Broccoli Ham Pasta

When I was looking at this recipe I thought, "Well, it's pretty simple, just pasta, meat and veggies but that's always good." This time was no different. We all loved this dish, especially my one year old who knew she wanted more!
I can't personally speak about the ease of making this as my husband made dinner this night. (Wonderful!) However, he did tell me it was simple to make and he didn't have any problems. He even made an addition to the recipe and shredded colby jack cheese over the whole dish when it was done. It was a wonderful finishing touch!

Broccoli Ham Pasta
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Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients:
1 pound short cut pasta
1 bag frozen broccoli
1 T butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 cup cooked ham, chopped
3/4 cup heavy cream or whole milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup shredded colby jack
salt
pepper

Directions:
   1.  Cook pasta according to package directions. Add broccoli for last 3 minutes of cooking time. Drain and return to pot.
   2.  While pasta is cooking, melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Add onion and saute until softened, about 3 minutes.
   3.  Add ham and cook 2 minutes longer. Stir in cream; simmer until thickened, 3-5 minutes.
   4.  Pour cream mixture over pasta. Add Parmesan cheese and toss to combine. Salt and pepper to taste. Top with shredded colby jack.

Source: All You

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I can't recall where we first came across this recipe but we sure are glad we found it. It makes such a filling and delicious soup. It's a wonderful crock pot recipe which some good ingredients. It tends to be my go-to soup as everything is a standard pantry ingredient.

Chicken Tortilla Soup
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Yields: 5-6 servings

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can beans-kidney or pinto, drained and rinsed
1 cup salsa
1 cup corn
shredded cheese
tortilla chips

Directions:
   1.  Place chicken, tomatoes, beans and salsa in a crock pot. Cook on low 4-5 hours.
   2.  Thirty-45 minutes before serving, remove chicken breasts and either shred or dice. Add corn. Cook for at least 30 minutes longer.
   3.  Serve with shredded cheese and tortilla chips.

This is linked to Tasty Tuesday, Crockpot Wednesday, Good Cheap Eats and URS.

Menu 2-7

We ate well last week...
Monday night we had a wonderfully easy Crock Pot meal, Chicken Tortilla Soup. This is one of our favorites.

Alongside the soup we had Grandma's Potato Salad. Maybe a slightly odd combination but it worked.

Tuesday night was another Crock Pot recipe, this time Shepherd's Pie. I've decided this will not be my go-to recipe for Shepherd's Pie. I'm confident there's a better one out there. I didn't care for how strong the tomato soup taste was. Also, I think next time I won't necessarily be looking for one that cooks in the crock pot.

I also experimented with Butterhorns. While the end result wasn't bad it definitely wasn't what you expect from a roll shaped like this. Again, the search will continue.

Wednesday night I had a special treat: my husband cooked dinner! The Pasta with Broccoli and Ham turned out great, just as I predicted. Our one year old especially loved it and wanted more and more. :)

Thursday we had Orange Chicken which is near the top of my list of favorites. It's so simple to put together and absolutely wonderful!

For our Friday Night Pizza we had Pepperoni Pizza/Salty Dog Pizza (my husband puts black and green olives on his pepperoni pizza). We love pizza night here!

Another experiment this week was these Maple Bran Muffins. I'm always looking for new kinds of muffins to add to our breakfast rotation. Unfortunately, these are not it. They were fine but not something we want to eat on a regular basis.

We threw together an impromptu Super Bowl spread for ourselves. It wasn't anything over the top but we had everything we needed and it worked.

Lil' Smokies in BBQ Sauce, Chicken Tenders, Sausage, Crackers & Cheese, Apples with Caramel, 4 1/2 Layer Dip (Sour Cream, Salsa, Spinach, Cheese and a few Olives)

Recipes for the Chicken Tortilla Soup, Pasta with Ham and Broccoli, Orange Chicken, Pizza Sauce and Waffles will be coming in the next couple of weeks.

This week is all new recipes except for the pizza. Hopefully we find some good ones!

• Monday: Soup Night! Chicken Pot Pie Soup: This looks delicious and hearty; I'm planning on adapting it a bit based on ingredients I have. Also, instead of the puff pastry it calls for I'm going to make Fancy Dinner Rolls.
• Tuesday: Apple Bacon Hamburgers with Homemade Baked Beans: The hamburgers will be based on this recipe and the baked beans are an old favorite.
• Wednesday: Broccoli Three Cheese Pockets: I made a recipe similar to this soon after we got married. However, I have no idea where that recipe is now. Hopefully this will be as good as I remember the other one being.
• Thursday: Chicken Fajitas: I cannot remember the last time I had fajitas. I do know that it wasn't homemade sauce though so this will definitely be an experiment!
• Friday: Pizza Night! Pepperoni Pizza: Yes, this is the same kind we had last week but that's okay.
• Saturday Brunch: French Toast
• Sunday: Leftovers 

Visit I'm an Organizing Junkie for more menu ideas.



Pancakes

I've been using the same pancake recipe for years. I have no idea where I got it from. I always thought the pancakes were pretty good. This week I decided to try a new recipe because I was just in the mood to try. Well, I am so glad I did. That old pancake recipe is out the door and replaced with this one!

I've always wished I could make pancakes that were fluffy like at a restaurant and these are pretty close. They were easy to throw together, puffed up nicely and tasted excellent!

Pancakes
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Yields: 8-9 pancakes

Ingredients:
1 egg
1 cup flour
3/4 cup milk
1 T sugar
2 T butter, melted
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
   1.  Preheat griddle.
   2.  In a medium bowl beat egg with hand mixer until fluffy. Beat in remaining ingredients just until smooth.
   3.  Grease griddle (if necessary). Pour 3 T batter per pancake onto hot griddle. Cook until bubbles start to appear; turn. Cook until golden brown.
   4.  Keep warm in low oven until ready to serve.

Source: Betty Crocker 1988 Cookbook

Spaghetti Pie

Spaghetti Pie holds a "special place" in my husband's heart. That's probably because this recipe is from his mom! When we got married he wanted to make sure that I had this recipe because he loves it so much.
The first time I made this it took me forever. I realize now that had a lot to do with me not reading the recipe through the whole way before starting (a bad habit of mine). Now it goes much quicker. I put a note at the bottom of the recipe about what I've learned to help speed up the process.
To sum up this recipe it's all the elements of spaghetti in a pie. But you could probably guess that from the name.

Spaghetti Pie
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Yields: 3 pies, 6 servings each

Ingredients:
1 lb spaghetti
4 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup butter
2 cups sour cream
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 lb bulk pork sausage
2 cups water
1 can (12 oz) tomato paste
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:
   1.  Cook spaghetti; drain and place in large bowl. Add eggs and Parmesan cheese and mix. Transfer to three 9 inch pie plates, pressing onto bottom and up sides to create a crust.
   2.  In a medium saucepan, melt butter and saute onion until tender. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream and Italian seasoning. Spoon into crusts.
   3.  In a skillet, cook sausage until no longer pink; drain. Stir in water and tomato paste; simmer, uncovered, 5-10 minutes or until thickened. Spoon over sour cream mixture.
   4.  Sprinkle with mozzarella and cheddar cheeses.
   5.  Cover and freeze two pies. Cover and bake third pie at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until heated through.
   To use frozen pies: Completely thaw in refrigerator (overnight). Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake as directed.
Notes:
   I've found the easiest way to make this is to start steps 1, 2, and 3 at the same time. That way each layer is ready at about the same time, making it easy to assemble the pie.

Source: My mother-in-law, Joan

Chicken Pot Pie

Growing up, I always loved pot pie night. I insisted on eating mine out of the tin and stirring my applesauce in. My siblings would dump their pie pot out on the plate and then stir in the applesauce. Well, now my pot pie has no tin and while I still enjoy having applesauce with pot pie, I definitely don't stir it in!
This recipe has quite the list of ingredients and can take a little bit of time to prepare but that's okay, becuase there's a whole lot of taste to make it worthwhile!

Chicken Pot Pie
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Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup diced, cooked chicken
1/2 cup diced, cooked carrots
1/2 cup diced, cooked potatoes
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup green beans
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

double pie crust (not pictured)

Directions:
   1.  Preheat oven to 375.
   2.  Combine chicken, carrots, potatoes, peas and green beans in a large bowl.
   3.  In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Add onion and cook for 3-4 minutes.
   4.  Whisk flour in and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in chicken broth and milk and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until thick.
   5.  Stir in spices and pour over chicken mixture.
   6.  Place one pie crust in baking dish. Pour chicken mixture into pie crust; top with second pie crust. Crimp edges and cut vents.
   7.  Cook at 375 for 50-60 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand 5-10 minutes before cutting.

Source: Life as Mom



Toscana Soup

Whenever we go to Olive Garden I always choose a salad. My husband, on the other hand, always chooses soup. He used to order the Zuppa Toscana but no longer! He's decided that this homemade Toscana Soup is so good he doesn't need to get it when we go out anymore.

This is a fairly easy meal to put together and because of the simmering time it doesn't have to be made right before dinner. It can have a fair amount of kick to it so be mindful as you add the seasonings.

Toscana Soup
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Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients
5 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 medium russet potatoes, unpeeled & chopped
4 cups chopped spinach
1 lb Italian sausage
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (I don't like things too spicy so I use a scant 1/8 tsp.)

Directions
   1.  Cook sausage until done. Wash and chop potatoes. Roughly chop spinach.
   2.  Combine chicken stock and cream in a saucepan over medium heat. Add sausage, potatoes, spinach and seasonings.
   3.  Let simmer for two hours, stirring occasionally.

This is linked to Balancing Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday Parade of Foods.