everything pretty smokey! our smoke alarm went off twice, even with the exhaust fan on! Also, did you know that the exhaust fan helps drown out the sound of a screaming child! Alex is not a cooperative sleeper right now, but he didn't sound quite as loud tonight thanks to that fan!

Hawaiian!

Like i said, I think i used too much dough so it was pretty much a huge crust, but still delicious because I love crust anyways! :)